5 storylines for the Rams at San Francisco 49ers in Week 3

Wade Phillips saw his Rams rush defense go belly-up against the Washington Redskins. LA allowed a blistering 229 yards on 39, carries in a 27-20 loss in the Coliseum.

Will this be an Achilles heel in Los Angeles?

Heading into Week 3 and into their first game inside the NFC West, LA will need to reinforce the reputation of being a top NFL defense.

McVay has his best player, defensive tackle Aaron Donald, back as his anchor. But what happened on Sunday can’t happen again.

The Redskins are hardly the definition of a rushing juggernaut, though you might want to think so after watching the Rams get pushed around for an afternoon.

In a bold twist of irony, it was Jared Goff and the LA offense that, in many ways, kept giving the defense a chance to make a play and stop the Washington offense from scoring late in the fourth quarter.

It didn’t happen when quarterback Kirk Cousins tossed a pass on third and four to Ryan Grant for what ended up being the winning touchdown. It was the capper on what was an uninspiring performance for Phillips and his Rams defense.

LA needs to keep the balance that McVay is looking to establish. For the first time in a long time, Rams football looks to have a couple of bookends with an offense who can score points, and a defense that can prevent them.

Yesterday wasn’t a good example of that.