The Good and the Not So Good: Rams-Chargers Game

The Los Angeles Rams needed confidence, focus, and a massive stroke of luck to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers in preseason play on Saturday night.

While their 23-22 score line will be wiped away following the start of the regular season, the lessons learned from the game will define the roster.

The Good

Stetson Bennett

The mailman delivers again. All I'm going to say is this...

Number of National Championships won by Georgia before Stetson Bennett: 1

During Bennett's time at UGA: 2

In the three years after: 0

Proven winner. He's also 4-0 in preseason play.

The wide receiver room

Xavier Smith had a perfect night, Konata Mumpfield scored his first NFL touchdown, as did Mario Williams, Brennan Presley burned the Chargers' secondary, and Tru Edwards caught the game-winner, the first touchdown of his career as well. Excellence.

Cody Schrader

Don't forget about the second-half demon known as Cody Schrader. Schrader followed up a stellar performance where he helped put away the Cowboys by contributing 72 total yards to the victorious effort. A runner and pass catcher, there's a role for him somewhere.

All I'm going to say is this. If Missouri could have kept Schrader last season, they would've been in the College Football Playoffs.

The defensive line

Brennan Jackson had two sacks and Desjuan Johnson paved the way for them. The Chargers, built to run the football, averaged 3.6 yards per carry. Take away quarterbacks Trey Lance and Taylor Heinicke, the Chargers averaged 2.3 yards per carry.

Shaun Dolac

The Rams gave Dolac, a UDFA linebacker with one game of NFL experience, the green dot last night. Should I say more? A tackling machine with underrated speed and a feel for the game, the Rams struck gold again.

The Not So Good

Defending the mobile quarterback

The game turned on it's head when Trey Lance entered. His ability to run opened up the defense, allowing him to target receivers downfield. Duel-threat quarterbacks gave the Rams trouble in 2024, and with Jalen Hurts and Jayden Daniels in the NFC, watch out.

Defending the downfield attack

Tre Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, both rookies from the SEC, burned the Rams' secondary, combining for eight receptions and 151 yards. Both had catches over 30+ yards.

In-game decision making

Aubrey Pleasant is an intelligent defensive tactician and a man motivator. I can personally attest to his work, as not only is it clearly visible, but players have spoken about his impact. Emmanuel Forbes in particular told me that Pleasant played a critical role in his assimilation into the Rams culture.

Pleasant took the head coaching reigns and he made some interesting decisions.

On the Rams' third offensive drive of the game, they took the ball from the Rams' 18-yard line to the Chargers' three. On fourth and goal, Pleasant went for it up 7-6, and the Rams failed to convert. Instead of taking three points, the Rams walked away with nothing and would enter halftime down 9-7.

With the Rams trailing 15-10, Bennett his Mario Williams for a touchdown to close out the third quarter. Up 16-15, Pleasant chose to kick the PAT instead of attempting to make it a three-point game.

On the final drive, Pleasant had two timeouts and between the first play from the Rams' 25 yard line to the end of their sixth play, the Rams burned nearly a minute off the clock for 23 yards.

While I have the utmost confidence in Pleasant, and you have to take into account that decisions made in preseason aren't the ones made during the regular season, we need to see the decision-making tighten up so the team doesn't need to rely on theatrics to pull out the win.

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