BleacherReport: The Rams game plan vs. the Cardinals

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St. Louis Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals: Breaking Down St. Louis' Game Plan
By Steven Gerwel, Featured Columnist Nov 4, 2014

St. Louis Rams (3-5) are traveling to the southwest to take on the Arizona Cardinals (7-1), and the Rams will need an excellent game plan to overcome the Redbirds, who own the best record in the NFL.

This will be the first matchup of the 2014 season between these two NFC West teams. Arizona is favored by a comfortable 7.5 points, per Odds Shark , but as we already know, the Rams are a totally different team when playing against their division rivals.

The Rams hosted the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7 and walked away with a surprising 28-26 victory. This past week, the Rams traveled to San Francisco to take on the 49ers, and St. Louis shocked the Levi's Stadium crowd by winning the game with a goal-line fumble recovery with just seconds left on the clock.

Clearly, the Rams are well-acquainted with their fellow NFC West teams and know how to put up an admirable fight. So regardless of Arizona's eye-popping record, the Cardinals need to take St. Louis seriously.

In fact, we saw a similar situation in 2012. The Cardinals owned an undefeated 4-0 record as they entered their first game against the Rams, but the relentless St. Louis pass rush tallied nine sacks and sent Arizona home with its first defeat of the season.

The Cardinals lost 10 of their next 11 games following that debacle.

Will the Rams be able to muster another statement game that once again knocks Arizona off its axis? Or, will it be the Cardinals who provide the Rams with the rude awakening?

It's doubtful that the Rams will be able to hand Arizona a defeat as embarrassing as that game from 2012. But if St. Louis can accomplish a few key goals, the Rams will be in a position to escape with a victory and their first two-game win streak of the season.

Here are a few things the Rams must aim for:

Protect Austin Davis With Screens and Quick Passes

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press


The Rams defense is certainly not shy about blitzing the quarterback, but the Arizona defense is right there with it.

According to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com, Arizona has the fourth-highest blitz rate in the NFL at 41.8 percent (prior to its game against the Dallas Cowboys), and the team's blitz rate is 47.8 percent since the start of 2013.

The Cardinals have just eight sacks this season—the second-lowest total in the league—but the constant harassment and pressure could be a problem for St. Louis' young quarterback.

The protection for Austin Davis was much better against San Francisco than it was two weeks ago against the Kansas City Chiefs, but Davis has still been under considerable pressure in recent games. He struggles with composure against the blitz and often makes terrible throws as a result, which is why Arizona's blitzing could be problematic.

The Rams must counter the Arizona blitz with clever play-calling. Expect to see a number of running back and tight end screens as well as quick slants to the receivers.

The Cardinals' talented secondary makes it possible for them to blitz constantly. As a result, don't expect too many downfield shots, and don't expect to see Davis hold on to the ball for more than two or three seconds.

Rattle Carson Palmer

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press


In five starts, Carson Palmer has been sacked just six times. He has been sacked multiple times in just two games this season, and the sack total did not exceed two sacks in either game.

Three of the five teams Palmer has faced rank in the bottom 10 in the NFL in sacks (Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers), so he has yet to be put to the test this season against a ferocious pass rush.

Unfortunately for Palmer, the dangerous St. Louis pass rush is waking up in a big way.

The Rams had just one total sack in the first five games, but the defensive line showed life in Week 7 and sacked Seattle's Russell Wilson three times. The Rams went on to record two sacks against Kansas City the following week.

This past week, the St. Louis defensive line absolutely manhandled Colin Kaepernick with eight sacks—more than doubling the team's season sack total in the process.

Palmer has not had to deal with that kind of pressure this season. If the Rams' front four shows up with another monster performance, it's unlikely that Palmer will respond in a positive way.

The Cardinals have just 724 rushing yards on the year, good for 29th in the NFL. This is a team that's not great at running the ball, so it relies on the pass. If the St. Louis defense can rattle the quarterback, it should throw the offense off entirely and make it difficult for Arizona to find points.

Keep the Tenacity in the Run Game Alive

Ben Margot/Associated Press


So, the Cardinals rank third in the NFL in run defense and have allowed just 79.6 yards per game?

Whoop-de-do. Take a number, and get in line.

This has been the story of St. Louis' season. This will be the fourth time in the last five games the Rams have faced a top-five run defense, and they'll have yet another the week after Arizona when they take on the Denver Broncos (who currently have the No. 1-ranked run defense).

If Arizona thinks the Rams will be bullied by its fierce run defense, maybe the Cardinals should go ask the Seahawks and 49ers if their run defenses intimidated the Rams.

St. Louis' brutal schedule has not done any favors for the run game, but the emergence of rookie third-round pick Tre Mason in the backfield has kept the offense afloat.

Mason made his first NFL appearance against the 49ers in Week 6. He amassed 40 yards on just five carries and even set up a touchdown with a 12-yard reception.

The following week, Mason faced Seattle—another top-five run defense—and walked away with 85 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown.

Mason only averaged 3.4 yards per carry last week in the rematch against the 49ers, but he still picked up 65 yards on the ground and was possibly St. Louis' most productive offensive player in a game dominated by defense.

The other factor that has allowed St. Louis to run the ball against topnotch defenses is the arrival of No. 2 overall pick Greg Robinson, who has started the last four games. Robinson is a known road-grader, and the St. Louis rushing attack has improved ever since his debut as a starter.

It won't be pretty, and there won't be any 100-yard rushers for St. Louis. But the Rams will find a way to pound the football against the Cardinals.

If the Rams can establish the run game early and make it clear that they're not afraid of Arizona's front eight, they'll be able to set the tempo and get inside the heads of the Cardinals defenders.

Steven Gerwel is the longest-tenured Rams Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report and serves as the Rams' game-day correspondent. You can find more of Gerwel's work by visiting his writer profile or by following him on Twitter.

 

[mr.stlouis]

Defensively, we are built to beat teams like ARZ. Poor rushing, lots of passing. This works strongly in our favor. Not to mention we will rarely see Palmer outside the pocket. This means we don't have to worry about containing him like we did Kap, Wilson, and even Smith can run. As long as the secondary can play well, it will be a slaughter.

However, there's one thing we've learned about this team it's we don't know what to expect. What oils it really surprise anybody Palmer pulls an Alex Smith and takes advantage of the quick throws all game long? Then would it surprise anybody if Davis plays like he did against DAL and Philly and roasts the team that gives up more passing yards than anybody?

If there's on thing we know, it's we don't. Lol

 

[Fatbot]

True we don't know what to expect, makes it exciting to think of the possibilities. The matchup looks great on the surface, which is always deceiving. The surface is the Rams D should smother any running game then gear up to pressure Palmer, so the key is how the secondary can stop the short stuff, screens & quick hitters while not leaving themselves vulnerable to the big play.

But under the surface is unlike years past teams can't just focus on Fitzgerald -- he's still the #1 but Floyd, Brown, Ellington and even Carlson are getting almost many looks. Arizona's pass target break down is:
WR1: 55
WR2: 48
WR3: 48
RB: 47
TE: 34

This balance means it's not up to one shutdown corner to be good, but the whole secondary -- including slot CBs, safeties and (sigh) even the LBs -- must be solid in coverage.

Going off Football Outsider numbers, the Rams are still a bad overall pass defense but have improved this year against #1 receivers (21st). The weakness so far is being horrible against #2s (dead last) and TEs (28th). This is not a great sign since Arizona basically has two #2 WRs. My biggest initial fear was our LBs match up against Ellington, but actually the Rams have pass defended RBs okay (17th). So my focus is going to watch if Floyd & Brown hurt the Rams, especially on 3rd down.

I'm hoping this is the game where all those draft picks and secondary additions really pays off. I would expect a huge dose of 4-2-5 with Dunbar off the field more than ever. Tru should have a much better game after shaking off the rust, and no reason to think EJ won't continue his solid play (and perhaps get some luck and actually catch an INT or fumble one of these days!). Seems like the perfect place to unveil Barron if he's up to speed, see if he can shut down Ellington's pass threat, or on the TE.

Arizona has been riding a lot of lucky turnovers, which is unusual for them, they are due for a clunker, and the Rams seem to know they are a young talented team that's starting to put aside the stupid mistakes and really come together. This could be the perfect setup game to feed into the Rams' development.

 

[Zaphod]

Carson Palmer isn't Colin Kaepernick ... we can't blitz at the cost of coverage or he will burn us.

We need to trust in the front 4, with the exception of more well disguised 5 man rushes and take away the short passes.

Offensively, I think we can do fine against them with two tight end sets complimenting a nagging rushing attack. This is a game I would use Stacy and Cunningham. Basically, I'm just saying that we need to attack their linebackers and punish their secondary.

Oh yes, and I was the HC, I would want to compliment that offensive game plan with someone who's very good at pre-snap reads. So yeah, since we're rolling with two backup quarterbacks, I see no reason to at least start with Hill.

 

[RamsSince1969]

Carson Palmer is a bit like Bulger. Give him any blocking and time to pass, he will kill you. If the Rams pass rush is like it was last week, we are in really good shape. Rattle him and also be watching for the dump off screen pass/check down, he's not all that mobile, he'll have to eat it. I'm thinking this game is going to be much closer than the Vegas odds reflect.

 

[blue4]

Our offensive GP should look a little like the Vikings opening day GP against us. Heavy runs, quick passes designed to minimize pressure on the QB. Cook needs to start showing up again. Returning Stacy to the run attack and getting the ball to Mason in the pass where he can mismatch the man coverage he'll get with all the blitzing. To me it hinges on 3 things (the offensive side of the ball. We all know the pass rush for the defense)

1. We all know the OL is a problem in pass pro. Schotty needs to call this game like he has some idea how to counter for it. Some 2nd half adjusting would be nice.
2. I think the RBs will be as valuable in the pass game as in the run game. Turning those screens and checkdowns into good yardage and proper blitz pickup essential.
3. J. Cook needs to play big.

 

[fearsomefour]

So passrush is huge this week. I fully expect the Cards to do a lot of quick passing. One their O does is focus on finding the open guy, no matter who, no focusing on one guy. Which why a vet guy like Palmer is doing well there. The Rams seem to struggle running screens. Quick passes to Cook, Austin and the backs seem to be in order here. Wouldnt mind seeing Mason and Watts get involved in the passing game this week, try to bust a short dump off.
The interesting stat to me is how few times Palmer has been sacked. Part of that is the improved line play, part is teams with just ok pass rushes and part is Palmer being able to make good pre snap reads. Make no mistake the Cards love to pass the ball and their O has weapons. Getting to Palmer and tackling after a catch are key this week.