When the NFL season began, we were all sure there was a clear top tier of teams that would compete for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. I'm just not sure many of us had the Eagles, Giants, Vikings and the Dak Prescott-less Cowboys in that group. The NFC is in utter chaos through six weeks, as the teams many of us expected to be heavily favored as title contenders are flailing through rough stretches.
By the end of Sunday's Week 6 games, the dominant teams from the 2021 season were even deeper in quicksand. The Packers, the top seed from last year's postseason, lost to the Jets by double digits at home. The second-seeded Bucs were upset by the 1-4 Steelers. The eventual Super Bowl champion Rams lost more players to injury and looked sloppy in a closer-than-it-seemed win over the lowly Panthers, while the 49ers, their opponents in the NFC Championship Game, were physically overmatched in a road loss to the Falcons. Three losses and a win that felt like a loss only make the situation muddier in the NFC.
Let's break down these four teams, what led to their frustrating Sundays, and what needs to happen for them to break out of their rut. On paper, they might be better than the Giants and Vikings, but at 3-3 -- three games behind the Eagles in the race for the No. 1 seed in the NFC -- each needs to fix things quickly:
Jump to a team:
49ers | Bucs | Packers | Rams
Green Bay Packers
Week 6 result: Lost 27-10 to the New York Jets
It was one thing to get blown out in the opener by the Vikings, since that happened to the Packers in their Week 1 loss to the Saints a year ago, and everything was fine. They were unfortunate to lose in London to the Giants, but the team seemed to chalk that up to its maiden voyage over the Atlantic. Cornerback Jaire Alexander summed it up succinctly in advance of Sunday's game against the Jets: "I ain't worried, but if we lose next week, then I'll be worried."
Well, it's next week, and Alexander should be worried. The Packers were outplayed from start to finish at Lambeau Field during a comprehensive Jets victory. The Jets were off to a surprising start at 3-2, but those three wins had each come against backup quarterbacks. If anything -- given that they had narrowly missed out on a Sauce Gardner pick-six in the first quarter when a would-be interception hit the turf -- this could have been an even more significant blowout for Gang Green.
It's difficult to identify what Green Bay's winning formula should be right now. There were a few ways it tended to win games during its stretch with consecutive 13-win seasons in Matt LaFleur's first three seasons, a streak that is clearly in danger after a 3-3 start. Those paths to victory either aren't available to the Packers or haven't been sustainable this season, including in the loss to the Jets. Here's what they are missing in 2022:
They turn the ball over too often. Going back to Mike McCarthy's final season with the team, the Packers have been protecting the football at historically impressive rates. They turned the ball over 15 times in 2018, 13 times in 2019, a mere 11 times in 2020 and 13 again last season. They were only the second team in league history to record no more than 15 giveaways in four consecutive seasons.
After losing a fumble on an exchange between Aaron Rodgers and AJ Dillon on Sunday, the Packers have now turned the ball over eight times in six games. A year ago, if we leave aside Jordan Love's start against the Chiefs, they didn't reach eight giveaways until their Week 12 game against the Rams, three days after Thanksgiving. If anything, they should be happy this isn't at eight or nine giveaways through six games, because they have recovered seven of their 12 fumbles on offense.
It's one thing when rookie Romeo Doubs fumbles twice after catches, or when Aaron Jones is hit sticked by a rare coverage snap from 340-pound Bucs tackle Vita Vea. But Sunday's fumble was the second time this season the Packers have lost the ball on an exchange between Rodgers and a running back. His three interceptions haven't been particularly close or required a tip at the line of scrimmage or any sort of bad luck. Rodgers was strip-sacked inside his own 10-yard line, only for Green Bay to fall on the resulting fumble.
They aren't playing great situational football. This was really a 2020 special, when the Packers fielded what might have been the best red zone offense in league history and haven't been great since. They're scoring 4.7 points per trip inside the 20 this season, which is right around league average.
What had been stickier for the Packers was their success on third down. From 2019-21, they converted nearly 43% of their third downs into first downs, the eighth-best mark in football. This season, they have dropped to 38.4%, which ranks 19th. They're also 2-for-8 on fourth down, well below the league average of 47.8%. They went a combined 5-for-20 on third and fourth down during the loss to the Jets.
We can't say the same thing about the defense, which held the Jets to a 1-for-11 performance on third down. The Packers are allowing opposing teams to convert only 26.2% of their third-down opportunities into first downs, which is the best mark in football. Their 50% success rate in the red zone is also above league average. That's the good news for the defense. The bad news?
They can't stop the run. Green Bay came into Sunday's game ranked 30th in rush defense DVOA. This shouldn't necessarily be a surprise, given that it ranked 28th in the same category a year ago, but this was supposed to be a better defense on paper than the one we saw given the return of Alexander and others from injury.
In a game in which Zach Wilson threw for just 110 yards on 18 dropbacks, the Jets moved the ball on the ground. Breece Hall and Michael Carter combined for 157 yards on 26 carries, including a 34-yard Hall touchdown on a play in which he abandoned what was supposed to be a reverse and took the ball to the house instead.
They couldn't run the ball Sunday. The Packers generally have been excellent running the ball this season, but the league's third-best rushing offense by DVOA heading into the day couldn't do anything against the Jets. Nineteen carries from Dillon and Jones produced just 60 yards and three first downs. This is the same New York defense that allowed the Dolphins to average 5.3 yards per carry last week and the Browns to run for 184 yards and three touchdowns in Week 2.
They're not making plays downfield. I wrote last week about how the Giants dared Rodgers to throw deep in the second half and weren't afraid of the Packers making them pay. For the second week in a row, Rodgers wasn't able to convert when he went deep, going just 1-of-4 for 41 yards on those 20-plus air-yard attempts.
On the season, Rodgers is just 6-of-27 on deep pass attempts for 197 yards and a passer rating of 54.4. The league averages 11.3 yards per attempt on those deep throws, but he is at 7.3 yards per deep target so far, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
It's difficult to quantify this, but Rodgers hasn't looked good working out of the structure of the offense. When he holds the ball for more than three seconds, the Packers average just 6.6 yards per pass attempt, which ranks 28th in the league. Over his consecutive MVP campaigns in 2020 and 2021, Rodgers generated 8.5 yards per attempt in those same situations, which ranked 13th.
Right now, the offense is limited to running the ball and Rodgers' ability to get the ball out quickly, both through run-pass options (RPOs) and quick game. A whopping 34% of his passes have been at or behind the line of scrimmage, the most of any quarterback. That's up from 27.1% a year ago, and while there's nothing wrong with running lots of screens, the Packers don't have the playmakers after the catch to make teams regret missing a tackle.
They're not getting unexpectedly excellent contributions from surprising places. When they were ripped apart by defensive injuries last season, the Packers survived with shockingly impactful seasons by low-cost free agents. Linebacker De'Vondre Campbell went from bouncing around the league to earning a first-team All-Pro nod, while cornerback Rasul Douglas took over for the injured Alexander and picked off five passes.
That's not happening this season. Campbell has struggled mightily in recent weeks and was at fault on two key plays during the loss to the Giants. Douglas, moved into the slot by the return of Alexander, has allowed a passer rating of 106.1 as the nearest defender in coverage.
If you were trying to piece together a Packers formula in 2022, it would involve rushing the passer, which they still do at a high level. They can run the football most weeks. Rodgers hasn't slipped much physically and can still work quick game at a high level. There will be weeks in which that's enough to win, like it was against the Bears in Week 2.
To access a higher ceiling, though, something needs to change. They can't be average in the red zone and on third downs, miss out on big plays, struggle to stop the run and turn the ball over at a normal rate and expect to be one of the best teams in football.
Maybe this all corrects itself as time goes on. I suspect the Packers hope it goes that way. With wideout Randall Cobb sidelined by an ankle injury during the loss to the Jets, though, Green Bay's need for help at receiver is even more obvious and glaring. It was one thing when it resisted the urge to add a second piece behind Davante Adams while it was winning plenty of games and operating at a high level on offense.
It's another when the Packers are struggling to move the ball on the Jets and don't have much big-play upside beyond Doubs. I suggested the Packers try to buy low on the Steelers' Chase Claypool in my trade column last week, but Claypool had a 96-yard performance in Sunday's upset win over the Buccaneers. He might not be available. Odell Beckham Jr. could be that guy if the Packers want to go after the league's most conspicuously available free agent. Rodgers is dropping hints about what he wants, though, and while the Packers have ignored his pleas in the past, they might have no choice but to give in.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 6 result: Lost 20-18 to the Pittsburgh Steelers
On paper before the season, losing a close game to the Steelers in Pittsburgh might not have seemed too ignominious. You could imagine a scenario in which pass-rusher T.J. Watt bullied quarterback Tom Brady or safety Minkah Fitzpatrick came up with a spectacular play or two in the secondary to steal away a touchdown. Well, Watt and Fitzpatrick were both out with injuries Sunday. So were Cameron Sutton, Ahkello Witherspoon and Levi Wallace, who likely are Pittsburgh's top three cornerbacks when healthy. Brady's record when a team is missing two of its three defensive stars and an entire starting lineup of cornerbacks has to be pretty impressive.
Instead, the most notable moment of the day for Brady and the Buccaneers was a video of the legendary quarterback shouting at his offensive line on the sideline. Tampa didn't score a touchdown until its final drive, at which point it failed on its second would-be score-tying 2-point conversion of the season and never saw the ball again.
For the Bucs, this isn't anything new. Their offense hasn't been good all season. They've scored 21 points or fewer in five of their six games. The only exception was against the Chiefs, when they scored two second-half touchdowns while trailing by double digits.
In addition to whatever massive benefit of the doubt Brady has earned over the years in terms of figuring things out as the years go along, the Bucs were supposed to be getting better by now as their receivers came back into the lineup. They were without their top five players at receiver at one stretch or another in September, but the only player missing from the lineup Sunday was Julio Jones, whose presence might have been more surprising than his absence, given that he now has missed 19 games over the past 2½ seasons.
Instead, with Mike Evans, Russell Gage and Chris Godwin all on the field for more than 75% of the offensive snaps, the Bucs still struggled. (They did lose Cameron Brate, their starting tight end, to a neck injury in the third quarter.) In the same way we hit the Packers, it's easy to enumerate what has gone wrong:
The Buccaneers can't stay on the field. During Brady's first two seasons in Tampa, the Bucs converted more than 45% of their third downs into first downs, the fourth-best mark in football. Given Brady's ability to diagnose coverages pre-snap and make quick, decisive passes afterward, their third-down success rate wasn't a surprise to anybody.
This season, they are moving the chains less than 38% of the time on third down, which ranks 22nd. Their average distance to go (6.2 yards) is actually shorter than it was in 2020 and 2021, so that's not the issue. They have gone from being the league's third-least likely team to produce a three-and-out between 2020 and 2021 to its eighth-most likely team.
On Sunday, Brady & Co. were just 4-for-14 converting third downs. They failed on two third-and-1 attempts, a third-and-2 and a third-and-4. Brady picked up only two third downs through the air all game, one on a swing pass to rookie Rachaad White and the other requiring a spectacular catch from fellow rookie tight end Cade Otton.
Brady is unable to do much against pressure. Several of those third downs were influenced by pass pressure, including one sack on a play in the red zone. The Bucs are relatively healthy at wide receiver, but the offensive line remains a concern. Left tackle Donovan Smith is back after missing two games in September, and new right guard Shaq Mason is settling in after an offseason trade from New England, but they still are blooding in a pair of new starters on the interior in left guard Luke Goedeke and center Robert Hainsey.
Pressure hasn't been a problem for Brady, who can be his own pass-protector by getting the ball out quickly. He's throwing the ball after just 2.42 seconds, the fastest rate in football, and he unsurprisingly also has the league's lowest pressure rate at 17.6%. He can still take hits as he releases as the football, but as we saw in the Week 5 win over the Falcons, even a clean hit on the legendary quarterback can result in a game-changing penalty.
When teams get in Brady's face, though, Tampa Bay has been ground to a halt. Brady's 4.7 QBR under pressure this season ranks 29th out of 32 qualifying passers. That's down from eighth in 2021. Brady's minus-22.2% completion percentage over expectation (CPOE) on those throws is the worst in football, and his 3.6 yards per attempt under pressure ranks 30th. The average passer converts for a first down under pressure more than 18% of the time. Brady is at 11%.
The Bucs cannot run the ball. The offensive line woes have undoubtedly affected the running game. White and Leonard Fournette carried 25 times for 75 yards Sunday, for 3.0 yards per rush. They ran for seven first downs, but they didn't have a single carry longer than 13 yards.
This is nothing new. They are averaging just 3.1 yards per carry, the worst mark in the league by three-tenths of a yard. Unsurprisingly, the NFL Next Gen Stats rushing model pins most of this on the line; we would expect Bucs backs to generate only 3.8 yards per carry given their blocking, which is the third-fewest expected rushing yards per play. Tampa's backs are still generating minus-0.5 rush yards over expectation per play, which is the fifth-worst mark in the league.
The Bucs also have struggled to pick up chunk plays on the ground. Just 8.3% of their rush attempts have generated at least 10 yards, which ranks 31st. Loaded boxes haven't been a problem, either; they have enjoyed a blocking advantage in the box on 77.3% of their rush attempts, the fifth-highest rate. Those blockers just aren't winning, and the runners aren't maximizing their opportunities when they do get help.
If that's too many percentages and stats for you, the story in a nutshell is the Bucs aren't getting good blocking, aren't running effectively in short yardage and aren't breaking big plays on the ground. They're always going to be a pass-first team with Brady under center, but the future Hall of Famer needs his running game to be effective in short yardage and in key situations. Brady himself failed on a sneak against the Steelers.
The good news for the Buccaneers, relative to the Packers, is their defense is generally holding up its end of the bargain. The Bucs are allowing just 1.56 points per drive, the sixth-best mark in the league. Todd Bowles' unit wasn't able to get the ball back from the Steelers during Pittsburgh's four-minute drill to seal the victory, but Tampa Bay held Pittsburgh to one field goal on a pair of short fields earlier in the second half, which allowed it to get back into the game.
The bad news is the player they really need might not be returning. This offense is desperately calling out for Rob Gronkowski, who served as a stellar run-blocker and red zone threat. The Bucs can't do anything on the ground and rank 21st in the league in red zone touchdown rate, down from fifth over Brady's first two seasons in town with Gronkowski. From 2010 to '21, Brady's QBR was 13.5 points better with Gronkowski on the field than it was without his star tight end.
Brady's 52.2 QBR this season is down nearly 18 points from where it stood across 2020 and 2021. And while the Packers can upgrade their receiving corps by adding just about any veteran wide receiver to the mix, the Bucs don't really have any way to improve at receiver. They could add a tight end if Brate is out indefinitely or acquire a center, but there aren't many players at either position available on the market. Unless Brady can coax his longtime teammate out of retirement, the Bucs are going to need to improve with what they already have in place.
San Francisco 49ers
Week 6 result: Lost 28-14 to the Atlanta Falcons
Injuries, injuries, injuries, injuries, injuries. The 49ers weren't healthy coming into the game at Atlanta, and they left even more banged up. By halftime, they had lost a starter on both sides of the football. Cornerback Charvarius Ward, their prized addition in free agency this offseason, left the game with a groin injury and did not return after halftime. Likewise, right tackle Mike McGlinchey appeared to injure himself on a screen during the second quarter, came back to play the final six snaps of the half and then did not play after the break.
This only adds to a back-breaking list of injuries for the 49ers, highlighted by the season-ending ankle injury quarterback Trey Lance suffered in Week 2. McGlinchey's departure left them without both of their starting tackles, as Trent Williams is out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain. Ward's injury pushed them to a pair of backup corners, given that Emmanuel Moseley tore his ACL a week ago and is out for the season.
On top of that, their vaunted depth up front has been tested. San Francisco's top three linemen are Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw, all of whom missed the Falcons game. Samson Ebukam, who was fourth in snap rate during the opener against the Bears, left the game twice with injuries. Tackles Maurice Hurst and Jordan Willis are both on injured reserve. San Francisco's eight-man rotation relied more heavily on players being pushed into larger roles, including Kevin Givens, Hassan Ridgeway and Kemoko Turay.
The results were predictable. While they did sack Marcus Mariota on two of his 16 dropbacks, he went 13-of-14 for 129 yards with two touchdowns, adding six carries for 50 yards and another score on the ground. Atlanta's rushing attack generated 168 yards and 10 first downs on 40 carries, and the Falcons went 3-for-3 in the red zone.
It's easy to imagine things turning out differently on Atlanta's big plays with San Francisco's more notable names in the lineup. George Odum was in coverage on Mariota's first passing touchdown to MyCole Pruitt, while rookie fifth-rounder Samuel Womack drew the assignment against tight end Kyle Pitts on the second score. Deommodore Lenoir, who played just one defensive snap over the first two weeks of the season, was in coverage on a 20-yard Drake London catch. Mariota's 20-yard read-option keeper came when Ebukam and former Packers linebacker Oren Burks both took the same gap and left the quarterback an open edge to run through.
It was perhaps more disappointing to see the 49ers struggle on offense against the league's 27th-ranked defense by DVOA. Kyle Shanahan's offense handed the Falcons a touchdown when Jeff Wilson fumbled on the 21-yard line, with A.J. Terrell recovering and nearly scoring before fumbling himself. Jaylinn Hawkins fell on the second fumble in the end zone, giving the Falcons a 14-0 lead. San Francisco fought back quickly, with Brandon Aiyuk scoring touchdowns on their next two drives.
After halftime, though, the Niners did absolutely nothing. The offense mustered only two first downs on their first three drives, which ended in two punts and a Jimmy Garoppolo interception on a contested pass to Deebo Samuel. Garoppolo's raw numbers -- 29-of-41 for 296 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions -- look productive enough, but they're influenced by the final drive of the game, when he went 4-of-4 for 51 yards in garbage time. He averaged 6.6 yards per attempt before padding his stats late, and he failed to lead a scoring drive after the break.
This was a game that felt like the opposite of the 49ers' formula. In their ideal scenario, they would stay in advantageous situations on offense, get an early lead and let their running game and pass rush take over. This is a team built to win from ahead, especially with Garoppolo in the fold. You only need to take one look at his win-loss record (33-16 in San Francisco) to see how successful that formula can be.
Instead, the 49ers went down 14-0, forcing Garoppolo to throw the ball around. They ran the ball 16 times for just 50 yards and four first downs. What was left of the pass rush didn't have much of an opportunity to get after Mariota, who dropped back four times per quarter. We know Garoppolo is capable of coming back, since we saw the 49ers produce comeback victories against the Rams in Week 18 and in the playoff win over the Packers a year ago. It's also not what this team wants to do or is great at doing, and that's a limitation most of the other teams in this tax bracket don't have. Ask the Chiefs.
The 49ers will have that opportunity on Sunday, since they'll host the Chiefs in Santa Clara. Getting Bosa and Ward back for that game would be absolutely essential, given how devastating the Chiefs can be when they have time to throw. San Francisco also gets the Rams before its Week 9 bye, which can't come soon enough. We know this team can be one of the best in the league when healthy, but after having this conversation during each of the past five seasons, you can understand why injuries seem inevitable.
Los Angeles Rams
Week 6 result: Won 24-10 against the Carolina Panthers
The Rams don't belong here! These other three teams all lost. L.A. won, and did so comfortably, by beating the Panthers at home. The defense held Carolina to three points on 10 drives, knocking quarterback PJ Walker out of the game before coming up with an interception of Jacob Eason in the end zone. After losses to the 49ers and Cowboys, this represents the Rams righting the ship in advance of their Week 7 bye.
That might be true, but there are a few legitimate concerns coming out of this game and the first six weeks of the season for Los Angeles. Walker isn't an NFL-caliber quarterback, so while holding anyone to 60 passing yards on 18 dropbacks is a job well done, I'm not sure we learned much about this pass defense and whether it's improving. Most teams the Rams face won't have their No. 2 wide receiver kicked out of the game by his own head coach in the fourth quarter.
Most concerning, at least from one perspective, is how the Panthers got their touchdown, as Matthew Stafford threw a pick-six to Donte Jackson. Stafford turned the ball over only once, which might qualify as a positive day for him. He leads the league with eight interceptions, while his three fumbles lost rank second behind Trevor Lawrence. Nobody has turned the ball over more often than the 34-year-old Stafford.
This problem extends back into last season. Since Week 12, including the postseason, Stafford has thrown 20 picks over his past 17 games. Nobody else has thrown 13 over that same time frame. He has played more games than most quarterbacks over that stretch, of course, but his 3.3% interception rate ranks 26th out of 32 qualifying passers. This isn't an arbitrary endpoint trick, either; Stafford threw four picks in the two games before this split. By any measure, he's throwing interceptions at one of the league's highest rates.
The Rams also have struggled to run the ball consistently or effectively. They swapped out Cam Akers, who was inactive for personal reasons amid reports that the team might be at an impasse and ready to move on from their third-year back, for Darrell Henderson Jr. and Malcolm Brown. The results weren't much better. Henderson and Brown carried the ball 19 times for 58 yards and two first downs. The average carry from L.A.'s running backs gained minus-0.3 expected points added (EPA), which was right in line with what Akers was doing during his five-week run as the starter.
Now, Rams fans might rightfully note, this probably shouldn't be all that concerning. Stafford struggled with interceptions last season, as the Rams turned the ball over seven times in their final three postseason games, including two interceptions in the Super Bowl. Akers was even worse in the lead role, losing two key fumbles against the Buccaneers and generating minus-0.5 EPA per rush. The Rams still won a title despite those problems, so it would be silly to treat these issues as potentially lethal to their playoff hopes.
Well, last year's Rams aren't this year's Rams, and that's where the concerns are more significant. The 2021 offensive line looks nothing like this unit, and the resemblance is getting less and less familiar. Of the five starters in Super Bowl LVI, just one -- right tackle Rob Havenstein -- was in the lineup Sunday. Andrew Whitworth retired, Austin Corbett signed with Carolina and both David Edwards and Brian Allen are injured. Coleman Shelton, who started at guard in Week 1, is on injured reserve.
Instead, the Rams ran out a series of backups on the interior in Bobby Evans, A.J. Jackson and Jeremiah Kolone. That was bad, but things got worse in the first half, when left tackle Joe Noteboom went down after eight snaps and did not return. After the game, Sean McVay suggested Noteboom had suffered an Achilles injury, which would deprive the team of its blindside protector for Stafford. (Note: Those fears were confirmed Monday afternoon.) Jackson, an undrafted free agent with 61 career snaps on offense before this season, moved over to left tackle.
The Rams re-signed Noteboom, who had been their swing tackle, to a significant deal to replace Whitworth. Their other major move in free agency was to sign wideout Allen Robinson, who took the place of Odell Beckham Jr. and/or Robert Woods in the lineup. The hope was Robinson would alleviate some of the pressure on Cooper Kupp to thrive and punish teams who double-cover the star receiver.
Robinson actually had his best game of the season Sunday, catching five passes for 63 yards and a touchdown, but the move has not worked. He is averaging just 0.7 yards per route run, which ranks 85th out of 92 qualifying wide receivers. Including last year's playoff run, that's a full yard below Beckham, who ranked 33rd out of 96 in the same category a year ago.
With nobody to scare them besides Kupp, teams have been able to shut down the Rams with man coverage this season. In 2021, Stafford posted a 84.7 QBR against man defenses, the best mark in football. This season, with Robinson and Ben Skowronek unable to separate against tight coverage, Stafford's 40.5 QBR against man ranks 25th. Aaron Rodgers, who would undoubtedly do unprintable things to get Kupp on the Packers, is two spots ahead of him.
While the Rams theoretically could have signed Robinson and kept Von Miller, the star edge rusher eventually left Los Angeles to join the Bills. Miller has excelled for Buffalo, while the Rams are still trying to figure out their pass rush without the future Hall of Famer. As I wrote in my trade proposals column last week, the Rams' trio of Terrell Lewis, Justin Hollins and Leonard Floyd have just two sacks this season. None of the three added to that total Sunday.
The Rams rank 27th in pressure rate, down from fifth a year ago. They rush five more often than any other team, but when they rush four players or fewer this season, their 17.1% pressure rate ranks last. A year ago, if we include the postseason, Raheem Morris' unit created pressure on 26.7% of dropbacks when it rushed four or less, which was the ninth-best rate.
The Rams are 3-3 now only because of their schedule. Their three wins have come against the Falcons, Cardinals and Panthers, who are a combined 6-12. Their three losses have by a combined score of 77-29 to the Bills, 49ers and Cowboys, whose combined record is 12-6. When the Rams have been given playoff-caliber competition, they haven't looked like they belonged on the field.
The next two weeks are crucial. For one, the Rams get their bye, which should give some of their injured players time to heal. McVay gets a week to reevaluate his offense and try to identify ways to make Stafford's life easier. The running game, which has not been functional since the end of the regular season a year ago, has to show signs of life. Kupp can't singlehandedly carry this offense to a Super Bowl unless Robinson suddenly looks like the guy they hoped to sign or Van Jefferson's return from injury strikes an unexpected match.
The other element is the upcoming trade deadline on Nov. 1, and given their history and needs, it would be a shock if the Rams stand pat. General manager Les Snead has gone into the market and came away with Miller and cornerback Jalen Ramsey in recent years, while also signing Beckham for the minimum after the Browns cut him. The Rams might not be quite as desperate as they were before winning a Super Bowl, but this team needs more help than last year's edition did at the same time of the season.
Their shopping list, realistically, might be too long to fill. They could credibly stand to add a running back, a wide receiver with speed, a left tackle, at least one interior offensive lineman, an edge rusher and depth in the secondary. Snead also is down his first-, fourth- and fifth-round picks in the 2023 draft after various trades, although he does have two extra sixth-round selections.
Signing Beckham would allow the Rams to use their draft capital to fill other positions, although there will be plenty of demand around the league for the 29-year-old receiver. They also have only about $4.5 million in cap space, so they'll need to either pay more to get the trading team to pick up some remaining salary, as they did with Miller, or get creative to manufacture short-term cap space.
It's tempting to imagine what McVay would do with running back Christian McCaffrey, and it would hardly be a surprise if the Rams struck a deal to add yet another star to their roster. Even if the Rams do add a back, though, their needs up front on both sides of the ball are more pressing. Beating the Panthers was a respite from their problems, but as the competition gets tougher after their bye, they need to raise their play if they want to make it back to the postseason, let alone repeat as Super Bowl champs.