It was clear the Los Angeles Rams and Matthew Stafford were out of sync from the game’s opening moments. They fell to the San Francisco 49ers 27-7 in an embarrassing opening week stunner.
This game feels primed to be overanalyzed and ill-extrapolated. Week 1 brings surprises every year that never seem to age well.
The Rams will probably be fine, although this is a resetting moment and a good time to re-adjust expectations.
Who is to blame for the loss? In a “winners & losers” first, we are going to start
with the “losers” and then make our way to the “winners”.
Losers
Matthew Stafford, QB
There was a lot to dislike about Stafford’s game on Thursday night.
His first pass was aimed right into the hands of 49ers linebacker Fred Warner. He never really course corrected. Stafford airmailed long passes and had very little going outside of 10 yards. He easily could have finished with three or four interceptions.
One of the most important plays of the game was a failed quarterback sneak on fourth down at the goal line. Stafford has never been great at this play despite it being one of the biggest advantages for offenses. The 49ers then drove 99 yards to effectively put the outcome away. Stafford looked very limited on the run, which is particularly limiting in the red zone.
The most concerning aspect of this loss is Stafford’s inconsistency during his tenure in Los Angeles. He has yet to stack back-to-back positive seasons. It’s very possible we see regression from his MVP season and this is the first sign of that. The Rams need Stafford to play well in order to meet their lofty expectations this season—in part because they ask so much of their quarterback.
In fairness, many were premature to call Tom Brady’s downfall after a brutal loss to the Chiefs. He went on to disprove the critics and win multiple Super Bowls thereafter.
What matters most is whether Stafford rebounds. He’s 38 years old. He might not bounce back. Father time eventually comes for everyone, and we’ve seen very good quarterbacks fall straight off performance cliffs.
Is this the beginning of the end for Matthew Stafford?
Myles Garrett, EDGE
Garrett missed significant time while managing a knee injury. He was very clearly on a snap count in Week 1. That limits the impact of a truly great defender.
The bigger challenge is the fact that basically every other passing play was a screen play for San Francisco. Kyle Shanahan was never going to let the Rams’ aggressive pass rushers get comfortable. This may have caught the Rams off guard. It shouldn’t have. They will need to recalibrate and be more prepared for limited offensive play calling moving forward.
Brock Purdy didn’t really need to do much in order to beat the Rams, although he did hit a long touchdown. The Rams were beat on overly routine plays.
Garrett will have his chances this season. In some ways he is a symbol of LA’s downfall on Thursday night. This game plan was tailored to keeping him on his heels.
Jaylen Watson, CB
Mike Evans caught six of seven targets for 49 yards and a touchdown. He did most of his work against Quentin Lake and Jaylen Watson. Watson allowed the touchdown and was outmanned on an end zone fade.
It wasn’t a strong Rams debut for their new corner. It’s a common theme that the players LA is counting on most—including their high-profile additions—did not perform well in this game.
Davante Adams, WR
Davante Adams caught a few passes late in order to improve appearances in the box score. He was invisible in the first half mostly. He finished with three catches on six targets for 26 yards.
One of the most concerning trends from LA’s offense last year is that Adams routinely only hauls in 50% of his targets. It’s not positive that he started off the season on this foot again. The Rams’ offense overall looked slow and Adams particularly showed his age on Thursday night.
Winners
Rams’ selection of Ty Simpson
Few were willing to acknowledge the possibility that Matthew Stafford would decline late into his 30’s. Father time comes for all eventually.
Was the Rams’ selection of Ty Simpson mostly about 2027 and beyond? For sure. The team may need their rookie first-round pick sooner than later if Stafford is truly declining at a rate faster than anticipated.
Simpson would have fared better on the QB sneak than Stafford. It may be worth activating him on gamedays and preparing a red zone package in order to take advantage of his mobility. The Rams saw Justin Fields score his first career touchdown in 2021 in the same vein. It’s not unheard of.
It’s very obvious that Stafford has evident physical limitations, even if he approaches his level of play from last season. There is value to gain from Simpson if the team is willing to tap into it.
And whatever experience Simpson garners from this year will only pay dividends moving forward.
The Rams maybe knew something we didn’t. They weren’t just preparing for Stafford’s retirement. They were also trying to be ready in case the quarterback cliff unexpectedly came for the veteran. It may be here.
