The Los Angeles Rams put together an ugly, forgetful performance at the start of the 2022 NFL season. Fresh off a Super Bowl win, the Rams revealed their championship banner and then fell flat against the Buffalo Bills in a 31-10 loss on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium.
Josh Allen looked like an NFL MVP candidate, and the Bills looked like a team that can make a deep run and walk away as AFC Champions this season.
Sean McVay and Jalen Ramsey were a few to give their feedback after a frustrating loss, and it was a downright blowout in a questionable performance from LA. The Bills’ offense was electric, and Stefon Diggs and Josh Allen looked like one of the best QB-WR duos in the NFL.
Jalen Ramsey Fires Off on Rams’ Defensive Scheme
Ramsey, who had the task of guarding Diggs for the majority of the game, was ripped to shreds on Twitter after another rough outing, especially after his old comments on Josh Allen went viral.
However, Ramsey gave some insight on what exactly went wrong on Thursday night, and he didn’t hold back while discussing the defensive scheme (h/t Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic).
“Obviously we’ve gotta watch the film, but I’m sure we all would’ve liked to play man a little bit more. I feel like we kind of had a mentality like, ‘bend, don’t break’ a lot, because they were driving the ball but they weren’t scoring, like, we were getting turnovers, interceptions, whatever it was.”
The Rams did force turnovers. Allen threw a pair of interceptions, and the Bills also had a pair of fumbles in the game. Yet, the Rams couldn’t stop Diggs, who had 8 catches for 122 yards and a score. Gabriel Davis chipped in 4 catches for 88 yards and a score, and Allen had 10 carries for 56 yards and a trip to the end zone.
McVay insists they will fix these mistakes — and the Rams have a long time until Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons.
“I’m not gonna run away from the mistakes I made tonight,” Sean McVay said. “We’re gonna fix this. That’s all we know how to do.”
The Rams Defense Also had Pass Rush Issues
As Ramsey points out, he wishes they would have played more man. However, more than that was the lack of the pass rush for LA. Von Miller terrorizing the Rams offensive line hurt even more with Aaron Donald tied up pretty much the entire game.
Matthew Stafford was sacked seven times. On the contrary, the Rams only brought down Allen twice the entire game, with Donald and Bobby Wagner each accounting for a sack.
It was a tough loss, and the Rams defense needs to find a way to frustrate the quarterback more and get Donald even more involved. If not, it could be a long season for the Rams on the defensive side of things.
The turnovers were encouraging for the defense, but the high-octane Buffalo offensive gave them fits all night, and McVay did nothing but credit the Bills after the game.
“You give credit to those guys, that’s gonna be a really, really good football team.”
Who knows, maybe the Rams see the Bills again in the Super Bowl. Either way, LA has a lot to fix if they want to have another shot at a Lombardi Trophy.
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Jalen Ramsey Sounds Off On Rams’ Defensive Scheme