press etc. on the Washington game

Whatever one thinks of the Dwayne Haskins' benching, the move certainly did not pay off in a 30-10 loss to the Rams Sunday. Washington managed just 108 yards of total offense and failed to gain a first down in the second half. It was the worst showing… https://t.co/zpJkwntOgy

— John Keim (@john_keim) October 11, 2020

Rams complete sweep of NFC East with 30-10 win over Washington https://t.co/cSuDjQu4MA

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) October 11, 2020

Big Day for Aaron Donald and Rams Defense

John Turney

https://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com/2020/10/big-day-for-aaron-donald-and-rams.html

The Rams defense set a few small records, but overall it was one of the better performances in Rams franchise history today versus Washington.

Aaron Donald had 4 sacks, talking him to 79.5 for his career, surpassing Joe Greene on PFJ’s sack list :shock:, and tying his own team record (shared with Sean Gilbert) for most sacks by a defensive tackle in a single game.

Inside linebacker Troy Reeder fell into three sacks of his own, setting the Rams record for most sacks by an inside/middle linebacker in a single game in team history, and that goes back to the late-1950s at least.

Previously inside ‘backers Cory Littleton, Will Witherspoon, and London Fletcher each had a game with two sacks (the latter two had two each). In fact, Reader puts himself in very rare company of inside linebackers with three sacks in a game.

Exactly how many (since 1982) is debatable since some of the players on the 3+ sack list were inside linebackers in base defenses and edge rushers in nickel (such as Chad Brown, Charlie Clemens, Mathias Kiwanuka, and others). Still, Reeder is etched in the record books with the likes of Jack Lambert and Mike Singletary and other inside linebackers who each had three sacks once each. So there is that.

The eight sacks the Rams amassed today are tied for 12th for the most sacks in a game (since 1963) in franchise history.

The Rams allowed 38 yards rushing, which is tied for 36th all-time in Rams history (since 1940)—

The Rams also allowed just 70 yards passing, which is tied for 38th all-time.

Of course, tying for 36th and 38th in rushing and passing does not sound all that impressive but when a defense does it on the same day, it IS impressive. The total for 108 yards tied them for 12th all-time in fewest yards allowed.[

Who remembers that "The Rams are dead"?

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂 https://t.co/1WMbJ2UViI

— jonah (@j_OH_nah) October 11, 2020

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Sean McVay was impressed with Cam Akers’ return to action (though says he will give him crap for getting hawked by Montez Sweat), and plans to increase his workload against San Fran next week.

Sean McVay on Alex Smith entering the game: “It’s incredible, what he has overcome…you almost wish it were in better (weather) conditions, weird to say when it’s also our defense making things so difficult for him…I am just so impressed with him.”

Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
“Our OL is playing their balls off… oops sorry I mean butts,” — Rams QB Jared Goff on how they’ve been so successful as an offense

Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
That’s two game-winning kicks for Greg Zuerlein this year.

Salt in the wound, I know

Sosa K@QBsMVP
The Rams’ CB group had a damn legendary day, per @PFF:

Darious Williams:
– 2 targets, 1 reception, -1 yards, 56.3 rating

Jalen Ramsey:
– 2 targets, 0 receptions, 0 yards, 39.6 rating

Troy Hill:
– 2 targets, 1, reception, 5 yards, 1 1st down, 56.3 rating

Charles Carter@carter2985
Rams won today, Chiefs lost today and the Niners are officially trash. Today is a good day

jonah@j_OH_nah
At the moment, Aaron Donald leads the NFL with 7.5 sacks.

Sosa K@QBsMVP
Aaron Donald has 7.5 sacks through 5 games this season. He’s on pace for 24 sacks in 2020. That would set the all-time record, as well as the all-time DT record (obviously).

I’m just sayin’.

Sosa K@QBsMVP
The Rams’ offensive line allowed ONE (1) single pressure today, per @PFF. It came from LT Andrew Whitworth. Against the Washington Football Team defensive line WITH Chase Young.

That is all.

Stu Jackson@StuJRams
DL Michael Brockers said a lot of Rams players hadn’t seen rain in awhile and were actually excited about conditions. For him personally, he was “licking his chops” b/c he knows rain causes an opponent’s offensive playbook to shrink, creating an advantageous situation for def.

Stu Jackson@StuJRams
Rams DL Aaron Donald (4.0 sacks) and LB Troy Reeder (3.0) became the first duo of players to each record 3.0 sacks in a game since Texans duo of Whitney Mercilus (3.5) and J.J. Watt (3.0) did it on Jan. 3, 2016 against Jaguars (Week 17 of 2015 season).

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Rams QB Jared Goff, on Alex Smith’s return: “That is truly one of the most amazing things not only have we ever seen but I think in football history, is him getting back from that injury…I said in our postgame, we’ll be able to tell people forever that (we saw) that happen.”

Sosa K@QBsMVP
Total pressures per @PFF:

Aaron Donald – 33
Detroit Lions (4 games) – 43

Sacks generated (@PFF):

Donald – 8
Titans, Jaguars – 4
Lions, Panthers – 5
Jets, Chargers – 6

Michael Silver@MikeSilver
After his inspirational return to the field, Alex Smith told me, “Once they made the change I knew I was a play away and that s— could happen. You’re not thinking it would be the first game–in a monsoon…”

More Alex Smith: “Once we got to the second half, it was tough. The ball was just really hard to grip, and almost impossible to throw.” Also, Aaron Donald was in the Washington backfield much of the day. If you’ve followed Alex’s career, he’s used to doing things the hard way…

Smith got emotional when he saw his wife & kids in the stands. “We haven’t had fans here the first 2 games, but we found out last week we’d have our families there. They’ve been a part of this more than anybody, so to be able to share it with them was amazing, even in the rain.”

Aaron Donald and the Rams’ D-line set up Sunday’s win, and more in The Pile

Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/2130813/2020/10/11/aaron-donald-jared-goff-alex-smith-darrell-henderson-rams-wft-stats-score/?source=emp_shared_article

In retrospect, you can pretty much pinpoint the moment Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald clicked into “business mode” and set the tone for the defense in Sunday’s 30-10 win at Washington.

With 7:32 left in the first half, Donald blew through a double-team — which looked close to a triple-team — from Washington’s offensive line, chewed up quarterback Kyle Allen and spat him out for a 10-yard loss on first down.

It was the Rams’ second sack of the day, but Donald was the starting pistol. After that, the Rams were off to the races, grinding up the Washington pocket repeatedly on their way to an eight-sack day.

Donald had four of them, which tied his career high, and was his fifth game with three or more sacks.

“That’s an ignitor-type play, but that’s how Aaron is all the time,” head coach Sean McVay said. “You definitely don’t take it for granted, but that’s kind of par for the course. You’re so appreciative of him, but that’s what he does. He changes the game, week in and week out. Today was no different from the norm for him.”

Ho, hum. Just another day in A.D. Land.

“It’s hard to not to take Aaron for granted,” linebacker Troy Reeder, who had three sacks of his own, said with a laugh. “Some of the stuff he does, people come to expect from him. And then you see the sack. … You look back up at the screen and kind of see what he did on the replay and you’re like, ‘What … like, that is unbelievable.’ He’s a fun player to watch and he leads by example every single day. Really fun player to play with.”

Allen had to leave the game a few plays later after an out-of-pocket hit by Rams corner Jalen Ramsey (who was penalized for helmet contact on the play).

That led to a historic moment, as veteran quarterback Alex Smith entered a game for the first time in two years after a major leg injury and a gruesome, arduous recovery process.

“That is truly one of the most amazing things that I think, not only that we’ve ever seen, but one of the most amazing things in football history,” Rams quarterback Jared Goff said. “… To want to come back from an injury like that, to want to come back from potentially almost losing his leg and come out and play today… I said it in our postgame, but I’ll be able to tell people forever that I watched that and saw that happen.”

Donald welcomed Smith back in the best way he knew how — by jumping on his back for a sack, as the football world held its collective breath — but Smith jogged away unharmed. On Donald’s next sack, he actually locked his arms around Smith’s arms to keep him still, then appeared to stand him upright to reduce the risk of injury caused by taking a quarterback to the ground. Instead, he allowed the play to be blown dead with no extra physicality.

Between the very wet game conditions and the way the Rams’ defensive line was getting after it, it was a tough return outing for Smith, who completed 9 of 17 attempts for 37 yards.

“You almost wish for him, as a football fan, that it was in a little bit better of conditions, as far as being able to play where he could throw and catch a little bit (easier),” said McVay, who greatly admires Smith. “Weird saying that when it was our defense that made it very difficult. Just impressed by him.”

The Rams are 4-1 and now have swept the NFC East. Welcome to The Pile — let’s start poking around.

Inside Troy Reeder’s keys to success

With starting inside linebacker Micah Kiser out because of a groin injury, Reeder got his first start of the season and his first substantial non-special-teams minutes of the year.

Reeder had three sacks, and led the team with 10 tackles. He also made a stop on third down in the second quarter.

Reeder gave the Rams’ defensive line full credit for his pass-rush success, and added that the guys in front of him are doing some “pretty cool stuff.”

What exactly does that mean?

“In some ways, we’re clearing it up for him,” defensive tackle Michael Brockers said. “Taking on the double-teams where he doesn’t have to engage somebody right away. He can kind of pad his feet and then hit the hole whenever he needs to. He did a great job of green-dogging us on blitzes today, you know, where you go get two guys on (Donald) and everybody else is singled. If he blitzes, you know, he’s open. … Taking care of his opportunities, and he’s doing his job.”

The Rams also appeared to adjust as the game continued so that Reeder less often was in coverage/deeper in the middle of the field, where he is not as consistent, and placed him closer to the line of scrimmage, where he has had more success.

“When you have a D-line as good as ours, it just requires you to play off of them a lot,” Reeder said. “A lot of it is just feeling what they are doing and playing off of them.”

To complement that adjustment, defensive coordinator Brandon Staley appeared to add extra defensive backs, such as bigger-bodied safety Taylor Rapp, much of the time — Rapp was even able to tip a pass on a blitz — and also played star cornerback Ramsey at nickel throughout the game.

That, in part, allowed Reeder to work more around the line of scrimmage and respond to the open gaps presented to him by the defensive linemen.

“He was outstanding, did a great job stepping in and running the show,” McVay said. “Very happy for Troy.”

Goff’s up-and-down day

Goff started Sunday’s game on another hot streak, starting 10-for-10 with 141 yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown.

But he was also a little uneven at times, and forced two throws, one of which was an interception.

Goff’s interception late in the second quarter, just his third of the year, may have slipped a little coming out of his hand due to the conditions. But the second was a near-pick in the third quarter in the red zone, which led to a Rams field goal instead of a touchdown. That also was a product of decision-making, with several defenders (including coverage linebacker Thomas Davis) in the area and too close for comfort.

“Being able to miss a couple of those opportunities, and then turn it over — he’s playing too good to have those things come in,” McVay said. “That’s when we start saying, ‘Hey, the expectations that we have for you, you see what a fine line it is between playing an outstanding game and then having a sequence that we can’t have in some of these tighter games.”

A couple of key elements were added to Sunday’s game plan that had been lacking in previous weeks: Tight end involvement in the passing game, and vertical passing targets.

Last week against the Giants, the Rams needed all three tight ends to help with in-line pass protection and thus weren’t able to get them many targets. But against Washington, Gerald Everett led the team in receiving yards with 90, which included plenty of hard-earned yards after the catch. Everett’s early and frequent utilization helped on the drive on which Goff ran for a touchdown. Defenders were spread wide in order to account for Everett’s route, thus giving Goff the running space.

Goff also unfurled a 56-yard touchdown pass to receiver Robert Woods. That was just the third completion this season (out of six attempts) of a pass that traveled 20-plus yards in the air. Two of the three have been touchdowns (the Rams are now 4 of 7 on such passes).

These concepts obviously are helpful in stretching the field, and later in the game it allowed receiver Josh Reynolds to get a one-on-one matchup and some favorable distance on a 20-air-yards ball, because the more vertical stretch merited defensive attention. The Rams like to do a lot of horizontal work, and trust their receivers to get yards after the catch in order to create most of their explosive plays, but a little air never hurts.

McVay mentioned a few times that the Rams really wanted to get these vertical concepts going earlier, but the coverage contours — especially presented by the Giants last week — prohibited it and they didn’t want Goff to force the issue.

The Goff highlight that will be played the most on the Rams’ big screen during Monday’s film study, however, was his spike attempt after his second-quarter rushing touchdown. The ball slipped out of Goff’s hand and went horizontal, instead of into the ground. Behind him in the end zone, Woods’ grin was absolutely gold.

“It wasn’t great,” Goff said with a laugh. His teammates were delighted, however.

“I was pumped to see it,” Kupp said with a grin, “because I look forward to coach putting it on the big screen tomorrow.”

RBBC in action

We perhaps saw a clearer look than ever at the Rams’ “running back by committee” on Sunday, with all three backs healthy and available because rookie Cam Akers returned from a rib cartilage separation that sidelined him for two weeks.

Darrell Henderson started and was the “lead” back against Washington, totaling 68 yards from scrimmage, a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown. But Akers got the most ground yards, with 61 on nine carries, and Malcolm Brown once again came in for short-yardage and clock-management situations.

McVay added that the team likely will increase Akers’ workload next week against San Francisco because of the flashes he showed Sunday. First, they’ll tease him about the fourth-quarter play in which he broke loose for a 46-yard run, and would have scored had he not been run down by hyper-athletic defensive end Montez Sweat.

“I thought he had a couple tough runs, and then he got hawked by Montez Sweat,” McVay said, smiling. “So I’m not going to let him live that one down. … But he was good. I think it was good to get him going again. You see the athleticism, you see the dynamic run ability and I thought he created on his own a little bit.”

Bottom of the Pile

• Rookie kicker Samuel Sloman can’t just give the Rams one Sunday without something to worry about. There was no reason to have him attempt a longer field goal in those conditions, but he missed an extra point in the first quarter. He later made a 28-yard field goal.

• One of my favorite plays of the day was when rotational nose tackle Greg Gaines made a tackle after pursuing former Rams tight end Temarrick Hemingway 10 yards downfield.

• McVay elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the top of the fourth quarter, and not only did I like the decision, but I also liked the call — a mid-range shot downfield to an open Woods. It was unexpected and statistically quite reliable, but slippery conditions caused the play to fail. The Rams were on the Washington 34-yard line and didn’t want to send Sloman out to kick in heavy rain.

• Cornerback Darious Williams keeps earning his big-play nickname, “Red Dot” (a player opposing teams have to watch out for). He seemed to be everywhere at once on Sunday, and had a huge fourth-down pass breakup in the fourth quarter. Williams also had two tackles for loss (one was negated by a penalty) and helped in the effort to contain Antonio Gibson around the edge as Washington attempted to get him going much like offensive coordinator Scott Turner did in 2019 with Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey.

• The Rams have really played well on these East Coast road trips, with a 2-1 record after three of their longest flights of the year. McVay and head athletic trainer Reggie Scott tried something new this year, in part due to COVID-19 protocols, by flying out the night before the game — instead of two days early — and waking up early enough to thwart the body clock in the time zone change. The fact that the Rams have been so successful — and usually started games so well on these road trips — is a sign of a team mature beyond its years, McVay said.