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October 27, 2015 at 11:05 pm #33105
znModeratorSpeeding up helped Rams offense but isn’t long-term solution
Nick Wagoner
EARTH CITY, Mo. — In search of a solution for an offense that is 31st in the NFL in time of possession, last in first downs per game and last in snaps played, the St. Louis Rams took an interesting approach in the third quarter of Sunday’s 24-6 win against the Cleveland Browns.
For the first time this season, the Rams turned up the tempo in hopes of finding some much-needed offensive traction. That’s right, as counterproductive as it sounds given the stats above, an offense that has struggled mightily to sustain drives decided that going faster could actually be the right move.
And the crazy part is, to some extent, it worked.
“We sped the tempo up just a little bit in the second half and that helped us a little bit,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “Nick (Foles) was good with that. That doesn’t mean we’re going to do it this week, but it was a good adjustment as far as most of the third quarter was concerned.”
Throughout the first 30 minutes of the contest, the Rams offense posted 108 yards, five first downs and did not convert any of its five third-down tries. Included in those numbers was a complete first-quarter failure in which the offense had no first downs and had a net of 3 yards with a total time of possession of 3:26 on two series.
Despite leading 10-3 at the half, Fisher and the Rams went into the locker room frustrated by another slow offensive start and worried about wasting another dominant defensive performance. As they discussed the options, going to a no-huddle look that Cleveland hadn’t seen on tape emerged as an intriguing one.
Before Sunday, the Rams hadn’t done that much in games so the Browns didn’t have a chance to prepare for it. Not only does the no-huddle not line up with the Rams’ run-first philosophy, but Foles hadn’t been in the system long enough to make the calls at the line and handle in-game adjustments. But with a spark needed, Fisher turned it over to Foles in that third quarter.
“Yeah, the adjustments were good,” Fisher said. “He got together with the offense and said, ‘These are the things we’re going to do. Let’s go do it.’ He did it. So, yeah it’s good. I mean, we work on it. It’s a two-minute offense. We work on it in practice.”
As it turned out, the added tempo was just what the Rams needed. When they switched to it in the third quarter, they promptly put together their best drives of the day, finishing with 125 yards, seven first downs and scoring their first offensive touchdown of the game. In the first, second and fourth quarters, the Rams averaged 40.2 seconds between plays. In the third quarter, that number dropped to 36.8.
Cleveland had the ball for nearly double the amount of time, tilting the overall time of possession in the Browns’ favor, but at least the Rams offense finally started to produce.
“It’s just a way to try to show them something a little different,” Foles said. “Just try to go fast and put pressure on the defense and get some rhythm going. We were able to create some rhythm throughout our offense and create some big plays.”
Moving forward, it’s a nice option to have in the holster, but Fisher would be the first to acknowledge that it’s not something the Rams can keep doing within the context of their offensive philosophy. The Rams defense already has spent plenty of time on the field this year and going to no-huddle looks on a consistent basis would only open the possibility of even shorter drives on the occasions it doesn’t work.
Asked if the no-huddle approach would become a staple of the offense, Fisher couldn’t help but laugh.
“Probably never ever see it again,” Fisher said, chuckling.
Clearly, Fisher was being sarcastic but it’s also a safe bet that the Rams won’t be doing it on a regular basis.
October 28, 2015 at 8:58 am #33122znModeratorPractice Report 10/27: Gurley, Offense Looking for Faster Start
Myles Simmons
As the accolades and nominations for Todd Gurley keep rolling in — he’s once again nominated to be the Pepsi Rookie of the Week — the running back said the focus this week is to get the offense in a rhythm earlier in games.
“The biggest thing is to get rolling faster,” Gurley said after Tuesday’s practice. “If we can get things picking up a lot faster from the first play, we’d love that. But things don’t always work out as planned.”
From a schematic standpoint, Gurley said many of the early issues stem from the Rams not executing properly. It’s not necessarily that the opposition has been showing something different than what the club expects.
“Every team is going to kind of play their game or their scheme against us,” Gurley said. “They’re going to ‘do them’ regardless.”
What is encouraging, though, is that the Rams have been able to make offensive adjustments in the second half. They’ve outscored their opponents 38-16 in the third quarter, and Gurley leads all running backs with 213 yards rushing in the fourth quarter.
“That’s definitely a big thing,” Gurley said. “When we come in at halftime and make those adjustments, it’s all about execution. It’s not like the stuff we’re calling in the first half isn’t working, we just have to execute. We have to go out there and run the plays correctly like coach called them.”
Gurley also said he can see that part of the Rams’ second-half strength comes from wearing down the defense over the course of the game.
“That’s a part of football,” Gurley said. “Guys going hard on play 1 and a guy isn’t going to be going as fast on play 60. It’s just a part of the game and that mental toughness. With us, we want to keep pounding the rock or going at them with tempo and finish them.”
“[We’re] trying to wear teams down and hopefully we will keep doing that throughout the year,” Gurley added. “It’s all about mental toughness in the fourth quarter.”
And it’s certainly noticeable when a defense starts to wear down. On Gurley’s second touchdown run late in Sunday’s victory, the running back broke through the arms of three Cleveland defenders on his way to the end zone.
“No running back wants to go down or get tackled by one guy — even though it’s the NFL and guys on the field are as good as you,” Gurley said. “But what’s the point of being a running back if you can’t break a tackle, you know?”
ROSTER MOVES
The Rams made a few roster moves between Monday and Tuesday, one of which was placing linebacker Alec Ogletree on injured reserve with a designation to return.
“We feel like he’s got a shot, so we wanted to protect him,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “We waited a few weeks, just to protect the rest of the guys in the event that something went down. At this point, it’s important for us to do it from a timing standpoint.”
With the designation to return, Ogletree is eligible to practice six weeks from the date he was placed in IR. According to Fisher, that date was Oct. 26, which means he would be eligible to return to practice Dec. 7. Ogletree is then eligible to be placed back on the active roster two weeks from that date on Dec. 21. And so, in theory, the earliest Ogletree can return is the Week 16 contest against the Seahawks.
“We’re going to take a shot with him,” Fisher said. “It’s good for Alec, too, because it gives him hope and encouragement to come back.”
The Rams re-signed safety Christian Bryant, who had been waived on Oct. 23, and promoted defensive tackle Doug Worthington to the active roster.
Worthington has been with the club since mid-December last year, and is now receiving a chance to show what he can do on the active roster.
“My career has been that way with little ups and downs, but it’s the Rams organization who gave me a chance last year, which was awesome because I didn’t expect it,” Worthington said Tuesday. “This is the best defensive line in the NFL so I am very humbled and happy to be here.”
“Doug’s a big man. He can play the run. He’s stout. He’s smart,” Fisher said. “November, people start running the football. You look at our schedule down the road here starting with this week’s opponent, they’re going to run the ball. Doug’s a run-stopper. He’s a load inside and he’s smart.”
To make room on the 53-man roster, the Rams released linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar.
October 28, 2015 at 9:03 am #33123 -
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