LA Rams halftime summary: Time to regroup in SNF

LA Rams’  halftime game summary: Time to regroup in Sunday Night Football

The LA Rams finally took the field after a disappointing and premature end to the 2019 season. The Rams’ final record last season was not bad, as their 9-7 final record matched those of some playoff teams.  The Rams played well enough to open the 2019 season 3-0, but after repeated injuries took their toll, the Rams limped out of the season a bit bewildered, confused, and disappointed.

But the Rams head coach Sean McVay is not a victim. He went right to work to fix what went wrong with the Rams in 2019.  For the offense, he added offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell to give a better perspective on the offense, as well as coach up the Rams young quarterbacks.  He added defensive coordinator Brandon Staley to add unpredictability. Finally,  he added special teams’ coordinator John Bonamego to restore that part of the team back to the positive.

Quick recap

The LA Rams owned the first quarter with a march down the field twice. The first drive resulted in a touchdown. The second drive ended with a missed field goal by rookie kicker Sam Sloman.  0-1, and the worst part is that it reinforces the fears that the Rams rookie is vulnerable to bad kicks.

After the Rams missed their first kick, the Cowboys sped up their offense, leaning heavily on the pass. They hit on a series of passes and knotted the score at 7-7.

The Rams came back with two more drives, to score two field goals.   Then, as time ran out, the Cowboys loaded up once more on a no-huddle passing attack that the defense was simply unable to stop.  After a Prescott scramble to put the ball on the one-yard line with just seconds remaining, the Cowboys ran Ezekiel Elliott up the middle for the score.  The halftime score is 14-13.

Discouraged? Don’t be

The Rams have 244 yards of offense in the first half to the Cowboys 241 yards. The Rams chewed up the clock while the Cowboys ran a no-huddle quick-strike offense. The Rams defense is keeping Elliott and Polliard in check, as they have rushed for 10 times for 43 yards.  Unfortunately, the Rams were unable to shut down both running backs’ impact in the passing game.  They combined for 4 out of 6 catches for 51 yards and a touchdown.  Without that? Prescott’s passing game is meh.

In the second half, the Rams offense has to clean up the red zone struggles. If the Rams could score in the red zone today, they would be up 28-14.  But that can be fixed.  The Rams are moving the ball.  Malcolm Brown is within reach of 100 yards on the ground. The Rams offensive line is playing very well today. The Rams have not punted yet in this game.  And based on the way teams roared back in the second half despite being down by a ton of points, this game is still within the LA Rams grasp to win.