Richard Sherman is half-right: Rams' gameplan failed, but it's not all on Chris Shula

If you wanted to avoid controversy, you're out of luck. Former 49ers and Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman frequently chimes in about the Los Angeles Rams. And he was Johnny on the spot to offer his critique of LA's defense and secondary in Week 1. Of course, that's akin to kicking someone when they're down, but does his insight have any merit?

Well, yes and no.

"The corners you got are great corners," Sherman said of Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson. "But they've played in (Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnulo's) system their whole career. And you don't run Spag's defense. ... You don't use a Corvette to Uber. You just don't. You get in a Corvette, you're racing. ... you pay him the money, let him do what he was doing."

Sherman believes the Rams misused their new cornerbacks in Week 1. They used plenty of man coverage in 2025, but the personnel was simply not equipped to handle it. Enter McDuffie and Watson. Both are excellent in man and press-man coverage.

LA played a significant amount of zone coverage. That was a different type of defense than either McDuffie or Watson had played previously in Kansas City. And that instant deviation was, in Sherman's opinion, one of the reasons for the Rams' poor defensive showing.

Is he right? Again, yes and no.

Chris Shula simply misfired on Rams' defensive gameplan

Hindsight is 20/20. And it's easy to review what the Rams defense did wrong in the season opener. But the game plan was based on guessing what the 49ers offense might do. Facing uncertainty, defensive coordinator Chris Shula played the odds. Zone coverage is generally a safer route to take, and Shula didn't have tape on how the Niners would deploy new receivers in Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, and rookie De'Zhaun Stribling.

Similarly, Shula had to guess at how McDuffie and Watson would interact with his other defensive backs in live action. He only had training camp and a pair of scripted joint practices to base his defense upon; the Rams sit veterans in preseason. On several plays, including a 39-yard touchdown strike to DeMarcus Robinson, communication broke down.

With better execution, LAs' pass coverage scheme would not be such an easy target for criticism. Of course, it's also fair to observe that Shula failed to adjust in-game.

Now that teams are accumulating video footage, Shula has something to work with. He will have a better chance of setting up the defense to counter the upcoming New York Giants offense. Shula has now had a full four quarters to assess his players and the effectiveness of his defense in a real game scenario.

Perhaps Week 1 was simply an anomaly, a one-off performance that won't be repeated this season. It's clear that whatever the defense intended to execute failed miserably. And Sherman's insights help point fans in the direction of what went wrong.

Time to circle the wagons and show up in Week 2.

As always, thanks for reading.

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