Just re-watched the Eagle game...

[Rams43]

On Offense

McVay (maybe with a little help from O’Connell) is gameplanning and playcalling at a genius level. Eagles were beyond confused right from the jump.

And McVay has assembled a top notch group of position coaches beyond his OC and his DC. Just look at how QB, RB, OL, TE, WR, DL, ILB, CB, and S are performing. Those position groups are evidence of some mighty fine coaching. I look for a few to be poached via promotion come next offseason.

Goff seems ‘different’ this year, and I mean that in the most positive of ways. He now seems to have ‘it’. I give a ton of credit to O’Connell for work on fundamentals and on reading D’s.

We’ll be fine at RB this year. Gonna be a rotation that may vary game to game, but it will be an effective one.

Watched LG pretty extensively. I thought Boom played well and the Rams were moving the ball at will with him in there. But Edwards was the better blocker. He sustains his blocks longer and he has better balance. There is no ‘wrong choice’ for starting LG. Nice ‘problem’ to have, huh?

Rest of OL, both TE’s, and all 4 WR’s looked terrific. This looks like a top 5 O for this year, maybe even better.

On Defense

Where is the pressure? Specifically, where is the pressure from the edge? I had read that Staley wanted them to contain first and pressure second. But after re-watching I got the impression that the players just weren’t capable of bringing a decent pass rush. This is our Achilles heel on D.

I will say that Eagles weren’t running outside much, but they seemed to be gouging the Rams up the middle.

Okay, Kiser has officially blown me away. I had thought that he would be a pleasant 2 down run stopper, but I never dreamed that he would be capable of such a monster game, including coverage and timely tipped passes in 2 straight games. The guy was always around the ball, it seemed. Did I mention his 16 tackles in this game? Not a misprint. Cory who? Lol.

I don’t have the words to properly compliment our CB’s and Safeties. They’re making plays everywhere and they haven’t fully gelled even yet. Starting caliber players 7-8 deep. Maybe 9 deep.

On ST

Is Bonamego behind the Kupp-as-fair-catcher policy? Is Sloman the best we can do at PK? At this point I’ve gotta say that both need to win me over. Not impressed with either.

 

[snackdaddy]

It sure seems like Goff has the look of a QB who is in command of his offense. Game 1's are usually a little slower going. Timing is usually off. Goff wasn't lighting it up but he was managing the offense very well. Its like certain times he has to manage it and other times he has to make plays. He's doing both. Becoming a complete quarterback.

 

[Ram65]

The scheme and play calling is helping Goff. McVay has the Rams playing ahead of the chains. He is putting Goff in favorable positions. He has Goff getting the ball out faster with great misdirection. Goff has been razor-sharp on the short throws and on some longer ones as well. I think McVay said Jared is mostly making the right calls at the line. Don't know how much he can change the two plays McVay calls before the mic goes off. Goff looks a bit quicker with fakes and rolling out which has probably helped his throws. He also has been more decisive when he runs. He said he worked on his legs and quickness which was needed and it's paying off. I'll wait to see how Goff does under more adverse conditions like playing from behind. He has been smart throwing the ball away when pressured. The Rams haven't done well on 2nd/3rd and long with protecting Goff. The running game is very encouraging with some good blocking and runs.

There is concern about the lack of pass rush. There were only eight blitzes week one. I didn't think there were many weeks two but, don't know the number. I guess the lack of blitzing is by design and has worked out well. The lack of pass rush from the front four has to improve. If it does I fear the defense will get shredded by better offensives/quarterbacks. Staley's disguising of coverages can only go so far. The Rams have contained the outside runs but, are still allowing inside yardage that is less than ideal.

Special teams need some work. Get Kupp out of there and find a real punt returner. Let's see what Calais can do. Webster hasn't looked great as a gunner or kickoff returner. Coverage teams are letting to many yards but, I don't know if Sloman is kicking it high enough. Sloman has to improve on his place kicking,

It's 2-0 against the NFC Least so let's see how the Rams do against a challenging opponent this week against the Buffalo Bills.

 

[Faceplant]

Nice post. Agree on all counts. That Kupp catch and fumble were the most perplexing thing I saw all weekend. I literally could not BELIEVE that Kupp would:

1. Catch that punt inside his 5 yd line.
2. FUMBLE THE DAMN BALL TRYING TO GET EXTRA YARDAGE IN THAT SITUATION!!!

 

[badnews]

I have no issue with Kupp being able to be our PR guy. I'm positive he has all of the skills necessary to be great at it and his fumble was bad but isn't an issue that causes me to doubt his ability there.

My only problem with it, and its a fucking HUUUGE one, is WHY in ^%%#@#%#@@@%@!^^>%×' HELL are we risking him to injury out there?!?!?!????

I dont care if Kupp has begged for the job, I don't care if Bonamego wants him there.... there is no reward in having him field punts worthy of the potential risk. Period.

McVay is brilliant offensive mind, a great communicator, and pretty much awesome at everything I can think of.
Kupp at PR is the 1st time I have said "WTF is McVay thinking!?"

 

[LARams_1963]

Said it in another thread, there is no reason in hell to have a 1k yd receiver as a punt returner when you have other options. If they had skills like Dante Hall then yeah.

 

[tempests]

I think Kupp is far more likely to get injured playing WR than he is punt returner. He might get two returnable kicks per game.

Steelers had Antonio Brown doing it.

 

[PhillyRam]

I have no issue with Kupp being able to be our PR guy. I'm positive he has all of the skills necessary to be great at it and his fumble was bad but isn't an issue that causes me to doubt his ability there.

My only problem with it, and its a fucking HUUUGE one, is WHY in ^%%#@#%#@@@%@!^^>%×' HELL are we risking him to injury out there?!?!?!????

I dont care if Kupp has begged for the job, I don't care if Bonamego wants him there.... there is no reward in having him field punts worthy of the potential risk. Period.

McVay is brilliant offensive mind, a great communicator, and pretty much awesome at everything I can think of.
Kupp at PR is the 1st time I have said "WTF is McVay thinking!?"

I still think he is still scarred by the Pharroh Cooper playoff debacle. Probably feels his offense doesn't need a lot of help, so he just wants the ball and fears other young guys just catching the ball.

In his mind a rookie PR can lose him a game and he doesn't want to dedicate a roster spot for just a vet PR.

So he trusts Kupp... for now.

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

The irony is they probably thought Kupp was worth the risk for the enhanced ball-security.

 

[badnews]

Steelers had Antonio Brown doing it.

Anyone can make big mistakes, even the Steelers.

Imo it wouldnt matter if the 9ers had Rice doing it. Most teams know better than to add more risk of injury to your 3rd down machine and stud WR.

I know I could be wrong, but to me its not smart.

 

[Billy Baroo]

Nice post. Agree on all counts. That Kupp catch and fumble were the most perplexing thing I saw all weekend. I literally could not BELIEVE that Kupp would:

1. Catch that punt inside his 5 yd line.
2. FUMBLE THE DAMN BALL TRYING TO GET EXTRA YARDAGE IN THAT SITUATION!!!

Agree but if not for #1, #2 would never have happened.

 

[SteezyEndo]

Watched LG pretty extensively. I thought Boom played well and the Rams were moving the ball at will with him in there.

If you thought he played well, I was hoping he would play better. I saw a lot of blown assignments and confusion from Boom. He looks out of place in that position, he was handled quite a bit. Edwards on the other hand gets my full applause for coming in for an injured Boom ready to go, and he moves a lot better. So far though the OL is doing well for the criticism we been giving them. But overall Boom needs to step up and play better in my opinion and these injuries isn’t helping his cause.

 

[oldnotdead]

For those who are concerned about the lack of pass rush maybe you should go back and focus upon how Staley is playing his front 4. On most plays, he's basically only rushing 3 his base d-line. He also has Sebass playing a 0 technique which is a two-gap technique, not an attacking penetration style. Watch where he aligns Floyd (#54). He aligns him almost in a quasi SAM position where he first reads the play and that determines whether or not he rushes. Why do you think I've been saying that Staley has no cajones and is playing his defense not to attack but to contain like a scared little boy. Why do you think as bad as Philly played they still had almost as much yardage and as many 1st downs as the Rams? Staley doesn't care about sacks or QB pressure in that it isn't a priority. He's playing a conservative defense of let the offense run their play and the Rams try to limit the yardage and wait for an offensive mistake. He's simply trying to contain the offense not stop it.

IMO that is a loser scheme. It's working now because teams are playing like its preseason and still working their bugs out. But as the season wears on that's going to change. The more I breakdown what he's doing it makes me sick. Go ahead and look very closely at how he's playing his defense and how he's got them aligned pre-snap. The immediately after the snap look at the delayed reaction of the front 7 as Staley wants them to read the play first. He's taken away their natural aggression. Why do you think their sack total and pressure totals are so pathetic considering the talent upfront.

What I did was do stop motion on replays and simply did small incremental movements after the snap. On a sweep, the entire Ram d-line didn't react to the snap but simply stayed for what had to be a full second before they reacted. I've never seen that nonsense before in the NFL. Go ahead and do it for yourselves I'm really not liking what I'm seeing. He's neutralized AD's single biggest advantage which is his amazing quickness off the snap. Staley is turning a HOF interior rusher into a JAG. I only hope AD stops playing this nonsense and just plays his normal game.

Yeah count me as not a fan of Staley. I hope to God I'm wrong because if I'm right this team will get ripped in the playoffs if they get the wrong matchup. But sooner or later it will cost them big unless Staley grows some cajones and turns his dogs loose.

 

[Faceplant]

Man, you sure type a ton, lol. I wish I had that amount of time to analyze and opinionize on this team and staff so much, although maybe not...

I will just continue to be a fan and enjoy what I see as an up and coming defense and an ever evolving offense. No need for so much criticism over a 2-0 start. This stuff is supposed to be fun man...

 

[Merlin]

If you thought he played well, I was hoping he would play better. I saw a lot of blown assignments and confusion from Boom. He looks out of place in that position, he was handled quite a bit. Edwards on the other hand gets my full applause for coming in for an injured Boom ready to go, and he moves a lot better. So far though the OL is doing well for the criticism we been giving them. But overall Boom needs to step up and play better in my opinion and these injuries isn’t helping his cause.

No need to sugar coat it lol. Boom did not play well. The line as a whole though had a really good game in Philly. I'm feeling confident about them going forward.

I think Edwards is going to make that left side on par with our right side run game. It's gonna be fun.

 

[FrantikRam]

The irony is they probably thought Kupp was worth the risk for the enhanced ball-security.

Yes but I am willing to bet Kupp doesn't fumble again all season now, so I want him back there

 

[Mackeyser]

For those who are concerned about the lack of pass rush maybe you should go back and focus upon how Staley is playing his front 4. On most plays, he's basically only rushing 3 his base d-line. He also has Sebass playing a 0 technique which is a two-gap technique, not an attacking penetration style. Watch where he aligns Floyd (#54). He aligns him almost in a quasi SAM position where he first reads the play and that determines whether or not he rushes. Why do you think I've been saying that Staley has no cajones and is playing his defense not to attack but to contain like a scared little boy. Why do you think as bad as Philly played they still had almost as much yardage and as many 1st downs as the Rams? Staley doesn't care about sacks or QB pressure in that it isn't a priority. He's playing a conservative defense of let the offense run their play and the Rams try to limit the yardage and wait for an offensive mistake. He's simply trying to contain the offense not stop it.

IMO that is a loser scheme. It's working now because teams are playing like its preseason and still working their bugs out. But as the season wears on that's going to change. The more I breakdown what he's doing it makes me sick. Go ahead and look very closely at how he's playing his defense and how he's got them aligned pre-snap. The immediately after the snap look at the delayed reaction of the front 7 as Staley wants them to read the play first. He's taken away their natural aggression. Why do you think their sack total and pressure totals are so pathetic considering the talent upfront.

What I did was do stop motion on replays and simply did small incremental movements after the snap. On a sweep, the entire Ram d-line didn't react to the snap but simply stayed for what had to be a full second before they reacted. I've never seen that nonsense before in the NFL. Go ahead and do it for yourselves I'm really not liking what I'm seeing. He's neutralized AD's single biggest advantage which is his amazing quickness off the snap. Staley is turning a HOF interior rusher into a JAG. I only hope AD stops playing this nonsense and just plays his normal game.

Yeah count me as not a fan of Staley. I hope to God I'm wrong because if I'm right this team will get ripped in the playoffs if they get the wrong matchup. But sooner or later it will cost them big unless Staley grows some cajones and turns his dogs loose.

I respectfully disagree.

The point especially early on with teams that can run the ball with established OLs is to make sure not to get gashed in the running game. And we haven't. Not like before.

And contain is the way to play our division as every QB is mobile enough to burn us unless we play them all like we play Russell Wilson (and you'll note that we've been very good at that going back to the Fisher days).

He's playing a diagnosing D that acts like a constrictor. Once it gets that bite on, our D just starts coiling and choking the life out of the opposing O.

NO OTHER D in the NFL hasn't allowed a TD in the second half, iirc, and definitely no others have only allowed 6 points in the second half through two games.

By the second half, we've established a lead and teams are kinda scrambling to get going and that's where it's DL pressure and super solid back end play.

This D isn't sexy and I think as more teams run this year, we'll see our D rise to the top as one of the best at doing what defenses are supposed to do... mitigate opponents from scoring.

It's also a new system to the guys, so I'd rather Staley put them in position to succeed and get comfortable than pull a Josh McDaniel, expect everyone to eat the elephant in one bite and watch as everyone fails.

Our D is good and based on the patterns I see, they are bound to be VERY good come the end of the season.

 

[PhillyRam]

For those who are concerned about the lack of pass rush maybe you should go back and focus upon how Staley is playing his front 4. On most plays, he's basically only rushing 3 his base d-line. He also has Sebass playing a 0 technique which is a two-gap technique, not an attacking penetration style. Watch where he aligns Floyd (#54). He aligns him almost in a quasi SAM position where he first reads the play and that determines whether or not he rushes. Why do you think I've been saying that Staley has no cajones and is playing his defense not to attack but to contain like a scared little boy. Why do you think as bad as Philly played they still had almost as much yardage and as many 1st downs as the Rams? Staley doesn't care about sacks or QB pressure in that it isn't a priority. He's playing a conservative defense of let the offense run their play and the Rams try to limit the yardage and wait for an offensive mistake. He's simply trying to contain the offense not stop it.

IMO that is a loser scheme. It's working now because teams are playing like its preseason and still working their bugs out. But as the season wears on that's going to change. The more I breakdown what he's doing it makes me sick. Go ahead and look very closely at how he's playing his defense and how he's got them aligned pre-snap. The immediately after the snap look at the delayed reaction of the front 7 as Staley wants them to read the play first. He's taken away their natural aggression. Why do you think their sack total and pressure totals are so pathetic considering the talent upfront.

What I did was do stop motion on replays and simply did small incremental movements after the snap. On a sweep, the entire Ram d-line didn't react to the snap but simply stayed for what had to be a full second before they reacted. I've never seen that nonsense before in the NFL. Go ahead and do it for yourselves I'm really not liking what I'm seeing. He's neutralized AD's single biggest advantage which is his amazing quickness off the snap. Staley is turning a HOF interior rusher into a JAG. I only hope AD stops playing this nonsense and just plays his normal game.

Yeah count me as not a fan of Staley. I hope to God I'm wrong because if I'm right this team will get ripped in the playoffs if they get the wrong matchup. But sooner or later it will cost them big unless Staley grows some cajones and turns his dogs loose.

Nah, they need an improved edge rush.

You see the edge guys getting stoned a lot at the LOS. Floyd just tries to bull rush it seems. I can see why he never became thst elite rusher. Just lacks that quick twitch & lean that guys like Quinn have or what I saw with Polite in college and his one play against the Cowboys.

 

[badnews]

Man, you sure type a ton, lol. I wish I had that amount of time to analyze and opinionize on this team and staff so much, although maybe not...

I will just continue to be a fan and enjoy what I see as an up and coming defense and an ever evolving offense. No need for so much criticism over a 2-0 start. This stuff is supposed to be fun man...

I'm telling ya!
It has to be exhausting digging that deep for someone to criticize so much, especially considering the 6 points his D has allowed in the 2nd half of games between two teams capable of scoring in droves.

It always makes me chuckle a bit when people think they know the problems and the solutions for a team that's winning easily.

 

[XXXIVwin]

A few of my takes:
—Goff’s improved mobility is noticeable. He looks GREAT on those rollouts and bootlegs. Adds a whole new dimension to our offense.
—That end-around TD to Woods was a thing of beauty. Must’ve watched it six times. Goff’s sleight of hand was superb.
—Higbee picked up where he left off from 2019. Brimming with confidence. Had the dropsies in first couple years, but not anymore.
—McVay on fire. That SB hangover pissed him off. Two games in a row he clearly outcoached the opponent.
—Boom again did not inspire confidence. Hope Edwards holds onto the job even after Boom is healthy.
—Fake crowd noise worked great on SNF, but not so much for Fox. I’m sorry but there wouldn’t be that much loud cheering after Ram TD’s in Philly...
—When will Sloman show what he can do on a long FG? And keep blasting KO’s out of the end zone please.
—Six points allowed in two second halves? Thank you Staley.

Bottom line: in an otherwise miserable 2020, it’s great to see our Rams kicking ass!