For the first time in 24 years, two Los Angeles based teams faced one another Sunday afternoon at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The Los Angeles Rams hosted the Los Angeles Chargers in which was marketed as the ‘Battle of LA.’ The two teams play about 12 miles apart from each other but they will soon share a home stadium in 2020. The star-studded Rams clicked on all cylinders and had a big day on offense thanks to their receiving corps. Robert Woods, Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp were all in sync with their quarterback Jared Goff. The offense put up 521 total yards in a 35-23 victory over the Chargers.
Robert Woods Sparks the Los Angeles Rams to 35-23 Victory
Half a Thousand
We knew the Rams offense was good, but they took it to a whole another level Sunday afternoon versus the Chargers. The Rams cracked 500 total yards of offense for the first time since 2006 and are off to a 3-0 start for the first time since the 2001 season.
It started with their big playmakers out wide on offense. Goff was looking to go to Woods early on in the first quarter and connected with him often. Late in the first, the two connected for a touchdown for the Rams second touchdown of the game. Woods was also involved in the run game as well. The Rams ran a series of plays sending Woods in motion and handed it off to him on a jet sweep three times, finishing with 13 rush yards. Woods had seven receptions for 79 yards going into halftime and finished the game with 10 receptions, 104 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns and 13 rushing yards.
Kupp had a big afternoon as well for the Rams in their dominating victory. Kupp was the benefactor of a lot of single coverage thanks to his teammates Cooks and Woods getting the most attention. The second-year receiver had a big second half and finishe the game with four receptions, 71 yards and one impressive touchdown that featured a big broken tackle.
Goff with the dime to Kupp despite pressure pic.twitter.com/orArgSIkS8
— Ian Wharton (@NFLFilmStudy) September 23, 2018
Cooks was also heavily involved in the Rams gameplan and set the tone for himself and other receivers. After a couple penalties on deep routes, the focus of the Chargers secondary was to prevent the big plays to Cooks down the field. This opened up holes in the secondary for Kupp, Woods and tight end Tyler Higbee to exploit. Cooks himself finished the game with seven receptions for 90 yards.
Jared Goff’s Hot Start
Goff was rolling early on and had his best performance of the 2018 season. He finished the game 29-36, with 354 passing yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Goff did an excellent job spreading the ball around early and started the game completing his first 13 passes. The third-year quarterback also displayed great pocket awareness and was able to avoid the pressure on several occasions, then connecting with his receivers down the field like the play to Kupp above.
Forcing Turnovers
Sean McVay has to be pleased with his team’s performance today, in particular, the turnovers created. The first came in the second quarter after the Rams defense had forced the Chargers offense to go three and out deep in their own territory. On fourth down, linebacker Corey Littleton brought pressure up the middle and was able to block Drew Kaser‘s punt. The play was a big shift of momentum for the Rams because Goff had just thrown an interception to Derwin James in the previous offensive possession.
In the Chargers first possession of the second half, cornerback Talib made an excellent play stripping the ball from Keenan Allen as he was trying to fight for more yards. This was also another big swing in momentum as Kupp scored his touchdown the ensuing possession.
In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Rams forced another fumble as Chargers running back Austin Ekeler was extending for a first down. Lamarcus Joyner recovered the ball, sealing the victory for the Rams.
Two Starting Corners Leave the Game
Every team gets hit with their fair share of injuries over the course of the season, however, the Rams may have been hit with two huge ones Sunday afternoon. Starting cornerback Marcus Peters left the game in the first half after suffering a lower leg injury. Initial reports declared it was an achilles injury to Peters but the severity of the injury is unknown. The all-pro cornerback had to be carted off the field and will be further tested on Monday.
Marcus Peters lifted by trainers to cart and then driven off field pic.twitter.com/Fy2Msx8KUO
— Omar Ruiz (@OmarDRuiz) September 23, 2018
Peters teammate Aqib Talib suffered an ankle injury in the second half after getting rolled up on by a member of the Chargers offense. Talib was able to walk off the field under his own power but had to leave the game and head into the locker room.
Aqib Talib going to @RamsNFL locker room.#abc7eyewitness pic.twitter.com/XGm0KBJb0f
— Curt Sandoval (@abc7curt) September 23, 2018
The severity of both corners’ injuries are still unknown but it looks like both will miss the team’s next game Thursday night versus the Minnesota Vikings.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
