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Jan 17, 2025 | 
nytimes.com | Byron Young |Jourdan Rodrigue
At the snap of the ball, the Los Angeles Rams rookie outside linebacker - all 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds of him - screams off the line of scrimmage and toward the quarterback. His speed-to-power pass rush crashes into offensive linemen at absurd impact and with abnormal force, which helps explain how Verse doubled the NFL average in pressure rate in most of his games this season. After each play, his voice is a ceaseless foghorn as he smack-talks and laughs in opponents' faces.
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Nov 24, 2024 | 
nytimes.com | Byron Young |Alec Lewis
CHICAGO - There is a world in which Sam Darnold never returned to the game Sunday. An alternate universe where he was not the man under center with overtime beginning in a game the Minnesota Vikings should have ended much earlier. But there Darnold was at Soldier Field, clasping his helmet with both hands and listening to head coach Kevin O'Connell's play calls. There Darnold was, dropping back, planting his back foot and throwing darts over the middle of the field.
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Nov 22, 2024 | 
nytimes.com | Byron Young |Braden Fiske |Jourdan Rodrigue
LOS ANGELES - Defensive line coach Giff Smith didn't sugarcoat anything. The Los Angeles Rams had just lost back-to-back games, first in overtime against the Detroit Lions and then in a blowout to the Arizona Cardinals. Detroit ran the ball on seven of eight overtime plays including the game-winning touchdown. The Cardinals put up 231 net rushing yards.
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Nov 20, 2024 | 
nytimes.com | Byron Young |Vic Tafur
As the losses pile up, the buzzword around the Las Vegas Raiders the last couple of weeks has been communication. The offensive linemen need to speak more loudly to each other. The defensive backs can't just drop coverage on one receiver to follow another one, especially if the first one is strolling toward the end zone. Here's another buzzword - talent.
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Nov 17, 2024 | 
nytimes.com | Byron Young |Jourdan Rodrigue
FOXBORO, Mass. - What a perfect setting, in a place with such a storied previous reputation for winning by emphasizing the details, to consider the important little moments and decisions within a game.
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Nov 17, 2024 | 
nytimes.com | Byron Young
The back-and-forth passing affair between Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye was won by Stafford in his second trip to Gillette Stadium. Both passers produced standout efforts, but it was Stafford who finished stronger, finishing with four touchdowns and nearly 300 yards in one of his best games of the season. Stafford's showing was aided by star receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, appearing in just their fourth game together this season.
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Nov 12, 2024 | 
nytimes.com | Byron Young |Jourdan Rodrigue
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - If Monday night's 23-15 loss to the Miami Dolphins was a lesson for the Los Angeles Rams in "the importance of continuity" as head coach Sean McVay indicated in his postgame comments, then it should also be a lesson in the importance of not overthinking the simple things.
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Nov 4, 2024 | 
nytimes.com | Byron Young |Matt Barrows
It's already been a strange season for the defending NFC champions. The San Francisco 49ers lost their top wide receiver and interior defensive lineman to injuries. They've dropped games - games they were winning handily - to a pair of division opponents. And their history of struggling with the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs defense continued in 2024.
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Nov 4, 2024 | 
nytimes.com | Byron Young |Jourdan Rodrigue
Before veteran receiver Demarcus Robinson grabbed, with one hand, the most improbable touchdown pass while using his other arm to keep defender Tariq Woolen at bay, Cooper Kupp had to seal an edge block against a linebacker. His block gave Stafford the room to flip his hips to get positioned for a deeper throw while on the move to his left.
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Oct 25, 2024 | 
fantasypros.com | Raju Byfield |Byron Young
Thursday Night Football got a major boost with the returns of Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, and the Los Angeles Rams (2-4) looked like a completely different team against a Minnesota Vikings team that entered Week 8 as the second seed in the NFC with a 5-1 record. The facemask on the Byron Young sack for a safety will be the talk of the talking heads, but the Rams were the better team in Week 7.
