The Los Angeles Rams looked like an offense starting fresh in their loss to Miami on Monday, and in some ways, they were.
The return of left guard Steve Avila, who had been out with a knee injury, and center Jonah Jackson, who had been dealing with a shoulder injury, gave the Rams the interior offensive line they expected.
This was the first time they had all their starting offensive linemen back since the season opener in Detroit. However, the lack of continuity was clear in their 23-15 defeat, which ended a three-game winning streak.
“Everything that happened in that game was fixable. Is fixable,” Avila said. “And we’re doing everything we can to get those things fixed.”
The Rams (4-5) struggled at first after Avila got hurt against the Lions and Jackson re-injured his shoulder in the next game at Arizona. During that time, they had to rely on rookies Beaux Limmer at center and Justin Dedich at left guard, and they managed to get back into the NFC West race.
While having Avila and Jackson back added talent and experience to the line, it also showed that they hadn’t yet developed chemistry with each other, left tackle Alaric Jackson (who had missed the first two games due to suspension), and right guard Kevin Dotson.
On top of that, right tackle Rob Havenstein was missing because of an ankle injury, which made matters worse.
The line’s inconsistency was evident as quarterback Matthew Stafford was sacked four times, running back Kyren Williams was limited to 62 yards rushing, and the Rams converted just 3 of 12 (25%) on third downs.
“I thought they got better as the game went on. Felt more comfortable just with the speed of the game,” said offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. “You try to replicate it as much as you can out there on the practice field, but when it’s live bullets, it’s different. You got to get adjusted, and you got to do that fast.”
The Rams’ struggles were especially clear in the first quarter, where they averaged only 1.7 yards per play and failed to convert on three third-down attempts. This marked the eighth time this season they failed to score a touchdown in the first quarter.
The Rams are ranked 31st in first-quarter scoring, averaging just 1.4 points per game. Only the Chicago Bears (1.1) are worse.
“We’re not getting it done, you know, early in games for whatever reason,” LaFleur said. “If we obviously had that answer, we wouldn’t be in this spot right now.
But whether it’s the first quarter, fourth quarter, whatever play it’s going to be, this game is about execution and toughness. And right now, I’m not questioning any of our guys’ toughness or them going for it, but we’re just not getting it done early in games. And we need to fix that for sure.”
The run game has also been struggling, ranking second to last in the league with just 3.76 yards per carry. Williams has only had one 100-yard game this season, a far cry from the six such games he had in his breakout 2023 campaign.
LaFleur emphasized that for the offense to improve, everyone needs to execute better, especially in the run game.
“Within all facets of offense, but particularly the run game, it takes all 11,” LaFleur said. “So this isn’t one person’s problem right now with the way we’re running the football. It’s all of our problem, starting with coaching.
We got to get it fixed on our end first, the players will follow suit. We’re working at it, and these guys want to get things fixed. And it starts on days like today when you get the pads on, practicing with a purpose, so that it can become game reality on Sunday.”
Avila, now with a full game under his belt, is confident that the line, and the offense as a whole, will improve when they face New England (3-7) on Sunday.
“If you were to just put it to one word, how that game went, it would just be execution. We just weren’t passing things off,” Avila said. “It was embarrassing, that being my first game. But it’s not even that. I’m more encouraged than I am embarrassed.”
