Scouting the Rams

[Silver N Blue]

If he is so good against the run why do the Rams suck so bad against the run?

Can't argue with black and white stats...so your point is fruitless.

 

[Silver N Blue]

I watched the all-22 in the Eagles game and focused on him. And I was wrong. he's not below average against the run. he's terrible. he did not make one play in the running game, got consistently blocked five yards out of the play, and they got gashed by the 28th ranked run game. He's BAD against the run. Too small. Runs from contact. BAAAD. Worse than I was even giving him credit for. he's not even in the same league as our backers, as I said before.

Love how a guy 6 3 with over 120 tackles is bad...it's pretty clear whats bad here is your evaluation skills....absolutely terrible...you've dug yourself such a deep hole there is no way out...like I said you can't argue with black and white stats...and again I rest my case I just pointed out in our original post their defense LBs were not all trash ....and I supported my fact with actual stats not some "flash play" opinion...the game is going to be tough and the rams will not be some cake walk on defense like some are hoping for.

 

[Stash]

So, I watched a lot of Rams games last night (both Seattle, second Arizona, Detroit, Philly, Chicago, Green Bay, New Orleans). Here's what I think:

1) Their offense really goes as Gurley goes. He's their only special player. Cooks is good, so is Woods, so is their Oline, so is Goff, so is Reynolds. They have good players elsewhere but nobody that really scares you. If Gurley is limited, this is a huge plus for us.

2) As much as McVeigh gets credit for being a genius, by the end I thought his offense was very predictable. They run the same play action play over and over. Same jet sweep over and over (and they hand it on the sweep a lot). Same inside zone run. The whole thing is misdirection. Don't fall for the eye candy. Do not bite on play action cause this play action into a deep-in route is their best play.

3) The offense plays horizontal. Yes, they throw the ball down the field on play action, but even those plays are not outside the numbers. They always hit guys running horizontal to the line. Lots of square-ins, drags, and dig routes. In fact,Goff seems shaky on passes outside the numbers. He will throw a quick out, or a mid level out only on roll outs. But he rarely throws deep outside the numbers, and when he does, it's usually inaccurate. The middle of the field is absolutely key. It may be because their receivers are so small, they can't win outside. So play inside leverage like we usually do.

4) Goff is quite inaccurate when pressured. His mechanics get bad. Also, he will turn the ball over. Did in every game I watched, and most games had a couple more near-turnovers. Pressure him, or even just cover well on the play action, and he forces stuff, throws stuff up. I can see getting at least two turnovers off him in a high pressure game.

5) They do not like and are not very good at moving the ball in small chunks all the way down the field. Goff gets impatient. They expect junk plays, and that is behind why he ends up throwing picks it seems. Bend but don't break will break them.

6) Their D is pretty bad. Their linebackers are trash. Once you get past the Dline, the running game feasts. Zeke could really go off. Their secondary is also pretty bad. Safeties don't like to tackle. Their corners get toasted regularly. Peters is awful now. Must be the most overrated player in the league. in every game, he gets toasted and then throws up his hands in this whiny, loser sort of way. He tries to jump routes so any double move burns him. Like every time. In general, their body language and hustle on defense is poor. They don't run to the ball like we do. They don't seem like they believe in themselves. They certainly look like they play for a paycheck more than for the love. Their Defense is all about the Dline. It's the only good part. Block Donald, and you win this game. Maybe easily.

7) Seemed like their special teams allowed some long returns in about half those games.

All-in-all, I expected to come out of this impressed and scared of their offense. It's scary, but not better than New Orleans and very Gurley-dependent. If he is limited, I think we can hold them to 20. If not, we probably need to score 28 to 31 to win. They have been much worse the last 5-6 games, too, than they were earlier in the year. probably bc teams are figuring out the coach. like I said, I don't see genius -- I see a guy who has a few plays that work and goes to those same plays over and over.

First of all, an excellent job on this write-up! Thanks for taking the time to review those games and share the information, much appreciated!

I'll list my questions and comments numerically as you did:

1. I agree with you about Gurley, he's priority #1 and their biggest threat. Hopefully, we can hold him in check like we did Alvin Kamura. My fear is that the Rams get Cooks going like the Seahawks did with Lockett. (How the Cowboys let that happen again is beyond me)
2. If that's the case, it should be clear to the Cowboys coaches and drilled into the players heads. But it seems that way already with this defense as I don't see them getting fooled all that often. They stay pretty disciplined and look well prepared for the most part.
3. When you mention attacking the middle of the field, that makes me nervous. I think our corners play outside better than inside, and anything that might involve Jeff Heath has me concerned. He's a target and weak link of our defense.
4. I've felt Goff is prone to turnovers as well. He certainly was later in the year. I'm very interested to see what our defensive line might be able to do against the Rams offensive line. If we can get pressure inside like we did against the Seahawks, as well as some outside from Lawrence and Gregory, it should give a less-mobile quarterback like Goff a really hard time.
5. One thing the Cowboys defense doesn't regularly do is to give up those "chunk plays", although they uncharacteristicically did several times against Seattle. And that goes back to my earlier comments about Lockett. Hopefully the same doesn't happen with Cooks, who has serious speed.
6. I'm wondering about Peters vs Cooper. Do you (or does anyone else) know which side of the field Peters lines up on? I ask because it seems to me that Dak and Cooper do by far their best work on the right side of the field, and lining Cooper and his moves up against someone who repeatedly bites on fakes could be a potential gold mine.
7. Tavon Austin will undoubtedly be motivated to show his former team that they made a mistake in trading him. That said, a big part of why they moved him was fumbling on special teams. I hope that in his desire to prove something, he's not careless with the football because the Rams will likely be attacking it if they can. That sets up a potential "feast or famine" situation. Austin might make a huge return (like he did twice against Seattle) or he could put it on the ground and end up as a huge liability.

 

[buybuydandavis]

I recall the last time the Cowboys played the Rams the game was close in the first half - until Sean Lee go hurt. After that, the Rams offense scored every time they got the ball and Gurley killed us. That was when Jaylon Smith was not fully recovered and he was inexperienced. Now, with LVE and Smith playing at such a high level, I expect them to make Gurley earn his yards.

I wonder. The Colts were effective in getting bodies on LVE and Jaylon. Why haven't teams since?

 

[starfrombirth]

Dallas needs to sell out to stop the run and bring lots of blitzes to get Goff rattled. They blitzed the hell out of Wilson and it worked perfectly. I hadn't seen that much blitzing since the NO game. We rattled both Brees and Wilson. We can do it to Goff too.

The only thing that worked perfectly for us in that game is that Schottenheimer is a closet Cowboy fan and wouldn't get off the run. Every time they needed a pass from Wilson he delivered. Any one who thinks we would have won if they had put the game in his hands wasn't paying attention. He delivered perfect passes. We can only hope our own Dak gets that good. Those plays were mostly defended well but he dropped perfect dimes... WOW! I'm glad we won but we only did so because they waited too long to start passing.

 

[Stash]

Your 99.9% wrong.
JS
121 T 4 Sacks 0 Int 2 Fumble Rec 4 PD
LVE
140 T 0 Sacks 2 Int O FR & 7 PD
Corey
124 T 4 Sacks 3 Int 0 FR & 13 PD

Other than you comparing LVE at 11 starts to Littleton, who's apparently a family friend given your attempts to prop him up, and his 16 starts.

How many Pro Bowl and All-Pro votes did your family friend get? Maybe you should tell the voting committees that they got it "99.9% wrong"? And be sure to let them know that 11=16.

 

[Stash]

I wonder. The Colts were effective in getting bodies on LVE and Jaylon. Why haven't teams since?

I'd start with the sheer quality of the offensive lines.

The Colts have drafted and put together what is arguably the best line in the league right now. They certainly rival ours for pure draft pedigree.

 

[Stash]

The only thing that worked perfectly for us in that game is that Schottenheimer is a closet Cowboy fan and wouldn't get off the run. Every time they needed a pass from Wilson he delivered. Any one who thinks we would have won if they had put the game in his hands wasn't paying attention. He delivered perfect passes. We can only hope our own Dak gets that good. Those plays were mostly defended well but he dropped perfect dimes... WOW! I'm glad we won but we only did so because they waited too long to start passing.

Conversely, maybe the only reason the Seahawks were ever in it was because Wilson was able to "deliver perfect passes" at those perfect times? Oh, and not have his offensive linemen called for blatant holds in the process. The fact is that the only thing that allowed the Seahawks to even be competitive were those few "perfect passes, penalties negating huge Cowboys plays (Austin punt return TD), and blatant missed penalties against the Seahawks (clear PI on the endzone INT and the blatant missed hold on their 4th and 6 prayer).

 

[Stash]

Can't argue with black and white stats...so your point is fruitless.

Is the fact that Littleton and the Rams rank 28th versus the run a "black and white stat" as well?

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categoryst..._YARDS_PER_GAME_AVG&d-447263-o=1&d-447263-n=1

It looks like his point is valid.

 

[Swagger]

So, I watched a lot of Rams games last night (both Seattle, second Arizona, Detroit, Philly, Chicago, Green Bay, New Orleans). Here's what I think:

1) Their offense really goes as Gurley goes. He's their only special player. Cooks is good, so is Woods, so is their Oline, so is Goff, so is Reynolds. They have good players elsewhere but nobody that really scares you. If Gurley is limited, this is a huge plus for us.

2) As much as McVeigh gets credit for being a genius, by the end I thought his offense was very predictable. They run the same play action play over and over. Same jet sweep over and over (and they hand it on the sweep a lot). Same inside zone run. The whole thing is misdirection. Don't fall for the eye candy. Do not bite on play action cause this play action into a deep-in route is their best play.

3) The offense plays horizontal. Yes, they throw the ball down the field on play action, but even those plays are not outside the numbers. They always hit guys running horizontal to the line. Lots of square-ins, drags, and dig routes. In fact,Goff seems shaky on passes outside the numbers. He will throw a quick out, or a mid level out only on roll outs. But he rarely throws deep outside the numbers, and when he does, it's usually inaccurate. The middle of the field is absolutely key. It may be because their receivers are so small, they can't win outside. So play inside leverage like we usually do.

4) Goff is quite inaccurate when pressured. His mechanics get bad. Also, he will turn the ball over. Did in every game I watched, and most games had a couple more near-turnovers. Pressure him, or even just cover well on the play action, and he forces stuff, throws stuff up. I can see getting at least two turnovers off him in a high pressure game.

5) They do not like and are not very good at moving the ball in small chunks all the way down the field. Goff gets impatient. They expect junk plays, and that is behind why he ends up throwing picks it seems. Bend but don't break will break them.

6) Their D is pretty bad. Their linebackers are trash. Once you get past the Dline, the running game feasts. Zeke could really go off. Their secondary is also pretty bad. Safeties don't like to tackle. Their corners get toasted regularly. Peters is awful now. Must be the most overrated player in the league. in every game, he gets toasted and then throws up his hands in this whiny, loser sort of way. He tries to jump routes so any double move burns him. Like every time. In general, their body language and hustle on defense is poor. They don't run to the ball like we do. They don't seem like they believe in themselves. They certainly look like they play for a paycheck more than for the love. Their Defense is all about the Dline. It's the only good part. Block Donald, and you win this game. Maybe easily.

7) Seemed like their special teams allowed some long returns in about half those games.

All-in-all, I expected to come out of this impressed and scared of their offense. It's scary, but not better than New Orleans and very Gurley-dependent. If he is limited, I think we can hold them to 20. If not, we probably need to score 28 to 31 to win. They have been much worse the last 5-6 games, too, than they were earlier in the year. probably bc teams are figuring out the coach. like I said, I don't see genius -- I see a guy who has a few plays that work and goes to those same plays over and over.

Excellent post.

Very interesting analysis.

My personal view is that the Saints would have and (should we win) will rip our guts out in the dome - I just don't see it being close. People refer to our home win but...I don't see the Saints playing as badly, I don't see us playing as well and we only beat them by three points whichever way it's dressed up and they score more than ten points against us in the dome. They would be at home which would turn the game on it's head for a start (Brees will play better and in all likelihood Prescott will play worse) and Sean Payton will have a better game plan this time around against Garrett. That's just my opinion.

However, I give us a genuine shot against the Rams. I think since Cooper Kupp got injured, their offense has not been as explosive, I also question how mentally strong they actually are. They made a few early mistakes against the Falcons last season in the play offs and pretty much got blown out at home.

Perhaps they will have learnt from that and have developed maturity and mental strength.

I can see us winning this game but I don't see how we can beat the Saints given Prescott will be up against Brees in the dome.

 

[ufcrules1]

The only thing that worked perfectly for us in that game is that Schottenheimer is a closet Cowboy fan and wouldn't get off the run. Every time they needed a pass from Wilson he delivered. Any one who thinks we would have won if they had put the game in his hands wasn't paying attention. He delivered perfect passes. We can only hope our own Dak gets that good. Those plays were mostly defended well but he dropped perfect dimes... WOW! I'm glad we won but we only did so because they waited too long to start passing.

I agree. They should have had Wilson passing a ton more but they kept sticking to the run. The coaching killed Seattle.

 

[starfrombirth]

Conversely, maybe the only reason the Seahawks were ever in it was because Wilson was able to "deliver perfect passes" at those perfect times? Oh, and not have his offensive linemen called for blatant holds in the process. The fact is that the only thing that allowed the Seahawks to even be competitive were those few "perfect passes, penalties negating huge Cowboys plays (Austin punt return TD), and blatant missed penalties against the Seahawks (clear PI on the endzone INT and the blatant missed hold on their 4th and 6 prayer).

I agree with you about the PI non-call but the holding on Austin's return was legit. We never get the holding calls for us, so we should be used to it (it sucks I know). But all of that is irrelevant if Wilson starts throwing as soon as they come out in the second half, in my opinion. Did Dak play well? Yes, but I don't believe our defense held up enough to say that we could have stopped Wilson.

 

[DallasDomination]

That's what I see with them as well. I believe we need to worry about Gurley and hope our dline holds it's own against that oline. It will be won in the trenches.

And like you said they do a lot of misdirection so our players have to be disciplined. Hope Garrett comes up with a good game plan.

 

[Stash]

I agree with you about the PI non-call but the holding on Austin's return was legit. We never get the holding calls for us, so we should be used to it (it sucks I know).

I'll disagree on the use of the term "legit". I thought it was a questionable, ticky-tack call, and that it was called far too quickly and that it had little if any impact on the play.

But all of that is irrelevant if Wilson starts throwing as soon as they come out in the second half, in my opinion. Did Dak play well? Yes, but I don't believe our defense held up enough to say that we could have stopped Wilson.

Wilson made some "perfect throws" as you said. But he can't and hasn't made a career out of doing that. No one can. And the Seahawks are who they are, a team who got to where they were by leading the league in rushing. If they suddenly changed that, they'd be facing just as much criticism for not doing what they do best.

We didn't "get lucky" to beat the Seahawks. If anything, they were "lucky" to have ever been in that game.

 

[Silver N Blue]

Other than you comparing LVE at 11 starts to Littleton, who's apparently a family friend given your attempts to prop him up, and his 16 starts.

How many Pro Bowl and All-Pro votes did your family friend get? Maybe you should tell the voting committees that they got it "99.9% wrong"? And be sure to let them know that 11=16.

Not my friend just going back to the original post where the rams LBs were so called garbage...this was not a comparison of who is the better LB...so thanks for playing late with no background..stash.

 

[fansince68]

So, I watched a lot of Rams games last night (both Seattle, second Arizona, Detroit, Philly, Chicago, Green Bay, New Orleans). Here's what I think:

1) Their offense really goes as Gurley goes. He's their only special player. Cooks is good, so is Woods, so is their Oline, so is Goff, so is Reynolds. They have good players elsewhere but nobody that really scares you. If Gurley is limited, this is a huge plus for us.

2) As much as McVeigh gets credit for being a genius, by the end I thought his offense was very predictable. They run the same play action play over and over. Same jet sweep over and over (and they hand it on the sweep a lot). Same inside zone run. The whole thing is misdirection. Don't fall for the eye candy. Do not bite on play action cause this play action into a deep-in route is their best play.

3) The offense plays horizontal. Yes, they throw the ball down the field on play action, but even those plays are not outside the numbers. They always hit guys running horizontal to the line. Lots of square-ins, drags, and dig routes. In fact,Goff seems shaky on passes outside the numbers. He will throw a quick out, or a mid level out only on roll outs. But he rarely throws deep outside the numbers, and when he does, it's usually inaccurate. The middle of the field is absolutely key. It may be because their receivers are so small, they can't win outside. So play inside leverage like we usually do.

4) Goff is quite inaccurate when pressured. His mechanics get bad. Also, he will turn the ball over. Did in every game I watched, and most games had a couple more near-turnovers. Pressure him, or even just cover well on the play action, and he forces stuff, throws stuff up. I can see getting at least two turnovers off him in a high pressure game.

5) They do not like and are not very good at moving the ball in small chunks all the way down the field. Goff gets impatient. They expect junk plays, and that is behind why he ends up throwing picks it seems. Bend but don't break will break them.

6) Their D is pretty bad. Their linebackers are trash. Once you get past the Dline, the running game feasts. Zeke could really go off. Their secondary is also pretty bad. Safeties don't like to tackle. Their corners get toasted regularly. Peters is awful now. Must be the most overrated player in the league. in every game, he gets toasted and then throws up his hands in this whiny, loser sort of way. He tries to jump routes so any double move burns him. Like every time. In general, their body language and hustle on defense is poor. They don't run to the ball like we do. They don't seem like they believe in themselves. They certainly look like they play for a paycheck more than for the love. Their Defense is all about the Dline. It's the only good part. Block Donald, and you win this game. Maybe easily.

7) Seemed like their special teams allowed some long returns in about half those games.

All-in-all, I expected to come out of this impressed and scared of their offense. It's scary, but not better than New Orleans and very Gurley-dependent. If he is limited, I think we can hold them to 20. If not, we probably need to score 28 to 31 to win. They have been much worse the last 5-6 games, too, than they were earlier in the year. probably bc teams are figuring out the coach. like I said, I don't see genius -- I see a guy who has a few plays that work and goes to those same plays over and over.

I like your observations. Its worries me that our offense never seem to take advantage of the opportunities given. Stuff like, ignoring Amari when he has single coverage and a lame db. And insisting on running between the tackles with 8 and 9 man stacked boxes.

 

[Silver N Blue]

Is the fact that Littleton and the Rams rank 28th versus the run a "black and white stat" as well?

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categoryst..._YARDS_PER_GAME_AVG&d-447263-o=1&d-447263-n=1

It looks like his point is valid.

Nope not valid at all..do Kuechly, Lee, and other top ten LBs get "downgraded" when they play for a bad defense...nope...again joining a party late with no facts as to why I brought this up...Littleton was a top ten LB this past year...hardly garbage like the original post proclaimed...

 

[Stash]

Not my friend just going back to the original post where the rams LBs were so called garbage...this was not a comparison of who is the better LB...so thanks for playing late with no background..stash.

Do the "timing" of me correcting you has some bearing? As far as I can tell, this thread hasn't been closed yet? Maybe you just don't like being corrected?

And if you're going to cry about the OP's referring to the linebackers as trash, just be aware of your own hyperbole, like here:

Again not sure what you are watching he is 6'3'' tall and his stats blew away both the guys here. You'll see Saturday.

 

[Stash]

Nope not valid at all..do Kuechly, Lee, and other top ten LBs get "downgraded" when they play for a bad defense...nope...again joining a party late with no facts as to why I brought this up...Littleton was a top ten LB this past year...hardly garbage like the original post proclaimed...

Again cry about when I "joined the party", the thread is still open, and your off-base comments are still open to be corrected.

I'll school you on something else, a linebacker's role is to play well against both the pass and the run. Your stats look great against the pass, but the criticism of Littleton has been based on his run defense, which you have failed to counter in any way. Instead, you try - and fail - to ignore what is, in fact, a very valid point.

The "no facts" is coming from you, and your attempts to ignore the valid criticisms being made against the player because they shoot your campaign for him all to hell.

 

[Silver N Blue]

Do the "timing" of me correcting you has some bearing? As far as I can tell, this thread hasn't been closed yet? Maybe you just don't like being corrected?

And if you're going to cry about the OP's referring to the linebackers as trash, just be aware of your own hyperbole, like here:

LOL I'm not being corrected for anything. I provided actual black and white stats to show this original post comments about the rams LBs being trash was not true.