Los Angeles Rams Notebook: Secondary Collapses in Blowout Loss to Cowboys

The Los Angeles Rams defense was woefully incapable of stopping the Dallas Cowboys and receiver CeeDee Lamb. What else went wrong in the loss?

The Los Angeles Rams had an opportunity to get to .500 against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Instead, a combination of injuries and flat-out bad football doomed Los Angeles to extend its losing streak to two.

Losing 43-20, the Rams have fallen to 3-5 on the year. They looked like the cellar-dwelling team many projected them entering the season and were simply outclassed in every facet of the game by a more talented team.

At some point, that’s just football—but that doesn’t mean we can’t dive into what went wrong. Here are some takeaways from the Week 8 loss.

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Brandin Cooks (3) makes a touchdown catch past Los Angeles Rams cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon (44) during the fourth quarter at AT&T Stadium / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

1. The secondary may be incapable of containing truly elite receivers.

For the second time this season, the Rams played a top-10 receiver with a healthy quarterback. Just like the first time, the secondary got eviscerated. Philadelphia Eagles receiver A.J. Brown went off for 127 yards. On Sunday, Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb doubled Brown’s six receptions, generating 158 yards and two scores.

Despite defensive coordinator Raheem Morris’ best efforts, his cornerbacks looked utterly outmatched. Lamb made his impact felt at every level of the field, continuously making plays after the catch and at the catch point.

Sunday’s performance felt emblematic of this team’s ceiling. They cannot be relied on to stop top receivers. Thankfully for Los Angeles, it won’t face anyone of Lamb or Brown’s caliber, but the NFC West isn’t short on perimeter talent. They’ll need the offense to pick up that slack the secondary provides.

2. Cooper Kupp’s quiet day kept the Rams off-schedule.

Receiver Cooper Kupp will soon return to performing like the league’s best slot receiver, but Sunday was a second consecutive mediocre performance.

Held to just four catches and 21 yards on 10 targets, Los Angeles wasn’t unreasonable to make him a point of emphasis, but the results—to some extent a result of poor quarterback play—were not there.

The Rams needed to win the matchups Kupp faced over the middle, especially with receiver Puka Nacua having a quiet day himself. Dallas’ corners stepped up and, in conjunction with the pass rush, produced a stifling effort. It didn’t matter if gunslinger Matthew Stafford was taking snaps or backup Brett Rypien, who came in for relief after a hand injury.

When 10 targets to one’s best weapon produce fruitless results, a lot of things have to go right. Los Angeles, clearly, wasn’t able to make up the difference. Don’t expect these struggles to continue.

3. Aaron Donald still has game-breaking potential.

Star defensive lineman Aaron Donald looked like he was going to put a stamp on Sunday’s game. He totaled four tackles (two behind the line of scrimmage) and two sacks early in the Week 8 contest.

Dallas ultimately got its act together, but it was undeniably a strong day from Donald, who had just 2.5 sacks through seven weeks.

Even if he isn’t the most dominant defensive player in the sport, he can still go nuclear on any given Sunday. That could very well keep Los Angeles in a game, if not winning it.

Just about everything went wrong, and it took a strong showing from the defensive line out of the game. On future Sundays when a blocked punt and uncharacteristically ugly offense don’t render the defense at such a disadvantage, it’s really easy to see Donald keeping the rest of his defense afloat.

Obviously, giving up 387 yards isn’t acceptable, but the Rams stars shouldn't be a long-term cause for concern.