Why the Rams offense struggles against better defenses..

Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer

Rams’ O-line combined to give up 13 QB pressures Sunday, its 2nd-highest total this season and 2nd-most among O-lines in Week 11, according to Pro Football Focus. Jared Goff was 5-of-13 for 40 yards when pressured, 18-of-24 for 185 yards when not, per PFF.

Nope against Seattle Kupp beat double coverage and Woods was always open Watkins as well. Goff can make tight window throws and has but they’ve been dropped or fumbled. Kupp is making a significant adjustment. In college he was the guy now he’s the rook and not the first option. When you watch say the skins game or hags game and then watch the vikes game Goff has grown a lot even in the loss. He is just deadly at the up tempo line calls now. He is still very young so we’ll see hiccups but Goff is on the way.

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Rams film room: Offense was plagued by ineffectiveness on first down

Rams film room: Offense was plagued by ineffectiveness on first down

For four straight weeks, and for much of the season, the Rams offense looked like an absolute juggernaut. The only teams to slow it down were the Seahawks and Redskins, holding the Rams to 10 and 20 points, respectively. In every other game, Los Angeles had scored at least 27 points.

That was until they played the Vikings on Sunday – a game in which they were held to just seven points, their lowest output of the season. Going into the matchup, everyone knew just how good Minnesota’s defense was. It’s strong at every level from the interior defensive line to its safeties.

What we didn’t expect, however, was for the Rams to score seven points in the first five minutes, only to be shut out in the final 55. So where did it go wrong? On first down, that’s where.

The Rams were absolutely atrocious on that critical down, failing to get into any sort of rhythm. Against the Vikings, they averaged 2.88 yards per play on first down. In the previous nine games, they averaged 6.11 yards per play, which was the result of Todd Gurley being effective, and play-action working.

Their longest play of the day on first down came a minute into the game on an 11-yard pass to Gurley. Outside of that, the Rams didn’t have a single first-down play go for 10-plus yards the rest of the day.

Their next-longest plays on first down came in the fourth quarter: A 9-yard pass to Robert Woods and an 8-yard run by Todd Gurley. It was a complete train wreck on first down for the Rams, and it dramatically impacted the offense.

They were just 3-for-11 on third down with seven of those attempts being third-and-8 or longer. Not surprisingly, the Rams only converted on one of those third-and-long situations with Goff going 3-for-6, also taking a sack.

Sean McVay tried to be balanced on first down throughout the game, too. This run by Gurley looked like it could have been a nice gain, but he hesitated in picking a hole to go through and ultimately bounced outside for minimal yardage. Granted, the next play was a touchdown, so it didn’t matter much, but it was an example of how poor the Rams performed on first down.

Later in the quarter, McVay tried to catch the Vikings off guard with a screen to Robert Woods. Terence Newman, however, was ready for the play. He was in man coverage with no lead blocker in front of Woods.

Andrew Whitworth was late getting out after slipping by Everson Griffen, which gave Newman a free shot at Woods.

A few plays later, Anthony Barr blows up the run to the weak side by pushing Whitworth back 3 yards, which doesn’t happen often. Gurley was forced to hesitate as there were no holes to run through.

That was one of four negative plays on first down for the Rams. They also had two go for no gain, and three go for 3 yards or fewer.

It wasn’t just Gurley who struggled on first down, either. Jared Goff was 7-for-13 (one spike) for 40 yards, averaging only 3.1 yards per attempt. In fact, three of his seven completions on first down came on the Rams’ final drive of the game, which was meaningless. That’s not what you want out of your quarterback.

In the third quarter, McVay tried to utilize play-action on a deep pass to Sammy Watkins. When Gurley is averaging under 3 yards per carry, however, it’s hard to get the defense to bite, which didn’t happen (except for Eric Kendricks).

Harrison Smith’s range over the top was too much to overcome, leaving Goff with a tiny window to throw to. A good throw under pressure, but the bucket he had to drop it in was far too small.

As a whole, the Rams were awful on first down. They had more plays go for 3 or fewer yards (14) than they had plays that gained at least 5 yards (10). That put the offense in long second- and third-down situations, which never paves the way for success.

If the Rams want to bounce back against the Saints, they’ll have to be better on first down.