Rams vs Browns Offensive Snaps

[Merlin]

01:34 3rd Quarter, Rams on opposing 49, 1st and 10. Still 13-10 Browns, time to get serious with an inside zone run...

Pre-snap:

At the handoff the interior have things under control. Allen gets a slight drive on the NT. Boom has his guy lined up. Demby sealed off nicely. Hav is trying to disengage to get to the second level but Everett is struggling a bit with his block:

As Gurley hits the hole he's got options with either A gap. Best choice is the left side hole (as viewed from this vantage) because of Hav. Everett is about to lose 95 who will make the tackle:

5 yard gain so good run but it was oh so close to more if Everett can slow 95 just a little:

 

[Merlin]

00:33 3rd Quarter, Rams on opposing 41, 3rd and 2. Previous defensive series the Rams avoided giving up points off the turnover with a nice 3 'n out by the defense. This is the fourth play in this drive, following a few that established the run and a pass that got them past midfield...

Pre-snap empty backfield:

At the drop we see another nice pocket:

Coverages at the drop:

Right before the throw we see Kupp & Woods behind the LBs who get good drops without the run fake. Dangerous throw, and again Goff looks a little late (doesn't throw it until after Kupp breaks):

Talk about a close call... But it's a catch and a key conversion:

 

[Merlin]

13:11 4th Quarter, Rams on opposing 6, 3rd and goal. Huge down for us as we're down 13-10 and need to quit effin around. Previous play was Demby's false start.

Pre-snap:

Protections at the snap are beautiful. Another nice pocket. You can see Kupp flying by once again ignored on a crosser:

Jared hits him in stride for an easy TD and a lead they would hold onto:

 

[Merlin]

04:05 4th Quarter, Rams on their 45, 2nd and 12. Rams leading 20-13 and defense just had a nice stop after the Rams kicked a field goal on previous possession. Last play was a run with loss of yardage. They want to control the clock here, in that 4 minute mode.

Pre-snap:

At the handoff everything looks great except for Demby's assignment who has beaten him already:

At the hole Gurley barely squirts past Demby's dude:

Gurley makes a right at Havenstein. Looks like the left side would have worked out better:

Defenders converge, 9 yard run:

 

[Merlin]

03:18 4th Quarter, Rams on opposing 46, 3rd and 3. Focus here should be getting the down and killing the clock. So this play irritates me on a lot of levels, but McVay is who he is because of his aggression and I can't fault it. Goff throws a potentially game-wrecking INT here.

Pre-snap:

Protections at the fake show a good pocket:

Instead of blitzing the LB in the hole (53) in the previous image sees the fake and bails out to trail Woods underneath and manages to get there. But Goff still makes the throw. RAMS NEEDED 3 YARDS here. Gurley is open or Goff could try his legs. This is why McVay looked like he wanted to strangle his young QB right afterwards on the sideline lol:

Playin down to the Browns continues. And 53 btw made a fine play to tip it and enable the INT:

 

[Merlin]

Some thoughts...

1. Demby isn't good enough. He may be down the road, and he improved a lot in this game, but still not good enough.

2. McVay needs to introduce a threat on the jet sweep if he wants it to be more than window dressing. Otherwise teams will continue to ignore it. Might I suggest lining up Henderson outside and having him run that.

3. The spin we hear on the magical way the Bears shut down our offense is overblown. There are some elements giving the Rams problems but their issues offensively are mostly players making mistakes and not taking advantage of what is there. Numerous examples of almost-big plays throughout this game and it's the same the previous week with the Cooks drop for example.

4. McVay's pattern matching for each down/distance needs a bit of an overhaul. There are a lot of incidences of DBs sitting on routes for certain downs/distances.

5. Goff was pressing due to a lot of the mistakes and failure to score early in the game. He missed some stuff, made some bad throws, and that last INT was the type of error that gets lesser QBs benched.

6. Everett played well but needs to keep improving in his blocking. I see why we signed Higs.

7. Rams offense is very close to breaking out. But I said that last week too didn't I?