Excellent Postgame Notes and Thoughts post by Merlin...

Here’s Merlin...

After a rewatch in which I jotted things down and replayed some stuff, apologies for being all over the map it's sort of a stream of consciousness thing...

Rams ran a 2 down lineman look on big passing downs with AD & Brock as the two linemen with a great deal of success. Right out the gate on the Saints second possession the Rams defense held on third down forcing the 3 'n out with AD instant pressure on Brees that forced a questionable pass to Cook that was just out of the reach of Rapp (that was the throw he hurt his thumb on btw). Have to think at some point we'll see teams run draw plays vs that look, but it was impressive.

In general the Saints' offense had no answers for the Rams' defense. Even early when Brees was in there, the Rams were winning the LOS and swarming to the ball with excellent coverage. Our defense also forced a ton of penalties up front as a result of them winning the LOS (Rams even declined a 15 yard personal foul in the first half because they got the stuff for lost yards). This bodes well if we see them again in the playoffs assuming they get there and get Brees back.

Goff had nerves early on. He missed some throws he usually makes, missed some open receiver options (Everett was a better option than Kupp in the redzone just before the half) but also had a big drop work against him. During the game yesterday I was of the opinion that his protections were terrible. They really weren't though. He had some pressure in his face time to time, but basically this was a playoff game in week 2 and the truth IMO is he had to settle in and he did. Impressive overall day for him to my eye at least, because winning ugly at QB is a skill that only the best possess.

Gurley had some runs where he wasn't seeing the holes very well IMO. Maybe it's the lesser carries (the great ones to include Gurley really get better as the game goes on with the snaps). He also had some plays where he could have fought for some yardage by turning it up but instead elected to go out of bounds. I presume, giving him the benefit of the doubt here, that is about preserving his knee. But it surprised me.

Brown had a great day in terms of seeing the holes and quickly making his cuts to get the most from the chaos on the runs with traffic. IMO he's one of those backs who's a natural for picking his way through traffic and he has the balance to stay on his feet through a lot of contact.

Our edge rushers had a fine game overall. Matthews & Fowler were excellent as a duo and pressures were frequent. But also Wade did a great job moving them around and subbing in Ebu who you could also feel there wasn't a ton of dropoff. Really happy with how they looked vs a very good Saints OL.

First possession in the redzone for the Rams following the big pass play to Cooks (which had exemplary protection for Goff on a 3rd down and forever btw) the Rams started out with a run up the middle that had fantastic blocking by all 3 interior OL, followed by a penalty to set the Rams up for a 2nd and 2 and easy TD. But McVay got a bit too cute with a play action attempt (in which Goff didn't sell the action) for which a run would have scored (blocking was there again), followed by a left side screen that got blown up. IMO that first offensive series McVay outsmarted himself. The run was there shoulda trusted his line.

If Cooks hauls in that pass by Goff on third down (at 6:15 on the clock first quarter) you are talking HUGE PLAY and field position flip. Was a ton of green for him to operate in with the DB trailing. Just a huge drop in a situation in which the offense was pinned back inside their 10 due to a nice punt and Gnats fielding the fair catch. It's funny... During the first watch it seemed like the Rams were struggling offensively. But now I realize they had flipped the field on the previous series with the long pass to Cooks, and basically SHOULD HAVE flipped the field again with another huge reception to him. Basically they were soooo close to clicking early on with a very hot start, a dropped pass away. And on the Saints' side of things, after giving up big time receptions to the Texans all night in game 1 they should be very concerned that the Rams didn't take advantage of what was there; they have problems in their secondary IMO, at least in matching up with good passing games.

In the first watch through I saw Hav gettin worked. But tbh both Big Whit & Havenstein were mismatched on the edge. Saints really have a nice edge tandem and the reason Hav didn't get a lot of help is because their focus was on both edges where Whit was struggling too. I'm used to ignoring LT which is a testament to Whit. But damn it surprised me to see that they were applying heat to both tackles the entire game (Hav struggled more, obviously). Cred here again to the Saints too, as you can draw things up all you want but players gotta win their matchups and the Saints won a lot of them on the edge. Their edge rush is excellent.

Interior OL had a far stronger game than I thought. Allen played his best game of his career, not saying much I realize but still... He made the calls without any free rushers, held up well vs the pass, and excelled in run plays (lots of examples of him making 2nd level blocks particularly on the pitch plays). Boom had a very strong matchup but held his own very well. Even Blythe who I like to give a hard time played well through that first half of the game before he was injured. Demby came in and had a really rough start but I have to admit settled down and played well. I feel way better about these guys now.

DL played lights out vs one of the league's best OL. Not only did the real AD show up but he also came back to the game after an injury to gut it out. SJD had a very strong game in the middle, I was really impressed with how he stuffed things up and was a big part of the reason why we played the run so well. And Brock might have had one of the best games I've seen from him since 2017. I mean damn. He moved around, got pressures, stuffed the run, and looked like the guy who is a team leader that leaves it all on the field we remember from a couple seasons ago.

Secondary had not only a great game plan, but executed it at a very high level. Receivers were blanketed on many of the plays. And the safeties just can't say enough about them when they (and Littleton) hold a guy like Kamara down. Even with Brees out their performance was outstanding.

Three teams in the NFC West sitting at 2-0. Gonna be a fun season dudes. Oh and McVay is 20-0 when leading at halftime.