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Speed_Kills
do the Rams have a poor offensive line that was the primary culprit for Goff's and Gurley's regression or not?
you can't have it both ways.... they are going with the same players that played poorly last year
There's no contradiction. In the last 7 games the Rams started 3 inexperienced injury replacements (including 2 rookies & a guy who had been with the team a month). Usually that's going to be costly. 3 injury replacements? All 3 replacements inexperienced?
But they improved the more they played together. Numbers back that up. (I put some numbers below).
How about the start of the season? 2 newbies plus both OTs started the season out of sync. At least AW got it back together by mid-season at least.
Now? Not counting Demby, they have 6 young players who are no longer inexperienced. So they're not "the same." The following young players at a minimum took snaps in games last year: NB, Allen, Corbett, Edwards, Evans, Brewer. A couple of them acquitted themselves pretty well and clearly improved the more they started (Edwards, Evans). So again it's NOT "the same players." There's a huge difference between starting 3 inexperienced injury replacements (a double whammy---injuries, inexperienced replacements) and then entering a season with multiple more experienced players and a chance to coach them up further.
On top of it, both AW and Blythe had off-season surgeries to repair lingering ailments. So they were not playing even relatively healthy last year, and who knows for how long.
If Hav regains his 2017-2018 form, that's a plus too. It means they have the 6 youngsters plus AW, Blythe, and Hav to work with. Again---experienced being a big factor with the youngsters.
In terms of numbers, look at the last 3 games.
According to data that's on the board, in the last 3 games the Rams OL was ranked 16th. That includes a game against SF's tough 2nd ranked defense.
Then there's this. The new OL was in place as of the Chicago game. So it's 7 games with that line in place.
In the final 7 games, starting with Chicago, Goff was 180 of 271 for 66.4%.
In the first 9 games, he was 214 of 355 for 60.3%.
In the final 7, his TD% was 4%
In the first 9, his TD% was 3%
In the final 7, he was sacked on 2.2% of attempts.
In the first 9, he was sacked on 4.5% of attempts.
....
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2020 04:36AM by zn.
