The 0-2 Rams are buried under an avalanche of injuries, and now the 49ers are coming to town

Updated Sep. 16, 2024 7:28 p.m. ET

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams are off to their first 0-2 start to a season since before Les Snead became their general manager 12 years ago.

They're coming off their worst loss under coach Sean McVay, a 41-10 thrashing from an Arizona Cardinals team the Rams had thoroughly dominated in McVay's eight-year career.

The Rams' extensive injury problems already encompass their top two receivers, their entire offensive line and two key members of their secondary.

And now they're about to play their biggest rivals and toughest opponents in McVay's career: The powerhouse San Francisco 49ers visit SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

Outside of an injury to Matthew Stafford, who's fully healthy, it's tough to imagine a way in which the first two weeks could have gone a whole lot worse for McVay or the team he led to six winning records in his first seven seasons.

“This league, nobody cares,” McVay said. “I feel terrible for those (injured) guys, and we certainly care, but the outside world doesn’t, and the games are going to go on.”

The Rams have fallen apart just two weeks into a season that began with hopes of playoff contention, even without retired star Aaron Donald.

Instead, the Rams are struggling to field a competitive team after just two games. The whole scenario has strong echoes of the 2022 season, when McVay's team went 5-12 amid major injury woes in the worst season by a defending Super Bowl champion in NFL history.

Several of the Rams' most important players will watch Sunday's game in street clothes. The injured list now includes receivers Puka Nacua (knee) and Cooper Kupp (ankle); starting offensive linemen Steve Avila (knee), Jonah Jackson (shoulder) and Joseph Noteboom (ankle); and starting defensive backs Darious Williams (hamstring) and John Johnson (shoulder). Several other key contributors will be playing hurt, including starting offensive linemen Kevin Dotson and Rob Havenstein.

“We’ve had some unfortunate breaks,” McVay said drily. “It’s nothing like I’ve been exposed to. This is unique, but this is an opportunity for us to be what we say we want to be.”

What's working

The Rams addressed their defense in last spring's draft, and the earliest returns are promising. Snead used his top two picks on Florida State's Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, and both have been key contributors in the front seven. Verse is already a problem on the edge, with four tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble in his first two NFL games. Third-round safety Kam Kinchens could be up for more playing time in Johnson's absence as well.

What needs help

The Rams rebuilt their offensive line in the offseason to be tough up the middle, protecting Stafford and keying their running game. With two of those interior O-line starters out and a third playing injured, that plan will have to be set aside indefinitely. No team can have a backup plan for as many injuries as the Rams are facing on the line, but their backup tackles have not been sharp. They'll count on rookie Beaux Limmer, who played every snap at center last weekend, to step up again in Jackson's absence.

Stock up

Safety Quentin Lake has led the Rams in tackles in each of the first two games, although that's also a criticism of Los Angeles' poor play at the line of scrimmage, as McVay noted. The Rams have allowed 394 yards rushing already this season.

Stock down

The Rams' decision to dump linebacker Ernest Jones right before the regular season for a minuscule 2026 late-round draft pick upgrade looks even weirder now that Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom are struggling to fill his shoes with much less ability and talent. McVay and Snead have yet to provide an explanation for why the Rams didn't just allow their leading tackler to play out his rookie contract for 2024, and Los Angeles' linebacker play has been noticeably bad.

Injuries

On top of the new injuries for Kupp, Jackson and Johnson, Rams rookie kicker Joshua Karty injured his groin. McVay said that injury isn't thought to be serious.

Key number

32 — The Rams' NFL rank in total defense after allowing 426.0 yards per game this season. Everyone suspected the defense would need a complete reset after losing Donald and coordinator Raheem Morris, but rookie coordinator Chris Shula's group has been bad, even with marginally better injury luck than the offense.

Next steps

The Rams will be significant underdogs against the Niners, who have won 10 of McVay's past 13 regular-season meetings with Kyle Shanahan. If they can avoid losing several more starters to injury, they'll have a chance to regroup against less daunting opponents in the following few weeks.

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