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HighPlainsDrifter
Frank Cignetti was the Rams' offensive coordinator for the first twelve games of the 2015 season. Boras didn't take over until game 13. In eight games under Cignetti, Gurley ran for 100+ yards four times. He ran for over 100 one game after Boras took over, but it was likely in an extension of Cignetti's game plans. Boras likely installed his own system in 2016 (within Fisher's narrow parameters, which Cignetti probably operated under as well), and Gurley managed just one game over eighty yards. Maybe the former coaching staff (especially offensive coaches) are trying to buff a little tarnish off of their reputations. It is conceivable that the offensive system didn't incur drastic changes between Cignetti and Boras, but the play calling sequences and adjustments were almost assuredly different.
The biggest difference between TG's 100 yard games and not-100 yard games is long runs. Most of those came in the 2nd half as the team adjusted to how defenses were defending against the run. I think Cigs had a knack for that in ways Boras didn't. This also shows up in points per quarter---the 2016 Rams were fine that way in the 1st quarter and from the 2nd quarter on plummeted to the bottom of the league in ranking.
I think it is also entirely clear that TG contributed to this. This is not the first time we heard that he was not as dedicated in the off-season as he was in 2015. He visibly lost some weight, strength, and explosion.
To me all this is a perfect cluster storm of combined causes. IMO the people trying to narrow it to one cause are generally missing the whole picture.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2017 04:16AM by zn.