6 takeaways from Rams’ sloppy win over Lions in Week 7

For a little while on Sunday afternoon, it seemed like the Rams were on their way to suffering another embarrassing loss to a winless team for the second consecutive season. Then Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, and Jalen Ramsey took over, helping carry the Rams to a 28-19 win over the Lions.

The game shouldn’t have been as close as it was, and it was much more stressful than the score even indicates. The Lions executed perfectly on special teams and nearly pulled off the upset, but Jared Goff’s late interception sealed the win for Los Angeles.

Here’s what we learned from the Rams’ Week 7 win.

Special teams unit is a flat-out mess

Ever since John Fassel left to join the Cowboys, the Rams’ special teams unit has been a complete mess. It was especially bad on Sunday, putting together an unacceptably poor performance against a team that had no business keeping the game as close as it was.

In the first quarter alone, the Rams were fooled by a surprise onside kick and then got beat by a fake punt, leading to three points for Detroit.

Then in the third quarter, the Lions pulled off another fake punt, catching the Rams sleeping for a second time. There’s no excuse for the Lions converting twice on fake punts, and recovering an onside kick.

To make matters worse, Ben Skowronek had three 17-yard returns on kickoffs and on his fourth attempt, Jacob Harris was called for holding. Everything about the special teams group was unsatisfactory – outside of Matt Gay – which has been the story of the season so far.

Linebacker play must improve

Goff knows the Rams defense well, having faced it every day in practice for five years. The last two years, their linebackers have been a major weakness, and Goff seemed to exploit that on Sunday. Troy Reeder was lost in coverage and Kenny Young wasn’t much better, allowing big plays when in both man and zone.

Reeder also missed a couple of tackles, including one on the edge where Jamaal Williams broke off a 12-yard run. This has been said time and time again, but the Rams have to get better at inside linebacker because offenses will continue to pick on them.

Stafford-to-Kupp connection just keeps getting better

If you thought the red-hot Stafford-Kupp connection would have fizzled out by now, you would be wrong. They picked up right where they left off a week ago, as Stafford hit Kupp for 10 completions, 156 yards and two more touchdowns.

That gives Kupp a league-high nine touchdowns on the year, his fourth such game with at least two touchdown receptions. It’s easy to say Stafford should spread the ball around to his other talented receivers, but no defense has had an answer for Kupp yet – except for maybe the Cardinals.

Until this tandem gets disrupted, there are no reasons to believe they will slow down.

Third-down conversions were the difference in the game

When a team is successful on third down, it typically has a good chance to win. The Rams nearly lost on Sunday, but it wasn’t because of their third-down offense. Stafford was outstanding on that crucial down as the Rams converted nine times in 13 attempts against the Lions.

He’s been great all year on third-and-long, which was still the case on Sunday, too. On third-and-12 late in the third quarter, Stafford hit Kupp for a 59-yard gain. On that same drive, Stafford was faced with third-and-10 as the Rams trailed 19-17. He hit Tyler Higbee for a 14-yard gain and then connected with Kupp for a touchdown one play later.

If not for the Rams’ conversions on third down, the Lions very well might have won this game – especially after Detroit converted four third downs on a late drive before Goff’s interception to Jalen Ramsey.

Pass rush wasn’t very effective

One of the best ways to affect Goff and force him into bad decisions is by pressuring him. The Rams didn’t do that very often on Sunday, even when they sent extra rushers at the Lions quarterback. Goff was only hit four times and sacked twice, one of which came after he scrambled outside of the pocket and was chased down by Kenny Young.

Aaron Donald played a big part in Jalen Ramsey’s clutch interception by pressuring Goff up the middle, but the pass rush wasn’t as impactful as it usually is – even though Leonard Floyd had a strong performance on the outside, particularly against the run.

Offensive line didn’t let anyone near Stafford

The only time Stafford was hit in the entire game was when Julian Okwara sacked him on third-and-10 in the third quarter. Other than that, the Lions didn’t land a single hit on the Rams quarterback, a credit to the job that the offensive line did.

There weren’t big running lanes for Darrell Henderson Jr., but Stafford had plenty of time and was barely touched by the Lions. Their pass rush isn’t very good to begin with, but the Rams’ offensive line neutralized any threat Detroit posed up front with great blocking and communication.

1

1

1

1