Tag: rams stats

Puka Nacua is having one of the most efficient seasons ever by a WR based on this metric

Puka Nacua’s 3.53 yards per route run this season is the 3rd-highest of any player since it became a stat in 2006

The Los Angeles Rams’ offense has gotten much better since Puka Nacua returned from his knee injury and it’s no coincidence. After putting up record-setting numbers as a rookie last year, he’s been just as good this season, if not better.

In only nine games, he’s racked up 805 yards and three touchdowns. That includes two games where he exited before halftime due to a knee injury and ejection. He’s improved in just about every area, from success rate (56.9% to 65.1%) to yards per target (9.3 to 9.7).

He’s even averaging more yards per game (89.4) than he averaged last season (87.4) when he had 1,486 yards. That means if he were healthy all year, he’d be on track to eclipse 1,500 yards receiving.

Perhaps the most telling stat when it comes to Nacua’s efficiency is his 3.53 yards per route run. According to Pro Football Focus, it’s the third-highest rate of any player since 2006 when PFF started tracking the stat, trailing only Steve Smith Sr. (2008) and Tyreek Hill (2023).

Even in an offense with Cooper Kupp and Kyren Williams both healthy, there’s no question who the go-to playmaker is for the Rams. Nacua impacts the game as a receiver and a blocker, making him one of the most well-rounded players in football.

He’s well on his way to climbing the NFL record books if he can stay on the field and avoid injuries during his career.

Rams-49ers slopfest was the first of its kind in the NFL this season

Every game in the NFL has had at least one touchdown this season – except for Thursday night’s Rams-49ers field goal fest

Last week, the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills set a record as the highest-scoring game in the NFL this season, combining for 12 touchdowns and 86 points. On Thursday night, the Rams and 49ers also set a season record – only this time, it was for offensive futility.

For the first time all year, an NFL game finished with zero touchdowns. That means there were 208 straight games with at least one touchdown until Thursday night’s slopfest at a rainy Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

The Rams couldn’t care less because they won 12-6 and improved their record to 8-6, but fans would’ve loved to see someone find the end zone at least once. Instead, they were treated to a field goal barrage.

Joshua Karty made four field goals and Jake Moody made two, providing the only points in the entire game. For comparison, there were 13 punts in this game after the Rams and 49ers combined for just four punts in their Week 14 wins.

Byron Young is in a class of his own with this impressive NFL-leading stat

No player in the NFL has forced more turnovers via pressure than Rams edge rusher Byron Young

Jared Verse, Braden Fiske and Kobie Turner get a ton of attention and praise along the Rams’ defensive line, and for good reason. They’re crucial pieces up front, but Byron Young is a player who should not be forgotten.

Since coming in as a third-round rookie in 2023, all he’s done is make plays for the Rams. He has 84 total pressures in the last two years, according to Pro Football Focus, and before Sunday’s win over the Saints, he went nine straight games with at least three pressures.

Beyond just sacking the quarterback, he finds ways to create turnovers by generating pressure off the edge. In fact, he’s better at it than any other player in the NFL.

According to Next Gen Stats, Young is the only player in the league who has forced at least five turnovers via pressure this season. T.J. Watt and Danielle Hunter are tied for second with four, and five other players (including Verse) have three.

It was Verse’s pressure against the Packers that led to a pick-six by Jaylen McCollough. He also forced a fumble against the 49ers that Braden Fiske recovered, creating a takeaway in the Rams’ win over their rivals.

He had three other pressures that led to interceptions, as well, giving him five turnovers created by pressure on the year.

Young’s 34 total pressures rank fourth on the team and his six sacks are tied for the most of any Rams player this year – after tying for second on the team with eight sacks a year ago.

Young may not get the attention that Verse and Fiske do, but his impact on the Rams defense shouldn’t be ignored. He’s been a big reason for their success this season, as evidenced by the five turnovers he’s created.

Rams made big improvements in two key areas vs. Saints

The Rams finally made some strides in two critical areas, which was the difference in the game against the Saints

A lot of things have gone wrong for the Los Angeles Rams on offense this season. Between injuries, inefficient running and penalties, it’s been a struggle to get going on that side of the ball – a surprising development when you consider how much talent the Rams have on offense.

But two things have been the root issue for Los Angeles’ inability to put up points consistently: third down and red zone efficiency. Entering Week 13, the Rams ranked 25th in red zone touchdown percentage and 31st in third-down conversion rate.

On Sunday against the Saints, the Rams made huge strides in both areas. After going 0-for-8 on third down last week and starting Sunday’s game 0-for-2, the Rams moved the chains on four of their final seven third-down attempts to finish the game 4-for-9 – a respectable rate, one that allowed them to sustain drives and put up points in the second half.

In the red zone, the Rams had really struggled in their first 11 games of the season, settling for field goal after field goal. That was particularly troublesome given Joshua Karty’s inaccuracy, missing one field goal in each of his previous three games.

Against the Saints, the Rams were 3-for-3 when reaching the red zone, scoring touchdowns all three times. In a game they won 21-14, that was the difference. Rather than kicking three field goals and only coming away with nine points, they scored three touchdowns. One was a rushing score by Kyren Williams from 4 yards out and the other two were short touchdown receptions by Demarcus Robinson and Puka Nacua.

In a game where the Rams only ran 55 offensive plays and attempted just 24 passes, they needed to be as efficient as possible when given scoring opportunities. And they were.

If the Rams can continue to move the chains on third down and score touchdowns in the red area, they can be competitive against any team. That’s just a big “if” at this point in the year because as we’ve seen week in and week out, the offense is wildly inconsistent.

Sunday’s game was a step in the right direction and could lead to improvements from the offense as a whole. They’ll be tested in a big way against the 10-2 Bills, who are eighth in red zone defense but only 20th in third-down conversion rate allowed.

The Rams must score touchdowns instead of field goals this Sunday, given the fact that the Bills have scored at least 30 points in six straight games and boast one of the best offenses in the league.

Rams are 1st team in 20 years to pull off a win like Sunday’s vs. Patriots

This insane stat shows how unlikely the Rams’ win over the Patriots was when you consider New England’s numbers on offense

The Los Angeles Rams came away with a win over the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon and the numbers suggest it was an unlikely victory. It would be a stretch to say the Rams were outplayed by the Patriots (because they weren’t) but New England’s stats on offense were good enough to win this game.

The Patriots had 382 yards, 26 first downs, went 6-for-14 on third down, ran 73 total plays and possessed the ball for 37 minutes and 20 seconds. The biggest difference? The Patriots settled for three field goals, two of which were 32 yards or shorter. The Rams, meanwhile, scored four touchdowns and should’ve added another three points if not for a missed 26-yard chip shot by Joshua Karty.

According to Boston Sports Info on X (formerly Twitter), the Patriots are the first team since 2004 to lose a home game in regulation where they had at least 375 yards, 37 minutes of possession and a passer rating of 100. The last team to lose such a game was the 2004 Titans against the Chiefs, a 49-38 shootout in Tennessee.

Query Results Table
Tot. Tot.
Rk Team Date
▼		 Tot ToP Rate Week Opp Result
1 NWE 2024-11-17 382 37:20 100.2 11 LAR L 22-28
2 TEN 2004-12-13 542 37:59 130.6 14 KAN L 38-49
3 NYJ 1991-11-10 436 37:27 102.7 11 IND L 27-28
4 HOU 1990-10-28 425 37:30 104.9 8 NYJ L 12-17
5 PHI 1990-09-30 409 38:55 109.2 4 IND L 23-24
6 WAS 1983-09-05 447 37:18 105.7 1 DAL L 30-31
Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 11/18/2024.

Since 2005, teams had been 112-0 in those games before the Rams beat the Patriots on Sunday.

The Rams didn’t possess the ball for very long because their four drives that ended in punts were all less than 3 minutes long. And two of their touchdown drives were 4 seconds and 50 seconds long.

The Patriots, as a result, ran a lot more plays (73 to 51), but the Rams’ explosiveness on offense was the difference in the game.

There’s no question the Rams were the better team, and as ugly as the Patriots’ record is, this was a tough game for any team to win on a short week after flying across the country for an early 1 p.m. ET kickoff. The Rams deserve credit for this victory more than the Patriots deserve blame for losing it.

Rams-Packers advanced stats comparison: LA has the edge in almost every area

Looking at the advanced stats, it’s clear the Rams have the edge in just about every area over the Packers

Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers is a matchup of two former NFC powerhouses that have struggled through the first eight weeks of the season. The Rams come in having lost three of their last four, while the Packers have lost four straight entering this matchup.

Much of this one hinges on whether Matthew Stafford plays or not, but the advanced stats show the Rams have been the (slightly) better team than the Packers this season. According to Sumer Sports, the Rams rank higher than the Packers in most categories, from EPA per play to explosive play rate.

Out of 11 categories, the Rams have the advantage in 10 of them, with the only exception being pass rate over expected; the Packers are 16th and the Rams are 18th, which just means the Packers throw the ball more than expected depending on the situation.

The Rams’ biggest edge comes on the ground. Los Angeles is surprisingly fifth in EPA per rush this season, while the Packers’ rushing attack is only 18th. The Rams are also better at creating explosive plays, with a rate of 9.3% (18th) compared to the Packers’ 7.2% (27th) rate.

Check out the full comparison of these two teams below.

Rams have overcome lack of takeaways, poor field position with highly efficient offense

The Rams are the only team in the NFL that hasn’t started a drive in opponent territory, yet the offense is still scoring at a high rate

For as well as the Los Angeles Rams have played through four games, they could be even better if the defense forced a few more turnovers. The Rams have just two takeaways up to this point, which is tied for the fifth-fewest in the NFL.

As a result, the offense’s average starting field position is their own 26.4-yard line, which is also the fifth-worst in the league. Defensively, teams are starting at their own 32.3-yard line on average against the Rams, which ranks 30th in football.

So not only are the Rams starting drives with awful field position on a weekly basis, but the defense is also being put in tough spots because of turnovers by the offense and missed field goals by Brett Maher.

In fact, Los Angeles is the only team in the NFL that hasn’t started a single drive in its opponent’s territory. The Bills, meanwhile, have had eight such drives, the most in football.

It’s honestly impressive the Rams are even 13th in points scored and 15th in points allowed despite these troubling stats. The way they’ve overcome it is with efficient play on offense and long, sustained drives.

The Rams have run the most plays in the NFL (286) through four weeks, average the second-most plays per drive (7.02), the sixth-most yards per drive (36.5) and the eighth-most points per possession (2.3). Of their 43 offensive possessions this season, 48.8% have ended in points, which is the sixth-best rate in the league.

What’s helped Los Angeles maintain these long possessions is a high conversion rate on third down, moving the chains 43.9% of the time, which ranks eighth in football.

It may not seem like a major accomplishment to rank 13th in points scored through four weeks, but when you’re starting deep in your own territory as often as the Rams are, it makes that stat all the more impressive.

At some point, the defense will have to increase its takeaway count. Los Angeles only has one interception, a miraculous play by Ahkello Witherspoon against the Bengals, and one fumble recovery, which came against the Colts.

If the defense can start forcing more turnovers and giving the offense some short fields to work with, the Rams will put up even more point and hopefully lead to more wins.

This stat comparing Rams’ current offense to 2017-2021 is hard to believe

The Rams have more games with less than 200 yards this season than the last 5 years combined

It has not been fun to watch the Rams’ offense in its current state. Without Cooper Kupp and Allen Robinson, the receiving corps might be the worst in the NFL. They’re down to their fourth starting quarterback and have started 12 different offensive line groups, and prior to Monday night, they were the only team without a single touchdown scored by a tight end.

Even when Matthew Stafford and Kupp were healthy, this was a bottom-tier offense. It really is unlike any offense we’ve seen in nearly six full years under Sean McVay. There are stats to put this season into perspective, too.

After putting up just 156 total yards against the Packers on Monday night, the Rams now have two games with fewer than 200 yards in a game this season. The other was in Week 12 against the Chiefs when Los Angeles had 198 total yards. The Texans are the only other team in the NFL with two games of fewer than 200 yards.

In the previous five years combined, the Rams had just one game with fewer than 200 yards: Week 6 of the 2019 season against the 49ers. That includes the playoffs, so it’s a total of 91 games from 2017-2021. Only three teams had fewer sub-200-yard games than the Rams in those five years.

When you compare last season to this year, it’s also shocking how far the offense has fallen. The Rams gained at least 340 yards in 17 of their 21 total games in 2021. This year, they’ve had 340-plus yards just once in 14 games. That was in Week 6 against the Panthers when they gained 360 yards in a 24-10 win.

A regression was always possible this year after dominating offensively in 2021, but no one could’ve seen this type of season coming. The Rams went from having a top-10 offense to having the second-worst offense in football in a span of one season.

Hopefully with everyone healthy in 2023, the Rams will bounce back from what’s been a dreadful post-Super Bowl campaign.

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Rams must improve in goal-to-go situations

The Rams were only average in goal-to-go situations last season, an area where they must improve

Last season, the Los Angeles Rams improved noticeably on offense. They were much better and significantly more explosive with Matthew Stafford at quarterback, scoring from all over the field with big plays through the air.

The Rams went from 22nd in points scored in 2020 to seventh last season, seemingly getting better as the season went on. However, there’s always room for improvement – something Sean McVay, Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and everyone else on offense will tell you.

According to Warren Sharp, the Rams were only tied for 15th in goal-to-go efficiency. In other words, they were just average when getting inside the 10-yard line on the door step of the end zone.

It wasn’t due to a high number of turnovers, either. Inside the 10, Stafford completed 50% of his passes with 22 touchdowns and only one interception. What hurt the Rams was poor production running the ball in the red zone. Sony Michel led the team with 24 rushes inside the 10, but he gained just 42 yards and only scored four touchdowns on those plays. Darrell Henderson Jr. had five touchdowns on only 13 rushes inside the 10.

The hope is that Cam Akers, with his physical running style, can help the Rams improve in goal-to-go situations. However, in 2020, he converted just two of his 21 rushes inside the 10-yard line into touchdowns. That’s not a great rate.

If the running game continues to struggle near the goal line, McVay won’t hesitate to put the ball in Stafford’s hands, especially knowing he has Kupp and Allen Robinson on the outside. Kupp was awesome inside the red zone, and Robinson is a big, physical receiver who can make difficult catches in traffic.

The Rams should get better in this area next season, and they’ll need to if they want to stop stalling out in the red zone.

ESPN projects 2022 stats for Rams players: How many yards for Stafford and Kupp?

ESPN’s Mike Clay put out his annual stat projections for the Rams’ top players. How many yards will Stafford and Kupp finish with?

Projecting any player’s stats in a given season is incredibly difficult. ESPN’s Mike Clay, as he does every year, undertook the task of projecting numbers for just about all of the starters in the NFL, including the Rams’ top players.

Sorted position by position, Clay shared his projections for players such as Matthew Stafford, Cam Akers, Cooper Kupp, Allen Robinson, Aaron Donald and others. He doesn’t see Kupp topping his historic numbers from last season, but Clay still expects the Rams receiver to produce another 1,300-plus-yard season with double-digit touchdowns.

Below is a breakdown of Clay’s projections for key players, with the full breakdown available here.