Some areas to improve in 2014

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  • September 7, 2014 at 9:14 am #6373
    Avatar photozn
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    from off der net

    ===

    Saguaro

    Some areas to improve in 2014.

    All of these stats are drawn from Jeff Fisher’s first two years as head coach. Source is nfl.com

    Points per Gam    e

    Offense 2012: 18.7 PPG, Rank 25 — 2013: 21.8 PPG, Rank 21.

    A 3.1 PPG improvement from year 1 to year 2. To get into the top third of the league, they will need another 4 PPG improvement.

    The NFCW 2013 NFL Rankings:

    Seahawks 8
    49er’s —- 11
    Cardinals 16
    Rams —- 21

    —-

    Defense 2012: 21.8 PPG, Rank 14 — 2013: 22.8 PPG Rank 12.

    Although allowing 1 more PPG, the defense improved it’s rank slightly, as scoring was generally up. 20 PPG or lower would probably put them solidly into the top third.

    The NFCW 2013 NFL Rankings:

    Seahawks 1
    49ers —– 3
    Cardinals 7
    Rams —- 12

    _______

    3rd Down %

    Offense 2012: 32%, Rank 29 — 2013: 34%, Rank 28.

    This is a weak area for the Rams, ranking in the bottom 8th of the league both years. Fans were frustrated at times when 3rd and long resulted in a pass well short of the marker, or a conservative running play. It will be most interesting to see whether the Rams stated desire to throw downfield, and the new receiver attitude emanating from Kenny Britt might help here.

    The NFCW 2013 NFL Rankings:

    Seahawks 17
    49ers —– 18
    Cardinals- 22
    Rams —– 28

    —

    Defense 2012: 38%, Rank 12 — 2013: 39%, Rank 18.

    Allowing one percentage point more conversions to opponents in year 2 dropped them from a respectable 12th to a mediocre 18th. This will need to be reduced to around 34% for the Rams to be a top defense. Hard to do with the giant cushion tactic.

    The NFCW 2013 NFL Rankings:

    49ers —— 6
    Seahawks 10
    Cardinals – 11
    Rams —– 18

    _________

    Penalty Yards

    2012: 978, Rank 29 — 2013 1009, Rank 29

    This is a familiar problem for the Rams and Fisher. Middle of the pack is around 820 penalty yards. To reach that the Rams would need to reduce their penalty yards by about 12 yards per game. Would that be so hard? Apparently it is, as the Rams are a model of consistency in this area from year to year.

    The NFCW 2013 NFL Rankings:

    Cardinals – 8
    49ers —– 18
    Rams —– 29
    Seahawks 32

    I believe that improvement in each of these areas is not only possible but likely and necessary if the Rams are going to take a step forward and at least compete for a playoff spot.

    September 7, 2014 at 9:17 am #6374
    Avatar photozn
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    I would add–Yards per attempt passing, both offense and defense. This one depends on the source, how it’s calculated varies.

    Last year, on offense:

    NFL.com http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=2&season=2013&seasonType=REG&offensiveStatisticCategory=TEAM_PASSING&role=TM&d-447263-n=1&d-447263-o=2&d-447263-p=1&conference=ALL&d-447263-s=PASSING_AVERAGE_YARDS

    6.6, ranked 24th

    Pro Football Reference: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/ram/2013.htm

    5.8, ranked 22nd … this is Net Yards per Attempt (factoring in sack yards lost)

    Team Rankihgs.com: http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/yards-per-pass-attempt

    6.2, ranked 23rd.

    On defense:

    NFL.com http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?seasonType=REG&offensiveStatisticCategory=null&d-447263-n=1&d-447263-o=1&d-447263-p=1&d-447263-s=PASSING_AVERAGE_YARDS&tabSeq=2&season=2013&role=OPP&Submit=Go&archive=true&conference=null&defensiveStatisticCategory=TEAM_PASSING&qualified=false

    8.1, ranked 32nd

    Pro Football Reference: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/ram/2013.htm

    6.7, ranked 24th … this is Net Yards per Attempt (factoring in sack yards lost)

    Team Rankihgs.com: http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/opponent-yards-per-pass-attempt

    7.4, ranked 29th.

    September 7, 2014 at 10:39 am #6380
    Avatar photoInvaderRam
    Moderator

    i still think the running game has to carry this offense. so i’d add rushing yards per game.

    130 rushing yards per game would put them in the top 10. last year was 109.5

    more than that they averaged 4.1 yards per carry. it’d be nice if they could improve that to 4.5 yards per carry. that would have ranked in the top 10 last year.

    September 7, 2014 at 10:55 am #6382
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator
    InvaderRam wrote:

    i still think the running game has to carry this offense. so i’d add rushing yards per game.

    130 rushing yards per game would put them in the top 10. last year was 109.5

    more than that they averaged 4.1 yards per carry. it’d be nice if they could improve that to 4.5 yards per carry. that would have ranked in the top 10 last year.

    Fair enough but how close were they to that last year, really? In fact if you account for the 1st 4 games (Richardson) they were already there last year. I get that by subtracting the 1st 4 games and then extrapolating those numbers across 16 games.

    If you do that, they were averaging 130.25 yards per game, and 4.43 yards a carry. (The math, for those who want to see it: 353 carries divided by 12 and them multiplied by 16 = 470, rounded down…1563 yards divided by 12 and then multiplied by 16 = 2084)

    In terms of 2013 numbers, 130.25 a game would would be ranked 9th, and 4.43 a carry would also be ranked 9th.

    —

    Those 2 averages include at least 2 games from the end of the season where the OL was riddled with replacements (first Long, then Saffold, but also Wells).

    September 7, 2014 at 11:08 am #6383
    Avatar photoInvaderRam
    Moderator

    excellent. then let’s improve it more. 135 and 4.7.

    i think they should pattern themselves after the seahawks. strong running game and ypa.

    edit. strong running game. and a strong yards per PASS attempt.

    seahawks despite ranking very low in TOTAL yards per game passing had a strong yards per pass attempt.

    • This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by Avatar photoInvaderRam.
    September 7, 2014 at 11:40 am #6387
    Avatar photoZooey
    Moderator
    InvaderRam wrote:

    excellent. then let’s improve it more. 135 and 4.7.

    i think they should pattern themselves after the seahawks. strong running game and ypa.

    edit. strong running game. and a strong yards per PASS attempt.

    seahawks despite ranking very low in TOTAL yards per game passing had a strong yards per pass attempt.

    I agree.

    135 points per game would be awesome.

    And only 4.7 points allowed?

    That would be a dominant team, for sure.

    September 7, 2014 at 12:25 pm #6397
    Avatar photoInvaderRam
    Moderator

    I agree.

    135 points per game would be awesome.

    And only 4.7 points allowed?

    That would be a dominant team, for sure.

    yes. this.

    that would be just fine.

    • This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by Avatar photoInvaderRam.
    September 7, 2014 at 8:45 pm #6552
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Well so far this improvement thing hasn’t made major inroads yet….

    September 7, 2014 at 9:08 pm #6564
    Avatar photowv
    Participant

    Things could be better.

    w
    v

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