Once again, a Rams team appears to be going nowhere

By VINCENT BONSIGNORE / STAFF COLUMNIST

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rams-732347-lions-goal.html#

DETROIT – A slew of buses sat outside Ford Field on Sunday to transport a solemn group of Rams to Detroit Metro Airport. There, a charter plane was awaiting them amid the gray clouds and stillness of a mid-October evening on Michigan’s lower peninsula.

The destination was of no concern. Or significance really.

It doesn’t really matter much.

Six games into their triumphant return home to Los Angeles, it’s becoming painfully and frustratingly clear that all roads and flight patterns lead to the exact same place for the Rams. Head-first into a brick wall separating who they really are from what they aspire to be.

The Rams undoubtedly want to be a real player in the NFL. A complete, balanced group for whom winning is the norm and losing an occasional blip on the screen.

That’s what they want to be.

What they are, we learned once again in a bitterly frustrating 31-28 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, is a team that can’t quite find the right pieces to complete the puzzle. Not consistently, anyway. And after watching them labor ever so taxingly even during their three victories this season, we’d be hard-pressed to remember a moment in which everything was clicking for them at the same time.

t makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Maybe this is who the Rams will always be under Jeff Fisher. Now in his fifth season, he’s yet to lead the Rams to a winning season. And after starting this year 3-1, the Rams are right back where they’ve always been after losing their last two games. Stuck in the quicksand of .500. Flailing away again in no-man’s land.

Maybe that’s just their destiny under Fisher. And why the Rams should not be in a hurry to renew their vows with him when his contract runs out at the end of the season.

“They’re disappointed, as they should be,” Fisher said of the Rams. “I’m disappointed, as I should be. The staff is disappointed. We couldn’t make that play that we needed to.”

How many times can we bear hearing that same tired response?

When can we say is enough is enough of incomplete football and sloppy play and silly penalties and bone-crushing turnovers?

“I’ve been here since 2010, this is my seventh season,” said guard Rodger Saffold, who has seen a whole bunch of losing and misery over those seven years. “I want this team to succeed more than anything. More than myself. So of course this hurts.”

As hard as they try, now matter what they change from players to schemes, the end game always seems the same.

On Sunday it didn’t matter that Case Keenum had a career day with 321 yards passing and three touchdowns and at one point brilliantly completed 19 straight passes.

Or that Kenny Britt turned into Calvin Johnson by grabbing seven passes for 136 yards, including a fiercely fought 9-yard touchdown in which he bull-rushed a group of Lions tacklers over the goal line.

As good as Keenum was, when it came right down to it he threw an ill-advised pass into triple coverage for a game-ending interception.

And as fantastic as Britt was, he wasn’t able to get the ball over the goal line late in the second quarter with the Rams looking to take a touchdown-lead over the Lions into intermission. That led to the Rams going for it on fourth down inches away from the goal line rather than kicking the field goal to take the lead. But Todd Gurley got stuffed behind the line of scrimmage, sending the Rams to the locker room without a score.

The three points they snickered at in favor of going for the touchdown ended up being the winning margin for the Lions.

See how this works out?

Even when things are going good, as they were for Keenum and Britt and an offense that moved up and down the field with ease Sunday, somehow, some way the Rams find a way to shoot themselves in the foot.

“I know that sounds like a broken record from last week, but I mean, we had the ball in our hands with a chance to go win the game and we didn’t,” Keenum said. “That’s frustrating.”

One step forward, two steps back.

Like the defense not being able to drive a stake in the Lions after the offense built a 28-21 at the start of the fourth quarter.

The same defense that has carried the Rams to their three wins was unable to answer the call.

On the touchdown drive the Lions mounted to tie the game, the Rams couldn’t turn the Lions away on four third-down situations. The result was an 8-play, 84-yard drive that ended with Golden Tate hauling in a 23-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to tie the game at 28-28.

“We can’t get to the quarterback,” Aaron Donald said, shaking his head. “He’s back there all day, passing the ball, making plays.”

And with a chance to get the ball back for the offense – or make a stand and force overtime – the Rams allowed a nine-play 43-yard drive in which Matt Prater kicked a 34-yard field goal to make it 31-28.

“Offense puts 28 points on the board and we couldn’t stop the opponent,” Donald said, disappointedly.

That seems to be the Rams’ reality. It’s why they’ve been mired in mediocrity for years.

They’ll land in London on Monday morning, but the location is of no significance. The Rams find themselves stuck in no man’s land again at .500.

It seems to be their destiny under Fisher.

Despite Strong Performances, Rams Fall to Lions, 31-28

Myles Simmons

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Despite-Strong-Performances-Rams-Fall-to-Lions-31-28/72d6d82b-7ba9-4d70-b2c0-43fda3d7b649

DETROIT — Though the Rams received strong offensive performances from quarterback Case Keenum and wide receiver Kenny Britt, they could not get enough defensive stops and fell to the Lions, 31-28. With the loss, the Rams are now 3-3 on the season.

The Lions got off to a fast start offensively, driving down the field in eight plays for a touchdown on their opening possession. Quarterback Matthew Stafford connected with wideout Golden Tate for a 34-yard screen pass that brought the Lions down to the Rams’ seven-yard line. Then Stafford hit wide receiver Marvin Jones in the left side of the end zone for a touchdown, giving Detroit an early 7-0 lead.

Los Angeles put together a nice drive in response, culminating in Britt’s first touchdown reception of the season. Running back Todd Gurley led the charge with four carries for 29 yards on the possession — including a 15-yard scamper on the Rams’ first offensive play. On 2nd-and-5 from Detroit’s 20-yard line, Keenum rolled to his right, waited for Britt to find the soft spot in the zone, and delivered an accurate ball. Britt caught it, made a couple defenders miss, and found his way into the end zone for a 20-yard scoring strike.

After a defensive stop — punctuated by linebacker Josh Forrest’s tackle for loss on 3rd-and-1 — the Rams got back on the board with another long scoring drive. Keenum completed a pair of passes to Gurley in the flat on the drive, both of which went for 13 yards. And on 1st-and-goal from the one-yard line, Keenum faked a handoff to Gurley, then rolled to his right for an easy touchdown, giving the Rams a 14-7 lead.

The Lions would answer with a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. Stafford found veteran wideout Anquan Boldin a few times on the possession to move the ball down the field. Then the Lions elected to go for it on 4th-and-goal from the L.A. two-yard line, and Stafford fond wide receiver Andre Roberts in the back of the end zone for for the game-tying touchdown.

Los Angeles had a chance to take a lead into halftime, but were not able to turn their two-minute drive into points. A 43-yard pass from Keenum to Britt brought the Rams into Detroit territory. And another pass from Keenum to Britt looked as if it may have gotten into the end zone on 3rd-and-goal from the Lions’ seven-yard line. Though the play was reviewed, the officials concluded Britt was about a half-yard short.

The Rams elected to go for it on 4th-and-goal with a handoff to Gurley, but the play was stuffed in the backfield for a loss to keep the score tied at 14 heading into halftime.

The second half began decidedly in the Lions’ favor, as Los Angeles committed a pair of false-start penalties to move a 3rd-and-5 play to a 3rd-and-15 deep in the visitors’ territory. After a short run on third down, Johnny Hekker’s first punt of the day went 54 yards, and was fair caught at Detroit’s 40-yard line.

But the Lions would cash in on their opportunity regardless, moving deep into L.A. territory with a deep pass from Stafford to Tate. With an offsides penalty on the Rams’ defense, Stafford recognized his opportunity to take a deep shot and did so successfully. While it initially looked like Tate had made it to the end zone, he was ruled down by contact. But a couple plays later, Stafford hit Boldin with a short pass in the end zone for a touchdown to take the lead.

L.A. wouldn’t be down for long, going down the field in six plays on the ensuing drive for a game-tying touchdown. Keenum hit Britt with a 47-yard pass to begin the possession, which the wideout saved from hitting the ground by keeping the ball between his legs. Keenum finished the drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end Lance Kendricks, which tied the game at 21.

The Rams’ defense held strong on the ensuing drive, forcing a three-and-out. And Los Angeles’ offense went right back to work, moving down the field for another scoring drive. Wideout Brian Quick made a pair of receptions for first downs to keep the chains moving. And then Keenum found Britt in the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown to give the Rams a 28-21 lead.

Also on that drive, Keenum broke Jim Everett’s 27-year old franchise record with 20 consecutive completions.

Detroit came back with a long drive to bring the score back to even. The Lions converted four third-down opportunities on a possession that lasted 8:07, culminating in a Tate 23-yard screen reception for a touchdown.

With the game tied at 28, L.A. went back to work at their own 25-yard line, but could not get anything going and had to punt.

The Lions took the lead on their ensuing drive, with a key 3rd-and-1 conversion on an 11-yard pass from Stafford to Boldin helping to sustain the drive. After the two-minute warning, defensive tackle Aaron Donald picked up Los Angeles’ first sack of the game. A screen pass to Tate came up just short of the marker on 3rd-and-13. But Detroit still went ahead with a 34-yard field goal, grabbing a 31-28 lead with just 1:29 left in the fourth quarter.

With the Rams out of timeouts, their drive started on the 25-yard line after a touchback. On the second play of the possession, Keenum threw his first poor pass of the day, as a ball intended for Kendricks over the middle was intercepted by safety Rafael Bush.

The Rams will now head to London to take on the Giants in Week 7.

JackPMiller wrote:

Cowboys are 5-1. They have a rookie QB, a rookie RB, no Dez Bryant, a banged up Online themselves, talent wise the worse defense in all the NFL. Their two pass rushers are just coming back from suspension

The idea that their OL is banged up is absurd. They have a former starter (Leary) playing for Collins. That’s not “banged up,” that’s what I always call relatively healthy. Replacing one guy is not a banged up line. Compare that to the Rams in 2007 when they lost 10 OL players, including 4 for the season and 6 for extended periods. It’s just not remotely the same.

And they are not starting a #2 caliber qb. They picked him because he is starting caliber and the future. That would be like calling Bulger a #2 caliber qb. Well no, Bulger was a starting caliber qb. The key operative word here is CALIBER. That’s why I always stress that word. Prescott’s certainly not the equivalent of Hill or Clemens…ie guys who are #2 caliber qbs and career back-ups.

Neither one of those things is what I talked about. And…enough. I answered your post but Jack we don’t argue in game reaction threads. Start a new thread if you have to continue with this for some reason. Me too. I can’t continue it either (and to be fair may have started it.) So let’s leave the Fisher Wars out of this thread. K?

JackPMiller wrote:

It all comes back to coaching. Our guys are not coached well to finish games.

Well apparently it all comes back to repeating that mantra regardless of the facts.

In the last 4 games they were down late. They won two, and lost two. So apparently they are capable of it.

One of the losses they were missing both Quinn and Johnson. That made a difference. Unless you want to argue that Quinn and Johnson were injured by Fisher.

As I said, Jack, I always like good attention to the facts over autopilot coach blame stuff.

JackPMiller wrote:

3-3 again.

Okay Here are the years they’ve been exactly 3-3 since 1990.

2015

2013

2012

2010

1991

.

InvaderRam wrote:

it doesn’t account for the fact that this slide goes back to last year. the running game has been stuttering since last year.

Well that’s a good point, but to be absolutely precise, in his last 4 starts, Gurley had different outcomes game by game. He wasn’t sputtering in every game.

Stats = Attempts Yards Y/A TDs

Either way, IMO these guys are simply not going to put in schemes that do not conform to the players’s strengths. They’re not going to make a mistake like that. That’s the kind of mistake you expect from an entirely new staff.

It’s just more likely that the entire offense—not just the OL, not just Gurley, not just the qb—started the season out sputtering and misfiring.

In fact before last Sunday Keenum and Austin were misfiring on passes, where it wasn’t even clear who was doing the wrong thing. Then, last Sunday, bang, it clicked. That just sounds to me like guys who are half a page off in relation to one another. Just classic out of sync-ness.

And they didn’t just add new techniques. They changed the entire offense (Keenum spoke about this) DURING a move year. That means an offense that is still thinking not playing and doing that after a move–and right now being 3-2, the Rams are the only OTHER team in the history of football who were winning 5 games in after a move. Outside of that, move years are one long history of losing.

InvaderRam wrote:

that’s what i’m curious about. are they playing to the strengths of their players or forcing them into a scheme to which they are not suited?

I think the odds of that are remote at best. Boudreau has been coaching these guys since 2012. Boras has been a Rams coach for that long too. What are the odds they suddenly out of nowhere started mistaking what their own players are capable of and what they’re not.

Plus they acquired most of these players SINCE 2012. When they acquire players, they look for scheme fit.

I want to encourage folks to pitch in. It’s all for fun, no one is counting. I know the Bills game was deflating but still!

If it helps any…have some pie.

Zooey wrote:

I hope you’re right.

In the mean time, playcalling should be adjusted while the offense grows in sync.

There are some things that are working better than others, and they could go to those plays more often than they do – which in turn would relax the “pressing” in other areas.

So…I have officially started the Boras Skeptic Society. There will be a Facebook page soon.

If they are out of sync then playcalling makes no difference.

In terms of teams changing what they call, that happens all the time in the course of a season. This is a young team with basically a new OL. Knowing what to call for your personnel takes time. Compare GW’s first year with the D v. this year. They can adjust rapidly and were able to do things like shut down Buffalo in the 2nd half because GW knows what to do with these guys AND the players KNOW the system. Meanwhile Boras is new to them and they are new to Boras, as a coordinator, and that includes a relatively inexperienced OL, which is always tricky.

The last thing we want is to hire yet another NEW coordinator. But either way I don’t see problems in that regard. I just don’t. And I complained about the coordinator at length in 2006 (when it was really Linehan) and in 2011 (McD). I am not an automatic coordinator defender.

But back to the main point. If they are out of sync then our judgment of playcalling will not be based on anything. Under those conditions, what looks like a bad call could actually be a play screwed up by execution issues, and we would not be able to tell the difference (fans are notoriously incapable sometimes of sorting out execution from playcalling…because they cannot possibly know if a play was executed properly. Only a coach watching film can tell that.) So we may dislike a certain type of play NOW but then when they are settled in, and comfortable, and playing at a 2nd nature level, that very same play could work like gangbusters.

I will be on the Doubt Boras bandwagon on the other hand if the run game NEVER works, all season.

…

InvaderRam wrote:

hmmmm…

Dickerson watched the Rams’ Week 4 game against Arizona alongside fellow Hall of Fame running back Marcus Allen, and they each saw one legitimate hole for Gurley to attack. During the Week 2 game against Seattle, Dickerson got a text from another Hall of Fame running back, Thurman Thomas, who wrote: “Man, that line is going to get Todd Gurley killed.”

And it’s not what it seems, IMO.

Something happened but I don’t think it;s what anyone thinks it is.

….

Rams’ Goff continues waiting game

Bob Buttitta ,

http://www.vcstar.com/story/sports/nfl/rams/2016/10/14/rams-goff-continues-waiting-game/92074246/

As other rookie quarterbacks like Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott continue to lead their teams to wins, Los Angeles Rams rookie Jared Goff waits for his chance to show what he can do.

Five weeks into the season, the league’s No. 1 overall pick has yet to play a down. Goff said he feels no frustration over seeing other rookies play while he continues to sit.

“Every situation’s different,” Goff said Wednesday. “All these guys that are doing well right now, I’m very happy for. Most of them, I’m good friends with. They’ve done a good job.”

As the team begins its two-week road trip against the Lions in Detroit on Sunday followed by a trip to London to face the New York Giants, there’s no indication from head coach Jeff Fisher and offensive coordinator Rob Boras that they plan to insert Goff into the lineup soon.

But both emphasized they believe that Goff is making progress.

“He’s getting his offensive reps in every period with the exception – on Friday it’s kind of hard. But on Wednesday, Thursday, he’s getting his reps,” Fisher said. “And then he’s running the scout team; the scout team is completely different than our offensive reps.

“But he’s doing fine, he has a good feel for what we’re doing. I think he’s improving, he’s learned a lot and, with each passing week, he’s getting better.”

Boras echoed Fisher’s sentiment, saying Goff continues to improve and seems more comfortable with the offense.

“A lot of the times, you understand how a person is learning by the questions that he’s asking, and he’s not asking rookie questions anymore,” Boras said. “He’s starting to ask those more advanced, if you will, say the 301- or 401-type question. For me, it starts there.

“Then, obviously, just watching him going against our defense and his footwork in the pocket and eliminating the turnovers. With the reps that he does get with the first unit, those same sorts of things. He’s putting a lot of work in as if he is the starter, which I know is not an easy thing to do, especially for a young player. I think that says a lot about his maturity as a 21-year-old.”

Goff said feels like he’s made steady progress since his first day of rookie camp. He said there wasn’t an “ah-ha” moment where things suddenly clicked.

“I don’t feel like I have gone backward,” Goff said. “Seems like every day, every week has gotten more natural. Things are more second nature, so I am feeling good.”

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-practicereport/Practice-Report-1014-The-Challenges-of-a-Long-Road-Trip/656300e7-19b4-4051-b8c9-02ea929191da

LAST TIME AGAINST DETROIT…

When the Rams faced the Lions in Week 14 last year, they were in strong need of a victory. They had just lost their fifth game in a row, and Fisher made the call to dismiss offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti in favor of Rob Boras.

Starting with that game — a 21-14 victory over Detroit — Boras did enough over the last four weeks to keep the job for the 2016 season.

“It was a blur, but it was a great win for the organization, just like anytime you’re on a losing streak,” Boras said. “It was exciting, it was nerve-racking for all of us, but the players found a way and responded and played really well in that game.”

That game also represented Keenum’s second start of the season, after he’d missed the last two games due to injury. Again, it was a contest where Keenum began showing enough to maintain his standing as QB-1 through this season.

Plus, defensive tackle Aaron Donald was named Defensive Player of the Week after racking up 3.0 sacks, six quarterback hits, and three tackles for loss. And running back Todd Gurley broke out for 140 yards and two touchdowns on just 16 carries.

“Any time you watch film like that, it’s hard not to remember some of those good feelings,” Keenum said. “So I think it’s a good thing to watch some of those good plays and see what we did well, learn from the things we didn’t do well.”

Of course, it’s a different year and both teams are different. The Lions, for example, no longer have a Hall of Fame-caliber wideout in Calvin Johnson after his retirement this offseason.

“It was a pretty good game,” Gurley said, “but it was last year. I wish I was doing what I was doing last year, but I’m not. So just have to focus on this game.”