Tampa Bay was 7-5 last year with a 38-3 loss

[Merlin]

Regular season records, last 3 times our Rams made it to the SB:

1999, 13-3, with losses by only 3, 4, and 7 points.

2001, 14-2, with losses by only 3 and 7 points.

2018, 13-3, with losses by 10, 9, and 7 points.

My takeaway: when our Rams are truly legit SB contenders, they have a great reg season record and NEVER get blown out.

Our 3 losses so far in 2021 are by 17, 12, and 21 points. And we all know that the losses to AZ and TEN were more lopsided than the final scores indicated.

Sports are unpredictable and I'll wear my homer glasses to the end. But so far the pattern of this 2021 team doesn't compare to the great rides of 1999, 2001, or 2018.

Nice post. And it summarizes things very well.

Re: the defense everything comes back to that third down conversion stat. Early this season we discussed it on the board and it was just as true then when we were winning as it is now after two losses: it does not complement the way this team is built.

Rams are built to put up a lead early then cruise and tee off on your QB as you try to catch up. And the Tampa game was a perfect example of how powerful that is. But to get to that lead your defense has to get stops. Every team we play will have the same gameplan which is to eat clock and keep our offense chilled on the sidelines. From there if they get a couple quick series on defense they're in the game.

So I don't know if this unit and Morris are going to be able to do that. And we got shit to fix on offense too so yeah this team coming out of the bye and working the Packers over would be a nice way to let us know they're still in this thing.

 

[Kupped]

Nice post. And it summarizes things very well.

Re: the defense everything comes back to that third down conversion stat. Early this season we discussed it on the board and it was just as true then when we were winning as it is now after two losses: it does not complement the way this team is built.

Rams are built to put up a lead early then cruise and tee off on your QB as you try to catch up. And the Tampa game was a perfect example of how powerful that is. But to get to that lead your defense has to get stops. Every team we play will have the same gameplan which is to eat clock and keep our offense chilled on the sidelines. From there if they get a couple quick series on defense they're in the game.

So I don't know if this unit and Morris are going to be able to do that. And we got shit to fix on offense too so yeah this team coming out of the bye and working the Packers over would be a nice way to let us know they're still in this thing.

What you wrote is even more damning of the offense. Two straight turnovers to start a game? Including a touchdown? This D isn’t built to play from behind.

 

[dang]

It’s not as much that they lost to Tenn and SF but how. They were out coached and physically outplayed. That indicates there is a game plan that any NFL team can follow to beat the Rams. The mystery is over. So the Rams have to change something in order to break the cycle. They have 2 weeks to figure that out but they have the personnel to get it done. So McVay get it done!!!

 

[Merlin]

What you wrote is even more damning of the offense. Two straight turnovers to start a game? Including a touchdown? This D isn’t built to play from behind.

Needing to improve on defense is not mutually exclusive with needing to improve on offense. Rams in fact require both.

 

[Kupped]

Needing to improve on defense is not mutually exclusive with needing to improve on offense. Rams in fact require both.

That’s absolutely where I’m at.
I just think that the D problems aren’t the schematic disaster many suggest. I think they could mix things up more, and maybe losing DD just before the game impacted some of that.

But, on both sides of the ball, execution is lacking, big time, over the last 2 weeks.

 

[Merlin]

That’s absolutely where I’m at.
I just think that the D problems aren’t the schematic disaster many suggest. I think they could mix things up more, and maybe losing DD just before the game impacted some of that.

But, on both sides of the ball, execution is lacking, big time, over the last 2 weeks.

Letting the 9ers nuke the entire first half with 2 drives is a problem. It has to be fixed. And there shouldn't be a need to mention the offense every time we discuss the defense. We should be able to discuss them independently.

Makes about as much sense as folks wanting to mix discussion of where Stafford needs to improve with Goff. Muddies shit unnecessarily irt us discussing the way forward.

 

[Curiousenigma]

Sure, it's possible. But until McVay commits to offensive balance, including running the ball, taking what the defense gives him, and mixing in some shorter passes with the deep shots, and in general, stops being so fucking predictable, our offensive problems will continue against better, more physical defenses.

Until Morris commits (or McVay MAKES him commit) to playing to his players strengths, stops the pathetic soft zone/off coverage shit, stops trying to put Rapp in coverage instead of the box, stops trying to get cute with Jalen Ramsey instead of just letting him take on (and out) the opponents best WR, and stops trying to turn us into some hybrid 4-3, our defense will continue to struggle against better offenses.

There is no question that the talent is there on this team. I'll put our talent up against any other team in the league. The question is whether or not the coaching is there to maximize the talent.

The staggering thing to me is the getting cute with Ramsey and not have him do what we traded for...covering and eliminating the other teams no. 1 wideout. Why is he blitzing...and not very effectively on top of it all? Why not use him to cover Deebo and then double Kittle? I keep thinking that Morris and McVay sit there and don't do the obvious thing because that would be playing into the hands of the other team...it makes no sense.

One other simple thing I would do on offense...just calm the fuck down at the beginning of the game. You can see it takes 1Q for Stafford to get his throws timed right and not over the heads of the receivers...run the ball..do some play action...make it a bit less obvious what you're trying to do. The fact that I can see this as a simple strategy that McVay is Galaxy braining is scary to me. Stafford is too pumped up to start a game...slow him down...not hard to figure out if you're not trying to re-invent the wheel every week with Galaxy brain shit.

 

[Kupped]

Letting the 9ers nuke the entire first half with 2 drives is a problem. It has to be fixed. And there shouldn't be a need to mention the offense every time we discuss the defense. We should be able to discuss them independently.

Makes about as much sense as folks wanting to mix discussion of where Stafford needs to improve with Goff. Muddies shit unnecessarily irt us discussing the way forward.

Well, the offense created a 7 point deficit with their first two drives. What the defense can and can't do down 14-0 as opposed to something like 7-3 or 7-7 is different.

The defensive calls are different, just like the offensive calls are different.

Yeah, it's more than sub-optimal to let up two drives like that. But it ain't a catastrophe if you have a functional offense in that game.
They didn't.
Even in a low-possession game, 24 points shouldn't be an overwhelming burden to overcome, imo, if you have a "top offense."

Complimentary football, right?

 

[Kupped]

The staggering thing to me is the getting cute with Ramsey and not have him do what we traded for...covering and eliminating the other teams no. 1 wideout. Why is he blitzing...and not very effectively on top of it all? Why not use him to cover Deebo and then double Kittle? I keep thinking that Morris and McVay sit there and don't do the obvious thing because that would be playing into the hands of the other team...it makes no sense.

One other simple thing I would do on offense...just calm the fuck down at the beginning of the game. You can see it takes 1Q for Stafford to get his throws timed right and not over the heads of the receivers...run the ball..do some play action...make it a bit less obvious what you're trying to do. The fact that I can see this as a simple strategy that McVay is Galaxy braining is scary to me. Stafford is too pumped up to start a game...slow him down...not hard to figure out if you're not trying to re-invent the wheel every week with Galaxy brain shit.

I think moving Ramsey around is a good thing... but not all the time.

The Rams are stuck on that "creating mathematical advantages" thing and believe that moving Ramsey around creates more issues for the defense than letting a QB account for him by knowing he'll be isolated in coverage on one guy.
Well.. the defense is using that to their advantage. The math, with Deebo, becomes.. "oh, Ramsey's not on him? We'll absolutely go there and don't care who is on him or where Ramsey is."

If a team doesn't have a clear, clear advantage at the Number 1 WR spot, I think the Ramsey Star thing is good at a higher rate. When you have one guy beating the shit outta you on every critical play? Well, get Ramsey on that dude.

 

[thirteen28]

So I don't know if this unit and Morris are going to be able to do that. And we got shit to fix on offense too so yeah this team coming out of the bye and working the Packers over would be a nice way to let us know they're still in this thing.

With the personnel we have, I have no doubt that our D is capable of doing that. The big question is Morris, and whether or not he will scheme them and put them in position to do that. Given what we've seen and how slow he is to learn his lessons, I'm not optimistic that he will absent from some intervention above him.

 

[Merlin]

Well, the offense created a 7 point deficit with their first two drives. What the defense can and can't do down 14-0 as opposed to something like 7-3 or 7-7 is different.

The defensive calls are different, just like the offensive calls are different.

Yeah, it's more than sub-optimal to let up two drives like that. But it ain't a catastrophe if you have a functional offense in that game.
They didn't.
Even in a low-possession game, 24 points shouldn't be an overwhelming burden to overcome, imo, if you have a "top offense."

Complimentary football, right?

Of course. But the difference here is that I'm not campaigning to make excuses for the offense. They need to get better and I have mentioned that multiple times especially the past two weeks.

You however are on a campaign to white knight for Morris which is ridiculous. The guy has never been a top DC. He came in not knowing the offense. He has a shit ton of talent. And even when the offense has fired off in our wins Morris' defense has allowed teams to drive up and down the fucking field. These were my complaints after the hire and I am unhappy to report they're a problem for us now instead of Atlanta.

We don't need to get into how McVay hired him. We agree on all that. This is all on McVay. But moving forward this defense has been a fucking problem all season long in that it does not complement a high scoring offense, whether or not they are actually putting up points in a given game.

And again the offense has been shit the past two weeks. Stafford has played like shit the past two weeks. McVay's gameplan looks like shit the past two weeks. None of that however changes the fact that this fucking defense cannot get off the field. That has been and is now a problem that we must fix or we're not going to do a thing in the playoffs. Regardless of the offense.

 

[Kupped]

Of course. But the difference here is that I'm not campaigning to make excuses for the offense. They need to get better and I have mentioned that multiple times especially the past two weeks.

You however are on a campaign to white knight for Morris which is ridiculous. The guy has never been a top DC. He came in not knowing the offense. He has a shit ton of talent. And even when the offense has fired off in our wins Morris' defense has allowed teams to drive up and down the fucking field. These were my complaints after the hire and I am unhappy to report they're a problem for us now instead of Atlanta.

We don't need to get into how McVay hired him. We agree on all that. This is all on McVay. But moving forward this defense has been a fucking problem all season long in that it does not complement a high scoring offense, whether or not they are actually putting up points in a given game.

And again the offense has been shit the past two weeks. Stafford has played like shit the past two weeks. McVay's gameplan looks like shit the past two weeks. None of that however changes the fact that this fucking defense cannot get off the field. That has been and is now a problem that we must fix or we're not going to do a thing in the playoffs. Regardless of the offense.

I'm not "white knighting" anyone.

I'm contrasting expectations and results from coaches and your post reinforces that. The Rams D held the Titans to under 200 yards of offense last week. Units fluctuate and some of that is scheme and some of that is execution.

I'm sorry, but McVay is the head guy and this team came out unable to execute in any of the three phases this week. I'm looking at that guy.

The Rams are always going to come up short of a Super Bowl if they can't be more consistent, week to week.. because if you have that kind of fluctuation in a playoff run, you're going to drop a game. Someone posted the margin of losses for Rams teams in Super Bowl years and they never got their ass kicked the way they have in three losses this year. There is just no way that I'm pinning all that on Morris, sorry. I'm looking at the team as a whole and what's ailing it and I see a bigger problem from the top down than I do in the D coaches room.

 

[thirteen28]

And again the offense has been shit the past two weeks. Stafford has played like shit the past two weeks. McVay's gameplan looks like shit the past two weeks. None of that however changes the fact that this fucking defense cannot get off the field. That has been and is now a problem that we must fix or we're not going to do a thing in the playoffs. Regardless of the offense.

One of the things that really bothers me about this defense in relation to last year is that even in games last year where the offense shit the bed, the defense kept us in it and we still had a chance to win in Q4. Our two worst losses were by 11 points each, to Miami, where they scored 28 (one due to a TO, on on STs) but their offense was held in check, and the other to Seattle, where they only put 20 points on the board total. This year the combination of O and D has put us in a hole in Q4 in our three losses and you never really felt like they had a chance to come back.

While I certainly won't excuse the offense for being shit, had our D been better we may have been able to prevent falling into as large of a hole and may have had a chance to come back. But given Morris's determination to make it easy for Jimmy G and the 9ers O, we were effectively out of that game by midway through the 3rd quarter, if not earlier.

 

[dieterbrock]

I am kind of tired of seeing the Tampa Bay comparisons.

Tampa Bay had Tom Brady. End of story.

And Tampa was dominated both times by the Rams and their "finesse"

 

[dieterbrock]

Regular season records, last 3 times our Rams made it to the SB:

Well, the 1979 team lost 7 games by an average margin of near 14 ppg, and they should have beaten the Steelers

 

[XXXIVwin]

Well, the 1979 team lost 7 games by an average margin of near 14 ppg, and they should have beaten the Steelers

Yeah well I was too young to remember the 79 season, and the reg season games weren't televised in my area anyway, so that doesn't count.

But I was old enough to know we shoulda won that damn Super Bowl...

 

[FarNorth]

Regular season records, last 3 times our Rams made it to the SB:

1999, 13-3, with losses by only 3, 4, and 7 points.

2001, 14-2, with losses by only 3 and 7 points.

2018, 13-3, with losses by 10, 9, and 7 points.

My takeaway: when our Rams are truly legit SB contenders, they have a great reg season record and NEVER get blown out.

Our 3 losses so far in 2021 are by 17, 12, and 21 points. And we all know that the losses to AZ and TEN were more lopsided than the final scores indicated.

Sports are unpredictable and I'll wear my homer glasses to the end. But so far the pattern of this 2021 team doesn't compare to the great rides of 1999, 2001, or 2018.

The lopsided losses don’t compare. But imo these are in large part due to poor strategy on both sides of the ball. Imo our players are more competitive than the recent losses show. But they didn’t come back in either game, and that’s a problem.

 

[XXXIVwin]

But they didn’t come back in either game, and that’s a problem.

During all 3 losses, I kept saying to myself, "Please just make it close enough so the 4th quarter is interesting."

So disappointing they couldn't manage to make even 1 of those games competitive.

 

[RamFan503]

Sure, it's possible. But until McVay commits to offensive balance, including running the ball, taking what the defense gives him, and mixing in some shorter passes with the deep shots, and in general, stops being so fucking predictable, our offensive problems will continue against better, more physical defenses.

I think we undervalue the loss of Cam here. I don't think we have a serious run threat without him. You can say that we abandon the run too early but Hendo is just not that kind of threat. Then we lost our best down blocking TE. It's tough but hopefully we get it figured out. We need our run game.

 

[NEOM]

yeah but when Tampa Bay was losing last year.. Brady was turning the ball over all the time...

sound familiar?

People tend to forget that the issue with Tom and Bucs in the beginning of last season was, that they had no pre-season, they had no time to adjust before the season started, therefor they needed 5-7 games to get going, as soon as they came into rhythm, at the right time, they were unstoppable. therefore these talks about being SB favourites after 8 games is just ridicules, in the first weeks of the season, you just need to make sure that you get some wins, the second half of the season is important, cause then you need to find your rhythm and hope that no injuries derail your playoff and SB chances.