Some thoughts on a season slowly slipping away (it got long, sorry)

Its maddening how close this team is only to undermine itself. And that is from the coaching on down.

I'll touch on some coaching and front office stuff first. Might as well start at the top.

I have been outspoken about how I dislike the way the Rams traded away picks for players, specifically Cooks, Fowler and Peters. IMO the only reason you do that is if you think you are 1 piece away or its for a OT. The reason why I say this is that rookie contracts are cheap. Cooks, Fowler and even Peters aren't cheap. At least not as cheap as a rookie on his first few years. It will eventually handcuff what you can and cannot do in the offseason.

2nd thing with the front office, you should be building from the inside out and yet the Rams are building from the outside in. WRs and CBs and Safeties. TEs as well since Everett was their first ever pick. Build the lines. The 9ers added both OTs and have 4 first round draft picks on their DL. And with so much invested with Goff and AD, why waste their talent by supporting them with nothing.

On to coaching. I am a huge McVay supporter. But I said this a few weeks ago and its worth repeating. Snead built this team to the specs McVay gave him and its too late this year to change a whole heck of a lot. They don't have a FB, so or 2 blocking TEs, so forget the power run game. We all saw how that worked today. The niners are a power run offense. Shanny has a plan to run against anything from a 6 to 11 man box according to the announcers today. McVay loves to the run the football, but in a much different way.

Which brings me to my next point, and this cannot be stressed enough. This offense is built the way McVay wants it. Which means outside zone blocking offensive linemen. These guys are not maulers, they are not big fat hogmollies, they need to move laterally and be more technician then anything. So more mobile and athletic over big and powerful. So if you are looking for a big, mauling OG in the draft, good luck, unless he is also mobile (btw there is one at OC in Wisconsin right now) because the Rams aren't interested. They don't fit the scheme. Think more Oklahoma's offense and less Alabama's, college wise.

Onto McVays offense, I honestly feel like after watching today, every DC in the NFL is living rent free in McVay's head. They are zigging before he ever zags. And by what I mean is, McVay seems like he is coming in with a plan and the other DC knows what it is before they flip the coin. Today the Rams could run the football, but couldn't pass it for 50 yards. 2 weeks ago they threw it for 500 but couldn't run for anything. A one dimensional offense is easy to defend. Part of the problem are the defenses they are seeing, part of it is the OL and part of it is Goff and Gurley.

McVay also created this mess by running almost exclusively out of 11 personnel. Its one dimensional and multiple DCs figured it out as early as last year. You become predictable and you get figured out. He is smart enough to diversify the Rams offense, but I don't think he has the personnel to do much about it this year.

On to the OL, no one singing Kromer's praises this year with the OL...I'm assuming he still does the OL as part of his run game cord. duties?
Whitworth is done, e got trucked by a 280 lb rookie, that should never happen. Blythe is what he is, a weak link. Allen, for everything he is doing well, just doesn't move my needle. Noteboom is moving outside, but Demby isn't the answer to any question ever asked.

On to Gurley, today was interesting to me because Henderson showed that explosive running cutback/change of direction that made Gurley so dangerous that you just don't see from Gurley. Gurley is still a good RB, but he is far from special. And that contract is for special RBs. Just saying. For the record, Gurley has been a favorite of mine since college. I just cannot be convinced that he is right, health-wise. I'm sorry.

Lastly, Goff. I have been hard on him all season, simply because the QB is the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe due to the playcalling and the OL and Gurley, I am being to hard on him, but man was today brutal. He missed a wide open Goff for a first down today at least once and that deep throw to Everett has to be on the money. Something is off. He is just not seeing at well as he should be. He's young, but if he doesn't figure this out quick, this season is lost, because Gurley and the OL won't save it.

On to the defense. Its time for Wade to go. There was a reason he was available to be the Rams DC in the first place. Guy is personable as all get out, but this defense is not working right now. Its kind of like the offense, they can stop the run and get killed in the passing game or stop the pass and get gashed in the run game. But the one thing that isn't happening is QB pressure. And with no pressure and that soft zone defense behind it, QBs have been getting all day to throw. Sure they held the 9ers run game in check, but that was without both starting OTs and their FB. The Rams edge rushers should have had a field day against backup tackles, yet nada.

This defense's front 7 is a mess. Outside AD, there is next to no pressure now that Matthews is out. Brockers and Fowler are stealing money and Gaines is a rookie and do I have to go on? The only LBer worth their salt is Littleton.

And as far as Peters, I am thinking about starting a countdown website that counts the hours, min. and seconds that he has left on his contract. His bullfighter tackling technique is getting beyond old.

This team can right the ship to some extent this year, but no one is coming to the rescue at the trade deadline. No cap space. I actually hope they go the other way and try and dump an expiring contract or 2. The defense, despite all its flaws has played some good football, but Wade is going to have to get creative in getting pressure or at the least getting AD singled up. Same for the offense. But McVay is going to have to regain that mojo he lost somewhere along the way.

Its too early to look too far ahead, but unless things change quickly, the post season is slipping away. They better get healthy against the Falcons, Steelers and Bengals, because its by far the easiest part of the schedule.

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Don't waste your time looking back, you're not going that way. - Ragnar Lothbrok