Who is to blame for the team’s recent struggles?

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Everything was going well in Los Angeles for the first eight weeks of the season. The Rams were 7-1 and had a four-game winning streak in which they beat all of their opponents by at least nine points. But in the last two games, the Rams have looked anything but a Super Bowl contender.

In fact, they looked like a team that might struggle to qualify for the playoffs.

They were knocked out by the Titans, 28-16, last week and then on Monday night the 49ers crushed them, 31-10. Their 26 points overall are the second in less than two games under Sean McVay, according to ESPN Stats and Info, and this is the first time they have been kept under 20 points in consecutive losses since 2016.

Guaranteed or not, panic begins to set in among Rams fans after the team fell to 7-3 – a record that is still very impressive and is only one game away from the top rating. the NFL. But if the Rams keep playing like they’ve been doing for the past two weeks, they’re going to be in trouble.

The fault for this rapid regression does not lie with one or two individuals either.

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McVay hasn’t had a very good two weeks for the Rams. Against the Titans, he gave up the run too quickly, especially in the red zone when the ground game was working. Tennessee was putting a ton of pressure on Matthew Stafford, but McVay continued with empty sets and chose not to keep any extra players as blockers.

Against the 49ers, it was no better. His decision to attempt a false basket before half-time was questionable at the time and it only worsened after reaching 6 yards from the line to win.

Yes, the Rams fell behind early, but trying for just six points in the first half when ground play was working didn’t do them a favor as they tried for a comeback. Darrell Henderson Jr. and Sony Michel were effective, but they combined for just nine litters, one of which was Michel’s in the latter part of the match.

McVay needs to improve his situational play and stop relying so heavily on the pass – even if the Rams are late early.

(AP Photo / Tony Avelar)

Stafford also deserves a significant portion of the blame. In the past two weeks, he’s thrown four interceptions, even though one of them wasn’t his fault. He gave the Titans 14 points in the first half with two terrible interceptions, and against the Browns he inexplicably threw a bombshell at Odell Beckham Jr. in the first practice as the receiver wasn’t even looking for the ball.

Its accuracy has also been very low over the past two weeks. He throws behind the receivers, over their heads and does not put the ball in the right places to allow them to play. It didn’t help that his receivers lost seven assists in the past two weeks, including six on Monday night, but Stafford also needs to be better.

He didn’t play well enough to help the Rams win and his turnovers put the Rams in an early hole.

(AP Photo / Ashley Landis)

The Rams have played a fold-not-break style of defense this season, but against the 49ers on Monday night, they’ve been as ineffective as they’ve been all season. They helped San Francisco convert in eight of their 14 third-down attempts, including seven of their first eight.

He also uses Jalen Ramsey in confusing ways, rarely putting his best cornerback on Deebo Samuel or George Kittle on Monday night – only to watch both players win key third downs against players not named Ramsey.

He should have known that the 49ers were going to throw the ball straight to the Rams. They attempted 44 rushes and gained 156 yards on the ground, throwing it just 19 times. Still, Morris consistently called out the soft covers and chose not to load the box to stop the race.

The players need to do a better job of execution, but Morris isn’t exactly setting this team up for success lately.

(AP Photo / Tony Avelar)

Against the 49ers, it looked like the Rams were trying to catch a buttery foamed soccer ball. They dropped six passes, two of which would have been touchdowns and two more that would have collected a first on a third down.

It wasn’t just one or two players either. Van Jefferson has had three falls in the past two weeks, Cooper Kupp had one Monday night, Tyler Higbee lost two to the 49ers and Ben Skowronek had a ball in the end zone.

This team is already clearly missing from Robert Woods and until Odell Beckham Jr. is fully operational, the receiving group could continue to struggle with Skowronek functioning as a starter. This whole group has to be better because seven drops in two weeks are doing the Rams a disservice offensively.

(Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Getty Images)

The offensive line has played quite well against the 49ers. San Francisco took seven presses and two sacks, but the protection was good and the running lanes were huge – when the Rams chose to keep the ball on the ground.

But against the Titans, the offensive line was atrocious, especially on the inside. Stafford was under constant pressure and never seemed comfortable in his pocket. The big men up front deserve a lot of blame for the loss to the Titans because they just weren’t good enough.

It’s far from the biggest weakness of this team right now, but there is a direct correlation between the pressure allowed and the offensive struggles.

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