{"id":123352,"date":"2026-01-07T08:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T08:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/123352\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T08:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T08:06:14","slug":"how-tyler-higbees-return-could-super-charge-the-rams-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/123352\/","title":{"rendered":"How Tyler Higbee’s return could super charge the Rams’ offense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tyler Higbee<\/a> has played in 12 NFL playoff games during his 10-year career, so the veteran tight end knows, better than perhaps any other Rams<\/a> player, what lies ahead.<\/p>\n

Higbee was part of two teams that advanced to the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t listen to the outside noise,\u201d Higbee said when asked to describe the formula for a Super Bowl run. \u201cYou don\u2019t look at the ifs, the what-could-be\u2019s. You just come in, work, and take it a day at time. \u2026 Keep peaking week after week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rams, seeded No. 5 in the NFC, begin the playoffs on Saturday against the No. 4 Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.<\/p>\n

Higbee, who returned from injured reserve and starred in last Sunday\u2019s season-finale victory over the Arizona Cardinals, figures to be a key player as the Rams attempt to avenge a Week 13 loss to the Panthers.<\/p>\n

Higbee was scheduled to play limited snaps against the Cardinals, but with rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson a late scratch because of a hamstring issue, Higbee played 48 snaps and caught five passes for 91 yards and a touchdown in a 37-20 victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just excited the ball found me,\u201d he said. \u201cGlad I could contribute to help us get a win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Sean McVay<\/a> was happy to have Higbee back.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could just see there\u2019s a swag,\u201d McVay said, \u201cthere\u2019s a confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Higbee, 33, was a fourth-round draft pick in 2016 and has been an integral part of the offense ever since McVay was hired in 2017. Higbee and right tackle Rob Havenstein, an 11-year veteran who is on injured reserve, were members of McVay\u2019s first team that have been on the roster for all seven playoff appearances under the ninth-year coach. Long snapper Jake McQuaide, a 15th-year pro who was part of McVay\u2019s first four seasons, was signed at midseason.<\/p>\n

Higbee has 386 career catches, 27 for touchdowns.<\/p>\n

But Higbee\u2019s value to the Rams goes beyond production.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the human being too,\u201d quarterback Matthew Stafford<\/a> said. \u201cThe human being that celebrates for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Midway through this season, the Rams evolved from an offense that primarily utilized one tight end to a scheme that utilizes as many as three at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody has their own flavor,\u201d Higbee said, \u201ctheir own things that they\u2019re great at.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 10 games, Higbee has 25 catches, three for touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Colby Parkinson has 43 catches, eight for touchdowns, both career bests. Davis Allen has 24 catches, three for touchdowns, and Ferguson has 11 catches, three for touchdowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all very selfless,\u201d Parkinson said. \u201cNo one is out there looking for individual success. We\u2019re out there looking for team success.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Stafford at the controls, a receiver corps that includes stars Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, the running back duo of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, and four productive tight ends bolstering the offensive line, the Rams averaged a league-best 30.5 points and 394.6 yards per game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the deepest tight end room I\u2019ve ever been a part of,\u201d Higbee said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got the guys to do it, and we\u2019ve shown that we can do it and the offense can go while we do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that will just present more opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Higbee has 31 postseason receptions for 302 yards and two touchdowns, including one against the Philadelphia Eagles in last season\u2019s divisional-round defeat.<\/p>\n

Higbee did not play in the 31-28 loss to the Panthers on Nov. 30 because of the ankle injury suffered two weeks before against the Seattle Seahawks. So he is looking forward to making an impact any way that he can on Saturday for a team stocked with players that he said play for each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this level,\u201d he said, \u201cthe more you can get guys that want to play for each other rather than just their families and the name on their back, makes a tighter team and in my opinion makes for a better team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tyler Higbee has played in 12 NFL playoff games during his 10-year career, so the veteran tight end…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64552,18620,48,52,51,47,50,49,4606,18158,18035,1459,64553,11706,10947,278,11885,780,11537,64554,1539],"class_list":["post-123352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-career-catch","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-mcvay","tag-no","tag-offense","tag-part","tag-peaking-week","tag-ram","tag-rams","tag-season","tag-terrance-ferguson","tag-touchdown","tag-tyler-higbee","tag-veteran-tight-end","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}