The Los Angeles Rams came out of Week 1 looking nothing like the Super Bowl favorites many expected them to be. A 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers is the kind of opening punch that can send a fan base into full alarm mode, especially when Matthew Stafford and the offense struggled and Myles Garrett was clearly limited before landing on injured reserve Sunday morning.
But according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Rams themselves aren’t treating the defeat like the start of a crisis.
"I don't, however, sense heavy panic from the Rams, who seemed to approach the Australia trip with the excitement of a teenager asked to take out the trash," Fowler writes.
That’s not exactly the posture you want from a team entering a season with big expectations, but the Rams appear to be viewing this through a much wider lens. It was one game.
There are 16 more to play. And this particular matchup came with the kind of weird factors that can make Week 1 feel like a trapdoor: a likely jet-lagged Rams team, no Aaron Donald, and Garrett not fully healthy.
Strip away the ugly score for a moment, and the Rams still look like a team with a loaded roster. The defense should be able to hold together without Garrett and Donald, and the offense has plenty of room to improve from what it showed in the opener.
And if Week 1 taught anything, it’s that early-season results can be wildly misleading. The source of the reminder is last season’s New England Patriots loss to the Las Vegas Raiders - a game that looked one way in September and ended up meaning almost nothing by the time the year was done, with the Patriots making the Super Bowl and the Raiders landing the No. 1 overall pick.
So while the Rams’ opener was ugly, they’re not treating it like a verdict. For now, they’re betting it was just a one-off disaster, not a preview.
In Other News...
49ers Already Look Right About One Offseason Decision
The 49ers offseason swap with Dallas is already drawing attention after one Sunday of action. San Francisco sent linebacker Dee Winters to the Cowboys for a fifth-round pick, and the early returns were uneven on both sides of the deal, especially with the 49ers looking to reshape their defense around more dependable pieces.
Winters had a rough Week 1 for Dallas against the Giants, with coverage issues standing out, while Osa Odighizuwa immediately gave San Francisco a boost along the defensive front. It is still early, but the contrast between the two players first games in new uniforms gives the 49ers a quick reason to feel good about the decision they made. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Passing Game Just Took Another Hit At Wide Receiver
The 49ers receiver depth keeps getting tested, and DeZhaun Stribling is the latest name to fall off the board. The rookie wideout had surgery on his injured left ankle and is expected to miss about 10 weeks, a setback that comes after he had carved out a significant role in the offense following another receivers season-ending knee surgery.
Kyle Shanahan said the injury is a deltoid sprain, and Stribling is likely headed to injured reserve, forcing San Francisco to keep reshuffling the back end of its wideout group. KhaDarel Hodge was promoted to the active roster in his place, giving the 49ers another experienced option, but the bigger issue is how quickly the room has thinned out and how much more strain that puts on the rest of the passing game. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Rookie Edge Rusher Already Facing An Early Concern
Romello Height got an extended look right away in his NFL debut, and that alone spoke to how the 49ers view their rookie third-round pick. The edge rusher was on the field for 30 snaps and was used heavily in passing situations, a sign San Francisco wanted to see what he could give right away after entering the league with a reputation as one of the more pro-ready young defenders in the class.
Instead, the first game left plenty to sort through. Height came away without a tackle or pressure on 18 pass rush attempts, a quiet opening night for a player expected to bring more immediate polish because of his age and college experience. For a 49ers defense that leans on steady production up front, the bigger question now is how quickly he can turn opportunity into impact. [Read more 🡒]