Sean McVay searching for answers to Rams' inconsistency on offense
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theramswire.usatoday.com]
Cameron DaSilva
One week, the Rams look like a top-five team in the NFL with an offense that can both run the ball and gain big yardage after the catch. The next, they’re losing to the Jets. After starting the season strong offensively, scoring 30 points in three of their first five games, the Rams have eclipsed that number just once in their last nine.
A lack of consistency on offense has plagued this team, wasting what’s become one of the best defenses in football. Finding steady play on that side of the ball has been painfully difficult, and even Sean McVay doesn’t know the solution right now. He was asked how to improve the team’s consistency, but that’s an answer he’s looking for himself.
“If I had the answer, that’s something that we’re always striving for,” he said Monday. “I think it’s really just starting fast and finishing strong.”
One area where the Rams have been consistent is turning the ball over. They’ve given it away at least once in every single game this season, which is something just one other team (Broncos) has done. No other team has more than 12 games with at least one turnover.
That’s not an area where the Rams want to be consistent, but it’s certainly played a factor in the offense struggling to get anything going from week to week. The same can’t be said about the defense, which has played at a high level all season. The Rams haven’t allowed more than 28 points since Week 3, which is the only time they’ve given up at least 30.
“I think there’s been moments in games where you’ve seen good consistency, offensively, throughout and then there’s been moments when it hasn’t been,” McVay said. “I think that’s the same thing with special teams. Then for the most part, defense has been pretty consistent. It’s about putting all three phases together. I think we’ve shown glimpses of doing that, which is why I think we’ve won enough games to be relevant at this point, but it is something that we’ve got to be able to get ahold on and there’s different reasons for it. We’ve got to play consistently well at the key spots and usually when we do that, good things happen.”
The best we’ve seen the offense – and really, the entire team – play in the second half of the season was against the Cardinals. They threw for 344 yards, rushed for 119 and only turned it over once, putting up 38 points in a 10-point win over Arizona.
That, coupled with the team’s Week 14 win over the Patriots, had hopes higher for the Rams. But after getting stymied by the Jets, gaining only 303 yards on offense, their arrow is once again pointing down.
Heading into the final two weeks of the season against the Seahawks and Cardinals, the Rams better hope they can find some semblance of stability before a postseason run, otherwise their exit will be rather early in January.
