It is time to take a closer look at the Los Angeles Rams.
2022 Record: 5-12
Last Meeting: 10/09/2022 22-10 Cowboys victory. (Dallas Cowboys lead series 19-18)
Head Coach: Sean McVay (63-42 as a head coach)
Key Additions: OG Steve Avila (draft), OLB Byron Young (draft), WR Puka Nacua (draft)
Key Departures: CB Jalen Ramsey, LB Bobby Wagner, LB Leonard Floyd
2022 Overview
The 2022 Los Angeles Rams were not a very good football team. A franchise that looks to have mortgaged its future for a Super Bowl championship a couple of years prior is now in the midst of paying the piper. While the Rams are a well-run organization with coaches and front-office members committed to winning, it will continue to be a challenge for the Rams to get back to the mountaintop relatively soon. In the meantime, the Rams are not a pushover by any means. While they have stated in the past that draft picks are often afterthoughts to the franchise, they have seemed to put together a productive this season with some surprise contributors showing out.
While the Rams are not one of the best teams in the NFC, they are a team that is capable of winning any Sunday, and the Cowboys would be wise to not overlook them this week.
Player to watch… WR, Cooper Kupp
Kupp started the season dealing with a troublesome knee injury that prevented him from being a factor early on. However, since his return to the lineup, it looks as if like everything is back to normal for the productive wide receiver as he has over 100 yards receiving in two of the three games.
Kupp has always been a safety blanket for Rams QB Matthew Stafford and the connection between the two is evident. Not only is the rapport there between the two, it certainly doesn’t hurt that Kupp is one of the quickest and most polished route runners in the NFL, making their connection look as easy as pitch and catch sometimes.
While rookie WR Puka Nacua is taking the league by storm and will be a handful in his own right, the Cowboys better have a plan for Kupp on Sunday or he can destroy a game, quickly.
How the Cowboys choose to combat the slot WR, and just who will be tasked with the job will be learned as the week goes on. They may employ more that one man to check him, making it more of an all-hands-on-deck type of situation in the secondary.
Don’t forget about… DT, Aaron Donald
It seems silly to suggest that Aaron Donald would be someone who could be forgotten, but this is mostly used as a reminder of sorts. Despite the team’s lack of success over the last year and a half, Donald is still Donald, and the interior of the Cowboys offensive line is going to need to be ready for a dogfight all day long.
So far this season Donald has tallied 29 tackles and 2.5 sacks from the interior where his presence is felt far further than just in the stat sheet. Donald likes to pick and choose his spots and try and attack a perceived weakness across the line, and while it’s not an indictment on center Tyler Biadasz, one may wonder if he will be the one seeing the brunt of Donald on Sunday.
