I wish someone on the Rams had the answers to this mess.
McDuffy is out, and the Rams play less man-to-man coverage. That makes Brissett the second coming of Tom Brady. Pressure has always been his kryptonite and the Rams didn't get enough pressure.
Who decided to play the soft zone instead of man-to-man with blitz pressure is up for debate. Whether it was McVay or Shula, I don't know. Either way they play a passive defense. They stiffened up and didn't allow a TD , but Arizona controlled the ball all game long.
On run defense they gave up the edge far too often. Steward was unable to get off blocks and got pushed back. Combine the outside leaky run game with poor tackling and some inside open lanes resulting in:
Arizona Cardinals: 70 total plays (34 passing attempts, 35 rushing attempts, and 1 sack allowed)
Los Angeles Rams: 56 total plays (33 passing attempts, 20 rushing attempts, and 3 sacks allowed) [
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Arizona heavily controlled the tempo of the game, holding onto the ball for
34:52 compared to the Rams'
25:08 in time of possession. [
1]
I stated before that the NFL is catching up to McVay's play calling. More so with former Rams coordinators. Defenses are blitzing the Rams more; Arizona increased its season average from around 19 to over 40 percent against the Rams. I assume they are playing tighter coverage with the blitzes. This is having Stafford hesitate, waiting for someone to get open. I don't know if he is scanning the field enough or just locking in and waiting for one WR to get open. Either way, he doesn't look comfortable in the pocket. They also seem to know when McVay is calling a pass play.
The lack of the defense getting off the field quickly may have stopped McVay from running the hurry up offense until it's late and they are behind. There doesn't appear to be that high intensity and high energy of the past on offenses. On the first drive of the game McVay use to have around 12 scripted plays that would move the ball and get at least a FG. This year no points on opening drives and not much ball movement.
Some rant...Blame McVay on some questioable play calls and not adjusting. Also blame the players on some poor execution.