Raheem Morris discussion thread

[Tano]

What we know for sure is that Staley can coordinate a top defense when he's got the right pieces for how he calls it. That is a fact. Now none of us are happy with how the Green Bay playoff game turned out, but bottom line is he got the most from that unit up until their inability to stop the run in GB.

So this little exercise in diminishing what Staley accomplished by drawing parallels with the 2022 Chargers defense is a waste of time. It's a different roster. He's not a DC any more. I realize it's hard to imagine that having the head coach responsibilities can affect your ability to coordinate but it does. Completely different situation and a waste of time to get all crazy with comparisons on.

Re: Morris when you talk about his style it is not just the fans noticing it and overreacting about it. It is a fact that you try to beat a team like ours by eating clock. And it is a fact that our third down conversion percentage sucks ass and has all season long. Not only does a poor third down conversion percentage affect the fans, but it also leads to a defense getting gassed, particularly when you're facing a team that can mash it on the ground. We saw that effect in that SF loss.

Bottom line here is it's the oldest story in the league to beat a team who might outstrip you offensively by using the ground game to eat the clock and sustain long drives and wear out their defense. And it's a fact that Morris "style" as you put it invites that very thing. His defensive style is simply not beneficial to how McVay wants to play the game.

Yep Yep Yep Yep Yep

 

[PARAM]

What we know for sure is that Staley can coordinate a top defense when he's got the right pieces for how he calls it. That is a fact. Now none of us are happy with how the Green Bay playoff game turned out, but bottom line is he got the most from that unit up until their inability to stop the run in GB.

So this little exercise in diminishing what Staley accomplished by drawing parallels with the 2022 Chargers defense is a waste of time. It's a different roster. He's not a DC any more. I realize it's hard to imagine that having the head coach responsibilities can affect your ability to coordinate but it does. Completely different situation and a waste of time to get all crazy with comparisons on.

Re: Morris when you talk about his style it is not just the fans noticing it and overreacting about it. It is a fact that you try to beat a team like ours by eating clock. And it is a fact that our third down conversion percentage sucks ass and has all season long. Not only does a poor third down conversion percentage affect the fans, but it also leads to a defense getting gassed, particularly when you're facing a team that can mash it on the ground. We saw that effect in that SF loss.

Bottom line here is it's the oldest story in the league to beat a team who might outstrip you offensively by using the ground game to eat the clock and sustain long drives and wear out their defense. And it's a fact that Morris "style" as you put it invites that very thing. His defensive style is simply not beneficial to how McVay wants to play the game.

It's not an "exercise". It's a discussion. The Chargers are a different roster. So are the 2021 Rams (different from 2020). But I disagree he's not a DC anymore.....he's not a DC anymore like McVay isn't an OC anymore. For all the complaints, all the criticism, all the "Morris' D doesn't fit how teams want to attack us".......we're still 12-5. And the funny part is the offense cost us 3 of those 5 losses. (Arizona, Tennessee and Green Bay). So what you're saying is our defense hasn't been successful making teams go the long way by eventually punting, kicking FGs instead of scoring TDs or turning the ball over?

Just 4 defenses have allowed less TDs than the Rams. The Rams are 7th best in points allowed per drive....and there would be even less if we didn't turn the ball over so much!! They are #9 in turnover% per drive. They're 5th in interceptions and #8 in RZ%. The numbers show they are effective and all they need is the offense to do their job. Unfortunately, they go into the tank some games (7 so far) and the defense has pulled them out 3 times (Baltimore, Seattle and Minnesota).

It's going to be interesting to see how Staley works out. Some say he didn't earn it....1 year as a DC.....was just a "hot prospect" which is what many owners/GMs fall into the trap seeking. We'll see. How long do you give him before he creates a top defense? It took McVay a half season.

 

[Kupped]

What we know for sure is that Staley can coordinate a top defense when he's got the right pieces for how he calls it. That is a fact. Now none of us are happy with how the Green Bay playoff game turned out, but bottom line is he got the most from that unit up until their inability to stop the run in GB.

So this little exercise in diminishing what Staley accomplished by drawing parallels with the 2022 Chargers defense is a waste of time. It's a different roster. He's not a DC any more. I realize it's hard to imagine that having the head coach responsibilities can affect your ability to coordinate but it does. Completely different situation and a waste of time to get all crazy with comparisons on.

Re: Morris when you talk about his style it is not just the fans noticing it and overreacting about it. It is a fact that you try to beat a team like ours by eating clock. And it is a fact that our third down conversion percentage sucks ass and has all season long. Not only does a poor third down conversion percentage affect the fans, but it also leads to a defense getting gassed, particularly when you're facing a team that can mash it on the ground. We saw that effect in that SF loss.

Bottom line here is it's the oldest story in the league to beat a team who might outstrip you offensively by using the ground game to eat the clock and sustain long drives and wear out their defense. And it's a fact that Morris "style" as you put it invites that very thing. His defensive style is simply not beneficial to how McVay wants to play the game.

But that's part of the point.

This isn't the same Rams roster. Period.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

The Chargers defense *regressed* this year with Staley. Any reading on DCs and scheme that's fair points out that his unit did no better this year than last.

The Rams had significantly different personnel on defense. Thousands of snaps worth of change.

 

[Merlin]

It's not an "exercise". It's a discussion. The Chargers are a different roster. So are the 2021 Rams (different from 2020). But I disagree he's not a DC anymore.....he's not a DC anymore like McVay isn't an OC anymore. For all the complaints, all the criticism, all the "Morris' D doesn't fit how teams want to attack us".......we're still 12-5. And the funny part is the offense cost us 3 of those 5 losses. (Arizona, Tennessee and Green Bay). So what you're saying is our defense hasn't been successful making teams go the long way by eventually punting, kicking FGs instead of scoring TDs or turning the ball over?

Just 4 defenses have allowed less TDs than the Rams. The Rams are 7th best in points allowed per drive....and there would be even less if we didn't turn the ball over so much!! They are #9 in turnover% per drive. They're 5th in interceptions and #8 in RZ%. The numbers show they are effective and all they need is the offense to do their job. Unfortunately, they go into the tank some games (7 so far) and the defense has pulled them out 3 times (Baltimore, Seattle and Minnesota).

It's going to be interesting to see how Staley works out. Some say he didn't earn it....1 year as a DC.....was just a "hot prospect" which is what many owners/GMs fall into the trap seeking. We'll see. How long do you give him before he creates a top defense? It took McVay a half season.

It's a waste of time. We know what he put on the field with the Rams. That's where it ends. After that there is so much subjectivity that it's pointless to try to make yourself feel better about our current DC by trying to pull Staley down.

Morris has done some good things. He's a different type DC than Staley though. Staley was much more prepared game one and got really good at adjusting as the season went on. Whereas Morris was learning the scheme game one but has improved quite a bit in his preparation and gameplanning as the season has gone.

It is entirely possible that Morris finds a way to get us through the next four games. We do have the talent for that to happen. I don't think it's likely, but I'm rooting for the guy. And I think the key for him is going to be his calling and gameplanning of the secondary. He has to get those guys locked in. Because he's got the horses up front to get this done.

 

[PARAM]

It's a waste of time. We know what he put on the field with the Rams. That's where it ends. After that there is so much subjectivity that it's pointless to try to make yourself feel better about our current DC by trying to pull Staley down.

Morris has done some good things. He's a different type DC than Staley though. Staley was much more prepared game one and got really good at adjusting as the season went on. Whereas Morris was learning the scheme game one but has improved quite a bit in his preparation and gameplanning as the season has gone.

It is entirely possible that Morris finds a way to get us through the next four games. We do have the talent for that to happen. I don't think it's likely, but I'm rooting for the guy. And I think the key for him is going to be his calling and gameplanning of the secondary. He has to get those guys locked in. Because he's got the horses up front to get this done.

Not trying to "make myself feel better" about Morris. I'm not complaining about him. I liked the 2020 defense (and Staley) but I wonder if he would have repeated that performance without the guys we lost this year. We'll never know. And there were some hiccups.

Prepared? They were terrible in Buffalo. And the first SF game. And the second SF game when they couldn't stop Mullins. But the Jets game was more embarassing than the Green Bay playoff game....and that's saying something. The Jets had a 13 play, 74 yard, 7 and a half minute opening TD drive and two 72 yard (11 and 10 plays) drives to start the second half with 10 more points. You know.....the same type of drives the Morris sucks crowd complains about. And that was WEEK 15 vs the 0 and 13 Jets!!!

No, I'm not trying to "pull Staley down". He was good and our defense had as many bad games as Morris' boys. But that's not something the Morris sucks crowd would prefer to admit.

And if Morris gets through 2 of the next 4 games, he will have gotten as far as Staley did. Like you not thinking it likely Morris' D gets us though the next 4 games, I feel the same way about Staley's prospects for the near future. Besides that, the Rams, under McVay have never been a team who relies on their defense. The offense is the straw that stirs the drink. But I can see why forgetting that might cause somebody to claim the defense "is the reason" for losses.

 

[PARAM]

Still the offense got the ball back to win the game after the defense stopped them. All they needed to do was make a first down & the clock would have ran to zero with a Rams victory.
Raheem Morris is also about challenging his players & doesn’t mind giving up points for a win & lessons learned.

When the defense forced a 3 and out with a timely sack by Miller, I thought it was over. One first down and it's our ballgame. Didn't happen so it's the defense's fault?

 

[dieterbrock]

I hate saying it .. but I feel like we have some "bitches" on this team. Dudes afraid if contact and want no part of a physical game. Dudes who enjoy a finesse game but want no part of a physical game. We need more alpha blue collar personalities. And less financial consultants.

Yeah because everyone knows that the true tough guys are the internet warriors with their critical opinions safe from harms way...

 

[ottoman89]

Yeah because everyone knows that the true tough guys are the internet warriors with their critical opinions safe from harms way...

Yeah, I'm the roughest, toughest guy you'll ever meet and talk too. You wouldn't even believe it if I told you

 

[dieterbrock]

When the defense forced a 3 and out with a timely sack by Miller, I thought it was over. One first down and it's our ballgame. Didn't happen so it's the defense's fault?

Yes, it was their fault they couldnt stop the 49ers from going on an 88 yard touchdown drive with 0 time outs in 59 seconds.
The offense didnt fail on that drive, they followed the plan and executed it. Obviously protecting the ball is mission 1. Outside of that the primary goal is to run as much clock as possible, and make sure San Fran uses up their timeouts. With any luck, you pin them deep, (Which happened) and force them to go the whole 88 yards. Best case scenario, you break one and its game over. Worse case you pin them on their own 12 and it should be game over.
Any team with championship aspirations feels they have the game locked in that situation.

 

[dieterbrock]

Yeah, I'm the roughest, toughest guy you'll ever meet and talk too. You wouldn't even believe it if I told you

Well, you wrestle pigs for a living so I'm able to be a keyboard warrior, safely out of harms way,
of you.
Lol

 

[PARAM]

Yes, it was their fault they couldnt stop the 49ers from going on an 88 yard touchdown drive with 0 time outs in 59 seconds.
The offense didnt fail on that drive, they followed the plan and executed it. Obviously protecting the ball is mission 1. Outside of that the primary goal is to run as much clock as possible, and make sure San Fran uses up their timeouts. With any luck, you pin them deep, (Which happened) and force them to go the whole 88 yards. Best case scenario, you break one and its game over. Worse case you pin them on their own 12 and it should be game over.
Any team with championship aspirations feels they have the game locked in that situation.

Yes it was the defenses fault.
I'm sure McVay knew Fuller was out. I wonder if McVay knew Rapp was injured and DWill was hurting? Had he known all that, maybe he plays it differently. I know making SF call the 3 timeouts was the key. When they did it I was glad even though they didn't get the first down. But I also didn't know the defense was that short on personnel.

 

[ottoman89]

Well, you wrestle pigs for a living so I'm able to be a keyboard warrior, safely out of harms way,
of you.
Lol

Lucky you. Glad your safe. My having been in zero fights in my 32 years on earth is quite a threat to society.

 

[OldSchool]

Any team with championship aspirations feels they have the game locked in that situation.

You could also say any team with championship aspirations, a genius offensive minded coach and a QB like Stafford scores more than 7 points in the 2nd half and puts away a team when they're up 17-3 at half time. Our offense utterly failed in the 2nd half just the same as the defense if not worse since we're supposed to be a good offense and didn't lose our signal caller on O in the game like we did on D.

 

[Merlin]

And if Morris gets through 2 of the next 4 games, he will have gotten as far as Staley did.

Your rationalizations are meandering nonsense.

Last season we had the 22nd worst offense in the league in scoring, at 23.3 ppg. This season the offense has put up 27.1 points and are T-7th best in the league. The variables have changed dude. That team last year got where they did with a QB with a broken thumb and a backup at QB of an offense that was a pile of shit over that season. Your statement is untrue. It makes about as much sense as trying to pull down Staley's production in the DC role in LA last season. Which is no sense.

Morris has some shit to fix. The delusion acting like he somehow can compare to Staley, or like he's a fucking victim of environment, is some bullshit.

 

[Oregonram]

When the defense forced a 3 and out with a timely sack by Miller, I thought it was over. One first down and it's our ballgame. Didn't happen so it's the defense's fault?

It’s a collective team failure. There was no gimmie for the 3rd down, and the fact that Sean didn’t try was weak. BUT that does not excuse the collapse on Defense in the 2nd Half. ESP… the game winning 90 yard drive with no T.O’s

 

[dieterbrock]

You could also say any team with championship aspirations, a genius offensive minded coach and a QB like Stafford scores more than 7 points in the 2nd half and puts away a team when they're up 17-3 at half time. Our offense utterly failed in the 2nd half just the same as the defense if not worse since we're supposed to be a good offense and didn't lose our signal caller on O in the game like we did on D.

Had the defense done the job, the Rams would have been absolutely pegged as having championship aspirations. Tampa struggled to beat the Jets (week 17), KC struggled with the Broncos, Tennessee struggled with lowly Houston. Does anyone care about that? No, because they each won the game.
Its the whole damned if you do, damned if you dont with McVay. There's no reason to risk a turnover, a clock stoppage or allowing them to keep a timeout. The Rams played it perfect and then failed. Its as simple as that. I dont care what acumen or style points at that stage of the game, just win it.

 

[OldSchool]

Had the defense done the job, the Rams would have been absolutely pegged as having championship aspirations. Tampa struggled to beat the Jets (week 17), KC struggled with the Broncos, Tennessee struggled with lowly Houston. Does anyone care about that? No, because they each won the game.
Its the whole damned if you do, damned if you dont with McVay. There's no reason to risk a turnover, a clock stoppage or allowing them to keep a timeout. The Rams played it perfect and then failed. Its as simple as that. I dont care what acumen or style points at that stage of the game, just win it.

Had the offense done it's job that 88 yard drive would have been garbage time against a prevent defense. The Rams didn't play it perfect they shit the bed as a total team in the 2nd half. This obsession with piling on Morris with all the blame for the loss just is baffling after watching the entire team be horrible in the 2nd half.

We scored 24 points, that's middle of the pack in the NFL which is unacceptable as a team with as much talent as we do with our coach and QB and that was in 5 quarters.

 

[dieterbrock]

Your rationalizations are meandering nonsense.

Last season we had the 22nd worst offense in the league in scoring, at 23.3 ppg. This season the offense has put up 27.1 points and are T-7th best in the league. The variables have changed dude. That team last year got where they did with a QB with a broken thumb and a backup at QB of an offense that was a pile of shit over that season. Your statement is untrue. It makes about as much sense as trying to pull down Staley's production in the DC role in LA last season. Which is no sense.

Morris has some shit to fix. The delusion acting like he somehow can compare to Staley, or like he's a fucking victim of environment, is some bullshit.

How quickly people forget Staley's defense last year. sure it was great on paper, but when it counted?
The Buffalo game? Rams take the lead with 4 minutes to go and cant stop 3rd and 20's
San Fran II? Rams with a late lead, cant stop Nick Mullens from completing 2 full field drives leading to the tying FG and the winning one
The Jets game? Sure everyone blames Goff, cause thats what happens, but the reality is that couldnt stop Sam Frickin Darnold in the 1st half and AFTER the Rams bypassed a tying FG, all they had to do was stop the Jets and their 10 ppg offense from making a 1st down in the final 4 minutes. And they couldnt...
Even the Packers game, sure AD wasnt AD, but there was Akers and the QB "for right now" bringing them with 7 points in to the 4th q only to see Rodgers end it with a TD
Now would I prefer to have had Staley stay as DC? Of course. But somehow he's being made out to be more than he was as well. Morris isnt perfect, far from it. And I am as frustrated as others with his schemes, but at the end of the day, your HOF players got to make the big plays.

 

[PARAM]

Your rationalizations are meandering nonsense.

Last season we had the 22nd worst offense in the league in scoring, at 23.3 ppg. This season the offense has put up 27.1 points and are T-7th best in the league. The variables have changed dude. That team last year got where they did with a QB with a broken thumb and a backup at QB of an offense that was a pile of shit over that season. Your statement is untrue. It makes about as much sense as trying to pull down Staley's production in the DC role in LA last season. Which is no sense.

Morris has some shit to fix. The delusion acting like he somehow can compare to Staley, or like he's a fucking victim of environment, is some bullshit.

Really? Wow, a little pissy aren't we? Facts sometimes have a way of doing that.

Riddle me this Wizard. How many "long" TD drives did Staley's defense allow last year? And by long, let's say either double digit plays or 75 yards or 4:30 in elapsed time and sometimes all of the above. How many has Morris' D allowed? I did the fucking research. But you tell me, who had more? If you don't know, then do the research yourself before shooting off your mouth with the "meandering nonsense". Pretty phrase though, eh?

Our offense sucked last year. And Staley's D was #1. So now you think Staley is something. 1 year as a DC. Perhaps the comparison to Wade inflated that "something" just a bit?

Our offense is scoring 27.1 PPG this year. In losses, they have scored 19.6 PPG....and that is with the benefit of a garbage time TD vs Arizona, a garbage time TD vs Tennessee and a couple of garbage time FGs vs SF and Green Bay. Take those scores out and during the competitive parts of those games, we averaged 15.6 PPG. Impressive, eh? Truth is we lost 5 games and 1 can be attributed to Morris' defense...the last one and that's only because they were falling like stones in the secondary. Those other 4 losses can be put squarely on the shoulders of our offense...and in some cases, directly on the shoulders of our QB, with his pick 6's and arm punts! Those are what need fixing!!!!

So our defense in need of fixing has cost us 1 game, while our vaunted offense has cost us 4. Yeah, I'd blame Morris too!!!

 

[Ramit]

Really? Wow, a little pissy aren't we? Facts sometimes have a way of doing that.

Riddle me this Wizard. How many "long" TD drives did Staley's defense allow last year? And by long, let's say either double digit plays or 75 yards or 4:30 in elapsed time and sometimes all of the above. How many has Morris' D allowed? I did the fucking research. But you tell me, who had more? If you don't know, then do the research yourself before shooting off your mouth with the "meandering nonsense". Pretty phrase though, eh?

Our offense sucked last year. And Staley's D was #1. So now you think Staley is something. 1 year as a DC. Perhaps the comparison to Wade inflated that "something" just a bit?

Our offense is scoring 27.1 PPG this year. In losses, they have scored 19.6 PPG....and that is with the benefit of a garbage time TD vs Arizona, a garbage time TD vs Tennessee and a couple of garbage time FGs vs SF and Green Bay. Take those scores out and during the competitive parts of those games, we averaged 15.6 PPG. Impressive, eh? Truth is we lost 5 games and 1 can be attributed to Morris' defense...the last one and that's only because they were falling like stones in the secondary. Those other 4 losses can be put squarely on the shoulders of our offense...and in some cases, directly on the shoulders of our QB, with his pick 6's and arm punts! Those are what need fixing!!!!

So our defense in need of fixing has cost us 1 game, while our vaunted offense has cost us 4. Yeah, I'd blame Morris too!!!

Wait, you mean to tell me that we lost 5 whole games?

5?

5 games?

That's some 7-9 b.s.