The Los Angeles Rams had a chance to find their footing coming off of a loss to their NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers, instead they sputtered under the Monday Night Football lights and fell to the Bengals 16-19. LA is now 1-2 with the Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles on deck.
Let’s get into the good and the bad—mostly on an individual level—because there’s plenty to discuss:
Winners
Ahkello Witherspoon, CB
In the second half Stafford threw an ill-advised interception intended for Van Jefferson to set the Cincinnati Bengals offense up in field goal range. Joe Burrow, who was managing a calf injury and seemed fairly hobbled, threw three times in Witherspoon’s direction with poor results: an offensive pass interference call against Tee Higgins, and two subsequent incompletions. The Bengals were hoping to pick on the veteran corner, but he passed the test.
That wasn’t even the most impressive feat Witherspoon had on the night. He had an incredible diving interception on Burrow with the Cincinnati offense in Rams territory to stave off a score and keep the offense’s comeback hopes alive (they just didn’t do much with the opportunity).
Puka Nacua, WR
Tutu Atwell, WR
Atwell was the primary focus of LA’s passing game on Monday night, as Stafford often looked his way deep downfield. Atwell had nine targets and converted that into four receptions for 50 yards and a late score. The speedster also had a 22 yard run on a reverse that was initially called a touchdown but reversed after a review.
Nacua was active early but faded until late in the game. The steady rookie finished with five catches for 72 yards on seven targets. While it’s becoming normal for the young receiver to rack up the receiving stats, we can’t grow numb to the fact this is still very impressive for a player who was just selected in the fifth round of the NFL Draft this spring.
Aaron Donald, DE
Donald has been relatively quiet through two games, but he made his presence felt often against the Bengals. The star defensive end finished with a sack and two tackles for loss. He was by far the most active pass rusher for Los Angeles on Monday night.
Ernest Jones, MLB
Jones had a team-leading nine tackles, but his most impressive individual plays won’t show up on the traditional box score. Raheem Morris deployed Jones as an inside blitzer frequently with great success, and this helped force multiple incompletions by Burrow on important passing downs. It was a savvy move against a hobbled passer who was probably unable to escape the pocket like he normally would.
