He didn’t have any protection. He didn’t have any weapons.
Matthew Stafford was a sitting duck in the Rams’ 41-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Playing behind an offensive line decimated by injuries, Stafford was sacked five times at State Farm Stadium. Starting the game without Puka Nacua and ending it with Cooper Kupp in a walking boot, the veteran quarterback led the Rams on only one touchdown drive.
The season has barely started but already could be over, the Rams with a 0-2 record and the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers scheduled to visit them in Week 3.
Read more: It’s all bad news for Rams as Cardinals dominate and Cooper Kupp is injured
This is starting to feel like a repeat of the Rams’ five-win 2022 season when Stafford was beaten and beaten and beaten some more until he was shut down for the season because of a bruised spinal cord.
How much more of this will Stafford be forced to endure?
How much more of this can the 36-year-old take?
The answers to these questions could have major Ram-ifications for the team, both in the short and long term.
Any effort to emerge from this 0-2 start has to start with Stafford, who barely had any time to throw against the Cardinals.
Linebacker Dennis Gardeck (45) recorded three of the Cardinals’ five sacks of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. (Jeff Lewis / Associated Press)
Four of the sacks were on third down, including early in the second quarter. Trailing 21-0, the Rams had the ball on the Cardinals’ seven-yard line when linebacker Zaven Collins ran around left tackle Warren McClendon Jr. and mauled Stafford from behind. The Rams settled for a field goal.
“You can’t really get anything going if you don’t have the opportunity to let stuff develop,” coach Sean McVay said.
The reasons were obvious. Starting left tackle Alaric Jackson was serving the back end of a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. Fellow lineman Steve Avila and Joe Noteboom went down in a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/hern-ndez-rams-failure-protect-100010704.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-09-16 10:00:10
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