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- Oct 5, 2015
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I've already posted the PFF results saying that Donnal was the worst rated guard for the week. Ironically enough the top rated guard was the Viking's Michael Harris (explains a lot). However, I'd like to take a look at two plays in particular that I think show a good representation of how the day went. The first one is Gurley's lone carry in overtime that went for a six yard loss. The Vikings stacked the box with 5 men on the line with 2 linebackers and the safety Harrison standing just a few yards away from the LOS. The play is a designed run to the right where Gurley is supposed to go through his reads and hit the gap that is best. However, the Rams get blown back at the LOS and the result is nowhere to go (there is even one blocker lying on the ground) :
At this point Gurley sees there is nowhere to go on the right so he tries to bounce it back to the left. However, the safety Harrison Smith is waiting for him over there.
Even though Smith never did get Gurley down he slowed him up enough to allow other defenders to swarm Gurley and the play is over with a six yard loss. The Vikings gave the ball to the Rams in OT and stacked the box on Todd, daring Foles to beat them through the air. Foles didn't.
The next play was late in the 4th quarter on a 1st and 10 with the Rams at the 50 yard line. Gurley takes the handoff on an outside zone run to the right. Again the Rams right side of the line is blown back and Donnal is lying on the ground after being beat at the point of attack. This is what the resulting blown play looked like. Edit: Apparently you can only watch this on Youtube's actual site so just click the link and go to the 1:17 mark to see the play.
Gurley has nowhere to go but manages to break about 4 tackles to turn it into a 9 yard gain. The blocking was again atrocious but this time Todd was able to make something out of nothing. If this had been Mason or Benny they would've been lucky to get back to the LOS. The point is our line needs to get healthy and improve to even be mediocre the rest of the year. The passing game also HAS to improve because defenses are just going to start bringing 8-9 men in the box on every play until Foles proves he can make them pay for it.
At this point Gurley sees there is nowhere to go on the right so he tries to bounce it back to the left. However, the safety Harrison Smith is waiting for him over there.
Even though Smith never did get Gurley down he slowed him up enough to allow other defenders to swarm Gurley and the play is over with a six yard loss. The Vikings gave the ball to the Rams in OT and stacked the box on Todd, daring Foles to beat them through the air. Foles didn't.
The next play was late in the 4th quarter on a 1st and 10 with the Rams at the 50 yard line. Gurley takes the handoff on an outside zone run to the right. Again the Rams right side of the line is blown back and Donnal is lying on the ground after being beat at the point of attack. This is what the resulting blown play looked like. Edit: Apparently you can only watch this on Youtube's actual site so just click the link and go to the 1:17 mark to see the play.
Gurley has nowhere to go but manages to break about 4 tackles to turn it into a 9 yard gain. The blocking was again atrocious but this time Todd was able to make something out of nothing. If this had been Mason or Benny they would've been lucky to get back to the LOS. The point is our line needs to get healthy and improve to even be mediocre the rest of the year. The passing game also HAS to improve because defenses are just going to start bringing 8-9 men in the box on every play until Foles proves he can make them pay for it.
