What’s really wrong with the Rams offense…

McVay’s rep and his performance strike me as being at odds recently. Initially hailed as a revolutionary mind on offense, from this fan’s perspective, their offense seems all too vanilla and predictable these days. It also strikes me as very “conservative” and rigid. Yes, as many a commentator has said over the last few years, he runs variants from a basic setup. But the rigidity when it comes to that one setup makes it easier for teams to counter.

Wouldn’t it be all the more difficult if he switched up packages and ran variants within several? That would confuse the hell out of DCs.

Use an extra lineman, move him to the backfield now and then. Do the same with extra tight ends. Activate Perkins and run the option with him. More variants. etc. etc.

And, yeah, I know injuries have limited him. But they can still try these things with the players they have. If they’re good enough to make an NFL team, they’re good enough to follow an enhanced playbook.

Things gotta change. As others have mentioned, this is really screwing up the Rams’ defense too. Keeps them on the field far too long, and they can’t pin their ears back and rush when they’re down two touchdowns, etc.

A bad offense makes for a mediocre D, even one with Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey on it.

Interesting comments from Cosell. Makes sense. Woods was fully integrated into the offense, and he suited McVay’s vision to a T. I have no idea which came first, though. Did McVay customize things to suit his skills (and Kupp’s), or did Woods alter his game to fit in? Perhaps a bit of both? Anyway, OBJ isn’t that kind of receiver, though he has elite speed and hops, generally excellent hands, and is tougher than he’s usually given credit for. For the rest of the season, however, it seems obvious that McVay is going to have to bend his scheme at least enough to help OBJ be more productive. He can’t just expect it to happen on its own. If he does, that points again to his rigidity, and perhaps to a bit of arrogance.