What went wrong for the Los Angeles Rams in 2019?

[FrantikRam]

I'm not sure how we separate the issues. You yourself said let's move past this and went right back to it. Sure, both Goff and Gurley could have performed better on their own without regard to the OL, but we'll never know by how much because the OL was a dumpster fire for much of the season.
Cooks may require a deeper 5-7 step drop from Goff in order to get downfield to get open, so Cooks was largely ignored because the OL didn't give Goff the necessary pocket to work from. If Goff is on the move because he fears a pocket collapse, his vision is going to be impaired from spotting otherwise open receivers. There's just too many factors at play when you lose confidence in your OL.
jmo.

Because there were games the OL was very good and Goff was still not what I expected him to be. That's how you separate the two. I wasn't trying to "go back" to the OL with my comment - I was just saying that, yes, they need to improve before talking about Goff because we have an issue on this board with being critical of Goff, and I am aware that the OL was not good enough as a whole. I get it because of the people who have had extreme bias against past QBs, but there has to be a middle ground.

I don't have the time or motivation, but I remember numerous throws where Goff had plenty of time and still either threw the ball to the other team or threw inaccurately. From there we would get into him "seeing ghosts" because the OL was so bad - which I'm sure is true for some of the situations, but not for all of them.

Also - and I'm struggling to get past this - the Rams threw the ball more than all but like three teams, had a dumpster fire OL, and yet allowed the least amount of sacks. According to NFL.com, we allowed the 10th fewest amount of QB hits too.





****Now - having said the above, I agree the OL was not good enough. But I think people are putting too much on the OL, at least in terms of pass pro. Run blocking they were consistently bad all year. The pass pro was awful against the Niners (game 1) and Steelers - below average against the Bucs - but in every other game they were pretty damn good.

 

[dang]

#1 fix OC and figure out LT. That covers the offense imo.

 

[FrantikRam]

different pressure is different. Goff had tons of internal pressure which means no stepping up in the pocket. Pressure from the ends can be avoided by stepping up in the pocket...if there is a pocket to step up into...

This is why PFF is okay for the broadest of strokes, but it's just not gonna cut it to try to make a complex diagnosis based on their data. It doesn't parse apples to apples and it lacks critical context.

That makes sense, except I don't remember Goff under that much pressure. Does anyone have a stat that shows how much pressure was allowed? I remember the awful games against the Niners and Steelers, but other than that I think the pass pro was good.

 

[Soul Surfer]

..... the OL ranked 31/32 according to PFF.
The one thing that should be focused on more is Goff under pressure - all QBs face pressure...

In the first half of the season before they reshuffled the line with the rookies?

31 sounds about right. They sucked.

Once they brought in Edwards and Evans and Corbett and slid Blythe over to his natural position they looked much better, (though inconsistent as you would figure).
if you look at the individual grades of Corbett, Evans & Edwards they grayed out pretty well

I truly believe that all they need is a camp and some preseason games to iron out consistency to potentially be a damn good line.

I also think that Noteboom will eventually be a well above-average left tackle.
In 2018 there was virtually no drop-off when Noteboom came in for Whitworth.
It's really all about how fast he heals up. JMO.

 

[Canuckramsfan]

IMO, the guy most responsible for Los Ramos not making the Playoffs in 2019?

Aaron BullShitArtist Kromer!

Strike 1. Aaron Kromer tells McVay that Joe Noteboom & Brian Allen are ready for primetime, as our new Interior Line starters for the departed Saffold and Sullivan.

STRIKE 2. Kromer emphasizes so vehemently that Noteboom & Allen are ready and of full-fledged Starters status, THAT HE GETS BOTH OF THEM EXCUSED FROM SHOWING THEIR FLAWS VIA ANY 2019 PRESEASON REPS!!
Think about that! Kromer annointed Noteboom and Allen BASED ON PRACTICE!!!
PRACTICE??!! What would Allen Iverson say about that eh!?alm:

STRIKE THREE.....When Noteboom goes down with his MCL/ACL injury.....WHO DOES AARON KROMER SERVE-UP AS OUR #1 OLINE RESERVE HUH???? Jemil AdamGoldbergTurnstile Demby!!!

While McVay is Hiring new Coaching Staff these days, I would like to mention the above Kromer negative points to the Rams HC, and remind him about the old American adage
....ie. THREE STRIKES AND YER OUT!!!

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

OLine and hubris

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

IMO, the guy most responsible for Los Ramos not making the Playoffs in 2019?

Aaron BullShitArtist Kromer!

Strike 1. Aaron Kromer tells McVay that Joe Noteboom & Brian Allen are ready for primetime, as our new Interior Line starters for the departed Saffold and Sullivan.

STRIKE 2. Kromer emphasizes so vehemently that Noteboom & Allen are ready and of full-fledged Starters status, THAT HE GETS BOTH OF THEM EXCUSED FROM SHOWING THEIR FLAWS VIA ANY 2019 PRESEASON REPS!!
Think about that! Kromer annointed Noteboom and Allen BASED ON PRACTICE!!!
PRACTICE??!! What would Allen Iverson say about that eh!?alm:

STRIKE THREE.....When Noteboom goes down with his MCL/ACL injury.....WHO DOES AARON KROMER SERVE-UP AS OUR #1 OLINE RESERVE HUH???? Jemil AdamGoldbergTurnstile Demby!!!

While McVay is Hiring new Coaching Staff these days, I would like to mention the above Kromer negative points to the Rams HC, and remind him about the old American adage
....ie. THREE STRIKES AND YER OUT!!!

If not for these enormous errors, the Rams could have made it to the Wildcard round

 

[Riverumbbq]

Because there were games the OL was very good and Goff was still not what I expected him to be. That's how you separate the two. I wasn't trying to "go back" to the OL with my comment - I was just saying that, yes, they need to improve before talking about Goff because we have an issue on this board with being critical of Goff, and I am aware that the OL was not good enough as a whole. I get it because of the people who have had extreme bias against past QBs, but there has to be a middle ground.

I don't have the time or motivation, but I remember numerous throws where Goff had plenty of time and still either threw the ball to the other team or threw inaccurately. From there we would get into him "seeing ghosts" because the OL was so bad - which I'm sure is true for some of the situations, but not for all of them.

Also - and I'm struggling to get past this - the Rams threw the ball more than all but like three teams, had a dumpster fire OL, and yet allowed the least amount of sacks. According to NFL.com, we allowed the 10th fewest amount of QB hits too.





****Now - having said the above, I agree the OL was not good enough. But I think people are putting too much on the OL, at least in terms of pass pro. Run blocking they were consistently bad all year. The pass pro was awful against the Niners (game 1) and Steelers - below average against the Bucs - but in every other game they were pretty damn good.

I have never been one of those guys who won't hold Goff accountable when it's his due, and he has certainly had his share of growing pains and mistakes, but we've also seen him perform well and under pressure at other times, so when you put an inexperienced and just plain bad OL in front of him, those mistakes are going to compound themselves. Goff is not blame free, neither is Gurley, but for me presently, the OL holds the greatest amount of responsibility, and once dealt with, we should see improvement across the entire offensive unit. If this happens and Goff & Gurley continue to falter, the scrutiny they receive will be extremely harsh.
jmo.

 

[gogoat1]

The offensive line got manhandles for the most part. There, I saved you from al the BS analysis.
Still they were a missed FG, a horrible call(Goffs"fumble" in Pitt game) and a blown(2) 3rd and 16 vs niners from being 12-4.

 

[Soul Surfer]

IMO, the guy most responsible for Los Ramos not making the Playoffs in 2019?

Aaron BullShitArtist Kromer!

Strike 1. Aaron Kromer tells McVay that Joe Noteboom & Brian Allen are ready for primetime, as our new Interior Line starters for the departed Saffold and Sullivan.

STRIKE 2. Kromer emphasizes so vehemently that Noteboom & Allen are ready and of full-fledged Starters status, THAT HE GETS BOTH OF THEM EXCUSED FROM SHOWING THEIR FLAWS VIA ANY 2019 PRESEASON REPS!!
Think about that! Kromer annointed Noteboom and Allen BASED ON PRACTICE!!!
PRACTICE??!! What would Allen Iverson say about that eh!?alm:

STRIKE THREE.....When Noteboom goes down with his MCL/ACL injury.....WHO DOES AARON KROMER SERVE-UP AS OUR #1 OLINE RESERVE HUH???? Jemil AdamGoldbergTurnstile Demby!!!

While McVay is Hiring new Coaching Staff these days, I would like to mention the above Kromer negative points to the Rams HC, and remind him about the old American adage
....ie. THREE STRIKES AND YER OUT!!!

Woah there, Hoss!
You are supposing a lot of things here.
The head coach makes the final decision based only on input from Kromer.
Kromer may be more of a coach than he is an evaluator of talent.
And it would have been McVay's decision to play them in the preseason.
Though I do think that was a mistake, it may have been McVay's mistake.
I've always had my doubts about Allen but we don't know how good Noteboom might would have looked next to a quality Center.

I think, if anything, Aaron Kromer might be a little too sure of himself and his coaching abilities.

But, replace Kromer?

No freaking way! alm:

 

[thirteen28]

Woah there, Hoss!
You are supposing a lot of things here.
The head coach makes the final decision based only on input from Kromer.
Kromer may be more of a coach than he is an evaluator of talent.
And it would have been McVay's decision to play them in the preseason.
Though I do think that was a mistake, it may have been McVay's mistake.
I've always had my doubts about Allen but we don't know how good Noteboom might would have looked next to a quality Center.

I think, if anything, Aaron Kromer might be a little too sure of himself and his coaching abilities.

But, replace Kromer?

No freaking way! alm:

Ditto.

And if you are going to bash Kromer for the offensive line struggles in the first half of the season, you have to give him credit for what he did with two rookies on the right side of the line and bringing at least some stability to the OL in the second half.

If anything (and hopefully the hiring of an OC takes care of this), Kromer needs to be relieved of the running game coordinator duties so that he can focus solely on coaching offensive linemen, i.e. what he's best at.

 

[…..]

I would judge the coaching staff, then the players/clubhouse leaders for poor play on certain games (not being up for the game, getting out hustled and out physicaled) waaaaay before I entertain Goff not playing up to his contract or not playing well behind this particular line.

The NFL is a game of momentum, a game of rythem, hype, and moments. We lost momentum in a few scant moments this year and had a lot of trouble establishing rythem. I do not believe Goff is an issue. He’s only a product of the current team mojo- whatever that my be.

 

[Mackeyser]

Don’t want the Rams to have to do it but can they tag Ramsey if they can’t re-sign him after next season? I thought I read somewhere that they can’t. Personally, I hope they sign him to a Long Term contract but will the Rams have the cap space???

His fifth year option was exercised, so he's a Ram next year for $13.7M or something like that.

With the new CBA coming, both the Rams and Ramsey would be foolish to sign anything now. I do NOT expect Ramsey to be extended, but rather expect him to be either resigned or franchise tagged and then resigned.

he's not going anywhere. This isn't the same as the Khalil Mack situation (although I really wish we coulda seen that...)

 

[Mackeyser]

Because there were games the OL was very good and Goff was still not what I expected him to be. That's how you separate the two. I wasn't trying to "go back" to the OL with my comment - I was just saying that, yes, they need to improve before talking about Goff because we have an issue on this board with being critical of Goff, and I am aware that the OL was not good enough as a whole. I get it because of the people who have had extreme bias against past QBs, but there has to be a middle ground.

I don't have the time or motivation, but I remember numerous throws where Goff had plenty of time and still either threw the ball to the other team or threw inaccurately. From there we would get into him "seeing ghosts" because the OL was so bad - which I'm sure is true for some of the situations, but not for all of them.

Also - and I'm struggling to get past this - the Rams threw the ball more than all but like three teams, had a dumpster fire OL, and yet allowed the least amount of sacks. According to NFL.com, we allowed the 10th fewest amount of QB hits too.





****Now - having said the above, I agree the OL was not good enough. But I think people are putting too much on the OL, at least in terms of pass pro. Run blocking they were consistently bad all year. The pass pro was awful against the Niners (game 1) and Steelers - below average against the Bucs - but in every other game they were pretty damn good.

Honestly, I think Goff had a hand injury for part of the year that wasn't bad enough to not play, but enough to cause problems.

I forget the game, but I was screaming at the TV for them to put Bortles in because it was painfully clear that Goff simply couldn't put the ball on target. Think it was the 9er game, but could have been the Cowboys game...

 

[ramsince62]

Paying a RB is not paying a “subprime” position. That is daft. We just got subprime production for a variety of reasons.
The Rams finished 17th in the league with 22.8 PPG given up. Take away the three collapses on D (55, 45, 44) and they gave up 16.9 PPG. Take away a few TDs on pic sixes and it goes down another point or so.
On large, the D was pretty good this year.
Better in game adjustments and opponent specific game plans could go along way to making the D excellent.
Adding a play maker on the DL and hanging onto the most important LB could seal the deal.
The Rams gave up 34 PPG over their last three games and may have sealed Wade’s fate.

Take away all the excuses and the Rams are S.B Champions....the truth is and the FACTS are that this team regressed for a number of reasons, i.e., weak OL, free agents, cap space, etc., etc., etc.

Unfortunately mortgaging their future in years 18 & 19 to win now has backfired and the piper must now be paid.

IMO, and that's all it is, this team will not be seriously competitive for the next 2 or 3 years at best. They're a middle of the pack team saddled with a pocket QB smack dab in the middle of a mobile QB league and THAT folks will haunt this team for a decade unless they man up, admit the problem and find another QB that isn't standing in cement or panics at the sign of any pressure.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Today on Cowherd, longtime great OL Mark Schlereth said he laughs when he hears people say that teams have caught up with Sean McVays offense. All you have to do is watch the Titans and see Roger Saffold slapping everyone. Nobody caught up to McVays offense, they lost two excellent lineman and replaced them with two that weren’t half as good.


I’m paraphrasing but that’s the just

 

[Noregar]

What went wrong was the Rams got weaker in the trenches on both sides and McVay had too much on his plate as HC to truly maximize the offense's efficiency. I thought losing Suh and even Saffold would not be big losses but I was wrong, I think the Rams really felt both of their losses.

Statistically speaking, SF has a higher rated offense but if you compare SF and the Rams, the Rams are superior at the skill positions on offense (even at QB for you Goff skeptics) but SF is far better in the trenches.

As for the defensive side, even though the Rams have Donald, SF overall has a stouter DL and LB corp across the board. I think having both Suh and Doanld together in 2018 masked some of the deficiency in the LB corp but without Suh it was exploited especially against teams like the Ravens.

On offense I think McVay had too much on his plate as a head coach with no official OC to make the quick offensive adjustments needed. I think the offense and Goff looked better at the end of the season because McVay had time to make some schematic changes and allow things on the O-line to stabilized. I am hoping that having a dedicated OC will really help the offense next year.

 

[So Ram]

I would say that if the Rams had just locked up Rodger Saffold, that would have given the Rams one more win at least and probably still in the playoffs...Then articles like this wouldn't have been written.

but then The Rams would have never got Corbett