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Strong movement and Stafford’s continued dominance
Washington

Strong movement and Stafford’s continued dominance

The Rams’ overtime loss to the Lions on Sunday Night Football was one of the most entertaining games of Week 1 and featured some interesting statistical trends. Matthew Stafford continued his dominant passing streak from last season and Cooper Kupp was his primary target.

Los Angeles suffered a series of injuries, including to wide receiver Puka Nacua and offensive linemen Joe Noteboom and Steve Avila, but they overcame those hurdles in a bitter battle with a star-studded Lions team to start the year.

Here are five interesting statistics from the Rams’ season opener in Detroit:

69% of the Rams’ passes included pre-snap motion

Pre-snap movement is incredibly useful in the passing game because it can help quarterbacks and receivers identify coverages before the play. The Rams utilized this on most of their passing snaps and ranked fifth in the league in this statistic. Kupp was one of the primary movers, but a variety of players were moved in the formation, including some plays where multiple people were moved.

The Rams had the second-highest pre-snap motion rate in all games last season. This is a cornerstone of the offense and will surely be used frequently throughout the season.

Stafford has passed for over 300 yards in his last four games since last season

Stafford has been one of the best passers in football over the last four games. Last night he rushed for 317 yards on 49 attempts, continuing his streak of games with at least 300 passing yards and a touchdown. Despite a slight ankle issue and a lot of pressure, he battled through the game to keep the Rams offense on the field.

On Sunday night, Jared Verse led all pass rushers in separation from the quarterback at the point of throwing or sacking (3.99 yards), according to Next Gen Stats.

Rookie edge rusher Jared Verse had an eventful professional debut. He became the fourth rookie in Rams history to record a sack in his first professional game, and he also recorded two QB hits while leading all pass rushers in average distance to quarterback, meaning he was the pass rusher closest to the quarterback on every play.

Verse’s 33% pass rush win rate was sixth-best so far in Week 1, and his six QB pressures are also sixth-best. It was an extremely promising debut for the rookie, who was matched up against one of the NFL’s best tackle duos, Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell.

The Rams dominated the possession time even without an overtime run

Despite their high passing percentage (74%) and the fact that they didn’t get the ball in overtime, the Rams had the ball 5 minutes, 11 seconds longer than the Lions. They also gained 24 yards more than the Lions by sustaining longer drives with more first downs (26-21). The Rams ran 74 plays to the Lions’ 61.

In regular time, the Rams won the battle for possession by 9:55, but towards the end of the game, the Lions’ quick drives down the field worked to their advantage.

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