What Stafford hasn't had

[FarNorth]

I wonder if with Stafford at QB will McVay still call running plays on third and long.

Will he trust Stafford in those situations? Or wasn’t it a matter of trusting Goff on third and long, but just a conservative philosophy?

Not if the line can hold up in predictable pass situations. Corbett should be more solid as a blocker than Blythe. Stafford does not need to step up in the middle of the pocket as much as Goff did to throw downfield. And we now have a lot more speed at receiver: DSJ, Atwell if he can develop quickly enough to get in the game, and even Harris as a potential weapon.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Not if the line can hold up in predictable pass situations. Corbett should be more solid as a blocker than Blythe. Stafford does not need to step up in the middle of the pocket as much as Goff did to throw downfield. And we now have a lot more speed at receiver: DSJ, Atwell if he can develop quickly enough to get in the game, and even Harris as a potential weapon.

I hope you are right. I always figured he didn’t trust Goff to make the right read in the face of a likely heavy pass rush.

 

[Shuie3225]

I wonder if with Stafford at QB will McVay still call running plays on third and long.

Will he trust Stafford in those situations? Or wasn’t it a matter of trusting Goff on third and long, but just a conservative philosophy?

No he definitely wont call runs now. Goff leads the NFL in turnovers over the past 3 years. #1. That's why McVay called runs, to try and protect Goff from turning the ball over in known passing situations. And that is they key. Goff thrived in Play Action and boot legs, when he had half field 3-layer reads (flood concepts -deep, mid, and flat) and when the defense had to respect the run game on a play fake. In known passing situations- 3rd and long, Goff wasn't good at sitting in the pocket, reading coverage, moving in the pocket to avoid the rush, etc. So why would McVay risk more turnovers?

Stafford has played from behind most of his career. Playing with shit defenses and zero running game. He had to pass all game when defenses KNEW he had to pass. And he would still pick them apart. That's the difference. I'm sure we will still call the occasional screen on 3rd and long. But Stafford will be looking to attack down the field and convert in these situations. And he doesn't turn the ball over very much at all. No more runs called on 3rd and 10 you can bet the house on that.

 

[dieterbrock]

Well one thing Stafford hasnt had:
Pressure to win
Gawdy stats with no playoff wins wont do him any favors now
The expectation is to win, the bar is set at winning.
Not something he's really been expected to do

 

[CoachAllred]

I wonder if with Stafford at QB will McVay still call running plays on third and long.

Will he trust Stafford in those situations? Or wasn’t it a matter of trusting Goff on third and long, but just a conservative philosophy?

Maybe it was partly because of Goff, don't know.
But I think more than anything, it came from a trust of the defense.

It's a interesting thought. I guess it may boil down to situation,
momentum and where his trust lies in that moment

 

[CoachAllred]

Well one thing Stafford hasnt had:
Pressure to win
Gawdy stats with no playoff wins wont do him any favors now
The expectation is to win, the bar is set at winning.
Not something he's really been expected to do

He also hasn't been in a winning environment.
I have seen enough film to know that he excels in high pressure situations.
Especially when you compare him to his predecessor, who allowed the moment
to swallow him whole.


View: https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1399781244167147529?s=20

 

[Merlin]

Maybe it was partly because of Goff, don't know.
But I think more than anything, it came from a trust of the defense.

It's a interesting thought. I guess it may boil down to situation,
momentum and where his trust lies in that moment

Run plays on third and long will be rare this year. That has been McVay throwing in the towel knowing that making Goff sit there and wait for routes to develop on an obvious passing down (play action is way less meaningful there) is a dicey proposition. He won't be doing that this year very often unless he's sitting on a nice lead.

But to be fair as well it was not just Goff. Blythe did his part there. And our WR3 and WR4 matchups sucked ass so all a team had to do was blanket two options. This year the improved QB position plus improvement at C and also the improvement at WR3 and WR4 means teams will have a hard time cheesing their way off the field in those situations. They'll need to play it straight up IMO.

 

[Juice]

lewis is an upgrade over Brockers? I really do not believe that, but let's say he is. The loss of Morgan Fox and Brockers is going to hurt more than you think.

 

[Juice]

Sorry for that. Stafford hasn't had continuity or a good front office. He has a place now that definitely know the direction they are going in, and understand how the personel can take them there.

 

[FrantikRam]

I wonder if with Stafford at QB will McVay still call running plays on third and long.

Will he trust Stafford in those situations? Or wasn’t it a matter of trusting Goff on third and long, but just a conservative philosophy?

What bothered me was not throwing against the Patriots or Bears in the 4th quarter when our passing game had been so inconsistent - reps would have been helpful and we saw McVay step on throats in 2017/2018.

And the 3rd and 7 call against Tampa was mind boggling. We won but, still such a crazy decision.

In hindsight it most likely was a lack of trust, so I expect some of those things to change.

 

[FrantikRam]

lewis is an upgrade over Brockers? I really do not believe that, but let's say he is. The loss of Morgan Fox and Brockers is going to hurt more than you think.

I like what Brockers brought from a leadership perspective, but I don't understand why people think we will miss his on field performance.

He's never been a good pass rusher - anyone can replace his production there. And while run defense was his strength, on a line with Aaron Donald we've generally had below average run defenses during his tenure here.

I think between some combination of A'Shawn/Brown/SJD/Gaines we won't miss Brockers much at all.

 

[CoachAllred]

Run plays on third and long will be rare this year. That has been McVay throwing in the towel knowing that making Goff sit there and wait for routes to develop on an obvious passing down (play action is way less meaningful there) is a dicey proposition. He won't be doing that this year very often unless he's sitting on a nice lead.

Maybe, but it will come down to the olines performance and
whether or not he wants to put Stafford in a injury risk situation.
The defense and momentum will also be factors.

Why would you put your 30 plus year old QB in that situation,
if you know your defense is capable of getting the ball right back.
I don't think it's as simple as, "we will be going deep on all 3rd and longs"
Too many variables for that.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Maybe it was partly because of Goff, don't know.
But I think more than anything, it came from a trust of the defense.

It's a interesting thought. I guess it may boil down to situation,
momentum and where his trust lies in that moment

it was probably because blythe couldn't lay a finger on any rusher opposite him on 3rd and long. every defender rushing against blythe looked like aaron donald.

.

 

[CoachAllred]

it was probably because blythe couldn't lay a finger on any rusher opposite him on 3rd and long. every defender rushing against blythe looked like aaron donald.

.

TRue, very true.

 

[Juice]

I like what Brockers brought from a leadership perspective, but I don't understand why people think we will miss his on field performance.

He's never been a good pass rusher - anyone can replace his production there. And while run defense was his strength, on a line with Aaron Donald we've generally had below average run defenses during his tenure here.

I think between some combination of A'Shawn/Brown/SJD/Gaines we won't miss Brockers much at all.

I hope you're right, but can you tell me what you have seen from A'shawn and Brown that leads you down there?

 

[FrantikRam]

I hope you're right, but can you tell me what you have seen from A'shawn and Brown that leads you down there?

Fair point. Obviously nothing from Brown yet and A'Shawn has been inconsistent. But Brockers has too, which is why I don't think we will miss him much on the field.

It's more of Brockers just being an average player IMO and that being relatively easy to replace.

And, the Rams under McVay have a great track record of moving on from players, especially on defense:

Ogletree
Quinn
Joyner
Talib
Fowler
Littleton
TruJo
Barron
NRC
Peters is the only one who played better outside of LA, but was part of us getting Ramsey so even that was a good decision.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Maybe it was partly because of Goff, don't know.
But I think more than anything, it came from a trust of the defense.

It's a interesting thought. I guess it may boil down to situation,
momentum and where his trust lies in that moment

Nearly every third and long was a run play. Very conservative.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

it was probably because blythe couldn't lay a finger on any rusher opposite him on 3rd and long. every defender rushing against blythe looked like aaron donald.

.

I just watched the Rams/Jets game for the first time in it’s entirety. Blythe single handed OT crushed drives with his inability to pass block in that game. With a better center I think the Rams win that game.

 

[Juice]

Fair point. Obviously nothing from Brown yet and A'Shawn has been inconsistent. But Brockers has too, which is why I don't think we will miss him much on the field.

It's more of Brockers just being an average player IMO and that being relatively easy to replace.

And, the Rams under McVay have a great track record of moving on from players, especially on defense:

Ogletree
Quinn
Joyner
Talib
Fowler
Littleton
TruJo
Barron
NRC
Peters is the only one who played better outside of LA, but was part of us getting Ramsey so even that was a good decision.

Thanks for the history lesson. It still doesn't persuade me that the Rams run defense is going to be better without Brockers or Fox. Brockers is an above average player, and he did fluroush in a line that had Donald. He was an important cog last season where A'shawn was absent.

 

[Loyal]

Thanks for the history lesson. It still doesn't persuade me that the Rams run defense is going to be better without Brockers or Fox. Brockers is an above average player, and he did fluroush in a line that had Donald. He was an important cog last season where A'shawn was absent.

We will miss Brockers, but someone new will come that will do ok in his place....