{"id":1003577,"date":"2026-08-16T02:24:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T02:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1003577\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T02:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T02:24:24","slug":"ty-simpson-puts-in-sharp-performance-in-rams-preseason-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1003577\/","title":{"rendered":"Ty Simpson puts in sharp performance in Rams’ preseason win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KANSAS CITY, Mo.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0It did not take long for Ty Simpson<\/a> to acclimate to the NFL.<\/p>\n

In his pro debut, the Rams<\/a> rookie quarterback passed for two touchdowns and made no major errors in a 20-12 preseason victory<\/a> over the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely felt more comfortable than I ever have in a game,\u201d said Simpson, who completed 21 of 25 attempts for 190 yards.<\/p>\n

It was a much-awaited first game for Simpson after the Rams shocked fans and much of the NFL by picking him so high in the draft after he started only 15 games for Alabama.<\/p>\n

Fourth-year pro Stetson Bennett<\/a> played the first two series \u2014 the first against many Chiefs starters \u2014 and led a field-goal drive on the second one before Simpson came on with 11 seconds left in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

Simpson\u2019s first series ended with him bobbling a high snap, and then making a smart decision to throw the ball out of bounds. From that point on, offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase<\/a> called play-action bootlegs and other rollouts that enabled Simpson to find receivers, many of them wide open.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce that first drive kind of got done, I was like, \u2018All right, well yeah, this is just like playing in the backyard,\u2019\u201d Simpson said.<\/p>\n

Simpson\u2019s parents and brother were in attendance, and he credited family, coaches and teammates for helping him relax and excel. He finished two second-half drives with short touchdown passes to running back Dean Connors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Ty had great command all day,\u201d coach Sean McVay<\/a> said. \u201cIt was a great step in the right direction for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

During training camp and recent practices, Bennett took first-team snaps when starter Matthew Stafford<\/a> was held out. He took second-team snaps when Stafford practiced.<\/p>\n

So he appeared to enter the game as the presumptive frontrunner to back up the reigning NFL most valuable player.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams quarterback Ty Simpson celebrates after a touchdown against the Chiefs on Saturday.<\/p>\n

(Reed Hoffmann \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Does Simpson\u2019 performance change anything?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to continue to evaluate it like anything else,\u201d McVay said.<\/p>\n

Simpson is not getting caught up in whether there is a true competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a head-man decision and executive decision,\u201d he said. \u201cI just know that I\u2019m happy to be here and I\u2019m working to make sure that I do anything the team needs me to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other takeaways from the Rams\u2019 preseason victory:<\/p>\n

Stetson Bennett steady in start \"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett passes in the first quarter against the Chiefs on Saturday.<\/p>\n

(David Eulitt \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Bennett, a fourth-year pro making his seventh preseason start, completed four of six passes for 38 yards and led a field-goal drive before giving way to Simpson.<\/p>\n

The first series ended when the Chiefs broke up a third-down pass.<\/p>\n

During the second series, Bennett completed four passes during a 13-play, 73-yard field-goal drive that stalled at the six-yard line after the Chiefs broke up his third-down pass to rookie tight end Max Klare<\/a> in the end zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cStetson did a nice job,\u201d McVay said. \u201cHe came in and did a nice job orchestrating a nice drive on the second series.\u201d<\/p>\n

Offensive lineman Keagen Trost injured<\/p>\n

If the Super Bowl-favorite Rams have a potential weakness, it\u2019s offensive line depth.<\/p>\n

They selected former Missouri standout Keagen Trost<\/a> in the third round with the hope that he could provide versatility. And with left tackle Alaric Jackson possibly facing a suspension<\/a> if the NFL determines that he violated the league\u2019s personal conduct policy, Trost could be counted on immediately.<\/p>\n

Trost started at right tackle, but he left after two series because of a hamstring injury he apparently sustained as part of the protection unit for a Rams field-goal attempt.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was pretty bummed,\u201d McVay said, adding that Trost would undergo tests to determine the severity of the issue.<\/p>\n

Receiver Mario Williams also sustained a hamstring injury on a kickoff return, McVay said.<\/p>\n

Tight end Max Klare the go-to receiver \"Chiefs <\/p>\n

Chiefs wide receiver Nikko Remigio is tackled by Rams safety Alex Cook during the first half Saturday.<\/p>\n

(Reed Hoffmann \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Max Klare<\/a>, a second-round draft pick out of Ohio State, was targeted eight times, and caught seven passes for 37 yards.<\/p>\n

Klare is part of a loaded position group that includes veterans Tyler Higbee<\/a>, Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen and second-year pro Terrance Ferguson.<\/p>\n

But Klare showed skills that could help the Rams this season and beyond.<\/p>\n

Receiver CJ Daniels, who made multiple plays during training camp, caught two passes for 18 yards.<\/p>\n

Defense holds Chiefs to field goals<\/p>\n

Outside linebacker Desjuan Johnson, a rotational player last season, was the most notable member of a defense that played a few series against quarterback Justin Fields and the rest of the game against Garrett Nussmeier and Chris Oladokun.<\/p>\n

Johnson sacked Nussmeier in the third quarter. Rookie lineman Tim Keenan also had a sack.<\/p>\n

Safety Nick Andersen had a team-best nine tackles for the Rams.<\/p>\n

Harrison Mevis picks up where he left off<\/p>\n

In his first game under new special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone<\/a>, Harrison Mevis<\/a> kicked field goals of 25 and 40 yards.<\/p>\n

Ethan Evans averaged nearly 61 yards for four punts.<\/p>\n

Smith returned three punts for 52 yards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KANSAS CITY, Mo.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0It did not take long for Ty Simpson to acclimate to the NFL. In his pro…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1003578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,3001,401793,27229,401794,2961,4536,224,5337,76752,401795,90726,401792,6166,80086,50647,20980,106715,80883],"class_list":["post-1003577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-chiefs","tag-consecutive-pass","tag-drive","tag-klare","tag-la","tag-line","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-preseason-game","tag-punt","tag-ram","tag-rams-debut","tag-series","tag-stetson-bennett","tag-touchdown","tag-ty-simpson","tag-xavier-smith","tag-yard"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117102817622297391","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1003577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1003578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1003577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1003577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1003577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}