Snap Counts, Playing Time And Personnel Analysis

[RamBill]

Snap Counts, Playing Time And Personnel Analysis

By 3k

http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2015/9/14/9325589/st-louis-rams-vs-seattle-seahawks-recap-snap-counts

Here's how the Rams rotated their personnel in the 34-31 OT win.

Offense
Rodger Saffold T 60 100.00%
Rob Havenstein T 60 100.00%
Tim Barnes C 60 100.00%
Nick Foles QB 60 100.00%
Greg Robinson G 60 100.00%
Jamon Brown G 53 88.33%
Jared Cook TE 52 86.67%
Benny Cunningham RB 50 83.33%
Tavon Austin WR 48 80.00%
Kenny Britt WR 46 76.67%
Lance Kendricks TE 41 68.33%
Chris Givens WR 21 35.00%
Cory Harkey TE 19 31.67%
Stedman Bailey WR 19 31.67%
Garrett Reynolds G 8 13.33%
Isaiah Pead RB 3 5.00%

The first big notable here is Tavon Austin's usage which is way up from 2014. Early in the season, he was frequently being used under half of all snaps under Brian Schottenheimer. He finished the season featuring in just over the 50% threshold. Cignetti and Fisher clearly intend to make more use of him, at least for the time being.

Bear in mind, these numbers come without the services of RB Todd Gurley, RB Tre Mason or WR Brian Quick.

Those absences meant the window was open for a lot of two-TE looks with Lance Kendricks and Jared Cook.

No official explanation of the early Garrett Reynolds substitution for Jamon Brown. Between injury, equipment and performance, I don't know which one to favor, but you'd think an equipment issue wouldn't take that long, so...


Defense
T.J. McDonald SS 83 100.00%
Janoris Jenkins CB 83 100.00%
Rodney McLeod FS 83 100.00%
Alec Ogletree LB 83 100.00%
James Laurinaitis LB 83 100.00%
Lamarcus Joyner FS 61 73.49%
Aaron Donald DT 60 72.29%
Marcus Roberson CB 59 71.08%
Robert Quinn DE 54 65.06%
Chris Long DE 54 65.06%
Michael Brockers DT 44 53.01%
William Hayes DE 33 39.76%
Eugene Sims DE 31 37.35%
Ethan Westbrooks DE 25 30.12%
Trumaine Johnson CB 24 28.92%
Mark Barron SS 22 26.51%
Nick Fairley DT 22 26.51%
Akeem Ayers LB 9 10.84%

The Rams are not just a nickel base team. They barely even used Akeem Ayers yesterday.

And the rotation on that D-line is wild. Eight players and all over 25% of snaps. You have to wonder how many teams are going to push tempo on some drives to negate substitutions for the Rams. With a six sack performance like yesterday, even though one of the sacks was by Lamarcus Joyner on the blitz, teams are going to implement strategic impediments to neutralize the pass rush to the maximum degree. Most teams don't have quarterbacks as mobile and as crafty as Russell Wilson. A pocket passer not only would've likely gotten sacked more, but the risk of fumble and injury is higher as well (see: Nick Foles' fumble six...).

The real interesting angle here for me all season is the bottom three guys in that table: S Mark Barron, DT Nick Fairley and LB Akeem Ayers. Those are the only defenders not drafted by the Rams, brought in solely to supplement the starters at their positions. How HC Jeff Fisher and DC Gregg Williams rotate them is going to be interesting especially depending on the opponent.


Special Teams
Cody Davis FS 27 79.41%
Bryce Hager LB 26 76.47%
Cameron Lynch LB 19 55.88%
Bradley Marquez WR 19 55.88%
Maurice Alexander SS 19 55.88%
Cory Harkey TE 18 52.94%
Isaiah Pead RB 16 47.06%
Stedman Bailey WR 14 41.18%
Mark Barron SS 14 41.18%
Garrett Reynolds G 13 38.24%
Marcus Roberson CB 13 38.24%
Demetrius Rhaney C 13 38.24%
Greg Zuerlein K 13 38.24%
T.J. McDonald SS 11 32.35%
Eugene Sims DE 11 32.35%
Janoris Jenkins CB 10 29.41%
Johnny Hekker P 9 26.47%
Jake McQuaide LS 9 26.47%
Lance Kednricks TE 8 23.53%
Robert Quinn DE 8 23.53%
Michael Brockers DT 8 23.53%
William Hayes DE 8 23.53%
Rodney McLeod FS 7 20.59%
Aaron Donald DT 7 20.59%
Rodger Saffold T 6 17.65%
Rob Havenstein T 6 17.65%
Jamon Brown G 6 17.65%
Cody Wichmann G 6 17.65%
Tavon Austin WR 4 11.76%
Chase Reynolds RB 3 8.82%
Trumaine Johnson CB 2 5.88%

That's Bryce Hager, Cameron Lynch and Bradley Marquez showing you how to make a 53-man roster as a UDFA. And of course, shout out to Marquez who had the hands ready on that overtime onside kick that motivated referee Jeff Triplette to tear the entire asunder with his butchery of the NFL rulebook and replay capabilities.

Short sample size, obviously, but we'll have more data to play with over the next few weeks as we see how the Rams adjust to any injuries and begin to implement the currently injured Rams who weren't able to go in week 1.

 

[DR RAM]

Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner: Rodger Saffold T 60 100.00%

 

[RamBill]

Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks: Recap & Game Notes

By misone

http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2015/9/14/9322661/st-louis-rams-seattle-seahawks-recap

In the preseason I said to R.E.L.A.X... and this was the reason. The Rams opened up and more...

The Rams really opened up the play books in week one. This game should have been a blow out. I saw a Seahawks team that simply made impact plays instead of consistently moving the chains. The Rams, however, moved the chains all game long...

LT Greg Robinson is not looking so great. His poor play from the preseason has carried over into the regular season. I tend to believe he has a case of the yips. He performed well in the first two games of the preseason and practice, but after getting beat pretty badly on a couple of snaps he appears to now be thinking too much as his feet does not move. On the first play of the game, WR Tavon Austin should have had at least had 20 yards, and that's if he didn't score from 90. The one issue was Robinson's missed block. If you watch the play again, you see everyone down field has their man locked up. There was nothing but daylight and an injured safety in Earl Thomas 20 yards deep. In a one-on-one situation in open field, my money is on Austin. Robinson also allowed a sack and some pressures, and he allowed a lot of penetration in the first half. He was better in the run the second half.

Speaking of Tavon Austin, I predicted he would go straight West Virginia Mountaineer on that ass. He did. Austin burned Seahawks CB Richard Sherman in the worst way, and QB Nick Foles under threw him. Either way there should have been a pass interference call on Sherman in the end zone putting the Rams on the one yard line. The refs truly blew that call as it was not even close. His punt return was effortless. The most impressive play was his score while running from 16 yards out. He showed great vision, cutting ability, and patience. He cut the ball back with no holes, set up his block on Thomas, and showed off that burst on the cut off the block. Excellent job.

Another pregame prediction was that WR Stedman Bailey would have the catch of the game. He did. It was a timely one. With Sherman draped all over him, with what should have been another pass interference, he reeled in a great catch while taking a well timed blow from Thomas. Not very many people hold on to that ball with so much contact from two defenders. Also it was a helluva throw from Foles, as he demonstrated flawless touch and accuracy.

Nick Foles had a good game. He was everything Jeff Fisher wants from his QB. He managed the game extremely well. I will not nitpick his game as he displayed courage and toughness all game long sitting in the pocket and taking a couple on the chin. He was very patient back there and did an excellent job working the pocket to buy time.

RB Benny Cunningham reminded folks that he has a unique skill set. He rarely allows the first guy to take him down, albeit a broken tackle or shaking the guy out of his shoes. Cunningham has extremely quick feet and he understands how to use them to his advantage in the open field. His ability to come out of the back field and makes plays is one of the most valued factors in a back in today's NFL. Make no mistake about it: if Cunningham doesn't play, Rams don't win. He was my personal player of the game as he continuously bailed the team out on third down and kept the chains moving. Not even Isaiah Pead could piss away his efforts.

The rookies looked good on the line. Jamon Brown carried over his strong camp and preseason. Rob Havenstein looked solid, and aside from a bone head false start Rodger Saffold was the best lineman on the field. Tim Barnes allowed some penetration but overall he was solid.

The Rams finished with only four penalties for 30 yards. That is a very low number, and shows some improvement, at least so far. Still quite a bit of season left, but the penalties were not as dumb as they usually are. Also they didn't come in the absolute worst situations. Let's hope they can keep it up.

Jared Cook came up big in the pass game, but he still wasn't worth watching when blocking. I watched him try to block a LB with his back to him on a run play. That's all I'm choosing to say about him. Lance Kendricks looked good blocking. Actually he looked angry as he was getting after a few guys regularly. And it'd be remiss to not mention his game tying touchdown.

Frank Cignetti was freaking awesome. In the words of Tavon "hey I'm balllllin, I'm Frank Awwwesome!" Cignetti was creative, smart, and unpredictable. He got Austin involved in creative ways, but he also fooled everyone on several occasions when you're almost certain Austin was getting the ball and didn't. He drew up some great decoy plays and they really paid off.

The defense was awesome and it started up front. On the last play of the game, I literally said out loud, Aaron Donald is going to get credit for that tackle because he's Aaron Donald - and he did - but that was all Michael Brockers. Brockers was playing possessed all game. He had penetration on the vast majority of his snaps. That's not to say Aaron Donald wasn't his usual self. He was unstoppable as well. He just made more of the highlight plays, aka sacks. The point here, is the Rams might have the most disruptive interior starters in the NFL. It's a toss up between STL and Buffalo. Robert Quinn and Chris Long we're amazing as well. Quinn had two sacks, yes that's true, but it was the little things they did. They were setting the edges all game long allowing nowhere for Russell Wilson or Marshawn Lynch to run.

The secondary played their best game under Jeff Fisher in my opinion. They were disciplined, didn't have any mental lapse, and good tacklers. Janoris Jenkins basically elimated one side of the field. He was playing some air tight coverage for most of the game. Evident by the lack of pass attempts his way. Tumanine Johnson had what is likely to be one of the best interceptions of the year. I mean there's not much to say here other than, WOW! And how about a round of applause to Marcus Roberson. He came in and did his thing making good, solid, open field tackles. He didn't back down from Jimmy Graham, in fact he shut him down when he was on him. And he had a couple of nice break ups. Rodney McLeod elimated every deep pass Wilson looked for. There were 6 times by my count he was looking deep but McLeod was in position and took away the opportunity. Positioning isn't a stat so it goes unnoticed, but McLeod had a great game in that regard.

The linebackers and safeties might have had the best game. It's really a close call between them and the line, a very very close call. They were filling running lanes like all pros, all game long. They were covering Jimmy Graham allowing him absolutely nothing (except for the touchdown T.J. McDonald gave up). Alec Ogletree and James Laurinaitis were making tackles all over the field. This was the best I have seen this core look from beginning to end in quite some time.

Gregg Williams has this unit playing fast and hard. All eleven guys are consistently running to the ball and gang tackling the opposition. He drew up some stellar blitz, and he is doing a good job of finding ways to get everyone on the field, while running plays that works to that eleven's strengths. However, he does have to calm down a little on his blitzing as he created a few running lanes from excessive use of a few of them. Outside of that, this was a well coached game.

Good game by the Rams, and a great win. The Rams are officially undefeated...

 

[GabesHorn]

Great writeup Best yet. Like making Benny Cunningham POG

 

[TheBunk]

Other than that awful missed tackle Janoris was in straight lock up mode. I don't remember many passes thrown in his direction. Considering he played every snap on defense...damn.

 

[DR RAM]

Pretty good write up, but...

Our defensive secondary did have at least one mental lapse, but it one was really soon after Tru went out, so, I'll give him a break. GR played much better in the 2nd half, but he needs to play better. The whole line needs to play better, but they were not horrible, and will improve.

Benny was great, but he missed a couple huge holes...nitpicking here, but that will be the difference with Gurley. BC has a role though. Even when both of the guys in front of him are healthy. Looked like he took those 80's ankle weights off, for the first time this year.

Cignetti called a good game, but there would have been no end of bitching, if we would have lost, with all the carries that Tavon got from the backfield. Let's be honest.

Just piling on Ogletree, never really seen anyone just throw Lynch down before in the open field, and single handed, and it happened more than once. He played his best game as a Ram.

We put a lot of hits on Wilson, sorry, but he deserves cred for making it out of the game, and I don't know if any other QB would have made it out, or continued to play as well. Barron, deserves to be mentioned, he was a huge part of our plan to contain Wilson. Well done GW!

 

[Force16X]

Roberson stepped up big time. Foles to Bailey was awesome. no fear, right over richard sherman. how about that bradley marquez ? all over on ST's and a great block on Tavon's punt return. Janoris had a real nice block as well. and marquez got pounded on that onside kick (NO PENALTY ??) --ref said it was a LEGAL fair catch. ---, and yet Marquez didnt fumble the ball. cunningham got slammed by a LB and held on as well. (i'm not saying anything else, good reviews today).
why doesnt Stedman get more looks ??? awesome hands. lots of people to spread the ball around to which is a good thing =------how about that TE we have? where's this been since his first game vs the Falcons? wide open all day. and the other TE was pretty good with under a minute left as well.
did either place kicker have a ball NOT in the end zone the whole game??? and why does isiah pead return kicks from 7 yards deep?? he is NOT tony horne. Foles' shovel pass to benny was incredible as i was ready to concede a sack on that play. dang, Ole St Nick Foles is a big guy too. a little more time with pass protection and he will pick teams apart.............297 yards 16/28 vs the #1 defense is great stuff i think.
one more thing as I ramble in post game victory buzz, how on earth can a man (michael brockers) be 6'5" and 326 and be CUT like that??? solid. no fat. thats insanity. hope the rams have the money to resign that big ole run stuffer. and aaron donald. just wow. and dr. quinn is just so fast as well. this may end up being one of the best rams' front four ever (and they've had some damn fine lines).

 

[DR RAM]

one more thing as I ramble in post game victory buzz, how on earth can a man (michael brockers) be 6'5" and 326 and be CUT like that??? solid. no fat. thats insanity. hope the rams have the money to resign that big ole run stuffer. and aaron donald. just wow. and dr. quinn is just so fast as well. this may end up being one of the best rams' front four ever (and they've had some damn fine lines).

Yes, been around a long time, and these are some pretty dynamic guys. Let's give them a few years together, but my God, will anyone want to face us??? And we would have wrecked that game for 95% of the QB's in our league. If it was Zona, they'd be playing their Punter at QB, by the end of the game.