I think they're similar in that, both have the ability to accelerate through the hole and the Pats had zero answer for it the guys were shocked. They're also similar in their strength for their size, you're not gonna get Akers down easy and Zeke's the same way. Where I think Akers has to keep improving is his vision, that's where he's not in Zeke's class just yet. He actually missed a coupleby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
Nice post Bum. Re: Goff it looks like this offense is positioned to be a power play action attack. Which has a great track record in the playoffs when it is paired with a strong defense. We have seen QBs like Dilfer, Simms, (younger) Manning, etc who are not special in any way win it all with the defense and ground game. Goff is better than those guys IMO as a passer, but the key this yearby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
And the reason for that is the Rams have dropoff after their top two wideouts. So being productive running the ball out of those sets gives them the best efficiency with the wideouts they have on the field. And from there the Rams' TEs who are more the balanced type in blocking/receiving than the pure passing game type can be more efficient because both are good in run blocking but can alsoby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
Leroy big fan like so many others here. Thanks for so many good memories in horns. Curious what your take is on our current secondary, we know they're playing very well but I am sure you have looked at them and have some insight and stories of interacting with these guys. Thank you in advance!by merlin - Leroy Irvin Chat
Yeah so many of those yards were on him. He's so sudden when he plants his foot and way stronger than he looks. Contact balance, toughness, and burst. This is what we've been missing in this offense. What we haven't had since Gurley's knee started failing. Jets can stop the run now. So a tough matchup coming. But I like the way this backfield is starting to finally gel as we get into thaby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
I think both Woody and Kupp are high end possession wideouts. But they're possession type wideouts i.e. not the type of guys you need to get early in a draft. The good thing is that in this league it's not really about having a guy who can 50/50 an elite corner one on one. It's about having a third weapon and if you're lucky a fourth that drives matchups in your favor. GSoT is a great exampby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
Form is important in tackling. Lower back straight and head across the bow! Going in half cocked is a good way to receive a hit lol.by merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
First off our defense is excellent. That's important to the 2020 Rams' chances, absolutely critical, because the offense has limits due to weaknesses in personnel. We'll be in every game in the playoffs because of that unit. From there it's going to be about balance on offense primarily. Teams are going to be able to take things away because of those limits due to personnel. We don't haveby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
Reich does a nice job and knows him well from his Eagles days. IMO getting Wentz would be pretty huge for Indy.by merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
Rams jumped immediately into the top 3 in scoring in 2017 under McVay. Gurley had explosive plays from the backfield, Rams top 3 wideouts were a pick your poison situation for defenses and could roast whichever unfortunate CB3 was out there that day. Continued in 2018 with McVay's best offense to date and a Super Bowl appearance. Dipped to 10th in 2019 due to OL, RB, and WR injuries. Noteby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
There was a period some games back where Hollins was covering wheel routes in certain looks, which I thought was nuts. He got burned on one of them too and got a lot of flak by some fans but the fact he was actually with the guy (think it was the bears' TE if memory serves) was impressive to me. He's pretty athletic especially for his size. Really like his contain though, I think that's hisby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
I mean we do a lot of speculation as fans right? :thumbsupby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
We know what this offense is with him as the WR3. It's not good. Jefferson is better at separating and represents at least a potential for improvement. How much improvement is arguable but the bottom line is that McVay is finally giving in to what the film is telling him. I know Yarbs and the staff loves JRey but he's not a difference maker. It's there on the film and the film doesn't lie.by merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
And chasing tail on trips. Guys just not being mentally locked in, or even worse hung over the next day at kickoff. Teams never let us know about this stuff, well outside of Fish having guys run the stadium stairs once that I can recall lol. This is why McVay's approach works so well with his away record too. He brings in guys who buy in to the program, who are smart and grounded. Which liby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
Wade didn't have the guys he needed to field a top defense. If he did, as he has shown, the production would have been there. But his age was a problem too so do you want to restack things for a DC who might punch out at any time to retirement? The other problem was that McVay wanted a more varied approach, instead of "this is what we play beat it." Both approaches are valid, andby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
I'd like to see a heavy dose of duo and power concepts early on instead of zone. Our biggest issues running the ball of late have been penetration in the zone scheme, guys probably getting confused on assignments and the Patriots will do like the 9ers and cause difficult blocks, reaches and whatnot with their alignment they are very detailed. Rams actually do a good job when they run the powerby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
We are primarily a quarters zone unit that disguises and mixes in man with some varied looks to great effect with strong corners. And the 3-4 means you have two ILBs splitting the field on run downs (vs requiring a MLB to cover the entire area) so you can get away with the bigger types who would get exposed running with TEs and RBs let alone the WRs in certain looks. Their job is to get good drby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
I know. And the whole thing smelled fishy to me and still does. IMO he went with his new Special Teams Coach's decision, as he should since the guy was a new hire and all. There is no way Bonamego wasn't all over that call. As well as the drafting of a hobbit to kick for us who couldn't clear the DL with his trajectory and didn't have enough leg to change the trajectory because then he woby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
Is that the bootleg is a surprise type play that can be blown up by an edge who is ready for it. It's designed to make a DE stop crashing down to support the interior run defense and when they're pinning their ears back but if you overuse it the dimished returns start. And when an edge blows it up it can be very dangerous, with more room for fumbles, tipped passes, etc.by merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
I really liked not only what he did with the 20+ carries, but also what it did for Hendy who looked great in that change of pace role. We saw the future of this offense today IMO. New England is going to be tough but after that I think this run game will continue to pick up steam and should be in good shape going into the playoffs.by merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
I mean a few weeks back before Patrick was cut he was the guy who clearly loafed (to my eye at least) on the TD return. He made his way back and tonight had a big penalty. The blocking on opposing gunners has been terrible too, Long is one of the worst I've seen at that and he keeps getting trotted out there to do it. So it's a combination of the two. But the thing with Bonamego is theby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
And I think it's warranted. I'm with you man. Our special teams have been a catastrophe all season long. I can't believe we lucked into a kicker in fact, that Bonamego didn't find a way to go with MacGinnis instead. The guy is terrible. You fire him and promote the understudy. Or make a midseason grab of a guy from college ranks. Or get permission or trade for an understudy asst type froby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
They're not gonna run it up on us with their offense barring an uncharacteristically poor game from a motivated and quality Rams defense. Key is not giving them short fields and momentum. If it's not there throw it away punt when you need to and wait them out like they always have done to other teams. Belichick eats young QBs. So this is a QB GAME that we're going to see on Thursday. Goffby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
Which I doubt because they probably won't make it, but if we do I think we will beat them. Rams kind of choked that last one away IMO, and they're a better team with more room for error. Call me crazy but I like us in a third matchup. SF just plays their Super Bowl game vs us. Like we used to vs Seattle when we weren't in their class. Also our weakness is teams that are very strong up fronby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
Zona doesn't look ready to play with the big boys, even vs a flawed Rams team today they got thumped worse than that score indicated. This sets up that next Seattle game as what should be the deciding factor for the division. Not that I care all that much. Just getting in is what matters of course. But it would be nice to see us take the division by running all over the Seahawks and chokingby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
Expected a good run game today vs that lesser front but how nice is it to see Akers & Hendy showing us the future in this one. Bright days ahead dudes especially once we get Big Whit back. Now let's try to get past New England, gonna be a tough one.by merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
I'll be surprised if we see an old school matchup between those two. I think we'll see basic quarters with safety help and focus to keep Hopkins contained. Rams sort of needed a guy on an island when Rapp was back there for Fuller also, as the man assignment was generally on Rapp's side to simplify his reads. But with Fuller back they can get back to doing their thing in quarters which willby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
Quotedzrams Quotemerlin They probably have things they expect Jefferson, Akers, etc to know and have down cold. And they don't yet. Reynolds is a big dropoff from Cooks and it's part of that equation re: why we're seeing a low performing offense vs previous seasons. Rams never replaced Gurley and that's another reason. It's players. By next year (well hopefully down this season's stretchby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
We were looking at a grueling sched of games without our rook safety. A couple losses from that perspective weren't going to surprise me. And that's what we got. We just got the losses in different games than expected. Now the sched turns favorably for us in terms of teams who have the power trench type rosters that give us probs being behind us. The Rams still need to capitalize but the oby merlin - RamsFootballFans.com
And everything will feed off of that. By early next week there will be a lot of love and fluff going on about how McVay figured things out or how Goff bounced back and all this usual and typical stuff to maybe even include some craziness about Akers. And looking at the schedule this should continue through every game except for New England who is varied and will likely shut our run game down.by merlin - RamsFootballFans.com