Studs and duds from Rams' deflating loss to Cowboys

[Riverumbbq]

Cameron DaSilva

1 hour ago
The Rams were embarrassed in Dallas on Sunday, getting blown out 44-21 by the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in one of the biggest games of Los Angeles’ season. They scored 14 of their 21 points in the final four minutes when the game was already out of reach, doing very little well on offense or defense.
As a result, our studs and duds are pretty lopsided. There weren’t many players who stood out for the right reasons, while several others had poor showings on a big stage in Arlington.

Studs

Tyler Higbee
Higbee once again stuffed the stat sheet, this time catching a career-high 12 passes with 111 yards receiving. He had a great 26-yard reception to set up the Rams’ first touchdown, once again on a designed rollout for Jared Goff where he sat down in the zone, coming wide open. A good portion of his production came when the game was already out of hand and the Rams padded the stats in garbage time, but it was another productive game for Higbee.

Darious Williams and Jalen Ramsey
Excluding Tavon Austin’s 59-yard touchdown, the Cowboys’ wide receivers combined for just three catches for 22 yards. Amari Cooper was held to only 19 yards on one catch, while Michael Gallup caught one pass for 6 yards. Williams and Ramsey played well enough to slow down the Cowboys’ wideouts, but Dak Prescott beat them in other ways with his backs and tight ends.


Duds

Jared Goff
Goff’s stat line doesn’t seem all that bad (284 yards, two touchdowns, one interception), but he was not very good. He missed Brandin Cooks, who was open on an out route on the first drive, and also underthrew receivers over the middle. His interception to Sean Lee was especially bad, and was a turning point in the game.

Todd Gurley
Gurley carried it 11 times for 20 yards, and although he had two touchdowns and a two-point conversion, he appeared to lack explosiveness out of the backfield and was indecisive in the hole. He was running with two hands on the ball often, too, which was surprising. He didn’t get any help from his offensive line, but Gurley didn’t make anyone miss, either.

Sean McVay
Ultimately, part of this loss falls on the coaches – beginning with McVay. The Rams looked unprepared, slow out of the gate and lacked effort on both sides of the ball, which typically falls on the coach. McVay has never had trouble getting his players ready, but that seemed like an issue on Sunday.

Dante Fowler Jr. and Clay Matthews
The Rams never got very close to Dak Prescott. Fowler had six tackles, but he never hit Prescott once and didn’t record any stops behind the line. Matthews also had six tackles and one for a loss, but as a pass rusher, he did very little. Overall, the pass rush was underwhelming and did nothing to help the rest of the defense.

Defensive line
When an opponent rushes for 267 yards, the defensive line deserves a lot of the blame. The defensive front was pushed off the line regularly and got no penetration against the Cowboys’ offensive line, which gave Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard big running lanes. Aaron Donald was even held in check as a pass rusher, while Sebastian Joseph-Day and Michael Brockers did very little against the run or pass, either.

Studs and duds from Rams' deflating loss to Cowboys

The Rams were embarrassed in Dallas and now have almost no chance of making the playoffs.

theramswire.usatoday.com

 

[Riverumbbq]

Five takeaways from the Rams' 44-21 loss in Dallas

Steve Rebeiro
5 hours ago

The Rams failed to show up in Week 15 in a must-win game against the Dallas Cowboys. They were dominated on both sides of the ball in a 44-21 rout by the Cowboys. Here’s a few takeaways from the Rams’ likely season-ending loss in Dallas.

Rams never recovered from disastrous second quarter

The Rams might as well have just stayed in Los Angeles this week. It didn’t look like they had any desire to try and beat the Cowboys this week.
The Rams scored a touchdown early in the quarter. That was the extent of positive things to happen to the Rams in said quarter. Former Ram Tavon Austin scored a 59 yard touchdown the following drive on a play where Dante Fowler could have had a sack and Taylor Rapp leveled the man defending Austin.
Next, the Rams went three-and-out, but Hekker was able to pin the Cowboys at their own three yard line. That didn’t matter. Dallas embarked on an eight minute, 14 play drive that resulted in a touchdown. The Rams got the ball back right after the two minute warning, and Goff tossed a brutal interception on the second play of the drive.
Then came the icing on the cake. After stopping Dallas on third down following the interception, Michael Brockers was called for illegal use of hands and the Cowboys scored a touchdown on the next play.
Neither side of the ball picked it up in the second half until the Rams had two garbage-time touchdown drives. It was a quarter that basically ended the Rams’ season. The Rams never recovered from a 59 yard touchdown by Tavon Austin.

Goff struggles behind poor offensive line play
The story of the season for the Rams has been the offensive lines struggles, and Goff’s struggles as a result. It’s been plaguing the team all year even if the line has improved in recent weeks. The group failed to protect their quarterback and didn’t give Gurley any room to run against the Cowboys. As a result, the offense was predictably bad.

Goff finished the day with 284 yards and two touchdowns, but 126 of those yards and both touchdowns came on the final two garbage-time drives of the game. We saw the same mistakes we always see when Goff struggles. He missed a few receivers and made a few questionable throws. His interception late in the second quarter was intercepted by Sean Lee, an inside linebacker. Lee wasn’t even the only player that had a shot of intercepting the football.

The offensive line deserves some of the blame for Goff’s struggles. But no quarterback is going to play behind a perfect offensive line every game of their career. Goff needs to adapt in situations like this. He can’t continue to miss throws and turn the ball over like he has this season. The Rams won’t succeed in the future if he does.

Tyler Higbee continues hot streak
Tyler Higbee was one of the few bright spots for the Rams in Sunday’s loss. For the third straight week, Higbee tallied at least seven receptions and had over 100 yards. Higbee finished the game with a career-high 12 receptions on 14 targets for 111 yards. He’s looked well-worth the contract extension he received from the Rams over the past three games. Higbee is one of the few Rams’ players trending upwards heading into 2020.

Higbee did pat his stats a bit in garbage time, but he still had seven receptions for 70 yards prior to the final two drives. He was the team’s best offensive player all day long.

Wade Phillips’ defense can’t be trusted week-to-week

The Rams defense has been wildly inconsistent under defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. You never know which unit will show up. Last week, they looked like one of the best units in the NFL. This week, they were one of the worst.

Not only did Ezekiel Elliot run all over the Rams defense on Sunday, but even backup running back Tony Pollard piled up 131 yards on 12 rushes. Dak Prescott didn’t have to do much in Sunday’s win, but he still completed 15 of his 23 passes, threw two touchdowns, didn’t turn the ball over and was never sacked. It was a walk in the park for an offense that had been struggling mightily heading into this game.

The defense comes to play more often than not under Wade Phillips. But you simply can’t expect them to be elite every single week. This is the second time in four weeks that they’ve been lifeless. They could lose the game for the Rams on any given Sunday.

Highly unlikely the Rams make the playoffs

It might seem obvious, but this loss essentially buries the Rams’ playoff chances.

The Rams have to win out now to have a chance at making the playoffs. That means they need to take care of San Francisco next week and Arizona the week after. They’d also need the Vikings to lose to both the Packers and the Bears to end the season.

Given how the Rams played this week and how the Vikings have played all season, neither of these things are likely to happen. It will take a true holiday miracle for the Rams to sneak into the playoffs as the six seed.

Five takeaways from the Rams' 44-21 loss in Dallas

The Rams suffered a brutal defeat at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys this week. Here’s a few takeaways from the loss.

theramswire.usatoday.com

 

[Riverumbbq]

Aaron Donald on loss to Cowboys: 'We got embarrassed'

Cameron DaSilva
47 minutes ago

There’s no way to put lightly how terrible the Rams looked on Sunday in Dallas. They were run over by the Cowboys 44-21, and the final score wasn’t indicative of how lopsided the actual game was. With just under seven minutes left in the game, the Rams trailed 37-7 before scoring two touchdowns in garbage time to draw the score closer.
Whether it was the offense or defense, Los Angeles looked uninspired and flat out of the gates, missing tackles and allowing Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard to run wild from start to finish, while simultaneously failing to get anything going on offense.

Aaron Donald knows how poorly the Rams played against Dallas, calling it an embarrassing loss.

While the execution was poor on the Rams’ part, so was the preparation. For a team that took it to the Cardinals and Seahawks in the last two weeks, Los Angeles sure didn’t look like the same squad on Sunday.
The defense, in particular, was outmatched against the Cowboys. The line got no push, the outside linebackers generated very little pressure and Dallas took advantage of the Rams’ lapses.

Aaron Donald on loss to Cowboys: 'We got embarrassed'

Aaron Donald was brutally honest after the Rams’ loss to the Cowboys on Sunday.

theramswire.usatoday.com

 

[oldnotdead]

Blythe was a disaster, and as I predicted they targeted him and he showed once again as he has his entire career that he simply struggles to block one on one. So bench him next to Rob and play Shelton or Brewer.

Also, both Edwards and Evans showed what I've known that they both are out of position and their play showed it. Sorry guys but I'm laying this at Kromer's feet. He of all people should know what is plainly evident in the game film that changes needed and still need to be made on the O-line. Blythe can't block one on one and he's extremely vulnerable to stunts and delayed blitzes. Every damn defense is targeting him as the weakness in the center of the o-line. Made me sick to watch it again and again.

Also, it was plainly evident that Whit is done....period. I said it the last couple of weeks, if Kromer doesn't make changes Goff will get hurt and he did.

Mathews needs to sit as well for that matter. Samson in his limited snaps keeps outplaying the old man. Enough already. Mathews keeps missing tackles because he's grabbing at the ball not the player. He proved what I've been saying about him, he's soft at the POA. They ran through him and around him all game.

Reberio and DaSilva are know nothing hacks. It's not the DC, it's the players. Time to let Long play which will allow him to quit playing zone. This isn't a zone team. But he needs another CB to play man on the boundary. He needs a guy like Young as a coverage LB. SJD is a dumpster fire who keeps showing he can't get off a block and he missed at least 3 tackles just in the first half alone.

Okay for the rest of the season they need to play Brockers at NT and Ogbo at DE. Sorry but the SJD experiment has busted. He's not even rotational backup talent. Sit Mathews and let Ebukam go back to being the starter at SAM. Mathews can't play same and the Packers could see it and moved him inside. But he can't cover so just sit the guy as wasted money. This is what I think they are projecting their starting defense to be next year so why not play it now and let the guys make their rookie mistakes this year and be ready to go next season. Johnson is on IR so it's Christian now.

DE Okoronkwo
NT Brockers
DT Donald
WIL (Rush LB) Fowler
SAM Ebukam
MOILB Young
MIKE Littleton
CB's Ramsey, Long
Safeties Rapp, Christian (Johnson)

On offense the o-line is a mess right now without Noteboom and Allen. But given who they have this is what I think they should do. Corbett, Evans & Edwards are projected to be the starters next year so play them. But move Evans and Edwards to their more natural fits. They are out of position where they are now and it showed today. Ultimately I think they will have a decent o-line if everyone can stay healthy. Brewer can play OT and OG and will be your game day primary reserve. If Shelton goes down they can then play Blythe or better yet move Brewer to LG and Corbett to center. Teams are doing a lot of stunting because they know Blythe is the weak link. It simply makes it harder on the rest of the o-line.

LT Witworth (Noteboom)
LG Corbett
C Shelton (Allen)
RG Evans
RT Edwards

Use the rest of the year to season your players to build upon going into next season. If Kromer can't see this than he's the problem. IMO he's been the problem all season. He was slow to recognize he needed to change the blocking scheme. Once he did the run game began to show life. The problem is he has a dumpster fire in the middle of the line and he's ignoring it. If he can't get it sorted out he needs to go. I'm not the coach, yet I saw the problem day one, in Blythe and Havenstein and the blocking scheme. Kromer is in charge of the o-line and RBs, and that has been the downfall of this team all year. If an amateur like me could see it why didn't he? I don't have his game vids only TV yet I could see it plain as day.

 

[SteveBrown]

Uh oh, Evans bad-talk? But, just last week the board decided he is awesome. What happened--didn't see game?

 

[So Ram]

Cameron DaSilva

1 hour ago
The Rams were embarrassed in Dallas on Sunday, getting blown out 44-21 by the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in one of the biggest games of Los Angeles’ season. They scored 14 of their 21 points in the final four minutes when the game was already out of reach, doing very little well on offense or defense.
As a result, our studs and duds are pretty lopsided. There weren’t many players who stood out for the right reasons, while several others had poor showings on a big stage in Arlington.

Studs

Tyler Higbee
Higbee once again stuffed the stat sheet, this time catching a career-high 12 passes with 111 yards receiving. He had a great 26-yard reception to set up the Rams’ first touchdown, once again on a designed rollout for Jared Goff where he sat down in the zone, coming wide open. A good portion of his production came when the game was already out of hand and the Rams padded the stats in garbage time, but it was another productive game for Higbee.

Darious Williams and Jalen Ramsey
Excluding Tavon Austin’s 59-yard touchdown, the Cowboys’ wide receivers combined for just three catches for 22 yards. Amari Cooper was held to only 19 yards on one catch, while Michael Gallup caught one pass for 6 yards. Williams and Ramsey played well enough to slow down the Cowboys’ wideouts, but Dak Prescott beat them in other ways with his backs and tight ends.


Duds

Jared Goff
Goff’s stat line doesn’t seem all that bad (284 yards, two touchdowns, one interception), but he was not very good. He missed Brandin Cooks, who was open on an out route on the first drive, and also underthrew receivers over the middle. His interception to Sean Lee was especially bad, and was a turning point in the game.

Todd Gurley
Gurley carried it 11 times for 20 yards, and although he had two touchdowns and a two-point conversion, he appeared to lack explosiveness out of the backfield and was indecisive in the hole. He was running with two hands on the ball often, too, which was surprising. He didn’t get any help from his offensive line, but Gurley didn’t make anyone miss, either.

Sean McVay
Ultimately, part of this loss falls on the coaches – beginning with McVay. The Rams looked unprepared, slow out of the gate and lacked effort on both sides of the ball, which typically falls on the coach. McVay has never had trouble getting his players ready, but that seemed like an issue on Sunday.

Dante Fowler Jr. and Clay Matthews
The Rams never got very close to Dak Prescott. Fowler had six tackles, but he never hit Prescott once and didn’t record any stops behind the line. Matthews also had six tackles and one for a loss, but as a pass rusher, he did very little. Overall, the pass rush was underwhelming and did nothing to help the rest of the defense.

Defensive line
When an opponent rushes for 267 yards, the defensive line deserves a lot of the blame. The defensive front was pushed off the line regularly and got no penetration against the Cowboys’ offensive line, which gave Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard big running lanes. Aaron Donald was even held in check as a pass rusher, while Sebastian Joseph-Day and Michael Brockers did very little against the run or pass, either.

Studs and duds from Rams' deflating loss to Cowboys

The Rams were embarrassed in Dallas and now have almost no chance of making the playoffs.

theramswire.usatoday.com

time to play Greg Gaines

 

[So Ram]

Uh oh, Evans bad-talk? But, just last week the board decided he is awesome. What happened--didn't see game?

Didn’t see game either . Why didn’t Big Rob start ?? From what was said is Goff had time to throw & just couldn’t hit the front side of a barn against the Cowboys helping a rumble at the oaky corral.

Sad performance!! Just SAD !!

Williams & Ramsey got credit for playing well. Eric Weddle got blasted. Was wondering about T Hills play ?

 

[shovelpass]

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2019/12/16/nfl-rams-cowboys-week-15-snap-counts/

Rams Week 15 snap counts: McVay reverts to 11 personnel vs. Cowboys

The Los Angeles Rams were having a great deal of success in recent weeks by utilizing more 12 personnel to get two tight ends on the field at a time. Tyler Higbee had two straight 100-yard games and Todd Gurley had rushed for 174 yards on 42 carries in the Rams’ last two wins.

In Sunday’s 44-21 loss to the Cowboys, Sean McVay went back to his roots and reverted to his heavy 11 personnel usage. The Rams leaned on their trio of starting receivers, as well as a dash of Josh Reynolds.


The result? Only 289 net yards and 20 yards rushing by Gurley. Needless to say, McVay’s game plan didn’t work the way he had hoped, partly because the execution was poor. He likely wanted to attack the Cowboys’ linebackers in the passing game, specifically Jaylon Smith, but it didn’t exactly go according to plan.

Here are the snap counts from Sunday’s drubbing in Dallas.

Offense

After only playing only 29% of the snaps last week against the Seahawks, Cooper Kupp returned to his more typical usage. He played 92% on Sunday, which was the second-most among Rams receivers. Robert Woods didn’t miss a snap, while Brandin Cooks played 71%. Reynolds chipped in 26 plays, catching two passes for 36 yards.

Johnny Mundt only played 11 snaps against Dallas, which was one of the bigger surprises. He’s a great blocking tight end and helps the ground game a lot. Tyler Higbee also only played 86%, too, so he came off the field more than expected.

Todd Gurley was rarely spelled in the backfield, playing all but three snaps. Malcolm Brown was out there for the three plays Gurley missed but did not receive a carry or target.

Defense

Just as it was somewhat surprising that the Rams leaned on 11 personnel offensively, they also went back to their base defense more often this week. Cory Littleton played 96% of the snaps, but Troy Reeder was out there for 53% and Travin Howard 11%, as well. Reeder hadn’t played more than 50% in a game since Week 6 prior to Sunday. The Rams tried to match Dallas’ personnel, which featured a lot of two-tight end sets.

Darious Williams had to replace Troy Hill, who left the game after only eight snaps due to a thumb injury. Williams played well in his 61 snaps, allowing very little from the Cowboys’ receivers. Nickell Robey-Coleman only played 33 snaps (47%).

Aaron Donald played 83% of the snaps to lead the defensive line, followed by 67% for Michael Brockers. Sebastian Joseph-Day was used frequently in an attempt to counter Dallas’ run game, playing 56% of the snaps. Morgan Fox, Greg Gaines and Tanzel Smart were on the field for 36%, 30% and 17%, respectively.

Samson Ebukam remains the No. 3 edge rusher, while Ogbonnia Okoronkwo struggles to get playing time with Clay Matthews back since the bye.

 

[kurtfaulk]

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2019/12/16/nfl-rams-cowboys-week-15-snap-counts/

Rams Week 15 snap counts: McVay reverts to 11 personnel vs. Cowboys

The Los Angeles Rams were having a great deal of success in recent weeks by utilizing more 12 personnel to get two tight ends on the field at a time. Tyler Higbee had two straight 100-yard games and Todd Gurley had rushed for 174 yards on 42 carries in the Rams’ last two wins.

In Sunday’s 44-21 loss to the Cowboys, Sean McVay went back to his roots and reverted to his heavy 11 personnel usage. The Rams leaned on their trio of starting receivers, as well as a dash of Josh Reynolds.


The result? Only 289 net yards and 20 yards rushing by Gurley. Needless to say, McVay’s game plan didn’t work the way he had hoped, partly because the execution was poor. He likely wanted to attack the Cowboys’ linebackers in the passing game, specifically Jaylon Smith, but it didn’t exactly go according to plan.

Here are the snap counts from Sunday’s drubbing in Dallas.

Offense

After only playing only 29% of the snaps last week against the Seahawks, Cooper Kupp returned to his more typical usage. He played 92% on Sunday, which was the second-most among Rams receivers. Robert Woods didn’t miss a snap, while Brandin Cooks played 71%. Reynolds chipped in 26 plays, catching two passes for 36 yards.

Johnny Mundt only played 11 snaps against Dallas, which was one of the bigger surprises. He’s a great blocking tight end and helps the ground game a lot. Tyler Higbee also only played 86%, too, so he came off the field more than expected.

Todd Gurley was rarely spelled in the backfield, playing all but three snaps. Malcolm Brown was out there for the three plays Gurley missed but did not receive a carry or target.

Defense

Just as it was somewhat surprising that the Rams leaned on 11 personnel offensively, they also went back to their base defense more often this week. Cory Littleton played 96% of the snaps, but Troy Reeder was out there for 53% and Travin Howard 11%, as well. Reeder hadn’t played more than 50% in a game since Week 6 prior to Sunday. The Rams tried to match Dallas’ personnel, which featured a lot of two-tight end sets.

Darious Williams had to replace Troy Hill, who left the game after only eight snaps due to a thumb injury. Williams played well in his 61 snaps, allowing very little from the Cowboys’ receivers. Nickell Robey-Coleman only played 33 snaps (47%).

Aaron Donald played 83% of the snaps to lead the defensive line, followed by 67% for Michael Brockers. Sebastian Joseph-Day was used frequently in an attempt to counter Dallas’ run game, playing 56% of the snaps. Morgan Fox, Greg Gaines and Tanzel Smart were on the field for 36%, 30% and 17%, respectively.

Samson Ebukam remains the No. 3 edge rusher, while Ogbonnia Okoronkwo struggles to get playing time with Clay Matthews back since the bye.

it was a strange decision by mcvay. if goff was on it might have worked but it was apparent from the very first series that goff was a little off. and as the game continued he started to become way off.

plus they couldn't run out of that formation because gurley was getting hit behind the line of scrimmage. they were back to the same problems that haunted this offense throughout this season. to compound it the defense was having a horrible day, again.

why wouldn't he revert back to what worked against the seafucks? he gave it a shot but the 11 personnel wasn't working. just mix it up a bit to see what would happen.

.

 

[shovelpass]

it was a strange decision by mcvay. if goff was on it might have worked but it was apparent from the very first series that goff was a little off. and as the game continued he started to become way off.

plus they couldn't run out of that formation because gurley was getting hit behind the line of scrimmage. they were back to the same problems that haunted this offense throughout this season. to compound it the defense was having a horrible day, again.

why wouldn't he revert back to what worked against the seafucks? he gave it a shot but the 11 personnel wasn't working. just mix it up a bit to see what would happen.

.

Yeah it was a little odd, especially since the boys were down on LBs a 2 TE set could take advantage of that. Possibly stubbornness on Mcvay's part? Dunno, some of it does fall on the players not executing. He and the whole team looked to be in a funk. Maybe it's the high from beating SEA.

 

[Tano]

Mathews needs to sit as well for that matter. Samson in his limited snaps keeps outplaying the old man. Enough already. Mathews keeps missing tackles because he's grabbing at the ball not the player. He proved what I've been saying about him, he's soft at the POA. They ran through him and around him all game.

I was telling my wife that Matthews needs to be out of the game on first down. He is a decent pass rusher and can be in the game if it is second or third and long but he should not be in there on first down.

 

[Tano]

time to play Greg Gaines

I kept seeing SDJ get run over left and right. Williams D does not work unless they have a big guy at nose tackle who can take on 2 guys and be a run stopper.

I kept wondering when are they going to put in Greg because SDJ was not doing the job this game.

 

[Jacobarch]

Surprise surprise McVay went back to 11 personnel and got beat. It almost looked like he just watched last years playoff win and went to same exact gameplan and the cowboys knew it. Lol

Simple McVay needs a good OC to help out game planning. The NFL coaches are too smart to let him have his way every week

 

[wolfdogg]

Coaches were definitely duds. How on earth does he go back to what wasnt working in previous losses while not using what was working in our last 2 dominating wins. Especially after the first quarter. How can he not make the adjustment to 12 personnel when needed or when 11 isnt getting it done. Just mind boggling and frustrating.

 

[KJD_Ram]

Not 1 jet sweep, only a couple of designed roll-outs....having Goff drop straight back, with limited protection was a disaster....and on D, the missed tackles were not just poor, but devastatingly so...on to Frisco, I'll be watching...

 

[Flatlyner]

Having Gurley just slam into the middle of the line over an over again was ridiculous. He can and has hit the outside corner and gained yards, particularly when the defense is stacking the inside, knowing you will be running there. Was an absolutely atrocious play calling game on both offense and defense. I think Wade Phillips 3-4 is outdated and should be shelved. They made no meaningful adjustments at half time, which is utterly baffling when getting dominated in the first half.

And can we see Henderson run the ball a few times a game? Is that too much to ask for a 3rd round pick? IMO, he has more pop and burst then Gurley, and its not close. What did we have to lose giving him a shot?

Goff continues to piss the bed whenever he has pressure. Somethings never change. Good/great QB's recognize the pressure and adjust or hit the hot route and get rid of it.

One thing is certain, we definitely don't deserve to be in the playoffs with performances like that, especially against a team that had been playing rather poorly prior.

 

[dieterbrock]

Goff was not good, and missed several throws.
That said, I do believe his arm was hit on that INT

 

[Ram77]

It was literally like driving your car into a brick wall over and over again and hoping to get to the other side. The defense was pitiful. We need to revamp the entire D-Line except for Donald. We need to revamp the entire O-Line. Other than that we are solid everywhere else (Might need to replace one or two of Littleton/Fowler/Matthews.) Also McVay needs a new D-Coordinator (Wade is a Bum unless they play a finesse offense) and also an O-Coordinator/QB coach for Goff so he can relearn some fundamentals he is starting to lack. We need a new running back that has some explosiveness and can take big hits. Dont know if Henderson is that guy or not. Gurley is only a PT back at this point. And most importantly we need a new OLine coach. We invested draft picks heavily into this Oline and it has been mediocre to subpar at best. McVay really has to shake things up and get some more bullies on the lines

 

[Dodgersrf]

Five takeaways from the Rams' 44-21 loss in Dallas

Steve Rebeiro
5 hours ago

The Rams failed to show up in Week 15 in a must-win game against the Dallas Cowboys. They were dominated on both sides of the ball in a 44-21 rout by the Cowboys. Here’s a few takeaways from the Rams’ likely season-ending loss in Dallas.

Rams never recovered from disastrous second quarter

The Rams might as well have just stayed in Los Angeles this week. It didn’t look like they had any desire to try and beat the Cowboys this week.
The Rams scored a touchdown early in the quarter. That was the extent of positive things to happen to the Rams in said quarter. Former Ram Tavon Austin scored a 59 yard touchdown the following drive on a play where Dante Fowler could have had a sack and Taylor Rapp leveled the man defending Austin.
Next, the Rams went three-and-out, but Hekker was able to pin the Cowboys at their own three yard line. That didn’t matter. Dallas embarked on an eight minute, 14 play drive that resulted in a touchdown. The Rams got the ball back right after the two minute warning, and Goff tossed a brutal interception on the second play of the drive.
Then came the icing on the cake. After stopping Dallas on third down following the interception, Michael Brockers was called for illegal use of hands and the Cowboys scored a touchdown on the next play.
Neither side of the ball picked it up in the second half until the Rams had two garbage-time touchdown drives. It was a quarter that basically ended the Rams’ season. The Rams never recovered from a 59 yard touchdown by Tavon Austin.

Goff struggles behind poor offensive line play
The story of the season for the Rams has been the offensive lines struggles, and Goff’s struggles as a result. It’s been plaguing the team all year even if the line has improved in recent weeks. The group failed to protect their quarterback and didn’t give Gurley any room to run against the Cowboys. As a result, the offense was predictably bad.

Goff finished the day with 284 yards and two touchdowns, but 126 of those yards and both touchdowns came on the final two garbage-time drives of the game. We saw the same mistakes we always see when Goff struggles. He missed a few receivers and made a few questionable throws. His interception late in the second quarter was intercepted by Sean Lee, an inside linebacker. Lee wasn’t even the only player that had a shot of intercepting the football.

The offensive line deserves some of the blame for Goff’s struggles. But no quarterback is going to play behind a perfect offensive line every game of their career. Goff needs to adapt in situations like this. He can’t continue to miss throws and turn the ball over like he has this season. The Rams won’t succeed in the future if he does.

Tyler Higbee continues hot streak
Tyler Higbee was one of the few bright spots for the Rams in Sunday’s loss. For the third straight week, Higbee tallied at least seven receptions and had over 100 yards. Higbee finished the game with a career-high 12 receptions on 14 targets for 111 yards. He’s looked well-worth the contract extension he received from the Rams over the past three games. Higbee is one of the few Rams’ players trending upwards heading into 2020.

Higbee did pat his stats a bit in garbage time, but he still had seven receptions for 70 yards prior to the final two drives. He was the team’s best offensive player all day long.

Wade Phillips’ defense can’t be trusted week-to-week

The Rams defense has been wildly inconsistent under defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. You never know which unit will show up. Last week, they looked like one of the best units in the NFL. This week, they were one of the worst.

Not only did Ezekiel Elliot run all over the Rams defense on Sunday, but even backup running back Tony Pollard piled up 131 yards on 12 rushes. Dak Prescott didn’t have to do much in Sunday’s win, but he still completed 15 of his 23 passes, threw two touchdowns, didn’t turn the ball over and was never sacked. It was a walk in the park for an offense that had been struggling mightily heading into this game.

The defense comes to play more often than not under Wade Phillips. But you simply can’t expect them to be elite every single week. This is the second time in four weeks that they’ve been lifeless. They could lose the game for the Rams on any given Sunday.

Highly unlikely the Rams make the playoffs

It might seem obvious, but this loss essentially buries the Rams’ playoff chances.

The Rams have to win out now to have a chance at making the playoffs. That means they need to take care of San Francisco next week and Arizona the week after. They’d also need the Vikings to lose to both the Packers and the Bears to end the season.

Given how the Rams played this week and how the Vikings have played all season, neither of these things are likely to happen. It will take a true holiday miracle for the Rams to sneak into the playoffs as the six seed.

Five takeaways from the Rams' 44-21 loss in Dallas

The Rams suffered a brutal defeat at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys this week. Here’s a few takeaways from the loss.

theramswire.usatoday.com

Spot on.
Its nice to see someone actually watch the games they write about

 

[RamsInfiniti]

Goff was not good, and missed several throws.
That said, I do believe his arm was hit on that INT

Agreed - I don't care about the INT. His general inaccuracy was mind-boggling. I bet he missed 10-12 throws in this game he should have made.