LA Rams weebly wobbly worrisome Week 5 win provides few answers

Despair Ram

You do not need to dig very deeply into Week 5 to find cause for worry. The LA Rams faced the Seattle Seahawks, arguably the worst defense in the NFL, and struggled to put up points. If not for an incredible 68-yard reception by veteran wide receiver DeSean Jackson, the Rams offense may never have gotten on track. As it stands, the offense did not get back on track until the third quarter.

Have defenses already begun to figure out the LA Rams offense? After putting on a clinic in the month of September 2021, the offense seems to be regressing rapidly.  Once a Top-3 NFL offense, the Rams have fallen to Fifth-Place among NFL offenses in yards per game, and Sixth-Place among NFL offenses in points per game.

Suddenly sure-footed placekicker Matt Gay appears to be utter chaos. While he did make both field goals on the evening, he missed one out of three extra points. Perhaps the worst aspect of the night was his inability to kick a straight and true football off the tee, resulting in two out-of-bound penalties, both of which allowed the Seattle Seahawks to start their drives at the 40-yard line.

On defense? There were some positives. But when the Rams defense faced backup quarterback Geno Smith, and had him start at his own four-yard line? I felt very confident. Well, until Smith drove the ball systematically down the field for 96-yards and a touchdown. At that point, the defense had lost all respect.

The Rams stand upon a record of 4-1. But for the life of me, I cannot determine if the wins were due to the Rams being one of the best teams in the NFL, or whether they faced some of the worst teams in the NFL? As of today, the LA Rams oppenents for 2021 have combined for a record of 12-9.  The Rams started out appearing as the team to beat in the NFL. Now? They feel more like a Wild Card team, facing an arduous task of getting on a winning streak to win Super Bowl LVI.