Rams' pass rush remains a question mark

[madrid311]

Good read on rams wire. I think we all noticed no pass rush in the last game. I'm not sure we have the players to replace Dante from last year. This could be a problem going forward. Does anyone see a fix that could happen? If we get that part fixed, a long playoff run and possible superbowl appearance could happen. Go staley!

 

[AvengerRam]

Wentz was not holding the ball very long and, instead, was throwing a lot of short, quick passes. His average air yards/attempt went from over 12.4 against Washington to 6.5 against the Rams. I think that had a lot to do with the lack of pressures/sacks. Despite that, the Rams held Wentz to a 56.5 passer rating.

So, while I do think the jury is still out on who, after Aaron Donald, will be our most effective pass rushers, I'm not overly concerned about the lack of sacks against the Eagles.

 

[Seth Griffith]

I was thinking the same thing, while also wondering about our Run D. I keep waiting for #54 to step it up. He has all of the intangibles...

If AD99 is double teamed 60% of the time, someone is free. Maybe some of our tweener DB's can make an impact out of nickel/dime?

 

[Hawaii Ram]

I know we are never gonna be Pittsburgh Steelers sending guys from all angles but I would like to see a few more blitzes from different areas to make the quarterback less comfortable in the pocket. I would also like to see the statistics of how many pass attempts were blitzed through the first 2 games.

 

[dieterbrock]

I think its going to be that they will Dial it up when they need to, at least early on in the season. If not for Kupp's unfortunate fumble, that game wasnt in doubt all day.
No need to send the league tape on what they can do unless they need to

 

[Jacobarch]

I think its going to be that they will Dial it up when they need to, at least early on in the season. If not for Kupp's unfortunate fumble, that game wasnt in doubt all day.
No need to send the league tape on what they can do unless they need to

Totally agree with this...

I was out of town during sundays game and i was reading thru our Game Day thread and I would have thought the Rams were playing like crap. lol. After watching the game, the only reason why the Eagles even sniffed our farts was because of Kupps fumble inside their 20 yard line. Other than that it was a complete dismantling.
On the part of not getting to the QB. Please watch the game again, 3 step drops, getting rid of the ball within the first 2-3 seconds and double and triple teaming AD.
There were some longer developing plays and Floyd came screaming towards Wentz more than once and he either threw it away or got rid of it quickly.
Guys are getting home, teams are game planning and using the quick passing game to frustrate our pass rush. I wouldn't freak out too much there's not much Dlines can do when the game plan is to get the ball out as quickly as possible.

 

[Rams43]

Totally agree with this...

I was out of town during sundays game and i was reading thru our Game Day thread and I would have thought the Rams were playing like crap. lol. After watching the game, the only reason why the Eagles even sniffed our farts was because of Kupps fumble inside their 20 yard line. Other than that it was a complete dismantling.
On the part of not getting to the QB. Please watch the game again, 3 step drops, getting rid of the ball within the first 2-3 seconds and double and triple teaming AD.
There were some longer developing plays and Floyd came screaming towards Wentz more than once and he either threw it away or got rid of it quickly.
Guys are getting home, teams are game planning and using the quick passing game to frustrate our pass rush. I wouldn't freak out too much there's not much Dlines can do when the game plan is to get the ball out as quickly as possible.

I did watch the game again and was disappointed with lack of Rams pressure. Sorry.

 

[Jacobarch]

I did watch the game again and was disappointed with lack of Rams pressure. Sorry.

6.5 Average for Wentz, says it all mang.

 

[Merlin]

This defense won't be the kind that can shut down the run with ease because of our ILB group. We have talked about these guys all offseason. It shouldn't be a surprise. No team has a perfect roster, and we certainly don't either, but there is no doubt that we need more talent off ball in order to be that type of defense.

But I do think we're like a lot of playoff hopefuls in that we can stop the run schematically if we need to. If that makes sense. What that means is this probably isn't an elite defense overall.

It does look like a good defense though. We seem to be so strong in the secondary that our defense should be able to limit the big scoring surges you see with lesser secondaries. And there's room for them to be quite dominant vs the pass if they can find some more edge threat among our OLBs. Right now that is definitely the biggest element we're missing. And I've been disappointed in both Ebu and Obo, I mean I knew Ebu wasn't special as a rusher but I hoped Obo could be a consistent pressure type even though he's not special either. So now we're basically hoping for Lewis and Polite to maybe show something.

 

[dieterbrock]

6.5 Average for Wentz, says it all mang.

5.63 Yards per Attempt. He took the dink and dunk to a new level. Some people only view pass rush by sacks, nobody getting home against a 3 step drop and quick release....

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Offenses will likely continue with the short passing game against the Rams. But, that doesn't appear to be the Bills bread and butter. This is another good offensive line the Rams will face. I really don't think the Rams have another good enough pass rusher on the team to make a big difference. So here's hoping we see more pressure this Sunday, if the secondary can cover.

 

[Merlin]

Also while I'm thinking about it, in spite of our probs on the blindside we have one of the better strong side OLBs in the league. When we signed Floyd I felt like we overpaid for a run stuffing OLB. It felt like a luxury type signing. But watching his film he is selfless and consistently does good things. He's strong and can take on tackles, but he can also cover ground to redirect RBs coming out of the backfield and run a great contain.

Here's a great example from midway through the first quarter. Eagles had come out running a ton of swing and short passes and had some good success off the Rams' blind side. But the left side you see Floyd's difference...

Pre-snap

Some OLBs would be thinking they have a chance at a sack here. Floyd doesn't blink and immediately prioritizes the rub that is probably his assignment.

Taking a wide intercept route for the back.

Forces the back up and inside.

Gets a Robert Kraft level rub here.

Assignment executed, Floyd switches to the QB and AD is coming too. Whole lot of nothing for Wentz.

Kiser now has the back covered.

Philly comes up short.

 

[nighttrain]

Best way to stop opposing offences run game, get a two or three early scores, preferable TD's
train

 

[den-the-coach]

Extraordinary observations @Merlin and on many occasions Sunday, Ebukam did not rush the passer, he stayed and moved along with Wentz acting more like a spy. Seems to be the scheme of ensuring the QB does not gash you with his legs and I'm interested to see how they handle Josh Allen because sometimes Allen just takes off and runs.

Okoronkwo has the ability to apply pressure IMO, but he too, did not immediately rush Wentz, so maybe that was by design. Overall once Lewis gets back and maybe we see more of Justin Hollins, pressures might increase and they will have to, but you take it one game at a time and so far, so good defensively.

 

[AvengerRam]

I really must be missing something here...

Isn't the name of the game DEFENSE not SACKS?

The Rams are 2nd in passer rating allowed (73.6) and tied for 3rd in YPA allowed (6.2).

The Jets have twice as many sacks as we to (6 to 3), but they're allowing a passer rating of 106.8. Is that better?

The Chiefs and Packers also have twice as many sacks as we do, but they're allowing 8.7 YPA. Is that better?

We've allowed 3 points after halftime in each of the last two games. Give me that stat over sacks any day.

In the end, would I like to see higher sack totals? Sure. But you have to look at the whole picture. So far, the defense is doing a very good job overall. That's the key.

 

[Snaz]

I was thinking the same thing, while also wondering about our Run D. I keep waiting for #54 to step it up. He has all of the intangibles...

If AD99 is double teamed 60% of the time, someone is free. Maybe some of our tweener DB's can make an impact out of nickel/dime?

Not quite. Depend on how many are rushing.
Rush 4 there are 5 OL so there are 3 one on ones and AD doubled.
Rush 5 then yeah one should be free.
What's not happening is the players are not winning on one on one's