Anybody notice that neither team ran the ball all that well?

[RonnieT24]

I want Dallas to run but to continue to run you have to be somewhat successful. This is why Rams did not stay with the run that much, because they were losing yards not gaining anything. Down by the goal outside of a QB sneak they did not try to run it, they threw to Kupp. Cinn with Mixon did a better job of the run and had a little more success with it, I do think they needed to run a bit more than they did because of the pressure on Burrow. I'm all for running the ball but not just for show but being effective doing it, because 2nd and 3rd and long is not a position I want to stay in. When Dallas was running early in the season they were being effective, as defense adjusted putting more pressure up the middle vs Williams and Biadasz the run game started to suffer.

VS SF Zeke had 12 runs on the game that is about the same number Rams ran the ball with Akers and Cinn did with Mixon. You say they did not abandon the run? Stats say otherwise.

Define "successful." The Rams averaged 1.9 yards per carry.. Yet ran it 23 times. The Cowboys averaged 3.3 ypc against the 49ers.. but only ran it 21 times. So the Rams trailed from the start of the 3rd quarter until a minute left.. but still ran the ball more than the Cowboys?. Yes the Cowboys were down by two scores for a stretch but clearly they had a better day running the ball than the Rams did in the Super Bowl.. yet refused to use it. Frankly Cincy blew it by not running the ball more. Mixon was having a decent game and the Rams' d-line was all over Burrow from the middle of third quarter on. Those coaches really hung that kid out to dry.

Finally running is not "just for show." It's to keep the defense honest. It's to allow your QB to be able to receive the snap without two guys in his face immediately because the d-line isn't even thinking about the running backs. It's as old as football, man. If you are one-dimensional, you are easier to stop, no matter how good that one dimension might be.

 

[quickccc]

It's Samaje.. not Sammy.. but point taken. Both guys are pretty good power backs though.. Ironically both went to Oklahoma.. I think Perine actually flirted with a 400 yard game while in college which tells you he aint no slouch at running the ball either. I think he's also actually bigger than Mixon (240 to 220) so that might also have colored Taylor's thinking. But it just goes to show, if you don't block it really doesn't much matter who you give the ball to. I did like the short passing game the Rams employed though. Stafford tried to get greedy that one time and paid for it. I'm sure McVay has some words for him after that one. He didn't really take a lot of chances deep after that.. and it worked.

i'm willing to bet that if Beckham would have remained in the game healthy, .. Staff would've took at least a couple more deep shots.

Imo, it's not always bigger means better when it comes to running the ball. when it comes to instinctively finding the hole in OL's but maybe in Zac Taylor's mind
Perine pure run skills is better than Mixon's...

 

[Aven8]

What was fascinating to me is that Mixon was the best RB on the field and really the only one who was consistently getting anything more than a 2 yard run.. Yet for some reason Cincy refused to lean on him. Especially on the two drives when he was absolutely ROLLIN'. They got into the red zone and went pass happy.. Reminded me of some games I've seen around here.

Late in the 3rd I’m yelling at the TV like I’m watching a Cowboy game saying run the ball at Cincy!!! Yet, like Dallas, they kept trying to throw and sack after sack.

 

[RonnieT24]

i'm willing to bet that if Beckham would have remained in the game healthy, .. Staff would've took at least a couple more deep shots.

Imo, it's not always bigger means better when it comes to running the ball. when it comes to instinctively finding the hole in OL's but maybe in Zac Taylor's mind
Perine pure run skills is better than Mixon's...

If he really thinks this he's an idiot. I just think maybe it was one of those coaches outsmarting themselves situations. Maybe if I put Perine in they will think we're passing..

 

[Doomsday101]

Define "successful." The Rams averaged 1.9 yards per carry.. Yet ran it 23 times. The Cowboys averaged 3.3 ypc against the 49ers.. but only ran it 21 times. So the Rams trailed from the start of the 3rd quarter until a minute left.. but still ran the ball more than the Cowboys?. Yes the Cowboys were down by two scores for a stretch but clearly they had a better day running the ball than the Rams did in the Super Bowl.. yet refused to use it. Frankly Cincy blew it by not running the ball more. Mixon was having a decent game and the Rams' d-line was all over Burrow from the middle of third quarter on. Those coaches really hung that kid out to dry.

Finally running is not "just for show." It's to keep the defense honest. It's to allow your QB to be able to receive the snap without two guys in his face immediately because the d-line isn't even thinking about the running backs. It's as old as football, man. If you are one-dimensional, you are easier to stop, no matter how good that one dimension might be.

Dallas ran it 21 times and you say abandon the run, if that is the case then so did the Rams. avg run taking 1 decent run and acting as if that is running the ball well is a joke. SF shut Dallas run down and instead of banging the heads against the wall leaving themselves in long yardage situation, Dallas threw the ball in the end penalties cost Dallas more than anything. I do understand the run is to keep defense honest but you also get to a point there when you have no success running that all you are doing is setting yourself up for long yardage situation where defense damn well knows you must throw giving them a big advantage . What I will agree with you on is we must do a better job rushing and that starts up front.

 

[tyke1doe]

What was fascinating to me is that Mixon was the best RB on the field and really the only one who was consistently getting anything more than a 2 yard run.. Yet for some reason Cincy refused to lean on him. Especially on the two drives when he was absolutely ROLLIN'. They got into the red zone and went pass happy.. Reminded me of some games I've seen around here.

Exactly!
They should have kept running Mixon. They resorted to the Cowboys and began to run the ball inside the Red Zone.

 

[quickccc]

Well be sure to let us know who your new team is for the next 5 years.. Cause Dak aint goin nowhere.
And since it's a quarterback driven league why did it take Stafford 13 years to learn how to drive?

Because it's not a one man sport.

Take a look at how Stafford's career and persistent change over at coaching, GM, player personnel dept, and surrounding cast changed seemingly year after year, .
And that's including both sides of the ball ,..and again that includes HC, OC, DC, etc. etc.

Seems like he had Mega Tron ..and practically that was it.

Imagine how there's quite a number of HOF pass-patted QBs that have never even set foot on a SB field that have zero SB rings ( fouts, moon, etc) but Staff was
traded to place that team in SB contention...advanced playoffs.. en route to a SB win.
None of this would have possible if Rams never make that Stafford for Jared Goff trade.

 

[morasp]

The Bengals and Rams have the fifth and sixth ranked run defenses the Cowboys are ranked 16th. It's pretty obvious where we need to improve. One of the first things Jimmy did to upgrade the defense was bring in Tony Casillas at DT.

 

[Flamma]

Yet neither of them ever completely stopped running it..

As many of us have been preaching here since "Yards are Yards" took over the play calling. It doesn't matter if the running game isn't breaking off huge chunks of yards .. you simply HAVE to keep doing it regardless. Otherwise you let the opposing defense tee off on your QB.

Now before anybody chimes in that both teams threw it more than they ran it.. that is 100% correct.. but a lot of the Rams' passes were in the final minutes when they were down and needed a TD because their punter couldn't hold a PAT snap. Before that drive they had thrown it 28 times and run it 21. That's about as close as you get to being "balanced" in the modern NFL. I really hope our resident offensive "genius" watched that game and saw all the creative ways McVay ran the ball and got the ball to his play makers. Somehow I doubt any of it sunk in for him though.

I wanted to like this post twice. You have to keep the defense thinking a run is possible. Otherwise you're screwed.

 

[RonnieT24]

Because it's not a one man sport.

Take a look at how Stafford's career and persistent change over at coaching, GM, player personnel dept, and surrounding cast changed seemingly year after year, .
And that's including both sides of the ball ,..and again that includes HC, OC, DC, etc. etc.

Seems like he had Mega Tron ..and practically that was it.

Imagine how there's quite a number of HOF pass-patted QBs that have never even set foot on a SB field that have zero SB rings ( fouts, moon, etc) but Staff was
traded to place that team in SB contention...advanced playoffs.. en route to a SB win.
None of this would have possible if Rams never make that Stafford for Jared Goff trade.

That is exactly my point.. I firmly believe there are 10-12 QBs who could have taken that Rams team to the Super Bowl.. including Dak.. Good QB, good receivers, great defense.. that's a really good formula for success. The Cowboys have two out of three this year. I think Quinn can add the third element next season.. My biggest fear is that Moore and Dak will fail the "complementary football" test and leave us hanging again.

By the way.. let's not act like Stafford never had good teammates in Detroit.. He had Reggie Bush.. N'Domakung Suh, Darius Slay, Ziggy Ansah, Nate Burleson, Kenny Golladay, TJ Hockenson, Marvin Jones to name a few.. No not all of them were all pros but he had his share of good teammates over the years.. Just not enough.. and certainly not as many as he has in L.A. Congrats to him.. I always like to see long suffering good guys like him be rewarded.

 

[nightrain]

Mixon had a nice day. Thought they should have leaned on him a bit more given their atrocious pass protection. The Rams, I thought, stubbornly stuck with the run and I think it paid off and helped soften up the Bengals for that 15 play drive.

 

[quickccc]

That is exactly my point.. I firmly believe there are 10-12 QBs who could have taken that Rams team to the Super Bowl.. including Dak.. Good QB, good receivers, great defense.. that's a really good formula for success. The Cowboys have two out of three this year. I think Quinn can add the third element next season.. My biggest fear is that Moore and Dak will fail the "complementary football" test and leave us hanging again.

By the way.. let's not act like Stafford never had good teammates in Detroit.. He had Reggie Bush.. N'Domakung Suh, Darius Slay, Ziggy Ansah, Nate Burleson, Kenny Golladay, TJ Hockenson, Marvin Jones to name a few.. No not all of them were all pros but he had his share of good teammates over the years.. Just not enough.. and certainly not as many as he has in L.A. Congrats to him.. I always like to see long suffering good guys like him be rewarded.

..and its a reason why those teammates did not/ do not last long as opposed to retiring
as a Lion the way Calvin Johnson eventually did.
They knew Detroit is a wasteland for losing atmosphere. and they wanted out ...

Ironically Stafford who is likely their all time team passer in every category, became
yet another ...that had with commitment to losing and seeking a way out ..
To this day, i'm still surprised the Lions was even willing to trade away their all time QB

 

[kumizi]

Anyone notice neither team scored 25 points?

Not sure what point you're trying to make. The offenses weren't good yesterday for either team. Someone has to win and someone has to lose. Sticking with the run wasn't a factor in winning.

 

[CowboyoWales]

Define "successful." The Rams averaged 1.9 yards per carry.. Yet ran it 23 times. The Cowboys averaged 3.3 ypc against the 49ers.. but only ran it 21 times. So the Rams trailed from the start of the 3rd quarter until a minute left.. but still ran the ball more than the Cowboys?. Yes the Cowboys were down by two scores for a stretch but clearly they had a better day running the ball than the Rams did in the Super Bowl..

Yep, I agree, the problem vrs 49ers was that when we were forced to totally abandon the run game in the 4th, we came up short.
Many of our defeats come when we can't establish a lead.

 

[RonnieT24]

Anyone notice neither team scored 25 points?

Not sure what point you're trying to make. The offenses weren't good yesterday for either team. Someone has to win and someone has to lose. Sticking with the run wasn't a factor in winning.

We will just have to agree to disagree. The Rams entered their final drive with 28 passes and 20 runs. Their QB was sacked what? Once? Cincy on the other hand entered their last drive with 38 passes and 19 runs.. their QB was sacked 7 times.. And they were the team that LED most of the second half. AND they were the team that ran the ball better of the two. Yet they were willing to let their QB be sacked 7 times and leave the run on the back of the playsheet. Sneaking a couple runs in there on that 15 play drive allowed the Stafford to not have guys all over him every time he dropped back.. Especially the end around to Kupp. It was so nice when the Cowboys used to do that with Pollard 2-3 times a game..

Again.. I don't think the running game won it for the Rams.. I just think it kept Cincy just honest enough to let the passing game win it. It was most definitely a factor.. how much is open for discussion.. but saying it wasn't simply is not accurate.

 

[Vtwin]

No it's an answer. Which is that if you give a good QB a top 5 defense and a coach who doesn't try and make him do every damn thing he can get to the mountain top. Stafford didn't suddenly become an all time great QB yesterday. He's good.. even very good.. but definitely not great. He tried to throw away the NFC Championship and would have if Tart could catch and almost threw away the Super Bowl.. As with every QB who has ever won anything.. his team helped save him.. If anyone watching that game came away with "Wow Stafford was the MVP of the game" after watching that game he or she needs to turn in their football fan card. Donald and Co. won that game..

He also made some bigtime clutch throws in both of those games. Throws we don't see watching our offense.

Nobody is perfect Ronnie. Brady was bailed out by his defense after throwing three picks in a game during TB's run last season. To be honest, when Stafford overthrew that easy swing pass to the TE on the second to last drive my opinion of him of him waivered. He then came out and made me eat those thoughts by stepping up with some great decisions and great throws to close out the game.

Knocking Stafford for making mistakes like every single QB does but ignoring the clutch plays he has made throughout the playoffs is weak.

 

[CowboysExchange]

Yet neither of them ever completely stopped running it..

As many of us have been preaching here since "Yards are Yards" took over the play calling. It doesn't matter if the running game isn't breaking off huge chunks of yards .. you simply HAVE to keep doing it regardless. Otherwise you let the opposing defense tee off on your QB.

Now before anybody chimes in that both teams threw it more than they ran it.. that is 100% correct.. but a lot of the Rams' passes were in the final minutes when they were down and needed a TD because their punter couldn't hold a PAT snap. Before that drive they had thrown it 28 times and run it 21. That's about as close as you get to being "balanced" in the modern NFL. I really hope our resident offensive "genius" watched that game and saw all the creative ways McVay ran the ball and got the ball to his play makers. Somehow I doubt any of it sunk in for him though.

the Rams extra point holder pulled a Tony Romo lmao

It looks like the Bengals should have ran some pitch and option plays or a jet sweep to Chase. Both defenses had the middle closed off really well.

It's pretty hard to run at the playoff level. They both pretty much ran exclusively on 1st down. There's no real element of surprise to that.

 

[Cmac]

Yet neither of them ever completely stopped running it..

As many of us have been preaching here since "Yards are Yards" took over the play calling. It doesn't matter if the running game isn't breaking off huge chunks of yards .. you simply HAVE to keep doing it regardless. Otherwise you let the opposing defense tee off on your QB.

Now before anybody chimes in that both teams threw it more than they ran it.. that is 100% correct.. but a lot of the Rams' passes were in the final minutes when they were down and needed a TD because their punter couldn't hold a PAT snap. Before that drive they had thrown it 28 times and run it 21. That's about as close as you get to being "balanced" in the modern NFL. I really hope our resident offensive "genius" watched that game and saw all the creative ways McVay ran the ball and got the ball to his play makers. Somehow I doubt any of it sunk in for him though.

I thought Mixon did good......but Bengals went away from him.......and it hurt, placing Burrows behind a bad pass protecting OL.

 

[Cmac]

What was fascinating to me is that Mixon was the best RB on the field and really the only one who was consistently getting anything more than a 2 yard run.. Yet for some reason Cincy refused to lean on him. Especially on the two drives when he was absolutely ROLLIN'. They got into the red zone and went pass happy.. Reminded me of some games I've seen around here.

Joe Burrows will not survive all the sacks....... I don't think KMoore would have given Zeke 10 rushes in that game, thus relying on Dak and the passing game........AGAIN.

 

[jterrell]

Yet neither of them ever completely stopped running it..

As many of us have been preaching here since "Yards are Yards" took over the play calling. It doesn't matter if the running game isn't breaking off huge chunks of yards .. you simply HAVE to keep doing it regardless. Otherwise you let the opposing defense tee off on your QB.

Now before anybody chimes in that both teams threw it more than they ran it.. that is 100% correct.. but a lot of the Rams' passes were in the final minutes when they were down and needed a TD because their punter couldn't hold a PAT snap. Before that drive they had thrown it 28 times and run it 21. That's about as close as you get to being "balanced" in the modern NFL. I really hope our resident offensive "genius" watched that game and saw all the creative ways McVay ran the ball and got the ball to his play makers. Somehow I doubt any of it sunk in for him though.

It was a throwback year in that regard.
Defenses have figured out how to rush 4 and cover with 7 at insane rates versus these modern offensive schemes.
No one was going to win it all with a defense optional offensive juggernaut.