Couple of excerpts from Jourdan’s latest column…

Here’s Jourdan…

Was it an offense that finally played a clean game, after three consecutive turnover-laden losses; an offense that finally began clicking in the third quarter behind more diverse pass design (welcome back, play-action), quarterback Matthew Stafford maneuvering and manipulating and receiver Cooper Kupp springing loose for a long catch that set up a touchdown?

All of the above? A 37-7 win eases many ills, even though it came against a two-win Jacksonville team. The Rams will check this box however they can get it, and get the dreariness of a November slump well in their rearview mirrors.

And even in a should-win game, adjustments the Rams sorely needed to make were clear. They didn’t turn the ball over; they took it away twice on defense. They re-designed some of their run plan to feature Michel as a lead back, and re-tooled around his tenacity and physically powerful traits. Playing with an early lead, and with a run game that was, while not flashy or overly explosive, imposing and steady, they worked in a more diverse passing game that featured a healthier balance of play-action passes alongside the now-familiar dropback shots. Stafford was 26-of-38 for 295 yards and three touchdowns; Stafford was 7-of-9 for 128 yards and 0.74 expected points added (EPA) per play on play-action passes from under center and 3-of-3 for 45 yards on play-action passes out of the gun where he entered Sunday’s game averaging just about five play-action passes per game. The blend of concepts, added to a steady run game, was exactly what the Rams have craved.

Here’s the other excerpt…

Up 16-7 at the half, the Rams exploded for 21 second-half points before pulling starters about midway through the fourth quarter. Notably in the third and fourth quarters, they sustained touchdown drives of 10 plays and more than five minutes apiece.

After they pulled most of their offensive starters, the Rams went back into their “jumbo” sets which, as it struck me, might have in part been due to the fact that they don’t have an experienced two-deep should they have wanted to run 11 personnel sets. Whatever works, man, because those dudes loaded up like a long-haul semi-truck, with two tight ends and an extra lineman in the fourth quarter, and they sprang Michel loose for a 25-yard carry. It was his longest of the night and one that allowed him to eclipse the 100-yards single-game mark (the first time a Rams running back has done so this season).