Rams Game Thoughts

[AZ54]

Offense: Overall Gase did a good job especially considering he had to work with a limited Alshon Jeffrey and Royal was out again. There are still gaps on the roster that need to be fixed but more on that later. Considering what he's working with on our Oline, WR, and the backup RBs (not that they were a problem) against a very fast defense he called a good game. He stuck with running the ball late when everyone knew it was coming.

 

Cutler: Rarely did he have more than 2 seconds in the pocket before he had to avoid pressure. Despite all that he kept his cool and moved around well enough to extend some plays. Other times when it wasn't there he just folded and took the sack and moved on to the next play, or the next series. I'm not sure how he was able to block out of his mind that each drop back he knew Ducasse would be a turnstile and let Aaron Donald up the middle but he did it. Numbers aren't great especially considering the two long TDs added a lot to yardage, 3rd down efficiency was horrible, but mentally this was Cutler's best game since he game to Chicago.

 

Oline: This was a bad game. We had some well blocked runs throughout the game but had trouble doing it consistently. Pass protection was bad. I hoped Grasu would be back so we could get Slauson in at LG but we had to see Ducasse spin around all game long. We hear it all the time but it is about match ups and that Dline was a bad matchup for our Oline. They are a tough matchup for any Oline. Gase however took advantage of their pressure up the middle and dialed up a few plays to the outside at just the right time to take advantage and on these plays the Oline executed well.

 

RBs: Can't say enough about Langford and his speed is a welcome change to the backfield. He's starting to have a better feel for the game as seen on his TD run where he cut back to the left away from the direction of the play and found a crease into the end zone. Forte may return soon but he'll be sharing carries more than he did the first half of the season. Carey runs hard between the tackles and it's a nice mix between him and Langford. Carey finished with 4ypc, a good bit of it after first contact. He took the big hit late and fumbled but overall a good game from Ka'Deem and I think as he gets more reps he too is getting a better feel for the blocking. Nobody misses Jacquizz Rodgers.

 

WRs: Quiet game in large part because there was so little time to throw and because of injuries. Jeffrey was limited in what he did and Marquess Wilson just doesn't run his routes well enough to get open. He's rounding off his cuts and then fades a bit downfield making it easy for a DB to undercut the pass. If I were Cutler I wouldn't be looking his way much at all. I can't wait to see what we can do with Jeffrey and Royal both healthy for a few games.

 

TEs: One thing is clear Zach Miller will be a bigger part of this offense going forward.

 

Defense: This largely no-name defense grew up today. Fangio's and his coaching staff are turning these guys into consistent performers.

 

Dline/OLB: Missing McPhee off the edge was worrisome especially knowing what Gurley and Tavon Austin can do. The edge players were disciplined and largely shutdown the reverse game. RBs had tough sledding up the middle. I saw guys like Bruce Gaston (who I didn't remember being on our team) making plays inside. We have to start giving some credit to Jay Rodgers for what he's done with all these backup DTs.

 

ILB: Welcome back Shea! 8 tackles, 1 forced fumble. The first drive the defense looked to be too focused on stopping Gurley. That stopped for the rest of the game and the defense, looking well organized up front, only gave up 3 more points. I didn't watch closely enough but I know I saw Anderson out there on some plays so it would appear he split time with Jones. Anderson finished with 3 tackles while Jones had 2. I don't know if they alternated series or if Anderson was used more on passing down while Jones had the early downs.

 

CB: Porter with 3 PBU late in the game. Kyle Fuller continues to improve in coverage. Foles had some options but pressure kept him inaccurate or indecisive throughout the game. Some will point out that STL is last in passing yards per game but they are also 5th in rushing. In the overall scheme of what we had to do on defense the CBs played their part.

 

S: They didn't stand out. Might be the first game in years where I didn't find myself saying over and over "I hope the safety is there". They kept everything in front of them.

 

Special Teams: We're getting good on kick coverage. Prosinski (I think it's him) flies down the middle of the field on punt coverage often arriving first at the returner. I'm not sure where he's at in the blocking scheme but he's handling that and hustling downfield. I'm more accustomed to seeing our gunners arrive first from the edges. I'm giving some props to Jeff Rodgers for the improvement. Mariani is about to get benched. I doubt we'll be putting Royal back there when he's healthy simply because he's likely to be less than 100% when he first returns. Mariani's poor decisions, lack of vision as a KR, and muffed punts won't stay on the field long with this coaching staff. It's possible we put someone out there just to make a fair catch on PR. Unfortunately part of the challenge is the active roster and setting that up when we have so many WR injuries. If we didn't need Mariani at WR we might be seeing Antone Smith, or even Langford, on KR. It will be interesting to see what happens this week.

 

 

HC: John Fox has won this team over. It was great to see all the camaraderie on the sideline late in the game. I know winning cures everything but this has been a long road and a decisive win like this while missing several key players, and with so many new additions contributing, says a lot. 8 weeks ago this upcoming Denver game looked like a sure loss. Right now with Denver sliding and the Bears ascending it sure looks like we have a chance to pull off a win at home. Key will be protecting against Denver's edge rushers but Ware might still be sidelined.

 

 

[Mongo3451]

Thank you. I'm at the hunting cabin and could not watch the game. That was a very nice recap.

[adam]

Offense: 37/24 Rush to Pass ratio was huge. Cutler only had 5 incompletions and a couple were throw-aways. The two huge plays played right into the Rams aggressive play. 37 points against that defense, in STL, wow. Not much more you need to know. We also did that with Alshon getting 3/23 and Bennett getting 3/18. Our leading rushers were Langford and Carey and our leading receivers were Langford and Miller. We could've been a little better on 3rd downs, but besides for the late Carey fumble, we took care of the ball when we needed to.

 

Cutler: 151.0 QB Rating, 0 INTs and 0 fumbles. As close to a perfect game as you are going to get against that defense. Cutler posted the highest QB Rating against the Rams this year, and he did this with only 6 receptions going to Jeffery and Bennett. He was caught congratulating the defense every time they came of the field (but that was rarely shown on TV because it is against the media's agenda).

 

Oline: Hard to knock the line against the best D-Line in football, only allowing 2 sacks. Ducasse was clearly the weak point, and we need to get Grasu back so Slauson can slide back to Guard. That will be a huge upgrade.

 

RBs: I really like this 1-2 punch of Langford and Carey. You can tell they have fresh/young legs. Both can break long runs if they get to the 2nd level. Langford is going to be special. In back to back weeks he has out-produced Gordon and Gurley (in their houses). Both have done extremely well in blitz pick-ups and I can only assume they will get better with more playing time. Is it crazy to think we don't miss Forte, who was accounting for 1/3 to 1/2 of the offense over the past few years?

 

WRs: Jeffery must've been ailing from the groin injury as he was non-existent. Wilson was on the field, but largely a non-factor. They were decent in blocking though. Can't wait to see a healthy WR corps play for this team one day (Alshon/White/Royal).

 

TEs: If Zach Miller stays healthy, we potentially have 2x top 5 TEs. Miller is the pass catching TE that can exploit the seams and Bennett is the beast who gets the dirty yards and doesn't go down on first contact. I am excited to see more 2 TE formations with these two going out into patterns.

 

Defense: STL was not a very good offense, but Gurley and Austin have been explosive for them, and we largely kept them in check. The defense, minus McPhee, held Gurley to 45 yards rushing and their most targeted WR, Brian Quick, was targeted 7 times, and only caught 1 pass. Fangio worked his magic and you can tell the defense was in better position to make plays with SMC back in the lineup (I can't believe I am saying that). 3rd straight game where defense only allowed a single TD.

 

Dline/LBs: The front 7 played extremely disciplined ball, with SMC (8 tackles and a forced fumble), Houston (sack), and Young (INT) leading the way. This group seems to be building confidence and will only be better with McPhee coming back. SMC really stood out making numerous open field tackles and he seemed to be around the ball on every play. I would like to see more pressure and sacks from this group, but it is hard to complain when the defense only allows 13 points.

 

DBs: Porter and Fuller are starting to heat up, which is great to see. Both were visible defending passes and making tackles without extra yards. Foles has more incompletions (19) than completions (17). The Safeties were quiet, which speaks volumes about the front-7 and CB's.

 

Special Teams: Gould made all 7 of his kicks and our coverage unit was decent. However, we need a change at returner. On the 2 KO's he took out of the end zone, we started at the 14 and the 12, so we had a net loss of 14 yards on two kicks. On punts, he had 9 yards on 3 kicks and a fumble. Luckily our defense held STL to a FG because a TD could've changed our entire game plan. I would rather have someone just take every KO as a touchback and fair catch every punt. We are losing valuable yards in special teams and if there is one thing that needs to change, it is our returner.

 

Coaching: People forget we were playing on a short week, back to back away games, against two totally different teams (in terms of style of play). Yet Fox and Co. had the team ready to go. Gase called another brilliant game and Fangio has the defensive unit playing well above their talent level. Again my only gripe is the stubbornness on special teams. If we don't make a coaching change there, we need to look at a different returner at least.

 

Fans: 2nd week in a row where we had a ton of fans in visiting stadiums, great to see, and hear the Let's Go Bears chants.

 

A great win all around and after being 7.5 Dogs against STL, we are only 1.5 Dogs at home against Denver. That speaks volumes about how far we have come. Vegas is pretty good at setting lines, and they are basically saying this is a pick em' at a line under 3.

 

[AZ54]

I recorded the game and reviewed it late last night. Rolle played a big part of the in-the-box defense in this game making several plays for minimal gain.

 

On the Rams first drive that pass to Gurley that took them down near the red zone: Jones completely blew his assignment and got lost standing around behind the Dline as Gurley ran out of the backfield. If you see that highlight you'll see Jones about 8 yards behind chasing after Gurley the entire way. I think right after that Anderson got on the field for the first time.

 

Anderson was a little lost on his assignments yesterday (little bit of a position change) but once he saw it he went after it. I'm not sure how much longer Jones will be a starter. It's not that Anderson was much better than him but Anderson is learning on the fly and rapidly catching up. If Jones doesn't improve he might get passed up.

 

Ducasse looks just as bad on replay as watching live but Slauson also didn't play well at times. That might have been a game where Grasu's quickness would have helped more than Slauson's power.