Coach's Tape - Austin Davis Struggled

[RamFan503]

Keenum is on the Practice Squad?

Didn't we re-sign him to it? I thought we did.

 

[moklerman]

Didn't we re-sign him to it? I thought we did.

I don't think that was the question. Why would the Rams insert Keenum from the PS when Hill is 2nd string and healthy?

 

[jrry32]

That's fine and all but are you saying you couldn't pick out 4 - 6 plays in the other games that showed similar problems? I haven't reviewed them but to say that SF only screwed up against the Rams or that our blocking and route running was so much better that Austin had opportunities that the other QBs didn't, just strikes me as flawed.

I believe there are 6 plays in the OP(too lazy to go to page 1 and count). He attempted 24 passes. That's 25% of his attempts. That's a lot.

Did he miss opportunities? Pretty hard to deny. Did he miss a bunch of opportunities that other QBs have not against the same defenses? I think you'd have to really watch the tape to see for sure.

I would say yes. I think that he missed a number of opportunities that starting caliber QBs typically convert on.

Good job - eh? I just gave myself an assignment. I'll work on that but don't blame me if my dog eats my homework. Of course you can't honestly expect me to post it if it doesn't answer my question in my favor.

Might have to fall to sleep to NFL Rewind. BTW @jrry32 How are you doing the screen captures?

Have at it, my friend.

I hit the Print Screen button(PrtSc) and then paste it into Paint.

 

[RamFan503]

I don't think that was the question. Why would the Rams insert Keenum from the PS when Hill is 2nd string and healthy?

Right. Of course just before the Tampa game I kept hearing a lot of Keenum talk too. I saw them throw side by side. Granted it was just warm-ups but Davis looked like he had the stronger arm of the two.

 

[RamFan503]

I hit the Print Screen button(PrtSc) and then paste it into Paint.

So are you just pausing the game and then hitting Print Screen?

I'm also not saying you're wrong. Just doesn't seem that the other QBs that haven't faired well against the 49ers is because the defense played so much better against them than against us. But it would be interesting to see. I think I'd also like to do it a bit on our sacks Sunday vs earlier in the season. Sounds fun.

 

[RamFan503]

@jrry32 Never mind. Figured it out. THAT was easy.

 

[rams2050]

Reasonable people, I think, probably can agree to disagree on this matter. Here, for instance, is what Mike Franke saw -- and he sees more than I could ever hope to see:

* Offensive line: Neither offensive line won on their side of the trenches this week. The Rams just lost by a lot less. Davis was under so much pressure, it’s hard to believe he was sacked only once. His linemen can thank him for his mobility that it wasn’t at least half a dozen. And the funny thing is, after a hiccup by Joseph Barksdale and Davin Joseph on an opening 3-and-out, they did a good job picking up the stunts they had been helpless against in the first game. Both tackles continue to struggle against edge speed, though. Davis had to run for his life on his 2nd INT in the first place because Barksdale got beaten badly outside. Greg Robinson’s struggles with speed at LT may be the line’s biggest issue. He’s getting knocked off-balance by much-smaller DEs; it has to be technique.

Though Joseph “officially” gave up the only sack, to Aaron Lynch, that play broke down when Robinson got bull-rushed by the much smaller Ahmad Brooks. Brooks beat him again in the 3rd to force a wild Davis throwaway. The Rams went nowhere on their final FG drive after Scott Wells, wearing the largest arm brace I’ve ever seen, got beaten off the snap on a 2nd down run and Robinson was beaten by Lynch to blow up the 3rd down play. With a chance to seal the game and Kendricks breaking all alone downfield on 3rd-and-1, Robinson again got beaten badly and Davis never really got to see what had developed.

* QB: Grace under fire wasn’t always a strength for Austin Davis (13-24-105, 44.6 PR) this week. The 49er rush had him running around like a chicken with its head cut off and he also threw like one at times. In the 1st, he rolled out and tried to feather a pass over Antoine Bethea and to Tavon Austin; rookie mistake, the ball was never getting over Bethea. The INT set up a quick 49er TD. Next possession, Davis made up for that with an even worse throw. Running for his life but spotting Kenny Britt breaking deep for what should have been a long TD, he launched a throw well short and picked off easily by Perrish Cox.

Davis had to run around like a madman at times just to be able to throw the ball away, though he preserved a FG by doing so in the 1st. When he got overwhelmed and sacked late in the 2nd, the TV announcers actually started calling for Shaun Hill, but Sack City forced a fumble and Davis rallied a little. He beat a blitz with a screen to Benny Cunningham for 17 and got Britt wide open in the flat for a 21-yard TD to tie the game at 10 at halftime. By avoiding disaster in the 2nd half, Davis allowed the Rams to stay in the game. His main job in the 2nd half was to hand off to Tre Mason and make short, quick passes, but that helped keep the Rams ahead in the field position game. We wish he would have thrown a screen pass away that instead lost the Rams 8 yards in the 3rd. On 3rd-and-1 with about 3:00 to go, we wish he could have seen Lance Kendricks cruising all alone downfield, maybe even tossed the ball out there anyway, since the play was designed to go to him and would have put the game away.

But he threw the ball away, saving the chance to pin the 49ers deep, and the Rams needed every inch of that long field over those final minutes. And who knows how big this play was – after the 49ers shanked a punt to put the Rams in gift scoring range in the 4th, on 3rd down, Davis avoided a big rush by Aaron Lynch and hit Cunningham up the left flat for 8 yards. Not a first down, but after Greg Zuerlein barely scraped in a 39-yard FG, it felt like that little screen pass saved the Rams 3 points, and maybe the game to boot. It was by no means pretty. Austin Davis has elevated the Ram offense some weeks and this clearly wasn’t one of them. Once the offense put him in game manager mode, though, he hung in there and got them the W.

 

[Mojo Ram]

My 2 cents:
I thought Davis had better acceleration than he does. He's athletic, has good enough speed for a QB once he gets going but it takes him awhile to get moving once he decides to bail and run. He gets caught from behind more than i'd have expected. No biggie. Just nitpicking.

 

[Ballhawk]

If Davis is clearly struggling why wouldn't they put Hill in the game? They sure don't have any problem with changing RBs at will so why not platoon the QBs as well?

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Also, I'd like to note that as much heat as Schotty gets, this game wasn't on him imo. We had a lot of chances to score and simply didn't execute despite good play-calls.

It makes me wonder if Schottenheimer would be a better fit with Devanney and Spags. Intelligence was always a top character trait for them. Fisher likes bad asses that are not often of the highest IQ.

Oddly one of Fishers favorites is Laurinitis, who is one of the smartest football players on the team. I'd think that he would put a little more emphasis on that Pillar.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

If Davis is clearly struggling why wouldn't they put Hill in the game? They sure don't have any problem with changing RBs at will so why not platoon the QBs as well?

I wondered he same thing. I figured that they want to know of Davis will develop as the season goes on. Can't find that out if he is on the bench. Also the team still responds to him.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

That roll-out was the worst of all. The play where he had Britt down the field and Cook wide open 3-5 yards away. He had two perfect options that were right in front of him on a 3rd and 11. Likely converts the 3rd down with either one. And he doesn't get the ball out in time. It wasn't a split second decision either. He had 3 or so steps to pick and still didn't make a decision.

Davis tried to make throws but he couldn't get his feet set to make the throw. His arm is not strong enough to throw downfield without setting his feet. He had no time to do it. Watch his feet on the INT where he rolled right and was chased. He was trying to get set but had to let it go before he was.

 

[Noregar]

These last few weeks have confirmed for me that Davis may be the Ram's best QB option for the present over Hill but he is not the Ram's QB of the future.

I am afraid Davis might show badly this week against Arizona's defense. I really hope I am wrong about this and he can bounce back and have an efficient game like he did against Seattle. There will be little relief for Davis from the Rams ground game because AZ is excellent at stopping the run. Also Davis has struggled with blitzes all season and AZ is a blitz happy team so all in all it portends of anther stagnant effort by Davis and the Rams offense.

 

[drasconis]

These last few weeks have confirmed for me that Davis may be the Ram's best QB option for the present over Hill but he is not the Ram's QB of the future.

I am afraid Davis might show badly this week against Arizona's defense. I really hope I am wrong about this and he can bounce back and have an efficient game like he did against Seattle. There will be little relief for Davis from the Rams ground game because AZ is excellent at stopping the run. Also Davis has struggled with blitzes all season and AZ is a blitz happy team so all in all it portends of anther stagnant effort by Davis and the Rams offense.

I think you are right on Hill and Davis. I would give Davis 20% or less chance of being a starter next season in the NFL, Hill is less than 1%. I tend to think that is their thought also - find out and really test the kid and see if he does grow improve. That comes with ups and downs though, and they seem to accept that.

Can anyone give me a clearer idea of the AZ defense. The stats are all over the place. They are good verse the run clearly...but I do not know how to read the pass defense. They give up yards, but not points, and there yards per throw is average, they have a good # of interceptions. I can't tell if the pass defense is bend don't break or if teams actually are just racking up garbage time yards - which happens with teams that are 7-1.

 

[RamFan503]

So far I watched the Dallas/Whiner game. For a Ram fan, that's pretty brutal. But what I came away with is that Romo threw two pretty damn unacceptable INTs out of the three he threw in the first half. He also doesn't throw to a couple very open receivers and instead tries to get the ball to covered receivers like Dez. He is definitely more decisive with the ball - no doubt about it. He certainly doesn't flush as easily either and moves far better in the pocket. He also looks bigger and stronger with how he plays even though he is pretty close to the same size as Davis. Romo is simply a better QB all around at this point.

The other thing that stands out to me though is that the middle of his line (especially) stands up far better than ours. In fact, there is no comparison. In that the quickest way from A to B is a straight line, he was afforded more time even when his pocket broke down. When I went back and watched the middle series of the Rams/Whiner game, there were often two defenders IN our pocket. Unacceptable.

In the beginning of the game, when the whiners were not blowing up the middle of our line, you see Davis stand in and make some decent throws. On the TD pass, he gets the ball off with Smith barreling in on him after Saffold whiffs on the block. A tenth of a second hesitation and that TD doesn't happen.

The OP brought up the 3rd and 7 where SF brought the house. I watched that over and over - probably thirty times from three different angles. There is an overload to the side where Sted crosses into. At the window (and I think this is something that actually doesn't show up as well on coaches tape) where Davis needs to throw that ball, Borland is timing his leap because not only was Davis going to go there but the Whiners knew it. If Davis throws that pass, at best, it bounces off Borland's chest. At worst it is a touch pass to get it over or through three defenders and is picked with a pretty clear path the other way. If Davis throws it earlier right as Sted rubs by Givens, he would need to drill it in there and Sted is clearly looking at his spot and not back at the QB. If Sted is looking for the ball right away in light of the all out blitz, maybe there's a chance. I'm thinking it would look something like when Sam drilled BQ in the back though - albeit to Sted's side or hip.

What I have seen so far and I'm not done looking at the tapes, is that I actually feel better about some of what AD was doing. It's odd because I thought I would be really discouraged. I AM however discouraged at what I saw from the middle of our line. Don't get me wrong. Davis still had a VERY rough game. There were definitely plays to be made. But I don't see a QB that has reached his ceiling. I don't see a QB with physical traits that are all that substandard. Can he learn and progress? I don't know. That is the big question and the one he's going to need to answer with improved play.

One thing I would say though, is if teams continue to be able to flush AD from the pocket, especially to his right, it's not going to be pretty unless they figure out a little trickery to burn the defense. AD does take flight too early at times. That needs to be improved upon. He sees the D-line instead of his receivers too much. If he's capable of getting over that, I think he has enough athleticism to be a pretty good weapon at QB. It's a big IF though and it may only be my hope that he does it at this point.

Go RAMS!!!

 

[jrry32]

The OP brought up the 3rd and 7 where SF brought the house. I watched that over and over - probably thirty times from three different angles. There is an overload to the side where Sted crosses into. At the window (and I think this is something that actually doesn't show up as well on coaches tape) where Davis needs to throw that ball, Borland is timing his leap because not only was Davis going to go there but the Whiners knew it. If Davis throws that pass, at best, it bounces off Borland's chest. At worst it is a touch pass to get it over or through three defenders and is picked with a pretty clear path the other way. If Davis throws it earlier right as Sted rubs by Givens, he would need to drill it in there and Sted is clearly looking at his spot and not back at the QB. If Sted is looking for the ball right away in light of the all out blitz, maybe there's a chance. I'm thinking it would look something like when Sam drilled BQ in the back though - albeit to Sted's side or hip.

I don't agree. Borland is no threat on that play if Davis is patient. Cunningham shoves him out of the way and Davis has a throwing lane to hit Bailey. He likely gets hit by the free rusher coming off the right side after he throws the pass but he has enough time to stand tall, let Cunningham pick the blitzer up and throw to a wide open Bailey.

There is a throwing lane between Wells and Saffold. Borland leaves his feet which allows Cunningham to shove him out of the way past where the QB would have been in the pocket. Davis had the time. He had the pocket. He had the WR. He did have a free blitzer bearing down on him but he had enough time to let Bailey get to the middle of the field and complete that pass before the blitzer got there.

Plus, Borland tipped his blitz before the snap. Davis should not have scrambled right to where he was blitzing and he should have known the middle was going ot be vacated.

 

[RamFan503]

There is a throwing lane between Wells and Saffold. Borland leaves his feet which allows Cunningham to shove him out of the way past where the QB would have been in the pocket. Davis had the time. He had the pocket. He had the WR. He did have a free blitzer bearing down on him but he had enough time to let Bailey get to the middle of the field and complete that pass before the blitzer got there.

Just not the way it looks to me. By the time he waited that long, it looks like Reid would have been all over him. As soon as he breaks left, Reid slow a bit to keep contain. AD may have been able to throw it over Smith at one point but I just don't see that as him missing an obvious opportunity.

Plus, Borland tipped his blitz before the snap. Davis should not have scrambled right to where he was blitzing and he should have known the middle was going ot be vacated.

The one player he really has a birds eye view of coming in untouched is Reid. Davis slides slightly to his left and if Borland doesn't jump, it looks like Davis unloads it over the top. He cocks briefly to do just that. If he stays put or slides a little to his right, Reid gets to him that much quicker. If he doesn't have to reload right in that small time frame, he could possible hit Sted over the top of Smith.

Is it possible to make that pass? Maybe. But I think it is a bit of a stretch to think that other QBs don't miss that kind of play quite often.

The two interceptions are clear. The missed opportunity to Kendricks - sure. This one I just don't agree with.