Raheem Morris discussion thread

[El Chapo Jr]

Glad Raheem finally adjusted the D to be more aggressive. Hopefully he continues that. Thankful for all our SB coaches and hope they all continue to improve.....I'm only referring to the ones still on our staff by the way lol

 

[Allen2McVay]

Luckily we have a season for people to look back on and say "You know, I really over reacted that whole 2021 season so maybe I should step back from the ledge and give these players/coaches benefit of the doubt for now". But oh well, what should be the over/under on how many minutes into game 1 of next season before someone in a GDT thread says a coach should be fire or that McVay is an issue?

That's why I occasionally re-visit the Vent thread following the loss to the Packers.

It's currently on page 27 of the Rams Talk Forum. It provides a little Perspective, which is good IMO.

The Rams went the entire month of November without a win; and a lot of posters were losing it. Here's an example ('The season is clearly over. This team has too many flaws to compete.'). That was from a good poster and Rams' fan but a bad-take because he was frustrated (understandable), disappointed (understandable), angry (understandable) and had lost perspective (NOT so understandable).

I don't often see things as great and perfect, or awful and hopeless.

However, you know what is Great and Perfect? ... The 2021 Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl!!!

 

[rdlkgliders]

That's why I occasionally re-visit the Vent thread following the loss to the Packers.

It's currently on page 27 of the Rams Talk Forum. It provides a little Perspective, which is good IMO.

The Rams went the entire month of November without a win; and a lot of posters were losing it. Here's an example ('The season is clearly over. This team has too many flaws to compete.'). That was from a good poster and Rams' fan but a bad-take because he was frustrated (understandable), disappointed (understandable), angry (understandable) and had lost perspective (NOT so understandable).

I don't often see things as great and perfect, or awful and hopeless.

However, you know what is Great and Perfect? ... The 2021 Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl!!!

Good point, I was all over the map with RM, I am now a believer
The green highlighted sentence is analogous to something I subscribe to. As a 20 something exchanging discourse with friends we often expressed our enthusiasm for topics with hyperbole.
I came up with a personal goal to not be so extreme and made a saying that I used to remind myself and still use today.
"Hardly ever always or never" It works to remind us that on most topics or even in our daily life we do not have many always & never situations.

 

[Allen2McVay]

Good point, I was all over the map with RM, I am now a believer
The green highlighted sentence is something I subscribe to. As a 20 something exchanging discourse with friends we often expressed our enthusiasm for topics with hyperbole.
I came up with a personal goal to not be so extreme and made a saying that I used to remind myself and still today I use it.
"Hardly ever always or never" It works to remind us that most topics or even life, in general, has always & never situations.

Although I agree, if you figured-it-out in your 20's, I really Hate You.

 

[rdlkgliders]

Although I agree, if you figured-it-out in your 20's, I really Hate You.

LOL, I still struggle with practicing it, Emotion tends to trump logic and probably "hardly" practiced it in my 20's.
I have a tendency to be aware of my shortcomings long before addressing them.

I edited that effing post like 5 times LOL

 

[oldnotdead]

IMO the only question is which Raheem will we get this coming season. The aggressive, hunter, or the pansy. If he plays the entire season the way he did in the playoffs I will have no problem with him and this defense will return to being a top 10 unit. IMO his soft I don't give a damn about stats cost him a HC spot. If he wants a HC spot next year he needs to stay aggressive, not passive. That should be a prime motivator for him.

Morris needs to play his defense with "bolas de acero" (balls of steel). No more sitting back waiting for a mistake. The lesson from the Super Bowl was not to wait for the mistake but to force the mistake. I hope Morris learned that. If he plays all out and the Rams get beat then so be it. But his defense needs to go down swinging, not sitting back on their heels.

 

[Merlin]

Staley's defense sucked the beginning of 2020 and the same people demanded quite vehemently for McVay to fire him on the spot. He got it figured out. Morris took a bit longer than Staley but him and the players got it figured out. I just don't think Morris ever trusted the secondary and linebackers in coverage until we had VM increasing pressure and added Weddle's brains and Scott's speed to the backside.

Defenses across the entire NFL usually suck the first half of the season compared to the back half, especially in recent years with limited offseason practices and almost no hitting. The good coaches will usually get their shit figured out by playoff time after they figure out which players they can trust and what their limitations are. Hopefully we are able to retain Von Miller and add a little more speed to the back 7 in passing downs because I would love to watch a full season of that combo.

What was impressive about 2020 was a full install of a new scheme and they were the best defense in the league in so many metrics. So even that slow start was so minor in the big scheme of things. He also really brought out big production and play by the secondary pieces, his grasp of the back end and gameday calls were fantastic.

Morris ran the same defense but it goes to show how the way you teach it and prepare these guys and set your keys for that matchup factor in so heavily in the final product. He got better and better as the season progressed and did exactly what he said he would which is win a championship vice worry about stats. When push came to shove in two consecutive and epic playoff matchups his defense stuffed the 9ers and the Bengals to win the title. That's the bottom line.

I would like to see improved secondary play in 2021 though. I think corner is talent, as in we need more of it back there in at least one good addition. Safety these guys need to fit the way the DC calls it which is to say we could really use a guy who can swoop on the ball and pass catchers. Prior to Weddle coming back there's a lot of room for improvement and he's retired now so there's a lot of room for improvement. We need a ballhawk IMO.

 

[Kupped]

The thing I think is funny is that so many people think they're right and that Morris "finally adjusted"... as opposed to the idea that the Rams defense was growing and changing as the season went along.
What they did in the playoffs wasn't reactionary, it was evolution.

 

[TexasRam]

The thing I think is funny is that so many people think they're right and that Morris "finally adjusted"... as opposed to the idea that the Rams defense was growing and changing as the season went along.
What they did in the playoffs wasn't reactionary, it was evolution.

It was more addition then evolution.

What the defense couldn’t become with Morris it became with 2 hall of fame additions in Weddle and Miller.

Jones also got healthy and Ashawn became unstoppable.

By any measure we went into the playoffs with the best front 5 in the league a plus linebacker and two hall of fame backers in Ramsey and Weddle. That is 8 of 11 defenders that could each be on an all star team.

But to Morris credit he did adjust the coverage. It was tighter and more heavily man with Ramsey singling up just when we needed it. Long and Williams played brilliantly in the Super Bowl and Morris deserves credit for that.

 

[FarNorth]

It was more addition then evolution.

What the defense couldn’t become with Morris it became with 2 hall of fame additions in Weddle and Miller.

Jones also got healthy and Ashawn became unstoppable.

By any measure we went into the playoffs with the best front 5 in the league a plus linebacker and two hall of fame backers in Ramsey and Weddle. That is 8 of 11 defenders that could each be on an all star team.

But to Morris credit he did adjust the coverage. It was tighter and more heavily man with Ramsey singling up just when we needed it. Long and Williams played brilliantly in the Super Bowl and Morris deserves credit for that.

Agree completely.

With Miller the Rams had the best pass rush in the playoffs and likely in the league. The tremendous pass rush and pressure also enabled Morris to put Ramsay on an island against Chase, for example on the Bengals' last play of the game. With Weddle we added a super smart, hard tackling, multi Pro Bowl player and coach on the field. Morris not only came up with the idea of adding Weddle but talked him (and McVay) into it.

Many other players and factors but the Rams' ability to backfill holes in the D with two all time greats was an essential key to their playoff run. So was adding OBJ on offense.

The Rams' lack of depth was in fact a potential critical weakness but the brilliant signings of some of the best players in the NFL down the stretch made them better than ever for the playoffs.

 

[Kupped]

It was more addition then evolution.

What the defense couldn’t become with Morris it became with 2 hall of fame additions in Weddle and Miller.

Jones also got healthy and Ashawn became unstoppable.

By any measure we went into the playoffs with the best front 5 in the league a plus linebacker and two hall of fame backers in Ramsey and Weddle. That is 8 of 11 defenders that could each be on an all star team.

But to Morris credit he did adjust the coverage. It was tighter and more heavily man with Ramsey singling up just when we needed it. Long and Williams played brilliantly in the Super Bowl and Morris deserves credit for that.

Weddle and Miller were, of course, HUGE ADDITIONS... but, come on. Those two aren't the only reasons the D could switch to a bear front for the NFC championship game.
And A'Shawn has been a good player all season.. improved all season.. and has been used properly... he, just like a lot of other guys, stepped up the intensity in the playoffs.

The development and growth of the D through the year.. the integration of Miller.. and, let's not forget.. Raheem was the one who actually called Weddle.. are all huge.

The Rams D has some superstars.. but saying 8 of 11 could be on an all star team? The true difference makers.. Donald, Miller and Ramsey.. help everyone else tremendously. Miller absolutely benefitted from "The Donald Effect".. 9 sacks in 12 games.. and he took a few games to get 100% healthy and integrated.

Long Jr, Williams, Scott, Howard, Reeder, Gaines, Floyd, Jones... these guys aren't making any all star teams.. but they played really well.

Good teams grow and change through the course of a season and we saw the Rams do that on Offense, Defense, and Special Teams.

Powell was the difference maker on returns, but coverage and blocking on Teams improved tremendously as the season goes on. That's coaching too.

 

[So Ram]

The development of Ernest Jones & his confidence has so much to do with Raheem Morris.He made sure he did not get down & was always working hard.He made sure Jones knew the defense.
Jones as a rookie took over the play calling,but then got hurt.He also knew when to play him & how much to be ready & at his best when it counted.I saw that from the beginning amongst other players.
The Arizona game on the road was such a big game when players most Ram fans never heard of were starting & or playing big minutes.
Last season during training camp because of Mcvay’s relationship & trust in Kevin O’Connell Coach wanted to be a bigger part of the defense.He spent more time learning & trusting his coaching staff more than anytime as a HC. Thanks Raheem Morris.

 

[FrantikRam]

I was really pleased with Morris overall and think our defense will be better next year. I suspect one way or another we will get a better CB on the other side of Ramsey and I bet that will make a big difference

 

[Kupped]

Seeing all the takes on Morris and coverage this season brought back memories...

Anyway.. lots of similarities to early last season. Young/injured DBs being integrated and the Rams wanting to keep everything in front of them. There's no one here yet who plays like Williams. Hill is solid, but different.. and injured.
The Rams are running a 6th round rookie and a practice squad guy who's bounced around the league and.. Rochell? I put the ? on Rochell, because I don't know what's going on with him.
Fuller won't be full speed.. pun intended. What I'm very happy about is that Scott looks like whatever he figured out in the playoffs last season, he's building on.

This D should, like the Rams did at the end of last season, stuff the shit outta the 9ers run game. That offense SHOULD be one-dimensional.. but we'll see.

Rams are gonna need to play a clean game in all three phases to win.

 

[Merlin]

Well this is preferable to you launching a new Morris crusade.

 

[Corbin]

Well this is preferable to you launching a new Morris crusade.

Idk I rather like the paintings of new crusades

 

[OldSchool]

 

[snackdaddy]

After what Morris did with the defense in the playoffs I think we do need to show more patience. It certainly is frustrating during a game watching all those pitch and catch plays with defenders playing so far off the receivers. But we need to see what it looks like after 60 minutes of it.

If the 49ers take advantage of it like last year's 31-10 embarrassment, opening with an eleven minute drive, then he should be open to criticism. But if it results in less scoring then maybe we need to accept that is our defense and its ok to play that way.

 

[RamWoodie]

I think Morris is being railed on unfairly this year. It came to me in the Cards game.

I could be wrong...but what he's doing now with this pretty young secondary is guarding against big plays...and so far it's working.

The way to know this is to see how he plays them when the injured guys returns.

There are clearly times when they must play tighter. I'll be watching carefully tonight at the defensive calls.

 

[bubbaramfan]

Morris' D is giving opposing teams a ten minute advatage in TOP. Thats just not gonna work for a 17 game season.