According to @PFF, OL Kevin Dotson has the 6th-best offensive grade among offensive linemen (83.7) and is the highest-graded guard in the NFL. He also has the 10th-best run blocking grade among offensive linemen (84.8) and the 4th-highest among guards. #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/swVarM43Ua

— Los Angeles Rams PR (@TheLARamsPR) November 22, 2023

Aaron Donald is a master at splitting double teams.

Absolutely blows up this play. Good contain by Byron Young on the edge. No chance for Zach Charbonnet. pic.twitter.com/sfiH6B86WM

— Blaine Grisak 💭 (@bgrisakTST) November 22, 2023

With more time, Stafford maybe hits Puka Nacua on the deep corner.

However, he HAS to be able to see Davis Allen underneath on the checkdown. It's an easy first down. Offense went three-and-out here. pic.twitter.com/xhrv1evZ8J

— Blaine Grisak 💭 (@bgrisakTST) November 22, 2023

nittany ram wrote:

I love Piccolo too.   It was horrible watching him get gunned down in his car by a competing Mafia family

But in the end he took the ring to the volcano, where it was destroyed.

Rookie defensive tackle Kobie Turner is putting together a promising rookie season. He is on pace for 68 tackles from the interior position.

Turner has great instincts and acceleration for his size. He looks to be a mainstay in the rotation for years to come pic.twitter.com/amXGwqhv9X

— RAMS ON FILM (@RamsOnFilm) November 21, 2023

InvaderRam wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

I’m not saying I have the answer or that “out of sync” isn’t a real issue, but it doesn’t really tell us much. It can simply be a wastebasket term where we toss problems that are hard to identify.

well i would guess injuries would be the main culprit for being out of sync. but yeah i’m really only guessing.

Injuries explain Higbee.

And quite possibly Stafford.

And maybe Kupp.

It’s just that the young team of 2023 doesn’t have a lot of room for errors or for waning production from the stars.

Being “out of sync” is not a cause, of course, it’s a symptom. When we say an offense looks out of sync, we mean that it lacks the cohesion and timing needed to be effective. One example is Higbee missing wham blocks. Another is Stafford missing wide open throws. Another is Kupp dropping passes he usually doesn’t drop. Saying they are out of sync is not diagnosing a cause, it’s describing  obvious flaws in their play and production.

nittany ram wrote:

This season either due to age or injury, Kupp isn’t open as much.

I don’t think it’s that, meaning I don’t think it’s age or injury. I have firm absolute evidence of that which I’ve already sent you, I promise it’s in the mail. 😎 Anyway I think it’s more about timing and chemistry due to not practicing/playing as much. Game speed. That kind of thing. They are not in sync. It does look like Nacua is the better first read at this point and that Kupp isn’t getting it done in that role. This is bothersome the same way Higbee is–Higbee isn’t himself either but McV insists on starting him in spite of depth at TE. When Stafford, Kupp, and Higbee are all off at the same time it’s a mess.

Rams-Seahawks takeaways: Cooper Kupp is injured again; Derion Kendrick recovers

GARY KLEIN

https://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/story/2023-11-20/rams-seahawks-takeaways-cooper-kupp-injured-ankle-derion-kendrick-key-interception

What we learned from the victory that improved the Rams’ record to 4-6:

It’s been a tough season for the 2021 NFL offensive player of the year. Kupp left the field during the first half because of an ankle injury and did not play in the second half.

It is the latest setback for the Rams star, who in 2022 suffered a season-ending ankle injury that required surgery.

Kupp started this season on injured reserve because of a hamstring injury. He returned in Week 5 and caught passes for more than 100 yards in each of his first two games.

He has struggled since.

Kupp went into the game against the Seahawks with only eight catches for 98 yards in the previous three games. On Sunday, he had one reception for 11 yards.

Matthew Stafford still has thumb issues

Stafford engineered two late-scoring drives to win the game, but the 15th-year pro said he still is not at 100% because of the right thumb sprain suffered against Dallas on Oct. 29.

Stafford had sat out the last game against the Green Bay Packers.

“I’m not 100%, but I’m good enough to go out there and make some plays,” he said, adding, “There’s some I missed … that have nothing to do with that.”

Stafford completed 17 of 31 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown, with an interception.

Stafford has passed for nine touchdowns this season, with eight interceptions.

Cornerback Derion Kendrick came up big

Kendrick, a second-year pro, got his first career interception when he picked off a long pass by Seahawks backup quarterback Drew Lock. The turnover set up what proved to be the game-winning field goal.

Kendrick, a sixth-round pick in 2022, started six games as a rookie. He made multiple plays on the ball but missed several chances for interceptions.

This season has been a struggle on and off the field.

Kendrick faces two misdemeanor gun charges for an October arrest in Hollywood. (His arraignment was postponed to Dec. 5). He briefly lost his starting job the week of the incident, and then lost it again after playing poorly against the Dallas Cowboys, but Kendrick was back in the lineup against the Seahawks.

He drew an unnecessary roughness penalty in the first quarter, but came back and made the defensive play of the game.

Lucas Havrisik made a pressure-packed kick

Havrisik has been with the Rams for just three games, but he did not flinch in his first game-winning opportunity. Havrisik’s 22-yard field goal with 1 minute, 31 seconds left provided the final margin.

Havrisik has made four of five field-goal attempts since replacing Brett Maher.

Bobby Brown III, Ernest Jones return with flourish

Brown came off injured reserve and made an immediate impact. The third-year pro combined with linebacker Ernest Jones to sack Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith in the third quarter.

It was the first career sack for Brown. Jones returned to the lineup after sitting out against Green Bay because of a knee injury. He recorded a team-best 12 tackles.

Royce Freeman, Darrell Henderson ran hard

With Kyren Williams not eligible to return from injured reserve until next Sunday against Arizona, Freeman seized the opportunity and rushed for 73 yards in 17 carries.

Henderson rushed for a six-yard touchdown and caught four passes for 28 yards.

Stafford missed a wide-open Henderson on a sideline route that would have resulted in a long gain, possibly a touchdown.

Rams Week 11 OL PFF Grades:

Alaric Jackson – 80.4 PBLK | 43.9 RBLK
Steve Avila – 76.5 | 53.5
Coleman Shelton – 62.1 | 55.6
Kevin Dotson – 85.3 | 63.7
Rob Havenstein – 62.3 | 68.4

10 pressures allowed.

— Blaine Grisak 💭 (@bgrisakTST) November 20, 2023

.@AsapPuka ANGRY RUNNIN'! 🤬 pic.twitter.com/Smprxpc70M

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) November 20, 2023

zn wrote:

..

Stu Jackson@StuJRams

Matthew Stafford took a massive hit to his midsection after that throw and got attention from medical staff.

..

Penalty? Yes or no? pic.twitter.com/krhmJXx4eP

— Allen Sales (@AllenSales) November 20, 2023

wv wrote:

Cant quibble with any of that. Though If i were to quibble, I’m not sure I’d have W.Tyler that high on the list.

You’re only lukewarm about Tyler because of your inexplicably irrational prejudice about fumbles.

“All great backs fumble.” Wendell Tyler, sometime in the late 7os.

Cappelletti was indeed everything you say he was.

Jared Goff goes from 2-INT first half to taking the lead in the first half. Nice rebound.

I guess after the media labels you a bust before you get a full season of starts and your coach scapegoats you, nothing much fazes you. pic.twitter.com/CisnzJzRDi

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) November 20, 2023

.

Jared Goff ain’t your McVay scapegoat. pic.twitter.com/SyteOqQrwc

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) November 20, 2023

Rodrigue: Rams say they’ll learn from Sunday’s win, so here are some lessons

By Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/5076294/2023/11/20/rams-win-lessons-learned-sean-mcvay/?source=emp_shared_article

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Music boomed and thudded through the Los Angeles locker room just minutes after a missed field goal by Seattle secured the Rams’ fourth win of the season, their first in November since 2020.

The celebration was tinged with some relief: The Rams scored just 17 points Sunday in their 17-16 effort, another sub-20-point outing for a team averaging only 19.5 points per game (No. 22 in the NFL) under its offensive-minded coach and veteran quarterback.

“There’s a lot of things that we can learn from, offensively,” coach Sean McVay said. “But it sure feels good to be able to do that after a win.”

Receiver Cooper Kupp left during the second quarter with an ankle injury and did not return. Kupp stayed out on the sideline in uniform, believing he might be able to come back in. McVay had no update about Kupp’s status.

In his absence, creativity with other receivers was a necessity (as was their need to step up). Lesson No. 1 of the day, on that side of the ball anyway. On the Rams’ two touchdown drives, there was a four-to-five run-to-pass play balance, and Stafford divvied the ball to four different targets per drive. Now, readers know I am not a strict “equal run-to-pass balance” person, understanding that the offense should also be fluid to capitalize where it sees leverages and advantages. However, the Rams, especially minus Kupp on both drives, needed to keep an expanded play-menu intact. Keeping the Seattle defense accountable for the run, and therefore opening the potential of moving Matthew Stafford’s pocket, was important.

Non-scoring drives revealed where this roster still has to go. On more than one occasion, including a couple of hits and throwaways, Stafford held the ball while searching for an open receiver and couldn’t always find one. The Rams opened the game with a three-and-out and got no push on the line of scrimmage inside Seattle’s 5-yard line on their second drive of a scoreless first quarter. That was after getting 59 net penalty yards on the drive — only to stall out on fourth-and-2 (a pass play, after three failed runs) instead of imposing physicality in short yardage.

“You have four (first-half) drives, I believe it was, you end up going three-and-out on two of them, so it’s hard to have any sort of rhythm,” McVay said. “We go right down the field (on the penalty-yards drive), then it wasn’t a really good call on fourth down. There were a couple of previous plays where I thought we could have executed better. So you come away with no points right there. So that’s tough.”

Offensive line will have to be an area of focus this spring, even after some personnel improvements last offseason. So, too, will receiver (another Kupp injury is a sobering reality, though the seriousness of his current situation isn’t yet known) and running back, though the Rams expect starter Kyren Williams to return from injured reserve next week. A harder topic to mull: Although Stafford reiterated that his still-recovering thumb did not limit what the Rams were able to call Sunday, he also admitted he is not “100 percent” and took a massive shot to the stomach/chest on an underthrown ball that was intercepted in the third quarter. The longer-term health of two of the players the Rams refer to as “weight-bearing walls” is constantly under scrutiny.

The hit seemed to fuel Stafford, though.

“I don’t know, I mean, it pissed me off,” he said, chuckling. “I don’t know if I need to take that level of a shot every week to get going.”

McVay added with a laugh, “Maybe we should punch him in the gut right before games, huh?”

A 32-yard dig concept to Puka Nacua later in that third quarter, threaded through double coverage that included star linebacker Bobby Wagner, was Stafford’s best throw of the game and helped set up the final go-ahead field goal.

“No. 9, the best in the world,” Nacua said, laughing. “The ability for him to hang in the pocket and put the ball anywhere.”

On defense, too, the team says it will keep learning, even in a strong finish. Cornerback Derion Kendrick was a good example Sunday. Kendrick all but lost his starting spot but got back the role because Cobie Durant was inactive Sunday with a shoulder injury. Kendrick had a rough start to the game — he had a penalty and was visibly frustrated with himself for miscommunicating on an assignment that ended up as a crucial second-down conversion on Seattle’s first touchdown drive — but batted down a Drew Lock pass attempt in the fourth quarter, and then intercepted Lock on a deep sideline one-on-one matchup with Tyler Lockett two plays later.

“I commend Derion,” inside linebacker Ernest Jones said. “He worked himself back into it. He wasn’t a starter at the beginning of the week, but the way he prepared and got himself going, he came out and he executed like we know all year — Derion, a few mistakes here and there. But when it’s time to go play, he’ll rise to the occasion.”

Seattle extended its opening drives with third- and even fourth-down conversions as the Rams offense couldn’t sustain anything. The Rams defense was on the field for almost 20 minutes in the first half — almost double its offense’s time of possession — but clamped down in the second half, holding the Seahawks to 1-for-8 on third down and just three points while flipping the time of possession advantage.

McVay gave the defensive captains game balls in the locker room after the win, among them Jones, saying repeatedly that the defense kept the Rams in the game.

“We were able to just keep everybody together,” said Jones, who led the Rams with 12 tackles, a half-sack and two quarterback hits, cradling his ball under his arm. “I pride myself on, when these guys get down or start second-guessing themselves, I want to lift them up, ‘Hey, you’re still a dog, you’re still a baller.’ This game ball means more to me than most, the most that I’ve ever gotten. I’m thankful.”

In the second half, the Rams mixed in new ideas on defense — a lesson in adjustments, in thinking outside the box with personnel even with a limited roster.

The Rams will have to address their cornerback position and sorely need to add pass-rushing help after this season. Midseason, they are working with and developing the guys they’ve got. That means trying new things.

Instead of bringing a third cornerback in to play the slot/star, they expanded a different sub package to include four safeties, two in hybrid “cover linebacker” roles and two in their usual single- or two-high look. They especially did this on known passing downs (third-and-medium or third-and-long) and had two stops in this look (the Seahawks converted a fourth down after one of them). Safety Russ Yeast also broke up a pass while covering in a hybrid role.

They also mixed up their pressures, including blitzes and even some funky pre-snap movement along their defensive line, which led to a sack.

“They were the key to the game,” McVay said of the Rams’ second-half defense. “It’s always a team game, (but) I thought for them not to be affected by some of the things we were struggling with and our offense was struggling with as a whole, they just kept playing. They kept competing. They kept it to a tight game.”

In a perfect world, the Rams aren’t depending on a missed kick by their opponent to secure a win. But they entered this season knowing they weren’t going to exist in a perfect world, nor with a perfect roster — or even one that is a player or two away.

They say they have learned a lot in their six losses; they gained a lot to chew on in their fourth win, too.

“There was a lot of things that didn’t go our way, but they just kept staying the course, they kept just learning from it,” McVay said. “I think learning how to win and learning how to identify those moments where the game pivots and you get a chance to be able to come away with (these) results, you’ve got to learn how to do that. Well, what’s the way to learn? You feel what these feelings feel like.”