Jalen Ramsey again shows that he’s a shutdown cornerback

The Rams played a second game, got a second win and also a second bucket of water from Jalen Ramsey on whatever fire the opponent tried to start with the passing game. Mostly facing off against DeSean Jackson and first round pick Jalen Reagor, Ramsey held Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz to 0-of-2 passing when throwing in his direction per Next Gen Stats.

Wentz was held to 5.6 yards per attempt and threw two interceptions as the Rams beat the Eagles 37-19 to improve to 2-0.

Less than two weeks after making Ramsey the highest paid defensive back in the NFL, he’s delivered performances worthy of the title. In LA’s Week 1 win over the Cowboys, Ramsey was charted as allowing 8-of-11 passes for 81 yards, but those numbers aren’t bad given the circumstances and he made key plays in the fourth quarter to help the Rams preserve the lead and win.

With a player of Ramsey’s caliber in the secondary and Aaron Donald creating issues for the quarterback in a more direct manner, LA’s defense forced Wentz into multiple mistakes that were taken advantage of by Rams cornerbacks Darious Williams and Troy Hill. Even given Donald’s status as the NFL’s best pass rusher and Wentz being sacked eight times by Football Team, the Rams were the only team in the league to not record a sack this week.

And the secondary didn’t buckle in stepping up to cover not only Jackson and Reagor, but an elite tight end duo.

Jackson was held to six catches for 64 yards on nine targets; Reagor to four catches and 41 yards on four targets; Zach Ertz to five catches for 42 yards on seven targets; Dallas Goedert to four catches for 30 yards on eight targets.

Last week, the Rams held Amari Cooper to 81 yards on 14 targets, CeeDee Lamb to five catches and 59 yards and Michael Gallup to three catches and 50 yards. Dak Prescott had 266 yards on 39 attempts for the Cowboys. In Week 2 against the Falcons, the potential anti-Rams, or “Smar” on defense, Cooper had 100 yards on nine targets, Lamb had 106 yards on nine targets and Gallup had two catches for 58 yards.

Prescott threw for 450 yards on Sunday, most of any quarterback in Week 2.

The Rams face the Buffalo Bills next week, which means they’ll already be facing their second quarterback this year to have thrown for over 400 yards. Josh Allen had 417 yards and four touchdowns on only 35 attempts in a three-point win. A big reason for his success was the 153 yards by Stefon Diggs, Buffalo’s own costly but understandably desirable trade acquisition. But the Miami Dolphins don’t have the same defensive talent as the Rams do.

These were the matchups he was paid for and he’s 2-for-2 so far this season.