FEATURE 20 Random Liked the Mix, A Lot to Fix Thoughts

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AvengerRam

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1. Seriously... can't we have one relaxing Sunday?

2. Okay... let's start with what I liked... the mix.

3. The OL, with new starters and players dropping like flies, is not ready to stand on an island. McVay realizes this, and knew he had to mix it up.

4. Mix it up by involving receivers other than Cooper Kupp, particularly early. Nice production by Higby (7 receptions, 71 yards) and a better showing for Allen Robinson (4 receptions, 53 yards, 1 TD, one waved off due to oddly timed injury whistle).

5. Mix it up in the running game with Darrell Henderson and Cam Akers taking turns running the rock, with an interesting twist of Ben Skowronek lining up as a FB in the I formation.

6. Speaking of the running game, while the numbers won't jump off the page, I thought we used the run much more effectively this week, in part because, unlike last week, when we ran on 8 of the first 10 first down plays (effectively telegraphing) there was greater a greater mix in first down play calling.

7. Stafford was really good, except when he wasn't. On both interceptions, he took needless risks and tried to hit receivers who simply were not open. While I'd never want to stifle the aggressive gunslinger approach that makes him great, sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.

8. The new mix on the offensive line, which had to absorb a new change when Tremayne Anchrum went down on the first series, did a fairly good job. Stafford had time to throw, and there was reasonable room to run between the tackles. Of course, Atlanta is not a top defense, but I'll take the improvement.

9. Ultimately, Cooper Kupp dominated the target count once again. Kupp has been targeted 29 times in two games, which is kind of crazy. He's also caught 24 of those passes, which is kind of amazing.

10. I can't be too mad at Kupp for the late fumble. Sometimes, the defense just makes a play.

11. Particularly hard to be mad at Kupp when I remember the incredible block he made to spring Henderson on his TD.

12. I'm finding it hard to evaluate the defense on this one. There was definitely some good. They allowed only 261 yards and 4.7 yards per play. Those are very good numbers. They also made a great 4th down stop and forced 3 turnovers. But...

13. I was really disappointed with the effort on the drive after the Rams went up 31-10. As later became evident, it was way too early to jog around at let the Falcons march down the field. That was the drive where I would have liked to have seen the Rams teeing off on a one-dimensional opposing offense and putting the game away.

14. The pass rush is not there yet. I think it can get there with the players we have (and I certainly would not be shocked if we add a pass rusher later), but I'm not seeing enough pressure at this point.

15. Of course, in the end, it was Aaron Donald collapsing the pocket and Jalen Ramsey making the pick to seal the victory.

16. Cobie Durant (he seems to have dropped the De from his first name?) is looking like a playmaker. I'd like to see more of him (and we probably will with Troy Hill hobbled).

17. The Rams have forced only one punt in two games. While some of that is due to forced turnovers, that's, in a word... bad.

18. Trey Lance is out for the season. In the long run, this could be a disastrous development for the 49ers, who paid a King's ransom for Lance and won't be seeing any returns for another year at least. In the short run, however, did they just become a more dangerous team?

19. I don't want to overreact to the 4th Quarter near-collapse. It was bad, but we got the win. It's a long season, and style points don't get you to the playoffs. Wins do.

20. Cardinals and 49ers in next two weeks. The battle for the NFC West begins in earnest next week. Buckle up.
 

AvengerRam

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21. Wow!!!!! The Raiders just choked away their game (up 23-7, lost in OT on fumble return) against the Cardinals. The moral: it can always be worse!
 

CanadaRam

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21. Wow!!!!! The Raiders just choked away their game (up 23-7, lost in OT on fumble return) against the Cardinals. The moral: it can always be worse!
McD has not yet shown that he is abetter HC than he was in Denver
 

BC Ramfan

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This is the key point to me:

14. The pass rush is not there.

In today's NFL, IMO pass rush is the #1 factor in team defense.
Rams' run D and outside contain seem good enough to me.
The pass rush does not.
Terrell Lewis, Flo and Hollins are a good but not scary Edge group.
I think you want scary.
With so little draft capital and O-Line injuries, I'm not so sure this is getting fixed this year.

49ers look very good and just got better.
With Jimmy G I fear they will be our nemesis again.
Hope I'm wrong.

BC
 

rdlkgliders

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14. The pass rush is not there yet. I think it can get there with the players we have (and I certainly would not be shocked if we add a pass rusher later), but I'm not seeing enough pressure at this point.
This is huge and with our defensive scheme and all the zone we play, we need to fix this somehow.
Teams are back to doubling and chipping AD because we aren't making them pay. It is early and I am far from alarmed but have my eyes focused on this development
 

Merlin

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They showed some signs of what they're going to be on offense, which is exciting. Defensively they did a lot of good things too. But this felt like preseason game two.

Hopefully they're ready to hit on all cylinders in the next two games vs Arizona & SF. I'm thankful at this point we didn't open with SF that would have sucked ass.
 

KA210927

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I thought McVay had a great first half and then the second half he went back to running every first down and became predictable. Hope he keeps mixing it up and doesn’t get too conservative in the future.
 

madrid311

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I think its obvious we have to figure at least 3 interceptions a game from Stafford.
That being said we better score a lot of points and defense will have to step up. Also we will probably get at least 2 to 3 touchdowns a game from stafford. We will either get blown out or be in it to the end with nail-biting consistency. Go rams.
 

FaulkSF

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@AvengerRam you're post has been elevated to a feature. I think it is appropriate and you deserve congratulations. Many of us look forward to your post game top 20s win or lose, good job!
 

Riverumbbq

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1. Seriously... can't we have one relaxing Sunday?

Honestly, I believe this one feels closest to my heart. Many or most of us believe our Super Bowl winning Rams are capable of blowing out the opposition on any given week, but we continue to induce incredible anxiety within our fandom as the team slips into a fog like state where we blow opportunities and leads with crazy mistakes. Our final 3 games last year were won by only 3 points each, today we squeezed out a win by 4 points, but we know we are much better than that, so yes, it would be nice to enjoy some of the fruits of our deep belief in our team and develop something beyond being the cardiac kids. jmo.
 

dang

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This is the key point to me:

14. The pass rush is not there.

In today's NFL, IMO pass rush is the #1 factor in team defense.
Rams' run D and outside contain seem good enough to me.
The pass rush does not.
Terrell Lewis, Flo and Hollins are a good but not scary Edge group.
I think you want scary.
With so little draft capital and O-Line injuries, I'm not so sure this is getting fixed this year.

49ers look very good and just got better.
With Jimmy G I fear they will be our nemesis again.
Hope I'm wrong.

BC
100% agree. Not impressed with Floyd in the pass rush. He gets pushed out way too wide to make any real impact. We won’t be able to hang with the big boys without a better edge rush.
 

Elmgrovegnome

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21. More Rochelle, Kendrick and Durant and a bit less Long.
22. Aleric Jackson once again looked good when pressed into duty
23. I was excited to see what Anchrum brought to the game, I'm sure he's very disappointed.
 

BonifayRam

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21. More Rochelle, Kendrick and Durant and a bit less Long.
22. Aleric Jackson once again looked good when pressed into duty
23. I was excited to see what Anchrum brought to the game, I'm sure he's very disappointed.
OT 2nd season Alaric Jackson had a very good game playing in place of the #1 RG Shelton who is doing an excellent job @ OC & replacing Tremayne Anchrum @ RG for two offensive plays in the game. Going up many times against the Pro Bowler DT Grady Jarret. Havenstein & Jackson sure put a ton of beef on the right side of the OL.

Is Coleman Shelton a better center than Brian Allen? Shelton sure looks good to me.

CB David Long sure did not look like he is playing in his 4th season. Maybe he is looking forward to FA'cy to making big millions next season elsewhere.
 
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fanotodd

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#8, the OL looked better than I thought it would after seeing Anchrum go down, but Jackson was excellent. They were pretty solid, encouraging some optimism when Anchrum is back.

I remember reading an article last year talking about how the Rams may have found their future bookend tackles in Jackson and Anchrum. Maybe they turn out to be our future anchors at guard?

#13, the effort following what should be our last NECESSARY score. Too many times now, I have seen the Rams defense just lay down and give up an easy score that takes a minimal amount of time off the clock. Just make them work for it and chew clock! The Rams go 3 and out and suddenly, “ hey, let’s not let these guys back into this game.”

#14, our pass rush is probably the one thing that’s gonna get us torched by good teams. It has to get better. Our pie-in-the sky, lucky savior, 7th round picks are either gone or hurt. Guys need to step up. Further concerning is our DL depth. Can BB3 make that much of a difference when he gets back? I hope so, because the Rams need more of a rotation. Less snaps=more effectiveness from Donald. Who?

#20, warm ups are over. Rams, 9ers, and zona ALL looked bad in week 1–a wash. After yesterday? The 9ers are back with jimmy g-string under center, and murray is still runnin’ and gunnin’.
That Ram defense better be ready. The next 2 games will set the tone as to how vulnerable the Rams really are/are not.
 

dang

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#21. I’ll give the Falcons credit for fighting til the end but this is arguably a bottom 5 NFL team. Also Rams ST other than Gay look weak.
 

den-the-coach

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Is Coleman Shelton a better center than Brian Allen? Shelton sure looks good to me.
Allen is a gamer and tough, but Shelton is far more athletic & his snaps are more consistent. I would go with Shelton at Center, Jackson at RG and activate Aboushi. That way if Noteboom gets hurt, Jackson moves to LT, however, the fear of Jackson playing at RG is he's the backup LT. But you put the best 5 guys out there and it's obvious Jackson appears to be one of them.
 

den-the-coach

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#21. I’ll give the Falcons credit for fighting til the end but this is arguably a bottom 5 NFL team. Also Rams ST other than Gay look weak.
Total whiff on the punt block as #35 Jake Hummel let his guy right in and headed down field, that player came in uncontested and you can't fault Dixon whatsoever. His free kick punt was odd, the Falcons for some reason let it bounce the Rams almost recovered it. Unfortunately headed out of bounds and the penalty ensued, just odd.

IMO, Rams got too cute on taking the safety. I understand they ran time off the clock, but I would have punted and trusted the unit to block.
 

OntarioRam

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The O-line was much improved. I do not want to take too much away from a game at home against Atlanta, but it was encouraging to see, and we will see how this group gels going forward. Jackson looked good at RG, and Shelton looked good at C, which inspires hope. It would huge to be able to fill 2 interior o-line positions internally. Very disappointing to see Tremayne Anchrum go down early - I was/am optimistic for what he can bring. Hopefully, the ankle injury is not serious, and he can be back sooner rather than later.

Glad to see Allen Robinson more involved but he still warrants more targets. Kupp is incredible, but his target share it too high IMO. Not only due to injury concerns, but it will also make this offense harder to defend if there are 2 WRs the defence has to scheme for. Robinson has looked great in the red zone - he could have easily had 3 TDs (his waived off TD was bogus, and should have counted, and Stafford over-threw him on a fade when he had a step or two on his defender). But he needs more targets elsewhere. He has been getting open tons, and frankly, both his talent level and contract value demand he be more than a red zone threat.

The pass rush looks middling. Not bad. But middling. I am not sure that is good enough in today's NFL. Hopefully, guys like Jackson and Shelton prove capable of shoring up the o-line. Because between the o-line and the pass rush, if both need outside reinforcements to bolster a playoff run, I am unsure if the Rams have enough assets to address both at or before the trade deadline

Hopefully, Hill is okay. I think his versatility is very underrated to our secondary. Durant certainly flashed in Hill's absence. I am curious to see more of him going forward.

No concerns with Stafford from me. If anything, I was relieved - the elbow looks fine. The INTs are ugly but at this point you just have to take the bad with the good with Matthew. He is going to throw some picks. After last year, I am confident #9 will be surgical when the game is on the line.

Henderson continues to outperform Akers. Hopefully, Cam can get it going soon. Too early to panic IMO, and I am not yet at the point I would use assets to bolster this position group. Perhaps Akers might be struggling to read and set up his blocks, in what is apparently a new running scheme? The o-line seems to block a lot better for Hendo, and it's not like Akers appears to be dancing around in the backfield?

Glad to be 1-1. The stats on 0-2 teams are bleak. A win in Arizona next Sunday will be important.