This is a posted response to Jourdan's article after the last lost to the Cardinals.
I think the man makes some solid points, and adds color to the deplorable situation
Here's Jonathan H.
To me what we are seeing is not the deteriorating of a great team into a terrible team. We are seeing the teetering of a team that has leveraged its roster for high risk / high reward. Here’s how it seems to me:
1. Rams had no real backup plan for Von Miller leaving, which left them scrambling. They seemed genuinely shocked they didn’t sign him. And I get he gave them assurances, but they seemed caught out there.
2. The time pressure, plus the need to make a splash, probably caused them to rush the ARob decision. But at the time, the assumption is he will bring what OBJ did in the red zone, which was the glaring weakness.
3. ARob makes Woods an albatross from a salary cap perspective, so they practically give him away to get him off the books. Didn’t factor enough how much he was the soul of the offense. Just look at how players reacted to/with him after the Super Bowl. Read Kupp’s comments. Talent wise, ARob was probably the better long term play, but the drop off in leadership intangibles was not factored highly enough into the equation.
4. Team presumes it can enter the year with a glaring need (EDGE) and address it via trade mid season. Another miscalculation.
5. Wagner is signed (and he has been great on many levels), but it locks the Rams into a style change where they cover underneath and tackle style of defense that, while effective in reducing explosives, doesn’t generate many explosives of its own. See the lack of turnovers, long drives. This doesn’t complement well with the offense IMO with a tempo style offense and a QB who becomes elite as he gets into a rhythm.
6. As for the Draft, Rams are probably behind in scouting with SB run, so they lean into their mode of batching selections for positions (in this case DBs). This usually presents a hit or two in later rounds, but doesn’t address needs in a balanced manner. Meaning the guys they’ve been prepping to step up eventually, I.e. Evans, Long, Burgess, Harris, Hopkins, etc have no one behind them if they don’t materialize into their mid-level draft status.
7. McVay and Donald flirt with retirement and it’s hanging over the team. This is an added layer of pressure.
8. By being the champs they get everyone’s best punch, and they didn’t seem ready to meet that.
9. Injuries totally destabilize the offense, and now eventually the team.
McVay is a great coach, and a great communicator, and he seems to genuinely try to do right by his players and coaches. But this coaching staff and roster watched a lot of leadership walk out the door.
And they were never in position to add depth this year. This was the year they hoped their depth showed itself reliable. This is more than bad playcalls. It’s a delicate ecosystem thrown out of balance and one head coach or play caller can’t magically make that disappear with a few tweaks or speeches or benchings.
[
theathletic.com]
