What's different from last year?

[PARAM]

Of course we have Stafford instead of Goff and Akers is missing on offense but through 4 games some pretty surprising numbers. On defense we lost Brockers, Johnson and Hill and a lot of fans are complaining about the defense. Apparently, rightly so.

Offense:

2021 Passing.....92 for 135 (68.1%) 1193 yds (8.84 yds/att) 11 TD 2 Int; 3 sacks allowed
2020 Passing.....88 for 122 (72.1%) 1020 yds (8.36 yds/att) 6 TD 2 Int; 6 sacks allowed

Clearly better with Stafford.

2021 Rushing.....99 for 372 (3.8) 2 TD
2020 Rushing....134 for 569 (4.2) 7 TD

Clearly not as good on the ground.

2021 Kicking.....8 FG
2020 Kicking.....5 FG

So we've scored 13 TDs and kicked 8 FGs (115 pts; 28.8 PPG) in 2021 and we're 3-1
We scored 13 TDs and kicked 5 FGs (106 pts; 26.5 PPG) in 2020 and we were 3-1

Defense:

2021 Pass D.....100 for 116 (86.2%) for 1093 yds (9.42 yds/att) 4 TD 3 Int, 12 sacks
2020 Pass D.....98 for 151 (64.9%) for 919 yds (6.08 yds/att) 5 TD 4 Int, 12 sacks

2021 Rush D....105 for 494 (4.7) 6 TD
2020 Rush D.....99 for 474 (4.8) 4 TD

2021 Opp FGs.....7
2020 Opp FGs.....6

Opponents have scored 10 TDs and kicked 7 FGs (91 pts; 22.8 PPG) in 2021
Opponents scored 9 TDs and kicked 6 FGs (81 pts: 20.3 PPG) in 2020

Clearly our offense is better passing, not as good on the ground and our defense is not as good as it was the first four games on 2020. But the record is the same. And the net difference in point differential is - 0.2 (+6.0 this year, +6.2 in 2020). Plus we've given up a ST TD on a blocked punt this year, which makes the net difference even bigger (- 1.9). Cause for concern?

A lot of complaints about our run D (which seems pretty much the same) but pass D is concerning. Last year we faced Dak, Wentz, Allen and Jones. This year Dalton, Wentz, Brady and Murray. From 64.9% to 86.2% completion percentage? 6.08 yds per attempt to 9.42 this year? Sure the TDs are down by 1 but the rushing TDs are up by 2. Points come out of the passing game, not necessarily directly by the passing game.

 

[Juice]

We lost Fox on the defense as well. That didn't help the run D either. If I remember correctly, last years D turned a corner around week 5 or 6 and we became a force to be reckoned. I hope this is the case this year as well.

 

[FrantikRam]

Brady/Murray is better than Dak/Allen

Wentz is Wentz

Dalton is basically Jones

Kyler this year is basically Allen from last year. Exploding offense right out of the gate. The Bucs offense is much better than Dallas' in week one last year.

So from that perspective, and given all the numbers you threw out, I actually feel better about our d from a statistical standpoint.


It's too soon to call this, but I think the Bears, Colts and Bucs will all end up being top 10 run defenses.

Last year, without even looking, I think all four teams had mediocre run defenses. Could be wrong though.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Of course we have Stafford instead of Goff and Akers is missing on offense but through 4 games some pretty surprising numbers. On defense we lost Brockers, Johnson and Hill and a lot of fans are complaining about the defense. Apparently, rightly so.

Offense:

2021 Passing.....92 for 135 (68.1%) 1193 yds (8.84 yds/att) 11 TD 2 Int; 3 sacks allowed
2020 Passing.....88 for 122 (72.1%) 1020 yds (8.36 yds/att) 6 TD 2 Int; 6 sacks allowed

Clearly better with Stafford.

2021 Rushing.....99 for 372 (3.8) 2 TD
2020 Rushing....134 for 569 (4.2) 7 TD

Clearly not as good on the ground.

2021 Kicking.....8 FG
2020 Kicking.....5 FG

So we've scored 13 TDs and kicked 8 FGs (115 pts; 28.8 PPG) in 2021 and we're 3-1
We scored 13 TDs and kicked 5 FGs (106 pts; 26.5 PPG) in 2020 and we were 3-1

Defense:

2021 Pass D.....100 for 116 (86.2%) for 1093 yds (9.42 yds/att) 4 TD 3 Int, 12 sacks
2020 Pass D.....98 for 151 (64.9%) for 919 yds (6.08 yds/att) 5 TD 4 Int, 12 sacks

2021 Rush D....105 for 494 (4.7) 6 TD
2020 Rush D.....99 for 474 (4.8) 4 TD

2021 Opp FGs.....7
2020 Opp FGs.....6

Opponents have scored 10 TDs and kicked 7 FGs (91 pts; 22.8 PPG) in 2021
Opponents scored 9 TDs and kicked 6 FGs (81 pts: 20.3 PPG) in 2020

Clearly our offense is better passing, not as good on the ground and our defense is not as good as it was the first four games on 2020. But the record is the same. And the net difference in point differential is - 0.2 (+6.0 this year, +6.2 in 2020). Plus we've given up a ST TD on a blocked punt this year, which makes the net difference even bigger (- 1.9). Cause for concern?

A lot of complaints about our run D (which seems pretty much the same) but pass D is concerning. Last year we faced Dak, Wentz, Allen and Jones. This year Dalton, Wentz, Brady and Murray. From 64.9% to 86.2% completion percentage? 6.08 yds per attempt to 9.42 this year? Sure the TDs are down by 1 but the rushing TDs are up by 2. Points come out of the passing game, not necessarily directly by the passing game.

I think it’s possible that the focus on Oline blocking schemes and tight ends is more protection based.

I agree though that overall the Rams had a very similar start. But I think the expectations coming out of 2019 were much lower.

 

[thirteen28]

I think with the run game you have to factor in that we started out against 3 very good run defenses, and our passing game was clicking in those games. Had McVay stuck with the run against the Cardinals (where Hendo was doing great), it might have been enough to sway the averages upward.

The most disturbing one is the difference in completion percentage and yards/att with regards to our pass D. Significantly worse on both. I think a lot of the completion percentage has to do with the ridiculous cushions we are giving opposing WRs, which they and their respective QBs are only too happy to exploit.

 

[snackdaddy]

Our 3 wins in the first 4 games last year were against NFC east teams. Our 3 wins this year were against teams who made the playoffs last year. Although the jury is still out whether or not Indy is any good. Bears still have a good defense. Bucs we know are good. Now we know the Cardinals are good.

We have a different team this year. A new quarterback. Different pieces on defense. We're still trying to figure things out. As are a lot of other teams. The way things change week to week in the NFL I wouldn't put too much into the loss. Just like we shouldn't put too much into the impressive win over the Bucs. Its not as simple as the Cardinals are the only undefeated team so that makes them the best team in the league.

 

[WestCoastRam]

I'm gonna maybe say something controversial here... but I've gone back and watched some games from 2020 and compared them to 2021 and I'm prepared to say that I believe there is a small effect on D of how Morris calls plays and playing Ramsey in the Star more.

The larger effect is the loss of players. It does seem like Morris is calling the same D and that D had CBs (except Ramsey when aligned outside) playing off WR. Not all of our disguise were safety rotations and some were CB switch of assignments (from cover-2 to cover-4 or 6 and vice versa). This is what's being called this year (though much more static D with Card's hurry up last game).

Missing JJ and Hill are huge losses for this D for what they could bring with their run support, tackling, ball skills, and play recognition. When you add that to missing Ebukam, Fox and Brockers (a smaller effect but still an effect) we just are quite a bit less talented on D than we were last year.

Trust me, I didn't want to be a Morris apologist but our problems have far more to do with less talent than how he's calling the D. Now, I think there's a solid argument to be made to move away from Staley's D to something that fits our players better but I'm at a loss for what that would be. We could play cover-3 more, allowing Rapp to shine in the box but I don't trust Fuller's range play-in-and-play-out as a center fielder. We could play more man which might help Long but I think that greatly reduces the use of the Star position. Right now, with the talent we have on D (outside Donald and Ramsey) every solution seems to bring with it a new problem.

The best bet this year is just to coach up the guys we have, (possibly elevate a new starter in Rochelle) and play this D to our best capability and hope that the O gets to the point where it's firing on all cylinders regularly and that could be enough to take us into the playoffs.

 

[1maGoh]

I'm gonna maybe say something controversial here... but I've gone back and watched some games from 2020 and compared them to 2021 and I'm prepared to say that I believe there is a small effect on D of how Morris calls plays and playing Ramsey in the Star more.

The larger effect is the loss of players. It does seem like Morris is calling the same D and that D had CBs (except Ramsey when aligned outside) playing off WR. Not all of our disguise were safety rotations and some were CB switch of assignments (from cover-2 to cover-4 or 6 and vice versa). This is what's being called this year (though much more static D with Card's hurry up last game).

Missing JJ and Hill are huge losses for this D for what they could bring with their run support, tackling, ball skills, and play recognition. When you add that to missing Ebukam, Fox and Brockers (a smaller effect but still an effect) we just are quite a bit less talented on D than we were last year.

Trust me, I didn't want to be a Morris apologist but our problems have far more to do with less talent than how he's calling the D. Now, I think there's a solid argument to be made to move away from Staley's D to something that fits our players better but I'm at a loss for what that would be. We could play cover-3 more, allowing Rapp to shine in the box but I don't trust Fuller's range play-in-and-play-out as a center fielder. We could play more man which might help Long but I think that greatly reduces the use of the Star position. Right now, with the talent we have on D (outside Donald and Ramsey) every solution seems to bring with it a new problem.

The best bet this year is just to coach up the guys we have, (possibly elevate a new starter in Rochelle) and play this D to our best capability and hope that the O gets to the point where it's firing on all cylinders regularly and that could be enough to take us into the playoffs.

Any time your dealing with strategy, you are always faced with scenarios in which you have to choose the Least Bad Option. They're all bad, you just have to pick the one that's the least bad.

Is be most okay with reducing the effectiveness of the star role, given the options you listed above (including staying the course). I think we could live with less star or a more effective outside and less effective star.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Gr

Any time your dealing with strategy, you are always faced with scenarios in which you have to choose the Least Bad Option. They're all bad, you just have to pick the one that's the least bad.

Is be most okay with reducing the effectiveness of the star role, given the options you listed above (including staying the course). I think we could live with less star or a more effective outside and less effective sta

And I'm not advocating for Ramsey to be only outside. I'm happy to have him in the slot (which Star includes) when they premium threat is in the slot. Just less Star for Star's sake. I think it's just that we got out of balance with that.

 

[majrleaged]

Our 3 wins in the first 4 games last year were against NFC east teams. Our 3 wins this year were against teams who made the playoffs last year. Although the jury is still out whether or not Indy is any good. Bears still have a good defense. Bucs we know are good. Now we know the Cardinals are good.

We have a different team this year. A new quarterback. Different pieces on defense. We're still trying to figure things out. As are a lot of other teams. The way things change week to week in the NFL I wouldn't put too much into the loss. Just like we shouldn't put too much into the impressive win over the Bucs. Its not as simple as the Cardinals are the only undefeated team so that makes them the best team in the league.

Okay, look. We don't need any common sense to leak in here right now. I'm to busy venting.

 

[1maGoh]

Gr

And I'm not advocating for Ramsey to be only outside. I'm happy to have him in the slot (which Star includes) when they premium threat is in the slot. Just less Star for Star's sake. I think it's just that we got out of balance with that.

I agree. I didn't take your statement to mean no star, just less effective star or playing less star in general.

 

[CGI_Ram]

It's too soon to call this, but I think the Bears, Colts and Bucs will all end up being top 10 run defenses.

I agree!

I'm gonna maybe say something controversial here... but I've gone back and watched some games from 2020 and compared them to 2021 and I'm prepared to say that I believe there is a small effect on D of how Morris calls plays and playing Ramsey in the Star more.

The larger effect is the loss of players. It does seem like Morris is calling the same D and that D had CBs (except Ramsey when aligned outside) playing off WR. Not all of our disguise were safety rotations and some were CB switch of assignments (from cover-2 to cover-4 or 6 and vice versa). This is what's being called this year (though much more static D with Card's hurry up last game).

Missing JJ and Hill are huge losses for this D for what they could bring with their run support, tackling, ball skills, and play recognition. When you add that to missing Ebukam, Fox and Brockers (a smaller effect but still an effect) we just are quite a bit less talented on D than we were last year.

Trust me, I didn't want to be a Morris apologist but our problems have far more to do with less talent than how he's calling the D. Now, I think there's a solid argument to be made to move away from Staley's D to something that fits our players better but I'm at a loss for what that would be. We could play cover-3 more, allowing Rapp to shine in the box but I don't trust Fuller's range play-in-and-play-out as a center fielder. We could play more man which might help Long but I think that greatly reduces the use of the Star position. Right now, with the talent we have on D (outside Donald and Ramsey) every solution seems to bring with it a new problem.

The best bet this year is just to coach up the guys we have, (possibly elevate a new starter in Rochelle) and play this D to our best capability and hope that the O gets to the point where it's firing on all cylinders regularly and that could be enough to take us into the playoffs.

I enjoyed reading your take there, WCR.

Quite surprising how much more star Ramsey has played. I think I agree with the general tone around here… it likely has been too much.

 

[XXXIVwin]

I'm gonna maybe say something controversial here... but I've gone back and watched some games from 2020 and compared them to 2021 and I'm prepared to say that I believe there is a small effect on D of how Morris calls plays and playing Ramsey in the Star more.

The larger effect is the loss of players. It does seem like Morris is calling the same D and that D had CBs (except Ramsey when aligned outside) playing off WR. Not all of our disguise were safety rotations and some were CB switch of assignments (from cover-2 to cover-4 or 6 and vice versa). This is what's being called this year (though much more static D with Card's hurry up last game).

Missing JJ and Hill are huge losses for this D for what they could bring with their run support, tackling, ball skills, and play recognition. When you add that to missing Ebukam, Fox and Brockers (a smaller effect but still an effect) we just are quite a bit less talented on D than we were last year.

Trust me, I didn't want to be a Morris apologist but our problems have far more to do with less talent than how he's calling the D. Now, I think there's a solid argument to be made to move away from Staley's D to something that fits our players better but I'm at a loss for what that would be. We could play cover-3 more, allowing Rapp to shine in the box but I don't trust Fuller's range play-in-and-play-out as a center fielder. We could play more man which might help Long but I think that greatly reduces the use of the Star position. Right now, with the talent we have on D (outside Donald and Ramsey) every solution seems to bring with it a new problem.

The best bet this year is just to coach up the guys we have, (possibly elevate a new starter in Rochelle) and play this D to our best capability and hope that the O gets to the point where it's firing on all cylinders regularly and that could be enough to take us into the playoffs.

Interesting take. We'll never know for sure if the regression on D is due to (a) talent drain or (b) coaching change. But I do think it's easy to forget just how much talent we lost on D this past offseason.

Here's a quick-n-dirty rundown of the average salary per year of the guys we lost:

Brock, 8 M
Hill, 4.5M
JJ, 11 M
Fox, 4M
Ebukam, 6M.

Other NFL teams obviously put a high value on the guys we lost. Their combined salaries per year: "about" 33.5M bucks.

33.5 M in just one year is a lot of talent to lose on one side of the ball.

 

[jjab360]

For the record we're not actually allowing an 86.2 CMP% on defense...

 

[PARAM]

For the record we're not actually allowing an 86.2 CMP% on defense...

I don't know what happened there. Wow, totally fooked up that part of the post. My apologies. And it has ramifications. Our pass D is actually better than last year, through 4 games.

The 2020/2021 Passing defense should read:

2021: 116 of 163 (71.1%) for 1093 yards (6.71 yds/att) 4 TD 3 Int 12 Sacks
2020: 98 of 151 (64.9%) for 1020 yards (6.08 yds/att) 5 TD 4 Int 12 Sacks

 

[ottoman89]

Raheem Morris. That's the big change.

 

[den-the-coach]

Raheem Morris. That's the big change.

It's amazing how some Assistant Coaches get these high profile reputations for not being that great of an Assistant. It's obvious that one of Morris greatest strengths is, his ability to build relationships, too bad that doesn't translate to positive results of the field of play.

 

[PARAM]

Of course we have Stafford instead of Goff and Akers is missing on offense but through 4 games some pretty surprising numbers. On defense we lost Brockers, Johnson and Hill and a lot of fans are complaining about the defense. Apparently, rightly so.

Offense:

2021 Passing.....92 for 135 (68.1%) 1193 yds (8.84 yds/att) 11 TD 2 Int; 3 sacks allowed
2020 Passing.....88 for 122 (72.1%) 1020 yds (8.36 yds/att) 6 TD 2 Int; 6 sacks allowed

Clearly better with Stafford.

2021 Rushing.....99 for 372 (3.8) 2 TD
2020 Rushing....134 for 569 (4.2) 7 TD

Clearly not as good on the ground.

2021 Kicking.....8 FG
2020 Kicking.....5 FG

So we've scored 13 TDs and kicked 8 FGs (115 pts; 28.8 PPG) in 2021 and we're 3-1
We scored 13 TDs and kicked 5 FGs (106 pts; 26.5 PPG) in 2020 and we were 3-1

Defense:

2021 Pass D.....116 for 163 (71.1%) for 1093 yds (6.71 yds/att) 4 TD 3 Int, 12 sacks
2020 Pass D.....98 for 151 (64.9%) for 919 yds (6.08 yds/att) 5 TD 4 Int, 12 sacks

2021 Rush D....105 for 494 (4.7) 6 TD
2020 Rush D.....99 for 474 (4.8) 4 TD

2021 Opp FGs.....7
2020 Opp FGs.....6

Opponents have scored 10 TDs and kicked 7 FGs (91 pts; 22.8 PPG) in 2021
Opponents scored 9 TDs and kicked 6 FGs (81 pts: 20.3 PPG) in 2020

Clearly our offense is better passing, not as good on the ground and our defense is not as good as it was the first four games on 2020. But the record is the same. And the net difference in point differential is - 0.2 (+6.0 this year, +6.2 in 2020). Plus we've given up a ST TD on a blocked punt this year, which makes the net difference even bigger (- 1.9). Cause for concern?

A lot of complaints about our run D (which seems pretty much the same) but pass D is concerning. Last year we faced Dak, Wentz, Allen and Jones. This year Dalton, Wentz, Brady and Murray. From 64.9% to 86.2% completion percentage? 6.08 yds per attempt to 9.42 this year? Sure the TDs are down by 1 but the rushing TDs are up by 2. Points come out of the passing game, not necessarily directly by the passing game.

Dead wrong on the pass D. A little better completion % by opponents and a little higher yds/att but certainly not what I had in my original post. No cause for alarm with the pass D.

 

[NJRamsFan]

It's a hard comparison I think objectively we played 4 collectively worse teams last year in comparison to this year and have some similar results to show for it. I think the defense is not passing many peoples eye test or is/was behind the offense so its easy to pick on.

I still maintain as I said last year, although we did statistically rank 1st in a lot of the advanced metric categories and some of the traditional ones last year we were far from the normal "Number one defense in the NFL". Generally speaking a lot of the traditional metrics by which people judge defenses were higher than many years past. And I think some of that has to do with the implications of COVID and practice time. For example, in 2020 we were second in the league in ppg allowed at 19.3 just one year prior in 2019 that puts us at seventh and that ranking remains pretty consistent all the way back to 2008 where we would start falling further.

In 2020 only two teams allowed fewer than 20 points per game which again is a statistically anomaly going all the way back to 2003 where the figure is generally 6-12 teams per season most consistently around 10. We allowed 99.1 rushing yards per game, good for 4th best in the league, from 2017-2019 that would have been good for 7th or 8th each year and in 2016 that would have been 14th best. We were 15th in takeaways per game.

Overall what I am saying is a lot of defenses played worse in 2020 based on a lot of the measurables we traditionally go by and again I think COVID was a big part in that statistical anomaly with some players sitting out, restricted access to facilities and coaches, etc. We performed very well in a lot of the yardage allowed and passing yardage categories and would have been good for top 3 in recent years prior but that alone with uninspiring ppg, rushing yards per game, lackluster takeaways does not make this defensive juggernaut a lot here seem to think we had. We were a good D that made some big plays and performed better than most in a difficult year but historically we were not memorable.

Our Defense looked like the bright spot compared to our offense last year, now that is no longer the case so the drop in production seems more glaring.

So what changed since last year? Not much IMO. We got a little worse because we are a little less experienced loosing the vets we did. I think most of the takes here are over reactionary because of the "Number 1 Defense" tag everyone likes to flaunt. Not all Number 1 defenses are equal its a measurement that is equally based on peer performance as it is your own.

 

[Ram_Rally]

Too early to tell. For example, if Mcvay hadn't abandoned the run on Sunday then we might have had the best rushing performance under the McVay era. We had 50 (!) First quarter rushing yards. Now add the fact that Goff and Mcvay had 4 years together going into last year while Stafford is in quarter 2 ....and the fact that Staley was running his own defense while Morris is trying to run a variation of Staley's defense that isn't his own. I'd say that we shouldn't make any comparisons about this team vs last year until at least week 8