Well, I think we’re just 3 items short of being an elite team, y’all...

[Ramrasta]

I think the redzone struggles are easy to figure out. A huge part of it is our zone blocking scheme becomes less effective in short yardage because the defenders are assigned to every gap. That translates to Gurley having to either bounce outside by beating contain or power himself through 2 or 3 tackles. We mostly have one dimensional TEs as well so bunched formations at the line require us to either tip our hand to the defense or have less effective matchups.

For the passing element, Watkins is no longer a threat to stretch the field in the redzone so the safeties are freed up to help elsewhere. Watkins should be our best mismatch target but he takes so long to turn his head around that Goff has to make the passes under pressure. Kupp has been the most reliable redzone threat because he is great at short routes and is always anticipating the ball.

 

[Ram65]

Not counting the usual disclaimer about avoiding too many injuries, of course.

Please bear with me for a moment as I do a quickie review from 30,000 feet...

First, Wade’s D. Somehow, some way, Wade has molded this unit that has only one All Pro on it into a kick butt scoring D. Moving Brockers, moving Joyner, starting JJ are looking like brilliant decisions. Some of us were worried about Tree and Barron, but not anymore. Even Barwin has stepped up lately and Quinn showed some signs of life vs the Cards. It’s been a wade synergy thing.

Here’s the bottom line. Last 14 consecutive quarters they’ve yielded 39 points. And that includes 7 points from that gifted run to Fournette on the blown gap assignment on the Jag first play. This outstanding little D scoring run averages out to around 11 points per game. THAT will get the danged job done, huh? I don’t expect that 11 ppg average to continue, but then again, I do expect these players to continue to improve as a unit as they further gel together. Love me some Wade! Take a bow, sir.


Second, Fassel’s ST. Wouldn’t trade these guys for anyone else in the league. Hekker is simply the best, a definite All Pro. GZ is leading the danged league in scoring! Missed only one attempt through 7 games. Pharoh has been outstanding on KOR and has been an upgrade since taking over PR duties. Our coverage and return units have been outstanding. Take a bow, coach Fassel!


Thirdly, McVay’s O. What an improvement! Worst to first in scoring. Hardly recognize the “new” Goff and Gurley. Kromer’s job with this OL can’t be overstated, another worst to top 5 effort. Kupp and Woods have been beyond impressive and have mastered the O since camp, at least. McVay’s play calling and creation of mismatches has been superb. We rarely get outcoached, anymore. The entire O coaching staff deserves to take a bow, too.


Helluva job by all of the above, so far.

So, what are my 3 items needed to get us to elite status? (No, I didn’t stutter. I did say elite).

1) Get Watkins fully incorporated into this O. He’s just not there, yet. He needs to fully grasp this O, the audible options, and his sight adjustments such that he and Goff are on the same damned page at all times. Goes without saying that he needs to demonstrate 100% effort with good body language. Watkins is potentially an O beast for us. He can threaten the D short, medium, and deep on every single snap and force the D to gameplan just for him, loosening things up even more for our other weapons. Somehow, our staff needs to reach Watkins and see that he “gets it”, and the sooner the better. Watkins is a scoring machine waiting to happen.

2) Next is Higbee/Everett. McVay is known as a TE whisperer, but so far all we’ve seen from these 2 are occasional flashes. I think both are capable of much more. I can’t wait to see our 2 TE’s become the terrors that some other teams enjoy. I think this will come, but if it comes soon, look out! Opposing DC’s won’t know whether to crap or wind their watch! Lol.

3) Last, but not least is improving our red zone scoring. It’s baffling that with this OL, this QB, these TE’s and WR’s, not to mention Gurley, that this team should struggle down there. This is the item of my 3 that I think may be most difficult to achieve. McVay reportedly struggled with this in Washington, too. But if he can get a handle on this shortcoming, Katie bar the door!

The good news is that I think it’s looking like a short 3 step hop, skip, and a jump from very good to elite status for us. NOBODY could have foreseen this back in July. More good news is that I suspect all 3 of these items can and will be addressed before the playoffs begin. See what I did there? Lol.

Thoughts or comments welcome, y’all.

Overall it's a very good enjoyable post.

1. Defense has improved greatly. The run defense has stepped up and is setting the tone. The pass defense still needs improvement. I see Webster giving way too much cushion. He makes plays in the run game and support but, his coverage needs to be much tighter. When given some time opposing QBs have had success. Against teams that don't drop the ball and make mistakes it could be a problem. Would be good if Quinn can pick it up. If not the others have to do it.

2. The offense has been so much improved. It still has it's problems which you addressed. I agree that Watkins and Goff need to get on the same page. A little TE improvement would be great. We have seen some glimpses. The Goff run option TD could help the red zone scoring, That's the second time he has run IIRC. Need to improve the third and short conversions as well. A steady improvement would be great.

3. Nearly perfect special teams.

If all three phases of the game are running near optimum the Rams can play with anyone.