As Rams eye another playoff chase, the little details could make or break them

Jourdan Rodrigue

https://x.com/JourdanRodrigue?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

FOXBORO, Mass. — What a perfect setting, in a place with such a storied previous reputation for winning by emphasizing the details, to consider the important little moments and decisions within a game.

The Los Angeles Rams (5-5) beat the New England Patriots (3-8) on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, the hallowed halls of a program once known for its meticulousness, its understanding of all of the margins that must be exploited within a 60-minute window, and that is now in the process of finding its way in a new era.

The details made the difference for the Rams in the 28-22 win but could have broken them, too. That is the story of their season right now and likely will be in the coming weeks as they hope to go on another fairytale ride with this group of players.

Take their offensive line, for example: After a one-week experiment with veteran guard Jonah Jackson at center (where he has only gotten about 15 practices because of injuries and overall readjustments by Rams brass at the center/left guard positions), rookie Beaux Limmer got his starting job back. He and the rest of the line kept quarterback Matthew Stafford off the ground (no sacks, four hits) and handled New England’s pressure well, even if at times Stafford rushed throws or targeted other options in light of it. That an impact decision at center manifested in a place where the position coach — who has been working long hours to get Limmer up to speed and to establish an identity within the much-maligned group this season — used to start at center was all the more poetic.

Coach Sean McVay was sure to shout out offensive line coach Ryan Wendell, “Wendy,” the former Patriots center, in his postgame news conference, and his players knew what the win meant to him.

Right tackle Warren McClendon added that Limmer stepped right back into the job like he “never skipped a beat,” and McVay was particularly impressed with the left side of the offensive line, where second-year guard Steve Avila played his second game back from injury. Running back Kyren Williams and backup Blake Corum read their gaps and creases well, especially after the first quarter (more on that period in a moment). Williams’ 86 yards on 15 carries were punctuated by an 18-yard run in the first quarter, his longest since Week 5 (his 5.7 yards per carry was almost 2 yards higher than his average entering the game).

“I thought our left side did an excellent job. You can see Alaric (Jackson) was really coming off the football. Steve did a great job. I was proud of the group overall,” McVay said, adding that the possessions in which the Rams did string together several chunk runs “is what offensive ball should look like when it’s quality.”

Williams said that at one point as the Rams began to run the ball well in the second and third quarters, he could hear the Patriots defenders calling out their plays — but they weren’t able to stop them.

“I felt good, I was saying, ‘I was all on that stuff,’” Williams said. “I was seeing what I needed to see, hitting what I needed to hit. (Those) guys made the blocks up front and I was just reading them and playing (like) who I am.

“We were moving the ball. Left, right, outside zone. … It really didn’t matter, we were calling our spots (and) they were literally our plays out there, saying that we were running the same play. We were running the same play! And we were still being efficient. I feel like that’s who those guys (are) and the work they put in this week to get the run game started and going.”

Williams, chafing at himself for missing a pressure pickup off the edge, homed in on the details in a 69-yard touchdown from Stafford to receiver Cooper Kupp (Kupp’s second of the game) up the seam. Williams had the interior pressure assignment that time, against the Patriots’ Cover 0 blitz.

“They brought my ‘backer, I was able to pick him up,” Williams said, “that feels good. That’s good ball. … Matthew was going through his cadence. When he gave us the first “Turbo” (as in, “Turbo … SET”), the linebacker started inching up. I was like, ‘OK, I know he’s coming in.’ That’s my guy anyway. We talk about taking the air out, being able to get to the line of scrimmage and … creating no space between you and the linebacker so that gives him one way to go: outside, or into you.

“He chose to play into me. I set back, anchored. … I fought through the down and Matthew was able to get it out (for a) touchdown. It was sweet.”

There was a fun detail hidden inside that play for Stafford and Kupp, too. It is remarkably similar to the “for the love of the game” concept that set up the Rams’ game-winning field goal against the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC divisional round a few years ago. Back then, and against the same type of pressure, that ball was never thrown until one night it was. Years later, Kupp and Stafford are able to make an adjustment on the route and with the timing of the throw to, as Stafford said with a smile, make “the likelihood of getting the ball today … higher than it was in that Tampa one.”

Even rookie safety Kam Kinchens’ game-sealing interception on the Patriots’ final drive ended with a crucial detail: Slide! Kinchens laughed after the game when walking me through the play.

“After I caught it, my mind was to run and score a touchdown because it was open to me,” he said, “When (I) catch a pick, it’s go time. But luckily I got ‘Boom’ (Christian Rozeboom). He got right in front of me and said, ‘GO DOWN.’ So I made sure (to slide).” Kinchens added a little intentional gusto to the slide, too.

But other details, other small moments that compounded into larger issues threatened to derail the Rams:

• They continue to start games in stunningly slow fashion. Sunday, they were scoreless in the first quarter for the seventh time this season and failed to convert two key third downs on back-to-back possessions, both around midfield. Deep into the fourth quarter, they couldn’t close the game out, either, failing to convert on third-and-6 and quite literally leaving the game in the hands of Kinchens and the defense.

• Rookie kicker Joshua Karty missed a 26-yard field goal attempt at the end of the second quarter that banged off the right post.

Karty has missed four field goals this year, after a perfect three-game start (he did not kick a field goal in weeks 5 or 8).

The inconsistency in part prompted McVay to punt the ball after a three-and-out with 2:22 left, up by just 6 points and from the New England 35-yard line.

“There wasn’t a lot of reason to feel great about that operation today,” he said.

• Penalty issues and mental errors popped up for a defense that had otherwise played well, including an early strip-sack and fumble recovery in the second quarter that set up a 12-yard touchdown to Puka Nacua a play later. In the third quarter, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye led his offense on a touchdown drive that made it a two-score game. Thirty yards were gifted to Maye and his group because outside linebacker Jared Verse was flagged for a personal foul after a play near the sideline and outside linebacker Byron Young had a face-mask flag (which was more like a clothesline of the offensive player). New England ultimately scored on the next possession (a field goal) while the Rams’ offense stalled once again with a three-and-out before the Patriots added another 3 points.

“When you’ve got a young, youthful group, they’ve got a great spirit about them,” McVay said. “How do we rein them in and not allow them to extend drives by (penalties)? That’s absolutely something we’ve got to be mindful of. We’ll get it fixed. Our guys are the right kinds of guys, I have no doubt. That could have cost us and, fortunately, we don’t have to learn the hard way. I trust we’ll be better moving forward.”

That last sentence carries a lot of weight about the potential McVay believes the Rams have overall. Indeed, they showed a long look at who they can be, as long as they stay in the details.

RAMMAN76

Some game stats

A well-balanced game in passes vs runs: 27/Att in passing, 24/att in runs

Stafford
295 yards on 18-of-27 passing, four touchdowns, passer rating of 142.7
10th all time TD’s in NFL

Nacua
Seven catches, 123 yards and a touchdown

Kupp
Six catches, 106 yards and 2 touchdowns
He’s now #3 on the Rams all time TD list behind Bruce and Holt.

Kyren Williams 86 yards rushing; averaged 5.35 yards per carry

Defense had 3/sacks, 5/QB hits, 6/TFL, 1/INT

Braden Fiske
2 sacks and a strip

Kobie Turner
seven tackles, batted pass, fumble recovery.

1/INT by Kinchens

Rams Top Plays In Week 11 Win Over Patriots

Andrew Brandt@AndrewBrandt
Sign of strength of the NFL:
Biggest game of year is between Kansas City and Buffalo, two of smallest markets in pro sports.
Rare to see sustained success in small markets in other sports, common in NFL (Green Bay as well).
The power of equal revenue sharing and a Salary Cap.

Sanchez mentioned-
Inside counter lead — not unlike the old Gap plays Dickerson ran … but inside, not outside

RB takes counter step to left, goes upfield. Avila traps the 4-tech, Allen leads into hole. Dotson chips the LBer then gets to next LBer. Limmer good, too pic.twitter.com/YduxbjgPAQ

— Jim Youngblood 53 (@53_jim70721) November 17, 2024

InvaderRam wrote:

and how did mcclendon look? does that write off noteboom?

McClendon was better this week than Noteboom was last week. It’s hard for me to project much about McClendon based on this game, though, so who knows about his future. But IMO Noteboom should, in all fairness, be a goner after the season. He’s injured too often and he doesn’t always play effectively when he is healthy. He was awful last week.

Matthew Stafford throws his FOURTH touchdown of the day! 🙌

(via @RamsNFL)pic.twitter.com/4BSLYgoWeK

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 17, 2024

Starting base defense
a change -Jonah Williams started in base
Tyler Davis has been starting NT last 2 weeks pic.twitter.com/36WXHwTTMx

— Jim Youngblood 53 (@53_jim70721) November 17, 2024

from https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2024/11/17/24298994/rams-patriots-winners-losers-beaux-limmer?utm_content=turfshowtimes&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=twitter

Offensive line & pass protection

I think this was easily the OL’s cleanest effort on the 2024 season so far. For the third time in the last four games, the big guys up front did not allow a single sack on Stafford. It’s probably no coincidence that two of Stafford’s best individual outings have come in games where he was kept clean.

The running game averaged 5.35 yards per carry with Kyren Williams accounting for 86 of those yards and Blake Corum adding 21.

I don’t think the degree of difficulty was too high against the Patriots. I wrote before the game that most were giving Jerod Mayo’s defensive unit too much credit after a dominating performance against the Chicago Bears. Still, the pass protection was beyond solid today and that is a rising tide that lifted all boats on the offensive side of the ball.

❌ KINCHENS CLOSED ❌ pic.twitter.com/MFQAD41BUl

— Rams Tapes 🥶 (@RamsTapes) November 17, 2024

zn wrote:

Rams inactives: … Joe Noteboom, Rob Havenstein, …

This gawd damm Noteboom experiment has to end. They apparently love him, they extended him and keep bringing him back, and he has never lived up to their trust. Injured a lot and doesn’t consistently come through when he is healthy. OT has to be a priority in the next draft.

I’m sure he’s a good guy. So I take no pleasure in being so harsh. But it’s the NFL. You produce or move on to your next career.

With a hybrid DL like Hoecht (97), the Rams can move him from an Edge down to a 3t.

That flexibility allows them to create different looks.

This is similar to how some 4-down defenses use off-ball LBs as leverage tools up front.
— pic.twitter.com/u9EssNofqr

— Cody Alexander (@The_Coach_A) November 17, 2024

from Quora
…

A bartender is new in town in the old west. He’s busy serving drinks when a guy comes bursting thru the swinging doors gasping “Big Earl’s a-comin into town”. Immediately, all the customers drop what they’re doing, run out the door, and scatter down the street out of town. The bartender has no idea what all this means.

But soon, he hears loud foot steps coming towards the saloon. Then the biggest guy he’s ever seen rips the doors off, tosses them aside, bends down a little to get through the doorway. He sees the bartender cowering behind a table, picks him up, and tosses him behind the bar, walks over and says “whiskey”.

Terrified, the bartender gets a glass and a bottle and brings them over. The guy grabs the bottle, slams down a handful of coins so forcefully it cracks the bar, tears the top off the whiskey his teeth, and drinks it all down, and dashes the empty bottle on the floor. The frightened bartender manages to say “can I get you anything else, sir”?

The man says, “nope. Gotta run. Big Earl’s comin.”

Wyatt Miller@wymill07
you “earn the right” to rush the passer by putting the opposing offense in obvious passing situations.

When the Rams have done that, they pressure the QB on 3rd downs more than any team in football (55.7%).

Patriots can't run, and recently Rams have been able to stop the run well, after a poor start. pic.twitter.com/I2tynsLjc4

— Jim Youngblood 53 (@53_jim70721) November 15, 2024