Just a few more glaring questions for posters at the midpoint...

[Rams43]

We have seen teams occasionally bringing 8, sometimes more players into the box to stop Gurley, so I have a two part question.
A) Why doesn't Foles check to some passing play to take advantage?

And if he does, why isn't it resulting in big chunk plays?

Why aren't we attacking the middle of the field more?

Why are our various receivers still running bad routes at the midseason mark?

Why has Quick only had 8 targets?

Why has our O been historically bad on 3rd down conversions?

Why have Britt, Cook, and Bailey all had significant regressions from their respective '14 seasons?


TBH, I think other teams just don't respect our passing game. They prefer to make Foles beat them while they focus on stopping Gurley. You would THINK that we could somehow find a way to take advantage of that. Sigh...

 

[FrantikRam]

After the first few days of this week, I was just hoping we'd beat Chicago...but I had an epiphany yesterday...

In just about any sport, a player is what he is - and eventually it averages out. If a guy is a .275 hitter but starts the season hitting .150, you can almost guarantee he will go on a stretch of hitting .400 until he eventually settles around that .275 number.

So when pondering the Rams, something just doesn't seem right - when is the last time a team had the NFL's best RB but worst overall offense? Why can't a team with said RB utilize the passing game off playaction? Why can't seemingly average NFL WRs put up even average NFL numbers?

Then I listened to one of Fisher's press conferences and he said something about the offense just needing to explode in a few games to get us on track. That's when it hit me that it's about to happen.

New QB, new OC, new RB, new OL - and a different utilization of Tavon - of course it was going to take 8 games to get their feet under them. The Bears are in for an offensive explosion Sunday.

 

[Ken]

Foles isn't that good. I think he was playing decently until the GB game. I think he lost some confidence and became kinda Bulgerized. He needs to bounce back with a good game and soon or we can flush the Rams playoff chances down the toilet.

 

[DR RAM]

I'm not going to fall into this hole. Lol.

I'll use coach speak. We need to get better.

 

[Robocop]

first play of the last game should've been a touchdown, that sums up half the problem right there. If your QB doesn't even attempt to go through his reads then the season is already over. not to mention an embarrassing line and dropped balls at the worst time. the play calling in the Rams first and only possession in overtime sums up how Cignetti feels about his offenses passing game

 

[CoachO]

The conventional train of thought is to utilize a play action passing attack off of the success of the running game.

But as Minnesota showed last week, if they continue to blitz it eliminates the ability to play action.

Lost count of the number of times Foles would follow thru with his play action fake and immediately be faced with pressure coming from the blitz. Kinda concerning that a fourth year QB can't see it coming pre snap and make the necessary adjustments.

Bottom line for me..... The only way they get back to having the ability to use play action is to USE IT ON FIRST DOWN.

Unless and until they incorporate Quick and Britt on slants and Welker on quick crossing routes, this passing game will continue to flounder.

Everyone seems to love the constant use of Austin. But IMO it's causing more issues than not. They are so intent on forcing the ball to him that they are sacrificing the entire offensive system in the meantime.

There are too many other people who, if included, could make this offense more unpredictable and more versatile.

I wrote in a previous thread that I didn't realize when Fisher said they were going to "simplify the offense" under Cignetti, that actually meant they were going to only include four passing plays in the entire playbook and only throw the ball to two receivers.

 

[RamDino]

We also have practically no yardage after the catch, except for Tavon. I agree with Coach about the slants and quick crossing routes. We need to attack the defense vertically and our receivers need to find the seams. They have tried getting Gurley involved in short passes but it hasn't worked out yet. Some quarterbacks make the receivers play better by getting them the ball in tight places and letting them run with it. All we ever see is throw and (hopefully) catch. We can only hope that Foles will improve, and I liked the trade, but if we continue to play poorly, Fisher is going to have to make a move to Case Keenum. This offense needs a spark.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

We also have practically no yardage after the catch, except for Tavon. I agree with Coach about the slants and quick crossing routes. We need to attack the defense vertically and our receivers need to find the seams. They have tried getting Gurley involved in short passes but it hasn't worked out yet. Some quarterbacks make the receivers play better by getting them the ball in tight places and letting them run with it. All we ever see is throw and (hopefully) catch. We can only hope that Foles will improve, and I liked the trade, but if we continue to play poorly, Fisher is going to have to make a move to Case Keenum. This offense needs a spark.

The theory about not using the middle of the field is to keep defenders out of that are to allow Gurley longer gains when/if he hits the second level.

To answer the OP: I just dont think a high school scheme can defeat good NFL defenses. The game plan is too simple. I know that Seattle has done it but there receivers actually catch and get open and a major portion of their success comes from a Scrambling QB. I hope they get a new OC that with some NFL success under his belt and a few good receivers for next season.

 

[Memphis Ram]

We have seen teams occasionally bringing 8, sometimes more players into the box to stop Gurley, so I have a two part question.
A) Why doesn't Foles check to some passing play to take advantage?

And if he does, why isn't it resulting in big chunk plays?

Why aren't we attacking the middle of the field more?

Why are our various receivers still running bad routes at the midseason mark?

Why has Quick only had 8 targets?

Why has our O been historically bad on 3rd down conversions?

Why have Britt, Cook, and Bailey all had significant regressions from their respective '14 seasons?


TBH, I think other teams just don't respect our passing game. They prefer to make Foles beat them while they focus on stopping Gurley. You would THINK that we could somehow find a way to take advantage of that. Sigh...

 

[fearsomefour]

Lost count of the number of times Foles would follow thru with his play action fake and immediately be faced with pressure coming from the blitz. Kinda concerning that a fourth year QB can't see it coming pre snap and make the necessary adjustments.

Bottom line for me..... The only way they get back to having the ability to use play action is to USE IT ON FIRST DOWN.

Unless and until they incorporate Quick and Britt on slants and Welker on quick crossing routes, this passing game will continue to flounder.

^This.
It seems they are content to hope for a couple of big plays a game and try to win 17-13.
Going stretches of games with 3 and outs is brutal for the D however.
It seems to me the approach in the passing game is to eliminate much of the risk with Foles. That also eliminates much of reward. At some point a 5 yard out and WR screens with a deep shot per quarter is not going to cut it. That point was about 2 weeks ago.
The intermediate passing game has to come into play at some point if the O is going to get going at all. Chicago is another team that will be able to contain Gurley if the Rams are one dimensional again.

 

[snackdaddy]

I think at this point Foles is who he is. A backup caliber quarterback trying to get a talented team over the hump. We don't need a top tier quarterback to win. But we do need one better than the way Foles has been playing. Is he going to get better? I have my doubts. I think what we're seeing now is as good as it gets. Like anyone else who gets enough opportunities he'll have a good game now and then. But I don't see him putting together a string of good games.

 

[DaveFan'51]

After the first few days of this week, I was just hoping we'd beat Chicago...but I had an epiphany yesterday...

In just about any sport, a player is what he is - and eventually it averages out. If a guy is a .275 hitter but starts the season hitting .150, you can almost guarantee he will go on a stretch of hitting .400 until he eventually settles around that .275 number.

So when pondering the Rams, something just doesn't seem right - when is the last time a team had the NFL's best RB but worst overall offense? Why can't a team with said RB utilize the passing game off playaction? Why can't seemingly average NFL WRs put up even average NFL numbers?

Then I listened to one of Fisher's press conferences and he said something about the offense just needing to explode in a few games to get us on track. That's when it hit me that it's about to happen.

New QB, new OC, new RB, new OL - and a different utilization of Tavon - of course it was going to take 8 games to get their feet under them. The Bears are in for an offensive explosion Sunday.

Well .. I like your 'Epiphany', But I personally call these instances "Brain Fart's"!!

 

[LACHAMP46]

What coach & fearsome said.....:mrburns: