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Belichik knew that he could rattle Goff by forcing pressure up the middle. Goff doesn't like to see it coming. (What QB does??)
Unfortunately, Detroit has a better interior line than we had during that Super Bowl.
That said, that's still the best way to throw him off his game. (Then exploit his small hands for strip sacks. Lol)
This game will likely hinge on how well AD & Kobie get pressure.
Like you said, pressure up the gut will negatively affect most QB's who don't have a lot of mobility. But the Rams haven't shown a consistent ability to apply pressure either up the middle or out on the edges. And with Detroit's rushing attack, I think that it'd be difficult for our DL to pin its ears back. Further complicating matters is our inability to put together an effective blitz package with our LB's. Neither Jones or Rozeboom have shown the ability to evade (or truck) the RB in blitz pick-up. I know that I saw a little bit of success mid-season with Morris sending a DB, but I haven't seen it much thereafter. Kinda like the Super Bowl match-up against the 'Gals, I'm wondering if Morris can have either Jones or 'boom show blitz by lining up over the nose before bailing out into coverage. Might add enough confusion to buy some time to get to Goff?
I think that he (Goff) would have lot of trouble if our defense employed more zero-blitz concepts - which it doesn't.
You mentioned Belichik...
Aside from him coming out in that "Bear" front to take away Gurley in the run game (and McVay going along with it), I believe that Belichik also made the decision to double-cover Woods (security blanket with Kupp out of the season by then) and force the Rams to beat them with Cooks. Now, although Cooks had a very good game in that Super Bowl...we can also acknowledge that he wasn't clutch (which is what I think Belichik was banking on.
Against the Lions, I think that Goff may very well be without one of his security blankets if LaPorta can't go. That could allow Morris to swing some extra coverage to Goff's other security blanket - Amon-Ra St. Brown. Assuming we don't bust the coverage (which I won't), that might leave Goff eyeing Jameson as a primary.
