So far in Week 1, seven players in the NFL have 100 yards receiving. Two of them are members of the Los Angeles Rams.
What’s craziest about that is neither one is named Cooper Kupp.
Buy Rams TicketsKupp, of course, is on injured reserve and will miss at least four games with a hamstring injury. But in his place on Sunday against the Seahawks, Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell more than stepped up. They shined in Kupp’s absence, and the Rams needed them to in the biggest way possible.
Nacua, a fifth-round rookie out of BYU, was targeted a game-high 15 times. He caught 10 passes for 119 yards, including a sweet toe-dragging catch along the sideline for 21 yards on third down – a key third down conversion with the Rams up 24-13.
PUKA ARE YOU KIDDING!
1️⃣7️⃣ @AsapPuka 📺 @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/oAg7kvFpaR
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) September 10, 2023
Atwell put up similar numbers, but he did so on nearly half the targets. He caught six of his eight targets for 119 yards, with 44 of those coming on a perfect deep ball from Matthew Stafford down the right side.
It was a beautiful play design that started with Atwell going in motion, causing some confusion in the secondary and allowing him to spring free down the field.
what a fun 3rd down design from the Rams.
look at how Tutu Atwell splits his teammates on his release before going vertical. pic.twitter.com/oLIva0jhd5
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) September 10, 2023
Atwell and Nacua are tied for fourth in the NFL in receiving yardage so far, and while Week 1 isn’t over just yet, they’re unlikely to fall out of the top seven or so. They’re the only pair of teammates in the league with 100 yards each, with their 238 yards ranking first among all receiving tandems thus far.
Again, it was only one game, but the season opener couldn’t have gone any better for the Rams’ receiving corps without Kupp. And to be honest, it shows they may just be able to survive the star receiver’s absence.
No one can replace Kupp or the job he does as a receiver and blocker in the running game, but the offense looked just fine and Stafford had no trouble trusting his backup receivers throughout the game.
