Opinion: Titans give Rams wake-up call after second loss exposes deficiencies in physicality
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — In the span of 26 seconds of Sunday night’s contest between the Los Angeles Rams and Tennessee Titans, L.A. quarterback Matthew Stafford delivered a pair of jaw-droppers. But not of the good kind.
They were fatal transgressions; errors in judgement befitting of a rookie or bottom rung quarterback, and certainly not of a MVP candidate like Stafford.
First, while in the grasp of Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons while in his own end zone, Stafford chucked the ball up for grabs and into the hands of Tennessee linebacker David Long Jr. One play later, the Titans scored a touchdown to take their first lead of the game.
Then, returning to the field in search of redemption, Stafford dropped back on the first play of that possession and threw another interception – a pick-six to Titans safety Kevin Bayard.
Just like that, the Rams – regarded as one of front-runners in the race for an NFC bid for the Super Bowl – found themselves in an early hole. The deficit proved too insurmountable, and the Rams fell 28-16 to Tennessee in a game they should have handily won.
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"I basically spotted them 14 points," Stafford later admitted, "and you can’t do that in the NFL, especially against a good team like that who wants to get out in front, run the football, mix coverages and stuff like that. Wasn’t good enough early in the game and turnovers really killed us, and those were on me."
It wasn’t just the interceptions, however. Stafford’s offensive line got outplayed as the Titans sacked Stafford a season-high five times and prevented the Rams offense – the strength of the team – from ever finding its usual flow and potency.
Los Angeles fell to 7-2, missing out on a chance to move into a tie for the best record in the conference. And for the second time this season, the team lost at home to a team that had bullied their way to victory with an aggressive, physical approach.
The defeat should provide a wake-up call for Los Angeles. Because if the Rams could get so handily outplayed by a wounded opponent like the Titans, perhaps Super Bowl expectations are misplaced.
Make no mistake. Mike Vrabel’s Titans are good. They have ranked among the top teams in the AFC in each of the last three seasons, and even a week ago, many within the NFL would have counted them among a select group of Super Bowl contenders.
But that was before workhorse running back and MVP candidate Derrick Henry broke his foot and was lost for the season.
Such a gutting loss should have sent the Titans reeling.
The Rams should have capitalized defensively by bottling up the Titans’ makeshift solution of a running back committee to put Ryan Tannehill in unmanageable third- and fourth-down situations. Offensively, the Rams should have picked apart an opposing defense that ranks in the bottom half of the league in yards and points allowed and sacks registered.
Instead, Stafford and the offense looked inept. In addition to the five sacks, Stafford was hit a total of 11 times; the offense converted just four of 15 third downs and didn’t score its first and only touchdown until 24 seconds remained on the clock.
The Rams entered Sunday having surrendered just eight sacks through eight games – a league low. But the Titans brought pressure and rattled the Stafford early, and he never found a way to recover.
Some of the sacks were a result of strong downfield coverage which caused Stafford to hold onto the ball longer than he should have.
But others were simply the result of Titans defensive linemen man-handling Los Angeles offensive linemen.
And a unit that has registered some of the biggest plays of the season instead didn’t generate a single play longer than 26 yards.
Stafford blamed himself for the offensive struggles. He described himself as guilty of "probably being too aggressive," because he kept trying for that big, explosive play rather than taking what the defense gave him and moving the ball downfield methodically.
Coach Sean McVay, meanwhile, blamed himself for failing to better prepare his unit to counter the Titans threw at them.
But it wasn’t just one person deserving blame for the offensive struggles. And players on both sides of the ball certainly had a hand in committing a season-high 12 penalties for 115 yards.
The Titans – despite having sustained a devastating blow earlier in the week – attacked the Rams with an unmatched grittiness and efficiency.
Offensively, the Titans generated 194 total yards, but went 3-for-3 in the red zone.
Defensively, Simmons provided three sacks and a pass breakup to set the tone for a front that generally rushed just four and won.
And those efforts combined to derail the vaunted Rams.
The way the Titans outmuscled the Rams seemed eerily similar to the approach Arizona took when the Cardinals handed Los Angeles its first defeat of the season, only that recipe called for a physical rushing attack that the Rams never figured out how to stop, and Sunday night, it was the Titans defense that took it to L.A. in the trenches.
But even though two quality teams have had success against the Rams by winning in the physicality department, neither McVay nor his players were willing to acknowledge that they could have a problem on their hands.
"I think you go back and you say, 'All right, we’re not going to allow one game to define us,' " he said. "I don’t think that’s reflective of the type of football team we are. We had a rough night. It really seemed like that was kind of the narrative for the night. A lot of those things that occurred are uncharacteristic. I choose to believe that tonight was not a reflection of who we are. We can look at it, correct it, and we’ll keep it moving."
Echoing his coach, Stafford said: "We’ve got a great team that’s full of guys that care about putting the right stuff out there every single day. I know we’ll show up to work, ready to go, pissed off about losing the game, absolutely, but whatever mistakes were made in this game, we’ll make them right and be ready to go."
The Rams, however, had better brace for similar challenges in the coming weeks, and look for ways to elevate their physicality. Because in the NFL, when foes detect a weakness, they aim to exploit it again and again.
Stafford said his uncharacteristically poor decision making is easily fixable through a review of Sunday’s performance and commitment to correcting problem areas.
And left tackle Andrew Whitworth believed that when they re-watch the game, he and his teammates will see that they weren’t as far off Sunday as it seemed.
He did say the loss should serve as a wake up call, and in the locker room, he challenged his teammates to bounce back with a strong performance next week at NFC West rival San Francisco.
"This is what I said in the locker room, 'Kids pout and men respond and we have the opportunity to respond," the 16th-year veteran said. "Any time you get that in this league, where there’s another Sunday and opportunity, you should feel happy about it and blessed because that’s all you ever want: a chance to respond from a bad day."