Fisher sees an improving Rams' offense

Numbers aside, Jeff Fisher sees an improving Rams’ offense

Alden Gonzalez

http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/31191/numbers-aside-jeff-fisher-sees-an-improving-rams-offense

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Los Angeles Rams coach Jeff Fisher opened up his weekly, day-after session with the media by praising the offense. He touched on the fact that they gained 102 yards on the ground and 243 through the air in Sunday’s 30-19 home loss to the Buffalo Bills, accounting for a season-high 345 total yards. The Rams converted 23 first downs to the Bills’ 15, ran the ball 29 times, and held the ball for 35 minutes, 34 seconds, Fisher volunteered.

“That’s a formula for success,” he added. “That’s a formula for winning, and one would expect to do so.”

But here’s the thing: The Rams’ offense is still the least-productive unit in the NFL, ranked 32nd among the 32 teams in yards per game.

So, Fisher is pleased with his offense?

“I’m not pleased with where the offense is at,” Fisher clarified. “I’m not pleased where the football team is at — offense, defense or special teams. The total rankings are based on the last five games, and we had some difficulty the first two, three, or four, with respect to total yards. So, we’re going to have to have a 500-, 600-yard game to jump in to the middle of the pack. It’s going to take some time. To me, the wins are going to offset that. That’s the way it goes.”

The Rams remain a respectable 3-2 in spite of Sunday’s loss and in spite of the overall shortcomings of their offense.

They rank within the bottom five in the NFL in rushing yards per game, passing yards per game, first downs per game and third-down conversion rate. Their star running back, Todd Gurley, has the NFL’s lowest yards per carry at 2.74. Their starting quarterback, Case Keenum, has the NFL’s worst Total QBR at 33.0, but Fisher still doesn’t sound like a man who is ready to make a change at the position, because he sees an offense that is upward trending under him.

So, hold off on Jared Goff.

For now, at least.

Fisher said he wouldn’t be against playing Goff late in a game when his Rams trail or lead by a wide margin in order to get him some reps. But that’s all it would be at this point. Asked about Goff’s progress in practice, Fisher said he’s “doing fine. He has a good feel for what we’re doing. I think he’s improving. He’s learned a lot, and with each passing week, he’s getting better.”

The Rams did a nice job of getting Tavon Austin involved early, and Gurley broke off a couple of big runs against a defense that didn’t stack the box as aggressively as others. Keenum also completed 21-of-31 passes and averaged a very respectable 8.7 yards per attempt, but he made a costly mistake on a pick-six that resulted in the game-winning touchdown.

The Rams wound up with only one touchdown in that game, despite moving into enemy territory on seven of their first nine possessions. Their red zone efficiency — the amount of touchdowns relative to the amount of drives in the red zone — is 44.4 percent, fifth-worst in the NFL and a mark Fisher said is “not where it should be.”

Still, Fisher sees progress in his offense.

“You can take the 32nd in the league and write all you want about it,” Fisher said, “but this offense is improving.”

Some additional notes from Monday’s availability …