LA Rams weebly wobbly worrisome Week 5 win provides few answers
By Bret Stuter
Hopeful Ram
Need reason to hold onto hope? Well you are in luck, because the LA Rams provided plenty of solid reasons to believe that they are indeed a very good team this year. Wait, what? How can I flip the swith so easily? Ah, patience. Recall the Jackal who was too impatient and paid the price?
The LA Rams showed significant progress in this ugly win. How so? Well, so glad you asked.
For starters, the Rams won the Time of Possession battle. While the odds were in their favor (as Seattle is horrible in that department), after the shellacking the Rams defense suffered in Week 4, controlling the clock in Week 5 had tremendous impact on just how effective the Rams defense was on a short week. The Rams defense dropped from playing over 35 minutes to playing just 26 minutes, and as a result dropped from giving up 37 points to just 17 points. I’m going to call that a huge win for the Rams.
And the Rams offense finally uncovered the secret of spreading the ball around. Even though Cooper Kupp ended the night at catching 7 of 10 passes for 92 yards, his teammate Robert Woods hauled in 12 of 14 passes for 150 yards. DeSean Jackson caught one of three for 68 yards. The Rams have plenty of ammunition on offense it seems. If Van Jefferson did not drop a couple of passes that hit his hands, Stafford would have easily passed for over 400 yards. That’s progress.
The Rams offense was able to run with the ball far better than earlier in the season, putting up 118 yards and two touchdowns on just 29 carries. Meanwhile, the Rams held the Seahawks offense to just 92 yards on 25 carries. Again, an improvement.