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The Los Angeles Rams barely came away with a victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3. Despite pulling together a win, there are quite a few things the Rams need to work on. Here are my five observations of the game:
Case Keenum still remains a concern
Keenum finished with 190 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. These types of performances won’t win every game. The Buccaneers have a mediocre secondary, and evidence of that was when Keenum was able to float the ball to Brian Quick and Tavon Austin for touchdown passes. The Rams need to be able to throw the ball downfield, and should really consider starting either Sean Manion or rookie Jared Goff in the upcoming weeks.
I’ve been hard on offensive coordinator Rob Boras’s play calling, but he mixed up the play calling and it helped tremendously. True, the play calling wasn’t as diversified as I’d like it to be, but it was progress nonetheless and helped Keenum some too.
Wide receivers need to master the basics
There are still too many dropped passes. This offense is way too talented to have drives end due to dropping the football. The past two games Kenny Britt had a strong performance, however, his fumble cannot be overlooked, especially since the Bucs scored off the turnover. What was also apparent was that the receivers were not fighting for the football in coverage and gave up easily once they were locked down by a defender. Keenum may not be the perfect quarterback, but the receivers have to help him out by getting open, catching the football and attacking the ball. It was nice to see Quick with a receiving touchdown though, hopefully this is his wake up call.
Depleted defensive line still performs well
The defensive line didn’t penetrate the line of scrimmage as well as the first two games, but there were a few reasons for that. Defensive end William Hayes and defensive tackle Michael Brockers were limited due to injuries. Backup defensive end Eugene Sims was ejected from the game early due to an unsportsman like conduct penalty. Even with all of the missing pieces, the defensive line still managed to disrupt the Bucs’ offense. DE Robert Quinn, DT Aaron Donald and DE Ethan Westbrooks may have saved the game for the Rams.
Secondary provides too much of a cushion
When Jameis Winston can throw up a chuck-and-pray, and still manage to find the end zone twice, there’s a problem. If you go back and look at the film, whenever the Bucs were driving, they weren’t doing anything special. All they did were dump off passes, and it worked every time because the secondary provided 5 to 7-yard cushions. Each time resulted in a first down. One of the biggest issues is how the defensive scheme overall is formed. The secondary will need to be a lot more aggressive moving forward. The secondary can’t do that to elite wide receivers like the upcoming game against Larry Fitzgerald; we will make the Rams pay.
Turnovers and delay saved the Rams
Don’t me wrong, I’m happy the Rams earned the win and are 2-1 entering Week 4, but the Rams could have easily been 0-3 with the way they played all three games. They have yet to convincingly win a game, and if it weren’t for the turnovers and possibly the weather delay, there is a real possibility that the Rams lose this game. The Bucs did a solid job in the last few drives, and they picked apart the Rams’ secondary. I believe that the delay disrupted their rhythm, and the Rams should be thanking mother nature.
You can follow Johnny Gomez on Twitter @Johnny5not6. Be sure to follow Rams Talk on Twitter @TalkRams.
2016, Aaron Donald, Brian Quick, Case Keenum, Ethan Westbrooks, Eugene Sims, featured, Jared Goff, Kenny Britt, Los Angeles Rams, Michael Brockers, NFL, Robert Quinn, Sean Mannion, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tavon Austin, Week 3, William Hayes
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The Los Angeles Rams barely came away with a victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3. Despite pulling together a win, there are quite a few things the Rams need to work on. Here are my five observations of the game:
Case Keenum still remains a concern
Keenum finished with 190 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. These types of performances won’t win every game. The Buccaneers have a mediocre secondary, and evidence of that was when Keenum was able to float the ball to Brian Quick and Tavon Austin for touchdown passes. The Rams need to be able to throw the ball downfield, and should really consider starting either Sean Manion or rookie Jared Goff in the upcoming weeks.
I’ve been hard on offensive coordinator Rob Boras’s play calling, but he mixed up the play calling and it helped tremendously. True, the play calling wasn’t as diversified as I’d like it to be, but it was progress nonetheless and helped Keenum some too.
Wide receivers need to master the basics
There are still too many dropped passes. This offense is way too talented to have drives end due to dropping the football. The past two games Kenny Britt had a strong performance, however, his fumble cannot be overlooked, especially since the Bucs scored off the turnover. What was also apparent was that the receivers were not fighting for the football in coverage and gave up easily once they were locked down by a defender. Keenum may not be the perfect quarterback, but the receivers have to help him out by getting open, catching the football and attacking the ball. It was nice to see Quick with a receiving touchdown though, hopefully this is his wake up call.
Depleted defensive line still performs well
The defensive line didn’t penetrate the line of scrimmage as well as the first two games, but there were a few reasons for that. Defensive end William Hayes and defensive tackle Michael Brockers were limited due to injuries. Backup defensive end Eugene Sims was ejected from the game early due to an unsportsman like conduct penalty. Even with all of the missing pieces, the defensive line still managed to disrupt the Bucs’ offense. DE Robert Quinn, DT Aaron Donald and DE Ethan Westbrooks may have saved the game for the Rams.
Secondary provides too much of a cushion
When Jameis Winston can throw up a chuck-and-pray, and still manage to find the end zone twice, there’s a problem. If you go back and look at the film, whenever the Bucs were driving, they weren’t doing anything special. All they did were dump off passes, and it worked every time because the secondary provided 5 to 7-yard cushions. Each time resulted in a first down. One of the biggest issues is how the defensive scheme overall is formed. The secondary will need to be a lot more aggressive moving forward. The secondary can’t do that to elite wide receivers like the upcoming game against Larry Fitzgerald; we will make the Rams pay.
Turnovers and delay saved the Rams
Don’t me wrong, I’m happy the Rams earned the win and are 2-1 entering Week 4, but the Rams could have easily been 0-3 with the way they played all three games. They have yet to convincingly win a game, and if it weren’t for the turnovers and possibly the weather delay, there is a real possibility that the Rams lose this game. The Bucs did a solid job in the last few drives, and they picked apart the Rams’ secondary. I believe that the delay disrupted their rhythm, and the Rams should be thanking mother nature.
You can follow Johnny Gomez on Twitter @Johnny5not6. Be sure to follow Rams Talk on Twitter @TalkRams.
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