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The Los Angeles Rams are a much more efficient passing team than a running team this season. Surely this sentence needs to be rephrased right? The Rams’ offensive line is built for the power running game and perfect for a running back like Todd Gurley. This is supposed to be his breakout year, so what’s the problem?
Let’s start with the obvious, the Rams’ passing game isn’t all that intimidating with quarterback Case Keenum leading the offense. Defenses have challenged Keenum to pass and he has done well at times, but he has also struggled. That was evident when he threw four interceptions recently against a mediocre New York Giants secondary. Since Keenum continuously floats the football, defenses will just stack the box.
Stacking the box has its obvious disadvantages, which is one of the reasons the Rams were victorious against the Cardinals in Week 4. Less players in coverage means more one-on-one situations, and sometimes even creates open receivers. Keenum was limiting the passes at the line of scrimmage for a little bit, but it seems he has reverted back to his old habits. However, diversifying passing options works wonders for the offensive scheme like it did in Week 6 against the Detroit Lions. With that in mind, why do the Rams continue to run the ball when the box is stacked with defenders?
This is where head coach Jeff Fisher, offensive coordinator Rob Boras and Keenum fail. There are ways around this, but the predictable playcalling is killing the offense and essentially eliminating the running game. To get around this strategy is simple: if the box is stacked, call an audible. The defense will be forced to either adjust, call a timeout or pay the consequence. It’s unfathomable that the the Rams have played seven games and have yet to adjust in-games to teams stacking the box. Until the Rams get more creative on the fly against stacked boxes, defenses will continue to eliminate the Rams’ running game, and Gurley will become more frustrated.
Plenty of blame has been placed on the offensive line, and while they haven’t been perfect, there isn’t much they can do when they are trying to block up to 10 defenders. The guards ideally should be pulling to create holes for Gurley, but they are forced to try and push back defenders. So there’s not much Gurley can do since he continues to run into a wall, and any yards he gains is just him making something out of nothing. The sad reality is that Gurley’s game has been figured out.
Now what can the Rams do to improve the running game? Call audibles and continue incorporating the running backs more in the passing game. Fisher and Boras finally began utilizing Gurley in the passing attack, and this needs to continue. Gurley has decent enough hands and has the ability to break tackles especially against the smaller corners. This will help out Keenum tremendously. Also, they shouldn’t be afraid to do the same with Benny Cunningham and Malcolm Brown. Cunningham did this quite frequently last year. Actually, utilizing Cunningham more would help change the pace of the game too.
Until the Rams stop being so predictable, we can expect the running game to remain a non-factor, which also means the Rams will have to rely on the passing attack. Since the passing attack isn’t the Rams’ strong suit, they will need to make a change at quarterback. Until Fisher stops being so stubborn, we can expect the same “7-9 bullsh–.”
You can follow Johnny Gomez on Twitter @Johnny5not6. Be sure to follow Rams Talk on Twitter @TalkRams.
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The Los Angeles Rams are a much more efficient passing team than a running team this season. Surely this sentence needs to be rephrased right? The Rams’ offensive line is built for the power running game and perfect for a running back like Todd Gurley. This is supposed to be his breakout year, so what’s the problem?
Let’s start with the obvious, the Rams’ passing game isn’t all that intimidating with quarterback Case Keenum leading the offense. Defenses have challenged Keenum to pass and he has done well at times, but he has also struggled. That was evident when he threw four interceptions recently against a mediocre New York Giants secondary. Since Keenum continuously floats the football, defenses will just stack the box.
Stacking the box has its obvious disadvantages, which is one of the reasons the Rams were victorious against the Cardinals in Week 4. Less players in coverage means more one-on-one situations, and sometimes even creates open receivers. Keenum was limiting the passes at the line of scrimmage for a little bit, but it seems he has reverted back to his old habits. However, diversifying passing options works wonders for the offensive scheme like it did in Week 6 against the Detroit Lions. With that in mind, why do the Rams continue to run the ball when the box is stacked with defenders?
This is where head coach Jeff Fisher, offensive coordinator Rob Boras and Keenum fail. There are ways around this, but the predictable playcalling is killing the offense and essentially eliminating the running game. To get around this strategy is simple: if the box is stacked, call an audible. The defense will be forced to either adjust, call a timeout or pay the consequence. It’s unfathomable that the the Rams have played seven games and have yet to adjust in-games to teams stacking the box. Until the Rams get more creative on the fly against stacked boxes, defenses will continue to eliminate the Rams’ running game, and Gurley will become more frustrated.
Plenty of blame has been placed on the offensive line, and while they haven’t been perfect, there isn’t much they can do when they are trying to block up to 10 defenders. The guards ideally should be pulling to create holes for Gurley, but they are forced to try and push back defenders. So there’s not much Gurley can do since he continues to run into a wall, and any yards he gains is just him making something out of nothing. The sad reality is that Gurley’s game has been figured out.
Now what can the Rams do to improve the running game? Call audibles and continue incorporating the running backs more in the passing game. Fisher and Boras finally began utilizing Gurley in the passing attack, and this needs to continue. Gurley has decent enough hands and has the ability to break tackles especially against the smaller corners. This will help out Keenum tremendously. Also, they shouldn’t be afraid to do the same with Benny Cunningham and Malcolm Brown. Cunningham did this quite frequently last year. Actually, utilizing Cunningham more would help change the pace of the game too.
Until the Rams stop being so predictable, we can expect the running game to remain a non-factor, which also means the Rams will have to rely on the passing attack. Since the passing attack isn’t the Rams’ strong suit, they will need to make a change at quarterback. Until Fisher stops being so stubborn, we can expect the same “7-9 bullsh–.”
You can follow Johnny Gomez on Twitter @Johnny5not6. Be sure to follow Rams Talk on Twitter @TalkRams.
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