Graziano: The Rams pinpointed their weakness. Can they fix it?

[BonifayRam]

Graziano: The Rams pinpointed their weakness. Can they fix it?

Graziano: The Rams pinpointed their weakness. Can they fix it?

What went wrong for L.A. at the end of last season? Here's what the Rams found, and why they think they're in good shape.

www.espn.co.uk

After his usually dazzling Los Angeles Rams offense laid an egg against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII, Sean McVay didn't want his players to focus on one bad performance in an otherwise outstanding season.He wanted them to focus on three bad performances.

As part of the Rams' offseason review, the coaching staff made the offense review and study three of their four losses from last season -- the loss to New England, and the early-December losses to the Bears and Eagles. The Rams' offense averaged 30.8 points in 2018 -- second only to the Chiefs -- but only 10.7 in those three losses. (Their other loss was a 45-35 loss to the Saints that, presumably, the defense had to rewatch a few times.)

"Just wanted to find different things they did that challenged us that other teams' didn't do," wide receiver Robert Woods told me. "Just try and find as many little details that we could improve on to make our offense adaptable to beat anyone we play."

What'd they find out? Glad you asked. First and foremost, they couldn't run the ball on any of those teams, especially between the tackles. The Rams' 13 rushing attempts and 52 rushing yards against the Bears were both their lowest figures of the season. They had 18 rush attempts in the Philly game and in the Super Bowl, tied for their second-lowest total of the season. Their 62 rushing yards against the Patriots were their second fewest of the season, and their 82 against the Eagles were their fifth fewest.

But where they really got bottled up was in the middle:

Rams' 2018 rushing up the middle (per ESPN Stats & Information research):

• Vs. Eagles: 2 carries, 11 yards
• Vs. Patriots: 3 carries, 12 yards
• Vs. Bears: 3 carries, 21 yards
• Average over the other 16 games: 10 carries, 53 yards per game

Rams' 2018 rushing between the tackles:

• Vs. Eagles: 11 carries, 47 yards
• Vs. Patriots: 14 carries, 43 yards
• Vs. Bears: 10 carries, 52 yards
• Average over the other 16 games: 21.5 carries, 106 yards per game

All of these games were late in the season, while star running back Todd Gurley was struggling through a knee injury. But the lesser-noticed issue was that backup running back Malcolm Brown had suffered a season-ending injury in the Rams' Week 13 victory in Detroit. The losses to the Bears and Eagles came in Weeks 14 and 15. The team didn't sign C.J. Anderson until right before its Week 16 game against Arizona.

"Malcolm was a bigger loss than a lot of people on the outside realized," Woods said.

In their first game of this season, the Rams went to Carolina and used plenty of Gurley and Brown. Gurley had 14 carries for 97 yards -- including a whopping eight for 64 in the fourth quarter while the Rams were preserving a lead. Brown had 11 carries for 53 yards and two touchdowns. The Rams more or less alternated drives with those backs for the first three quarters, and after the game McVay said the plan probably would change depending on the game and circumstances, but he obviously liked the way it worked out Sunday.

Oh, and the Rams on Sunday had 10 carries for 52 yards up the middle and 18 carries for 120 yards between the tackles. Their 6.7 yards per carry between the tackles was second in Week 1 only to the New York Saquon Barkleys.

The converse of the run game struggles is that the Rams had to drop back to pass a lot more in those games than they would like to. Their 57 dropbacks against the Eagles represented their highest total in any of their 19 games last season, and their 49 dropbacks against the Bears their third highest. And they were tied at halftime in both of those games, so it's not as if they were way behind early and forced out of their game plans. They went away from the run game because it just wasn't working.

In the Super Bowl, the Rams had 41 dropbacks, which was their eighth-highest total of the season. (Their 60 offensive snaps in that game were their third fewest of the season.)

They did not, unfortunately, find much of a pattern in their opponents' pressure rates. The Bears pressured Jared Goff on 18 of 49 dropbacks -- the highest number of pressures Goff endured in any game last season -- in spite of sending four or fewer pass-rushers on 42 of the Rams' 61 offensive snaps. Only the Eagles (45) used four or fewer pass-rushers more against the Rams in 2018, and the Rams had 74 snaps in the Eagles game compared to just 61 in the Bears game. The Bears sent an extra rusher only seven times. The Eagles blitzed 11 times. The Patriots in the Super Bowl sent five or more pass-rushers 17 times, tied for the most the Rams saw in any game.

"Balance," Woods said when I asked what was the key takeaway. "Those teams took away the run and got us out of who we are."With Gurley looking healthier (at least so far), Brown back and rookie Darrell Henderson in the fold, the Rams think they can apply the lessons of those three rough losses and be even better in 2019.

 

[majrleaged]

I think they are missing the point. There will always be games a good defense takes something away and you have to be able to make them need to pay attention to some other aspect of your offense. You need plan B and sometimes C and D. The rams didn't have any alternate plans that worked. I hope they figured out some of those and not just, we got to run better. Jesus.

 

[Merlin]

The OL was the reason we couldn't run the ball in those games. Center was replaced directly as a result of the film study, and we're going to need to weather the early going as the two new OL settle in to the overall unit. In the first six games or so there might be some games where these young players have some learning moments, too. I figure we'll see a few of those in this Sunday's game vs the Saints, but what really matters is two things IMO:

1. Win enough games to get into the playoffs (Home field obviously would be huge).
2. Have the OL playing its best ball of the season as the playoffs begin.

I don't have too many concerns with Boom & Allen, as they are already solid and will improve as we go forward. IMO the weak link now is Blythe. He's not only going to be who he is going forward, but he also is a FA that the Rams probably won't re-sign. So it is critical for the Rams IMO that they have a good plan for replacing him during the latter half of the season because if they do that right they potentially can get a boost in the interior run game which could be the difference between a quick playoff departure and a championship.

 

[Flint]

I’ve heard that the have been working on zone beating concepts which caught them totally by surprise in the SB since the Pats rarely played zone last year. Hopefully that will help. Goff was saying that it takes patience to sustain a drive against a zone and it’s something they have to be able to do.
Throwing the ball 40 times isn’t a winning formula no matter who you are.

 

[oldnotdead]

This is no big revelation. I mentioned the fact that the Ram's want to run between the tackles a long time ago. Anyone who watches the game critically could see by their play selection and their early season blocking that was what they wanted to do. They ended up blocking what most people mistook for an outside zone. But what they were doing was zone blocking with a horizontal concept. Generally the RB's primary read was to look inside first before bouncing it outside. More often than not the hole was outside the tackles.

This is why both Sully and Saffold are gone. Neither one could give them the consistent inside run the Ram's wanted. Stop and think about it. A huge component of play action is having an inside run attack the defense must honor. When your primary run attack is outside zone it takes away a lot of the effectiveness of the play action.

This is why IMO the Rams have shifted to a gap blocking scheme. The confirmation came last week. They used gap blocking on their runs. The real confirmation of that scheme shift was when they ran Woods on an outside sweep from a tight Y position going from left to right. Why left to right? Because in a gap scheme the OG is the lead blocker. Blythe is crap if he has to move like that. Noteboom with superior movement skills pulled it off perfectly. He was the lead block taking out the RDE.

For those who know what they are looking at, go ahead and go back and look at that game. They were running a gap scheme. This is more reason they need an upgrade at RG. As long as Blythe is playing RG they won't be able to consistently run that kind of outside run to the left.

The o-line blocking scheme was the reason for the ground game yardage. Look how much came inside instead of on the boundary. Playing a gap scheme the OG's will often being expected to make second level blocks. That has always been Blythe's weakness. He needs to really step up this year and prove he can do it.

I think the gap scheme caught the Panther's off guard as they probably gamed planned for a zone blocking scheme. When a defense is strong in their ILB's like the Panthers and Bears, the gap scheme can be very effective if you have good OG's who can block on the second level. Front 7 defenders must get off blocks to be able to make plays. If the gap scheme is executed properly there are no clean inside defenders except maybe a strong safety.

This is why don't be surprised if they use a 2 RB set with Brown as a lead blocker, or they shift Higbee into the backfield for that. They would do this if teams bring their SS into the box. A few good runs using this scheme will really open open up the passing game as well.

IMO this is the major change to his offense this year. If they can get it rolling the offense will be even better and more difficult to stop.

 

[Mojo Ram]

If you can't run it at all and the D is selling out, you protect your QB and let him go to work. You have to have a great QB to be able to do that. Goff has to step up in these situations. Make all the throws we know he can, but also be accurate, smart and patient.

 

[Picked4td]

i think the biggest issue is the reliance on PA for the passing game, which in turn is a reliance on running the ball well so the fakes work. Too many pass attempts come off a PA even when we arent running the ball well, especially in the super bowl. I'd love to see more success on normal drop backs and not be so reliant on those fakes working

 

[Hram]

This is no big revelation. I mentioned the fact that the Ram's want to run between the tackles a long time ago. Anyone who watches the game critically could see by their play selection and their early season blocking that was what they wanted to do. They ended up blocking what most people mistook for an outside zone. But what they were doing was zone blocking with a horizontal concept. Generally the RB's primary read was to look inside first before bouncing it outside. More often than not the hole was outside the tackles.

This is why both Sully and Saffold are gone. Neither one could give them the consistent inside run the Ram's wanted. Stop and think about it. A huge component of play action is having an inside run attack the defense must honor. When your primary run attack is outside zone it takes away a lot of the effectiveness of the play action.

I believe scaffold could. He was simply too expensive given their other needs and they figured out a decent succession plan the year prior so could let him go and still be okay.

 

[Ram65]

This is no big revelation. I mentioned the fact that the Ram's want to run between the tackles a long time ago. Anyone who watches the game critically could see by their play selection and their early season blocking that was what they wanted to do. They ended up blocking what most people mistook for an outside zone. But what they were doing was zone blocking with a horizontal concept. Generally the RB's primary read was to look inside first before bouncing it outside. More often than not the hole was outside the tackles.

This is why both Sully and Saffold are gone. Neither one could give them the consistent inside run the Ram's wanted. Stop and think about it. A huge component of play action is having an inside run attack the defense must honor. When your primary run attack is outside zone it takes away a lot of the effectiveness of the play action.

This is why IMO the Rams have shifted to a gap blocking scheme. The confirmation came last week. They used gap blocking on their runs. The real confirmation of that scheme shift was when they ran Woods on an outside sweep from a tight Y position going from left to right. Why left to right? Because in a gap scheme the OG is the lead blocker. Blythe is crap if he has to move like that. Noteboom with superior movement skills pulled it off perfectly. He was the lead block taking out the RDE.

For those who know what they are looking at, go ahead and go back and look at that game. They were running a gap scheme. This is more reason they need an upgrade at RG. As long as Blythe is playing RG they won't be able to consistently run that kind of outside run to the left.

The o-line blocking scheme was the reason for the ground game yardage. Look how much came inside instead of on the boundary. Playing a gap scheme the OG's will often being expected to make second level blocks. That has always been Blythe's weakness. He needs to really step up this year and prove he can do it.

I think the gap scheme caught the Panther's off guard as they probably gamed planned for a zone-blocking scheme. When a defense is strong in their ILB's like the Panthers and Bears, the gap scheme can be very effective if you have good OG's who can block on the second level. Front 7 defenders must get off blocks to be able to make plays. If the gap scheme is executed properly there are no clean inside defenders except maybe a strong safety.

This is why don't be surprised if they use a 2 RB set with Brown as a lead blocker, or they shift Higbee into the backfield for that. They would do this if teams bring their SS into the box. A few good runs using this scheme will really open up the passing game as well.

IMO this is the major change to his offense this year. If they can get it rolling the offense will be even better and more difficult to stop.

Very interesting observations. I read an article on how the Rams were more of a middle zone running team as opposed to the outside zone. I think the Bears and Patsies didn't follow the Rams offensive lineman as they moved down the line in the zone blocking (as defenses usually did) but, instead attacked upfield staying in their gaps. That made it easier to go right after the running back. So the Gap Blocking scheme would be the counter to that defense. I'll have to look at the blocking this week a little more closely. I image the Rams can use both blocking schemes to confuse defenses.

 

[tomas]

This is no big revelation. I mentioned the fact that the Ram's want to run between the tackles a long time ago. Anyone who watches the game critically could see by their play selection and their early season blocking that was what they wanted to do. They ended up blocking what most people mistook for an outside zone. But what they were doing was zone blocking with a horizontal concept. Generally the RB's primary read was to look inside first before bouncing it outside. More often than not the hole was outside the tackles.

This is why both Sully and Saffold are gone. Neither one could give them the consistent inside run the Ram's wanted. Stop and think about it. A huge component of play action is having an inside run attack the defense must honor. When your primary run attack is outside zone it takes away a lot of the effectiveness of the play action.

This is why IMO the Rams have shifted to a gap blocking scheme. The confirmation came last week. They used gap blocking on their runs. The real confirmation of that scheme shift was when they ran Woods on an outside sweep from a tight Y position going from left to right. Why left to right? Because in a gap scheme the OG is the lead blocker. Blythe is crap if he has to move like that. Noteboom with superior movement skills pulled it off perfectly. He was the lead block taking out the RDE.

For those who know what they are looking at, go ahead and go back and look at that game. They were running a gap scheme. This is more reason they need an upgrade at RG. As long as Blythe is playing RG they won't be able to consistently run that kind of outside run to the left.

The o-line blocking scheme was the reason for the ground game yardage. Look how much came inside instead of on the boundary. Playing a gap scheme the OG's will often being expected to make second level blocks. That has always been Blythe's weakness. He needs to really step up this year and prove he can do it.

I think the gap scheme caught the Panther's off guard as they probably gamed planned for a zone blocking scheme. When a defense is strong in their ILB's like the Panthers and Bears, the gap scheme can be very effective if you have good OG's who can block on the second level. Front 7 defenders must get off blocks to be able to make plays. If the gap scheme is executed properly there are no clean inside defenders except maybe a strong safety.

This is why don't be surprised if they use a 2 RB set with Brown as a lead blocker, or they shift Higbee into the backfield for that. They would do this if teams bring their SS into the box. A few good runs using this scheme will really open open up the passing game as well.

IMO this is the major change to his offense this year. If they can get it rolling the offense will be even better and more difficult to stop.

Gap blocking is probably harder to run, but when consistently run well by players who can overpower their opposition, it’s also the hardest to stop.

 

[Ramhusker]

This is no big revelation. I mentioned the fact that the Ram's want to run between the tackles a long time ago. Anyone who watches the game critically could see by their play selection and their early season blocking that was what they wanted to do. They ended up blocking what most people mistook for an outside zone. But what they were doing was zone blocking with a horizontal concept. Generally the RB's primary read was to look inside first before bouncing it outside. More often than not the hole was outside the tackles.

This is why both Sully and Saffold are gone. Neither one could give them the consistent inside run the Ram's wanted. Stop and think about it. A huge component of play action is having an inside run attack the defense must honor. When your primary run attack is outside zone it takes away a lot of the effectiveness of the play action.

This is why IMO the Rams have shifted to a gap blocking scheme. The confirmation came last week. They used gap blocking on their runs. The real confirmation of that scheme shift was when they ran Woods on an outside sweep from a tight Y position going from left to right. Why left to right? Because in a gap scheme the OG is the lead blocker. Blythe is crap if he has to move like that. Noteboom with superior movement skills pulled it off perfectly. He was the lead block taking out the RDE.

For those who know what they are looking at, go ahead and go back and look at that game. They were running a gap scheme. This is more reason they need an upgrade at RG. As long as Blythe is playing RG they won't be able to consistently run that kind of outside run to the left.

The o-line blocking scheme was the reason for the ground game yardage. Look how much came inside instead of on the boundary. Playing a gap scheme the OG's will often being expected to make second level blocks. That has always been Blythe's weakness. He needs to really step up this year and prove he can do it.

I think the gap scheme caught the Panther's off guard as they probably gamed planned for a zone blocking scheme. When a defense is strong in their ILB's like the Panthers and Bears, the gap scheme can be very effective if you have good OG's who can block on the second level. Front 7 defenders must get off blocks to be able to make plays. If the gap scheme is executed properly there are no clean inside defenders except maybe a strong safety.

This is why don't be surprised if they use a 2 RB set with Brown as a lead blocker, or they shift Higbee into the backfield for that. They would do this if teams bring their SS into the box. A few good runs using this scheme will really open open up the passing game as well.

IMO this is the major change to his offense this year. If they can get it rolling the offense will be even better and more difficult to stop.

So how easy is it for an OL to switch from a gap to a zone and vice versa during a game?

 

[Merlin]

For those who know what they are looking at, go ahead and go back and look at that game. They were running a gap scheme.

I'm with you on RG needing to be upgraded, but they ran a primary zone scheme in that game as usual. Even down in the redzone on the handoffs to Brown they were working their step & punch.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

This is no big revelation. I mentioned the fact that the Ram's want to run between the tackles a long time ago. Anyone who watches the game critically could see by their play selection and their early season blocking that was what they wanted to do. They ended up blocking what most people mistook for an outside zone. But what they were doing was zone blocking with a horizontal concept. Generally the RB's primary read was to look inside first before bouncing it outside. More often than not the hole was outside the tackles.

This is why both Sully and Saffold are gone. Neither one could give them the consistent inside run the Ram's wanted. Stop and think about it. A huge component of play action is having an inside run attack the defense must honor. When your primary run attack is outside zone it takes away a lot of the effectiveness of the play action.

This is why IMO the Rams have shifted to a gap blocking scheme. The confirmation came last week. They used gap blocking on their runs. The real confirmation of that scheme shift was when they ran Woods on an outside sweep from a tight Y position going from left to right. Why left to right? Because in a gap scheme the OG is the lead blocker. Blythe is crap if he has to move like that. Noteboom with superior movement skills pulled it off perfectly. He was the lead block taking out the RDE.

For those who know what they are looking at, go ahead and go back and look at that game. They were running a gap scheme. This is more reason they need an upgrade at RG. As long as Blythe is playing RG they won't be able to consistently run that kind of outside run to the left.

The o-line blocking scheme was the reason for the ground game yardage. Look how much came inside instead of on the boundary. Playing a gap scheme the OG's will often being expected to make second level blocks. That has always been Blythe's weakness. He needs to really step up this year and prove he can do it.

I think the gap scheme caught the Panther's off guard as they probably gamed planned for a zone blocking scheme. When a defense is strong in their ILB's like the Panthers and Bears, the gap scheme can be very effective if you have good OG's who can block on the second level. Front 7 defenders must get off blocks to be able to make plays. If the gap scheme is executed properly there are no clean inside defenders except maybe a strong safety.

This is why don't be surprised if they use a 2 RB set with Brown as a lead blocker, or they shift Higbee into the backfield for that. They would do this if teams bring their SS into the box. A few good runs using this scheme will really open open up the passing game as well.

IMO this is the major change to his offense this year. If they can get it rolling the offense will be even better and more difficult to stop.

Good observations. I’ll watch more specifically which scheme the Oline uses.

I do disagree about Saffold though. His departure was about age, money, and injury history.

I’d prefer to see him out of position at right guard instead Blythe. Or even Noteboom at RG and Saffold at LG.

 

[Flint]

i think the biggest issue is the reliance on PA for the passing game, which in turn is a reliance on running the ball well so the fakes work. Too many pass attempts come off a PA even when we arent running the ball well, especially in the super bowl. I'd love to see more success on normal drop backs and not be so reliant on those fakes working

That’s a good point, by the time Goff finished his fake in the SB guys were getting beaten and he has no chance cuz he hasn’t had a chance to look downfield. There were probably a lot of things McVay would do differently and the margin was so small the result could’ve been different.

 

[dang]

This is why both Sully and Saffold are gone. Neither one could give them the consistent inside run the Ram's wanted. Stop and think about it. A huge component of play action is having an inside run attack the defense must honor. When your primary run attack is outside zone it takes away a lot of the effectiveness of the play action.

Saffold is gone because the Rams could not justify matching his significant FA offers - not because he was an ineffective run blocker.