The early-season spotlight in Arizona, Detroit, and Los Angeles already has a few sharp edges on it.
In Arizona, the Cardinals are trying to keep Week 1 in its proper place after their upset of the Chargers. Head coach Mike LaFleur made it clear the message inside the building is not to get carried away before a trip to face the Seahawks in Week 2.
“Confidence is great, but like I told them today, ‘We got to reset and get right back to work,’” LaFleur said, via the team’s website. “This is a week-to-week league, and your goal is to go 1-0 every weekend.
We’re not going to talk anything past that. Obviously we got the result, but we’re right back to work.”
Detroit is dealing with a health note of its own. Lions head coach Dan Campbell said guard Christian Mahogany’s hip injury does not sound like a long-term issue.
“I don’t think this is something serious, long-term.” Campbell said, via Pouncy.
The loudest noise, though, is around the Rams, where the week has already piled up fast. The Week 1 flop in Australia, the blank stat sheet from blockbuster trade acquisition Myles Garrett, and the decision to place Garrett on injured reserve all landed in rapid fire. Around the league, some people are already watching the relationship between Garrett and Los Angeles closely.
Garrett, as one former Browns assistant put it to The Athletic’s Mike Sando, operated with different rules in Cleveland, but he also had the production to support that kind of treatment.
“When Myles said he needed to change and do whatever he needed to get himself ready, I took that as either he did not buy into what the team was doing, or there was another ailment going on,” the former Browns assistant said. “It was probably a little bit of both.”
Garrett’s own words after the loss pointed in the same direction.
“I didn’t feel I was the player I’ve been before when I stepped on the field (in Australia),” Garrett said. “I gotta do what I can to get back to that.”
In Other News...
Rams Have One Bigger Concern Than An Ugly Week 1 Loss
The Rams Week 1 trip to San Francisco ended in a lopsided 27-7 loss, but the bigger takeaway for Sean McVays team was how uneven the overall showing felt on both sides of the ball. McVay said the lesson now is to absorb it, fix it and move on, because the opener offered too many reminders that this roster still has some early-season sorting out to do.
Matthew Stafford was held well below his standard, and the defense, under Chris Shulas zone-heavy approach and low blitz rate, never found enough answers to slow the 49ers. The Rams do have some relief on the horizon with Aaron Donalds possible return looming and depth along the defensive line, but the more immediate concern is whether the issues exposed in Week 1 are just opening-week rust or something more substantial. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Suddenly Have A Week 13 Problem Their Defense Knows Too Well
Kenneth Walker III is arriving at Week 13 with a familiar kind of warning label for the Rams. He just gashed the Broncos for 173 yards and two touchdowns, the sort of performance that turns a backfield into the centerpiece of a game plan, and Los Angeles is already bracing for what he can do next as it gets ready to face the Chiefs.
For the Rams, the timing is awkward because run defense has already been a point of emphasis after a shaky showing in Week 1. Walker is no longer with the Seahawks, but he remains exactly the kind of downhill challenge that can expose lingering issues in a defense still trying to tighten up against the ground game. [Read more 🡒]
Sean McVay Faces Early Pressure To Fix A Rams Offense Fast
The Rams came out of Week 1 with an ugly offensive reset, finishing last in points scored and never getting close to double digits. Los Angeles also had trouble on the other side of the ball, giving up 27 points, but the bigger concern in the building is how little rhythm the offense found against a defense that was able to keep the Rams from sustaining drives or generating the kind of explosive plays Sean McVay usually builds around.
There were few answers from the tight end group, and more than a few receivers were not fully tapped into the game plan, leaving the attack feeling out of sync from the start. Now the focus shifts quickly to the Giants in Week 2, where McVay is expected to make adjustments and give this offense a better chance to look like itself before the early pressure turns into something much louder. [Read more 🡒]