The Los Angeles Rams head into the New Year in a bit of a slump, dropping three of their last five games which includes their last two. Since Week 13, they’ve taken a step back and need to find themselves
before it’s too late. Here are five New Year’s resolutions that will help them get back on track as well as solve some issues going forward.
1. Get back to stopping explosives in run game
Last January, the Rams got ran over by the Philadelphia Eagles. While the down-to-down consistency was there, it was the back-breaking long touchdown runs that were problematic. In the playoff game, the Rams allowed touchdown runs of 44, 62, and 78 yards. During the offseason, the Rams made it a point to be better against the run. They signed Poona Ford in free agency and also brought in Nate Landman. Jared Verse and Byron Young both improved against the run on the edge.
That had proven to be the case for a majority of the season, but over the last two weeks, the Rams have allowed touchdown runs of 55 and 93 yards to Kenneth Walker and Bijan Robinson. Again, the down-to-down consistency is there. Walker had just a 45.5 percent success rate which ranked 16th among running backs with 10 or more rushes in Week 16. Bijan Robinson also had a 45.5 percent success rate.
In Weeks 1-11, the Rams allowed a 47.1 percent rushing success rate, but just a 1.7 percent explosive run rate. Their 47.1 percent rushing success rate allowed ranked ninth. Additionally, only 9.5 percent of their rushing yards allowed came via explosive runs. Since Week 12, the Rams are still allowing a 45.3 percent rushing success rate which ranks seventh. However, the difference is that they are allowing a five percent explosive run rate and 35.6 percent of their rushing yards allowed have come via explosive runs. If the Rams can get back to cutting out the explosives, their run defense will get back to what it was.
2. Utilize more Tutu Atwell
This isn’t to say that the Rams need to give Atwell 60 percent of the snaps on offense and force-feed him four targets per game. At the same time, he remains the best deep threat on the roster. Throughout this season, the Rams have valued experience in order to give them a higher floor at certain positions. That ethos makes it even more confusing why Atwell is getting out-snapped by Konata Mumpfield and Xavier Smith.
On deep routes this season, Mumpfield has zero receptions on three targets. Overall he’s caught 10-of-22 targets which is less than half. Smith has been better, catching three of seven deep targets, but Atwell has more experience in that role. Atwell has caught 3-of-6 deep targets this season after catching six-of-10 last season. An argument can be made that Atwell has been one of the better deep targets in the NFL. Again, this isn’t to say that the Rams need to force feed Atwell, but he was paid $10 million by the front office during the offseason. He provides much more upside on offense than Smith or Mumpfield.
3. Prioritize a legitimate CB1
Coming into the season, the Rams needed a cornerback. Going into the trade deadline, the Rams needed a cornerback. We’re now in Week 18 and the Rams can’t set their cornerback rotation. Over the past month, the Rams have had Ahkello Witherspoon active, only to leave him inactive for two weeks, and the reactivate him against the Falcons. Last week, Witherspoon was activated in place of Darious Williams.
The Rams simply haven’t gotten good enough or consistent enough play out of the linebackers. Again, this is an issue that everybody saw coming into the season. That doesn’t mean that the Rams needed to trade their draft picks for Sauce Gardner or break the bank in free agency. At the same time, this is a position that has consistently been ignored and now that bill is coming due. This obviously isn’t something that is going to get fixed immediately. However, this isn’t something that can once again get ignored this offseason.
4. Stop ignoring the offensive line depth
For the most part, the Rams have invested in the offensive line. The Rams rank 11th in positional spending on the offensive line. They have paid players like Alaric Jackson and Kevin Dotson. Whether or not it was a good investment can be debated, but they also signed Coleman Shelton in free agency. However, for a team that has struggled with offensive line depth at points within the last three years, this is still a team that lacks depth on the offensive line. It once again cost them on Monday night against the Atlanta Falcons.
Over the past few seasons, the Rams have lost games because of who they were forced to start on the offensive line. They’ve had to rely on players like Logan Bruss, Zach Thomas, and AJ Arcuri. Against the Falcons, it was a washed veteran in DJ Humphries. Humphries allowed 11 pressures in two games with the Kansas City Chiefs last year.
This doesn’t mean that the Rams need to spend high draft capital on offensive line depth. However, they took Warren McClendon in the fifth round and he’s starting on the right side and looking good. It’s all hindsight, but the Rams took Jarquez Hunter with the 117th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. At pick 127, the Indianapolis Colts took Jalen Travis. Hunter has been inactive most weeks while Travis has looked good with over 200 snaps of action.
At guard, the Rams are relying on an undrafted free agent in Justin Dedich as depth behind Avila and Dotson as Limmer has taken a step back. A lack of talent combined with missing on draft picks has hurt them. It’s another spot where the Rams have valued experience and familiarity over youth when they should be building a pipeline behind the starters.
5. Be smart in public forums
Over the past two weeks, wide receiver Puka Nacua went on a controversial podcast, criticized the refs, tweeted after the game about the refs, and then his brother tweeted about the refs again following the Falcons loss. While those comments may not be directly hurting the Rams on the field, they certainly aren’t helping. It’s possible that it’s at least something that referees have in the back of their minds during games.
This isn’t something that the Rams have dealt with a lot in the Sean McVay era. They’ve done well to avoid the off the field drama. It speaks to the culture and the type of players that the Rams have brought into the building. This has been unfamiliar territory and the Rams need to be better about avoiding these types of distractions moving forward.
