Why do YOU think our passing offense is terrible?

[DCH]

I liked seeing them get Marquez involved - even just a little bit - yesterday. Great passing offenses have a variety of guys who get catches on a weekly basis, not just 1 or 2 (although 1 or 2 dominant pass-catchers can make it easier on the rest... see Gronk and Edelman or Cobb and Nelson or Bruce and Holt).

I don't chart the routes run, but if they're not running quick slants over the middle with their big-bodied guys Britt and Quick, I wonder why. Hell, two guys on one side running quick slants - say, Britt from the X and Tavon from the slot - that leaves the big guy the chance to make a catch with his size, or Austin the chance to get the ball with Britt ahead of him blocking downfield.

It's a fairly simple concept, I think, and takes a lot of pressure off of the line and QB, who only has to take three steps and fire based on one read to one side of the field.

 

[MrMotes]

100% Head Coach.

Jeff Fisher neither excels nor believes in winning with a strong passing attack.

And it shows.

But if he can win with defense and running, that works...

 

[Rmfnlt]

I think play calling still leaves a lot to be desired.

Yes, it's better than Schottenheimer... but a department store dummy could do better than that.

 

[Memphis Ram]

No need for a strong passing attack. A solid one will do in a run first / strong defense gameplan.

The OLine can improve. The WRs can improve. But, unless Foles gets it together, it's not going to happen. It's simply the nature of the position.

Hopefully, more experience in the offense helps him speed things up with his progressions.

 

[12intheBox]

You know who would be a great fit in this offense? Johnny Manziel!

 

[RamsFan14]

Found some more stuff @RamsFan14

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/155582924/nfl-quarterback-rankings-rodgers-brady-manning

And I'm just going off my eyeballs....these just confirm what my eyeballs are seeing....week after week.....And my last impression.....Davis couldn't have been worse than this....

I will say, he played better yesterday...but with the amount of protection, he should have played much better.

Alright maybe saying he's 16 - 20 wasn't the smartest thing in the world, however I still feel like he's managing Fisher's offense the way Fisher wants him to and that's what I'm basing all my judgements around. But yes, he doesn't have many yards, TDs, nor a good completion %. It's a recipe for a QB to get his tail booted from the lineup, but idk if that's true with Foles. Just play the ground and pound game, and try not to turn the ball over. In our WINS this season, he's managed to play solid, error free(ish) football. At this point, I'll take it because I do believe he can make all the throws in the book and the threat of his play action passing is quite good for this particular offense. But yes, he has a lot of room to improve, ESPECIALLY on 3rd down... And big picture, most teams probably wouldn't be happy with is production, I can agree with you on that. The stats don't look pretty, but he's been good enough in our wins, and it's something I'm more then fine with at this point. I just want to win and I'm essentially buying into Fisher's philosophy of the ground and pound game. Todd Gurley is a special player and Fisher couldn't be happier he got this kind of RB since he LOVES to play ground and pound. Run the ball first, pass second. It's tough seeing that because we're not used to this, it's a passing league! Foles isn't being asked to do what most passers are, which I'm fine with, and thus why I might not be as critical as most of him. His positives fit nicely with this kind of offense (well, at least I think it does right now, it's easy to be optimistic when you win, ya know?) Anyway, I still don't believe the offensive struggles fall mostly on Foles, rather its a team problem. Foles, OL, and playmakers not named Gurley.

 

[DCH]

Hey @CoachO, you see anything out of Marquez yesterday that implies he should be worked into the regular WR rotation?

 

[Athos]

I'm getting real close to wanting Keenum to start getting reps if Foles doesn't improve. He has had some plays to make. And he's missed some big, needed plays. And looked badly doing it.

Talk about Sam leaving the pocket early......Foles has no pocket presence at all that I've seen the last few weeks. Even his completions are ugly. Our WRs are pretty mediocre sans Austin, but QB play must improve. Foles is basically Hill right now with a better arm and more height. That really hasn't translated to more production.

 

[DCH]

I'm getting real close to wanting Keenum to start getting reps if Foles doesn't improve. He has had some plays to make. And he's missed some big, needed plays. And looked badly doing it.

Talk about Sam leaving the pocket early......Foles has no pocket presence at all that I've seen the last few weeks. Even his completions are ugly. Our WRs are pretty mediocre sans Austin, but QB play must improve. Foles is basically Hill right now with a better arm and more height. That really hasn't translated to more production.

I don't see them making a QB change when they're winning for the first time in god-knows-how-long.

 

[maximus]

I'm getting real close to wanting Keenum to start getting reps if Foles doesn't improve. He has had some plays to make. And he's missed some big, needed plays. And looked badly doing it.

Which ones has he missed? When he hits WR's in the hands and they drop or fumble the ball?


Using picks to help WR's get free on 3rd down would help the passing offense. Seachickens converted 2 or 3 3rd downs in their last drive yesterday using picks.

 

[FrantikRam]

If you look at Foles overall body of work, it hasn't been that great.

But against the two best defenses we've played, he was nearly perfect. That, to me, shows the potential of this passing game.

I think the issues are that we want to feature the running game, and then the TEs in the passing game....only our TEs aren't quite good enough. Here's my perspective: with an elite QB, these WRs would magically become an above average WR group....maybe even one of the best in the NFL.

Foles isn't elite....so the WRs need to step up their games for Foles to have success. Sometimes it's just about confidence and reps....and our WRs just haven't gotten a ton of opportunities with Foles in the games we've played (and IMO game reps are different than practice reps - in practice Foles and Cook were amazing...we've seen that in games, that's not really the case). I think in the short term, we need to pass more on 1st and 2nd downs. Run, run, 3rd down isn't working for this offense. If you want to limit Gurley to 25 touches or so, come out with a game plan that gets him involved in the passing game, and then run him less. We need to take more deep shots, but I'll settle for an efficient short passing game to supplement the running game....then taking our shots later in the game.

The Vikings are going to blitz us A LOT. Our defense is better than theirs. In practice this week, I'd have our D blitz and press the WRs all day because that's what we'll be facing with the Vikings.

 

[Athos]

Which ones has he missed? When he hits WR's in the hands and they drop or fumble the ball?

CoachO already hit on this.

And he's missed Tavon several times. The first being when Dicky Sherman was absolutely torched and Tavon had a good 5+ yards on him before having to slow down inside the 10, allowing Dicky to get a hand on him for DPI.

He needs to throw cleaner balls. But yes, our WRs have been bad. WR improvement is a necessity in the offseason.

 

[CoachO]

Hey @CoachO, you see anything out of Marquez yesterday that implies he should be worked into the regular WR rotation?

Nope

 

[DCH]

Nope

Succinct. Thanks. Anything about him that says he has the potential to be anything more than the WR equivalent of Chase Reynolds at any point in his career?

 

[CoachO]

Succinct. Thanks. Anything about him that says he has the potential to be anything more than the WR equivalent of Chase Reynolds at any point in his career?

Way too early to tell that. What's more troubling to me is what is going on with Bailey and Quick and the obvious lack of chemistry with our QB.

That he feels that throwing to Marquez on a underneath crossing route makes more sense rather then target Bailey and Quick when they're on the field the majority of the time. And trust me, they have been open and ignored on more than one occasion so Foles can sail yet another sideline throw over the head of our 5'8 stud.

 

[DCH]

Way too early to tell that. What's more troubling to me is what is going on with Bailey and Quick and the obvious lack of chemistry with our QB.

That he feels that throwing to Marquez on a underneath crossing route makes more sense rather then target Bailey and Quick when they're on the field the majority of the time. And trust me, they have been open and ignored on more than one occasion so Foles can sail yet another sideline throw over the head of our 5'8 stud.

Do you think the issue is that neither Quick nor Bailey is ever the primary target or primary safety valve, and those are the only 2 options Foles has the time (by blocking breakdowns or slow decision making) to look to?

 

[CoachO]

Have no idea. But maybe I'm the one not getting it. But how much sense does it make to continue to throw sideline OUT routes to Austin? Even when Foles doesn't fling it 5 feet over his head he catches the ball going out of bounds.

But yet they won't throw the ball to him in space unless it's behind the LOS.

Then you have Bailey running underneath routes from the slot and Foles won't look at him unless he's outside the numbers. And forget about Quick running a deep dig route. Foles never looks in the middle of the field unless it's to force a throw to Cook.

 

[DR RAM]

Have no idea. But maybe I'm the one not getting it. But how much sense does it make to continue to throw sideline OUT routes to Austin? Even when Foles doesn't fling it 5 feet over his head he catches the ball going out of bounds.

But yet they won't throw the ball to him in space unless it's behind the LOS.

Then you have Bailey running underneath routes from the slot and Foles won't look at him unless he's outside the numbers. And forget about Quick running a deep dig route. Foles never looks in the middle of the field unless it's to force a throw to Cook.

Or running 2 to 3 yard comeback plays, when we need 8. It's confusing, and alarming. I'm afraid that Foles took too many grenades last year. If he doesn't get out of his shell-shock funk, our passing game won't improve. Man, I'd love to see Gurley on a wheel route. I'd like to see a linebacker try to cover him. Last thing, I'd like to see a QB, be able to extend a play, or hang in the pocket and make a play.

 

[DCH]

Have no idea. But maybe I'm the one not getting it. But how much sense does it make to continue to throw sideline OUT routes to Austin? Even when Foles doesn't fling it 5 feet over his head he catches the ball going out of bounds.

But yet they won't throw the ball to him in space unless it's behind the LOS.

Then you have Bailey running underneath routes from the slot and Foles won't look at him unless he's outside the numbers. And forget about Quick running a deep dig route. Foles never looks in the middle of the field unless it's to force a throw to Cook.

Yeah... the quick slant - and really, any legit passing attack between the numbers - seems to have been missing from our offense since DA left.

 

[classicpony]

I'd love to hear everyone's opinion.
There is no doubt that our passing offense is simply terrible. The stats prove it. What we see on game days proves it. My question to the football gods is ... why? What is the main problem, and the other little problems?

Is it Nick Foles?
Is it pass protection?
Is it play call?
Is it that our receivers cannot get open very often?

What's your take on this?

MAYBE
YES
MAYBE
YES
If the receivers would CATCH da ball, that would help...