Wagoner: a look at both the defense and the offense

Rams’ offense exactly what was expected, and that’s not good enough

Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra…y-what-was-expected-and-thats-not-good-enough

GREEN BAY, Wis. — A small survey of the St. Louis Rams locker room after yet another loss in which the offense failed to provide support for a playoff-ready defense revealed plenty of confidence that the offense will improve.

That’s to be expected, especially after Todd Gurley rushed for 159 yards.

What’s alarming were the qualifiers attached to those beliefs.

“Things are going to take a little bit of time,” tight end Lance Kendricks said Sunday after a 24-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers. “It’s a great time for us to have the bye week to calm down and get everything together. I think we’ll be all right.”

“We’re real close,” left tackle Greg Robinson said. “We’ll just keep chipping and fix those little things. I feel like eventually we will be where we want to be.”

Take a little bit of time.

Eventually.

Great. But by the time the Rams (2-3) put all the pieces together on offense, it could be too late to keep this from becoming yet another lost season under fourth-year coach Jeff Fisher.

It was Fisher who finally committed this offseason to the ground-based ethos he developed in Tennessee. He used the draft to rebuild the offensive line and select a dynamic running back, Gurley, who was coming off a torn ACL.

That it’s taking time for such young group to come together is no surprise. It was to be expected, in fact. And it’s a situation Fisher created by waiting so long to build an offensive identity — never mind that the one he chosen skews far from what’s working elsewhere in the pass-first NFL.

In three of their five games, the Rams scored 10 points or fewer. They lost all three. Their scoring troubles are the result of myriad, though not hard to predict, problems from week to week.

In the first three weeks, they had no running game. Gurley fixed that by rushing for 305 yards over the next two games. Then the offensive line’s pass-protection issues became conspicuous.

The Rams gave up three sacks Sunday, and the protection problems kept quarterback Nick Foles from getting comfortable, which brought about a whole new problem: turnovers. Entering the game, the Rams had just four. They matched that total Sunday as Foles threw four interceptions.

“In those situations, I have got to step up and make a play or get the ball out,” Foles said. “If it’s not there, it’s sometimes good just to get it away and don’t put the ball in harm’s way.”

The Packers pressured Foles on 44 percent of his dropbacks Sunday. Foles, who has been inconsistent in the face of pressure this season, was 1-of-11 with no touchdowns and two interceptions against Green Bay pressure. His other two interceptions came in the red zone, where Foles had thrown just two interceptions in his previous 107 career attempts.

On a day when the Rams offense sustained drives and even managed to win time of possession by more than six minutes, those turnovers canceled out the good work they were doing in the running game. The wide receivers again struggled to gain separation or, you know, catch the ball on a regular basis. Stedman Bailey’s 68-yard catch in the waning moments was the only thing keeping running back Benny Cunningham and safety Cody Davis from leading the team in receiving yards.

Despite all those issues, Rams defenders continue to voice support that the offense will be able to put it all together.

“I still feel good about our offense,” end William Hayes said. “I know as crazy as that sounds, I feel like when we come back from the bye, we are going to go on this run.

“At the end of the day, I see a bigger picture. I’m not just looking at the moment. I know six, seven games from now you will come back to me and say, ‘You know what, William? You were right with what you said.’ As frustrating as it is right now, I know deep in my heart things are going to turn themselves around.”

In six or seven weeks, won’t it be too late?

“No, it won’t be too late,” Hayes said. “We’ll be fine. I’m not saying that just to say it. I really feel this team is something special, and we’re going to surprise the world eventually.”

There’s that word again.