There’s a lot to break down in this week’s snap counts, from a new-look TE rotation to the Rams’ dime-heavy defense
It’s been a season of changes for the Los Angeles Rams and the adjustments continued on Sunday in Seattle. The Rams shook things up at tight end, had to adapt at wide receiver with Puka Nacua getting ejected and on defense, Chris Shula once again tinkered with his personnel.
The result was a big overtime win over a division rival, with the Rams beating the Seahawks, 26-20. Now at 4-4, the Rams are just a half-game behind the division-leading Arizona Cardinals and have a very realistic shot to make the playoffs in January.
Below, we look at the snap counts on offense and defense, analyzing exactly how the Rams got it done on each side of the ball in Week 9.
Offense
The most notable change on offense was at tight end. In each of the Rams’ first seven games this season, Colby Parkinson led the tight end group in snaps played. On Sunday, though, he was the No. 2 tight end with a season-low snap share of just 42%. He was out-snapped by Davis Allen, who played 55% of the snaps. Hunter Long played 34%, so he was involved in the game plan, too.
It’s unclear if Parkinson was benched, but the Rams were in 12 personnel in the fourth quarter and it was Allen and Long on the field, not Parkinson. That’s something to watch moving forward.
At wide receiver, the Rams were forced to adapt on the fly after Nacua was ejected. Cooper Kupp played 92% of the offensive snaps and Demarcus Robinson played 70%, but it was Tyler Johnson and Tutu Atwell splitting reps in place of Nacua. Johnson played 29 snaps and Atwell played 26, so both of them had opportunities on Sunday. Atwell still looks like the No. 5 receiver in the rotation, however.
Blake Corum had been getting more opportunities behind Kyren Williams in recent weeks but that wasn’t the case against Seattle. Corum played just one snap in the win, a carry that went for a loss of 1 yard. Williams played 76 of a possible 27 snaps, carrying it 22 times for 69 yards.
Rob Havenstein suffered an ankle injury in the second half and was unable to return, getting replaced by Warren McClendon Jr. for 19 total plays.
Defense
To match the Seahawks’ personnel groupings, the Rams used a lot of dime packages. Quentin Lake played every snap at safety as the signal caller, but he was one of four safeties who got meaningful snaps. Sean McVay said Kam Curl was banged up so he was limited to 40 of the 80 possible snaps, which opened the door for Kam Kinchens and Jaylen McCollough – each of whom had an interception. Kinchens played 41 snaps, McCollough played 56, which means all four safeties played at least half the game.
To go with that deep safety rotation, the Rams also utilized a bunch of different corners. Cobie Durant played all but one snap, Darious Williams missed only two plays and Ahkello Witherspoon played 67 snaps after playing just nine in Week 8. Behind those three starters, Charles Woods played seven snaps and Josh Wallace played three.
Because Shula used nickel and dime packages so often, the Rams typically only had one inside linebacker on the field Christian Rozeboom played 98% of the defensive plays, with Jake Hummel playing only 9% and Omar Speights playing 6%. The Rams’ versatility in the secondary allowed them to mix and match players without sacrificing yardage against the run.
At edge rusher, Jared Verse played 86% of the snaps, Byron Young played 81% and Michael Hoecht played 48%. Nick Hampton, not Brennan Jackson (inactive), was the fourth edge rusher, though he only played three snaps.
Along the defensive line, Kobie Turner once again led the group with a 74% snap share, followed by Braden Fiske (61%). The next-closest D-lineman was Bobby Brown III, who played 31% of the snaps on defense. Tyler Davis (25%) and Desjuan Johnson (12%) also got opportunities up front.
