http://es.redskins.com/topic/385266-a-look-at-the-rams-from-a-rams-fan/
A look at the Rams, from a Rams fan
Hello Redskins fans! I am sure none of you remember me but I've been a member since 09 and like to come post a look at our games against one another. It seems like we play each other a lot.
This is probably the best I've seen the Rams as a team since I started posting here by far, I can't remember being this excited about the Rams in the 19 years since they moved here except for the GSOT era. I try to be as unbiased as possible but you have to keep this in mind
The offense has been playing really well, even before the Raiders game. The Rams running game has been very good led by rookie Tre Mason who was inactive the first six weeks, seemingly he did something Jeff Fisher didn't like. He's a short guy who plays much bigger and loves to finish runs by laying out defenders every time he can. He remind me of Steven Jackson, but he's a little less powerful and a lot faster and shiftier. Depth is also good with Zac Stacy, a 2nd year player who had a 1000 yard season last year.
At WR we have pretty good players but none that stand out as a true #1 receiver. Tavon Austin has the most pure talent, he's extremely quick and shifty (he returns punts too). Watch for him to rush a few times and get the ball on misdirections out of the backfield. He's so effective in this stuff that all year long I've watched defenses get caught looking for him to do something out of the backfeild and it opens up screens or other plays.
Seems like we run the same plays with him every week but a team hasn't been able to stop them yet. He's a bit small however to be great in normal WR duty. Kenny Britt seems to have had a bit of a revival in St Louis and is probably our best mid-range WR. Steadman Bailey and Chris Givens have also been playing well and are the guys most likely to get the long range passes.
The OL has a lot invested into it with mixed results. Our rookie OT Greg Robinson will be at LT and has played well, with former first rounder Roger Saffold next to him at guard. Chris Wells is at center, former pro bowler from Green Bay but not quite the player he was with the Packers. The right side isn't as good, although they haven't played badly it's where teams attack now after Jake Long got injured. His backup has played decently, but the right guard is weak.
QB has been a mess. Bradford got injured as you all know. Then Shaun Hill got injured and we started our third stringer, undrafted second year man Austin Davis, who had some success and won the job until he started to suck and the job was given back to Hill. Hill has been effective, he doesn't make mistakes and is talented enough to make good midrange throws and is smart. However he lacks the arm strength for some of the throws and doesn't throw the best looking ball (his passes can wobble at times and aren't bullets).
TE has been pretty average except for Jared Cook who is a bit of a weapon as a pass catcher. Generally the TEs have been reduced to blocking duty though.
Defense:
Defense is great. Chris Long was out for about 8 weeks, but came back last week against the Raiders and doesn't seem to have missed a beat. Robert Quinn is a beast. Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers are the DTs, both are first rounders and are playing extremely well. Donald should be the DROY, he's outstanding in run blocking and has 6 sacks on the season so far, Pro Football Focus has him ranked as the top overall rookie on offense and defense.
It doesn't get much easier behind them with Lauriniatis and Olgetree at LBer. Lauriniatis isn't the best athlete on paper but is indispensable at MLB, he is the brains of the defense and it's kind of amusing to watch him in the backfield just before snaps, rushing around and directing the defense. The weakest spot of the front 7 is ROLB, Jo-Lann Dunbar, but he's an average player and it's hard to make him look too bad with all the players he has surrounding him.
The secondary is very young. Most came from our 2012 or 2013 draft. But they play well. Janoris Jenkins is by far the most talented. He's had two pick 6's this year and 8 for his career. He's aggressive and obviously sometimes that will hurt him. If there's a big 80 yard play by your WRs, chances are it will come off Jenkins going for an interception. Our secondary hits very hard and are aggressive
Special teams
The Rams special teams have been great. Jeff Fisher loves trick plays and has used them to a lot of success this year (our punter/holder has two touchdown passes and three completions so far). We have a very good kicker and punter. Coverage is usually very good on kicks. Tavon Austin is a weapon as a returner. He doesn't do kickoff returns though and that's pretty average.
Sorry it was so long. Thanks to anyone who read it. Any thoughts on where the Redskins will match up well against the Rams? Who should the Rams be worried about as a potential threat on offense or defense? Who should be worried about as a threat for a home run type play?
How confident do you feel about Colt McCoy? Is he really a threat to RG3 to take over for the future? Or is he just a throwaway QB who will be replaced by next season or put back to the 2nd/3rd string? Is he a threat for turnovers?
I don't know a whole lot about the Redskins this year. Seems like in the past when we've faced each other I've ended up getting some of your games on TV but haven't seen any this year so far. I've heard about the RG3 stuff, is there really a chance he could be traded away? How confident are you guys in Gruden being your coach of the future and has he been an upgrade from Shanahan? (too early to tell maybe)
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Welcome! Your offense sounds a lot like ours in that you have a back-up QB, a useless right-side of the line, and a few weapons at your skill positions. Here is a quick overview on who I think has the advantage at each position.
OL: RAMS -- Our Trent Williams (our LT) is the only guy I'd take right now over your rookie. All of the rest of your players are better than ours and it's not even close.
RB: SKINS -- Tre Mason will be a beast one day but right now I would take our #1 Morris and #2 Helu Jr. over any of your guys.
TE: TIE -- Very Close. Cook/Kendricks are bigger/better blockers while Jordan Reed/Niles Paul are basically just large WRs who occasionally block. Depending on each team's gameplan, one group of TE's may have a bigger impact than the other on Sunday.
WR: SKINS --- No question here. Our #3 (Andre Roberts) would probably be your #1.
QB: TIE -- Shaun + Colt = Two career back-ups who will show promise but ultimately disappoint. I give the slight edge to Colt in this game but not enough to call it an "advantage".
DL: RAMS --- Hatcher and Coefield can cause some ruckus but get very little help. Overall our DL is average at best. Your guys are younger, stronger, and faster than us.
LB: SKINS - Slight advantage to the Skins just because Ryan Kerrigan is our best player on defense and Keenan Robinson (2nd year guy filling in for the retired London Fletcher) is one of the most physically gifted LBs in the league right now. Our Pro-Bowl "franchise" LB Brian Orakpo (who was playing like **** before going on IR) has been replaced by our early 2nd Round pick Trent Murphy who looks like more like a late 3rd rounder who occasionally flashes talent. Perry Riley Jr gets the job done in the middle but will get torched in coverage.
DB: RAMS - Our corners are young and physical like yours, but don't have much experience-- and our safeties are a complete joke.
ST: RAMS - Tress Way is probably the best punter in the league right now, but the rest of our ST unit looks like a slightly better version of last years.... Which was historically the worst in franchise history! So, yeah!
*LDLU'S Statistical Positional Advantage Nerd Rankings = +2 RAMS
Now, on to the only stat that really matters:
Redskins Fans Worldwide: Around 30 million.
Rams Fans Worldwide: Literally dozens.
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Our cheerleaders can beat the crap outta yours. And they don't have crabs.
Thats all I got.
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Jim Haslett will do everything he can to help you win. Look for wide open receivers all afternoon.
Gruden is a moron, so expect a plethora of unimaginative play calls and passes. Alfred Morris isn't a threat because doofus refuses to run the ball.
Congratulations on your sixth win.
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Looks like you guys are on the rise and we're in our annual end of season collapse. Should be a fun game for you, that defense is downright scary right now.
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Rams will beat the skins 35-0 and force Snyder to hand over next years 1st rnd pick before leaving
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The Rams have the best defensive line in the NFL for me. Deep and wide. I predict 5 or 6 sacks easily. Especially if Gruden doesn't run the ball consistently early on and if DJax doesn't play... oye.
Our offensive line, especially the interior, is not very good.
Our defense is like a rubics cube that's only one color. Once you unlock it it's yours for the day. So enjoy it.
We do a decent enough job against the run, but I'm not sure it's a case of our run d being decent or our pass d being easy to exploit. I'd be curious to see if you notice any alignment changes in your WR/TEs this week. Especially on the left side. The two glaring weaknesses in our secondary is the seam and the left side. A lot of teams have had success running wheel routes against cover 3 and 2 over man on the left side. Communication between Amerson, Clark, and Murphy is attrocious...
Beware Tress Way. He might be the best punter in the league. Other than that... ya'll should walk through Fed Ex pretty easy.
Question, though... are ya'll keeping Sam Bradford?
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Our o-line is in for a real long afternoon Sunday. McCoy had better wear extra pads Sunday.
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This one will probably be nasty for us. Colt will think the QB position is to be played horizontally after this game(LOL). You guys should have fun w/this and we shall be US...suckfest...
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Thank you for the draft position, but please don't embarrass us like you did to the west coast redskins.
Love seeing all the "first round picks" mentioned in your post. Were ours used completely along the lines?
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Your defensive line scares me. It's among the tops in the league, right along with Buffalo. Although I'd say the Rams may have a more talented defensive line. It's scary good.
The Skins offensive line better pull a horseshoe out of their butt Sunday.
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I actually think he runs it to Morris too much. Very predictable on early downs. Alfred hasn't had a good year. Part of the reason we face third and long so often is because Morris is getting much done when he gets the ball on first and second down. I would actually like to see us come out throwing more on early downs.
It's always weird to me... The RB gets tons of credit when he's killing it, but the blame always goes to the OL when he struggles. I would not put Morris in the top half of starting NFL running backs right now. He's beena disappointment.
I still have to be cautious until they finally win two in a row
