A few general thoughts after the Bengals game...

[Ellard80]

Stated as fact, just like 2016, when nobody could figure it out.

not buying

Not really the same... in 2016 he was still getting a lot of touches.

I'd love to eat crow on this - but people are in denial on Gurley.

I heard some dude on the radio - who does spreads for Vegas. Like impressive information abou all the games. He said that Henderson will be he featured back next year.

I'm not saying I think that or not, but just a perspective.

Gurley has decent numbers... still 7 touchdowns. He just doesn't get that many touches because they are worried about what he can handle.

 

[Jacobarch]

Call me a bit of a conspiracy theorist but I think Gurely is a going to get a lot more carries after the bye week. Hear me out, Gurely thru the first three games (even tho we were winning) seemed to be in low spirits and not himself. This last game he split carries with Henderson and he seemed to be stoked for the next game. I haven't seen him like that since last year.
I think McVays plan was to get Todd about half his carries up to this point which he is on tract for. Maybe letting him get more carries starting after the midway point was a plan all along? I dunno.

Either way, I see a lot of you talking down about Gurely. He had himself a nice game averaging over 4.4+ YPC while Hendo was at 4.9. That's not bad by any means. Do i think Gurelys knee is an issue but other players have had the same injury and had nice long successful careers so lets not read to much into this.
Also I'll pop in and say McVay has been much better about having a balanced attack vs his opponents. we were 26/31 in favor of pass attempts against the cats, it's almost at the 50/50 ratio a balanced offense should have. And in the Atlanta game it was 38pass to 36rushing attempts. So McVay is trying to run the ball. Maybe not when you arm chair coaches want him to but he's pretty much playing 50/50 ball.

I'll go on to say that I agree that Havenstien has had a difficult time this year. More so than previous years however, you have to look where the league is going on Defense and look at who's he's faced this year so far. The NFL is a copy cat league and you're seeing a lot more speed rushers on the left side which in years past it was usually a run stuffing high effort guy. And the speed rusher was always on the right side of the Dline. Well not anymore. Here's a couple of names that we have either played or going to play on the Left side of the Dline.

TJ Watt
Clowney
Cam Jordan
Barrett
Vernon/Garrett (both flip flop)

This is just to name a few, things have changed in the NFL since Hav has come into the league. No longer is the better pass rusher on the right side anymore. Defenses have figured out RT's and it's not just Havenstien that's having an issue with it. All offensive line play is down this year, take a look for yourselves.

 

[BonifayRam]

With two weeks off and at the half way point in the season and the OL still horrible at run blocking, will they try some other combinations on the OL? I'd like to see Blythe benched and someone else tried at RG. Evans, Brewer, Corbett, Shelton? Bench Havenstien for Evans at RT? Might that give Hav a wake up call?This OL has not controlled the LOS even one game, even against the Bengals, worst DL in the NFL.

When you observe Rams OL walk to the LOS 1st OL'er you see in action with line calls is Blythe & the last OL'er you see moving, pointing & signalling to Allen that the OL is set & ready to go before the snap is Blythe.

OC Allen does his fair share of arm waving & pointing but not close to the amount of calling out as Blythe. It would seem (though I am not sure) Kromer's RG & Center are involved in OL calls but Blythe is the main OL involved. This may be reason Blythe remains starter while being in {Fail Mode} making most his blocks.

Hoping by the time practice starts for preparation to play the Steelers our starting OC is ready to be the main OL'er to make the OL calls. If Kromer truly believes in Allen he can prepare to move on the change of guard @ the starting RG post.

Here's what is trending in our OL with our non-starters:

OC Coleman Shelton is . CS has been active for the last two gms. Whereas Shelton was only active 1 time in the first 6 gms. CS being a center who has a playing history of making OL calls in college. 3 yr starter in college with starting experience at tackle, guard and center. So he is versatile. 10 starts @ OG. CS has zero snaps in the NFL.

OG Jamil Demby is. After finishing 1 gm & starting another earlier in this season with not positive overall results, JD has been inactive since. I would not be surprised to see Demby cut & swing OT/OG rookie Chandler Brewer signed to the 53MR in his place now that Austin Corbett was traded for & was not active yet.

OT Bobby Evans is . Evans has been active the last 2 gms after being inactive for the first 6. Once David Edwards was inserted into the starting LG post, Evans was promoted into Edwards position @ the Swing OT spot. BE might be in consideration for the RG post but its highly unlikely due to his present important role as swing OT & practicing in place of Andrew Whitworth.

OG Austin Corbett has to be trending after being buried in Cleveland. Corbett has the most NFL experienced of all his reserve OL'ers. It's not saying much. AC has 1 start & has played in 15 NFL games for Cleveland. OC Kromer wanted Corbett for a specific reason & I am sure that he is think OG not OC. I believe AC will be the starting LG in 2020 this is his best playing post. Until then AC should be a leading prospect to start @ RG for the rest of the season.

I still feel that the best future starting Ram RG is on the practice squad ...the 6-6 320 plus pound Chandler Brewer. Its either Corbett or Brewer!

 

[RamWoodie]

I'm still thinking the Gurley issue is how he's being used more than hiw he's playing. Time is gonna tell...but I can see whe he interviews, that he's doing "team speak"... IOW he's saying things to keep it "in house" than creating a "media distraction" that hurts the team.

You can't tell me Gurley wants to be on the sideline when his counterpart on the other side is racking up yards.

Just saying what I think. We'll see...

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I'll be Mr Brightside about this year's Rams for a change. If this season is shot and the team doesn't make the playoffs, then we can find some positives for the future.

1. The staff won't ride into next season on a wing and a prayer with two unproven rookies on Offensive line. If they are who they thought they were, then they will see the glaring weakness and plan to fix it.......hopefully better than last year's plan.

2. Goff being forced to face adversity will only help him grow. It almost seemed like he had it too good last year and when things got tough in a few games and the offense wasn't flowing flawlessly, he didn't handle it well. This year he has faced that adversity in every game so far. With a woeful running g game he has had to carry the offense most of the time and seems to be getting better at it.

3. McVay has been forced to make adjustments this year because many teams used the Defensive alignment that the Bears used against the Rams. Last year he pushed back stubbornly with little success. This year he had to face the music and come up with alternatives. ( I still don't know why it took so long).

4. If this year is a bit of a Superbowl hangover......it shouldn't be next year.

5. The Rams could still make they playoffs. The three game skid was a shocker, but one of those games was a winnable contest in a very hostile environment in Seattle. The Niners Defense is dominant and the Rams Defense was on the field too long and I still can't explain that Tampa Bay game. But as with Goff the adversity should be a wake up call to the rest of the team.




Okay, that's all. Back to bitching for the rest of the season.