- Joined
- Jul 31, 2010
- Messages
- 8,874
Rams encouraged by offensive progress
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/12182/rams-encouraged-by-early-offensive-progress
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- While the St. Louis Rams defense was the group expected to take a big step forward in 2014, it so far has been a disappointment. But for as much of a letdown as the early defensive returns have been, the Rams have been equally encouraged by the start of the offense.
Although there remains plenty of work to do for the Rams to improve offensively, there have been steady signs of progress in the first three weeks. As of Tuesday morning, the Rams are ninth in the league in yards per game (368.3), ninth in passing yards per game (264.3) and sixth in time of possession (32:12).
"I think the best way for us to look at it is the offense did move the ball well, we looked a lot better week by week," tight end Lance Kendricks said. "We have kind of got to take that in stride and use that as motivation going forward."
Perhaps most surprising about the offense's start has been the production through the air while the running game has been middling. The emergence of quarterback Austin Davis in the team's past two games has been an impetus for the improvement, but there is more at play than just Davis' league-leading accuracy.
With opposing defenses loading up to stop the run, the Rams have found favorable matchups for their receivers on the outside. That's not new for the Rams but it is a step forward that the Rams are now actually winning some of those one-on-one battles. Receiver Brian Quick leads the way in that regard with his 16 catches for 235 yards and a touchdown.
But beyond Quick, Davis and the passing game have found success by spreading the ball around. After three weeks, the Rams have 10 players with at least three catches.
"Moving the ball around to different people is always a good thing," Kendricks said. "It makes them have to play it true and play everyone and play it fair. This week, I think the focus is just building on what we did already and improving on last week’s performance. Even though we did perform well, we can always get better as an offensive unit."
One way to do that is to get the running game going on a more consistent basis. The offense was supposed to center on the rushing attack but the first three weeks have offered a series of stops and starts. The Rams are 22nd in the league in rushing offense at 104 yards per game and 20th in yards per attempt at 3.85.
The offensive line has shown improvement in each week of the season and that should continue as it plays together more. Defenses playing with extra defenders in the box is probably going to continue, and it didn't stop the Rams from having success running the ball last year. They can start by finding bigger chunk runs than what they have.
The Rams' longest rush this season was an 18-yard gain on an end-around to Tavon Austin.
“We know we’ll get heavy boxes and people trying to stop the run," offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. "We need to create some explosive runs. We get guys in the secondary creating seams, they've got to be able to take advantage of that. But it’s a process. That certainly takes pressure off of us by getting in second down and manageable, third down and manageable. But we go well when we’re balanced and we run the football. When teams take that away from us we tend to struggle a little bit, so hopefully we’ll like always try to get the running game going and generate a few more explosive plays. ”
If the Rams can do that, they should be able to continue building on a surprising start as they head into games with much better defenses.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/12182/rams-encouraged-by-early-offensive-progress
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- While the St. Louis Rams defense was the group expected to take a big step forward in 2014, it so far has been a disappointment. But for as much of a letdown as the early defensive returns have been, the Rams have been equally encouraged by the start of the offense.
Although there remains plenty of work to do for the Rams to improve offensively, there have been steady signs of progress in the first three weeks. As of Tuesday morning, the Rams are ninth in the league in yards per game (368.3), ninth in passing yards per game (264.3) and sixth in time of possession (32:12).
"I think the best way for us to look at it is the offense did move the ball well, we looked a lot better week by week," tight end Lance Kendricks said. "We have kind of got to take that in stride and use that as motivation going forward."
Perhaps most surprising about the offense's start has been the production through the air while the running game has been middling. The emergence of quarterback Austin Davis in the team's past two games has been an impetus for the improvement, but there is more at play than just Davis' league-leading accuracy.
With opposing defenses loading up to stop the run, the Rams have found favorable matchups for their receivers on the outside. That's not new for the Rams but it is a step forward that the Rams are now actually winning some of those one-on-one battles. Receiver Brian Quick leads the way in that regard with his 16 catches for 235 yards and a touchdown.
But beyond Quick, Davis and the passing game have found success by spreading the ball around. After three weeks, the Rams have 10 players with at least three catches.
"Moving the ball around to different people is always a good thing," Kendricks said. "It makes them have to play it true and play everyone and play it fair. This week, I think the focus is just building on what we did already and improving on last week’s performance. Even though we did perform well, we can always get better as an offensive unit."
One way to do that is to get the running game going on a more consistent basis. The offense was supposed to center on the rushing attack but the first three weeks have offered a series of stops and starts. The Rams are 22nd in the league in rushing offense at 104 yards per game and 20th in yards per attempt at 3.85.
The offensive line has shown improvement in each week of the season and that should continue as it plays together more. Defenses playing with extra defenders in the box is probably going to continue, and it didn't stop the Rams from having success running the ball last year. They can start by finding bigger chunk runs than what they have.
The Rams' longest rush this season was an 18-yard gain on an end-around to Tavon Austin.
“We know we’ll get heavy boxes and people trying to stop the run," offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. "We need to create some explosive runs. We get guys in the secondary creating seams, they've got to be able to take advantage of that. But it’s a process. That certainly takes pressure off of us by getting in second down and manageable, third down and manageable. But we go well when we’re balanced and we run the football. When teams take that away from us we tend to struggle a little bit, so hopefully we’ll like always try to get the running game going and generate a few more explosive plays. ”
If the Rams can do that, they should be able to continue building on a surprising start as they head into games with much better defenses.
