Rams' offense seeks short-yardage improvement/Wagoner

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RamBill

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Rams' offense seeks short-yardage improvement
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/14648/rams-offense-seeks-short-yardage-improvement

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Before the season started, the St. Louis Rams set out to be a physical, grind-it-out type of team capable of lining up, powering up and running right at opponents.

Fourteen games in, that approach hasn't materialized, and it's come back to bite the Rams on multiple occasions, including Thursday night's 12-6 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

And nowhere has the Rams' lack of power running been more evident than their feeble attempts to get the tough yards that keep the chains moving. In the loss to the Cardinals, the Rams had a couple of key third- and fourth-down situations and came up empty on all of them.

On their first drive, the Rams had third-and-goal at Arizona's 1 but running back Benny Cunningham was stopped for no gain, leaving the Rams to settle for a field goal. With that in mind in the fourth quarter, the Rams decided to eschew the run on third-and-goal at the Cardinals' 1, which led to an incompletion and, once again, settling for a field goal.

For the season, the Rams are converting 54.5 percent of their third-and-1 opportunities, tied for last in the NFL. On third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 this season, the Rams are averaging just 1.09 yards per carry, which is the worst output in the league in those situations.

Rams coach Jeff Fisher makes no bones about his team's need to improve when it comes picking up the tough yards, especially on the ground.

“We’ve got to get better at it," Fisher said. "We need to be able to line up and say, ‘Here we come. This is what we’re running. Stop it.’ We’re not there yet.”

Because of the Rams' struggles running in short-yardage situations, they actually haven't been bad throwing it in those spots. On third-and-1 and fourth-and-1, the Rams are averaging 9.33 yards per pass attempt, seventh best in the NFL, and have a total QBR of 82.4, which is fourth best in the league.

But now that the Rams have enough evidence of struggling in those spots, opposing defenses are looking for the pass more, which explains why the Cardinals were all over the third-down play at the goal line in the fourth quarter and quarterback Shaun Hill essentially had to throw it away.

"They’re loading the line of scrimmage as far as the run game’s concerned," Fisher said. "We thought our best opportunities were doing just what we did. We didn’t make plays. We have to do much better there."
 

CGI_Ram

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Burger man
When we run on short yardage, it seems to always be into a wall of defenders. It's maddening to watch because you see it happening before the ball is even snapped.
 

Memphis Ram

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Rams' offense seeks short-yardage improvement
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/14648/rams-offense-seeks-short-yardage-improvement

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Before the season started, the St. Louis Rams set out to be a physical, grind-it-out type of team capable of lining up, powering up and running right at opponents.

Fourteen games in, that approach hasn't materialized, and it's come back to bite the Rams on multiple occasions, including Thursday night's 12-6 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

On their first drive, the Rams had third-and-goal at Arizona's 1 but running back Benny Cunningham was stopped for no gain, leaving the Rams to settle for a field goal. With that in mind in the fourth quarter, the Rams decided to eschew the run on third-and-goal at the Cardinals' 1, which led to an incompletion and, once again, settling for a field goal.

For the season, the Rams are converting 54.5 percent of their third-and-1 opportunities, tied for last in the NFL. On third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 this season, the Rams are averaging just 1.09 yards per carry, which is the worst output in the league in those situations.

Rams coach Jeff Fisher makes no bones about his team's need to improve when it comes picking up the tough yards, especially on the ground.

“We’ve got to get better at it," Fisher said. "We need to be able to line up and say, ‘Here we come. This is what we’re running. Stop it.’ We’re not there yet.”

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TheDYVKX

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Sean McVay
I don't know if the coaches noticed, but there's a pretty good short yardage RB named Zac Stacy sitting on their bench. Maybe he could help with that problem.
 

Memphis Ram

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While sad, it's not just short yardage improvement that's necessary. It's running game improvement overall.:(
 

Ballhawk

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It can't be the Oline! We have the greatest Oline coach in history and you can pick up pro bowl players in the last half of any draft, right?
 

blue4

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Zac Stacy we hardly knew ya. You seemed so impressive before, smashing people and moving the pile. I guess you've slept with the coach's wife or something. Or since we like to get cute with empty backfield and other head scratchers, maybe we're just waiting for the right 3rd and 15 opportunity for you to shine.
 

Thordaddy

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I'm tellin ya Donald would get that yard and probably more , he needs to be the latter day Fridge
 

Ballhawk

Please don't confuse my experience for pessimism!
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I'm tellin ya Donald would get that yard and probably more , he needs to be the latter day Fridge

Yeah, and like Quinn he is used to dragging tacklers up field on every play!
 

Ace right

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Yeah Cullen the O Line is a dumpster fire but it would be nice to see someone hit it with authority and move the pile forward for a yard. Maybe with a lead blocker sometimes or a motioning H-back. I just think we have a pretty good group of backs that each bring something different to the table.
 

junkman

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For the amount of money we're paying Jake Long and Scott Wells (presuming they get cut), we should be able to bring in some quality players in free agency to take those RG (or LG?) and C spots on the OL. A little more of the right kind of beef up front, all our short yardage woes will be a thing of the past.