The Los Angeles Rams have been struggling with the dreaded Super Bowl hangover this year, and one of their best players made some interesting comments about the poor play after Sunday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tom Brady threw a touchdown pass to tight end Cade Otton with seconds remaining to help lead the Bucs to a much-needed 16-13 win. It was the second consecutive loss for the Rams, who fell to 3-5 on the year. Cooper Kupp said after the game that he does not think effort has been an issue for L.A. and hinted that other changes need to be made.
Cooper Kupp: "We keep saying come back and go to work. And it's not a shortage of effort, but at some point how much more effort can you give? You’ve got to change something. You’ve got to find a way to be efficient and score points."
— Sarah Barshop (@sarahbarshop) November 7, 2022
There are a couple of ways to interpret that. Kupp could have been referring to the current state of the Rams’ roster, though they should have enough skill players to score points. Kupp also may have been hinting that he thinks the play-calling needs to change and that head coach Sean McVay needs to do a better job of making adjustments.
Kupp has been the Rams’ best player this season by far. His 72 receptions rank second in the NFL behind only Tyreek Hill. Kupp has 813 yards receiving, which is the fourth-highest mark among pass-catchers.
Even with Kupp playing at an All-Pro level again, the Rams are averaging just 286 yards per game, which is 31st in the NFL. Their 16.4 points per game places them 29th in the league. That is not the type of production we are used to seeing from a McVay offense.
A recent report indicated that McVay may not stick around to coach the Rams much longer. If he is planning to retire sooner rather than later, he should be even more motivated to get things back on the right track.
