Raheem Morris discussion thread

[Tumak61]

I know it can be effective, but the D is just so hard to watch. Rather have an attacking defense. Ours is soooooooooooooo soft. Just don't like it.

 

[“Turbo set!”]

It is tough to have a good D when the offense isn't moving the ball.

 

[Tano]

Well... Morris does adapt to his personnel. We saw it in the playoffs and Super Bowl when he cranked things up.

He doesn't have the pass rush or corners to play that kind of aggressive D right now.

Bad coach? They gave up 17 on the road... That's not bad. It might be mediocre and not look good.. but the Rams have a slew of mediocre players on defense right now... the Rams edge players.. including Floyd.. would be, at best, 4th on the depth chart on the 9ers..and it's not particularly close.

The Rams played their #6 & 7 corners.

They adapted to their personnel and that's why they were able to give up only 17 points.

As I have stated many times - mix it up

Play soft then man up and then man up but then back off

Make the QB think. Don't let him automatically go to the WR within 5 yards on every play until they get close enough for a FG.

I think we could get more turnovers doing that and in turn help the offense out.

Edit - I do have to say that when the other team gets in the red zone it gets awfully tough for the other team to get a TD. That is one thing that Morris is really good at.

 

[Kupped]

As I have stated many times - mix it up

Play soft then man up and then man up but then back off

Make the QB think. Don't let him automatically go to the WR within 5 yards on every play until they get close enough for a FG.

I think we could get more turnovers doing that and in turn help the offense out.

Edit - I do have to say that when the other team gets in the red zone it gets awfully tough for the other team to get a TD. That is one thing that Morris is really good at.

For me.. the last line is all that matters right now.

With a bunch of backups.. and minimal pass rush.. they're keeping teams out of the end zone a lot of the time. That's the biggest goal of a defense, period. All the other stuff is nice and beneficial.. but the game is who gets more points.

 

[Kupped]

I know it can be effective, but the D is just so hard to watch. Rather have an attacking defense. Ours is soooooooooooooo soft. Just don't like it.

It's not fun, I completely get it.

I just watched Morris and the D crank it up as they got healthier in the back and after they added Von Miller and he got comfortable.

I'm pretty sure he and the Rams want to attack.. but they don't believe they have the horses at the moment. And if you listen to McVay.. the concept of keeping everything in front of the D and forcing offenses to execute long drives is exactly what he wants.. because it's what frustrates him most as a coordinator.

 

[KA210927]

The pass rush this year seems to be the worst in Rams recent memory. This defense really has no chance of being “good” if we don’t figure out how to generate more pressure. I personally don’t understand how other players aren’t getting pressure when AD gets SO much focus on him. Even bad/mediocre players have gotten 10+ sacks in previous years cuz they play next to AD. Hope they figure it out.

 

[Kupped]

The pass rush this year seems to be the worst in Rams recent memory. This defense really has no chance of being “good” if we don’t figure out how to generate more pressure. I personally don’t understand how other players aren’t getting pressure when AD gets SO much focus on him. Even bad/mediocre players have gotten 10+ sacks in previous years cuz they play next to AD. Hope they figure it out.

Floyd has a bad knee and Lewis and Hollins are JAGS. They're not awful, just not good either.

I'm hoping Bobby Brown comes back as part of the rotation and helps Gaines stay fresh so he can get more push on pass plays.. and they must add an edge rusher if they hope to have any playoff success.

 

[Jacobarch]

It's not fun, I completely get it.

I just watched Morris and the D crank it up as they got healthier in the back and after they added Von Miller and he got comfortable.

I'm pretty sure he and the Rams want to attack.. but they don't believe they have the horses at the moment. And if you listen to McVay.. the concept of keeping everything in front of the D and forcing offenses to execute long drives is exactly what he wants.. because it's what frustrates him most as a coordinator.

It's a mute point because good teams are going to be able to beat it. I brought it up in the pregame thread. If we play that soft zone crap it's gonna be a long long day for our defense. It's not to say that our defense shouldn't have been able to do the exact same thing they did to ours. Only letting us score FG's. They executed, we didn't.

 

[Kupped]

It's a mute point because good teams are going to be able to beat it. I brought it up in the pregame thread. If we play that soft zone crap it's gonna be a long long day for our defense. It's not to say that our defense shouldn't have been able to do the exact same thing they did to ours. Only letting us score FG's. They executed, we didn't.

It will be a long day.

The alternative can be attacking and letting up huge chunk plays and huge scoring plays.. especially with a secondary that is down both a starting safety and 3 of it's top 4 corners.

Add in a non-existent pass rush.. and.. well.. there you go.

I hope people remember that last year.. when teams were aggressive against the Rams on D.. the Rams offense was it's most effective.. Stafford lead the league in EPA against the blitz.

Aggression doesn't always equal results.. that's why we're seeing SO MUCH cover 2 in the NFL this year.

With more experience.. and some health.. we'll see the Rams play up more.

 

[Jacobarch]

It will be a long day.

The alternative can be attacking and letting up huge chunk plays and huge scoring plays.. especially with a secondary that is down both a starting safety and 3 of it's top 4 corners.

Add in a non-existent pass rush.. and.. well.. there you go.

I hope people remember that last year.. when teams were aggressive against the Rams on D.. the Rams offense was it's most effective.. Stafford lead the league in EPA against the blitz.

Aggression doesn't always equal results.. that's why we're seeing SO MUCH cover 2 in the NFL this year.

With more experience.. and some health.. we'll see the Rams play up more.

Correct me if I'm wrong. But we play the same exact style of defense whether or not our starters are playing. I mean it's the same issue we've had with this style defense for awhile now. This is nothing new.
I'm not saying we need to blitz or be overly aggressive. I'm saying we need to mix it up. Which we don't.

 

[Snaz]

Well... Morris does adapt to his personnel. We saw it in the playoffs and Super Bowl when he cranked things up.

He doesn't have the pass rush or corners to play that kind of aggressive D right now.

Bad coach? They gave up 17 on the road... That's not bad. It might be mediocre and not look good.. but the Rams have a slew of mediocre players on defense right now... the Rams edge players.. including Floyd.. would be, at best, 4th on the depth chart on the 9ers..and it's not particularly close.

The Rams played their #6 & 7 corners.

They adapted to their personnel and that's why they were able to give up only 17 points.

I'd rather play man up and give the pass rush a chance, go to the dink and dunk when you have a lead, but not at the beginning of the game. Play aggressive. Play Ramsey in Man and cheat zone to the other side. Two safety's deep to prevent the big play.
Don't play safe until you have a lead. Need to outscore opponents, can't do that if you give up first down after first down ad nauseum. Offense runs out of time.

 

[Kupped]

Correct me if I'm wrong. But we play the same exact style of defense whether or not our starters are playing. I mean it's the same issue we've had with this style defense for awhile now. This is nothing new.
I'm not saying we need to blitz or be overly aggressive. I'm saying we need to mix it up. Which we don't.

I’ll correct you.. didn’t play as much of that when Williams was back & Long seemed to figure it out. Go look at postseason.. especially against 9ers.

 

[Kupped]

I'd rather play man up and give the pass rush a chance, go to the dink and dunk when you have a lead, but not at the beginning of the game. Play aggressive. Play Ramsey in Man and cheat zone to the other side. Two safety's deep to prevent the big play.
Don't play safe until you have a lead. Need to outscore opponents, can't do that if you give up first down after first down ad nauseum. Offense runs out of time.

You’ll have to argue with McVay on that, not me.

And… again… 17 points.

We’ll see if the Cowboys light them up.. hopefully Long & Durant are back.

But that pass rush.. yuck

 

[dieterbrock]

San Fran 1st 4 drives
Scoring drive
Punt
Punt
Scoring drive

Rams 1st 4 drives
Scoring drive
Punt
Punt
Scoring drive

The difference? San Fran scored 2 TD while the Rams only 2 FG
Overall? Each team had 3 scoring drives
San fran "rewarded" the Rams with a missed FG
The Rams "rewarded" 49ers with a woeful pick 6

The defense was not great, but would have had to have played to the level they played against Arizona when Wolford started and led them to only 9 points while the D scored 9 of their own

 

[Snaz]

You’ll have to argue with McVay on that, not me.

And… again… 17 points.

We’ll see if the Cowboys light them up.. hopefully Long & Durant are back.

But that pass rush.. yuck

And the Rams got 9... So which do you fault the defense allowing more points or an offense that can't score enough.
Denver held the same team to 10 points.

I blame the defense, and offense we missed opportunities, but gave way too much yards and time of possession to the 49ers.

We've lost how many to them? Try something different. Cause what worked in the NFC CG wasn't even tried.
What was played was what resulted in a loss every time we an it.

 

[dieterbrock]

And the Rams got 9... So which do you fault the defense allowing more points or an offense that can't score enough.

That's a pretty easy one, no?
On a week to week basis, what the W/L% on teams scoring a total of 9 points and conversely what's the W/L% for a team who gives up 17?
I'll take my chances on giving up the 17

 

[Kupped]

And the Rams got 9... So which do you fault the defense allowing more points or an offense that can't score enough.
Denver held the same team to 10 points.

I blame the defense, and offense we missed opportunities, but gave way too much yards and time of possession to the 49ers.

We've lost how many to them? Try something different. Cause what worked in the NFC CG wasn't even tried.
What was played was what resulted in a loss every time we an it.

Sorry.. but my argument wasn’t about how the Tams compare on any given week.

I said 17 points is good enough, especially with so many injuries.

The offense couldn’t score AND GAVE UP A TOUCHDOWN….

What are we even talking about?!?!???

 

[Kupped]

That's a pretty easy one, no?
On a week to week basis, what the W/L% on teams scoring a total of 9 points and conversely what's the W/L% for a team who gives up 17?
I'll take my chances on giving up the 17

Exactly.
In 2020.. rams averaged 18.5 points a game.

People are losing their minds again.

 

[Merlin]

The problem here is that there are criticisms to be had with both sides of the ball. There is no need to lump the offense into a discussion with the defense. It's ok to look at the unit itself and its performance given the field position they started with as well as the opponent and go from there.

Same goes for special teams. Teams wasn't the problem for us in that game, in fact early on they were the best performing unit on the team. But they had some series where they fucked some shit up.

All fans have their own standards. Doesn't make any of them wrong. I'm a big defensive fan, to me I enjoy having a great defense and always have, as that marked my entry into fanhood, those defenses with Blood and company keeping top teams to field goals in the playoffs. I don't like seeing the other team drive up and down the field. If we win, I deal. But when we lose, that's an area we need to improve.

I'm also pissed about this offense though. It's shit and it's been shit so far all season. We could have set a fucking clock to the struggles we had vs SF, it was entirely predictable because our OL can't handle physicality. And what's more frustrating is that it's a McVay weakness that persists with every team no matter how far they get in that season.

One doesn't need to invoke the other. Doing that is fucking stupid.

 

[Tano]

For me.. the last line is all that matters right now.

With a bunch of backups.. and minimal pass rush.. they're keeping teams out of the end zone a lot of the time. That's the biggest goal of a defense, period. All the other stuff is nice and beneficial.. but the game is who gets more points.

True - but we were playing the same soft zone stuff when we had the starters playing Buffalo and Josh Allen tore us apart and we never changed our defense the entire game. We got lucky with a couple picks in the first half that kept the game close.

One other thing I need to point out. These long drives tire the heck out of the defense and injuries occur more frequently than if they weren't tired. That's why a lot of our injuries to the defense have occurred in the third and fourth quarter.