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PREGAME Super Bowl 56 - Rams vs Bengals
- Thread starter Steve808
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We slew the dragon, Mojo! We got this Super Bowl! I just was telling the guys to relax this week, because the parade in downtown LA will be exhausting!
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I'm getting slightly more concerned with the style of D the Bengals are likely to use against us, the dropping 8 in coverage. In Stafford's worst games of the season he faced this coverage a few times (Tennessee wk9, Ari wk4, SF wk10). If you were picking out the worst games of the year for us, those would be near the top of the list. Add to that, when faced with that coverage he completed just 36% of the 18 attempts with 1 pick. Yes, that is definitely a small sample size, but it does reflect that he is not comfortable against that type of defense. Mahomes sure as hell wasn't last week either. I continue to think that we will need to win this game on the ground and on D. Akers and Michel should feast on 3 man fronts and we need to go to them early and often to get the Bengals to reconsider that style of D. I do have faith in McVay to design a scheme that counters that defense, as we saw it on full display last week against KC.
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Just run the ball. If they do that there will be very little of that flooded secondary.
The Rams resurgence began with the run game. Just keeping balance to allow our line to fire off a bit. That is all it will take to keep that defense honest.
No QB is gonna succeed throwing into 8 DB looks btw. At some point you will make a mistake. You have to be prepared to run it and dictate to them.
We have two fresh backs to hammer them with. Keep it balanced and go get that ring.
The Rams resurgence began with the run game. Just keeping balance to allow our line to fire off a bit. That is all it will take to keep that defense honest.
No QB is gonna succeed throwing into 8 DB looks btw. At some point you will make a mistake. You have to be prepared to run it and dictate to them.
We have two fresh backs to hammer them with. Keep it balanced and go get that ring.
RocknRam29
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TexasRam
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Agreed. If they want to roll out that 8 man structure all game then we will have to go have run against it, which we can do.
I noticed via the chiefs they used one of the linebackers to spy Mahomes and come up whenever Patrick began to scramble or press the run lanes. So while they are in an 8 man structure one of the 8 defenders is more of a roamer to stop the run. That is fine, Mcvay I am sure watched the film and has plans for how to run against that
Concept. Whether it’s with the running back or on a designed QB run.
The game may be a cat and mouse of run then recognize the Bengals adjustments and respond accordingly with pass or whatever the defense gives you.
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That right there is the stuff that builds up the fan base for generations to come!
oldnotdead
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The way you stop them from dropping 8 is to run the ball. Get out on top and run.
The Bengals are a good team on both sides of the ball. They have a QB who is playing lights out. That said they aren't better than other teams the Rams have beaten. Just play clean I can't express that enough. The Rams can't give it away like the 49ers did with lost opportunities and penalties.
The Rams need to bury them and pour concrete on the grave. I'm secretly loving all the media hype for the Bengals because young players will tend to believe it. They could come in overconfident just like the Niners believed their 6-0 myth. Rams need to stay low key and focused. Just one more win to cement the legacy of so many players. Stafford, Whitworth, OBJ, Ramsey, Kupp, Woods, and of course Donald all have a golden opportunity to grab the brass ring and complete their legacy. I mean just look at this roster. There are at least 6 potential HOF players on it. This is the game to validate these careers.
There is so much at stake personally for so many players, I hope they don't come in and play tight. But if they all step up I don't see the Bengals winning this game.
The Bengals are a good team on both sides of the ball. They have a QB who is playing lights out. That said they aren't better than other teams the Rams have beaten. Just play clean I can't express that enough. The Rams can't give it away like the 49ers did with lost opportunities and penalties.
The Rams need to bury them and pour concrete on the grave. I'm secretly loving all the media hype for the Bengals because young players will tend to believe it. They could come in overconfident just like the Niners believed their 6-0 myth. Rams need to stay low key and focused. Just one more win to cement the legacy of so many players. Stafford, Whitworth, OBJ, Ramsey, Kupp, Woods, and of course Donald all have a golden opportunity to grab the brass ring and complete their legacy. I mean just look at this roster. There are at least 6 potential HOF players on it. This is the game to validate these careers.
There is so much at stake personally for so many players, I hope they don't come in and play tight. But if they all step up I don't see the Bengals winning this game.
majrleaged
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The difference with titans and bengles is the bengles wont be dominating our O line and getting to stafford in 2 or 3 seconds. If stafford has 9 seconds Mcvay will scheme someone open. Plus we will be able to run on this team. And we will run way more against the Bengles as well.
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Against cover 8, Stafford hasn’t been good this year.
As others have said… I think running well and staying ahead of the chains and being patient will all be critical.
majrleaged
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Again, it only works if he has to make a decision right away. I don't think the bengles can make that happen. Besides, we run the ball a lot more now than when that was happening to Stafford. That will make it real hard to do that now.
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200 total yards from scrimmage for Akers. I think it's there if the Rams want it.
The Rams run game isn't top of the league but it's better than people realize. And I think Akers underneath on dumps and screens will be very hard for Cincy to stop. They won't be ready for that when they're focusing on Kupp and Odell. Cincy has good ILBs but Akers is a badass in his own right.
If he isn't sharp then roll Michel in there and stick to the run. And use him on draws. I'm telling you... Michel on draws from the shotgun when teams assume he will be pass blocking. That would be the truth.
The Rams run game isn't top of the league but it's better than people realize. And I think Akers underneath on dumps and screens will be very hard for Cincy to stop. They won't be ready for that when they're focusing on Kupp and Odell. Cincy has good ILBs but Akers is a badass in his own right.
If he isn't sharp then roll Michel in there and stick to the run. And use him on draws. I'm telling you... Michel on draws from the shotgun when teams assume he will be pass blocking. That would be the truth.
Kupped
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Just pointing out that that hasn't been the case against that coverage this year. And the Bengals edge guys are legit and have been getting it done in the playoffs.
Styles make fights, right? If you punish the Bengals for what they want to do.. drop 8.. by running.. they have to bring their guys up.. and that's when you can make them pay deeper.
Zodi
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KC ran the ball very well against Cincinnati. The difference was KC's defense second half meltdown. I think our defense is better than KC's, but I'm kind of hoping Rapp doesn't play outside of ST and obvious run downs. The communication in our secondary has been so much better with the addition of Weddle.
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I remember the Eagles tried something similar in the 2001 NFC championship against the GSOT. Martz responded by opening the 2nd half with 8 straight running plays to Marshall Faulk. It totally took the Eagles out of their defensive gameplan and we know how that game turned out.
If McVay is willing to take what the D is giving him, any D where they drop 8 into coverage should get pounded into submission on the ground.
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MachS
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Going away from the run vs TB and SF made sense given their fronts. Passing was the best way to beat them. I agree I think we shift back to a much more balanced, run first approach in this game because we should have the advantage there. Especially if they are playing light boxes dropping 7 & 8 into coverage all day. Sony was huge in the Super Bowl against us in '18, and we all know how great Akers is. Would love for McVay to pound the rock and allow our OL to get into a physical rhythm. Kind of like we did with AZ two games ago, or the Dallas game back in the '18 playoff run with Gurley/Anderson.
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Yeah I agree the pass game beat the 9ers. But the Rams did make sure they ran it enough in that game. "Enough" being mid-20s in carries. McVay in fact has been very disciplined this year's playoffs with his run game. Here's the handoffs thus far in the playoffs...
Cards: Michel 13 for 58 (4.5 ypc), Akers 17 for 55 (3.2 ypc) , Funk 2 for 5 (2.5 ypc). Overall 32 for 118 yards (3.6 ypc).
Bucs: Akers 24 for 48 (2.0 ypc), Jefferson 1 for 15 (15.0 ypc), Michel 1 for 4 (4.0 ypc). Overall 26 for 67 yards (2.5 ypc).
9ers: Akers 13 for 48 (3.7 ypc), Michel 10 for 16 (1.6 ypc), Kupp 1 for -2 (-2.0 ypc). Overall 24 for 62 yards (2.5 ypc).
Rams are averaging 27 ppg and giving up 18.3 ppg over those three games. Clearly the pass game and defense has carried them. But what is important with the run game is the carries. The carries keep the Rams OL from being fully teed off on. Had they not put up 24 carries vs SF for example it would have been a different game.
Basically McVay has masked the pass pro of his OL with the run game snaps. Now they have improved a lot on stunts and Allen has played inspired ball of late, they've gotten the job done. I just don't think they are the type of OL that can do that without the runs called and I am glad to see McVay staying balanced even when the yield isn't there.
It is very unlike McVay to stick with that run total when he's got three games in a row of meh yield. But he's learning IMO.
Cards: Michel 13 for 58 (4.5 ypc), Akers 17 for 55 (3.2 ypc) , Funk 2 for 5 (2.5 ypc). Overall 32 for 118 yards (3.6 ypc).
Bucs: Akers 24 for 48 (2.0 ypc), Jefferson 1 for 15 (15.0 ypc), Michel 1 for 4 (4.0 ypc). Overall 26 for 67 yards (2.5 ypc).
9ers: Akers 13 for 48 (3.7 ypc), Michel 10 for 16 (1.6 ypc), Kupp 1 for -2 (-2.0 ypc). Overall 24 for 62 yards (2.5 ypc).
Rams are averaging 27 ppg and giving up 18.3 ppg over those three games. Clearly the pass game and defense has carried them. But what is important with the run game is the carries. The carries keep the Rams OL from being fully teed off on. Had they not put up 24 carries vs SF for example it would have been a different game.
Basically McVay has masked the pass pro of his OL with the run game snaps. Now they have improved a lot on stunts and Allen has played inspired ball of late, they've gotten the job done. I just don't think they are the type of OL that can do that without the runs called and I am glad to see McVay staying balanced even when the yield isn't there.
It is very unlike McVay to stick with that run total when he's got three games in a row of meh yield. But he's learning IMO.