Rams might slam the brakes on Cam Ward’s chase for career milestone

The Los Angeles Rams are not in the business of easing the road to success for NFL rookies. That strategy backfired early in the 2024 season and forced the team into a Herculean second-half effort just to earn a berth in the 2025 NFL Playoffs. Lesson learned? Fans certainly hope so.

But this is no time to let up. Here come the Tennessee Titans, a team eager to spring an upset on a Rams squad that might be caught looking ahead to Week 3 and a bitter rematch with the Philadelphia Eagles. And after a tough loss to the Houston Texans, a team many expect to win the AFC South, getting fired up to play the league’s worst team from a year ago isn’t exactly an easy task. Fortunately, NFL Spin Zone’s Ryan Heckman doesn’t view this as a trap game.

Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward didn’t have an easy time in his debut. He faced a stingy Denver Broncos defense that held the Titans to just 133 total yards and 12 points. Now, he’s up against a Rams defense that has held Brock Purdy, Aaron Rodgers, Kyler Murray, and CJ Stroud to under 10 points in its last four regular-season games.

Rams defense is humming heading into Week 2 vs Titans’ Cam Ward

The Rams have every reason to feel good after Week 1. They limited Stroud to just 188 passing yards, no touchdowns, and one interception on 19-of-27 passing. While eight different Texans caught at least one pass, none finished with more than 32 yards. That’s a statement from a secondary that received little respect this offseason.

The pass rush chipped in three sacks. The secondary added an interception. And the Rams allowed just 151 net passing yards, ninth-best in the league. There’s no doubt Stroud will end the year among the NFL’s top passers, but he struggled in Week 1.

While a glance at the box score might suggest LA's defense is set to feast again, that’s a dangerous assumption. The Titans now have plenty of embarrassing tape to learn from and a week of practice to clean things up. Just as the Rams offense will try to correct its mistakes, Tennessee’s staff will coach up theirs. But this is going to get that pass rush's attention.

And NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky liked what he saw in Ward’s debut. He blamed many of the offense’s misfires on dropped passes, something that can be coached and corrected with a full week of prep heading into Week 2.

That doesn’t mean the early optimism around this defense is unwarranted. Stroud was held to fewer yards in just two games all last season. He was shut out of the end zone only four times. And he threw an interception in just eight contests. So to check all three of those boxes in Week 1? That’s a strong showing for Chris Shula’s group.

Better yet, don’t expect this unit to overlook the Titans. It’s more likely that Shula sees this as a tune-up opportunity before the showdown with Philadelphia. The secondary passed its first test. Now, it’s time to prove it wasn’t a fluke, but the new standard for 2025.

As always, thanks for reading.

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