Rams Week 4 snap counts: LA goes deeper on defense vs. Cardinals

[theramswire.usatoday.com]
Rams Week 4 snap counts: LA goes deeper on defense vs. Cardinals


Cameron DaSilva
October 4, 2021 8:06 am PT

The Rams had no answers for Kyler Murray and the Cardinals on Sunday afternoon in their 37-20 loss to Arizona. The Cardinals scored on seven of their first nine possessions, moving the ball at will against a Rams defense that looked overmatched.

The Rams attempted to go a bit deeper on defense by giving other players some opportunities, but that didn’t work in their favor. The Cardinals were simply the better team, no matter who Raheem Morris trotted out there.


Looking at the snap counts from Week 4, the Rams didn’t change much on offense, but the defensive rotation was larger with Ogbonnia Okoronkwo playing a bunch, as did Terrell Lewis. There’s still no sign of Terrell Burgess on defense, though.

Offense

The Rams only played four wide receivers again, with Tutu Atwell failing to get on the field on offense for the third time in four games. Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods each played 65 of a possible 68 snaps, maintaining their roles as the top two wideouts. Van Jefferson played a season-low 68% of the snaps, mostly because DeSean Jackson played a season-high 22 snaps and Sean McVay opted not to pull Woods or Kupp off the field in order to give Jackson more playing time.

Darrell Henderson Jr. once again had a firm grip on the backfield in his return after missing Week 3. He played 90% of the snaps compared to just 10% for Sony Michel, who fumbled in the first half and landed in the dog house with no rush attempts after that mistake.

There was a narrower gap between Tyler Higbee and Johnny Mundt in this game than usual. Higbee played 79%, second-lowest of the season, while Mundt was out there 29% of the time. There were some two-tight end sets, but Higbee has clearly earned a role as a run-blocking tight end.


Defense

The starting secondary once again played every snap. That group includes Jalen Ramsey, Taylor Rapp, Jordan Fuller and Darious Williams. None of them came off the field for even a single snap. They’ve established themselves as the most important players in the secondary and neither McVay nor Morris sees a need to pull them for backups, no matter the situation.

With how often the Rams were in nickel and dime packages, David Long Jr. still played 82% of the snaps despite his struggles. Robert Rochell got in five snaps, but Nick Scott played just 21% after being out there for 42% of the plays last week.

At inside linebacker, Kenny Young played all but one snap. Troy Reeder has been the starter next to him, but he played just 35% of the defensive snaps with Ernest Jones playing a career-high 10 snaps. Jones rotated in for Reeder for a handful of plays, which was somewhat surprising but gave the rookie valuable experience.

On the edge, Leonard Floyd once again led the way with 79% of the snaps played. Terrell Lewis played a career-high 44 snaps as he continues to build up his workload, and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo hit the ground running with 34 snaps played in his season debut. Justin Lawler was the only other edge rusher to play in this one, getting nine snaps.

Along the defensive line, Aaron Donald only came off the field for six snaps. Sebastian Joseph-Day played 48 snaps, with A’Shawn Robinson playing a season-high 35 snaps. Despite the three starters playing most of the game, Jonah Williams (9 snaps) and Michael Hoecht (5) still got some action in the loss.