One of the benefits that comes with playing at home is the crowd noise. When the offense is on the field, fans know to get quiet so players can communicate and have a clean operation snapping the ball. When it’s the defense’s turn, the noise typically gets amped up to make life tougher on the opposing team, causing issues like false starts and delay of game penalties.
Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Rams haven’t had much of a home-field advantage this year. SoFi Stadium was once again taken over by San Francisco 49ers fans in Week 2, with a sea of red flooding the stands in Inglewood. And against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, the takeover wasn’t as obvious, but it still forced the Rams to use a silent count on offense.
Considering the Rams’ other three games were all on the road, the offense hasn’t exactly had a chance to use a normal cadence – which is why you haven’t heard “Turbo set!” uttered from Matthew Stafford’s mouth very often.
Stafford says he’s not bothered by having to use a silent count at home, but he’d much prefer to use a traditional cadence before the snap.
“Doesn’t bother me, per se, but it’s definitely easier when I can go on my own cadence at our home games and be able to dictate the tempo a little bit better, but it is what it is,” he said Wednesday. “I don’t care where we play. You got to go out there and do whatever it takes to win the game. But it definitely is an advantage for the offense when you can communicate at a higher level and hopefully for our defense with some crowd noise, all that kind of stuff helps make it tougher on their offense.”
That’s Stafford’s nice way of saying he wishes the Rams had more of an advantage at home. Eagles and 49ers fans both travel well, so it wasn’t necessarily surprising to see so many supporters of those teams at SoFi Stadium.
That being said, the 49ers’ takeover in Week 2 was jarring.
This angle of @CMC_22's speed and strength 😤
📺: #SFvsLAR on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/FhXtx7w3wW pic.twitter.com/m2P78idV7o— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2023
The Rams should get a break this week with the Cardinals coming to town, a team with a fanbase that isn’t as widespread as the 49ers’ or Eagles’. Hopefully that’ll lead to less noise when the Rams are on offense, giving Stafford a chance to get away from the silent count and into a more normal rhythm.
The Rams then get the Steelers, Seahawks, Browns, Commanders and Saints at home the rest of the season, so only that game against Pittsburgh should be concerning from a noise perspective in Inglewood.
