Big reason the Rams brought back Darrell Henderson was for his ability in pass protection.

Picks up the blitzing DB here which allows Stafford to step up and run for the first down. pic.twitter.com/I4KcwowDXS

— Blaine Grisak 💭 (@bgrisakTST) October 24, 2023

.

Same thing with Royce Freeman.

When you can trust both RBs in pass pro, it allows you to stay balanced. Freeman picks up the free blitzer and Kupp draws an illegal contact penalty.

Can also see how Rams handled Watt all game. Did a really good job using TEs to chip him. pic.twitter.com/V2xa8hoogG

— Blaine Grisak 💭 (@bgrisakTST) October 24, 2023

9-9 box matchup on 3rd and 1. Royce Freeman cuts right of backfield penetration and earns the conversion #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/4LvsFxBGEd

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 23, 2023

Freeman has always been a competent pass protector. Good ID, square, and punch in this interior blitz pickup.

Stafford hits Puka Nacua for a chunk play. pic.twitter.com/WA6a84LCAH

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 23, 2023

6-4 advantage for right side of #RamsHouse OL and Royce Freeman exploits it for five up middle. pic.twitter.com/0u42hmY0L1

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 23, 2023

Physicality after the catch was what I thought was notable about Puka Nacua’s gm at BYU #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/83XVaHlRv2

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 23, 2023

Free release for Puka Nacua and fantastic placement by Matthew Stafford. Strong boundary work by Nacua. #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/u2zhrqS9i7

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 23, 2023

Most people watch All-22 for a better view of the game.

I'm here for Aaron Donald happily skipping off the field. Just a goal in his element. pic.twitter.com/85ZYjMUpjU

— Blaine Grisak 💭 (@bgrisakTST) October 24, 2023

Royce Freeman with an 8-7 box advantage for #RamsHouse and gains 9 pic.twitter.com/30Js5ZBBiv

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 23, 2023

10-7 box advantage for Darrell Henderson on this opening run for the #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/q6uDq4W4U5

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 23, 2023

Rodrigue: Rams can’t stop kicking themselves into their own way

By Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/4987694/2023/10/22/rams-steelers-sean-mcvay-brett-maher/?source=emp_shared_article

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The things this team does to itself, man.

Los Angeles Rams kicker Brett Maher left seven points on the board because of two missed field goals and a missed extra point. Coach Sean McVay couldn’t challenge a questionable spot on the field after a fourth down just ahead of the two-minute warning because he was out of timeouts. A defense that had played really well in the first three quarters had discipline and alignment breakdowns in the final frame. A quarterback playing some of the overall best football in the league right now threw a costly interception on the first scrimmage play in the third quarter that turned into seven points and also didn’t complete a single pass in the fourth quarter …

… and the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Rams 24-17. Or, seven points.

“There were a lot of things that we didn’t do to be able to finish this game,” McVay said. “Execution on teams, whether it be some execution offensively where you set yourself behind the sticks. Defensively, you can’t have 12 men on the field (and) you’ve got to be aligned in the right spots in some critical third downs. They were able to finish the game, we weren’t.”

Here’s McVay on Maher, specifically: “We’ll look at it, and we’ll see. He’s got to be better. That’s seven points that were missed out on, that were key and critical for the momentum of the game (and) the type of game that it was. Those were tough ones, today.”

A crestfallen Maher added postgame that he isn’t injured or dealing with anything that could have explained the errors, he just couldn’t find “it” on Sunday.

It wasn’t just that Maher missed the field goals, a 53-yard try in the first quarter and a 51-yard try in the third quarter. It’s also that the Steelers then got the ball back on shorter fields. Of the six playable possessions bookended by those misses, the Steelers scored a field goal and a touchdown on each of the shorter fields (starting from their 43-yard line and their 41-yard line, respectively). Three resulted in punts.

The other scoring possession within those bookends was off of Matthew Stafford’s third-quarter interception.

Here’s McVay on the interception, in which Steelers star outside linebacker T.J. Watt jumped Stafford’s throw: “(That) was just a killer. It was a really poor decision, I put our guys in a tough spot right there and that one is gonna eat at me. … Bottom line is, we had hitches on the outside and a little option route from the three-spot, seams at the two-spot. Thought, we obviously thought it was going to be a single-high (safety). (Steelers cornerback) Levi Wallace rolled up as a cloud. Got Cooper (Kupp) working an option on the mike (linebacker) and you don’t feel that overlap from the hook player when Watt ended up dropping out of there. That’s what led to the turnover.”

Stafford said he “obviously” didn’t see Watt.

“They had a nice coverage call for what we had going,” he said, “that being said, I gotta be smart with the ball.”

In about as sudden-change scenario as possible, and defending from their own 7-yard line, the Rams gave up a touchdown and the Steelers led 10-9. But it was still early in the third quarter! The Rams even answered Pittsburgh’s own touchdown drive with one of their own, plus a two-point conversion.

But in the fourth quarter, the Los Angeles defense fell apart while the offense was shut out, rushing for just 20 net yards while Stafford didn’t complete a single pass of his four attempts … and the Rams ran only eight total plays.

“We always talk about, ‘We’ve got to do our stuff better than they do their stuff, for longer,’” said outside linebacker Michael Hoecht, who had two sacks, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. “It didn’t shake out that way. … Over the course of a game, you can probably point to 10, 15 different things that need to shake your way in order to win (and) you need to win those 10 or 15.”

The Rams’ defense allowed 14 fourth-quarter points after holding Pittsburgh to just 10 through the initial three quarters. There was also a glaring error halfway through the fourth quarter when a substitution miscommunication involving the secondary led to a 5-yard penalty only added to other alignment issues and missed tackles and assignments. The Steelers scored two plays after the penalty.

“We got to do a better job of communicating the personnel changes,” McVay said. “You can’t give them five yards when they are in those scoring positions.”

Suddenly it was the Steelers who were moving the ball, up 24-17 despite the Rams outgaining them 341 yards of offense to 257 through that go-ahead touchdown.

The Rams didn’t — couldn’t — answer after that. It was the Steelers who had the chance to put the game away, and did.

Here’s McVay, on what could have been a very reasonable challenge, after game officials placed and then measured the ball after a fourth-and-1 Kenny Pickett sneak the Rams believed they had stopped short: “It doesn’t matter what I think. That was the spot they made. … I’m not gonna sit here and make any excuses about stuff that didn’t go down. Those plays shouldn’t have come down to that, if we executed like we were capable of. You guys saw the same stuff that I did. It doesn’t do any good. That’s what was called, and that’s what we have to be able to live with.”

Still, if McVay had a timeout left he could have challenged the official’s spot as the Steelers ran the play with 2:24 left on the clock. If it had occurred within the two-minute warning, it would have automatically been reviewed. So while McVay won’t dwell on one play’s impact on the overall game, there’s a real alternate scenario in which Stafford and the Rams’ offense got the ball back on about their 39-yard line, with two minutes to play. They weren’t moving the ball in the fourth quarter, no. But Stafford is also historically a pretty reliable operator in exactly those potential game-winning scenarios in crunch time.

“To not have an opportunity to have that be clarified, it sucks,” said veteran cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon.

Running back Darrell Henderson rejoined the team five days before Sunday and said he found out he would start pretty much on game day (Henderson was introduced on the video board as a starter during pregame warmups, which is planned somewhat in advance). He got a little more advance notice on his role, a planned series-by-series rotation with veteran running back Royce Freeman after the week of practice, in which Henderson was thrown into as many reps as possible between the actual offense and the scout team to make sure his game conditioning was OK after so many weeks away from football.

But the 127-yard rushing effort between the two backs — which included a couple of nice pressure pick-ups in pass protection, including Henderson’s blitz blocking on a third-and-12 that allowed Stafford to scamper for a touchdown — as well as a 154-yard monster of a game from rookie receiver Puka Nacua were wasted on a team that couldn’t get out of its own way, has not gotten out of its own way, and seven games in is drawing skepticism that it ever will.

“The biggest challenge (has been) the consistency through four quarters,” McVay said. “The complementary football. You look at it, there are some really good opportunities for us to be able to kind of just run away with some games or be able to kind of extend some leads, and we haven’t been able to do that.”

There’s McVay, repeating himself about a Rams team that is on the wrong side of seven games — learning plenty, sure, young and growing, sure — but also giving opponents the opportunity to beat them.

That they know better is what makes the sour taste of a loss like this stain the tongue, or a loss like the one in Cincinnati, or even the narrow losses to the NFL’s reigning elite earlier this season. Three of their four losses are by a touchdown or less.

“Just keep trusting ourselves, just keep learning,” said Ben Skowronek, a team captain. “It’s kind of been the same song and dance week in and week out. Just continue to play within ourselves and do our job. We have a young team, but that’s no excuse. We’ve now played seven football games, countless practices. It’s really just playing complementary football and being able to put all three phases together.”

pic.twitter.com/aeoCAp1SNI

— Out of Context Human Race (@NoContextHumans) October 22, 2023

Fishkiller@FV_Mylia_Lynn
Let me make this clear – the Rams lost this game today. But that officiating at the end was absolute dog shit. Phantom PI, poor spot on 4th down. Just terrible. But the INT, dumb penalties, missed FGs & XP plus a late collapse by the defense lost them this game.

McVay called a good game overall. Stuck with the run. Stafford didn’t have a good game & made a HUGE mistake w/ that INT. Defense collapsed in the 4th quarter. Maher needs to be cut in the locker room right now.

Blaine Grisak@bgrisakTST
Rams defense looks to have gotten a stop. However, a bad spot by an incompetent referee crew gives the Steelers the first down.

McVay doesn’t have a timeout and can’t challenge. Absolutely unreal. Pickett is clearly short. Incompetence at its finest.

Rich@rcoop21
I get the Maher anger. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s gone tomorrow. But if your offense keeps having to settle for 50+ yard field goals attempts there are bigger problems at play.

Tom@TL_LARams
I know we are disappointed with Brett Maher today. And I would have loved to have kept Matt Gay. But Gay got the largest contract ever for a kicker in free agency. It didn’t fit for a franchise trying to reset its cap.

The refs didn’t cost the Rams the game. They were down 7, with 2 minutes left and would have had to have driven 61 yards, and they managed that on only two of their 10 offensive drives today.

RAMZILLA@elitster
Dropped passes
Bad bad interception
2 missed FG’s
1 missed XP
Poor tackling again

week 7 qbs and where the defenses they'll face rank in qb rating allowed.

cousins will face sfo's #1 ranked d in lowest qb rtg allowed, goff will face bal's #2 d, stafford will face pit's #15 d, and purdy will face min's #30 d to name a few….. pic.twitter.com/9J7kzyAg8p

— roberto clemente (@rclemente2121) October 22, 2023