The Film Don't Lie: What the Rams Must Fix/Wagoner

[RamBill]

The Film Don't Lie: Rams
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/12002/the-film-dont-lie-rams

ST. LOUIS -- A weekly look at what the St. Louis Rams must fix:

Chip Kelly’s Philadelphia Eagles are masters of misdirection but a closer inspection of the numbers would indicate a preference to go right down the middle when it comes to the passing game. That preference and the Rams’ struggles defending the middle could prove a lethal combination when the teams meet on Oct. 5, after the bye week.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Rams have been one of the worst teams in the league defending passes between the hashmarks, allowing opponents to complete 76 percent of their passes over the middle the first two weeks.

There was no improvement in that regard against Dallas in Week 3 as quarterback Tony Romo was 14-of-16 for 193 yards and two touchdowns on such attempts.

Eagles quarterback Nick Foles has had plenty of success down the middle, going 28-of-43 for 465 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions in the first three games. Running back Darren Sproles and tight end Zach Ertz are two of Foles’ primary weapons. Sproles has eight catches for 161 yards and Ertz has five catches for 112 yards and a touchdown on passes between the hashes.

The Rams don’t have many options to change personnel so to correct the problem they’ll have to rely on what they have. One solution might be to use safety T.J. McDonald in coverage a bit more. While they need him to help against the run, he’s only playing in coverage about a third of the time, leaving free safety Rodney McLeod and the team’s linebackers vulnerable in coverage.

 

[Hey Man]

Good report, hope Williams can get that side of the ball turned around. I really and most everyone else thought this defence was going to be top 5 to 10 in the league. We have the youngest team in the league agian and I guess it shows. I hate to keep saying, cant wait till next year but this team showed some promise the past 2 weeks. The offence was rolling last week against Dallas and the week before against TBay. Not the best defences but at least it is a start for Davis to show he has game ! Scoring TD"S We had that game in the bag. I guess Dallas saw that stat to and turned it in to a positive for them.

 

[tahoe]

I really hope they use this bye week to really study what this defense has been doing wrong and fix it. Something isnt right, it should be better than the first three weeks.

 

[Philly5]

We seem to ask too much of JL when it comes to covering the mid to deep middle. Our biggest problem will be covering McCoy and Sproles.

 

[jrry32]

A possible fix? A healthy Trumaine Johnson which slides EJ Gaines into the slot and LaMarcus Joyner to FS. Teams will be a lot less willing to test the middle imo once Joyner starts popping people.

 

[Robocop]

if the tape dont lie Wagoner then watch the game again and call out the NFL on their corrupt officiating bullshit! its easy to throw the ball when there's no pressure. Fisher said about a DOZEN missed holding calls against Dallas including the Bryant touchdown. and Fisher is obviously not a dramatic person. Wagoner is just another puppet told to keep his head down and just report the numbers. somebody just do something please.

 

[ChrisW]

A possible fix? A healthy Trumaine Johnson which slides EJ Gaines into the slot and LaMarcus Joyner to FS. Teams will be a lot less willing to test the middle imo once Joyner starts popping people.

Had Fisher ever had Joyner at Safety? I thought he said Joyner was the nickel from the beginning of the season. I do agree though, most big passing plays the past year or 2 have been on Rodney.

 

[Fatbot]

Teams will be a lot less willing to test the middle imo once Joyner starts popping people.

I don't think you can hit your way to being a successful safety any more under today's NFL rules (more chance popping someone will be a penalty than a big play), he will have to be superior in pass coverage ability.

 

[jrry32]

I don't think you can hit your way to being a successful safety any more under today's NFL rules (more chance popping someone will be a penalty than a big play), he will have to be superior in pass coverage ability.

I think you can. Just gotta be smart about it. Even then, Joyner has good instincts and cover skills at safety...especially in zone coverage.

 

[Mackeyser]

Yeah, film don't lie. Tru coming back should put McGee on the bench... about time. Not sure that guy could cover crap if he were stink...

 

[V3]

A possible fix? A healthy Trumaine Johnson which slides EJ Gaines into the slot and LaMarcus Joyner to FS. Teams will be a lot less willing to test the middle imo once Joyner starts popping people.

Agree 100% but would add that we need the LB corp to somehow improve on their coverage as well.

 

[Mojo Ram]

@jrry32 made a good point about getting Tru back...but really in all honesty i don't care about anything getting fixed on the defense more than the run D. Fix that and the rest will fall into place. IMO.

 

[jrry32]

@jrry32 made a good point about getting Tru back...but really in all honesty i don't care about anything getting fixed on the defense more than the run D. Fix that and the rest will fall into place. IMO.

That's the issue, the run D actually seemed to be playing well during the second half vs. Dallas(Murray had that one 44 yard run and then a whole lot of nothing) but we still completely sucked at stopping the pass. Mainly because we got no pressure on Romo(due to Dallas's questionable at best tactics on the OL).

 

[Win1-4Ned]

I know this is an article on the defense, but Schotty has to stick with the run. For all the praise Austin Davis is receiving, he's still young and his best friend is the running game. Shorten the game, mess with the rhythm of Philly's hurry-up offense and give Cary Williams something to really complain about. I still think that was something that we got away from against the Cowboys and contributed to the second half avalanche.