from around the net: on the GB game (7)

alyoshamucci

Before I jump in, I’m going to say that the Packers passing game is likely one of 5 or 6 in the NFL this year that are going to have record breaking success (Saints, Colts, Broncos, Pats, Lions, maybe even the Cardinals). So getting eaten up by a HOFer is going to happen a bit. Also, with No Laurenaitis the defense gets a decent sized pass.

The Good

1) Sam passed my eye test. He missed on the ball to Britt down the sideline and he hit Austin to early on the slant, but besides that his footwork and balance looked just fine. Im thinking that because he was outside the pocket during the injury, he is not having the “inside the pocket jitters” that many QBs coming back from an ACL have.

2) Mo Alexander made a SERIOUS Impression on me. The only reason I didn’t put this first is because Sam’s health and poise is more vital to the team. He has some serious length, and can cover a TON of ground in a hurry. He’s always moving faster than I expect, and his angles were surprising to me a number of times. I’m REALLY happy with that pick. I have him with a higher upside than TJ, by a lot. Im really excited. My next jersey looks like Donald or Mo.

3) The young CBs are playing really professionally. All the CBs are tackling well and in position. I was pretty frustrated during the game, because there were two penalties not called on those dinky WR short screens. Jordy pushed Mcgee down from behind as he was breaking down to make a tackle, and he held Trumaine as he was coming around to bust up another play. Roberson whiffed on that one tackle, wow, but everything else he is doing is living up to his potential as a high end draft pick. He really has a good instinct for when the ball is coming and making his break. At UF they really didn’t throw at him because of that. McGee looked smooth. Greg Reid showed up on time over and again for key stops. Gaines was out, and so was Woodard. Gotta be 10 DBs . . . maybe we’ll get lucky and be able to stash Reid on the PS.

4) Stedman was open early, often, and deep. That is excellent for the future of our passing game.

5) Britt was heads up, looked like a Vet out there on the scramble drill for the first down near the goal line.

6) Our TEs are special. Jared Cook made a great play on that 3rd down ball. Kendricks did the same on the TD. They look like they get that they’re a special GROUP, and are taking pride in their roles. That’s a guess on my part, but that’s what their play is suggesting.

7) Sims and Westbrooks. Seriously? They destroyed an entire series. Sims is still tapping upside, and Westbrooks looked to have gotten used to the speed of the NFL in one game. Sims outside move is much improved. Westbrooks has MUCH MORE Strength than a rookie UDFA should have. It’s functional. he’s gotta make the team from what Ive seen, which puts Sam pretty safely on the PS.

8) Ray ray played more within himself, settled down. And MAN is he fast.

9) Garret Gilbert has thrown some really nice balls, and seems to get really good when he’s comfortable in the play design.

10) Barksdale is really playing well. Like, we may have to sign him long term.

11) I like Austin Franklin a lot. He may take Givens’ spot. He has GREAT FEET (which is one of my big values) and is really smart. On one play, Bayer caught the ball behind him, and turning and seeing it he had the wherewithall to identify who had the ball, what he could do, flip his entire body, and locate a defender to block. He did that in a half second. Impressive.

12) How many safeties can we keep? Goodness. Cody Davis played lights out. And Avery Cunningham flashed at the end of the game. Wowzers.

The Bad

13) Run defense. I am hesitant to knock it without Brockers JL in . . . but they are not getting to where they need to be. They are getting pinned, caught in trash, and getting targeted on the 2nd level. Langford looked slow. Carrington has not flashed for me in two games.

14) Run blocking. Wells looked out of it. GRob is not good enough outside yet. Person is not good enough to be a starter. It was noticeably better once GRob moved inside. So, yeah. Not so good. No one was getting their targets on the second level. If we’re gonna be a running team, this is not how we should look, even in preseason.

15) Givens didn’t give the necessary effort to draw a PI on the short ball, and that was my issue with him last year. Lack of potency. I don;t think he’s done enough to make the team this year. and I wouldnt be surprised if he doesnt.

16) Emory Blake. Cannot drop passes son.

17) Mason can’t block well enough.

=====

aeneas1

in the first two series vs the pack, with sam under center and zac in the backfield, the rams ran the ball out of 3 wr sets almost 70% of the time, a big departure from what made their running game successful last season after game four. in fact their running attack for the first two series last saturday looked a lot more like games 1-4 of the 2013 season (single back and a bunch of receivers) than it it did in games 5-16. altho zac was a breath of fresh air last year, it was the rams commitment to beefing up run blocking after game four that made the difference, they sat cook often and employed double tight ends and/or a fullback while cutting wr count from 3 to 2, even 1 at times – in short the rams stole a page from the niners playbook last season. anyway, i’m mentioning this because what we saw from the running game in the first two series vs the pack, with our semi a-team in, is probably not what we’re going to see when the season starts.

all told, the rams have run the ball out of 2 wr sets 55% of the time through two preseason games, which is not as much as they did after game 4 last year, but it’s still quite a bit. against the saints the rams averaged 5.1 per carry out of 2 wr sets, and just 2.5 out of 3 wr sets – but the 2.5 average was actually inflated because the two nice runs out of the 3 wr sets were on 3rd and infinity, with the saints lbs playing 10 yards off the los, and both runs were well short of a first. against the pack the disparity wasn’t as large, the rams averaged 3.3 yards per carry out of 2 wr sets, and the same lowly 2.5 average out of 3 wr sets. more beef works.

fwiw: a) against the pack the rams ran out of a 1 wr set 30% of the time with mixed results, they didn’t show this look vs the saints. b) through two preseason games rams rbs have been dropped for a loss on 28% of their carries out of 3 wr sets, compared to just 6% out of 2 (or less) wr sets. c) so much trapping, pulling and busy work going on when the rams run the ball, which is typical of man/power schemes, but at times ya wish the guys would just put a hat on the guy in front them and drive their arse into the stands, it’s really no surprise that running plays often look like a cluster f##$ during preseason with all of the newbie olinemen trying to figure out their blocking assignments and pull/trap timing

=====

Speed_Kills

While charting Bradford on those 1st two drives the Rams lined up in multiple formations and I would say more often than not they were in 3 and 4 WR sets. I am not certain if they ran often out of these I would have to go back and check but if so … they had issues just like last year

Now the Rams did not have the oline that will have when the season starts so there’s that… but in terms of the formation I have to admit I was a little surprised. They were not basic at all

Austin lined up several times outside as did Cook. Sometimes the 4WR set actually had the Cook and Kendrick’s. One 3 wide set had Britt, Austin in slot, and Quick… with Cook as the TE. I believe this was the formation of the deep one Sam missed. The Packers were a mess on that play LMBO!!!

Guys… the Rams seriously might be on to something

=====

Safer

The Bad:

1) Was really disappointed in how poorly we played the run again today. Really looked bad.

2) Aaron Rodgers ripped us pretty good. We didn’t put heat on him, but the guy is one of the elite QB’s.

3) Our O line run blocking today was very poor. Hope to God it’s because Jake, and Rodger were out. Person is a better back up OT than OG. He is too lean to play in the middle and got shoved around. Most of the subs looked very weak.

4) Trey Mason needs some serious work on pass pro. Cunningham has to be our #2 TB.

5) Aaron Donald looked very average today. I noticed he played a bunch of the 2nd half too. I think Fish is getting him in shape to use primarily as a pass rusher to start with. Vs. double teams he was ok, but they ran at him.

6) QB Gilbert had his moments.

The Good:

1) Sam looked pretty damn good except for not hitting a wide open Britt.

2) Mr Quick is arriving. He could have had two TD’s today. Made a great catch over the middle.

3) Westbrooks is a player. He played well at both D/E and DT. He is very much in the mold of William Hayes–this kid can play.

4) G Rob got beat twice today at OT. Matthews got him once and then julius Peppers. In a real game I don’t think we leave him alone like that on those guys. he actually didn’t do too badly at OT.. at OG he just mauled a couple of guys and got one bogus holding call. He IS a tough guy.

5) Joyner looked pretty good in coverage, but got beat by Cobb across the middle. I thought he played Cobb pretty tight in space.

6) I thought our play calling was better and we threw a bunch of play action passes. We just didn’t protect our QB’s very well–but our receivers were getting open.

I’m hoping our next game will include Rodger, Jake, James and Brockers to get a much better look at how physical we really can be.

=====

CoachO

Michael Sam has the ability to drop hips, and turn the corner, like few DEs can. That isn’t about weight. That’s balance, and techinque. HE can get underneath most Tackles, and if he can keep them from getting their hands on him, he wins more than he loses. Ethan Westbrooks plays much more upright, and uses quickness as his biggest weapon. In much the same way Aaron Donald can be so effective as an inside rusher, Westbrooks uses his quickness off the ball. Its not about strength with him either. It’s also that “quickness” that leads to the high number of off sides penalties. Fortunately, it hasn’t shown up in the TWO PS games yet, but it has in practice.

I think there’s a better chance neither of them make it than BOTH making it. It all depends on what they end up thinking of Conrath and Carrington.

The other variable in this entire scenario, is the health of Wm. Hayes. Not much has been said about him, but he hasn’t taken anything than more than token reps even this late into training camp. While it might be a surprise, it wouldn’t shock me to see him start the year as the “designated for return IR” guy.

Now, if any or all of these scenarios develop further, be it Hayes, Conrath, or Carrington not being on the 53, then yes, they could BOTH make it.

*

Jones had surgery on July 31st, with an 8 week recovery time. That puts him back in the mix somewhere around the 1st of Oct.

They have 3 options with him…. 1) they place him on IR, ending his season. 2) they designate him for the “return from IR” which allows him to return after week 6, assuming he is healthy at that point. or 3) they keep him on the 53 man roster, with the thought of having him back.

With the extra roster spot opened up with Pead’s injury, they could choose to keep Jones on the 53 man as the 10th OL.

I have no idea which option the team will choose, but its not as doom and gloom as one might think.

While I realize many didn’t understand why I didn’t want to disclose this before, this is exactly what I heard the day he had the surgery. And it was confirmed to me a week later by another person close to the team. The 8 weeks is consistent with what both sources told me.

*

Wells has NOT missed training camp THIS YEAR due to any injury. No lingering effects from the leg and foot injuries of the past. He had an illness prior to camp starting, which he had to recover from, and get his strength back. Not really worried about him.

Van Dyk is not ready, not even close. Morrell has taken every rep at RG since he got here. ….and Person is going to be the guy who fills in everywhere else.

*

[Gaines:]…tweaked a knee in practice on Tuesday. Even tho he was back out at practice on Thursday, my guess is they were taking the cautious approach. He has shown enough thus far, that he would have to lose it totally in next two weeks to be in any risk, and that’s not likely to happen.

=====

Truthy1

Haven’t gone over the whole game yet, as it takes awhile,. but a couple things stand out on further review.

One huge deal for me was that Davin Joseph, the former Pro Bowl guard, had almost a perfect game, dominating former first rounder Datone Jones, and pulling out for some good open field blocks. On a couple plays he made two blocks protecting Bradford.

It is my belief that the Rams fortunes reside with that O-line being great, and deep. Based on what I saw Saturday, Joseph is now 100% healthy, which could make for an inteesting battle with Saffold, who may have to move to right tackle if Barksdale struggles. No matter how it plays out, having a former superstar playing like he once did is a great bit of fortune, by a team always suffering from any injury to the O-line.

Greg Robinson showed why he was a top pick, forced to play left tackle against one of the very best and most talented men to play that position, Julius Peppers, who Robinson dominated on a couple blocks.

While the TV guys focussed on the sack and couple pressures he allowed, and a couple errors on running plays, I think over all, he showed up very well, and never gave up at a position he probably won’t play this year, but he showed he can get it done against the best.

Seeing Brian Quick and Kendricks snag those two balls was worth the price of admission to me, and Quick seems to finally be showing some of that talent transfer to the field in a game. I think this team will be fine at WR.

The big story seems to be Ethan Westbrooks, who is quickly becoming the talk of camp and pre-season, and it’s a shame he will get far too much media attention as the guy that sent Michael Sam to another roster. Looking at that game last night, barring injury at DE, this seems inevitable, ALL based on what they do on the field.

=====

thehammer

I expected rams 1st team wouldn’t be able to run the ball vs GB…interior of Wells, Joseph and Person are huge liabilities in the run game…all 3 are MUCH better in pass pro

Cunningham was helped a bunch by having Robinson, Barnes and Bond in the interior with Justice Cunningham as a lead blocker

good news is a healthy Long, Robinson, Wells, Saffold, Barksdale can be a very good oline both in the run game and in pass pro

bad news is I don’t expect either Saffold, Wells or Long to play more then 1/2 of the games next season…especially Wells and Saffold

thought Bond played well yesterday and is, at least, a solid backup guard and Rhaney has flashed enough to me to convince me he can be a solid nfl backup at c/g….be real disappointed if we don’t claim a solid developmental ot during last cuts

after watching Joyner vs Brandin Cooks and vs Cobb tells me “Houston we have a problem”. Know it won’t happen but Gaines should be our starting nickle cb and Joyner our starter at fs. Do think Mo Alexander will be our eventual starter at SS …

Rodgers would of scored 40+ against our #1 unit…our db’s can’t even cover decent skill players for 3 seconds…that how you beat us..lot of short passes negating our pass rush vs our below avg lber/db’s in coverage…

what is really killing us is the safety play in coverage…can live with Joyner as a nickle cb if we had decent safeties who can cover/make plays..be real hard ever making the playoffs with Johnson, Joyner, McCleod, McDonald and Jenkins as our starters

wondering if Givens has lost a step..couldn’t even run past the slow Casey Hayward..a talented but slow cb…pretty bad when a one trick pony has lost his only trick

Quick would of had a 2nd long completion if Shields hadn’t held him…everyone has been singing his praises for a reason

for those who haven’t figured it out yet Dunbar and Armstrong suck…Laurenaitis has to stay healthy.. Love Donald but the team really needed Shazier

thought yesterday McGee showed he can’t play in the nfl and Roberson showed he can…

posted in my reports that Westbrook is better then Sam…we all saw why yesterday

Cunningham is THE best blocking te/fb on the team and Bayer looks to be a potential nfl starter if he gains strengh..I’d guess Cunningham makes our 53 and Bayer gets claimed from our ps ..like Rivers did last year

noticed my man Mettenberger had a mega game…will be following him closely

=====

Clearview

I’ve always liked Torry and Andrew personally. Marshall, not so much, but as an announcing crew, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen worse.

Marshall, “Let me just say this,” SHUT UP.
Torry, a little clowning around is okay, you’re overdoing it.
Andrew, we know what the yellow line means.

Basic problem is, they just talk too much, and then, when they do talk, they don’t provide us with the most essential information.

We were rolling with laughter for all of the wrong reasons. We lost the Ram feed and got the Packer feed for about 10 minutes, and the difference was amazing