Studs and duds from Rams' Week 1 win: Cooks, newcomers shine
Cameron DaSilva
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theramswire.usatoday.com]
It took a complete team effort for the Los Angeles Rams to knock off the Oakland Raiders Monday night, both defensively and offensively. There were quite a few standout performances from the Rams, but there were also some disappointing ones, too.
Here are studs and duds from Monday’s 33-13 win over Oakland.
Studs
WR Brandin Cooks
Cooks didn’t have 150 yards and two scores, but he had a great first game with the Rams. In the first half alone, he drew two pass interference penalties for a total of 87 yards. That doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, but it certainly doesn’t go unnoticed by savvy fans and or the coaching staff.
In the end, he finished with five catches for 87 yards, the longest of which went for 30 yards. He showed a willingness to go over the middle with defenders lurking, while also displaying awareness along the sidelines. He’s exactly what the Rams were hoping he’d be.
Offensive line
The offensive line was near-perfect in this one. Jared Goff was only sacked once, but that was largely his fault after he stood in the pocket too long and wasn’t aware of Bruce Irvin looping around. Goff admitted after the game that the sack was on him, complimenting the entire offensive line for the job it did protecting him.
In the running game, Gurley had nice running lanes to burst through, rarely getting hit behind the line of scrimmage. The unit didn’t miss a beat with Austin Blythe filling in for Jamon Brown.
CBs Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib
There was a lot of hype surrounding the Rams’ secondary entering this season, and needless to say, it lived up to expectations. While it’s still very early, the early returns on Peters and Talib are excellent. We didn’t hear Talib’s name called much in this one, but that’s a good thing. He was great in coverage and didn’t let Jordy Nelson do much of anything, limiting him to just three catches for 23 yards.
Peters was even better, shutting down Amari Cooper. He held him to just one catch for 9 yards, intercepting Carr in the fourth quarter and returning it for a touchdown. If this is how the corners are going to play every week, expect teams to target their running backs and tight ends the way Oakland did.
OLB Samson Ebukam
Ebukam got off to a hot start, and although he cooled down in the second half, he made a handful of nice plays early on. In total, he had three tackles for loss – though one was a gift after Derek Carr fell down – which led all players in the game.
On that same drive, Ebukam stuffed Doug Martin on a swing pass in the Raiders’ own territory, a great stop in the open field. Later in the game, he snuck into the backfield to bring Marshawn Lynch down for a 5-yard loss.
RB Todd Gurley
It wouldn’t be a “studs” section if Gurley didn’t make an appearance. The reigning Offensive Player of the Year picked up where he left off last season, rushing for 108 yards on just 20 carries. His longest run of the game was 23 yards, while also adding three catches for 39 yards and a touchdown on a tap pass from Goff.
He showed the same explosiveness and burst he had last season despite not playing in the preseason, setting aside any concerns about rust or needing time to get up to speed. He’s once again going to be an MVP candidate.
Honorable mentions: LB Cory Littleton, DE Michael Brockers, WR Cooper Kupp
Duds
S John Johnson
Johnson’s stat line looks good with nine tackles, an interception and a pass defensed, but it was hardly representative of his play. The second-year safety really struggled on Monday night, missing tackles, getting beat by Jared Cook repeatedly and looking shaky in coverage.
Johnson was the primary defender on Cook for most of the night, and while he didn’t surrender all nine catches for 180 yards by the tight end, he was on the wrong end of many of those plays. He redeemed himself a bit by picking off Carr in the end zone, but there was more bad than good in this one.
QB Jared Goff
Like Johnson, Goff’s stat line doesn’t look terrible: 18 of 33 for 233 yards and two touchdown passes with a rating of 97.2. Not bad, right? Well, that stat line could’ve been much better, and at the same time, much worse.
He overthrew Robert Woods on a couple of occasions, while also missing Kupp in the end zone on an inaccurate throw. The pass was nearly intercepted, but it could’ve easily been a touchdown.
Also in the red zone, Goff almost handed Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie after it was tipped in the air by the former Giants defensive back, falling harmlessly to the turf. His fumble was almost a disaster after he didn’t feel the pressure from Bruce Irvin, but Rob Havenstein bailed him out by falling on the ball.
Goff simply wasn’t very accurate on passes 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, missing open receivers several times.
CB Troy Hill
Hill was a non-factor on defense, but he had an impact on special teams. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the good kind of impact. He was flagged twice on consecutive punts for holding the Raiders’ gunner, leading to 10-yard setbacks for the offense. Special teams penalties are never good and can really hurt a backup like Hill’s value.
Depth players
The Rams stuck to 11 personnel for just about the entire game, only putting Johnny Mundt and Gerald Everett on the field a couple of times. Josh Reynolds was spotted only once or twice, while Pharoh Cooper didn’t appear to get any chances at wide receiver. McVay leaned on his top playmakers, as indicated by the box score.
Tyler Higbee wasn’t targeted once, while only five players caught passes and carried the ball all night long.
