LA Rams Trick or Treat? It’s our Halloween edition

Trick: Special teams play – not so special

The LA Rams are a young team who drafted to improve the play of a below-expectations special teams performance. It’s a bit disheartening, particularly since the team showed signs of turning the corner with a full team effort to defeat the then-undefeated Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But since that game, the special teams play is not so special. In other words? So far, no Weo.

But did you expect the Rams to be better instantly? The team is currently ranked among special teams in the NFL at 29th-place by footballoutsiders.com (subscription required). The Rams special teams units are ranked even lower by Lineups.com, where they stand in 31st-place. In either case, the special teams are not where the Rams want or need them to be right now.

But the alarms, lights, and klaxons sounded against a very creative and unpredictable Detroit Lions in Week 7.

Young players swell the team’s special team roster, and they are still developing. And the Rams have met with a host of problems, primarily in the effort to get both Tutu Atwell comfortable as a return specialist.

The LA Rams drafted Tutu Atwell with their most valuable draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and so far have almost nothing to show for it. Speed is fine, but only if it translates into on-the-field football production.  So far? Atwell is not meeting expectations, and head coach Sean McVay is giving him the message via quotes that the time to show up is now.