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znModeratorfrom Facebook
Before we freak out, look at Arizona. This state has been red except for two times -1996 and 1948. What is different about AZ is that we counted mail in and early votes first. Most other states counted in person votes first and are just starting to count mail-in votes today. Mail-in and early voting favors Biden which is why AZ is so blue so early.
Take a breath.
We will not know until the end of the week. Let’s keep flipping the senate and let’s strengthen the house and let’s win the presidency by Friday.
As votes are counted in AZ from in person voting today, Trump will climb back up and it will get closer. The same will happen for Biden in the upper Midwest as mail-in and early votes are counted tomorrow and the rest of the week.znModeratorwe live in a very, very, conservative country. And as our population grows older we will continue in this direction. The older we become the more conservative we become. The older we become the more apolitical we become. The more apolitical we become the more politically ignorant we become. The more politically ignorant we become the more children we have that will become politically ignorant. The more politically ignorant we become the more macho sound bites become important.
The older some become, the fewer old ones there are, and the younger the country becomes.
I have never in my lifetime seen figures in political office like AOC or Cori Bush, who just won in Missouri.
The young educate themselves my friend. My daughters are very politically savvy and they did not get what they know from me or my wife–they learn it on their own.
znModeratorfrom https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/11/02/rams-michael-brockers-dolphins-defense-quote/
Brockers could only watch from the sideline, but after the game, his reaction to Flores’ game plan was candid and enlightening.
“They just brought as many as they could. They brought more than we can block,” he said. “That’s how I felt. I felt like they had 11 guys on the line of scrimmage and had all our WRs one-on-one and once you snapped the ball, everybody was coming. To be honest with you, I’ve never seen that before, that many times. That was zero-pressure, man-on-man, he has to get the ball out fast because there’s an unblocked player. It was a lot. It was a little crazy to look at, because I was like, ‘Man, they’re going to keep zeroing us like that?’ I have a lot of confidence in Jared and in Coach to get those things fixed and if they see it again, I best believe they’ll go ahead and chop it up, for sure.”
From a defensive perspective, he was asked what the Rams could’ve done to neutralize and counter the Dolphins’ relentless attack.
“I truly don’t know,” he said. “Maybe you run some draw plays to catch them off-guard. Maybe you run some screens, some running back screens, something. To be honest with you, I’ve never seen that before where a team just zero-pressures you every play and it was tough.”
znModeratorhe never called plays when he was with washington.
He did actually. In 2015 and 2016.
znModeratorIt's official. The first-ever recruited Justice Democrat candidate @CoriBush is going to Congress.
Six years ago police officers maced Cori in Ferguson as she helped spark a global movement.
Three months from now she’ll be holding police accountable as a member of Congress. pic.twitter.com/Fskoa1QQ65
— Justice Democrats (@justicedems) November 4, 2020
znModeratoralyoshamucci
So … this was a game where we were the better team, but got outcoached. I am proud of our defense, I can definitely say that.
This is another game where Sun Tzu and I were yelling at the TV because the offensive playcalling.
The Great
1) Defense holding them to 7 real points and what … 100 yards of offense?
2) Donald’s strip sack welcome to the NFL was satisfying.
The Good
3) DBs held up without Ramsey.
4) Rapp’s FF. He can get so low and keep his head up, just impressive.
5) The running game.
6) Can Jefferson’s sideline catch.
7) We even had a chance late … which makes everything that comes after this so freaking frustrating.
The Bad Some of these really could be in the ugly, but I wanted to try to differentiate a bit.
8) Why, when getting 5 yards a clip, are we not running until they stop us? Why the obsession with trying to pass against the blitz from the pocket?
9) How can they allow in the NFL that temperature disparity on the sidelines? Shouldn’t there be an awning or something? 140 is literally dangerous.
10) Ummm … it’s the 3rd quarter and we’re down by 18 … I get that you don’t want to hurry up completely, but can we snap the ball at 15 or 12 instead of 3? How is there not a medium speed?
11) Goff missing Kupp on the TD.
12) Everett’s drop.
The Ugly
13) Lack of adjustment to the 0 blitzes. No slants. No designated hot routes. Guys running downfield and having deep drops when you don’t have 3 seconds.
14) Whew I’m glad Henderson got out of Ogbah’s way on the scoop and score … he might have dinged his shoulder. All he has to do is be a speedbump and Goff is at least “throwing” when hit. 10 point swing at least.
15) What was that FG miss? Is his foot the right shape?
znModeratorIan Rapoport@RapSheet
This will be interesting: Sounds like the #Cowboys are leaning towards Garrett Gilbert as their starter after considering all options. But they want to see how Coooper Rush and GIlbert handle practice reps𝕋𝕠𝕞 – 𝕃𝔸 ℝ𝕒𝕞𝕤@TL_LARams
Former Rams 6th round pick from 2014==
Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
I think the Rams are in a good spot with their line in that yes, if they want to retain some of these guys they will have to pay them – but none outside of Whit are going to be your high-dollar guys and I think the chances of being team-friendly is good there. I do like what they have been doing to develop Anchrum, too, though unfortunately can’t get much of a read on their depth because at this point we don’t get to see a ton of practice.They were expecting that type of pressure from Flores and his staff, and in my mind – if they were really going to be determined to pass – they should have done more quick outs/LOS stuff to kill the blitz. It would really only take one “blitz killer” to hold the Dolphins front more accountable, and they failed to execute. If the Rams got it to Cooper or Robert on a little pop-out, there was nobody in the second or third level to stop them. But they never got it to them, and Jared didn’t take sacks when he needed to, and lost the football and so then the Dolphins knew they could pin their ears and keep coming at him because the blitz-kill plays were not working. When they work, they stop the blitz. I think that is on the quarterback, but doing the same thing over and over again in that way is a reflection of the entire operation. But the Rams couldn’t beat it one time, for a variety of I think scheme and execution issues, and so the Dolphins smelled blood in the water and kept doing it.
This defense is trending the way it needs to be. But they haven’t put four quarters together on offense yet. . I really think they have sooooo much potential…if they can put four quarters together on offense on a consistent basis, the sky is the limit for these guys.
znModeratorDon’t Expect a Contested Election
Charlie Cook
Charlie Cook, one of the best political handicappers in the business
On a hundred-odd Zoom meetings, webinars, and conference call speeches that I’ve participated in over the past two months, virtual attendees continue to raise the possibility of a contested presidential election, even though the chances of that have been getting smaller all the time. Every day that Trump remains behind in the polls, outspent badly and with the early vote gushing in, the cone of uncertainty narrows, and the odds of such an upset goes down.
Joe Biden’s path to 270 electoral votes seems pretty straightforward: Hold all 20 states (plus the District of Columbia) that Hillary Clinton carried four years ago, which total 232 electoral votes, just 38 short of the majority threshold of 270. Then win each of the three states that Clinton lost by eight-tenths of a point or less: Michigan (0.2 percentage points) Pennsylvania (0.7), and Wisconsin (0.8). That gives him 278 electoral votes, eight more than needed. Biden will likely also carry two congressional districts that eluded Clinton in 2016, Nebraska’s 2nd District and Maine’s 2nd, giving him 280 electoral votes. That would represent a “skinny” Biden win.
A big Biden win would bring in Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina, and might also include one or two states from the next tier, mostly likely Georgia or Iowa, although don’t count out Ohio or Texas. Generally speaking, Trump is underperforming his 2016 pace by 3 to 8 points, depending upon the state or district.
The RealClearPolitics average of national polls pegs Biden’s lead at 7.4 points, 51.1 to 43.7 percent. But that’s a less discriminating measure, including as it does some mediocre surveys, some that seemed congenitally slanted toward one side or the other, and some that would be better utilized lining hamster cages. The FiveThirtyEight modeled average of national polls, which is more selective than the RCP average but still includes some surveys that I consider rather sketchy, puts the Biden lead at 8.8 points, 52 to 43.2 percent.
I believe his actual lead is more like 9 or 10 points, based on the higher-quality, live-telephone-interview national polls conducted since the first debate, as well as the gold standard of online polling, the Pew Research Center’s mammoth poll of 11,929 voters released two weeks ago.
Any way you slice it, these are pretty good leads, considerably higher than the 3.2-point national margin that Hillary Clinton had over Trump in the RCP average on Oct. 29, 2016. When all the votes were counted, the margin ended up being 2.1 percent.
In fact, one of the stories of this election is how Democrats have opened their checking accounts to candidates and causes this year. As reported by Advertising Analytics on Wednesday, the Biden campaign has bought $626 million in TV time, $268 million more than Trump’s $358 million by the Trump effort.
All told, Advertising Analytics reported that political campaigns and causes dropped $8.12 billion in TV ads so far this cycle— $4.633 billion by Democrats on all levels, $2.606 million by Republicans, and $907 million by independents. Of the $2.948 billion spent on television by presidential campaigns, $2.163 billion came for Democratic candidates to $780 million for Republicans. Senate candidates spent $2 billion, $1.130 million spent by or for Democrats and $870 million by or for Republicans. Of the $1.105 billion spent on House advertising, the split was $649 million on the Democratic side, $500 million for Republicans.
Democratic donors have bucked recent trends to deliver a substantial spending advantage for their side, voting with their wallets long before anyone voted with a ballot. Democrats have had their hair on fire since Election Night 2016 and that has shown no sign of abating. In my judgement, a landslide is more likely than a contested election.
The House looks likely to see Republicans lose a few more seats on top of the 40 they dropped in 2018. If the over/under is 10 seats, I tend to come down on the higher side.
The Senate is increasingly less a case of whether Democrats will take a majority, but how large will it be. The chances of the GOP keeping its losses down to a seat or two are dropping; I am thinking that a five- or six-seat gain is becoming highly possible. The three most likely GOP incumbents to lose are Martha McSally in Arizona, Cory Gardner in Colorado, and Thom Tillis in North Carolina. Right on the bubble are Joni Ernst in Iowa, Susan Collins in Maine, and both Georgia seats. A touch back from that are Steve Daines in Montana and Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, as well as the open seat in Kansas. All three states are likely to be won by Trump, so look for a possible repeat of 2016, when every Senate race went to the same party that won the presidential race there—the first time that had happened since the start of direct Senate elections in 1914.
What I am wondering is if this will be one or the rarest species of national elections—a wave election in a presidential year ending in a zero, meaning it will reverberate for a decade thanks to the coming redistricting. There are not a dozen Republican Senate seats that could fall, as Democrats suffered in 1980, but Joe Biden may well replicate Ronald Reagan’s 10-point victory over President Carter. The odds are it will be a bit less, perhaps in the 53 to 44 percent range, with 3 percent going to independents and write-ins, half of the number from four years ago.
We’ll soon know. It won’t be long now.
znModeratorTurfShowTimes@TurfShowTimes
The 5 least-pressured QBs in the NFL this season are, in order: Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Rivers and GoffSeattleRams@seattlerams_nfl
Darius Williams might be the Rams unsung hero on defense. He allows the Rams the ability to move Jalen all over the place.Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
The Rams have some extra time to mull over their kicking conundrum. It sounds like Forbath will still be the guy, but MacGinnis is lurkingTurfShowTimes@TurfShowTimes
Aaron Donald midseason stats update; Donald is cruising towards a big year for sack totals, even for him. He leads the NFL with 31 pressures and could win his fourth DPOY trophy at this rateRams are 1-4 when Jared Goff is blitzed more than 20 times; Dolphins sent 30 blitzes on Sunday and Seahawks will have Jamal Adams back by Week 10
znModeratorLMU93
11 Personnel Podcast is once again very good…
[me note: that’s here: http://theramshuddle.com/topic/11-personnel-donald-shines-podcast-2/ ]
Basically if you had to pick one unit before the season that would be clear-cut top 5 and one that was struggling, which would you have picked (offense or defense)?.. Considering the installation of a brand new scheme and how it had to be phased in gradually (with no preseason) the first 4-5 games the defense overall has been remarkable.
Offensively, something is wrong when you have an experienced HC leading the offense, OC, etc. and still have breakdowns like what we saw Sunday. It’s not the first time they saw zero pressure defense and they should have known (from the Super Bowl vs. NE) it was coming. They don’t script the offense at all but, when you seemingly have trouble making in-game adjustments when things go wrong, maybe you should. Adjustments made vs. MIA were made WAY too late. Empty sets weren’t working at all yet they were slow to abandon them. The Dolphins came in pressuring QBs 36% of the time and were terrible vs. the run (allowing 5.0 YPC) and yet the Rams weren’t adequately game planned and prepared for it (though “held” Dolphins to 33% pressure rate…).
Re: Goff- he IS a limited QB. But then so are all QBs but probably Mahomes and Wilson. Same limitations he shows now he had in 2017 and 2018- and he was very good in both of those years. He has shown he can lead and excel in this offense but fair to say he was terrible this week- that may have been his worst game since 2016. Was facing a top-10 defense. Again, have to check out of things or recognize they’re coming. The talk of replacing him (Wolford, trade, etc.) is total nonsense. Has to look to his right under pressure better and HAS TO hold onto the ball (take a sack vs. forcing it).
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This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by
zn.
znModerator69RamFan
Baldy’s Vid vs the Fins
After watching the sack fumble play, I have no doubt in my mind that DH missed the assignment,
Because after that play, the RAMs had the exact same play but in reverse, and Brown motion across to block the DE on Whit side.
.@RamsNFL v @MiamiDolphins had trouble with this 6 man front/zero coverage behind it on both of these 2nd downs and the #Dolphins cashed in. 2 of the biggest plays of the games! #FinsUp up 7-5 in last 12 games #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/52iiXvpMbh
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 3, 2020
znModeratorTurfShowTimes@TurfShowTimes
Rams hold Dolphins to under 100 yards passing and under 60 yards rushing. They are the only team in the NFL to hold a team to under 100 passing and under 80 rushing in the same game — and they’ve done it twice.znModeratorStu Jackson@StuJRams
Sean McVay on RB Cam Akers through the Rams’ first 8 games, what he wants to see out of Akers through second 8:“I think the (rib) injury at Philly really set him back a handful of weeks where he missed a lot of opportunities that he would’ve gotten.”
McVay said some of the touches Akers got vs. Washington and Miami showed “an extremely dynamic, exciting player” that they’re confident has a “bright future.”
Moving forward, McVay wants to see Akers continue to “mature, ascend and learn how to compete without the ball.”
Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Editorially speaking, I think this would really REALLY be a benefit to the Rams re. working [Akers] into space in the short-passing game w his ability to make guys miss. But if they were not totally sure about his pass pro/ yet, would make that a little tougher to rep consistently.Kurt Warner@kurt13warner
Dumbfounded that @MiamiDolphins repeatly brought blitz 0 vs @RamsNFL & they never came up w/ an answer!!! Cost them all day long & MIA dropped another Pick 6! Even more amazing when u think same Blitz cost them SB53… How do u not have a plan?znModeratorI hate to say it, but I think I’ve hit my ceiling.
Take yer hat off.
znModeratorI like others, await.
znModeratorTed Nguyen@FB_FilmAnalysis
Pay good OL coaches all the moneyZ becuse they develop depthDaniel Jeremiah@MoveTheSticks
Biggest takeaway after watching tape all morning- so many teams missing OL starters and the replacements are STRUGGLINGznModeratorAnatomy of a Play: How the Dolphins beat Jared Goff with Cover-0 pressure
Doug Farrar
Coming into Sunday’s game against the Dolphins, per Sports Info Solutions, Rams quarterback Jared Goff had faced Cover-0 defenses — a high-blitz scheme with no deep safeties — on just three of his dropbacks. On those three dropbacks, Goff attempted two passes and completed one — to 49ers cornerback Jason Verrett in Week 6, on a red zone situation that obviously calls for no deep safety.
So, Cover-0 is not something Goff had seen a lot this season. But in 2019, he completed 7 of 16 passes for 71 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions against Cover-0. That said, Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and defensive coordinator Josh Boyer decided to throw more of it right at Goff, and it turned out beautifully — in the Dolphins’ 28-17 win, Goff completed just 35 of 61 passes for 355 yards, one touchdown in garbage time, two back-breaking interceptions, and two lost fumbles — one of which was returned for a touchdown. In the first half, when Miami brought most of its pressure, Goff completed 15 of 32 passes for 136 yards, no touchdowns, both of those picks, and a passer rating of 32.8.
As edge-rusher Emmanuel Ogbah, who caused the fumble that led to linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel’s 78-yard return, said, “The key to this game was attack Jared Goff.”
After the game, Rams head coach Sean McVay talked about how difficult it was to handle what the Dolphins were bringing — the pressures that forced McVay out of his preferred empty formations in certain instances, and took Goff out of his ability to cut the field in half with boot-action.
“They were bringing zero pressures,” McVay said. “We had some answer. We didn’t execute them, and ultimately, the answers were not good enough on my part. That falls on me… we were not in alignment, and the communication wasn’t on par with what the expectations were with how we execute those plays…. those situations never allowed us to get into rhythm.”
The first interception came out of zero pressure — Miami brought an extra pressure look, and then dropped defensive tackle Christian Wilkins into coverage. Goff didn’t pick that up on a quick pass attempt to Cooper Kupp, and Wilkins had his first career pick.
It wasn’t just the zero blitzes that took Goff out of his game — Flores and Boyer showed him all kinds of blitzes with all kinds of coverages behind — but as McVay said, it was the zero blitzes, and the ability to combine pressure with the illusion of pressure, that made the difference in this game.
znModeratorJ.B. Long@JB_Long
Yesterday’s loss was not without some notable individual performances by the @RamsNFL
(PFF grades):Donald 94.8^
Havenstein 87.5+
Rapp 85.1*
Williams 82.2*
Ebukam 82.2*
Hollins 76.8*
Young 74.7*^matches career-high
+career-high
*season-bestznModeratorSeattleRams@seattlerams_nfl
In a game where the dolphins said “The key to this game was attack Jared Goff” and did so successfully, Sean McVay decided to full Mike Martz by having Goff throw it 61 times.For the first time since he took over from Jeff Fisher, fans are starting to question Sean McVay.
Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
The Rams threw the ball 61 times against a Dolphins defense that is best against the pass. Miami’s run defense is bad, but Sean McVay wanted no part of pounding the ballJ.B. Long@JB_Long
Lot to be positive about. Better record than most; better health than most.Sure 5-3 could be 6-2 or 7-1… and the back half of schedule likely will feature better competition.
But I also don’t think LA has put together many (any?) complete performances. They’re still ahead.
Biggest victory of the Rams first half has to be that only two projected contributors (Burgess & Howard) won’t dress for a game in the second half of 2020.
The opportunity to come out of the bye and start Wk10 with your two-deep almost entirely intact is a tremendous advantage.
Rams Wire@TheRamsWire
‘I’ve never seen that before’: Brockers surprised by Dolphins’ unique defense vs. RamsMichael Brockers was stunned by how often the Dolphins zero-blitzed Jared Goff.
znModeratorThe 46-yard run at WAS may already have been the "welcome to the NFL moment" for the rookie, but I'd like to think this is the play that really launches Cam Akers' NFL career. pic.twitter.com/wxtcncl7ez
— J.B. Long (@JB_Long) November 2, 2020
==
Cam Akers making dudes miss pic.twitter.com/vqa42EYzhX
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) November 1, 2020
znModeratorI don’t know why the Miami defender was not called for pass interference on that play.
The ball hasn’t reached the Rams receiver yet, but the defender tackles him anyway.
znModeratorI think Goff has reached his ceiling. He’s not going to get better than he is now. He’s still good enough to win with, but he’s likely not going to be more than a second level QB.
I don’t agree.
First I don’t agree that he has reached his ceiling.
Second I see him having a weakness–even with a run game and a solid OL, he struggles against teams that can BOTH bring pressure AND execute strong coverage.
Which btw describes both SF and Miami.
But that’s just SO FAR he has been flawed in those games.
Meanwhile Washington is 4th on defense and that defense is 6th in pressure percentage, but the Rams ran the ball on them 35 times.
And Miami’s offense gained exactly 1 less yard against the Rams defense than Washington’s did.
znModeratorGoodLord, are you kidding me. WTF.
——————-
“…They outgained the Dolphins 471 to 145, had 31 first downs to Miami’s eight, averaged 5.1 yards per play compared to only 3.0 for the Dolphins, and converted on seven of their 17 third-down attempts. The Dolphins, on the other hand, were 3-for-12 on third down…”UK Rams Fan
My mate (a fish fan) was sat next to me all game and kept saying to me… “Why don’t you boys just run it down our throats, you’re getting 5 yards here, 10 yards there a carry.. nearly 100 yards by HT and we can’t stop it, yet you continue to pass it.” He was as confused as I was frustrated.
Maybe Mcvay tried to prove a point to Flores that he could beat him in the air like he tried to in the SB, and yet again it backfired on him. The play-calling was terrible and predictable! 1 x TO on Goff, the other 3 are on the coach. Stop being stubborn Sean and adjust to what the defence gives you!?
znModeratorLindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
Maybe Rams should’ve seen this coming: The Dolphins pressured Jared Goff on 21 of his 63 drop backs (33%), tied for the highest percentage he’s faced in a game this season. The Dolphins entered Sunday pressuring quarterbacks on 36% of drop backs, 3rd-highest percentage in the NFL==
Rams QB Jared Goff loses grip early as four first-half turnovers lead to loss in Miami https://t.co/Nu4ShtJ9Db
— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) November 2, 2020
znModeratorThe play action rollout stuff wouldn’t have worked against this Dolphins D. Goff does a nice job getting this one off to Woods but it’s not sustainable inviting defenders into your QBs face every play. pic.twitter.com/THsaOTqF2b
— 𝕋𝕠𝕞 – 𝕃𝔸 ℝ𝕒𝕞𝕤 (@TL_LARams) November 1, 2020
znModeratorGoff 2nd int. 4 DBs covering 4 receivers, everyone else blitzing. pic.twitter.com/MwzkUSROFg
— 𝕋𝕠𝕞 – 𝕃𝔸 ℝ𝕒𝕞𝕤 (@TL_LARams) November 1, 2020
znModeratorNFL Week 8 PFF ReFocused: Miami Dolphins 28, Los Angeles Rams 17
https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2020-week-8-pff-refocused-miami-dolphins-28-los-angeles-rams-17
The Miami Dolphins scored in all three phases of the game to top the Los Angeles Rams, 28-17, and emerge from Week 8 a playoff-caliber team.
Jared Goff’s egregious performance overshadowed Tua Tagovailoa’s first NFL start. Goff committed four turnovers in the first half, and Dolphins head coach Brian Flores threw the kitchen sink at the Rams’ offense, outsmarting Sean McVay in their first meeting since the Super Bowl in 2018.
STORY OF THE GAME
On Tagovailoa’s first pass attempt, Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers clobbered the rookie for a strip-sack. Robert Woods scored immediately afterward on a 6-yard scamper, adding uncertainty to the decision to bench Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Goff dropped back to pass 24 times through the first two quarters despite the Rams’ offense totaling 103 rushing yards on 5.7 yards per carry. Nothing made sense, especially at halftime, with Miami leading 28-10 off 56 yards of total offense.
The Dolphins dominated while getting absolutely nothing from Tagovailoa, who finished 12-for-22 for 93 yards and one touchdown. The Miami offense looked equally as inept running the football and averaged under a yard per carry before contact.
Flores took a page from his mentor Bill Belichick’s playbook, dropping defensive linemen into coverage, mixing man and zone concepts and blitzing from the back seven to stymie Goff. He consistently put the ball in harm’s way, posting five turnover-worthy plays, two interceptions and two lost fumbles.
ROOKIE WATCH
Aside from Tagovailoa, tackle Robert Hunt and guard Solomon Kindley played every snap for the Dolphins’ offense. Defensive tackle Raekwon Davis continues to play a larger role every week, recording 50 snaps for the game.
Cam Akers and Van Jefferson combined for 34 snaps on the Rams’ offense. Jefferson caught both of his targets for 23 yards, and Akers touched the ball 10 times to chip in 54 yards.
znModeratorAs Rams assess an offensive implosion, it’s time for soul-searching: The Pile
Jourdan Rodrigue
https://theathletic.com/2173539/2020/11/01/rams-offense-jared-goff-dolphins/?source=twittered
I don’t know where to start, and maybe that’s fitting because on Sunday in Miami, the Rams’ offense didn’t either.
They suffered a good old-fashioned tail-whipping at the hands of Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and his defensive front seven, a group that completely blew open the game and baffled … no, stunned … no, embarrassed quarterback Jared Goff, head coach Sean McVay and an offense that, usually a darling, is teetering into discombobulation and disarray.
Flores sent his defensive line, and a crowd of a supporting cast, on more zero-pressures than the Rams expected or had seen before. Goff started the game 2-for-8, and was so off — and the pressure plan was working so well — that Flores stopped putting players back deep because there was no fear the Rams would make it to the second level in the air.
“They just brought as many as they could,” said Michael Brockers, who graciously assessed the situation for media through the eyes of a defensive tackle. “They brought more than we could block. That’s how it felt, like they had 11 guys on the line of scrimmage. We had all our wide receivers one-on-one and once you snapped the ball, everybody was coming.
“To be honest with you, I had never seen that before that many times. That was zero-pressure, man-to-man and (Goff) has to get the ball out fast because there is an unblocked player (coming off the edge).”
The Dolphins pressured Goff on 33 percent of his dropbacks on Sunday, the highest pressure he’s faced this season. They do that to quarterbacks every week at the highest rate of any team in the NFL. So the Rams knew it was coming.
But as Brockers noted, they put a little twist on things this week, including more all-out blitzes than usual. And against their zero-pressure, time and again, the Rams came up “empty” — literally.
For some reason, the Rams kept lining up in empty sets (no running back in the backfield, with everybody on the line of scrimmage) deep into the third quarter, to disastrous effect. They even did it on a second-and-2, showing an obvious passing situation (on second-and-2!) and plating it up all too tantalizingly for a hungry, talented defensive line. The ball was intercepted.
Goff went on to throw a second interception and also had the ball stripped on two sacks, losing it twice, for four turnovers. Two of his turnovers were out of empty sets. He also nearly threw a pick out of an empty set in the third quarter. Two of those turnovers led to touchdowns. The Dolphins stacked a third score on a punt return.
What is supposed to happen on those plays?
“You pick up the blitz,” receiver Robert Woods said, “Goff avoids the free-rusher, you dump it off to the open receiver — should have a lot of space the way they were playing it — and make one guy miss and have a lot of running space.”
But part of the issue on those sets was Goff not getting the ball out quick enough. Sometimes they did not have a route matched for the situation available because a receiver or running back stayed blocked (if a back is on the line of scrimmage and not in the backfield he can attract an immediate blocker instead of using lateral space). Batted balls especially were an issue on Sunday. Goff had six passes tapped by opposing players, including two near-interceptions.
“Not even close to good enough on my part, and throughout the whole game,” Goff said. “Just need to be better. Got to be better. I will be. … They did a good job applying some pressure. … We did not respond quickly enough, or well enough.”
Brockers wondered, when I asked him directly about solutions to such pressure, whether screens, draws or running back outlets may have helped. And the Rams finally did go to the shorter game, but not until the fourth quarter.
The failure to adjust to the Dolphins’ pressure was compounded by McVay straying from the run game. Goff threw 61 passes, completing 35, yet the Rams ran the ball only 29 times via their trio of running backs, and only 11 times in the second half.
In part, of course, football logic dictates that a team must pass when facing a deficit, to eat up larger pieces of the field in a shorter amount of time. Lead running back Darrell Henderson also left the game in the second half with a thigh injury and did not return, but in his place, rookie Cam Akers showed promise on the Rams’ second, and ultimately final, scoring drive.
Sure, pass attempts mostly skew larger in a deficit, and maybe the Henderson injury pushed things that way for the Rams, too. But the Dolphins were eating Goff alive via their pass rush, and he even missed throws when he got a clean pocket (including one would-be touchdown to receiver Cooper Kupp in the second half).
The Dolphins also have one of the worst rushing defenses in football, worse than the Buffalo Bills, against whom the Rams mounted a near-miraculous comeback (from a larger deficit!) in Week 3 because McVay staunchly refused to stop running the ball. That specific decision lingers as McVay’s best of the year. But this one, I simply don’t understand.
“This is a sick taste in your mouth,” McVay said. “I’m looking inward. I have got to do a better job. I can’t wait to look at this and work to get it fixed. That’s all I know how to do. We’ve got a lot of football left.”
The Rams are now 5-3 and limping into their bye week. It’s not time for rest, however. It’s time for some real soul-searching.
“Who are we going to be, moving forward? That’s the biggest thing,” Brockers said. “We have to get better, and we know that. … It’s good that we have a bye week so that we can set (focus) on our next opponent, and just come in and get better. We can’t do anything about this loss. It’s over. We just have to look forward.”
Welcome to The Pile. Let’s start poking around.
Jalen Ramsey sits out with an illness
Star cornerback Jalen Ramsey was absent from Sunday’s game with what the Rams described as an “illness.” McVay said Ramsey woke up not feeling well, and that he went through subsequent testing and protocol to ensure that he was able to fly back to Los Angeles with the team.
A source confirmed the illness was not related to COVID-19, which seemed to be McVay’s public indication even though he did not get into detail.
That was a big loss for the Rams, who, as safety John Johnson noted, missed Ramsey’s “raw energy” on a thickly humid day after a long flight. The secondary featured Troy Hill, Darious Williams and David Long, the latter of whom played his first significant minutes of the year.
Long gave up a really tough third-down touchdown to DeVante Parker in the first half, but it was hard to see how he could have done a ton to prevent it, considering the short-distance situation (3 yards) and the perfect throw and catch. The longest catch allowed by the Rams’ secondary went for 15 yards.
The Rams were also missing two of their featured safeties, rookies Terrell Burgess and Jordan Fuller. But even without the three key players, the Rams’ secondary stepped up.
For the second week in a row, a tough, physical hit by Taylor Rapp forced a turnover, and for the second week in a row, Hill was there to recover it.
“He was coming with some heat today,” Johnson said of Rapp’s play. “I’m proud of him, and I’m proud of the way the defense played as well.”
Special teams turns disastrous
The Rams’ special-teams unit was awful. Veteran kicker Kai Forbath, who replaced rookie Samuel Sloman this week, badly missed a 48-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter that would have brought the Rams within eight points.
They also gave up a punt return for a touchdown — and it does make me wonder, after seeing Burgess fly around and make stops on special teams before his injury last week, how much they miss him on that coverage unit.
Bottom of The Pile
Kupp finished with a whopping 21 targets, and caught 11 for 110 yards. His targets were a career high, with his previous high of 17 targets set last October against San Francisco. Kupp appeared to hurt his wrist on a tackle in the second half, but returned a few plays later.
It’s odd to say this about a McVay-coached team, but the defense is not the problem while the offense is seeming to regress. The defense had two takeaways while not allowing a single play of over 15 yards, and zero second-half points. Fourteen of the Dolphins’ 28 points came off a pick-six and a punt return; another seven came off a sack-fumble recovered by the Dolphins and downed at the 1-yard line, which McVay referred to as basically a defensive touchdown. In fact, the Dolphins’ offense didn’t top 100 yards until the fourth quarter, and scored its first 21 points off a total of 49 yards.
Tight end Gerald Everett had a crucial third-down drop on one of the few promising Rams drives late in the game. It set up the field goal that Forbath missed.
There was a pretty stunning graphic presented by the FOX broadcast team of the two sideline thermometers. The Dolphins’ shaded sideline appeared to be about 60 degrees cooler than the Rams’ sideline, which was exposed to full sunlight until the fourth quarter. That reading is unlikely to be totally accurate — it was not 140 degrees on the Rams’ sideline — but it was notably hot and humid. Yet McVay said it wasn’t the heat that wore his players out. “We were drained because of the type of situations that we put ourselves in, as a result of our execution,” he said.
znModeratorOnly one other team in NFL history has lost the way the Rams did in Week 8
Cameron DaSilva
If you didn’t watch the Rams-Dolphins game on Sunday and just glanced at the box score, there’s no way you’d think Miami won the game – let alone, won it by 11 points. The Rams dominated every statistical category over the Dolphins, from total yards to first downs to time of possession.
They outgained the Dolphins 471 to 145, had 31 first downs to Miami’s eight, averaged 5.1 yards per play compared to only 3.0 for the Dolphins, and converted on seven of their 17 third-down attempts. The Dolphins, on the other hand, were 3-for-12 on third down.
The one area where the Rams lost – besides the scoreboard, of course – was the turnover battle. Los Angeles gave the ball away four times and only created two turnovers, which was the difference in the game.
Incredibly, only one other team in NFL history has lost a game where they gained 450-plus yards on offense and held their opponent to less than 150 yards. That team is the 2000 Jets, who lost to the Ravens 34-20 in Week 17. The Jets had 524 yards and held the Ravens to only 142 yards, but like the Rams, they had too many turnovers (six).
It’s hard to fathom how Los Angeles lost this game, but it’s also hard to win when you give the ball away four times and allow an 88-yard punt return for a touchdown. Things went south quickly after Jared Goff fumbled the ball deep in Miami’s territory, which was scooped up and returned 78 yards for a touchdown. Less than two minutes later, Jakeem Grant brought a punt back for a touchdown to put the Dolphins up 21-7.
It’s a tough pill to swallow for Los Angeles, especially given the way the defense played, but Sean McVay and his players will have plenty of time to mull it over during their Week 9 bye.
znModeratorGoff fumble TD. Look how the D is lined up. Hendo runs right by the free blitzer. Wonder if he should have chipped him. Goff is waiting for Everett to get open on the bottom of the screen. Should have read blitzer and hit Reynolds who was wide open underneath. pic.twitter.com/y8L8qWVCQh
— 𝕋𝕠𝕞 – 𝕃𝔸 ℝ𝕒𝕞𝕤 (@TL_LARams) November 1, 2020
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