The Los Angeles Rams won an ugly game on Sunday against the Houston Texans, winning 14-9. It wasn’t pretty, but it was enough. The defense stood out while the offense did what was needed. Sean McVay improves to 7-2 in season openers and the Rams start off on the right foot in what some believe can be a Super Bowl campaign. Let’s jump in to our 10 takeaways.
1. Rams defense deserves its flowers
All offseason, the narrative was how bad the Rams defense was. There was the quote from The Athletic’s Derrick Klassen, “This defense still sucks.
Like it’s not good.” It was hyperbolic at the time and it remains so 3.5 months later. The Rams defense was outstanding on Sunday. They were the primary reason that the game remained manageable in the first half while the offense was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t until less than two minutes to go in the first half that the Rams scored their first points. The Kyren Williams touchdown put the Rams in the lead.
The Rams were the sixth-best defense in the NFL in Week 1, finishing with an EPA per play of -0.145. Their 36.5 percent success rate allowed ranked third-best in the league. And then there’s this stat. From 2017-2023, the Rams were 0-19 in the regular season when scoring 14 points or less. Since losing to the Arizona Cardinals 41-10 last year, the Rams are 3-0. The Rams have held five of their last seven opponents under 10 points, and that includes the Seattle game with backups last year. This defense deserves way more credit than it’s getting.
2. Cody Schrader gets nod over Jarquez Hunter
There was some speculation this year that the Rams were going to rotate their running backs more than past years. To start the game, Cody Schrader got the nod over Jarquez Hunter who was inactive. The reasoning here was very clearly that Schrader provides more value on special teams. At the same time, Hunter was drafted for his explosive ability. By not having Hunter available, that part of the run game is taken away completely.
This isn’t to say that Hunter needs to be a featured piece of the offense. The more bothersome personnel decision is Colby Parkinson getting more playing time than Terrance Ferguson. Still, it would be nice to see Hunter at least available on game days.
3. Is offense too reliant on Puka Nacua?
At times during the Matthew Stafford era with the Rams, the offense has become overly reliant on one player. When that one player is gone, the offense can go dark. That was the case on Sunday against the Texans and wide receiver Puka Nacua. Nacua left the game early to get stitches and checked for a concussion after he took a big hit. When Nacua left, the Rams offense felt disjointed. It didn’t help that two big plays by Jordan Whittington got called back. At the same time, the offense couldn’t get anything going. It wasn’t until Nacua returned to the field that the Rams were able to march down the field and score a touchdown before the end of the half.
In that situation, the hope would be that Davante Adams becomes a featured part of the offense. Adams started slow, but finished strong in the second-half. Nacua recorded his fifth game with at least 10 receptions and 100 receiving yards. That ties Lionel Taylor for the most-ever by a player in his first 30 career games. His 194 career receptions through 30 career games passed Michael Thomas for the second-most ever. Additionally, Nacua’s 2,606 career receiving yards surpassed Ja’Marr Chase for the third-most by a player in his first 30 games in the Super Bowl era.
4. Forbes over Williams at cornerback?
Last year, it made sense for the Rams to bring in Darious Williams as a known commodity in the secondary. Heading into this year, it was mildly surprising that they opted to bring him back. That’s even more the case as Emmanuel Forbes played over Williams against the Texans and rotated with Cobie Durant. Forbes is someone who the Rams raved about all offseason as a player that had found his confidence. Heading into the season, it seems he’s taken over the CB2 role on defense.
With Darious Williams not playing and not on the injury report, it’s fair to wonder where the two sides go from here. The Rams could keep Williams as depth. However, paying $9.2 million for a depth cornerback is a lot. It wouldn’t be surprising if at some point the Rams trade Williams in a similar style of deal that they moved Tre White last year. The other side of this is that the small risk that the Rams took with Forbes seems to have paid-off. It’s only one game, and it will be interesting to see how Forbes performs when he’s tested. With that said, the Rams clearly trust him enough to play him in a primary role.
5. Josaiah Stewart has impact on pass rush
While the Rams didn’t get a lot of contribution from their offensive rookies, Josaiah Stewart made his presence felt. Stewart rotated in the Rams pass rush and held his own. He had a big pass knockdown at the line of scrimmage and one pressure. There is a good chance that Stewart is the most impactful Rams rookie in 2025. Ferguson didn’t play on Sunday outside of special teams. Ty Hamilton and Jarquez Hunter were both inactives. Stewart was the only rookie that got rotational playing time and it’s clear to see why that’s the case.
6. Matthew Stafford did enough
Matthew Stafford wasn’t special, but he didn’t need to be. Stafford managed the game well and then did the “special things” when he needed them. There were a lot of questions coming into this game when it came to how Stafford would perform with the questions around his back. Stafford consistently hit in-breakers to Nacua and then his touchdown pass to Davis Allen came rolling left out of play action. The Rams quarterback even had a ‘no looker’.
The most important thing was that Stafford didn’t force throws and turn the ball over. He hit Adams on a back shoulder throw along the sideline that was impressive. Early in the season, there may be some rust given how much time Stafford missed. It also didn’t help that the Rams played one of the best pass rushes that they’ll face all year. At the end of the day, it was a positive performance from Stafford. He may have only finished 15th in EPA per dropback, but his 7.3 percent completion percentage over expected shows that he was adding to the offense. Against the Texans, he became the 10th player in NFL history to reach 60,000 career passing yards and tied for the second-fastest to do so with Matt Ryan.
7. Nate Landman a bargain buy in free agency
After the disaster that was the 2024 free agent class for the Rams, it’s possible that the 2025 class makes up for it. Poona Ford played well in the middle of the defensive line. However, it was the player behind him that really stood out. Landman was consistently where he was supposed to be and filled the run gaps to make the stop. He was second on the team in tackles with six.
In the fourth-quarter, it was Landman that won the game. With the Texans driving to take the lead, Landman punched the ball from Dare Ogunbowale to cause a fumble and Braden Fiske snatched the ball to recover the fumble. That was a game-changing play and something that the Rams didn’t get from their linebackers last season.
8. Love Sean McVay’s Aggressiveness
Early in his career, Sean McVay was seen as a conservative head coach when it came to fourth down decisions and end-of-game situations. That has shifted significantly over the last year. With the Rams getting the ball to start the second half, it would have been easy for McVay to “take the points” and theoretically go into the half trailing 6-3. Instead, the Rams went for it on fourth down. While it was a risky play call with a halfback toss behind the line of scrimmage, Kyren Williams converted. The Rams went into the half trailing 9-7, making the call to go for it the right one.
On the final drive, the Rams had 1st-and-20 after a holding penalty. At that point, most would have expected the Rams to run three straight times and force the Texans to use their timeout. Instead, on third down, McVay went for the win and it paid-off. McVay is getting more comfortable of keeping the game in his hands. On Sunday Night Football, the Ravens punted on 4th-and-2 and Josh Allen led the Bills down the field for the win. Had McVay chosen to just run the ball and play conservatively, it’s possible that C.J. Stroud does the same.
9. It wasn’t pretty, but it was enough
Coming into the game, I predicted that this game would be ugly. It was in fact a very ugly game. Both teams shot themselves in the foot and it made for a low-scoring defensive battle. Still, these are games that the Rams have lost in the past. They’ve gotten comfortable with the uncomfortable.
It may not have been the high-scoring offensive performance that some would have wanted. However, it was enough. The Rams offense did enough while the defense stole the show. Kyren Williams may not have been explosive, but he did enough in the run game and kept the offense on track.
10. Unsung heroes were the difference
After cutdowns, there was a lot of talk about just how deep the Rams roster was. That was even more evident against the Texans. The Rams have all of this star-power with Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, and Jared Verse. This isn’t to say that those guys didn’t make plays as well. At the same time, some of the biggest plays of the afternoon were made by Davis Allen, Xavier Smith, Jaylen McCollough, and Ty Davis.
Those role players out-performing their role or showing up in big moments are what make Super Bowl teams. It’s still early, but it’s also a very good sign that anybody on this roster has the ability to make a difference when their number is called. This isn’t a Rams team that relies too heavily on its stars. If the Rams need a play, the coaching staff has the confidence that anybody can make it.
