Rams seem to be susceptible to “counterpunching.” Why?

[norcalramfan]

Curse of Todd Kinchen?

 

[gabriel18]

I don't think it's been mentioned but having a s4it crowd for home games doesn't help either. It's not the main factor, I think most of above posts are accurate as to the reasons why but the gd opponents fans at some of these home games is a disgrace and can't possibly help. When you see more of their fans then your fans in LA it's got to be a mental kick in the nuts.

I guarantee it has an effect on the players too. They’re emotional just like the rest of us. Having a crowd behind you gets the juices flowing. Having to use a silent count in the first quarter is pathetic. Hard to watch as a Rams fan.

 

[John R]

To me it seems that we lack halftime adjustments. Especially more so on offense, but both coaches are bad at that.

I think that’s it, plus some of our young players loosing concentration after some amount of time.

 

[XXXIVwin]

loosing concentration

Nailed it

 

[Tumak61]

The team has mood swings.

 

[Steve808]

Looking at Rams', and their opponents', scoring by quarter, I noticed a trend:

First Quarter: Rams 37, Opponents 20 (+17)
Second Quarter: Rams42, Opponents 45 (-3)
Third Quarter: Rams 34, Opponents 38 (+6)
Fourth Quarter: Rams 36, Opponents 48 (-12)

So why does it seem that the Rams are starting halves fairly well, then being hit by "counterpunches" in the second and fourth quarters?

Are our opponents making better adjustments?
Is the defense wearing down toward the end of each half?
Insufficient data/anomaly?

What is your theory?

My two cents. The Rams defense is ok. But with so many young players, we truly lack depth. So it makes sense that they wear down or eventually make mistakes. It doesn't help that our offense has turned the ball over and our kicking game hasn't been as reliable in the past.

That said, the Rams have played 3 teams that played in AFC or NFC championship games last season and could have won all 3 of those games with a few breaks. In fact, the Rams led in all three of those games.

I don't get excited by moral victories, but I'm just trying to frame this season so we can get some perspective as to where the Rams are right now. We are definitely short a few players where we can beat the elite teams, IMO.

Although I will say that allowing long TD drives right before halftime and unfortunate turnovers cost us at least 1-2 games and the Rams could easily be sitting at 4-3, or 5-2 right now.

 

[OnceARam]

I think it's because other teams have an extra gear, which we lack.

This is good and bad. Good because it means that our team is playing all out all the time. And bad because there is a talent gap.

 

[Memphis Ram]

Curse of Todd Kinchen?

Second in the league in dropped passes.

For all the things we complain about, if this team had caught the majority of those passes dropped, they might be fighting for 1st place in the division.