Remade Rams defense starts slow, then slams the door

10:03 pm | September 10, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:

1:54 AM ET

Lindsey ThiryESPN
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- Covered Rams for two years for Los Angeles Times
- Previously covered the Falcons
- Has covered the NBA and college football and basketball

OAKLAND, Calif. — It was the first series of the season opener and a long-anticipated look at the Los Angeles Rams‘ new star-studded defense. The result was hardly what was expected.

Under a pile of blue-and-white jerseys, Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch ran up the middle, dragging a pile that included defensive linemen Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh and Michael Brockers, among others, across the goal line for a 10-yard touchdown.

If anything was apparent Monday in the Rams’ 33-13 victory over the Raiders at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, it was that the defense needed at least a half to learn to play together — and knock off the rust.

In the first half, the unit, at times, appeared out of sync and even confused when the Raiders went up-tempo and amassed 254 yards of total offense — including 113 receiving yards by tight end Jared Cook.

After the break, the Rams defense settled in. Linebacker Cory Littleton intercepted a haphazard pass by Derek Carr with less than eight minutes to play. Then with less than two minutes to play, summer acquisition Marcus Peters intercepted a pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown.

Monday’s game was the first that the Rams’ new defense played together competitively.

Aaron Donald , the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, held out of training camp and reported 10 days before the opener after signing a six-year, $135-million contract extension, to end a contract dispute that dated to 2017.

The remainder of the defense, including All Pro cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, played only two series — seven snaps — in Week 3 of the preseason.