Rams' offensive line regrouped against 49ers --PD

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RamBill

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Rams' offensive line regrouped against 49ers
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_d2c60e72-0b41-537b-a0c1-f1d2e265540c.html

On a day when the Rams’ defense registered its highest sack total in more than two seasons, dropping San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick eight times, coach Jeff Fisher didn’t award a game ball to the front four. Or even any of the six players who combined for those eight sacks.

No, in the visitors’ locker room at Levi’s Stadium following Sunday’s 13-10 upset victory over San Francisco, Fisher presented the game ball to ...

The offensive line.

“Just because of what they endured last week,” Fisher explained. “With the changes that took place in the Kansas City game, the fact that we weren’t quite sure as to who was going to be able to come back. ... They all came back from last week.”

After getting flattened in the second half of a 34-7 drubbing by the Chiefs Oct. 26, the offensive line looked decimated. Left tackle Jake Long was lost for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.

Center Scott Wells suffered an elbow injury in his right (or snapping) arm, and offensive guard Rodger Saffold suffered yet another shoulder injury.

“Scott didn’t even snap in the walk-through on Wednesday,” Fisher said. “The first day he snapped was Friday.

“For Rodger to come back after subluxing the shoulder and playing the way he played (against San Francisco). And then going from whatever number sack total we had at Kansas City to just one, I thought it was a great effort.”

The Rams yielded a season-high seven sacks against the Chiefs at Arrowhead.

A shoulder subluxation is a temporary, partial dislocation of the shoulder joint. Saffold will try to get through this season, but may need surgery at the conclusion of the season.

Fisher said he didn’t get an idea that Wells and Saffold could play until Friday of last week.

“Then, when we traveled (to San Francisco) and we got treatments at the hotel done, we had a pretty good sense that they were going to be able to go,” Fisher said.

Besides the uncertainty over the availability of Wells and Saffold, rookie Greg Robinson made his first NFL start at left tackle, and Davin Joseph came off the bench to start for the first time since Game 4 at Philadelphia at right guard.

All against the league’s second-ranked defense, on the road.

“They have an excellent defense and that’s a good football team,” Wells said. “So we just tried to take it one play at a time and not make the game bigger than it was. Try to go out there and execute each play as it was called. And learn from the mistakes moving forward to the next play.”

By the numbers, the offensive results were anything but gaudy: 13 points, 193 yards gained, and 3.4 yards a carry on the ground. But the running game was effective enough to help keep the 49ers’ defense honest. And for the most part, quarterback Austin Davis was kept clean.

“It’s nice to find a way to win,” Wells said. “It wasn’t pretty. A lot of room for improvement obviously. But to claw and scratch and bite and do whatever we had to do come away with the win, it was huge.”

That’s right, he said, bite.

The game-ball gesture by Fisher was much appreciated by the O-line.

“It’s definitely nice to be able to achieve something like that, and be recognized by Coach for our efforts,” Wells said. “But again, I know there’s a lot of room for improvement. We’re gonna hit that film hard and make the necessary corrections moving forward.”

The challenge gets no easier this week, with a road game Sunday against Arizona, which at 7-1 has the best record in the league and ranks third in the NFL in rushing defense.

As for Robinson, his first start at left tackle was relatively uneventful, which is always good news for an offensive lineman.

“Greg did a nice job out there,” Fisher said. “We struggled at times with some pass-rush ‘games’ (by the 49ers), but most of those things took place on the other side. Greg, for the most part, was what we expected out of him against that defense.”

Although he didn’t run into the 49ers’ five-time Pro Bowler, Justin Smith, as much as he did when starting at left guard on Oct. 13, Robinson and Smith still ran into each other on several occasions Sunday. Robinson more than held his own.

There were a few hiccups. For example, San Francisco linebacker Dan Skuta got past Robinson with an inside move to hit Davis late in the opening quarter. But there was no sack; the play resulted in an incomplete pass and the Rams settled for a Greg Zuerlein field goal and their first points of the day three plays later.

And early in the second quarter, Robinson was called for holding on a drive that ended one play later on Davis’ second interception. But overall, it was a good day for Robinson.

There was another unexpected bonus from Robinson after that Davis deep ball was picked off by Perrish Cox. Namely, Robinson brought Cox to the ground on the interception return. He did the same after a Ron Parker interception in Kansas City.

“He’s shown that he’s an outstanding open-field tackler, unfortunately, for two weeks in a row,” Fisher said, smiling. “I may put him on the kickoff cover team.”
 

Zaphod

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Yeah, it does make you wonder if they pay attention to who's out there and where the breakdowns actually occur. We were lucky to get so many back on the offensive line.
But Jake Long is our primary left tackle, and even though Greg Robinson did a great job in his first game as a starting left tackle, putting Joseph back on the bench and moving Saffold to the right side may have helped Barksdale a lot.
 

Alan

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flv with a different view:
I think this analysis is much more accurate than Mike Franke's version. The O-Line wasn't great against a weakened defense but it held its own. Robinson was solid with only a few blemishes albeit against sub-NFL quality opponents.
So other than your overall view of our O-line, which of Mike's specific comment's about Robinson's play did you disagree with?
 

DaveFan'51

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I don't want to offend anyone, but anything that keeps Joseph on the Bench, improves our O-Line!
 

BonifayRam

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Yeah, it does make you wonder if they pay attention to who's out there and where the breakdowns actually occur. We were lucky to get so many back on the offensive line.
But Jake Long is our primary left tackle, and even though Greg Robinson did a great job in his first game as a starting left tackle, putting Joseph back on the bench and moving Saffold to the right side may have helped Barksdale a lot.

I would say now, Jake Long is no longer our primary left OT. My guess that Boudreau felt that Saffold playing next to Robinson was a better fix than having Robinson/Person left side starters. A one armed Saffold with an excellent working brain is still better than a fully operational Mike Person in Boudreau's mind. Person is listed as a four yr vet but has only played in 9 NFL games. Person has never started a regular season game even though he held up better @ OG than Joseph in KC. I would hope that Boudreau would develop a ORG from Barrett Jones, Tim Barnes or Mike Person & just trash his ORG Davin Joseph operation now. Lets see what these young OL'ers can do! We all know what Joseph does. It just may help Barksdale out there @ ORT cause he need help.

I agree with the below post ....
I don't want to offend anyone, but anything that keeps Joseph on the Bench, improves our O-Line!

Davin Joseph is a liability on that right side period while Joseph's play was not as bad as it was playing KC it's still a serious weak link. If you want to get really down go re-watch the right side with Barksdale/Joseph......not good. Barksdale really was a liability with 34 defense in his pass protection...I think other NFL teams have now seen enough film on JB to know how to beat him on a regular basis & they are doing it very well. Davis was fleeing for his life from the pass rushers running through Barksdale & Joseph! After the last two games of watching JB play I have fallen hard off his bandwagon face first in the mud.:censored:
 

Zaphod

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I should have stated was our primary RT, and my only point was an illustration of the effect that has had on exposing Barksdale, regardless of what people have though of Long's play this season.

I can only guess that if they felt comfortable with Jones, Barnes or Person, we'd have seen one of them fill in by now. But so far it seems they don't trust either of them for more than backups.

If they spent another first round pick on the o-line next year, I would think that it would be for someone who can start at guard with an eye toward a long term solution at right tackle.
 

BonifayRam

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I should have stated was our primary RT, and my only point was an illustration of the effect that has had on exposing Barksdale, regardless of what people have though of Long's play this season.

I can only guess that if they felt comfortable with Jones, Barnes or Person, we'd have seen one of them fill in by now. But so far it seems they don't trust either of them for more than backups.

If they spent another first round pick on the o-line next year, I would think that it would be for someone who can start at guard with an eye toward a long term solution at right tackle.

Agree! You are right about the exposing of Barksdale on quick smaller pass rushers.I was very positive about Jake Long's play in coming back so fast from that MCL/ACL injuries. A true professional IMO. But Long's career as a starting OLT at age 30 is over. I would have no issues with considerations of a reworked contract to be a swing reserve OT or a starting ORT later in 2015.

Simply put Boudreau loves & prefers broken down veterans of wars that need a red cross units full time 24 hrs a day. We have no ideal if he can develop young latent talent OL'ers. He prefers refurbishing units.

In commenting on your last sentence on next yrs needs....Cedric Ogbuehi OL from Texas A&M would fit your description to the teeth. Ogbuehi was a mainstay at guard his first two season before shifting to right tackle as a junior. He most likely be available when the Ram get to select. if he is gone then Brandon Scherff would be my pick.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1737334/cedric-ogbuehi
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1737625/brandon-scherff
 

Alan

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flv not reading me right:
I don't know what you want me to say abou about Robinson and the rest of the Rams O-Line.

Specifically 1) his technique was ok, and 2) he wasn't beaten as often as Franke makes out.
I'm sorry, I didn't make it clear what I was interested in but I liked your comments on the O-line even though that wasn't what I was looking for. :)

Had I not been so lazy this is what I should have said: My son recorded this game and he'll be coming over to watch it with me either tonight or Saturday. Knowing this and knowing that Mike made specific comments concerning certain plays, I wanted to get your take on a specific play and compare that to my own observations and those of Mike's. That way I would understand where you're coming from in future posts. Among other reasons.

I'm not sure you remembered what he said correctly because as I re-read what I quoted below, he only said that Robinson got beaten twice which doesn't jibe very well with your contention that Mike said he got beaten often. That's why I was asking about specific plays you disagreed with. In fact, he specifically said (the bolded purple part) they did pretty well after a rough start. His comment about our passing game hanging on Robinson's play at LT is something that could be said about every LT in the league.

The only difference I can find in both of your breakdowns of his play is that you think it's a physical problem and Mike thinks it's a technique problem. Obviously I hope you're wrong here because technique problems can be fixed while physical problems...not so much.

Keep in mind that I'm not disagreeing with your analysis or agreeing with Mike's analysis, I'm just trying to reconcile the two of them to better formulate my own view about the situation. With my vision problems I have been forced more and more to rely upon the opinions of others (those that I respect) to form my own. That requires me pick out the things that are consistent with the majority view (using that as the foundation of my own view), delve in deeper in the areas that are divergent and pick the view that makes the most sense to me to come to a final conclusion. Sorry, it's what my vision problems have forced me to do and not how I used to do it.

Here's what Mike said:
"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 down field on 3rd-and-1, Robinson again got beaten badly and Davis never really got to see what had developed.

The Rams ran well when they ran to the edge. Mason got a couple of good gains behind Robinson on the 1st FG drive and another behind Joseph. Barksdale helped open the hole for Mason’s long run of 22 in the 3rd. Middle runs were more of a problem, between run blitzes not getting picked up and Wells losing off the snap a couple of times. He also killed a drive with a holding penalty. Robinson’s shown he can maul; he absolutely flattened a guy on the edge on the Britt TD, so not only was Britt wide open, Davis had a nice, wide throwing lane. The whole Ram passing game, though, is hanging quite a lot on Robinson’s learning curve."
 
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