The Rams could have looked at the scoreboard Monday night, congratulated themselves on restoring order and called it an evening.
uncertain
Rams → look → it
Davante Adams had spent three hours reminding everyone that he remains a problem without an obvious solution.
asserted
he → spend → solution
Matthew Stafford was delivering the ball with conviction.
asserted
Stafford → deliver → conviction
And the misery of Australia finally had some distance behind it.
asserted
misery → have → it
Feeling satisfied is another matter.
asserted
Feeling → feel → ?
For a team with the Rams’ ambitions, Monday’s win over the Giants was as much a reminder of what remains possible as evidence of what still needs work.
asserted
what → remain → work
“The cool thing is there’s a lot of stuff we can clean up too,” Rams coach Sean McVay said.
asserted
McVay → ’ → stuff
Cool might not have been his preferred description when the ball was hitting the ground.
uncertain
ball → hit → ground
But his larger point holds up.
asserted
point → hold → ?
The Rams won 28–6, outgained the Giants 481–182 and got 327 passing yards and four touchdown throws from Stafford.
asserted
Rams → win → Stafford
And still, there were stretches when they seemed determined to make the evening more complicated than necessary.
asserted
evening → be → ?
Kyren Williams’ fumble at the Rams’ 11-yard line handed the Giants three points.
asserted
fumble → hand → points
A better opponent might have turned it into a touchdown.
uncertain
opponent → turn → touchdown
Stafford forced a throw into double coverage.
asserted
Stafford → force → coverage
Dropped passes turned opportunities into frustrations.
asserted
passes → drop → frustrations
Those are the kinds of mistakes a team can survive against an opponent struggling to generate much of anything.
asserted
team → survive → anything
And remember, the Giants played nearly the entire game without quarterback Jaxson Dart, who went down with a knee injury on the opening drive.
asserted
who → remember → drive
It doesn’t need to be explained how the calculus changed once he left and James Winston replaced him.
asserted
Winston → need → him
Point being, the mistakes the Rams made Monday become considerably more expensive when the caliber of opponent improves.
asserted
caliber → make → opponent
That starts on Sunday when the Rams head to the Mile High City to play the Broncos.
asserted
Rams → start → Broncos
That distinction belongs in any honest assessment of Monday night.
asserted
distinction → belong → night
So does the understanding that identifying flaws in a comfortable victory is hardly a reason to panic.
asserted
identifying → do → victory
Nobody hands out trophies for having the cleanest September.
asserted
Nobody → hand → September
And nobody with designs on playing deep into the postseason should want this to be the best version of themselves.
asserted
this → play → themselves
“We were a little bit not as efficient as I would have liked in certain areas,” said Stafford.
asserted
Stafford → like → areas
“Some plays that we can make that we didn’t make.
asserted
we → make → that
We do that, we like where we are, but it was nice to get a win as we’re finding a way to be better,” Stafford said.
asserted
Stafford → do → way
The reassuring part is that the Rams can point to specific ways to improve.
Protect the ball.
asserted
Rams → point → ball
Give productive possessions a chance to become points instead of explaining afterward why they did not.
asserted
they → give → chance
Those corrections do not require discovering an entirely different offense.
asserted
corrections → require → offense
They require getting more out of the one already taking shape.
asserted
They → require → shape
Adams offered the clearest illustration.
asserted
Adams → offer → illustration
His eight catches for 195 yards and two touchdowns were enough to dominate the evening.
asserted
catches → dominate → evening
They also invited a bigger question.
asserted
They → invite → question
What might this look like when the Rams stop interrupting themselves?
uncertain
Rams → look → themselves
“I think it was a glimpse of it, to be honest.
asserted
it → think → it
Because I think we still got another level to tap into,” Adams said.
asserted
Adams → think → level
“And I don’t say that trying to be like ‘that’ but at the end of the day, if we take care of the ball a little bit better, it’s going to equate to more points.
asserted
it → say → points
That is a reasonable expectation, especially with Puka Nacua eventually returning to the offense, Aaron Donald still rounding back into form and Myles Garrett expected back on defense eventually.
asserted
Garrett → return → defense
The Rams are still working toward the lineup they envisioned.
asserted
they → work → lineup
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
