Have defenses figured out Stafford and the Rams?

Stafford has had back-to-back games with 1 TD and 2 picks – including two absolutely awful pick-sixes against the Titans.

The Niners game Monday was the first time Stafford has thrown for under 250 yards all season.

The Rams only rushed for 52 yards against the Niners; for only 94 yards against the Titans.

The Rams started out with such an unbelievably vertical offense, you basically knew it was a matter of time before defenses started figuring it out. Has that happened? The Titans might have one of the NFL’s better defenses, but do the 49ers?

The Rams are on a bye week this week; it will be interesting to see how or if they can adjust to teams’ adjustments against them – something Sean McVay has been criticized in the past for not doing well. (But was that Goff’s lack of ability?)

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again … Stafford has never faced the kind of pressure and scrutiny he’s facing now – not at Georgia, and not in 12 years with the Lions. McVay and Snead have got to be feeling the heat to succeed, too.

This could all bode well for the Lions’ upcoming draft picks. Or maybe it will just be a couple of week lull and they go right back to successful.

Which way you leaning?

3 Likes

In the middle. They’ll get a lot right. They’ll play better opponents. They’ll not be the same as they were early, because of tougher schedule.
12 or 13 wins. Playoff spot. They’d better hope they don’t draw Tampa in the first round, because I don’t see anyone beating Tampa in the playoffs.

Sorry Nat. With that schedule they will be lucky to get to 11 Wins.

They have been exposed. They can’t stop the run, they have no running game, and they lost their best all around WR. Now they have the biggest locker room cancer in the modern era joining the team. What could go wrong.

I have my popcorn ready for the upcoming 2nd half dumpster fire that will be henceforth known as “The slaughter of the Lambs”

5 Likes

There are a few things that stand out to me looking at the Rams schedule.

week 1 – Bears blew 2 coverages, Rams gained 123 yards. Rest of game… <200 yards offense.
week 2 – Colts rank #20 against pass, fairly average defense
week 3 – JPP was out. 2 CBs out by end of 1st quarter. Bucs struggled with injuries on D.
week 4 – Rams lost to good Cards defense/team
week 5 – Seahawks have no pass rush at all
week 6 – Giants are 25th ranked pass defense
week 7 – Lions - no need to comment
week 8 – Texans – see Lions comment
week 9 – Titans – got pressure
week 10 – 49ers – got pressure and good overall defense

Rams have played 4 defenses that are above average to really good.

Bears blew 2 coverages… and Dalton was Dalton.
Rams lost the other 3 against quality defenses.

2 Likes

I think this is a bit of an oversimplification, the Rams have run the ball decently enough this season, but because they’ve fallen behind so quickly the past two games, they’ve abandoned the run. They did the same against Arizona when they fell behind by two scores, though that came later in the game. Before that they were running it down their throat.

There’s a good article on the Ringer today that dives further in depth into this issue. The interior of the Rams line was constructed to be light and athletic, to fit with their outside zone blocking scheme. But when the Rams abandon the running game, those small interior OL become a liability. The suggestion from the writer (Ben Solak) is to dust off some of the old Goff playbook and bring back more play-action. With Goff, the Rams topped the league in play-action passes. With Stafford, they’ve fallen to like 28th.

2 Likes

I do see this. I just think their O can step up more. I think they’ll get more inventive and get it done.

LOL - The Silence of the Rams

We will see. I am always the last one to give up on people (Patricia, Caldwell, etc…now Matt). I still think Matt can get it done. He gets to have a shorter memory. He can make a mistake that all QBs make, but then sometimes follow it with another. He gets to remember who he is and not get in his own head. Top tier talent. Needs to keep out of his own head and ball out.

But will that work if defenses say, “We’re still sitting pass, because we prefer you run it?”

…then it’s death by 1,000 cuts…we run all game - cool! :wink:

Agree here - the “best”! I see is 11 wins as they are playing… well technically how they have played in the past.

If they don’t make changes that translate to wins, they are in the bubble to miss out on a WC slot

The last two teams have punched the Rams in the mouth. Man when you can run the ball on a team that lives to pass rush it’s awesome. No offense but to hell with Donaldson and Von Miller. Make them play the run all game and see how they like it.

Rams got some things to figure out before the playoffs come around or it may be a quick exit for them. Just seems like a soft team that doesn’t want to do the dirty work.

1 Like

The Titans only rushed for 69 yards (nice) against the Rams.

That’s right. That was their first game without Henry. Titans defense bullied the Rams all game. Amazing the Titans had 194 yds of offense and that game never felt like the Rams would be able to make a comeback.

Yep- Titans in that game reminded us of defense and getting turn overs

One minute Rams up 3-0

Two back to back interceptions and the next series was a punt…. Down 21-3 at the half and! Demoralized

.
Here is how difficult it would be for Rams to miss the playoffs at this point… even if we assume that Saints and Panthers win 4 or more games and make the playoffs over Rams.

That would leave Rams fighting for 7th spot with Vikings or 49ers.

Current Standings – Rams have a 3 win lead over Vikings, 49ers, Falcons, and Eagles.
.
image

.
Rams schedule – assume only 2 wins
image

.
Vikings schedule – need 5 wins including win over Rams

Can the Vikings go 5-3 against that schedule?
image

or… this …

49ers schedule – 5 wins including wins over Rams… or 6 wins w/ a Loss to Rams

image

.

1 Like

Some truth here, for sure. They can counter by getting ugly with a run game of thier own, but they have to figure out how to stop the run too.

Yeah, you never know how people will response when expectations and stress are ratcheted up. This is definitely Matt’s moment, either way.

Until WR Woods and run stopper Joseph-Day went on season-ending IR, the Rams have avoided injuries to their most important players. (I don’t think Cam Akers was that special.) One more injury to Matt, Ramsey, Donald or Kupp, and the Rams missing the playoffs are a real possibility, depriving Matt of the chance to get King Kong off his playoff back. 2023 is unlikely to be any better for the Rams.

Someone was saying that with restructuring, they actually could create a nice window of a few years.

I think releasing DeSean Jackson didn’t help things, that’s for sure. As I said previously, even if he doesn’t catch a bunch of passes or even get a majority of the snaps…you still gameplan for him and keep him in mind while playcalling. With him not even being an option, defenses don’t have to honor anything downfield…which is the issue they had last year.

I think Beckham will come around and fill that role by seasons end. When he stopped on that route early in the game it was clear at that moment he had no clue who he was playing with at QB. I think OBJ grows from that moment more than he would have without it.

2 Likes

They actually run the ball well. Mcvay just doesn’t stick with it. They were getting almost 5 yards a carry early against the 49ers. I think they would have had a lot more success if they had stayed with the run game.

1 Like

I think ego’s get in the way of running the ball sometimes. What OC is considered a genius or a “great offensive mind” if they are running the ball 80% of the time?
They get their accolades and recognition for putting-up big yards and points through the air, that’s how it is. And everyone knows that McVay has a pretty good sized ego, so…

3 Likes