This team certainly has the talent. Something feels off with McVay and Stafford to be honest. Play calling has been questionable and Stafford does not seem right. 2 plays stand out. Both 3rd and 4 plays. 2nd quarter Stafford has the ball at the 40 and throws a dart to Atwell thats goes off his fingers. He had all day to throw and if waiting another second Atwell would of beat the coverage and been wide open for an easy pitch and catch. 3rd quarter, it might have actually been 3rd and 2 they run Williams to the right for a 1 yard loss. You could see live Raiders had 9 men in the box, and Atwell is left to block Chaisson #44 which didnt go well. Why didnt Stafford check out and throw a pass? Something dont seem right with Stafford this year and please dont say oline beat up. Drake Maye has more TD passes in 2 games than Stafford this season (let that sink in) and New England may have the worst roster in football and oline....
I think the core issue right now is the personnel. Missing key players like Higbee, Kupp, and Puka is just too much to overcome. It really limits the play calling, which in turn makes the Rams' offense more predictable. I noticed this in the game against the Raiders yesterday. The Rams kept running the same play out of the pistol formation, and the Raiders stuffed it every time—largely because the WRs and TEs were failing to make their blocks. Watch the tape; it's pretty clear.
When play calling becomes too predictable, defenses can focus on exploiting those weaknesses, and that’s exactly what happened.
On top of that, the O-line isn’t performing at the level we expect from a playoff-caliber team. With a rookie backup center and the left guard position being in flux due to poor play, it's obvious that defenses are going to take advantage of that. There's not much we can do about it until Avila and Jackson return. Even with Limmer, who’s been solid for a rookie, he still has some lapses in identifying who to block, which becomes especially noticeable when the offense is blitzed. I also noticed that the Rams either have a noticeable deficiency in hot routes, check downs, or Stafford is just straight up missing them.
The Raiders had an excellent defensive game plan: fire blitzes and force Tutu, Whittington, and Robinson to step up and beat them. I suspect the Vikings will adopt a similar approach, but the difference is, the Vikings are much better on both sides of the ball. So, hold on to your butts—this could be a tough Thursday night.
