A few notes on 1st half of Cards game

[XXXIVwin]

Re-watched the first half, focused on a few players, here's some notes:

Jared Verse will be a stud. Excellent pressure, both speed and strength. Needs to wrap up better though-- I saw 3 whiffs. (Two on one play, when he twice had Murray dead to rights)

McClendon was even worse than you think. A complete turnstile. Offense was severely hampered by his play. He seemed to do OK at RT vs Det., but he was just outmatched vs. Cards. Didn't notice anything glaring about Hav, Dotson, Limmer, or Jackson. The problem was McClendon.

Kyler Murray played out of his freaking mind.

Kobie Turner is a stud.

Fiske with some decent pressures. DesJuan Johnson mostly got swallowed up.

Tre White played better than I remembered. Yes he got beat, but at least a couple times he was all over Harrison but he just got beat by a couple inches.

Stafford played well but definitely screwed up on the last play of the half (4th and goal). Parkinson was WIDE open in the EZ, even waving his hands, but Stafford didn't see him. Then a shitty overthrow-- had he just made the ball at least "catchable", we would have gotten the penalty and a chance for another shot from the one yard line.

Budda Baker was a heat seeking missile, blew up several plays.

Rams really need their WR's to be good run blockers, and DeMarcus Robinson is definitely not up to the level of either Kupp or Nacua. Robinson got abused by Baker on a couple plays.

Tutu with great speed and quickness. Tutu with a chance to make himself some $ over the next 5 weeks or so (with Kupp and NAcua out) playing for a FA contract.

Karty and Evans both were studs.

Kupp with a superhuman effort, tried (again) to put the team on his back. He will be sorely missed.

Overall keys to the half: Kyler Murray and Warren McClendon. As we learned in 2022, when the Rams get to 2nd string OL they can maybe get by; but 3rd stringers can wreck the whole game plan.

 

[Merlin]

What really chaps my hide is the Cards have the type of edges that Boom would have handled. He would have graded out with good PFF scores and there would be much PFFerry afoot about how we don't appreciate him by certain enamored posters.

So if we had Boom in that game shit would have looked a lot different. Still think we would have lost. But I don't think the score reflected the relative roster strengths.

 

[20hrswk]

Re-watched the first half, focused on a few players, here's some notes:

Jared Verse will be a stud. Excellent pressure, both speed and strength. Needs to wrap up better though-- I saw 3 whiffs. (Two on one play, when he twice had Murray dead to rights)

McClendon was even worse than you think. A complete turnstile. Offense was severely hampered by his play. He seemed to do OK at RT vs Det., but he was just outmatched vs. Cards. Didn't notice anything glaring about Hav, Dotson, Limmer, or Jackson. The problem was McClendon.

Kyler Murray played out of his freaking mind.

Kobie Turner is a stud.

Fiske with some decent pressures. DesJuan Johnson mostly got swallowed up.

Tre White played better than I remembered. Yes he got beat, but at least a couple times he was all over Harrison but he just got beat by a couple inches.

Stafford played well but definitely screwed up on the last play of the half (4th and goal). Parkinson was WIDE open in the EZ, even waving his hands, but Stafford didn't see him. Then a shitty overthrow-- had he just made the ball at least "catchable", we would have gotten the penalty and a chance for another shot from the one yard line.

Budda Baker was a heat seeking missile, blew up several plays.

Rams really need their WR's to be good run blockers, and DeMarcus Robinson is definitely not up to the level of either Kupp or Nacua. Robinson got abused by Baker on a couple plays.

Tutu with great speed and quickness. Tutu with a chance to make himself some $ over the next 5 weeks or so (with Kupp and NAcua out) playing for a FA contract.

Karty and Evans both were studs.

Kupp with a superhuman effort, tried (again) to put the team on his back. He will be sorely missed.

Overall keys to the half: Kyler Murray and Warren McClendon. As we learned in 2022, when the Rams get to 2nd string OL they can maybe get by; but 3rd stringers can wreck the whole game plan.

"Overall keys to the half: Kyler Murray and Warren McClendon."

I agree and I'll add the ILB play - it's not even average NFL caliber

 

[Karate61]

I can't recall a worse performance of a Rams player then McClendon. I was at the game somewhat close up and couldn't believe what I was seeing. Whiff, whiff, whiff, oh and another whiff...sack, sack, sack, etc. He just sat on the bench in-between series looking like not a care in the world. Obviously I was not impressed.

 

[So Ram]

What really chaps my hide is the Cards have the type of edges that Boom would have handled. He would have graded out with good PFF scores and there would be much PFFerry afoot about how we don't appreciate him by certain enamored posters.

So if we had Boom in that game shit would have looked a lot different. Still think we would have lost. But I don't think the score reflected the relative roster strengths.

Will be nice to have The Rams bookends this Sunday

 

[So Ram]

Re-watched the first half, focused on a few players, here's some notes:

Jared Verse will be a stud. Excellent pressure, both speed and strength. Needs to wrap up better though-- I saw 3 whiffs. (Two on one play, when he twice had Murray dead to rights)

McClendon was even worse than you think. A complete turnstile. Offense was severely hampered by his play. He seemed to do OK at RT vs Det., but he was just outmatched vs. Cards. Didn't notice anything glaring about Hav, Dotson, Limmer, or Jackson. The problem was McClendon.

Kyler Murray played out of his freaking mind.

Kobie Turner is a stud.

Fiske with some decent pressures. DesJuan Johnson mostly got swallowed up.

Tre White played better than I remembered. Yes he got beat, but at least a couple times he was all over Harrison but he just got beat by a couple inches.

Stafford played well but definitely screwed up on the last play of the half (4th and goal). Parkinson was WIDE open in the EZ, even waving his hands, but Stafford didn't see him. Then a shitty overthrow-- had he just made the ball at least "catchable", we would have gotten the penalty and a chance for another shot from the one yard line.

Budda Baker was a heat seeking missile, blew up several plays.

Rams really need their WR's to be good run blockers, and DeMarcus Robinson is definitely not up to the level of either Kupp or Nacua. Robinson got abused by Baker on a couple plays.

Tutu with great speed and quickness. Tutu with a chance to make himself some $ over the next 5 weeks or so (with Kupp and NAcua out) playing for a FA contract.

Karty and Evans both were studs.

Kupp with a superhuman effort, tried (again) to put the team on his back. He will be sorely missed.

Overall keys to the half: Kyler Murray and Warren McClendon. As we learned in 2022, when the Rams get to 2nd string OL they can maybe get by; but 3rd stringers can wreck the whole game plan.

I like your assessment. I don’t mind ups and downs of season..Really had question marks & glad I didn’t go to Vegas. Going this next week,but at a very lesser cause & might not do much of anything?

Verse knows what he did wrong.

I like a guy like Durden upfront over a guy like D.Johnson.

Alaric Jackson missing The First to Games really hurt.

 

[Psycho_X]

Tre White played better than I remembered. Yes he got beat, but at least a couple times he was all over Harrison but he just got beat by a couple inches.

Yeah like I posted in another thread the first touchdown was clearly not a touchdown and White actually had decent coverage on Harrison. Even swiped at the ball and caused it to not be a catch despite the replay booth apparently being completely fucking blind and stupid. White has been burned bad a couple of times but has done ok. He just seems a bit slow still from injuries that hopefully will improve as season goes on. Honestly can't believe he's playing week 1... when we signed him I thought it'd be around the bye week before he played.

Like EVERYTHING with this team due to injuries I feel like if we can just weather this storm and squeak out 3 or 4 wins in the first 8 games of the season and don't have more catastrophic injuries I think this team will be a force on the back 9. Just have to get an ounce of damn luck in our favor.

 

[Merlin]

Yeah like I posted in another thread the first touchdown was clearly not a touchdown and White actually had decent coverage on Harrison. Even swiped at the ball and caused it to not be a catch despite the replay booth apparently being completely fucking blind and stupid. White has been burned bad a couple of times but has done ok. He just seems a bit slow still from injuries that hopefully will improve as season goes on. Honestly can't believe he's playing week 1... when we signed him I thought it'd be around the bye week before he played.

Like EVERYTHING with this team due to injuries I feel like if we can just weather this storm and squeak out 3 or 4 wins in the first 8 games of the season and don't have more catastrophic injuries I think this team will be a force on the back 9. Just have to get an ounce of damn luck in our favor.

Ok is probably a fair assessment. But I would prefer a vet corner like him to get his head around and show some ball awareness more consistently. Secondary also played like shit. White wasn't a huge problem but didn't solve anything either. He was brought in to lead. To lead requires playing well.

 

[Psycho_X]

Ok is probably a fair assessment. But I would prefer a vet corner like him to get his head around and show some ball awareness more consistently. Secondary also played like shit. White wasn't a huge problem but didn't solve anything either. He was brought in to lead. To lead requires playing well.

Yeah, there is much improvement needed from him and everyone on defense. It's clear there's some lapse in communication, leadership, and working as a cohesive unit. I still have hope this defense will come together and be good by midseason. Might take a few tweaks and benching of a player or two but I think it'll happen. If only we had a healthy offense and didn't need to rely on these guys so much right now.

 

[RamDino]

I can't pick on Tre White or anyone else in the secondary too much when the receivers had all day to get open. Give Murray time or space, so he can give his receivers more time and he'll kill you, just like any other QB. Cornerbacks can only cover for so long. I don't watch film so JMO.

 

[Merlin]

Yeah, there is much improvement needed from him and everyone on defense. It's clear there's some lapse in communication, leadership, and working as a cohesive unit. I still have hope this defense will come together and be good by midseason. Might take a few tweaks and benching of a player or two but I think it'll happen. If only we had a healthy offense and didn't need to rely on these guys so much right now.

Agreed. We have a higher talent level this year on defense overall but losing AD clearly had an effect. And for someone to step up and lead these kids they have to actually be able to play well. A leader who can't execute at a high level is not valuable. Right now that player looks like Verse, but he's still on his initial curve at this level so yeah it is gonna take a little time.

Before the season I felt we'd be decent vs the run (I was wrong) and our rush would be ok-ish (it is better than ok other than the fact they need to learn rush lane integrity vs certain QBs). The run defense has been shit but if you look deeper it held up for some time vs Detroit.

What this team needs most of all is an offense putting up points. That would put the defense into a role where they are suited for it. But we're gonna need to get through this period of the offense floundering, because the OL is bad and our wideouts are hurt. So basically the defense is going to need to show up big time for us to beat anyone for, oh, idk let's say the next few games.

 

[Toothsayer]

I just reviewed the game. It would be easy , albeit time-consuming, to shred everyone who stepped on their ...um...horns, but I'll try to focus on the controllables that I think are fixable/anomalous, ie not reliant on magical Miyagi rubdowns or putting JAGs into that Capt. America pod thing & transforming them into HOFers.

Firstly, coaching.:
Really disappointed that Dotson played RG over Bruss when his mobility was so clearly compromised. Dunno what that guardian cap was all about, but if he had an undisclosed head injury, that makes it an even worse decision. If Bruss wasn't ready to be at least assignment sound after all the play he got in TC/Pre, again, it reflects poorly on the coaching.

I'm under no illusions about Nsekhe, but if Warren Mc's footwork was that bad in practice, it was borderline criminal to put him at LT. And then give him very little help, to boot. Not just talking about a TE or RB, but also playcalling & execution: 3rd/4 in the RZ, MS holds the ball for nearly 4 seconds.......I'm relieved Stafford didn't get hurt on the resulting sack, but he has only himself to blame, imo. I hope they don't assume Alaric will be in game 3 grooved form in his first snaps & leave him similarly out to dry.

-No idea why Shula thought nickel vs 12 personnel was a good match-up, but we saw it several times.

- Budda Baker's a stud, but when a deep safety is repeatedly IDing your plays & making uncontested tackles in the backfield, you are disguising your intentions like my 4-year-old niece used to play hide n' seek; just sit down & cover your eyes & poof ! Invisible ...

I think many of us would agree that just about the only positive legacy from the Fisher/Williams era is the blueprint to contain running QBs that has been used , to one degree or another, by all succeeding defenses.It's been fundamental to the success LAR has had vs Kyler & Wussell over the years. If Verse had been more in disciplined corral mode (and if BY had showed up at all...), Fiske & Turner would have made some plays, imo. You'd think a nepo-baby coach would have more respect for his elders' ideas.

-Verse is like Hutchinson in his rookie year, imo; still some big puppy flailing about, but he's going to be a savage.

- First TD to Harrison: The logic of rushing only 3 guys on 2nd/8 near the RZ eludes me. Not third and a mile at midfield nor end of half/game-don't give up a TD or we lose type deal. WTAF ? Still managed to leave multiple open options for Kyler. You obviously can't bamboozle Murray as easily any more if that was the intent. Ironically, the throw to Harrison was probably the hardest & White was right there. Just beaten by size, a great throw, and dubious Zeb work, imo. What am I missing ?

Let's stick with White for a sec. The backshoulder throw/catch out of the EZ that he couldn't stop was a thing of beauty by Murray & Harrison. Sometimes you just have to tip the cap. You'd like to see pressure on Murray in his own EZ, though. At least put your effing arms up.

It was about 9 seconds before Murray heaved that second EZ backline TD throw. Again, tough to blame the corner there, imo.

Stafford was well below par for this game:

-See the aforementioned RZ rep you could have timed with a sundial.

- 1st/10 Q2 about 5:10 on the gameclock. Just flat out ignoring a wide-open Hunter Long was nuts. Not a fan of calling out QBs for missed open WRs in general when I don't know the playcall/progression & have the benefit of a bird's eye view, but that was egregious.

-Q3 first drive 3rd &1 Trying to scramble on a 3rd/1 & ignoring D-Rob right in front of him was equally baffling.

And those were just the glaringly obvious ones I could see without all-22 tape. I think he played a little spent after the DET heroics. He'll bounce back.

Just to end on a positive note; second week in a row that a combo of Ram defenders have done well to contain/slow a good TE/slot combo. McBride had that one brilliant grab between two defenders & Dortch was barely mentioned all day. Bodes well for what Pleasant & Shula should be able to get out of these guys as the DB/safety group gets deeper with Witherspoon & Darious returning.

 

[XXXIVwin]

A few of my notes from 2nd half...

Kyler Murray put on his "Mighty Mouse" costume. Perfect passer rating. "Here I come to save the Daaaaay!!"

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0HLAKm1_1Q

JAred Verse with a nice TFL and later a vicious hit to force a fumble. But the Rams bad luck today meant the Cards recovered the fumble in the EZ for a touchdown. Verse and Young are gonna make for a real solid Edge duo.

Sad to watch the Cards just mash in the 2nd half with the run game. Hard for me to pick on one particular guy. Rams run D failure looked like a team effort. DT's couldn't stack and shed, OLB's were washed out, ILB's were at times slow to diagnose and/or took bad angles, and the secondary wasn't helpful much at all. Plenty of whiffs from the safeties, especially Lake and Curl.

Gallimore looks like a JAG, pretty unimpressive. Brown made some plays here and there. Overall, the DT's looked undersized.

Tutu and Whittington with some splash plays. There is hope still.

McClendon settled down in 2nd half. They helped him a lot though.

Corum with some pretty jump cuts and good quickness.

Overall: tip of the hat to the Cards, they played extremely well today. Murray was a freak, and their Run O was effective as hell.

Rams need Alaric Jackson to come in and provide competent play at LT. All of our backup WR's flashed today, but it's awfully hard to lose our top 2 guys. John Johnson will be missed.

 

[Ramrasta]

"Overall keys to the half: Kyler Murray and Warren McClendon."

I agree and I'll add the ILB play - it's not even average NFL caliber

The ILB play has been atrocious. Roseboom and Reeder were somewhat serviceable in the Lions game but they had a collective 8 missed tackles against the Cards.

Why is Speights not getting a chance? He was supposedly the reason we felt confident trading Jones…

 

[fearsomefour]

McVay refusing to give McClendon help the first half is coaching malpractice.
It was obvious by the second snap McClendon was in over his head.
He can't stay in front of any pass rusher it seems. He is not an NFL player at this point.
I love McVay and think he is great but, he repeatedly does this. I don't know if it is blind spot of his, not wanting to take a receiver out of the routes, or he is too close on the sideline. Either way, I don't get it and it is bizarre.

 

[RamFan503]

Re-watched the first half

Brave soul.

 

[baconandbread]

I can't recall a worse performance of a Rams player then McClendon. I was at the game somewhat close up and couldn't believe what I was seeing. Whiff, whiff, whiff, oh and another whiff...sack, sack, sack, etc. He just sat on the bench in-between series looking like not a care in the world. Obviously I was not impressed.

Jamil Demby says "Hi!"

In all seriousness it it was pretty bad though.

 

[Merlin]

The ILB play has been atrocious. Roseboom and Reeder were somewhat serviceable in the Lions game but they had a collective 8 missed tackles against the Cards.

Why is Speights not getting a chance? He was supposedly the reason we felt confident trading Jones…

What irks me is if Reeder and Rozeboom had fucking played in preseason this shit would be sorted. Speights would have jumped Reeder, and Hummel would have jumped Rozeboom. Holding starters out is one thing, but when your "starters" are backups they should play and compete to win their jobs.

Significant mistake by Shula. Rookie DC mistake IMO. So now this gets sorted over the first three games, hurting unit strength.

 

[Jorgeh0605]

I agree that White played fine, MHJ just played out of his mind and made some great catches. But White was on him mostly.

Same with Williams. When he got burned, he sud have had safety help up top.

 

[Merlin]

Harrison had like 4 targets after that first quarter that went incomplete. Guessing they all had Durant in common, but of course I have not watched the All-22 or anything.