- The Rams' starting offensive line — left tackle
Andrew Whitworth
, left guard
Rodger Saffold
, center
John Sullivan
, right guard
Jamon Brown
, and right tackle
Rob Havenstein
— played together for the vast majority of the game. But Whitworth and Sullivan received five snaps off late in the fourth quarter, with
Darrell Williams
and
Austin Blythe
entering the game as their respective replacements. After undergoing a couple of positions changes throughout the preseason, the line is still gaining valuable experience working together in game action.
- Quarterback
Jared Goff
commanded the Rams' offense through 60 snaps before being taken out of the game late in the fourth quarter, as
Sean Mannion
ended the contest in victory formation.
- Head coach Sean McVay utilized 12 personnel — a formation with one running back, two tight ends, and two wide receivers — at multiple times throughout the contest, bringing in tight ends
Tyler Higbee
and
Gerald Everett
to complement each other on field. Higbee played 53 snaps, with Everett playing 29.
- Sunday's season opener also saw a wide distribution of the football, with Goff targeting eight different receivers.
Robert Woods
,
Sammy Watkins
, and
Cooper Kupp
all took roughly the same amount of offensive snaps with an average of 40 reps per receiver, while running back
Todd Gurley
played 48 snaps.
- One standout number on the offensive list is wide receiver
Tavon Austin
’s seven snaps. With the Rams building a big lead early, it’s possible McVay is keeping some of his plans for Austin under wraps for another week. Austin played 14 snaps total — seven on offense and seven on special teams.
DEFENSIVE SNAP COUNTS -
- Defensive tackle
Tyrunn Walker
started on the D-line and was a significant factor, making a sack and two tackles for loss in 25 snaps. As expected, rookie
Tanzel Smart
was a major contributor in the defensive line rotation, taking 29 snaps.
- Cornerback
Kayvon Webster
was ruled out of the game with a shoulder injury after playing 23 defensive snaps. He was replaced in part by
Nickell Robey-Coleman
who finished out the game on the outside with 32 reps.
- Several Rams' rookies made a big impression on special teams including cornerback
Dominique Hatfield
and linebacker
Samson Ebukam
, playing 16 and 22 snaps on special teams and 10 and 14 defensive snaps, respectively.
- Linebackers
Mark Barron
and
Alec Ogletree
were the two most heavily used defensive players, each taking 41 snaps, present in 82% of the Rams time on defense. With the Rams up big in the fourth quarter, they received some rest late in the game