Tell me something about yesterday's game...

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Ants

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I didn't see the game - I was at work.
But I was following the animated play by play on NFL.com, along with comments made here.

I get the impression that in the first half, the Rams weren't really going "no huddle" much, if at all.
Then in the 2nd half, we started rolling with some no-huddle sequences.
True?
 

dieterbrock

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My .02...
No team, no matter how well coached, escapes a "let down" or "trap" game.
That was the Rams IMO in the first half while Houston had a huge chip on their shoulder and came to play.
What well coached teams do however is right the ship, and turn things around.
And thats exactly what the Rams did and do...
Got their bearings and blew the doors off Houston
 

Ants

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C'mon man...I'm at work right now! I can't be watching all that! lol :redcard:
 

Ants

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The reason I ask is because, if true...I think that McVay might have been sort of "toying" with Houston. I also think he was testing his offense.
I'm just spit balling, but it did come to mind:
If McVay didn't go no-huddle in the first half, I thought that perhaps it was to allow the Houston D get set, so that he could see how his guys responded, adjusted, matched up, fought, etc.
Or not...just a thought. :thinking:
 

PA Ram

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I believe McVay said that Clowney was messing a lot of things up in the first half. So what did he do? He adjusted. He went away from Clowney. They hit on that huge pass play between Goff and Woods and everything opened up. On that play--Gurley blocked a blitzer and Havenstein sort of spun around and gave Goff just enough time to launch the bomb. The game was changed after that.

But what I really love is how the defense hung tough, even though the offense resembled the old Jeff Fisher offense in the first half. And they got to see the offense come to life. Last year they would have asked: what was all that effort for? The Rams lose by a field goal at the end. This year they know what it is for. This offense can explode at any time.

Different year. Different team.

It's fun being a Rams fan this year.
 

Kevin

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The offense did pick up the pace in the second half, moving more quickly from play to play. I think that improves execution when they go no-huddle or just maintain a quick pace between plays. Play action is so important to opening up space between the linebackers and the back four.

IMO the defense changed the momentum of this game. The big hit on Will Fuller took him out of the game. The turnover in our red zone that prevented Houston from retaking the lead was huge. The pressure on Savage throughout the second half took away his confidence and stalled their offense, except for Deandre Hopkins. That man can catch anything within arms reach.
 

Merlin

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Clowney and the Texans' front was winning a lot on the LOS early on. Our defense also was allowing drives (giving up runs and passes) and possession time as well. I wasn't too concerned, but the Texans definitely were ballin.

Second half the Rams' adjustments on the OL allowed for the long TD that forced the Texans to adjust their coverages. Then the Rams' defense flipped the field a few times and it was game over.

When the defense plays well this team is insanely hard to beat. Because at some point the offense is going to explode and more possessions just speed all that up.
 

LACHAMP46

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I believe McVay said that Clowney was messing a lot of things up in the first half.

Clowney and the Texans' front was winning a lot on the LOS early on.
I've only watched a lil of the first half...and this is what I saw as well.

And for some reason, we started Westbrooks at NG....as soon as Walker entered the game, our run D stiffened.
 

JonRam99

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Terrific, competitive game.
Ya the Texans' D is legit, Clowney causing all kinds of problems in the backfield the first half. Dude is a beast. But no INT's.
Lots of yellow laundry in this game, can't tell if it's the refs or what.
The field looked rough, did anyone see players slip-sliding around? I didn't notice except maybe a bit, when a player looked to cut often he just fell down. Saw Woods do this once over the middle.
First WR screen was a bust, but then 2 for TD's (Watkins & Woods) that worked out pretty well. Kudos to McVay for crafting WR screens that actually work. Watkins & Kupp & Woods all had great YAC plays. Austin, not so much, had 1 nice run but otherwise caughed up at least 2 TFL's. Do we have a tell when we're going to Austin? TX always seemed to spy him out. The bomb to Woods was magnificent, Kupp drawing the double-team on the crossing pattern was indefensible. Goff just needed a bit of protection & Woods was gone.
Our D is legit too. Ya we gave up some passes but nothing compared to previous D's where we always somehow turned back-up QB's & RB's into pro-bowlers. Ya we gave up some runs, but stuffed quite a few as well. Hopkins was causing problems, as was Fuller (tho the hit on him I saw some helm-to-helm, 22 was not leading w/ the helm but their heads bumped a bit. Mainly hit him in the chest, probably knocked the wind out of him). This does NOT bode well when we face DIGGS. Who's going to cover DIGGS? If the MN game is close late, I do NOT like our chances, tho the game in "big D" is telling of our team's character & will to compete to the last whistle.
Thankfully, we have a beastly front that should rattle Keenum pretty well -- hoping we get to see another un-intentional spike :D AD99 was beasting, saw at least one TFL and lots of QB pressure & hits. In the 2nd half, the D looked much more aggressive, & tended to bunch up in the middle swatting down several passes. This D looks to be much faster on a faster field in MN. The DB's aren't doing too shabby either, nice INT's by Barron and Countess to seal the win. Not sure what happened on the AO INT pick-6 that got called back, did we get a PI flag?? AO was no where near the WR, the flag seemed downfield. I've seen a few too many illegal blocking flags by our DB's / LB's where we are basically blocking / tackling a WR or a TE before the ball arrives. We need to get that cleaned up.
Gurley had some nice runs, and his screen pass was great, caught TX flat-footed. Otherwise, Gurley saw some tough sledding. TX either gave up on tackling Dunbar or Dunbar is just that shifty, I dunno. He saw some good lanes, and ran some nice coffin-nailing runs up the middle. He went down on his last run after he got the 1st down, smart kid.
OL had problems with Clowney et al, several plays where Jared had to throw it away & once had an intentional grounding. He got some check-downs off at the last possible second, not bad, but usually didn't get very far. I was half-expecting Saffold to get flagged on Gurley's long screen play, he seemed to block in the back but on second look, it was clean enough. Kudos to our OL today, decent job vs. a stout TX front.
 

JIMERAMS

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if you watch the film watch the adjustment Hav made with the punch to Clowneys shoulder every play. once he started that clowney wanted no part of him.
 

TexasRam

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On our first 3 possessions Clowney had a tackle in the backfield or sack that put us in 3rd and 10 or 3rd and 15. There was also a tipped pass and some
Conservative playcalling.

On two of the third downs Mcvay got too cute or conservative and called a quick out which went no where. On the other third down Goff couldn’t find anyone so threw a pass too Gurley on the run but it was a little off the mark and Gurley couldn’t catch it. He would of been short of the marker anyways, so the Rams settles for 3.

4th possession you have Sammy Watkins stopping in the middle of a route due to an ankle or something and everyone standing around watching the pass sail right past him. Then Higbee drops a ball that was defended well and thrown a little off. Then a Gurley dump off on 3rd and 15 to force 4th down.

Then a failed fake punt.

Then Rams D holds as Barron intercepts savage at our 10 yard line.

The fifth possession Goff gets in a real good rhythm completing passes over the middle to Kupp Higbee and others to move within FG range at the end of the half. A tipped pass and some tight coverage made us settle for a Fg with the clock winding.

So the main culprits for coming out flat:

Clowney putting us in 3rd and long with sacks and tackles behind the line

Mcvay going conservative on 3rd and long with safe Quick outs that went no where.

Some tipped passes.

A few Goff passes a tad off that we’re dropped.


The 2nd half adjustments followed suit:
Block Clowney or run away from his side. Stop blocking him with Higbee and Kupp.

Stay out of third and long.

Stop calling such conservative 3rd down passes.
 

gabriel18

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I'm just glad Barron picked off the pass after the fake punt (terrible decision) . I'm not sure how the game would have played out if not .
 

Rambo

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The reason I ask is because, if true...I think that McVay might have been sort of "toying" with Houston. I also think he was testing his offense.
I'm just spit balling, but it did come to mind:
If McVay didn't go no-huddle in the first half, I thought that perhaps it was to allow the Houston D get set, so that he could see how his guys responded, adjusted, matched up, fought, etc.
Or not...just a thought. :thinking:
Thats what the fake punt seemed like. It seems like doing something that didn't really make sense and could be a disaster, but still doing it because they knew they could win anyhow.
 

Riverumbbq

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Thats what the fake punt seemed like. It seems like doing something that didn't really make sense and could be a disaster, but still doing it because they knew they could win anyhow.

I think it was more about having confidence & trying to change momentum at that particular point in the game. jmo.