Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay is digging into his bag of methods towards the San Francisco 49ers.
On a fourth-and-6 at L.A.’s 43-yard line with 6:22 left within the second quarter, the Rams lined up in a punt formation. As an alternative of punting, they snapped the ball to operating again Ronnie Rivers, who picked up the primary down.
After the faux punt, the Rams marched into the purple zone, the place quarterback Matthew Stafford threw a 14-yard landing move to operating again Kyren Williams, reducing the 49ers’ result in 14-7 with 1:11 remaining within the second quarter.
The Rams are coping with accidents to a number of offensive stars, together with WRs Puka Nacua (knee) and Cooper Kupp (ankle).
Nacua — who led the workforce in receiving yards (1,486 yards in 17 games) final season — was just lately positioned on injured reserve and will miss 5 to seven weeks (h/t: ESPN’s Adam Schefter).
The accidents will in all probability check the Rams’ depth. Thus, they want extra inventive play calling from McVay to beat the issues and keep away from an early-season tailspin.
