Sunday turned out to be a stressful day for the Los Angeles Rams after it appeared they would run away with a victory over the Indianapolis Colts. They grabbed a 23-0 lead but allowed the Colts to score 23 unanswered to send the game into overtime.
Los Angeles avoided an embarrassing loss by beating the Colts in OT, improving to 2-2 on the year with the 29-23 victory. The Rams were without starting left tackle Alaric Jackson, but the snap counts on offense and defense looked similar to the way they have most of the season – with the exception of Kyren Williams’ lightened snap share.
Here’s a breakdown of the playing time on both sides of the ball, beginning with the offense.
Offense
Kevin Dotson made his Rams debut on Sunday and played every snap at right guard. Joe Noteboom moved from guard to left tackle in place of Jackson, while Steve Avila, Coleman Shelton and Rob Havenstein all played every snap at their usual positions.
Puka Nacua remained the No. 1 receiver on offense, playing 78 of 82 snaps Sunday. Van Jefferson was the second option with an 87% snap share, while Tutu Atwell was the third receiver, playing 78% of the snaps. Ben Skowronek (27%) and Demarcus Robinson (9%) were the fourth and fifth receivers.
Kyren Williams is still the unquestioned starter at running back but for the first time since Week 1, the Rams lightened his workload a little bit. He still played 72% of the snaps but Ronnie Rivers mixed in with 23 snaps played, carrying it nine times for 47 yards.
Tyler Higbee continues to play a ton of snaps for the Rams, only coming off the field for five plays. Brycen Hopkins played eight snaps, so the two of them were on the field together a few times in 12 personnel, but Higbee’s workload has been huge so far. Davis Allen also played one snap.
Defense
Jordan Fuller and Ernest Jones once again played every snap defensively, as they do each week. Ahkello Witherspoon also played all 64 defensive snaps as the top corner on the outside, helping shut down Michael Pittman Jr. Derion Kendrick played 63 of 64 snaps, as did Russ Yeast, maintaining their high snap counts this season.
Cobie Durant played 70% of the snaps as the nickel corner, and Tre Tomlinson only played one snap, a play in which he was called for a costly defensive holding penalty that negated a strip-sack by Aaron Donald.
The Rams rarely rotate their edge rushers, relying heavily on Byron Young and Michael Hoecht, who each played 61 of 64 snaps. Nick Hampton and Zach VanValkenburg were the only other edge rushers to see the field, playing the three snaps that Hoecht and Young missed.
Aaron Donald played the most snaps of any defensive lineman, which is typical. Kobie Turner was second with a 53% snap share, followed by Jonah Williams, who played 52%. Bobby Brown III played half the snaps at nose tackle, rotating in along the defensive line. Larrell Murchison and Desjuan Johnson played limited snaps.
Christian Rozeboom played about half the snaps (55%) as the second linebacker, which has been his usual share this season. Quentin Lake was the third safety, playing nine snaps, while John Johnson III continues to only play special teams.
