Who killed my Drive: Jags edition

[TexasRam]

We were all happy to get out of Florida with an ugly road win vs a solid Jags team with a fierce pass defense. But I think all of us felt frustrated that so many drives stalled. We could have literally put them away and blown them out on 10 separate drives that somehow stalled.

Why did the Drives stall? Was it Goff's fault? Mcvay? Or just a great defense that brought our so called powerful offense back to earth.

Thank me later, but I did the leg work to uncover the mystery of the stalled drives in this weeks addition of "Who killed my Drive".


Let's get is started:

The Rams had 10 drives that stalled. I went back and watched all 10 and here is what happened:

1. 3rd and 1 - Gurley stuffed. Predictable play

2. 3rd and 2 - Watkins dropped pass. Tight defense but ball was there for the first down.

3. 3rd and 10 - Goff sacked. Credit Jags Defense and Calais Campbell.

4. 3rd and 6 - Campbell batted pass.

5. 3rd and 1 - Gurley stuffed. Predictable play.

6. 3rd and 4 - Incomplete to Everett. Pass interference not called in my opinion, some could argue Everett should have caught it which is becoming a trend with him, not catching balls in Traffic

7. Woods fumble.

8. 3rd and 11 - Incomplete to Watkins. Bouye has a sneaky pushoff that isn't caught by the ref and positions Watkins under the ball making it appear just a tad overthrown. This is to me, a great individual defensive play that was so quick it couldn't get called, or usually isn't. Great defensive play.

9. 3rd and 20 - Incomplete to Woods. Everett Hold and Tavon 6 yard loss put us in unmanageable. Rams make safe throw. Some knock Goff for the throw or Woods with the catch. I think it was too low and put this one on Goff. But that is a tough 3rd and 20 throw. I'm knocking Everett for the 10 yard Holding penalty that put us in this position.

10.3rd and 3 - Gurley stuffed.

Who Killed my Drive Summary:

3 Stalled drives due to Mcvay running Gurley up the middle. I love Mcvay, really I do. But this is 5 or 6 times in three games. Time to snap out of Fisher ball.

3 Stalled drives due to Jags Defense. One by Bouye and and 2 by Calais Campbell who batted a pass and also got a sack. He is their Aaron Donald. Drive Killer. Hard to beat. Credit defense. No fault.

2 Everett fails. I love Everett and understand he is a rookie, but it's time he show some first year improvement. Holding calls and dropped pass (interfered with but still). He's had other penalties and dropped passes this year that have killed drives. Time to get better.

1 Woods fumble. Ball security Bro.

1 Incomplete low throw to Woods on 3rd and 20. Not holding this against Goff because I am pretty sure the goal was to throw safe and keep it down. I am fine with that. I


So Who Killed your drive?

Mcvay - 3
Jags Defense - 3
Everett - 2
Woods -1
Watkins - 1

Great win, but lot's to work on. All fixable things.

 

[UKram]

3 Stalled drives due to Mcvay running Gurley up the middle. I love Mcvay, really I do. But this is 5 or 6 times in three games. Time to snap out of Fisher ball.

nice post but i gotta disagree here ... this is as much on the players as it the coach ..execution its a real thing sometimes you just have to man up and run the dam ball right down their throats ..i see teams do it week in and week out 3-1 up the gut we have Todd freaking Gurley

id bet my last pound coin that if we had thrown on 3-1 and it fell incomplete or intercepted every one would be screaming to run it

 

[TexasRam]

nice post but i gotta disagree here ... this is as much on the players as it the coach ..execution its a real thing sometimes you just have to man up and run the dam ball right down their throats ..i see teams do it week in and week out 3-1 up the gut we have Todd freaking Gurley

id bet my last pound coin that if we had thrown on 3-1 and it fell incomplete or intercepted every one would be screaming to run it

The same play stalled 6 times in the last 3 weeks.

Predictability kills even the best execution. Mcvay is the king of deception until it’s 3rd and 1. It needs to change at least for a while.

And off the subject but i wanted to mention. Higbee is killing us with his weak blocking. He missed two separate
Blocks on Tavons -6 run. They have to stop using him as a blocking TE. Look at the 3rd and 3 run with Gurley that was stuffed. It was actually a great counter play run design but Higbee is literally on the ground in the fetal position after
The play is blown up.

So execution is important yes. As important as being unpredictable.

 

[UKram]

The same play stalled 6 times in the last 3 weeks.

Predictability kills even the best execution. Mcvay is the king of deception until it’s 3rd and 1. It needs to change at least for a while.

And off the subject but i wanted to mention. Higbee is killing us with his weak blocking. He missed two separate
Blocks on Tavons -6 run. They have to stop using him as a blocking TE. Look at the 3rd and 3 run with Gurley that was stuffed. It was actually a great counter play run design but Higbee is literally on the ground in the fetal position after
The play is blown up.

So execution is important yes. As important as being unpredictable.

man it looks like im doing it on purpose and im honeslty not but i think Higbees run blocking has greatly improved.. he is going to get beat sometimes .. even the best LTs do sometimes

 

[~lyser]

Meh - I think Coach is running a long con on the Seahawks with the quick 3rd and short runs. He will do it all year until our rematch in Seattle and then - boom - fake to Gurly up the gut and over the top to Watkins for six.

 

[-X-]

3 Stalled drives due to Mcvay running Gurley up the middle. I love Mcvay, really I do. But this is 5 or 6 times in three games. Time to snap out of Fisher ball.

Honestly question. Had McVay relied on anyone other than the (currently) 2nd best RB in the league to get *one* yard, and that didn't work out, would he be critiqued for going away from the strength of this team in those situations?

 

[shaunpinney]

lets be honest at 3 and 1 I'd give it a go at running up the gut, I recon I'm small enough to get in those little gaps.

Gurley is on fire this season, why wouldn't you run it up the gut. It's not Fisherball. It gets done throughout the league, especially as the Jags run D is suspect - it was the right decision, it was only last week that people were slagging McVay off from not feeding Gurley the ball against a much better run D. Dude can't win.

 

[Faceplant]

Yeah, hard to fault the coach on any of these. Only thing I would have wanted was more misdirection with Tavon to clear out the LBs, but still....you put those short third downs in the hands of your best offensive player and ride or die with him...I have no problem with that. This defense was nasty and they did exactly what they needed to do to win a game like that. No regerts.

 

[Ram65]

3 Stalled drives due to Mcvay running Gurley up the middle. I love Mcvay, really I do. But this is 5 or 6 times in three games. Time to snap out of Fisher ball.

I'm with you here. One was close enough for a QB sneak . How about some type of play action pass.

2 Everett fails. I love Everett and understand he is a rookie, but it's time he show some first year improvement. Holding calls and dropped pass (interfered with but still). He's had other penalties and dropped passes this year that have killed drives. Time to get better.

IIRC the Rams had 2nd and 4. McVay threw two times on the Everett PI/drop. They should have run on 2nd down. He wouldn't have had a first down on the throw because of tight coverage.. Penalties happen to everyone. OK give him 1.

 

[Corbin]

Honestly question. Had McVay relied on anyone other than the (currently) 2nd best RB in the league to get *one* yard, and that didn't work out, would he be critiqued for going away from the strength of this team in those situations?

I agree bro but the particular 3rd and 1 play calls could of used some changeZ how about a misdirection pitch the other way to Gurley or Tavon, I have to believe either one of them could have gotten a yard beating them to the outside.

 

[DaveFan'51]

Yeah, hard to fault the coach on any of these. Only thing I would have wanted was more misdirection with Tavon to clear out the LBs, but still....you put those short third downs in the hands of your best offensive player and ride or die with him...I have no problem with that. This defense was nasty and they did exactly what they needed to do to win a game like that. No regerts.

" Should have had a Snickers!"

 

[-X-]

I agree bro but the particular 3rd and 1 play calls could of used some changeZ how about a misdirection pitch the other way to Gurley or Tavon, I have to believe either one of them could have gotten a yard beating them to the outside.

Or.

When the offense executes that same exact play in practice against our defense, they get it done in a real game too.

 

[-X-]

lets be honest at 3 and 1 I'd give it a go at running up the gut, I recon I'm small enough to get in those little gaps.

Gurley is on fire this season, why wouldn't you run it up the gut. It's not Fisherball. It gets done throughout the league, especially as the Jags run D is suspect - it was the right decision, it was only last week that people were slagging McVay off from not feeding Gurley the ball against a much better run D. Dude can't win.

Thumbs up for use of the word slagging.

 

[Ellard80]

When we do that hurry up on 3rd and short... hit them with a play fake and someone slipping into the flat... It'd be wide wide open.

 

[Todd59]

I have no problem with runs up the midddle on 3rd and 1. You may see it as a predicable play, but O-linemen get hyped for that type of play. It shows confidence in your front 5 to get you that yard, and when the shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line, a run right over the center's butt should do the trick.

 

[fearsomefour]

Honestly question. Had McVay relied on anyone other than the (currently) 2nd best RB in the league to get *one* yard, and that didn't work out, would he be critiqued for going away from the strength of this team in those situations?

Absolutely.
Fake hand off and a toss to a TE who slipped a block for an easy 5 yards toss and catch.
Ball tipped at the line or ball dropped.....McVay is a dummy. That's how that would go.
1 yard against a soft run D should be doable. There are two basic ways to run that. Run a power set, bring in extra O lineman as TEs, Harkey at FB and run power. Or, spread them out with WRs and run up the middle vs that.
Still comes down to match ups inside. Guy splits a double team or a LB times the gap just right and the play is blown up.

 

[thirteen28]

Predictable or not, I'll cut McVay slack on the 3-1's to Gurley. At that point, you just have one yard to go and everybody just needs to execute.

 

[Rmfnlt]

We were all happy to get out of Florida with an ugly road win vs a solid Jags team with a fierce pass defense. But I think all of us felt frustrated that so many drives stalled. We could have literally put them away and blown them out on 10 separate drives that somehow stalled.

Why did the Drives stall? Was it Goff's fault? Mcvay? Or just a great defense that brought our so called powerful offense back to earth.

Thank me later, but I did the leg work to uncover the mystery of the stalled drives in this weeks addition of "Who killed my Drive".


Let's get is started:

The Rams had 10 drives that stalled. I went back and watched all 10 and here is what happened:

1. 3rd and 1 - Gurley stuffed. Predictable play

2. 3rd and 2 - Watkins dropped pass. Tight defense but ball was there for the first down.

3. 3rd and 10 - Goff sacked. Credit Jags Defense and Calais Campbell.

4. 3rd and 6 - Campbell batted pass.

5. 3rd and 1 - Gurley stuffed. Predictable play.

6. 3rd and 4 - Incomplete to Everett. Pass interference not called in my opinion, some could argue Everett should have caught it which is becoming a trend with him, not catching balls in Traffic

7. Woods fumble.

8. 3rd and 11 - Incomplete to Watkins. Bouye has a sneaky pushoff that isn't caught by the ref and positions Watkins under the ball making it appear just a tad overthrown. This is to me, a great individual defensive play that was so quick it couldn't get called, or usually isn't. Great defensive play.

9. 3rd and 20 - Incomplete to Woods. Everett Hold and Tavon 6 yard loss put us in unmanageable. Rams make safe throw. Some knock Goff for the throw or Woods with the catch. I think it was too low and put this one on Goff. But that is a tough 3rd and 20 throw. I'm knocking Everett for the 10 yard Holding penalty that put us in this position.

10.3rd and 3 - Gurley stuffed.

Who Killed my Drive Summary:

3 Stalled drives due to Mcvay running Gurley up the middle. I love Mcvay, really I do. But this is 5 or 6 times in three games. Time to snap out of Fisher ball.

3 Stalled drives due to Jags Defense. One by Bouye and and 2 by Calais Campbell who batted a pass and also got a sack. He is their Aaron Donald. Drive Killer. Hard to beat. Credit defense. No fault.

2 Everett fails. I love Everett and understand he is a rookie, but it's time he show some first year improvement. Holding calls and dropped pass (interfered with but still). He's had other penalties and dropped passes this year that have killed drives. Time to get better.

1 Woods fumble. Ball security Bro.

1 Incomplete low throw to Woods on 3rd and 20. Not holding this against Goff because I am pretty sure the goal was to throw safe and keep it down. I am fine with that. I


So Who Killed your drive?

Mcvay - 3
Jags Defense - 3
Everett - 2
Woods -1
Watkins - 1

Great win, but lot's to work on. All fixable things.

First off, thanks for the work put into this... great job!!

My thoughts on the subsequent discussion:

The same play stalled 6 times in the last 3 weeks.

Predictability kills even the best execution.

So execution is important yes. As important as being unpredictable.

I agree.. especially when you have enough evidence that shows that play isn't working very effectively.

However, there is this:

but O-linemen get hyped for that type of play. It shows confidence in your front 5 to get you that yard

And it's a great point... but, at what point do you acknowledge that slamming up the middle isn't the best option? I don't know the answer... but 6 stalls in 3 weeks is not very good.. maybe try other options, like...

1]

One was close enough for a QB sneak . How about some type of play action pass.

2]

I agree bro but the particular 3rd and 1 play calls could of used some changeZ how about a misdirection pitch the other way to Gurley or Tavon, I have to believe either one of them could have gotten a yard beating them to the outside.

3]

When we do that hurry up on 3rd and short... hit them with a play fake and someone slipping into the flat... It'd be wide wide open.

At least try something different once or twice... keep 'em honest.

 

[dolphinlover123]

thought a lot about this during the game. we have to be able to conert 3rd 1. I still think we need to run it.

Kind of feel like this is on the oline? they just need to fall forward. If im mcvay, im looking at the eagles film. Doug peterson goes for it on 4th and short many times and converts. take a few of those plays.

 

[RamFan503]

I only was paying attention during the first 3rd and 1 to Gurley. I gotta say that it sure looked like Gurley decided before he even got the ball that he was going inside. It sure looked like he could have bounced that one step to the right and had a lot of day light. We HAVE to be able to make a yard on 3rd and one. I put that on execution almost every time predictable or not.