4 important things we learned from the Bills runaway win over the Rams on the NFL’s opening night

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Rams came into 2022 as defending champions and with a stacked roster. That left the rest of the league to invent concerns in the service of a fatal flaw.

There were worries about the departures of Von Miller and Darious Williams. Worries about whether Allen Robinson, finally free of mediocre-to-awful quarterbacking for the first time since high school, could thrive alongside Cooper Kupp. But the biggest concern was Stafford’s limited workload amidst reports of elbow discomfort and offseason procedures.

Reports out of Los Angeles suggested he was ready to go and had no limitations headed into Week 1. The results on the field did not back this up.

The vertical hallmarks of Sean McVay’s passing offense were conspicuously absent against the Bills upper crust defense. Only one of Stafford’s first nine passes traveled more than 10 yards downfield and that was the result of a time-buying scramble and Kupp’s ability to evade coverage downfield for a 23-yard gain. First-year coordinator Liam Coen’s gameplan relied heavily on designed rollouts that led to short passes and modest gains.

It was a little unusual to see a quarterback who’d run for 43 yards in 17 games the season prior escaping the pocket and making throws. It’s a little concerning as well; why shift to a rollout heavy scheme with a 34-year-old quarterback when it wasn’t necessary the year you won a Super Bowl? Is it a function of an offensive line breaking in a shaky new left tackle and the threat of crashed pockets?

Or is it because Stafford’s throws downfield aren’t quite up to his normal standard yet?

This wasn’t always the case. Stafford had his share of solid tosses. He threw a beautiful dart to Robinson for the former Bear’s first reception as a Ram (his only catch of the night). But the arm talent that defined his career was inconsistent in his 2022 debut. Passes that had been lasers in years past wobbled.

As the Bills figured this out, head coach Sean McDermott devised a plan to limit the impact of his rollouts and keep the focus on the pocket. He completed just two of his seven throws 15+ yards downfield. He averaged fewer than six yards per pass attempt. 11 of his final 16 completions gained eight yards or fewer.

Stafford dealt with static in the pocket. He failed to overcome it. He failed to run around it.

This wouldn’t have been as big a problem if Los Angeles could have supplemented that with effective runs, but the Rams averaged just 2.9 yards per carry — 2.0 even if you discount a second quarter 18-yard run from Darrell Henderson. This all painted one very ugly picture and took a hatchet to LA’s early title hopes.