RamView, 11/1/2015: Rams 27, 49ers 6 (Long)

RamView, November 1, 2015
Game #7: Rams 27, 49ers 6

Fisherball is ascendant in St. Louis, as the Rams ride Todd Gurley and defense to a second straight win, a laugher over the collapsing 49ers, to improve to 4-3. The Rams are dominating teams they should, and the arrow is still pointing up.

Position by position:
* RB: Todd Gurley (20-133) continues to carry the Ram offense and show that he’s a threat to score any time he touches the ball. Gurley had to grind out tough yards early, with his line usually leaving a 49er lineman unblocked, but the 49ers felt the thunderclap of his sonic boom in the 2nd. From the Ram 29, he cut inside Rod Havenstein’s edge block and Garrett Reynolds’ sweet pull block, put it into hyperdrive and blew away the 49ers with a 71-yard TD. Gurley accelerated so suddenly, and made Jaquiskie Tartt’s angle bad so quickly, all the 49er safety could do was slide to the ground well behind him. Gurley then outran Eric Reid for 45 yards, with ease. Knowing they had no similar offensive threat probably demoralized the 49ers right then and there, and the Rams were ahead to stay. Gurley’s 15-yard swing pass reception set the Rams up for a FG in the 2nd. The rest of the Ram offense was so dysfunctional that Gurley was pounding the rock in the pre-halftime 2:00 offense, but they coaxed out another TD. Gurley went over 100 for the fourth straight week on an 8-yard cutback run in the 3rd and pumped out a couple of 7-yard runs the next drive. Tre Mason (15-46) did nice work in relief as the Rams smartly did not overwork their work horse. He helped chew clock at the end of the game with effective inside running, including a 7-yard run through NaVorro Bowman. Benny Cunningham made several excellent blitz pickups, including one that made a long Jared Cook reception possible before halftime, but he got lucky to get away with a fumble in the 3rd. Arik Armstead punched the ball loose on an attempted sweep, and Ahmad Brooks appeared to have a game-changing scoop-and-score, but had clearly facemasked Benny before the scoop, bringing the play back. That aside, the Rams ran for 200 (!) yards before Nick Foles’ game-ending kneel-downs, hitting the 49ers with an array of speed and suddenness, power and determination, tough inside running and dangerous cutback running… it’s been a while since they had a running game quite like this.

* QB: Nick Foles (13-23-191, PR 101.9) managed the Ram offense to victory with another mistake-free performance, and it’s time to wonder how much better he’d be doing with even an average amount of help from his receivers. He threw a perfect bomb to Kenny Britt during the opening series only to have it dropped. Stedman Bailey killed the next drive with another drop. Tavon Austin got the Rams into scoring position after that off a great throw, only to fumble the ball away. But Foles got the Rams a two-pointer after their first TD, rolling right till he was almost out of bounds before firing to Jared Cook in the back of the end zone. They connected again for 49 to set up a TD before halftime. Foles immediately recognized Cook had a free run downfield, threw an accurate ball for a routine catch, and Cook split tacklers to set up a Ram TD. Foles seemed to be in play-it-safe mode in the 2nd half, which was fine for protecting the Rams’ big lead. I’d like to see better accuracy on his sideline passes to give his receivers a better chance to make catches in bounds on out routes. He was also again a little quick to scramble or chuck throws out of bounds behind improving protection. Improvement in those areas would help improve the Rams’ 3rd-down conversion rate a little from this week’s awful 1-for-11. The only conversion was Austin’s 66-yard TD off a bubble screen in the 4th. What Foles has going right now is fine as long as Gurley is rolling, but the Rams aren’t going to get away with such a limited passing game for long.

* Receivers: Tavon Austin’s (4-98 recv, 3-21 rush) the only receiver worth mentioning this week, scoring 2 of the Rams’ 3 TDs. He scored from the 2 on a jet sweep right before halftime, racing around Ahmad Brooks and making a dive for the pylon. Austin turned the corner on a couple of plays without really getting any blocking, but when he got a perfectly-blocked bubble screen set up in the 4th, he paid off with a 66-yard TD, running through Tartt at midfield and sprinting off to stick a fork in the 49ers. The Rams can get almost nothing done downfield lately, though, and that includes Austin, who was blanketed twice on go routes and has been on every one I’ve ever seen him run. He also fumbled away a 25-yard catch in the 1st, something the Rams just cannot afford to do with their rare downfield successes. Not that there were many others this week. Kenny Britt (0-0) dropped a bomb Foles put right in his hands in the 1st. Stedman Bailey (0-0) killed the next drive with a 3rd-down drop. Brian Quick (1-5) had one sideline catch. Bradley Marquez (!) had a 5-yard catch in limited action – do the Rams need to see more of him? They’re sure not getting much from anyone else besides Austin. I’d take at least three new receivers this offseason.

* Tight ends: Jared Cook (2-57) wasn’t a huge factor, either, but at least finally seems to have taken some of the weaknesses in his game to heart. He worked with Foles and made a nice hands catch in traffic for a 2-point conversion in the 2nd, and made one of the game’s biggest plays before halftime. The 49ers gave him a clean release for a 25-yard catch, and right after it, he crashed through two tacklers and took off for 24 more, down to the 3 to set up the Rams’ 2nd TD. Making routine catches with defenders nearby? Protecting the ball and not fumbling when getting tackled from behind? Can that really be Jared Cook? Let’s hope the “new” Cook is a long-term fixture. Lance Kendricks (2-7) sprang Austin with a loud block for 13 in the 3rd, led Mason for 9 in the 4th and made a stupendous one-handed catch for 3 in the 3rd. Maybe the Rams should try him at WR.

* Offensive line: Slowly but surely, the Ram offensive line appears to be gelling. Foles wasn’t hit much and wasn’t sacked at all. There were some run-blocking leaks early, but they still established the early running game better than they have all year. Jamon Brown got beaten at RG a couple of times early to get Gurley runs stuffed, but they ran well to the left behind Greg Robinson and Garrett Reynolds. Rod Havenstein got beat by a blitzer to force a Foles throwaway in the 3rd, which seems almost unfair to mention because I have very little in my notes about any lineman getting beaten in pass pro this week. Havenstein had a key block on Gurley’s TD run, which also had an excellent pull block by Reynolds. They went into punish-the-defense mode in the 3rd, where Brown really thrived in leading some nice gains. Austin’s screen TD was the best-blocked play of the season. The 49ers bit on play-action and the whole o-line got free runs to get out ahead. Britt blocked two DBs on the edge to get Austin operating room. Tim Barnes pancaked the first guy Britt blocked. And Havenstein’s ten yards downfield blocking another two guys out of the play. Kendricks’ lead blocking was solid. Robinson got beaten on several runs and committed a hold, but Aaron Lynch didn’t do a heck of a lot pass rushing on that side. They may not be even a top-20 line just yet, but the Ram offensive line has gotten a little better every week, and even, if only in brief stretches, took control of the LOS at times this week. They’re on their way.

* Defensive line: Utter dominance by the Rams up front, holding 49er RBs to 10 yards rushing on 15 attempts and rendering Colin Kaepernick’s (20-41-162, 6-28 rush) play-action and read-option games useless. The Rams never really let the 49ers breathe. Michael Brockers got excellent penetration and stuffed Reggie Bush on the opening handoff. How quick is Aaron Donald? On a handoff out of I formation in the 1st, he got to ball-carrier Kendall Gaskins before upback Bruce Miller could even get to the line. Donald followed that by whipping Joe Staley with a spin move and drilling Kaepernick to force a wild 3rd-down throw. The Rams smelled blood with the 49ers backed up at their goal line later. Two double-DB blitzes pushed the 49ers back twice, and Brockers pushed them over the edge by trucking center Marcus Martin and burying Mike Davis in the end zone for a safety. Robert Quinn hit Kaepernick on 3rd-and-15 to force a 3-and-out. They got a 2nd straight after Nick Fairley, in his best game so far as a Ram, turned Alex Boone into a blocking sled to blow up a Davis run and Donald came free at Kaepernick to blow up a screen. All of that was just in the first quarter, gang. By the 2nd, the Rams could just ignore the run altogether. Will Hayes opened the quarter by ignoring play action and blowing up a naked bootleg to set Brockers up for the Rams’ first sack. Little doubt here that Brockers is having his best season this year. More 123-kicks after halftime, with Hayes hunting down Kaepernick with impunity and Quinn swatting down a pass (but probably denying Janoris Jenkins a pick-six). Quinn sacked Kaepernick later in the 3rd, set up by Mark Barron fighting off a ridiculous uncalled hold, and finished off that drive by scaring the 49er QB into a throwaway. In the 4th, Donald slipped past Boone and flushed Kaepernick to Ethan Westbrooks for the Rams’ third sack, and Quinn and Hayes kept Kaepernick on the run the rest of the way until the Rams had ended their second straight game without allowing a TD. Every member of the defensive line is near the top of his game right now, and an overwhelmed offensive line like San Francisco’s never had a chance against this level of assault.

* Linebackers: I ask again, who ever told Mark Barron he wasn’t a linebacker? Sure, he had “only” 10 tackles this week, but was a blitzing and run-stopping menace who’ll haunt the 49ers in their nightmares the rest of the season. He stuffed Mike Davis twice on goal line blitzes to set up the Rams’ safety in the 1st. The LBs had good games in coverage. Akeem Ayers broke up a long pass for Jerome Simpson in the 1st; Barron literally used his head to disrupt a long pass for Vernon Davis in the 2nd. The next play, Barron made a nifty play to sneak behind the lead blocker and bury Mike Davis for a loss. After the Rams went up 10-3, there’s Barron again, bashing Bruce Ellington on the kickoff return. Barron spent a lot of the game in the 49er backfield. He started a 3-and-out in the 3rd by blitzing Kaepernick into a panic dumpoff; James Laurinaitis finished it blowing up Vernon Davis on 3rd down. Barron tormented Kaepernick one last time in the 3rd. Despite Bruce Miller’s best attempts to undress him, he flushed the besieged QB out of the pocket and over to Quinn for one last sack. The Rams knew what they were doing when they traded for Barron, but I wonder if they did it thinking he would adjust to the linebacker role so readily and so impactfully.

* Secondary: The Ram secondary came out planning to get physical, and aided by “let ’em play” officiating, didn’t allow the 49ers to do much more damage in the air than they did on the ground. Janoris Jenkins put a big hit on Kaepernick stopping a read-option run on the opening series, and Lamarcus Joyner tied up Quinton Patton on 3rd down to force the punt. Trumaine Johnson and Rodney McLeod blitzed with Barron to make the run stuffs that set up the Rams’ safety. The Niners did actually get inside the Ram 10 in the 2nd, and got Vernon Davis wide open in the flat for a catch, but Maurice Alexander (!) closed in fast as lightning to hold the play to a couple, and when the 49ers flipped the field and tried the same thing the next play, Alexander had the cure for V.D. a second straight play. TruJo then scared Miller into dropping a pass inside the 5, and the Niners settled for 3. They wouldn’t get close again. T.J. McDonald helped out on shutdown run D and Joyner continued to keep the 49er short game short of the 1st-down marker. At the end of the game, Jenkins got two of his three pass breakups on back-to-back plays to close the 49ers out. Two very pretty, textbook breakups of quick slant passes that always beat rookie Jenkins. I thought it was a joke making Janoris Jenkins a Pro Bowl alternate last season. Just you try keeping him out of this year’s game.

* Special teams: Johnny Hekker topped last week’s Pro Bowl performance with one for the Hall of Fame, blasting away for a ridiculous 54.5 average and again playing a key role by repeatedly putting the 49ers in bad field position. The Niners started two drives inside their 5, which of course includes the one that ended in a safety. Greg Zuerlein made a 38-yard FG but had a 40-yard attempt blocked. Quentin Dial got a hand on it while beating Havenstein, but two other 49ers got pretty clean runs at it coming off the Rams’ left side. John Fassel really needs to get protection on kicks cleaned up; this is happening a little too often. Reggie Bush got tripped out of bounds by the Concrete Monster after his first punt return and blew his ACL, but Bruce Ellington might have come out worse in that deal, getting clobbered by Barron and McDonald while doing double-duty on returns. Once again, never a dull week on special teams.

* Strategery: Frank Cignetti doesn’t seem to have an answer for the Rams’ floundering passing game right now other than “hand it to Gurley.” He did use a lot of no-huddle and shotgun/pistol formations, which at least gave Foles time to save himself when he had to. Bizarrely, one time the Rams didn’t no-huddle – the 2:00 drive to end the first half! The clock is running, and not only are they huddling, they’re handing off to Gurley! I suppose that was the only offensive play they could rely on at that point. And, confoundingly, the drive still ended in a TD thanks to Cook’s big reception. Cignetti puzzled me a couple of other ways. Why so many right sweeps on 3rd down? Running at Ahmad Brooks is the way to go there? Granted, Austin scored his rushing TD getting around Brooks, but Brooks blew the others up, and it makes me think Cignetti didn’t watch much tape to keep going at him in those situations. Sweeping BENNY at him on 3rd-and-4 was especially dumb and was nearly an epic disaster. And what’s happened to play-action? Shouldn’t that be lethal right now, with Gurley running over the league? Heck, didn’t Cignetti KILL Seattle with play-action seven weeks ago? Gurley wasn’t even active that game! Cignetti did get the Niners with play-action on Austin’s long TD, though; perfectly drawn-up and executed. I’ll guess that the need for no-huddle has dulled the play-action game, but now, if the o-line really is gelling, Cignetti can get back to what worked so well opening week.

It looked like the 49ers’ rollout passing game might have fooled Gregg Williams early. If that was even true, he rapidly adjusted by tightening coverage. The 49ers changed their offensive personality with Carlos Hyde injured and appeared to plan to move Kaepernick around more and utilize more read-option than they have this year, but Williams scored a coup by being ready for it. The D wasn’t fooled on a single read-option play. That’s football chess-playing of the highest order. Jeff Fisher made a good challenge in the 2nd half of a mis-spot of a Simpson catch. That challenge forced a punt, but what the heck was Fisher thinking in the 1st half when he challenged that Kaepernick had thrown a screen pass backwards? The Rams had little to gain from a reversal, and more to the point, the pass was obviously forward! Shouldn’t the coach who pulled off the Music City Miracle have a better eye for that? Poor waste of a challenge, and a timeout, there. The smartest move of the week was to keep Gurley’s reps down in the 2nd half. Fisher’s going to need him.

* Upon further review: Jerome Boger and crew threw about a million flags and held about a half million staff meetings. At one point, he appeared to be stifling a laugh while calling the 49ers for THREE penalties on the same punt return. (One of those penalties, btw, was on injured Anquan Boldin, in street clothes and misidentified as an assistant coach, for coming onto the field; he should have been ejected.) He called so many penalties he was literally hoarse by halftime. Oddly for Boger, though, he didn’t call an awful game. The only Rams penalty out of TWELVE that I’d disagree with was a block-in-the-back call Tim Barnes got for a shove on the arm. I agreed with the personal foul on Ayers in the 2nd, for an out-of-bounds helmet-to-helmet hit, though the home crowd didn’t. The crew got a number of spots just wrong, and for all the flags they did throw (25 accepted penalties), they basically refused to call pass interference, which both secondaries used to their advantage. The key call Boger got right was to reverse the Cunningham fumble TD in the 3rd for Brooks’ facemasking infraction. Get that wrong and we’re looking at a much different game. Shockingly good Boger grade: B-minus

* Cheers: The Dome was the place to see this week’s game. First of all, because it looked like there were plenty of open seats. It looked maybe half-full on TV, but the crowd that was there sounded good. The other reason the Dome was the way to go was Fox’s awful broadcast. Dick Stockton missed spots all day and often didn’t even try. “Gurley gains… a few.” He often had to wait for the down to pop up on screen before mentioning it, and that was wrong a number of times. Fox topped themselves at the end of the game by claiming this was the Rams’ first since 1961 with two TDs longer than 60 yards. HUH? Austin did that by himself against the Colts two years ago! And if they meant offensive TDs, I know Torry Holt once had two 80-yarders in one game in Atlanta (2000). Fox, you should have people who actually know the teams you’re broadcasting on your gameday staff, and judging from this week, you shouldn’t let your crews party too hard on the East Side the night before a game, either.

* Who’s next?: As silly as it sounds to say after seven games, and as unusual as it has been recently to mention in the same breath as the Rams, next week’s game in Minnesota has playoff implications. And if that’s true, the Rams need to be a hell of a lot better than they were the last time the two met. The Vikings ruined opening day last year with a 34-7 blowout, probably the Rams’ ugliest game under Jeff Fisher.

With Shaun Hill, Austin Davis, Zac Stacy, Jake Long, Scott Wells and Davin Joseph from that game’s list of culprits all long gone, the Rams are a much different team today. The Vikings are off to a 5-2 start, though, and sporting the league’s most underrated defensive line, are likely to get the Rams into a Nordic street fight. Sharrif Floyd and Linval Joseph are as dominating a pair of DTs as I’ve “scouted” in some time. The Rams should remember from last year’s trauma what a load Joseph is against the run. Floyd has quickly become a top-notch interior pass rusher and has a lethal spin move. Floyd missed Sunday’s game with an ankle injury, but the Rams better prepare for that spin move. And if Floyd’s out, backup Tom Johnson is no slouch. Neither are DEs Everson Griffen (4.5 sacks), who humiliated Jake Long last year, or Brian Robison. The Rams will have their hands full up front, and also need to get a hat on young MLB Eric Kendricks, who’s quickly becoming an emotional leader on D. Mike Zimmer is also about as unafraid to blitz as Gregg Williams is. Minnesota’s coverage has looked pretty lockdown lately, and pretty physical, with Captain Munnerlyn and Xavier Rhodes. Harrison Smith vexed the Rams last year at safety and is someone Foles better locate every play. They showed plenty of quickness against the Chiefs to worry they can be all over the Rams’ quick screens. Something they don’t appear to do well is cover the TE. Jared Cook inspired new confidence this week he can do something there. The middle of the field was open against the Vikings last year and the Chiefs showed it will be open again this year. The crucial factor, though, will be whether or not the Rams can establish Gurley. The Vikings are in the middle of the league against the run, and didn’t face anyone like Gurley playing the Chiefs.

Although they do every day in practice. My first strategy for beating Adrian Peterson, taking him out to Red Lobster before the game, probably isn’t practical. The Rams will have to leverage that he doesn’t have the blocking in front of him he’s accustomed to. Minnesota doesn’t lead him with a fullback or pull their guards much, and center John Sullivan and RT Phil Loadholt are both long gone for the season, no longer in AP’s blocking convoy. Though AP can still make a lot out of a little because he makes such exquisite cuts in traffic, defenses have been able to hit him in the backfield these days, and have also found he’ll give you the opportunity to punch the ball out. The Chiefs really attacked the Vikings at RG and C, and I expect Aaron Donald to have a(nother) high-impact game. Minnesota killed the Rams last year with a quick-tempo passing game, but that isn’t really their character this year. Teddy Bridgewater is a very confident young QB, and the Vikings run tons of out routes, so I expect Gregg Williams to play them similar to the way he played the Packers. I think he can scheme Bridgewater into trouble. Teddy seems to make a lot of quick throws to his first read, and though he doesn’t consistently show the accuracy for it yet, is willing to put a lot of balls in tight spaces. The Rams can trick him into turning it over. He’s mobile in the pocket but rarely takes off and runs, so they can treat him a lot like they did Kaepernick this week. They’ll benefit if they get him on the move, though, which is where he threw a couple of bad INTs against K.C. Also, he’s a sidearm thrower, so get your hands up in front. Rookie Stefon Diggs has emerged in the past month as Bridgewater’s best target. DBs are laying off to respect his deep speed and he’s gouging them with out routes. The Rams better get up on him if they don’t want him going off like Odell Beckham did on them last year. Mike Wallace is a deep threat on the other side, but has the hands of, well, a Rams receiver. TE Kyle Rudolph bears watching as a favored red zone target. Just like the Vikings, though, the key for the Rams will clearly be how well they can stop the run. If they play like they have the past couple of weeks, they’ll give themselves a heck of a chance.

Every week right about here, I like to ladle thick significance onto the upcoming game. Really not necessary this week, is it? Both teams are in the thick of the postseason race and a win heads-up could be a very important chit to have in hand in a couple of months. The Rams also owe Minnesota a pretty big receipt for last opening day. For Jeff Fisher and staff, motivation should be easy this week. Let’s see if their work in the film room and on the whiteboard wins out.

— Mike
Game stats from espn.com