Los Angeles Rams Vs. Indianapolis Colts: 5 Players Revisited

Did you guys like that? Where are we? The Los Angeles Rams slaughtered the Indianapolis Colts yesterday and it was truly a team effort. Earlier this week I gave you five Rams and five Colts to watch. Let’s revisit how all ten players fared in week one.

QB Jared Goff

Wow. Goff looked great. Outside of one early third down throw to Cooper Kupp (and this is nitpicking), I can’t recall a bad throw. This is not the same quarterback we saw last year. Not even the QB you saw in Oakland this preseason. Goff had more bullets and ropes and lasers in this one game than he did in all of the 2016 season. Feel free to challenge that. All in all, Goff finished the day with one touchdown and 306 yards while completing 21 of 29 passes. For his first career win, Goff not only proved he belonged, but he carved up a team he was supposed to.

QB Scott Tolzien

Moment of silence for Philly Roughshod. Poor, Phillip. Tolzien was overwhelmed the entire game until he was yanked for Jacoby Brissett. On his first pass attempt, Trumaine Johnson took it back for a TD. Lamarcus Joyner got another later as well. You really do have to feel for Tolzien, he never had a chance. The Colts are in big trouble until Andrew Luck gets back.

DE Ethan Westbrooks

I had questions on if the added workload would hurt Westbrooks but he certainly didn’t give any signs that it did. Westbrooks had himself a good game and finished with 1 sack, 1 TFL and recorded another QB hit. He was active all game and proved himself more than capable as the Rams de facto DE1 in Aaron Donald’s absence.

DT Johnathan Hankins

Hankins wasn’t as active on the final stat sheet but his value was always as a space eater. From what I could tell he did a decent job and was one of the many reasons that Todd Gurley was once again stifled in the run game. The duo of Hankins and Al Woods gave the Rams interior OL some fits.

RB Todd Gurley

Speaking of Gurley...he go the Rams offense on the board in the 2nd quarter with a gutty 5 yard touchdown run but was largely ineffective on the ground. Again. The game flow was pretty predictable and wasn’t in Todd’s favor but his inefficiency rushing the ball continued. Wasn’t all bad for Gurley though, as he was heavily involved as a receiver catching five passes for 56 yards. It’s a new dynamic to his game and one that made the Rams offense that much better against the Colts.

CB Rashaan Melvin

Poor Rashaan. From what I could tell, he was asked to shadow Sammy Watkins early in the game. Good news for the Rams was that Melvin just couldn’t keep Watkins and Goff from connecting. Melvin finished with 6 tackles but that was mostly on Watkins. It could have been much worse for him and the Colts.

EDGE Robert Quinn

Bobby Quinn looked good. And healthy. Quinn got out of the game early when it was apparent the Rams were on their way to a win. While he was in the game, Quinn flashed crazy athleticism we all got used to in years past. Quinn finished with 1 sack, 2 TFLs, and added another QB hit. The Quinn we saw yesterday looked reminiscent of the Quinn who once recorded 19 sacks in a season. Great news for the defense.

WR T.Y. Hilton

Poor T.Y. Hilton. It was bad enough he got stuck with Tolzien for this week, then to make it worse he had to face this Rams defense and Trumaine Johnson. Hilton showed signs of life early on but after a catch and fumble, like his team, he never fully recovered. Finishing the day with 3 catches for 57 yards, the Rams kept 2016 NFL leading receiver in check.

WR Cooper Kupp

The first pass of the game didn’t go to Kupp but he did grab the first touchdown catch of the year. Kupp looked great just as he has all offseason. He’s clearly one of Goff’s favorite two targets along with Sammy Watkins. Kupp did have one terrible dropped pass later in the game but he had already done his damage, finishing with 4 catches for a team leading 76 yards. He’s not going anywhere.

LT Anthony Castonzo

Not a whole lot to be said about Castonzo. He allowed a couple sacks to Westbrooks and Quinn and wasn’t too effective as a run blocker. The colts rushing attack finished with just 75 yards on the day and Castonzo was part of an offensive line that surrendered 4 sacks.