Rams vs Falcons Run Game Stills

[Merlin]

Going to just stick to the run game this week, as I have trees to plant in my yard and the wife giving me dirty looks as I sit on my posterior and obsess over our favorite team...

First run play of the game, it's a power run up the middle, extremely simple. But of course there is a mistake...

Situation:

Pre-snap:

At the snap we can see a run up the gut. Allen's got the NT locked up, Blythe's responsibility is pretty clear:

A beat later Blythe is realizing he effed up. If he had simply gotten a hat on Jones here Gurley would have had a successful run (4+ yards on first down):

At the handoff 4 of the 5 OL are executing this play about as good as you can do it. All it takes is one guy though:

Gurley tries to bounce it outside:

What should have been a successful run is now a stuff for -1 yard loss:

 

[Pancake]

Seriously how bad is Blythe's vision to even miss that? That's not all he missed in that game either. There was another play where he turns to his left at the snap and the defender has already zoomed right by him and he ends up blocking air and falling on his ass.

 

[thirteen28]

I know it's only one play, but that is absolutely damming if that's a trend. We all know Blythe hasn't been getting it done for a while, would like to see if they could get Corbett in there to see what he can do.

 

[Merlin]

Situation:

Pre-snap it looks like Goff audibles to a run due to a light box (good call):

At the snap we have Higs cracking back on the edge and Edwards locking his guy up. Allen is about to ensure Blythe's guy stays out of the A gap. Whit is getting ready to second level. Things look good:

At the handoff Edwards' guy gets the inside shoulder but Big Dave is using his leverage to wash him out of the hole. Gurley reads it right and is about to cut back. Whit about to erase some LB:

As Gurley hits the LOS the hole is massive:

10 yard gain:

 

[Merlin]

Situation:

Pre-snap:

At the snap we see Blythe pulling which means Allen's job is to seal the 3T and he is in the middle of a quick shuffle over to ensure he's in front of Jarrett, who we can see is starting a hard inside move:

A split second later Allen is already beat:

At the handoff our rookie RB is staring at a very difficult situation:

But a hard bounce outside beats Jarrett (Berman be like: WHOOOP!!!):

At this moment things suddenly look like a HUGE play is coming for our speedy young back:

But Blythe takes on the DB with his head down (bad technique he needs to watch Whit's tape):

And the DB sheds him to save/make a huge play:

3 yard gain and first down but oh boy it could have been a whole lot more:

 

[LARams_1963]

Thanks @Merlin That first sequence is very damning. Unfortunately a large percentage of our run plays this year have looked something like that.

 

[Merlin]

Situation:

Pre-snap:

At the snap this is another power run up the middle with the TE (Everett this time) cracking down on the end:

At the snap Edwards' guy is anchoring in better and Everett getting ready to make his block:

Everett sorta dives at his feet. Not much room to run:

1 yard gain:

 

[RamsJunkie]

Damn! Blythe is really holding this line back from these images.

 

[Merlin]

Situation:

Pre-snap the Fangio. Gurley in a very nice "pass pro" look here too:

At the snap Goff sorta fakes. Boy needs to work on that. Blythe pulling again:

At the handoff the edge is moving in but Blythe is on his way:

Blythe gets just enough of him. Woody moving in on 45:

As Gurley approaches the LOS we see Woody execute his crack down on Jones in the middle:

Some possibility for Gurley here. He has one DB to beat with wide hash to the left or he can cut it upfield:

He takes it wide, 1 yard gain:

 

[Merlin]

Situation:

Pre-snap:

At the snap Allen is moving to double with Edwards. Blythe's responsibility, once again, looks pretty obvious:

At the handoff Jones has already beat Blythe to the hole and is by him. But LOOK at the hole they should have had if, once again, Blythe could simply get a hat on a hat or even enough of 45 to turn him out just a bit. You're talkin ESPN highlight:

But instead it's a 2 yard loss by a guy I think is a hell of a good LB by the way:

 

[Merlin]

Situation:

Pre-snap I love this play design. Note how the Rams load the wide hash side and the Falcons are all over it:

At the snap Rams going weak side and short hash though and goddamn it looks good at this point:

At the handoff Gurley has a nice B gap hole as well as the edge:

As Gurley approaches the LOS Allen is pushed back and kills the B gap hole but there's still plenty of room to bounce it outside and zero defenders behind that DB:

Gurley stays inside. I don't even know how to explain this decision. No gain:

 

[Merlin]

Situation:

Pre-snap:

At the snap Hav has a tough reach assignment on 95. Allen is assisting Blythe on 97 and trying to work to his second level responsibility on 45:

At the handoff things look good. Left side of the line has things locked up. Allen is about to engage Jones. Blythe is between Jarrett and the ball carrier. Hav is escorting 95 down the line and out of the play. Woody is about to remove the DB on the edge:

As Gurley approaches the LOS Jones is getting rag dolled by Allen, Hav's guy is about out of the picture, and the hole is there except for Blythe losing control of Jarrett:

Gurley hits the hole and 97 is there to make the play:

Still a physical 4 yard gain by Gurley and a first down:

 

[Merlin]

Situation:

Pre-snap:

At the snap we have another power run and Mundt pulling from left side of the formation:

At the handoff things look good once again. Whit/Edwards/Allen have their guys locked up. Hav vs 93 looks like a WWE bout. Blythe has second level responsibility on 59:

As Hendy approaches the LOS Mundt is about to absolutely crush 44 at a full run. Blythe, meanwhile, watches 59 as he runs around him.

As Hendy hits the hole 93 sheds Hav and is squared up to make the play. Blythe's guy 59 is behind the play and basically out of it. Mundt is about to finish a pancake:

Hendy once again finds a way to squirrel his way out of what should have been a no-gainer:

Five yard gain and first down. This kid can effin play IMO:

 

[Merlin]

Situation:

Pre-snap we have a look we've seen before:

At the snap Blythe pulls and Allen moves to double 95. This shows the intent of the play is a run up the gut:

At the handoff the intended hole is there in the middle but TG's eyes and hips are outside:

To my eye this is partially on Gurley. But the fact that Blythe is like a gnat to 93 where he can easily disengage and close on TG is also BS. What would have happened if Todd took it up inside where it was designed? Who knows but I think he'd gain at least 6+ yards because Everett is on 59. Or maybe 93 would have shed Blythe and made the play. Either way we have a -2 yard stuff for the Falcons:

 

[Merlin]

Gotta cut this short to get some work done but I believe 2 things after watching this game:

1. Blythe needs to be replaced right now. Not during the bye. Now. He is killing us.

2. Henderson needs to be the featured back in this offense. Let Gurley settle into a support role it is what it is. I love TG but he's not running with his usual vision and instincts.

 

[Jacobarch]

Gotta cut this short to get some work done but I believe 2 things after watching this game:

1. Blythe needs to be replaced right now. Not during the bye. Now. He is killing us.

2. Henderson needs to be the featured back in this offense. Let Gurley settle into a support role it is what it is. I love TG but he's not running with his usual vision and instincts.

Has Blythe always been this bad tho? I don't seem to remember him missing assignments like this in previous years. Maybe it just took Defenses a long look at his weaknesses and now are exploiting them? I dunno it's hard to say. Maybe his ankle injury is worse than thought and it's effecting his play? From what I'm seeing is more mental errors than physical. He does get rag dolled from time to time but he also plays good for his size. I'm just not sure what the issue is with him at this point. Maybe it's having a new center? I'm at a loss.

I don't know if Henderson needs to be the feature, Gurely is the type of runner where he gets better as the game goes on. Much like Quinn was on DE/OLB. Wade figured this out and started giving him more snaps and we saw him start to play better. I know the same thing needs to happen with Gurely, it's hard to get him going when he's not pounding the football. Maybe the second half of the season will be different and McVay will feature him more around the 20-25 touches. Because there are times where he looks like the same Gurely IE that catch in the endzone last game. And there are times when he looks like he did under his second year under Fisher. If it were my call I would say most of our issues reside with the Oline. Blythe needs to get his shit into gear and stop missing assignments because it's really killing our momentum.

Good write up tho, gives us fans a lot of incite on what's actually happening on the field.

 

[tklongball]

Gotta cut this short to get some work done but I believe 2 things after watching this game:

1. Blythe needs to be replaced right now. Not during the bye. Now. He is killing us.

2. Henderson needs to be the featured back in this offense. Let Gurley settle into a support role it is what it is. I love TG but he's not running with his usual vision and instincts.

In Gurley's defense, he probably lost his confidence in the holes being where they are supposed to be, and is just giving up on the design early.

 

[Ants]

Wow, that's pretty bad.
In the first sequence he would do what I expected - helps out blocking the NT, then looks to pick up the LB in pic# 3...and then in pic #4 the LB is past him. OUCH.

 

[Psycho_X]

Gurley has no faith in the middle of the line. The troubling part is him not seeing outside of where the hole should be. I’m really hoping McVays plan was to limit Gurley through the bye week and then unleash him for the run to and through the playoffs. Hoping for a whole new Gurley post bye.

 

[sjm1582002]

Great write ups Merlin. Thanks for taking the time.

Edwards has some wheels, and did as well as you could expect for a rookie.

Blythe and Allen, well , sleeping through the wake up call is no way to remain a 1st stringer.

I bet we are not done with trades for OL.