Rams have a top-5 first half offense and top-ranked second half defense

Over their first two games, the Los Angeles Rams have been near perfect on offense to start each contest. Against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1, the Rams scored two touchdowns, two field goals and a missed field goal on their first five drives. Against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2, they scored a touchdown on each of their first three drives.

Those efforts have resulted in the Rams scoring 21 points in the first quarter, tied for second most in the NFL, and 34 points in the first half, tied for the fifth-most.

It’s only been two games but LA’s dual spicy starts could be indicative of well prepared gameplans from Sean McVay and offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell against the respective defenses of the Cowboys and Eagles. Alternatively, the Rams have not been flawless defensively in the first half of games, allowing two touchdowns to Dallas in the first half of Week 1 and 17 points to Philadelphia in their first half on Sunday. Though Cooper Kupp’s fumble contributed to one short field, the Cowboys and Eagles still combined for five drives of 40 or more yards, and three of 70 or more, in those two games.

Looking at only the first half, the Rams would be one of the league’s most potent offenses and close to equally giving on defense. As it happens, Los Angeles has had the strongest “closer” in the NFL after two games in the form of defensive coordinator Brandon Staley’s second half adjustments and the execution by Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey and the asteroids, planets who surround those two stars.

Through two games, the Rams have allowed six points in the second half, one field goal in each week.

The Cowboys second half drives went: Punt, Punt, Field Goal, Downs, Punt, Downs

The Eagles second half drives went: Interception, Field Goal, Downs, Interception

That’s nine second half drives against LA, two field goals, two interceptions, three punts and three times turning it over on downs. For Dallas, that included Jordan Fuller’s stop of CeeDee Lamb on fourth-and-three and later Ramsey’s OPI drawn against Michael Gallup on 3rd and 10.

Philadelphia had three drives of 50+ yards to start the second half, but a Darious Williams interception and stopping the Eagles on fourth-and-two helped the Rams snuff out any hope of keeping the score close. Then Troy Hill intercepted Carson Wentz to end the game.

The Rams face the Buffalo Bills this week, a team ranked fourth in first half scoring (38 points) and tied for first in first half defense (13 points allowed). The Bills have been outscored in the second half of their games by a 32-20 margin however, with part of that being due to the in-game losses of linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano in Week 2 against the Dolphins.