What Went Wrong For The LA Rams In The Season Opener?
The season premiere opened the eyes of fans and media everywhere. A blowout? Who saw that coming? Certainly not LA. What went wrong for the champs on opening night?
Revenge SZN
After losing in perhaps the most devastating way imaginable in the divisional round of the playoffs in January, everybody knew the Buffalo Bills would be back. They had a strong offseason, adding pieces like Jamison Crowder and James Cook to the offense, along with rookie Kaiir Elam and star pass rusher Von Miller, ensuring that the top-rated defense from a season ago wouldn’t endure any regression.
As everyone touted Buffalo as the new Super Bowl favorites, the question was whether they’d let the immense pressure from the media get to them. Remember, this is a team that plays in a small market in upstate New York, where the only thing that’s important to the population other than wings and blue cheese is their beloved football team.
Humble & Hungry
This is a city that is hungry for a championship title. The fans that were there in the 90s. Where Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith lead the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowls, just to fall in each and every one. A franchise that endured a playoff drought that lasted seventeen seasons. Legends such as Kyle Williams and Stevie Johnson, never getting the team over the theoretical hump.
In 2017, the franchise finally made the right decision to hire Brandon Beane as general manager and Sean McDermott as head coach. McDermott changed the culture instantly, and Beane is a wizard who does his best work at night, landing the team players such as Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Stefon Diggs, and the aforementioned Miller.
These are guys that came from other teams ready to make an impact for the red, white and blue. After years of prosperity but never a successful ending, 2022 is the year where all of the pieces are finally in place for Buffalo to change the narrative.
The Winter Soldier
Is this a city, a franchise, a team that just can’t win? Or does quarterback Josh Allen lead this team to its first championship season? Allen, who was drafted in 2018, was looked at by scouts everywhere as “bust material”. “A pick waiting to happen.” “A stupid draft pick.” The last quote was said by one Jalen Ramsey, who I’ll get into in a minute.
Another missed draft pick for the Buffalo Bills, right? A six-foot five machine who can run, with a high motor and the ability to stiff arm safeties, shed linebackers, and throw a 75-yard missile in the blink of an eye. But undoubtedly the wrong selection. Because if Allen were to succeed, everyone would be wrong, and the internet would break.
Well, unfortunately for the internet, Allen was for sure not a miss. In fact, in 2020, he broke the franchise all-time record for passing yards, completions, and passing touchdowns for a single season. Not bad. His favorite wide receiver target Stefon Diggs led the league in receptions and receiving yards.
Diggs was brought over from Minnesota in a trade, but nobody believed that would work either because he had a temper problem and would be a “distraction” in the locker room.
Three years into his tenure in Buffalo, Diggs has been simply wonderful, has made the Pro Bowl in both seasons he’s been with the team, and has a best friend type connection with his quarterback. Surprising? Well, perhaps to people outside of Buffalo. Bills fans know that McDermott preaches discipline, humbleness, and grit. Diggs bought right into the culture and has since been rewarded with a contract extension.
Roasting Ramsey
Back to Ramsey, who is apparently the best cornerback in football. In 2018, Jalen said this about Josh Allen.
“I think [Buffalo Bills draft pick Josh] Allen is trash. I don’t care what nobody say. He’s trash. And it’s gonna show too. That’s a stupid draft pick to me. We play them this year, and I’m excited as hell. I hope he’s their starting quarterback. He played at Wyoming. Every time they played a big school—like, they played Iowa State, which is not a big school in my opinion because I went to Florida State, and he threw five interceptions, and they lost by a couple touchdowns or something like that.? He never beat a big school. If you look at his games against big schools, it was always hella interceptions, hella turnovers. It’s like: ‘Yo, if you’re this good, why couldn’t you do better?’ He fits that mold, he’s a big, tall quarterback. Big arm, supposedly. I don’t see it, personally.” https://thecomeback.com/nfl/jalen-ramsey-josh-allen-trash-opinion.html
This was in ‘18, after the Bills drafted Allen to be their franchise quarterback. Ramsey has since played in three games against Allen, and unfortunately for him hasn’t been on the winning side in any of them. 0-3. Last night, Ramsey was targeted seven times, allowing six receptions for over 100 yards and a touchdown to Diggs.
One good play out of seven is not going to cut it for being the “best corner in football.” In fact, I’d like to submit my own opinion of the former FSU star. Last night, Jalen Ramsey was burnt toast. He was targeted by Josh Allen, he was exposed by Stefon Diggs, and the entire football world is making jokes about him this morning, and rightfully so.
Aftermath
So, the aftermath of this article? What went wrong for the LA Rams last night at Sofi Stadium? Well, other than raising their Super Bowl banner, just about everything went wrong. They can be mad at the NFL schedule makers for giving them the task of facing a team that is more hungry, more motivated, and more disciplined than any other team in the league. If the Bills are number one, the Rams can still be number two, but there is a substantial drop off, because right now, it isn’t particularly close.
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