OL Cutups

[Merlin]

There is a perception out there that the interior OL at large struggled vs the Saints front. I disagree, and figured I'd throw up some stills to demonstrate how they played. Bottom line is when you face a good front in a playoff type game you're going to get pressure, which is why the top QBs make the big dough. The Rams did indeed get pressured, but they also won enough snaps to easily get the dub.

Before we get rolling and first off, Allen (and Goff) did a fine job with the line calls. I don't recall even one free rusher, i.e. someone not noted/assigned by him pre-snap. Now the Saints aren't the most varied front when it comes to blitzes, but still that means he's making good calls. And while we don't know the extent to which Goff is involved in the line calls, it looks like Jared is focusing mostly on the secondary and coverages. So I'd guess Allen was primarily to thank for a day of good calls.

Secondly these guys definitely have strengths and weaknesses. Boom is better is pass pro than the run. Allen is better in the run game. And so on. If I had to grade Allen overall I'd say he's an average Center right now in pass pro (a dropoff from Sully who was excellent in pass pro), but excellent in the run game. Boom is a big dropoff from Saff in the run game, but just as good as he was in pass pro.

Thirdly it's pretty clear the edges were our problem vs the Saints, which is Hav (who has been roasted for it) but also Whit, who you could see wasn't his normal self right out the gate in this game. He really had an uncharacteristically poor game and I think a lot of that was the quality of the Saints' edge play. If Whit wasn't such a pro I would be concerned about him, and that's even considering that much of his struggles were the strength of the Saints' rush.

Lastly I'll mix in best and worst here. Not trying to just cherry pick what they did right.

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11:40 1st Quarter, Rams on their 32 yard line, 3rd and 16. Big early-game situation in which it looks like the Rams are going to three 'n out in their first possession...

Pre-snap (note the doubled A gap):

Going after Allen & Blythe:

Goff has time to make a sammich, oh and put up a perfect pass too:

Result... Marcus "Toast" Lattimore:

 

[Merlin]

10:48 1st Quarter, Rams on the opposing 11 yard line, 1st and 10. Really important first play here to try to capitalize on the field position.

Pre-snap:

Gurley has a couple choices and a penetration-free backfield:

Nice 4 yard gainer in the tough real estate:

 

[Merlin]

10:13 1st Quarter, Rams on opposing 3 yard line due to neutral zone infraction previous play, 2nd and 2. Gonna be a run here to crush the Saints' dreams right??? Wrong. McVay channels some Martz here lol...

Pre-snap:

Goff doesn't sell the fake, getting his head around almost immediately:

Saints all over it:

Allen gets busted being more than 1 yard downfield:

After more cute plays the Rams settle for a field goal.

 

[GabesHorn]

10:48 1st Quarter, Rams on the opposing 11 yard line, 1st and 10. Really important first play here to try to capitalize on the field position.

Pre-snap:
View attachment 30322

Gurley has a couple choices and a penetration-free backfield:
View attachment 30323

Nice 4 yard gainer in the tough real estate:
View attachment 30324

MORE MORE MORE and thanks.

 

[Merlin]

6:24 1st Quarter, Rams on their 17 yard line, 2nd and 1. Previous play saw a nice outside gainer by Woods thanks to excellent blocking by our TEs (Everett got a pancake). So Rams gonna run it right? Wrong lol. McVay goes for the throat in a calculated manner here with a very nice call.

Pre-snap:

Hav looks like he's ready to assist Blythe here with one hand on Jordan:

Everett cracks down on Jordan from inside and Higs has his outside shoulder, another nice pocket for Goff:

Metric @$$ ton of open field here if Cooks makes this catch:

Alluded to this in other post... Two possessions and the Rams were on point to flip the field on both of them. This game could have easily been 14-0 Rams right out the gate. The offense played a lot better than I had thought early on.

 

[Merlin]

6:12 1st Quarter, Rams on their 17, 3rd and 1. This is a big and obvious run down and both teams know it...

Pre-snap:

Our maligned interior OL seal it up:

Easy first down for TG:

 

[Merlin]

4:45 1st Quarter, Rams backed up to their 13 due to dropped pass then Hav holding Jordan, 3rd and 16. Another third and forever can the OL hold?

Pre-snap:

Allen & Boom gettin the action on the inside:

Allen has Onyemata locked up. Boom drew Davenport (mismatch). Hav is about to lose Jordan. Gurley no chip to help on the edge:

Goff really wanted the deep ball here (think he was waiting on Kupp to break over middle), held it a beat too long (sack by Jordan):

What Goff was seeing right before the sack (Gurley was there with room to run):

This was a tough down/distance but Jared made a mistake not allowing TG to try to make something happen.

 

[KJD_Ram]

10:13 1st Quarter, Rams on opposing 3 yard line due to neutral zone infraction previous play, 2nd and 2. Gonna be a run here to crush the Saints' dreams right??? Wrong. McVay channels some Martz here lol...

Pre-snap:
View attachment 30325

Goff doesn't sell the fake, getting his head around almost immediately:
View attachment 30326

Saints all over it:
View attachment 30327

Allen gets busted being more than 1 yard downfield:
View attachment 30328

After more cute plays the Rams settle for a field goal.

Is this the illegal man downfield on Allen? Pretty ticky tac...

 

[Merlin]

15:00 2nd Quarter, Rams on their 14 yard line, 1st and 10. More bad field position for the Rams, and McVay continues his aggressive play calling here with a pass. Saints are playing single high with one guy deep to avoid giving up another big play, just disguising it pre-snap.

Pre-snap:

Protections look good at the drop, TG in pattern after play action:

What Goff sees at the drop:

Saints in great position in the secondary. Goff elects not to try the throw to Everett across midfield (it's a throw Goff could make but risky). TG is the decision but the Saints in good position for it.

Incomplete. Had TG caught it the gain would have probably been minimal:

 

[SteezyEndo]

OL is going to get even better, I thought Demby struggled a bit at first but started playing better as the game progressed. So it is about progression and experience from this point on. Just need to keep what we got now healthy...

 

[Memento]

@Merlin , I really love these cutups. As I don't have the money to rewatch the game from those perspectives, I appreciate the hard work that goes into it. Thank you.

 

[Merlin]

14:55 2nd Quarter, Rams on their 14 yard line, 2nd and 10. Next play after the previously posted one. McVay goes with another aggressive call with a pass here that offers some deep and short options for Goff to choose from.

Pre-snap:

Protections at the drop:

Goff reads the right side (covered well by Saints at that moment):

Goff reads left (also covered well and he elects not to risk it):

Checks down to TG for minimal gain:

This is one of the plays where I wonder wtf Gurley is thinking. There is room for him to break this thing back over the middle and with him maybe a better gainer is possible, but he goes right for the sideline and that minimal gain.

 

[Merlin]

Is this the illegal man downfield on Allen? Pretty ticky tac...

No doubt, he was roughly one yard past the one yard allowance. The refs called this game really tight but then again I'm ok with that because they called New Orleans for a lot of their BS holds on our DL. Double-edged sword I guess lol.

 

[Merlin]

OL is going to get even better, I thought Demby struggled a bit at first but started playing better as the game progressed. So it is about progression and experience from this point on. Just need to keep what we got now healthy...

Agreed. Still going through the first half but I also saw things the same way. And yes our OL is not nearly as bad as they're getting flak for by the faithful. Saints just challenged us on the edges with two excellent DEs.

 

[Merlin]

@Merlin , I really love these cutups. As I don't have the money to rewatch the game from those perspectives, I appreciate the hard work that goes into it. Thank you.

You're welcome Memento. I enjoy it. Used my kid's account to do the ones I put up last week, and had so much fun I went against my anti-NFL stance to buy my own account for the coaches' film. Really like seeing what the secondary is doing.

 

[Merlin]

14:44 2nd Quarter, Rams on their 15 yard line after the dump off to TG, 3rd and 9. This is the third throw in a row with less than spectacular result, ending what is the first possession where the Saints earned a 3 'n out.

Pre-snap:

Protections at the drop (nice pocket for Goff):

Coverage at the drop (another nice job by the Saints here):

Coverage just before the throw (Allen about to lose control of his rusher):

Goff throws it away in TG's general direction (coverage win by the Saints):

That series saw the Saints anticipate 3 pass plays in a row with excellent coverage.

 

[Merlin]

Oh and btw... Count the box on these stills. Saints feared the Rams' passing game and loaded the secondary as a result. Rams had favorable box looks all game long really, where the Saints almost dared them to run the ball.

 

[Merlin]

10:54 2nd Quarter, Rams on their 25, 2nd and 10 following a pitch left for zero gain. Time for a statement drive to push past what is now a 3-3 tie. McVay adjusts after the last series and things open up.

Pre-snap:

Protections at the drop (another good pocket for Goff):

Coverages at the drop:

Goff makes correct read and dishes to Kupp:

Nice gainer and first down:

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

This is what I come to ROD for!

 

[Merlin]

10:20 2nd Quarter, Rams ball on their 37 yard line, 1st and 10. McVay continues aggressive calls here with another pass play...

Pre-snap (another 7 man box):

Protections at the drop following play action to Brown who goes into the pattern. Allen's got his man locked up. Blythe soloing it up too. Another nice pocket for Goff:

Coverages at the drop:

Blythe loses Onyemata but Goff gets it to a wide open Higbee (misses high unfortunately preventing potential YAC) in the face of the pressure: