CLEVELAND — Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff has no shortage of talent surrounding him at the skill positions, and just about every one of his receivers does something unique that allows them to experience success.
From Cooper Kupp’s solid catching abilities in the short passing game to Brandin Cooks’ breakaway speed and Robert Woods’ receiving and rushing skills, the Rams have a little bit of everything at wide receiver heading into their Sunday Night Football game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium.
“Everybody knows this is a big challenge this week,” Browns coach Freddie Kitchens said earlier this week. “Offensively, they have a great quarterback and very diverse receivers that cause problems in different areas. They have a running back that can catch the ball out of the backfield, can run between the tackles and has great speed on the outside.”
Currently, Kupp leads the Rams with 12 catches for 166 yards and has a 13.8 yards-per-reception average with a long play of 66 yards, while Woods has turned his 13 touches into 128 yards. Cooks has gained 113 yards and one touchdown on five receptions.
Despite the talent, the Rams have struggled to find the end zone through the air, as only Cooks and Tyler Higbee have receiving touchdowns through the first two weeks of the 2019 season.
“They have guys that can win inside with option routes and choice routes,” Kitchens said. “They do a great job schematically of setting rubs and picks for those guys to get them free and to get them open. They understand that concept of the game. They have speed that can get down the field on you also.
“When you have any kind of combination like that, it is going to present problems for you because if you have speed, you want to be off coverage. If they are running inside routes and quick-type routes, then you need tighter coverage. I am very impressed with how patient they are. They get the ball out and get it into the guys’ hands who can make plays with the ball.”
What makes the Rams doubly tough to prepare for and defend against is their ability to bunch the skill players close to the linemen to open up passing windows quicker, which would give the receivers and tight ends chances to make plays after securing the catches.
“When you condense a formation, you can also take those guys and they cross quicker,” Kitchens said. “They get across, and you can set picks and set rubs quicker. It develops quicker. Then you can also run them from inside and outside to create horizontal separation on defenses.
“A lot of people like to talk about stretching the field vertically, but you can also stretch the field horizontally, which is just as good because when you do that, you create seams and creases inside because you do not have so many coverage guys inside. I think that forms problems. You can do both from that alignment, basically.”