Rams Week 1 report card: Grading every position vs. Panthers

[Riverumbbq]

By: Cameron DaSilva | 2 hours ago


The Los Angeles Rams took care of business in Week 1, beating the Carolina Panthers 30-27 on the road Sunday. The Panthers put up a fight and nearly knocked off the defending NFC champions, but Jared Goff’s late touchdown pass helped seal the deal.
As is expected in Week 1, there was some noticeable rust and it took the Rams a little while to get into a rhythm. However, they got things going in the second half, especially on the ground.

Here’s how we graded every position group in the game on Sunday, beginning with Jared Goff at QB.

Quarterback: C+
Jared Goff was not his best on Sunday. He missed open receivers, threw behind targets and…

Running back: A-
Malcolm Brown and Todd Gurley looked like an unstoppable two-headed monster on Sunday, gaining 150 yards…

Wide receiver: B
Robert Woods dropped a catchable pass along the sideline and Brandin Cooks had just two catches…

Tight end: B
Gerald Everett was targeted once, making a good juggling catch for a first down. Tyler Higbee…

Offensive line: A-
Goff was only sacked once on a cornerback blitz and got hit five other times. He…

Defensive line: C+
Aaron Donald had one tackle and one quarterback hit but was shut out of the sack…

Inside linebacker: A
Cory Littleton was the only inside linebacker who played significant snaps and he shined. He’s tied…

Outside linebacker: B+
Dante Fowler Jr. led all NFL players in pass rush win rate Sunday, according to Next…

Cornerback: B
It was an uneventful day for the cornerbacks with Aqib Talib being the only player to…

Safety: B+
Taylor Rapp was all over the field, as was John Johnson, who had 11 total tackles.…

Special teams: C-
Johnny Hekker had a 7-yard punt and one of his other punts blocked in what was…

Rams Week 1 report card: Grading every position vs. Panthers

Jared Goff was shaky on Sunday, but the ground game picked him up.

theramswire.usatoday.com

 

[Riverumbbq]

Los Angeles Rams at Carolina Panthers: What we learned

Some good, some bad, some ugly. What to takeaway from Week 1’s victory on the road.


By Skye Sverdlin@Skyeattolah Sep 10, 2019, 10:48am CDT

Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

In Week 1, Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean McVay looked to set up the ground game with the pass against an average Carolina Panthers secondary.
Here were my big takeaways from the game.

The backfield
Carries will apparently be increasingly distributed throughout the Rams running back stable, but it seems Todd Gurley is still capable of being a contributor within the Rams offense. While Gurley’s burst and general mojo didn’t seem quite on par with guys like Christian McCaffrey, Marlon Mack and Saquon Barkley in the opening week, he remains a smart running back who knows where to be within one of the best offensive schemes around. As far as burst and mojo go, I’d imagine that will change on a week-to-week basis with Gurley.
As far as the other carries go, it was interesting to see familiar face Malcolm Brown get far more shine than the team’s much ballyhooed rookie running back Darrell Henderson, Jr. Brown had 11 carries, while Henderson only had 1 following a generally underwhelming preseason for Henderson although that may have been mostly attributable to the vanilla playbook and backup line that was used.
It seems like this sort of distribution of carries could be common this season. What we don’t know is whether it will be enough to help Gurley to feel fresh in December and January.
Only time will tell.

What about Cooper Kupp and the new offensive line?
Kupp was back, and he quickly reminded us of why he’s so valuable to the Rams’ offense. While tight ends Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett remain occasional targets for Goff, Kupp always seems to find space on intermediate routes.
The Rams’ offensive line mostly got the job done and should improve throughout the first half of the season. They didn’t play during the preseason, and that matters for an offensive line. RT Rob Havenstein wasn’t quite himself, occasionally surrendering pressure off the right side. New C Brian Allen wasn’t perfect, but his spunk was evident. And new LG Joseph Noteboom clearly isn’t a mauler yet, but he is quite mobile and can get out in front on zone run schemes outside the hash marks. It would be nice to see him crush a few DBs while he’s out there.

On defense
It was interesting to see DT Aaron Donald and EDGE Dante Fowler, Jr., apply the smash-and-dash repeatedly, where Donald would absorb a couple Panther linemen and Fowler would reap the rewards of space. If Fowler can continue to find his way into the backfield, he may command a bit more attention which could send some benefits back Donald’s way.
As far a Clay Matthews debut, he was gifted a sack on Panthers miscue, but didn’t provide a lot of pressure otherwise. It will be interesting to see if the team decides to activate EDGE Ogbonnia Okoronkwo this week to help bother QB Drew Brees as the Rams host the New Orleans Saints.
Overall, the defense had a decent outing despite all of running back McCaffrey’s yardage. He had a big day, but things didn’t generally feel too out of control. The secondary played well, and big plays by LB Cory Littleton and EDGE Samson Ebukam came in handy. This is the Rams’ defense. They’ll give up some yardage, but often come up with enough game changing plays to help McVay’s offense out.

And the Saints come marching in...
All in all, if the special teams clean up their act, and QB Jared Goff can settle into rhythm, things should look a bit better for the Rams in Week 2. Despite the Saints’ reputation as a bonafide contender, hosting them after a regular season tune-up almost feels preferable to a humid slugfest in Charlotte coming off no preseason action for the starters. We’ll see what that means on the scoreboard.

Los Angeles Rams at Carolina Panthers: What we learned

Some good, some bad, some ugly. What to takeaway from Week 1’s victory on the road.

www.turfshowtimes.com

 

[FaulkSF]

Please, no more Reeder and Christian on ST. These guys had big whiffs this weekend that could have resulted in a loss.

 

[Merlin]

Splitting hairs but I'd go B+ with the OL. They didn't have an A type performance, wasn't room to run for much of the game and there were too many pressures for me to say they dominated. Would give them the B+ because they did wear down the Carolina front.

And teams would get a D-. Worst game I've seen from them in a long time tbh. That blocked punt almost cost us the game and let the Panthers back in it.

 

[CGI_Ram]

And teams would get a D-. Worst game I've seen from them in a long time tbh. That blocked punt almost cost us the game and let the Panthers back in it.

GZ nailed some important ones early. That helps the overall performance.

They really had a bad stretch with the FG miss and blocked punt. That puts it toward D category for me too.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Los Angeles Rams at Carolina Panthers: Game notes

After ripping through the all-22, we’ve come away with some interesting notes.


By Sosa Kremenjas@QBsMVP Sep 11, 2019, 10:00am CDT

Photo by Dannie Walls/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

After getting a chance to delve deep into the coaches film, I’ve come away with some interesting notes on the Los Angeles Rams’ plans against the Carolina Panthers in week one. Let’s jump right into them:

• The Rams routinely rotated the safety trio of Eric Weddle, John Johnson III, and Taylor Rapp in different positions (LOS, man coverage, deep coverage). More often than not they had JJ3 play the deep role and Weddle/Rapp closer to the line of scrimmage. First 3rd-and-long they had Weddle in the box, Rapp/JJ3 deep running quarters
• 
  
• DL Michael Brockers, ILB Bryce Hager, and EDGE Clay Matthews all routinely lined up on the strongside of the offensive formation, with DL Aaron Donald, ILB Cory Littleton, and EDGE Dante Fowler Jr. on the weakside
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• Bryce Hager played a solid-but-unspectacular game. Did a good job funneling runs inside and is pretty good at disengaging on blocks. Had one rep where QB Cam Newton got Hager to bite hard on an RPO which was a big gain
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• Clay Matthews was outstanding as a run defender, though non-existent as a pass rusher. He was brilliant playing contain on the edge the entire contest
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• QB Jared Goff was never comfortable for whatever reason, he simply missed too many throws. There were a handful of instances where he had a free guy running that he didn’t throw to
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• WR Josh Reynolds had a very bad game, though he played much more than expected
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• EDGE Dante Fowler Jr. had a good-not-great game. His two sacks were simple (untouched stunt, beat a running back) though he did have around three or four impressive rushes
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• Don’t be the least bit worried about DT Aaron Donald. The Panthers routinely doubled and triple teamed him, threw it quick, and did anything they could to negate his impact..... and he was still good.

• OL Joseph Noteboom and Brian Allen were up-and-down in their first NFL starts, though there were definitely encouraging signs. There were reps where both looked great in pass pro, typically double teaming defensive lineman. Noteboom did have some solo reps in pass pro where he looked great. In the run department, there were multiple instances where Allenlatched onto his defender and opened a gap.
• 
  
• Wanted to see a better game from the cornerbacks, especially Marcus Peters

LA Rams at Carolina Panthers: Game notes

After ripping through the all-22, we’ve come away with some interesting notes.

www.turfshowtimes.com

 

[Merlin]

The Rams routinely rotated the safety trio of Eric Weddle, John Johnson III, and Taylor Rapp in different positions (LOS, man coverage, deep coverage). More often than not they had JJ3 play the deep role and Weddle/Rapp closer to the line of scrimmage. First 3rd-and-long they had Weddle in the box, Rapp/JJ3 deep running quarters

I think that's pretty shrewd use of the safeties. Rapp & Weddle rolled up tight is a fearsome duo, intelligent and great tacklers. JJ deep is gonna be a lot better than when they had to keep Joyner back there, like the pass he was late to disrupt that should have cost us the NFC Championship game. IMO the Saints are gonna have a harder time catching us in the passing game looks they want with those three safeties out there.

OL Joseph Noteboom and Brian Allen were up-and-down in their first NFL starts, though there were definitely encouraging signs. There were reps where both looked great in pass pro, typically double teaming defensive lineman. Noteboom did have some solo reps in pass pro where he looked great. In the run department, there were multiple instances where Allen latched onto his defender and opened a gap.

Boom is going to have to be able to hold things down for the most part in pass pro by himself. That's gonna be important, to allow for Allen to help Blythe. Matchup will dictate of course, and I'm confident Boom will end up as one of the better pass pro OGs this season once he gets settled in.

IMO the Saints' strength on the DL is their DEs. I expect the Rams to match up well with them on the interior OL which is why we'll see a lot of fun and games in the form of A gap blitz calls and faked looks pre-snap to confuse our young interior.

 

[LesBaker]

And teams would get a D-. Worst game I've seen from them in a long time tbh. That blocked punt almost cost us the game and let the Panthers back in it.

GZ nailed some important ones early. That helps the overall performance.

They really had a bad stretch with the FG miss and blocked punt. That puts it toward D category for me too.

I'm leaning that way too because Hekker's 7 yard punt was tipped I think. They were getting close to him the entire game.

If the missed FG was from over 50 I get it, but a 41 yarder for Legatron is a layup for him.

 

[Merlin]

Love this play btw. Could run it in shotgun as well (which is where I think it was copied from) with a quick forward flip of the ball:

View: https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ForsakenWelllitCollardlizard-mobile.mp4

 

[RamsFanCK]

Love this play btw. Could run it in shotgun as well (which is where I think it was copied from) with a quick forward flip of the ball:

View: https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ForsakenWelllitCollardlizard-mobile.mp4

Yeah that lane was gorgeous, definitely needs to be a staple. Its gonna make the action in the backfield that much harder to decipher for the opponent

 

[Zaphod]

Love this play btw. Could run it in shotgun as well (which is where I think it was copied from) with a quick forward flip of the ball:

View: https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ForsakenWelllitCollardlizard-mobile.mp4

Beautiful play, Kupp drew the strong safety out of the box when he motioned and he was obviously blocking the corner, but was Cooks a hand off and or flat route option on that or just a misdirection?

 

[bomebadeeda]

Love this play btw. Could run it in shotgun as well (which is where I think it was copied from) with a quick forward flip of the ball:

View: https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ForsakenWelllitCollardlizard-mobile.mp4

I have been waiting for this play. It was so obvious as a counter to the "flip" play. We tried a version last year to Everett last year the other way, but it got plugged up real quick. This one certainly played against the strengths of Carolina.

 

[Varg6]

I'd really love to see a jet sweep pass from Cooks to Woods or something. I was kind of hoping to see something like that from the Super Bowl. Just a play that we haven't seen at all.

 

[RhodyRams]

I'd really love to see a jet sweep pass from Cooks to Woods or something. I was kind of hoping to see something like that from the Super Bowl. Just a play that we haven't seen at all.

I think we will be seeing a lot of plays we havent seen yet. McVay is always thinking and creating new offensive looks/plays that the league hasnt seen yet.

Mike Martz 2.0

 

[Mojo Ram]

Love this play btw. Could run it in shotgun as well (which is where I think it was copied from) with a quick forward flip of the ball:

View: https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ForsakenWelllitCollardlizard-mobile.mp4

Higs and Boom executed nicely to make that run pop.
That was a new play i hadn't seen yet.

 

[fearsomefour]

Love this play btw. Could run it in shotgun as well (which is where I think it was copied from) with a quick forward flip of the ball:

View: https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ForsakenWelllitCollardlizard-mobile.mp4

This was a beautifully disguised play.

 

[Rainram]

I liked that play too, but Keuchly bit way too hard on the run. The whole right side of their defense chased Gurley. There was plenty of help over there, I’m surprised Keuchly didn’t fill that gap to his left, which likely would have made that play less successful. I realize what they called on defense but with all our motions and extra bodies to his side, I’m gonna say he blew that one.

(And he’s one of my favorite linebackers in the league)