Rams’ need to fix turnover deficit is one big takeaway from slow start

Rams’ need to fix turnover deficit is one big takeaway from slow start

link https://www.dailynews.com/2019/10/08/rams-need-to-fix-turnover-deficit-is-one-big-takeaway-from-slow-start/

THOUSAND OAKS — It was the first minute of the Rams’ game in Seattle last Thursday night. They’d pinned the Seahawks’ offense deep in its own end by stifling a run and drawing a holding penalty. After a scrambling Russell Wilson completed a pass to Jaron Brown at the left sideline, L.A.’s Nickell Robey-Coleman ripped the ball out of the receiver’s hands, and Marcus Peters picked it up on a bounce.

The forced fumble and recovery, cashed in with a field goal, boded well for the Rams because the coaches had been preaching the importance of creating more turnovers – “takeaways,” as Coach Sean McVay makes a point of calling them, emphasizing the role of aggressive defense and not just luck.

“I thought that was a great example by Robey, getting the takeaway the other night,” McVay said this week.

It turned out to be the Rams’ only takeaway in the game. Meanwhile, their own turnovers undid the Rams’ offense, with drives ending on a Todd Gurley fumble at the Seahawks’ 16-yard line and an interception of a Jared Goff pass that glanced off the hands of Gerald Everett in the dying minutes.

This is getting to be an old story in the young season, one big reason the Rams are 3-2 and losers of two in a row as they face the San Francisco 49ers (4-0) Sunday at the Coliseum.

The Rams have led each of their five opponents in total yards from scrimmage. But that edge hasn’t shown up on the scoreboard – in the desperately tight win over the Cleveland Browns and losses to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seahawks – because the Rams lost the turnover battles.

Their minus-four turnover margin is worse than all but four other teams. They’re tied for worst in the NFL in giveaways (seven interceptions, four fumbles) and rank in the middle of the league in takeaways (four interceptions, three fumbles). The mediocre takeaway total is actually more troubling because it’s such a comedown from 2018, when the Rams were among the league leaders in that category.

And right now the problem is worse than those numbers suggest, because the Rams have nine giveaways and only three takeaways in the past three weeks.

The upshot is that opponents’ offenses have been set up for a lot of short drives, eight of their 14 touchdown drives this season going 60 yards or less. The Rams’ offense has had to work much harder, nine of its 15 touchdown drives covering 75 yards or more.

(Some good news for the Rams on this front: Goff’s fumbling streak ended in Seattle. Before that, the quarterback had fumbled in 10 consecutive regular-season games.)

Turning around the turnover numbers won’t be easy against San Francisco. The 49ers’ rise this season has featured improvement to seventh in the league in turnover margin (from dead last in 2018), with Richard Sherman and K’Waun Williams picking off passes and DeForest Buckner forcing fumbles.

Peters, who had the Rams’ best takeaway moment of 2019 when the cornerback intercepted a Jameis Winston pass and ran 32 yards for a touchdown against Tampa Bay, said the key to creating more turnovers is, well, to just get back to playing all-around solid defense.

“Try not to press,” advised Peters, whose 23 career interceptions are the most among players who entered the league in 2015 or later. “Just everybody do their job, and let the plays fall into your hands, man.

“We’ve got enough great players on this defense that if we all just do our job, the plays will get made and we’ll get off the field and keep moving forward.”

The defense must play without linebacker Clay Matthews (broken jaw) for four to six weeks. That setback might be eased by the fact Samson Ebukam, who replaces Matthews in the starting lineup, has been a takeaway machine. Ebukam had a hand in a fumble or interception in seven of 12 games between last October and Week 1 this season.
Ebukam said aggressiveness is the key to creating more takeaways.

“Just gotta attack it more, honestly. That’s all we can do,” he said this week. “We’ve been turning the ball over not as much as we’d like to. We’ve got to keep working and keep practicing and I believe it’ll all pay off.”

The Rams do look good practicing it in individual drills.

“I think it’s got to be a commitment, it’s got to be something that we’re constantly preaching,” McVay said. “And I know we have the guys who are capable of doing it at a higher level.”

For more than one minute, ideally.