A few thoughts after the Cards game…

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Rams43

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I’m not generally a fan of the ‘soft zone’ D that Morris seems to love.

However…

I think perhaps it was the best strategy when forced to play so many kids in that secondary.

As always, we should judge by results and the results were pretty darned good. Kept Cards out of end zone for 60 minutes, only allowed 12 points, contained Cards running game nicely, held Murray to 2 scrambles for 8 yards, made Cards go for it on 4th down 4-5 times, and forced Murray to throw 58 times. I’ll take that all day long. So, kudos to Morris under very difficult conditions.

About Ramsey. Yeah, he personally played a helluva game, but I’m also impressed with his leadership with so many of our young secondary players. Coaches are great, of course, but Ramsey is really putting his heart into bringing this young secondary along. We were facing Cards with a rookie 6th rounder in Kendrick and Grant Haley by game 3. Color me very impressed.

Nice to see that breakout 2nd half by Akers. Perhaps he had a confidence breakthrough? The fumble was a definite bummer, though.

Boom, even though playing hurt had a quiet and effective game. That’s huge.

Don’t look now but Rams OL might be gelling together. We saw some holes and creases yesterday for a change.

I must confess that I’m both surprised and disappointed with AR’s assimilation into this O. Thought it would be quick, seamless, and dramatic. That perfect TD throw went right through AR’s HANDS, dammit! Thought AR would be a magnificent complement to Kupp for Stafford but here we are after 3 games and AR is actually seemingly struggling. Blows my mind. I think it’ll come together because of AR’s talent and desire but sooner would be better than later.

If you had told me prior to kickoff that we would see the following parlay I would have thought you were crazy. Both Kupp and AR dropping TD passes and Akers fumbling on the one foot line? C’mon… This game coulda been a damned blowout under ‘normal’ circumstances.

So Stafford CAN avoid stupid turnover passes after all. I was happy to see that.

Nice to see Lewis with some pressure, huh? More, please.

Rams have the makings of a very good secondary already on this roster. Need the players to get healthy and a bit more experience but the potential is undeniable. Durant and Kendrick, for example, have already had their trial by fire and only 3 games have been played. Nobody gets his bang for the buck with late rounders for secondary like Snead. Don’t know who his scouts are for secondary but they’re worth their weight in gold.

Great to see the resurgence on ST in coverage and returns. Powell was the beneficiary but he couldn’t have done much without the other 10 guys.

Speaking of Powell, he was a pleasant surprise as a WR, too. Guess it wasn’t just coachspeak on McVay’s part?

Don’t know what to say about Atwell that already hasn’t been said. Sigh…

Good to get this win. September wins count as much as those of December. Rest of our division is looking up to us and we can keep it that way if we can get healthy and gel on OL and Stafford/AR can get on same page soon. Not to mention VJ’s healthy return.

I’m speculating here, but maybe Snead is considering an addition at edge now? Our pressure still isn’t where we need it to be. And perhaps OBJ is actually becoming more and more likely? AR and Stafford aren’t quite clicking and VJ’s absence is due to something more serious than previously thought?

49ers are gonna be a big test. For both Rams O and their D. Jimmy G loves to feast on our middle with his quick short passes which eats Morris’ soft zone alive. And Rams need to manufacture some pressure somehow even if Jimmy G is throwing it in 2.5 seconds or less. I’m hopeful that Rams can now pretty much contain that 49er running game but am concerned about their passing game with such an inexperienced and unhealthy secondary for the Rams. Morris may have a scheme or 2 up his sleeve for this game. He’s had 7 months to prepare for it, after all.

Looks like Rams are in for another interesting season with their fair share of bumps along the way. Bring it on!
 

Jacobarch

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You really brought up a good point about the 9ers feasting on the middle of our secondary. I think if the Rams want to give the 9er's a run for their money they're going to have to take that away from Jimmy G. That's where he thrives and that's where we have struggled. I sure hope we see a different approach to this game or we're going to be playing right into the 9ers hands.

IMO I hate Morris's defense, I'm still under the impression that he's not a very good defensive coordinator, Look at it this way... He's got two bonified HOF'ers on the team with AD and Ramsey who are in their prime. He's got 3 other Probowlers in Gains, Wagner, and Floyd and lets just say Hill and Robinson should be on the probowl conversation as well. We also have players like Jones who's a stud, and while he might not be a pro bowler he's damn close and plays well above average. Sure players like Rapp and Scott are average players and Long Jr is a liability but what team doesn't have those players?
My long winded point is with all this talent the Rams should be able to get off the field on 4th down against a team like the cards. Say what you will about them but they've been good for 2 out of 12 quarters this year and those two quarters were against the Raiders...a winless team.

Question is, is this defense Morris's design or something McVay wants to run?
 

bubbaramfan

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Morris' laying off DB's for 10 yd just seems like a chicken shit way to play defense. The Whiners are going to eat that up. How about playing close to the line and jamming up the WR's instead of letting them get Grabapole dinks and dunks? 35 minutes and 81 plays for Cards O? Gonna wear out Rams D before the bye.

Makes me sick to my stomach watching Morris' chicken shit D.
 

Zodi

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I think perhaps it was the best strategy when forced to play so many kids in that secondary.

This isn't the only game he's done that though. He did it most of last year and all of this season. It totally negates our pass rush.

If you're going to drop back, at least press up prior to the snap so you at least make the QB hesitate a little. Kyler was getting the ball out in around 2 seconds yesterday because he had easy reads. Good offenses are going to tear that defense up. Jimmy G is going to love it.

I believe it was a 4th down play where our guys pressed presnap, backed off, made Murray hold the ball a little and it ended up being an incompletion because pressure got to him. We need more of that, especially against a banged up 49ers offensive line.
 
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Riverumbbq

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You really brought up a good point about the 9ers feasting on the middle of our secondary. I think if the Rams want to give the 9er's a run for their money they're going to have to take that away from Jimmy G. That's where he thrives and that's where we have struggled. I sure hope we see a different approach to this game or we're going to be playing right into the 9ers hands.

IMO I hate Morris's defense, I'm still under the impression that he's not a very good defensive coordinator, Look at it this way... He's got two bonified HOF'ers on the team with AD and Ramsey who are in their prime. He's got 3 other Probowlers in Gains, Wagner, and Floyd and lets just say Hill and Robinson should be on the probowl conversation as well. We also have players like Jones who's a stud, and while he might not be a pro bowler he's damn close and plays well above average. Sure players like Rapp and Scott are average players and Long Jr is a liability but what team doesn't have those players?
My long winded point is with all this talent the Rams should be able to get off the field on 4th down against a team like the cards. Say what you will about them but they've been good for 2 out of 12 quarters this year and those two quarters were against the Raiders...a winless team.

Question is, is this defense Morris's design or something McVay wants to run?

Will someone please check Floyd for a pulse, he seems to have disappeared somewhat.
 

oldnotdead

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Morris plays "his boys" regardless of talent. Kendricks is strictly a zone CB as he lacks the long speed to play anything else much like Hill. He requires safety help over the top. OCs will isolate him by drawing the safeties away then take Kendricks deep. It's why he was dropped in the draft. We saw how badly he got outrun. He's best when he plays downhill which is why he's lined up 10 yds off.

If Morris continues to play this soft zone the Niners with their short passing game and strong run attack will control the game. It's clear Morris learned nothing from last year. For him good enough is good enough which is a shitty philosophy for a DC. How many losses will he be okay with? Again I have no doubt it's why he got passed over last year for a HC position. He's overrated IMO.

The Rams have no money for a FA edge worth anything. They barely played McKinley with only 6 snaps behind Floyd. They should have Hardy back after the bye in week 7. They need to see what they have or don't in these two. Morris isn't sending pressure he's content to let teams dink and dunk eat up clock and score FGs. He thinks limiting teams to FGs is a win which IMO is bullshit. He will cost at least 2-3 more games if he keeps this up. He's not locking down the short passes so the pass rush can't get there. His defensive scheme is shit and is used by a coach playing scared. Morris needs to grow some balls.

The offense is better because McVay is back to calling plays. Coen is just an offensive observer passing down what he sees and looking for defensive tendencies.

The playaction is working again because of the FB look with Benny Sko. It's what I've been saying, playing a FB doesn't limit the passing game it enhances it. It also makes a big difference in the run game when they are running between the tackles.

I'm not worried about Robinson. It takes time to adjust to McVay's scheme. He's thinking too much at this point. If he makes that TD catch and Akers doesn't fumble they blow the Cards out. Kingsbury has been a loser his whole career. If they don't make the playoffs this year he's probably gone. They are stuck with Murray until 2027. LOL

To beat the Niners they need to play clean. If you watched the Niners game (I watched the 1st half) they don't look as dominant as they used to. It's also clear, that Jimmy's lack of TC practice is showing. Because of the speed of their receivers, Morris need's Rochell's speed because Kendrick will be toast if he is played. But he might still be on a concussion hold. If the Rams play a clean game they win.

Everyone (the media) were critical of the preceived lack of depth on the Rams. Well they are being proved wrong. I'd rather see a healthy Jackson at RT and Aboushi at RG than a gimpy Havenstein against the Niners edges. I think the OL will be good enough to beat the Niners.
 

ottoman89

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Eh just because they don't show up on the stat sheet doesn't mean they're not playing well.
Yeah, I heard JB and MJD complimenting him several times in plays that don't show up on the stat sheet.

He was also questionable going into this game via injury I believe.
 

BonifayRam

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Reference Secondary Scheme Concerns:

When DC Morris is playing a 6th Rd drafted Rookie Derion Kendrick starting @ outside corner along with a Journeyman Nickle (NYG/ Saints/Rams) Grant Haley (waivered 4 times) playing as the Nickle, in addition, Terrell Burgess playing as the 3rd safety ....I see why we saw so many DC Morris's protective type coverages. The last time Haley started was in 2019 when he had 12 starts for the Giants in 2018/2019.

That secondary took a big hit with starting veteran #2 Troy Hill going on IR, along with #3 David Long & #4 corner Decobie Durant out with injuries. Now we can add our #5 corner, Derion Kendrick, to the injury list (concussion). Going into the 9ers game can not make anyone feel comfortable.

Not sure if any of the four injured corners will be available to play the 9ers.:(:cautious:
 
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MachS

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I get your defense of the soft zone cushions, and if Morris does that 90% of the time I think I could understand and stomach it. But when you are giving up literally free 3rd and 4th downs, its not a sustainable strategy. You HAVE to change it up occasionally on 3rd down to try and get off the field. I've never seen so many 3rd&10+ conversions against us in one game. The Cardinals have almost no weapons, and they had THREE different 15+ play drives yesterday. The defense had to be gassed and if we played a good team they would've shredded us like Buffalo. Next week Shannahan will exploit it you can bank on that.
 

OntarioRam

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I am loving Benny Skow at FB. Great move by McVay!

The Rams look sloppy on offense. Dropped TDs by both Kupp and A-Rob. An Akers fumble. And these are just the mistakes by our bigger names. This game should have been a blow out. I am confident the offense will clean things up... but yikes.

The rag-tag, injured offensive line continues to look quite good! The Cardinals have some decent pass rushers. Jackson is proving he deserves a starting spot. How huge would that be to be able to address the interior and get some size at guard with him?

Really good showing by our emergency reserves in the secondary. They played very well considering how shorthanded they were. Ramsey had an amazing game. Where are all the haters now?

I don't think any team in the NFL contains Kyler Murray as well as the Rams do.

I am admittedly worried about the 49ers. With Jimmy G, they almost exclusively use short passes to attack the middle of the field. With our #3 safety and #2, #3, #4, and #5 CBs out :injury:... I am not sure how we can defend that consistently to any great effect. We will need our defensive front to dominate this game, not only winning their match-ups, but winning them very quickly. That will be a gigantic task, because San Fran always has Jimmy G getting rid of the football in what feels like 2 seconds or less vs. the Rams, in order to try and contain Aaron Donald. The offense better have the kinks ironed out by Sunday, because we might need to bail the D out. If the O wants to announce it is back in 2022-23, now would be the perfect time for a statement game.
 

payote75

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If the whiners sign Fischer I will have a meltdown honestly. Bosa dirty play = Williams out karma sorry as I said hate to see injuries but the trip was bad enough but the arrogant dumbass face was even worse.
 

Merlin

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The secondary had plenty of fuckups in that game, the Cards were just not good enough to take advantage. So on one hand I appreciate the plan and the way it worked to kill the clock once we had the lead. But on the other hand they're going to need to improve a lot as a group in playing the call.

So yeah it's similar to last season's defense. But the difference this year is Raheem knows the players strengths/weaknesses, and he has a far deeper group to cobble together his best guys. We haven't seen that group together out there yet IMO. They're probably going to piss us off vs SF too, because they're going to make mistakes and Yimmy plays his best ball vs the Rams defense. But what really matters is they are peaking for the playoffs so as long as we're winning games I have no complaints.
 

tempests

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I get your defense of the soft zone cushions, and if Morris does that 90% of the time I think I could understand and stomach it. But when you are giving up literally free 3rd and 4th downs, its not a sustainable strategy. You HAVE to change it up occasionally on 3rd down to try and get off the field. I've never seen so many 3rd&10+ conversions against us in one game. The Cardinals have almost no weapons, and they had THREE different 15+ play drives yesterday. The defense had to be gassed and if we played a good team they would've shredded us like Buffalo. Next week Shannahan will exploit it you can bank on that.
Falcons were only 3/10 and the Cardinals 6/18 on 3rd downs against us though.
 

Allen2McVay

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If the whiners sign Fischer I will have a meltdown honestly. Bosa dirty play = Williams out karma sorry as I said hate to see injuries but the trip was bad enough but the arrogant dumbass face was even worse.
It's not entirely the Rams' decision to make. Just Saying.

Eric Fisher may have no interest in a team like the Rams where, barring injury, he would be reserve / insurance but might be thrilled to join a team where he could start ... especially if it's a playoff-caliber-team.

I have not heard anything about the Evil-Niners having an interest in Fisher to fill-in for Trent Williams but I would not be surprised if the Chargers reached-out to the free-agent-OT, after losing All Pro Rashawn Slater to a season-ending-injury. Might be just the type of opportunity Eric Fisher (if healthy) has been waiting for.
 

payote75

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It's not entirely the Rams' decision to make. Just Saying.

Eric Fisher may have no interest in a team like the Rams where, barring injury, he would be reserve / insurance but might be thrilled to join a team where he could start ... especially if it's a playoff-caliber-team.

I have not heard anything about the Evil-Niners having an interest in Fisher to fill-in for Trent Williams but I would not be surprised if the Chargers reached-out to the free-agent-OT, after losing All Pro Rashawn Slater to a season-ending-injury. Might be just the type of opportunity Eric Fisher (if healthy) has been waiting for.

True.....I did read somewhere 9 teams contacted him but he has no interest in the 9 teams. I'd be shocked if he had no interest in the Rams but could be a small town guy so who knows. I do feel he could be a steal this year and next and maybe more for whoever signs him