The Los Angeles Rams time in Melbourne, Australia was short-lived and that might be for the best as LA suffered a 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday Night (Friday morning for others). Some might question the Rams decision to fly in the day before the game, although that did not seem to be a significant influence on the outcome in my opinion. Why did the Rams lose? Well here are 4 takeaways from Los Angeles's week one loss to their division rivals.
After picking off a Brock Purdy pass, Stafford turned the ball back over to the San Francisco 49ers on 3rd & 10 from the SF 35. Instead of taking his underneath option (Terrance Ferguson), Stafford tried to force a pass on a deep corner to Puka Nacua. The ball was underthrown; giving SF momentum and taking 3 points off the board for LA. Had the Rams kicked the field goal on 4th down, they would have had a 10-3 lead.
The other self-inflicted mistake was the turnover on downs with 3:46 left in the 3rd quarter. The Rams could not punch the ball in the endzone from 2nd, 3rd, and 4th & Goal (all within the 3 yard line). The latter being 4th & 1/2 yard. Those are simply must-have situations when down 10.
The Rams allowed 30 rushing attempts for 174 yards (5.8 yards per carry). The Rams won't beat a Kyle Shanahan offense with that type of formula. No, it wasn't because Aaron Donald was inactive. The Rams simply did not win the trenches getting pushed off the ball. Chris Shula will need to take a deep look at how to counter the 49ers usage of chips on his edge players as Myles Garrett was a non-factor in rushing the passer but also in defending the run.
The Rams offense was one of the best in 2025 because they were constantly in favorable down & distances. In this game against the 49ers, their 3rd down distances were: 5 yards, 2 yards, 6 yards, 10 yards, 13 yards, 1 yard, 2 yards, 15 yards, and 10 yards. The only true conversion was on 3rd & 2 via a Kyren Williams run. The other conversion was via defensive pass interference call late in the game.

#ball #game #pass #francisco

The Los Angeles Rams were blown out by the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 27-7, losing in the NFL's first-ever game in Melbourne, Australia. Here are five observations from the embarrassing defeat.
One has to hope that the reason why the Rams played as awfully as they did was the travel. I do not share that hope. Sean McVay and Chris Shula got outclassed by Kyle Shanahan and Raheem Morris. Shanahan relied on his usual tactics of targeting the Rams' underbelly with the pass, while softening up their interior with the run. After enough times, Shanahan pulled the defense in to take the top off.
Morris knows McVay like the back of his championship hand. It was the second straight year that Morris outmaneuvered every attack McVay threw at him. It's not surprising that Morris is behind the Rams' two ugliest losses in recent memory.
This is a third straight year that Shanahan has run the same thing against Shula and succeeded. When both sides are at full strength, the Rams lose, and relying on a battle of attrition to beat the 49ers over the course of the season isn't exactly an awful move, but it's one that reeks of defeatism. The Rams were defeated decisively. Aaron Donald isn't fixing this.
LaFleur left for Arizona, and it appears he took the Rams' short passing attack with him. The offense could not move the ball through the air at all, and despite the addition of Kliff Kingsbury and the elevation of Nate Scheelhaase, the McVay offense was pedestrian.

#shula

The Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers are ready to renew their annual rivalry, this time with both team's kicking off their season in Melbourne, Australia. While the location has many excited about the game, along with the rivalry's intensity, these three storylines are ones to watch.
This is a multi-layered question due to Kyle Shanahan's offensive brilliance, along with how his scheme has populated the league. The immediate questions revolve around the Rams' defense and whether they have the tools to contain Shanahan's zone-blocking scheme. On top of that, do they have the ability to stop Shanahan's layered passing attack, in which he uses short underneath passes to open up the rest of the field?
Schematics aside, the Seahawks and Cardinals also utilize Shanahan's offensive scheme, as their offensive play-callers are ex-Shanahan ****** istants.
Then, we have to account for Shanahan's tactical brilliance. If I'm Shanahan, I'm using the early portions of the game to figure out how the Rams match up against San Francisco's multi-tight end personnel, and once Chris Shula deploys multiple linebackers, the 49ers should use a fast-tempo offense to take advantage of the Rams' linebackers having to cover ****** e while depleting their energy, with the Rams being unable to substitute.
Shanahan has tricks like that in his bag to control the pen. Is Shula finally wise enough not to fall for it?

#Rams #offensive #scheme #brilliance

"Wait til next year" is a notion that many close to the Pro Football Hall of Fame's selection process are painfully familiar with.
The inherently exclusive club only annually admits a select few new members, leaving out many of the game's most accomplished figures. The ensuing waiting game can seem without end.
But when the latest class is inducted on Saturday, Aug. 8, in Canton, Ohio, the temptation to look ahead to next year's group might be stronger than ever.
When news broke in January that former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was not selected in his first year of eligibility, the decision immediately became one of the most infamous in the organization's history. Despite winning the second-most games in league history (333, trailing only Don Shula's 347) and reigning over the definitive dynasty of the 21st century, Belichick was left to process a snub many are still trying to make sense of nearly seven months later.
Now, there might be unparalleled interest in the selection process for the Class of 2027.

#many #class

All signs continue to point to a potential return to the Rams by defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who retired after the 2023 season.
Everyone on the outside is thinking about what it would mean for the team. Folks on the inside are thinking about it, too.
"Obviously, I'd be really excited about that," defensive coordinator Chris Shula told reporters on Wednesday regarding the possibility of Donald coming back. "You're getting one of the best players of all time. I've had a great history with him. I was here in '17, coaching other positions with him. I know what a great guy he is, what a hard worker he is, and what he would mean to this defense. But at the same time, we're going to coach the guys who are here and if he decides to come back, that'd be great."
Donald took the next step earlier this week, with a "tryout" during (we're told) a day off for players at training camp. Shula wasn't present for the session that was far less about evaluating Donald and much more about Donald seeing how he felt — with the goal of finding out if he can get back to being the great player he was.
What made him so great?

#great #mean

LOS ANGELES–– There's much to marvel at in the sky even when clouds are absent. Birds suspended in flight. Planes traversing the blue expanse. The sun walking across the face of the firmament.
Nothing is there to obstruct your vision.
Even with the Rams in shirts and t-shirts on Day 7 of Training Camp, an exhale disguised as effort—the day more relaxed, the tempo dialed down—there was much to observe when it appears otherwise. How ***** erflies lined up in the backfield and onside, indifferent to the millionaires in its midst.
And yet the things that matter most in July rarely happen at full speed.
How Trent McDuffie used every rep to dial in and hone his craft. How Sean McVay and Chris Shula taught seasoned vets an install as they walked through.

#much #planes

The Los Angeles Rams made a series of aggressive offseason trades to overhaul their defense, sending multiple first-round picks and rising young edge rusher Jared Verse to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for star pass rusher Myles Garrett, while also acquiring cornerback Trent McDuffie from Kansas City and signing free-agent corner Jaylen Watson.
The moves were clearly a direct response to how the Rams' defense unraveled in the playoffs, and ESPN's Ben Solak explains that the Garrett-for-Verse swap directly targets a finishing problem and opens up new avenues for defensive coordinator Chris Shula in 2026 and beyond.
A wonderful bull rusher, Verse often demolished the pocket and created pressure but was unable to finish his rushes under control. He has a career pressure-to-sack ratio of 8.4%, which is fourth worst among all edges over the past two seasons. Garrett's recent pressure-to-sack ratio was obviously ballooned by his record-setting season, but over his career, he has a 19.3% conversion rate -- more than double that of Verse.
Because Verse was such a wrecking ball, Shula would wisely use him as the crasher on stunts, twists and other defensive line games. With a runway into a tackle, Verse could break pocket integrity and flush out the quarterback, where a waiting looper or blitzer could clean him up. It was Shula's way of converting Verse's pressures into team sacks, as Verse couldn't easily convert them into individual sacks. Cody Alexander of Match Quarters charted stunt rate last year and had the Rams running more defensive line games than any other team in the league by a pretty large margin.
With Garrett, Solak suggests Shula will lean into more straightforward four-man rush opportunities, often overloading the line away from Garrett to isolate him in one-on-one matchups. Still, Shula is expected to retain some stunt packages to maximize interior rushers like Byron Young and Kobie Turner, using Garrett's presence to draw extra blocking attention and open lanes elsewhere on the line.

Former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton has never been short on bold ideas. Now, a reported plan involving Bill Belichick has made its way into the public eye — and it would've been one of the wildest moves of both Payton and Belichick's coaching careers.
Payton considered making an unusual proposal to Denver Broncos owner Greg Penner after Belichick and the New England Patriots parted ways in 2024, according to ESPN's Seth Wickersham. That proposal: for Denver to hire Belichick as the team's head coach until he earned 15 more wins, enough to pass legendary head coach Don Shula for the NFL's all-time coaching wins record. As part of the plan, Payton would've temporarily stepped aside as head coach and moved into an **** istant head coach role while continuing to run Denver's offense. Once Belichick broke the record, Payton would've moved back into the head-coaching role.
That setup never came together, with Wickersham writing that it was ultimately too complicated and "maybe too fanciful." Still, it's fascinating from a Saints perspective because of how much the idea says about Payton, the longtime coach in New Orleans.
The plan would not have been a normal succession plan or even a blockbuster move; nothing like it has taken place in NFL history. It would've been one legendary head coach temporarily handing the **** le to another, all so Belichick could chase that final record.
For Payton, the appeal likely would've been staying close enough to still shape the offense and to get a break from head-coaching duties, while giving the Broncos a once-in-a-generation opportunity to pair two of the most accomplished coaches of the 21st century. It never happened, but it's an idea that very few people other than Sean Payton would even think about.

Sean Payton helped the Denver Broncos return to relevance since taking over as the head coach in 2023. However, there was reportedly a master plan considered that would have had legendary coach Bill Belichick in the coaching driver's seat in Denver instead.
According to ESPN's Seth Wickersham, Payton considered pitching the idea of temporarily stepping down as head coach and relinquishing his job to Belichick after he parted ways with the New England Patriots in 2024. Payton and Belichick had developed a strong friendship, and the Broncos coach was willing to step aside to give the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach a chance to reach the 15 wins needed for him to break Don Shula's record of 347 victories.
The thinking was that Payton would step down and ******* ume the role as ******* istant head coach and offensive coordinator until Belichick reached the necessary win total.
Wickersham wrote:
"Payton and Belichick go back decades, forged by mutual respect -- and mutual trauma from working under Parcells. When Belichick and the Patriots divorced in 2024, Payton considered presenting Broncos owner Greg Penner a proposal for the ages: Hire Belichick as head coach until he reached 15 wins, enough to break Don Shula's career record of 347. Payton would temporarily step down to ******* istant head coach and run the offense, then move back after Belichick became the all-time leader. In the end, it was too complicated -- and maybe too fanciful."

The Miami Dolphins last hoisted a Lombardi Trophy over 50 years ago, when Don Shula led the team to back-to-back wins in Super Bowls VII and VIII over Washington and Minnesota.
With the New York Knicks recently ending their 53-year championship drought in the NBA, the Dolphins have come up a lot in discussions for their 52-year drought, which is the 11th-longest in the NFL and 21st-longest in the four major sports.
Interestingly, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer recently compared the Dolphins and Knicks saying that the parallels are "too striking to ignore."
Here are his reasons for the comparison:
• Both the Knicks and Dolphins were iconic in the early 1970s, playing in venues that became legendary at multiple levels of their respective sports (Madison Square Garden and the Orange Bowl), and winning pairs of championships. As result, the franchises were elevated to becoming flagship brands for their leagues.