The Los Angeles Rams are currently on bye but have plenty of work to do to get back on track after they imploded against the Miami Dolphins in Week 8.
The Rams sit at 5-3 but have to be concerned with how they have performed because this is a roster that should be playing better than they have shown. Against Miami, the offense failed to adjust to Cover 0 blitzes that resulted in four turnovers from Jared Goff. The defense was the lone bright spot but was unable to make up for the other side’s inability to score.
Most of the disappointment was focused on the offense, but special teams was also a letdown in the game. The unit allowed Jakeem Grant to run back a punt return for a score, piling on to the Rams’ woes that afternoon.
Sean McVay noted he believed special teams has gotten progressively better throughout the 2020 season, but also acknowledged they still have work to do, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“I thought (special) teams has been steadily improving and unfortunately, yesterday I thought we took a step in the wrong direction based on how I thought Chicago was, by far and away, our best performance this season. I thought we covered really well. We knew we were going to have to do the same thing against (Dolphins WR) Jakeem Grant, a really dangerous returner and we didn’t do that. It’s a great challenge for us to really be able to focus on coming off of the bye, but it’s kind of where I see us right now.”
Special teams looked great in Week 7 against the Chicago Bears as Johnny Hekker was able to pin them deep on their side of the field several times and prevented them from ever returning it. However, the Dolphins were able to get good yardage on their returns which put even more pressure on the defense to get stops.
The primary concern for McVay and that unit, though, has to be the kicking situation as recently added Kai Forbath whiffed badly on a 48-yard field goal. The team parted ways with rookie kicker Samuel Sloman, who struggled in his first NFL action, but it appears that this issue could linger for the remainder of the season.
Knowing McVay and his staff, they will be able to right the ship during their downtime. Hopefully they bounce back in Week 10 against the Seattle Seahawks in a tough division matchup.
