The Los Angeles Rams stumbled in the worst way against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night, losing their season opener, 27-7. It was one of the worst losses in Sean McVay's tenure, making the long flight back to Southern California feel that much longer after a defeat like that.
Three players stood out in a positive way for the Rams, but many of their biggest stars were disappointments in Melbourne.
Stud: Blake Corum
It's hard to find very many bright spots from this loss, but Corum was one of them. He rushed 10 times for 54 yards, with a long of 13 yards. At one point in the second quarter, he racked up 34 yards on four straight carries, looking quick and explosive through the line of scrimmage.
Some will make the case that he should be the Rams' No. 1 running
back, and while we're not quite at that point yet, he did look like the bigger playmaker on the field Thursday.
Dud: Matthew Stafford
From the very beginning of the game, Stafford didn't look comfortable. He was holding the ball a second longer than usual, whether it was because receivers weren't getting open or he wasn't trusting what he was seeing. He completed just 15 of 25 passes for 155 yards and no touchdowns with one bad interception when the Rams were in field goal range.
He didn't see the field well and will need to be much better moving forward if the Rams are going to get back on track.
Stud: Puka Nacua
Nacua had very little to work with in this one. It was tough to find open space against the 49ers defense, and even the catches Nacua did make were in traffic and by no means easy. His 41-yard catch in the first quarter was the Rams' best play of the game and it required him to elevate and stiff-arm a defender to pick up the yardage that he did.
He finished with 74 yards on five catches, which is a modest stat line by his standards.
Dud: Myles Garrett
Garrett's debut couldn't have gone much worse than it did. He was blanked on the stat sheet, failing to record a single tackle or QB hit for just the fourth time in his career. He said after the game that he's not fully healthy and he was more worried about not getting hurt when he was on the field, but even at 90%, Garrett should be better than he was.
Stud: Trent McDuffie
One of the Rams' other big offseason additions looked great. McDuffie made four tackles and provided tight coverage on the back end, only allowing two catches on four targets for 12 yards, according to PFF. He also had two pass breakups and a tackle for a loss.
The Rams used a lot of zone coverage, but once they unleash McDuffie in man, he should be even better.
Dud: Davante Adams
Adams was barely involved in this one. He didn't have a single catch in the first half, had one reception for 13 yards in the third quarter and two more in the fourth when the game was just about out of reach. Even in the red zone, the Rams didn't have him on the field the majority of the time, instead going with their 13 personnel packages.
On six targets, he caught just three passes for 26 yards.
Dud: Tyler Higbee
It's hard to understand why Higbee is getting more targets and involvement than Terrance Ferguson. He caught two passes for 12 yards, which came on back-to-back plays, the second of which ended with a lost fumble that basically iced the game for the 49ers.
Higbee doesn't have the juice to be a downfield threat, nor does he offer the upside that Ferguson does as a run-after-catch receiver.
Dud: Kamren Kinchens
Kinchens appeared to be out of position on Demarcus Robinson's 39-yard touchdown catch, playing too shallow and allowing the receiver to blow by him on a streak down the middle of the field. He was also the closest defender on Deebo Samuel's 15-yard touchdown catch, though it's hard to know if he was fully to blame for it.
He just didn't look comfortable in space, which can happen against an offense as complex as Kyle Shanahan's.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Studs and duds from Rams' Week 1 loss: Stafford, Garrett disappoint
