Stafford???

[kurtfaulk]

I just watched the ALL 22 on the first Stafford pick and I have absolutely no clue what he was trying to do.

Right before Stafford threw the ball, OBJ slowed down and was running toward the sideline. Stafford should have easily seen that.

Stafford should have thrown it beyond OBJ and right near the sideline. No 49er player would have been close to the ball and it would have been at worse an incompletion. I will say it was the right throw to attempt though. Stafford had absolutely no one else to throw the ball to.

However, Stafford threw it about 10 yards deeper than OBJ and 10 yards from the sideline where the only closest player was the 49er safety. It was a perfect pass to the safety. It just boggles the mind that Stafford would do something even worse than Goff. At least I knew what Goff was trying to do and would do just a stupid ass throw but it was in the vicinity of the player even though it was overthrown or something like that.

This pass was just plain out horrible. It was not even remotely close to where OBJ was. Never seen a pass that was almost intentionally thrown to another teams player like that.

I have to say it was a good punt.

Right before he threw it

View attachment 49867

Where the pass ended up

View attachment 49868

yeah, when they showed the head on replay during the game obj was clearly heading towards the sideline before stafford began his throwing motion. not sure what was going through his mind.

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[Ramstien]

So if I am understanding everything correctly; the plan should be to wet nurse Stafford before putting him on the formula.

 

[FarNorth]

Didn’t go through every page but ever since that back injury Stafford has been completely off. Regardless, I think McVay needs to script plays, come up with game solid plans (like..with Goff) and let Stafford improvise when the plays break down. Regardless, we need to start running the ball. Whenever we do, we succeed. The balance has just been completely off. It’ll open up everything else if we just have more patience. McVay needs to accept that not every play is going to be a deep completion, no matter how great his QB is.

Agree except that bad backs don't cause bad decisions. If his back is a problem you might think he would be more cautious with his throws.

 

[Ellard80]

AND IT WAS SECOND DOWN!

yeah but it would have been 3rd and 9... worked like a coffin corner punt...

not saying it was a good play but in the grand scheme of the game im not sure it was top 7 most important plays.

 

[Kupped]

yeah but it would have been 3rd and 9... worked like a coffin corner punt...

not saying it was a good play but in the grand scheme of the game im not sure it was top 7 most important plays.

No. He could’ve picked up a couple running.
I’m not buying that thought process at all, especially on second down. It was a ridiculous throw.

 

[Ellard80]

No. He could’ve picked up a couple running.
I’m not buying that thought process at all, especially on second down. It was a ridiculous throw.

have you seen stafford run? Goff could beat him by 3 secs in the 40 i think...

it wasn't a good play.. i just think it wasnt as bad as about 10 other plays that lost the game.

 

[Kupped]

have you seen stafford run? Goff could beat him by 3 secs in the 40 i think...

it wasn't a good play.. i just think it wasnt as bad as about 10 other plays that lost the game.

He could’ve gotten a couple.

I think it was dead awful because he’s coming off a game where his turnovers were the main reason the Rams lost. Just set an awful tone, had no point and cost them any chance at points on the opening drive.

 

[PhillyRam]

You're wrong there chief. Stats are for people who truly keep up with what the fuck someone's doing. But hey. Do you.

The stats certainly meant a lot in Detroit Skippy.

 

[FarNorth]

yeah but it would have been 3rd and 9... worked like a coffin corner punt...

not saying it was a good play but in the grand scheme of the game im not sure it was top 7 most important plays.

Imo it was a terrible play that gave the ball and the initiative to SF at the start of the game. They never looked back. Rams never recovered.

 

[Ellard80]

Imo it was a terrible play that gave the ball and the initiative to SF at the start of the game. They never looked back. Rams never recovered.

they got the ball at the 5 yard line though.. id say the defense letting them drive 95 yards was more what we couldn't recover from

it was a mistake for sure - but it wasnt a killer mistake like the deflected int or allowing two 90 plus yard scoring drives.

 

[FarNorth]

they got the ball at the 5 yard line though.. id say the defense letting them drive 95 yards was more what we couldn't recover from

it was a mistake for sure - but it wasnt a killer mistake like the deflected int or allowing two 90 plus yard scoring drives.

I agree about the resulting drive.

 

[TK42-RAM]

He hasn’t played well over the past two weeks but he hasn’t been our worst player. I wasn’t totally unhappy with Stafford on either of his picks... 5 yard line … if OBJ went right and to the middle he may have been able to make a play. The second pick was on Higbee.

I think the week off will do him some good.

 

[Kupped]

they got the ball at the 5 yard line though.. id say the defense letting them drive 95 yards was more what we couldn't recover from

it was a mistake for sure - but it wasnt a killer mistake like the deflected int or allowing two 90 plus yard scoring drives.

It was a critical mistake and a bonehead one on second down.
It was a killer mistake, to me, because of what they were coming out of and going into a rival game where every possession counts.

 

[oldnotdead]

Stafford is pressing just like Goff was. HMMMM

He knows in the film room McVay will ask him why didn't he press it deep. Just like he rode Jared. I mean is it a coincidence that Jared is great in 2018 then regresses? Stafford is great at the beginning now regresses?

Time for some of that McVay greatness to reveal itself. Time for McVay to do something he should have done with Jared to stop the bleeding. He needs to sit down and find out what's wrong and fix it.

McVay also needs to sit down with Morris and tell him to play more aggressively in the secondary from kickoff till the clock shows zeros at the end of the game. Morris' tendency to be aggressive only to back off is costing games exactly like I said it would. How? He doesn't give the offense to possessions to catch up if they get behind. McVay's offense is predicated that he is never behind. When they are he can't adjust. That also has to change.

People who defend Morris need to look back last year at how basically these same guys routinely forced 3 and outs. Now they are rare. That's all on Morris piss poor coaching.

 

[kurtfaulk]

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[LARAMSinFeb.]

they got the ball at the 5 yard line though.. id say the defense letting them drive 95 yards was more what we couldn't recover from

it was a mistake for sure - but it wasnt a killer mistake like the deflected int or allowing two 90 plus yard scoring drives.

Yep, it was basically a great punt. Then our D was

 

[dieterbrock]

It was a critical mistake and a bonehead one on second down.
It was a killer mistake, to me, because of what they were coming out of and going into a rival game where every possession counts.

And being first to put points on the board is key
That INT was a total disaster, no other way to describe it

 

[Curiousenigma]

Once again I'm not holding my breath waiting for that.

Agreed. I think the reason neither one of us is holding our breath for a running attack is simply because McVay might Galaxy brain himself and think "If I run..that's exactly what they expect me to do to calm down the offense...therefor I better not do what they expect!!"

He will probably pass a note to Morris telling him not to put Jalen on Adams...because they would expect that as well.

 

[Curiousenigma]

Imo it was a terrible play that gave the ball and the initiative to SF at the start of the game. They never looked back. Rams never recovered.

If I sat there saying "Here we go again" after the first pick...you don't think his team was thinking the same thing? You're right...they never recovered because they knew he was trying to play hero ball and get the long touchdown on a scrambly play. Just eliminate it for now like KC had to do for a bit...things will loosen up if you're not forcing it every 5 throws.

Sometimes I worry about teams that say stuff like " We just have to play our game and not worry about what the other teams are trying to do"....that to me is dangerous because the other team is on the field as well and can adapt to you...you need to adapt back.

 

[Prime Time]

McVay needs to establish the run early and often to open up play action moving forward. Offense is to predictable IMO

The All-in Rams Have Hit a Bump in the Road

L.A. has been blown out in consecutive games—just as the team was reloading its roster with Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. But there is a way for the Rams to get back on track, and it begins with Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay.

www.theringer.com

There are a few problems here that the Rams can solve. The first is the offensive line. The Rams are giving up interior pressure because their guards aren’t built to drop anchor against top interior pass rushers. The Rams list starting right guard Austin Corbett at 6-foot-4, 306 pounds; starting left guard David Edwards at 6-foot-6, 308 pounds; and starting center Brian Allen at 6-foot-2, 303 pounds. That’s a remarkably light interior offensive line, emphasizing speed and quickness for the wide-zone rushing attack that typifies the Sean McVay offense. With big, hulking bruisers at guard and center, the Rams’ running game would have to change identity.

But in these last two games, the Rams have fallen into early deficits and have quickly lost the running game—and in their loss to the Cardinals, the Rams’ running game was thriving, but they abandoned it after taking on a two-score deficit in the second quarter. And after setting league-leading marks in play-action passing rate with Jared Goff at the helm, McVay has let Stafford rock from the traditional dropback game—Stafford’s play-action rate of 23.4 percent is 28th in the league.

It’s fine that the Rams aren’t running play-action and instead are just dropping back to pass—remember, Stafford’s still leading the league in EPA per play! But the practice has exposed an incongruity in their team-building. Corbett, Allen, and Edwards made sense as an offensive interior when the Rams were living and dying with a wide zone rushing attack and the play-action boots that develop off of that; now that they no longer need to dedicate themselves to the play-action game to generate a passing offense, those interior blockers are being asked to hold their water in traditional pass protection. They aren’t built for that.

The solution is clear: McVay needs to dust off the ol’ Goff playbook. They don’t have to major in it—that was the whole point of the Stafford trade—but they do need to protect that interior front with run-action that forces defensive linemen to first work horizontally before getting upfield vertically, with the added benefit of moving Stafford out of the pocket.

The Rams need to find a balance between Stafford and McVay, and that, unsurprisingly, is taking more than just a few weeks to figure out. By transforming their attack for their quarterback, L.A. has left behind some crucial aspects of its system, forcing Stafford yet again to try to lift up an offense on his own. McVay can relieve his quarterback of that responsibility by balancing the Stafford-designed offense with the McVay-designed offense, and critically, letting Stafford play in it for all four downs. There’s experimentation to be done here, and a careful balance to be struck; that’s never a pretty process, and with it comes ugly prime-time losses to lesser teams. But McVay and Stafford can find that balance—and if they do, they’ll remain the league’s most dangerous offense entering the playoffs.