Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams are teetering at 1-3. With a win, a climb to 2-3 keeps hope alive. However, at 1-4, the Rams might have dug themselves too deep of a hole early on in the season. To avoid suffering such a catastrophic fate, the Rams will need an air-tight game plan against the Green Bay Packers.
The Packers come into the contest hungry after losing a critical early-season game to the Minnesota Vikings at home. As such, don’t expect to catch the Packers napping. That said, game plans are more about what teams need to do instead of narrowing down what they don’t want to do.
Keeping this in mind, here are three “Do’s” and one “Don’t” for the Los Angeles Rams this week.
Do: Los Angeles Rams Need To Feature A Heavy Running Game
Kyren Williams might be the least affected player by injuries personally or by proxy. As such, despite the troubles on the offensive line, it is imperative to put the ball in Williams’ hands on most early downs.
Even if he needs to catch a pass out of the backfield, it is better than putting all hopes on the wide receiving room sans Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua.
Do: Use Play-Action On At Least 40% Of Throwing Attempts
If the first step was followed, it should be easy to pull off a high percentage of play-action passes. Even if the run wasn’t established beforehand, a play-action pass might still get one of the linebackers to bite, opening a throw over the middle. This will help Stafford’s passing windows get bigger.
Also Read: Current Los Angeles Rams Player Responds To Notion Of Cooper Kupp Trade
With Kupp and Nacua out, the Rams need to dress up their pass plays as much as possible.
Do: Be Patient With Short-Yardage Gains
Even if the offense struggles to get big chunks early on, Sean McVay cannot panic. He must have patience that even if the run game and quick, short passes don’t work early on, they will break for big yardage eventually. Once that happens in the second half, the offense will be able to get big returns on their early-game bruising attacks.
Don’t: Throw More Than 25 Times
If Matthew Stafford throws more than two dozen times, it will be an indication that the game got away from him. As good as Stafford is, the Los Angeles Rams are walking into a poorly timed matchup with their backs against the wall. The Packers have two secondary players at the top of the leaderboard in terms of interceptions.
Xavier McKinney leads the league in interceptions at the time of writing. Jaire Alexander is also not far behind. As such, without his two top receivers, Stafford is walking into a hornet’s nest without bug spray.
The playcalling needs to be clinical and the quarterback needs to make the most of his throwing opportunities. However, he can’t throw up 50/50 balls and expect the defense not to come away with a turnover.
If it seems like the Rams are walking a tightrope this week with lots of ways the game could end negatively, that is because this is indeed the case. Only the cleanest game gets the Rams out of their current 1-3 jam.