5 biggest overreactions to the LA Rams Week 1 loss to the Lions

Still catching up with the latest LA Rams news? You are absolutely not alone on that front. This has been an action-packed start to the 2024 NFL season, and there is very little indication that the pace of news and updates about the team will ease up anytime soon. In fact, the team may be even more hectic before new updates finally subside.

But even as we wade through all of the news going on right now, we cannot be swept up in the rip tides of headlines, general consensus, and viral hot takes about the team, the roster, or the chances of success this season.

Even now, as the Rams turn from a hard-fought battle at Ford Field against the Detroit Lions, the teams is preparing to face a familiar foe, the Arizona Cardinals, in Week 2. While the Rams did lose a closely contested game in Week 1, the sample size for the 2024 NFL season is simply too small to draw any permanent conclusions about the team just yet.

So let's hold some social media conclusions up to the light and talk them over. In the end, I believe we will find that the Rams offense, defense, and specific players are not as bad off as some knee-jerk reactions on social media have portrayed them to be.

(5) - Rams can't run the football

The LA Rams rushed 23 times for 83 yards against the Detroit Lions in Week 1. Despite the optimistic projections for this team to commit to the run, it seems as though those plans were abandoned already. Well, let's not give up so quickly. In the 2024 NFL Playoffs game against the Lions, the Rams were only able to put up 68 yards on the ground.

The Rams have 16 games remaining on the schedule, and it only takes one game with Kyren Williams putting up 100+ rushing yards to change everyone's opinion. Curiously, the Rams next opponent is the Arizona Cardinals, a team that allowed Williams to average over 150 rushing yards per game. One data point does not a trend make.

(4) - It's 2022 all over again

Yes, the LA Rams offensive line is riddled with injuries this season. And it was not so long ago, 2022 to be exact, in which the team faced a similar challenge. But there are some minor and major differences between 2022 and this season. Let's focus on that season opener, the loss to the Buffalo Bills in which Matthew Stafford was knocked around like a pinball. suffering seven sacks in that game and never quite looking the same in the pocket after that game, He also threw three interceptions in that loss.

Believe it not, despite all of the adversity, the Rams should have won in Week 1. The Rams offense is far more sophisticated, and the roster is much deeper. Best of all, after falling behind in the game by 14 points, the Rams scored the next 17 points in the game to take the lead. This is a team that disregards the scoreboard and continues to fight.

(3) - Rams DT Braden Fiske is overrated

After multiple positive preseason reports and an early designation not to compete in preseason games, there was a lot of optimism surrounding the rookie defensive tackle. But after Week 1, some have already begun to scoff at the rookie defensive tackle. After getting 47 defensive snaps, he ended his first NFL game with five tackles, one quarterback pressure, one quarterback hurry, and no quarterback sacks. Not impressed? Here's why that is ultimately premature.

Fiske was competing in the NFL for the first time. As such, his five tackle performance and one QB pressure is very respectable against a Lions offense line that many consider one of the best units in the NFL. Until overtime, the Rams defense had managed to keep the lid shut on the Lions' powerful offense. Fiske was a significant factor in that effectiveness. And he will only get better as his NFL experience grows throughout the season.

(2) - Rams rookie RB Blake Corum won't see action in 2024

The LA Rams did not give rookie RB Blake Corum any carries in Week 1. That has triggered a bit of panic in the ranks of fantasy football team owners who were hoping for a breakout season opener from the Rams rooker. After all, he is a former Michigan player, and competing in Ford Field is as close as Corum will get to a homecoming in the NFL.

So why didn't the Rams offense find a way to use the guy in the season opener? Here is what Rams HC Sean McVay had to say about the matter:

When it comes down to a game with offensive linemen falling like bowling pins, and QB Matthew Stafford facing a fierce pass rush while his only protection includes a blind side offensive tackle off the team's practice squad, the team rightly wanted to keep RB Kyren Williams in the backfield as an emergency pass blocker.

Blake Corum will get carries this season. They may simply not arrive as early in the season as we had originally expected.

(1) - Rams defense cannot make stops when it counts

The LA Rams were on the road, facing a powerhouse offense, and had pushed the Detroit Lions into overtime. As soon as overtime started, the Detroit Lions opted to take the kickoff. Once the Lions offense got the football, that was the game. The Rams offense never had a chance to answer. The Lions ran the football seven times for 60 yards (and the touchdown) and pass the football once for 10 yards to win the game.

The best play made by the defense in the Lions' final possession was holding RB Jahmyr Gibbs to a three-yard gain, finally tackled by defensive back Tre'Davious White. After that overtime loss, the Rams defense was the butt end of several harsh comments. But let's dig a bit deeper.

The Rams won the time of possession battle by a rather large margin, despite putting up a pass-centric offense. The defense held the Lions to just 200 net passing yards, and just seven passing first downs. The defense even held the Lions Red Zone offense to just two of four attempts. The Rams offense had more total yards. And the Rams defense even generated a turnover.

The Detroit Lions was the third best in the NFL in 2023 in yards gained, and fifth best in points scored. And through regulation play, the Rams defense held the Lions well below both 2023 averages. It was not until overtime that the Lions offense simply placed the yolk on RB David Montgomery and let him carry their offense to victory.

And through it all, the Rams defense may have lost the battle, but became far more experienced as a result. This defense will be ready next time.

As always, thanks for reading.