Getty Jalen Ramsey during a June 8, 2022 minicamp practice at Thousand Oaks.
It’s no secret that Los Angeles Rams star cornerback Jalen Ramsey knows how to get under the skin of his opponents. After all, he’s established himself as one of the league’s consistent shutdown cornerbacks who isn’t afraid to take on the best wide receiver on the opposite side.
Even one Pro Bowl wideout who has seen the Rams‘ Pro Bowler multiple times acknowledges that Ramsey “gives him the most problems,” which he revealed to actor/comedian Kevin Hart on the Tuesday, June 21 edition of his Cold As Balls series on the Laugh Out Loud Network.
Wide Receiver is 2020 Pro Bowler & Rival
DK Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks has had his share of epic battles with Ramsey as NFC West competitors — which also includes one playoff game in January 2021.
Hart asked the chiseled 6-foot-4, 235-pounder who gives him the most problems on the field. Metcalf first said “himself,” but Hart wanted more…he wanted to know which opposing defender has been the most problematic in Metcalf’s career.
“I mean, Jalen Ramsey,” Metcalf said first. And that was before he named off Green Bay Packers star Jaire Alexander and Miami Dolphins Pro Bowler Xavien Howard in his top three.
By naming off Ramsey first, does this mean that the Rams are his most hated team? Especially after being the last team to eliminate Seattle from the postseason and by winning Super Bowl 56 the following year? Metcalf gave a rather surprising answer.
“I hate going to Philly,” Metcalf revealed.
Lucky for Metcalf, he’s gone to Philadelphia three times in his career including a 2020 postseason game — and Metcalf and Seattle have won all three meetings which includes two 100-yard outings.
But since his arrival to the league in 2019, he’s faced the Rams more than Philly and is 2-5 overall against L.A.
Metcalf vs. Ramsey Breakdown
Metcalf has put together the following regular season numbers against the Rams per Pro Football Reference: 27 catches, 359 yards, 3 touchdowns — including two in the 26-17 loss to the Rams on October 7, 2021.
While Metcalf has caught 5-6 catches in five of those games versus the Rams, he has never crossed the 100-yard mark in every game. His closest was 98 yards in that aforementioned October loss.
But how has he fared versus Ramsey overall?
Ramsey and Metcalf first met as Ram and Seahawk on December 8, 2019 following Ramsey’s trade via the Jacksonville Jaguars. Metcalf claimed the individual win per Pro Football Focus: 5 catches, 69 yards, hauled down a 35-yarder and caught all five of his targets with Ramsey assigned to him. But Ramsey and the Rams, though, took the 28-12 victory.
The second contest saw a completely different result — Ramsey not allowing a single pass completed on two targets to Metcalf in the 23-16 Rams win on November 15, 2020. Metcalf was then bottled to one catch for 11 yards when covered by Ramsey, but his ‘Hawks took the 20-9 win on December 27, 2020.
During their wildcard playoff meeting, Metcalf saw six passes thrown his way with Ramsey over him. He caught half of those for 33 yards — none of them good enough for a first down as the Rams eliminated the ‘Hawks 30-20.
In the October 7 game that saw Metcalf cross the goal line twice, he caught all three of his targets when facing Ramsey for 58 yards and one touchdown. All three receptions were good enough for first downs. Metcalf would then witness an increase in passes thrown his direction with Ramsey on him: Eight total in the December 21, 2021 contest. Ramsey, though, only surrendered three grabs for 25 yards and allowed an average of 8.3 yards per reception in the Rams’ 20-10 victory.
While the 2020 Pro Bowler has caught passes facing Ramsey and has scored on him before, Ramsey and the Rams have still had the upper-hand in the wins department. And in total, Metcalf has caught a combined 15 passes for 196 yards with Ramsey as the closest coverage defender — which is an average of 2-3 catches and 32.6 receiving yards in the six battles against the perennial Pro Bowler.
Metcalf’s entire segment with Hart can be watched below.