Getting Tavon Austin the ball must be Rams' priority

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http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...g-tavon-austin-the-ball-must-be-rams-priority

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The Rams are 3-1 when Tavon Austin scores a TD this season, and 2-0 when he has
topped 100 yards of total offense. Jeff Curry/USA TODAY Sports


EARTH CITY, Mo. -- After last week's 16-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, St. Louis Rams receiver Tavon Austin did his best to not let his disappointment boil over.

Austin had touched the ball just twice in the game on offense, and his first chance didn't come until the third quarter.

"That’s how it goes sometimes," Austin said after the game. "Sometimes you touch the ball, sometimes you don’t. Ya’ll know it’s frustrating, but this ain’t no one-man team either."

No, the Rams aren't a one-man team, but they're pretty close to being a two-man offense.

This week, we looked at how the Rams are working on ways to get running backTodd Gurley going. Gurley and Austin have been the focal points of the Rams offense for most of the season, but while Gurley's recent struggles are a product of a lack of help, it's not for lack of opportunities.

In Austin's case, the past two weeks have offered a resounding reminder that though Gurley is the centerpiece of the offense, the Rams also need Austin to produce to have a chance at offensive success. Simply, the Rams haven't done a good enough job of feeding Austin the ball.

Against the Ravens, Austin had one carry for 16 yards and one catch for five yards. Against Chicago the previous week, Austin had three carries for 18 yards and two catches for five yards. All told, that's four carries for 34 yards and three catches for 10 yards. He did not score a touchdown in either game.

"That’s what I said after the game, two touches was not enough for him last week," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. "There’s a lot of different reasons for it. We had a lot of things up for Tavon that we checked out of because we didn’t get the looks that we liked and went a different direction."

Though there is no doubt that getting your team into favorable matchups is a big part of what an offense has to do, it's clear that aside from Gurley, Austin is the one guy on the Rams offense who can create problems for opposing defenses when he has the ball in his hands. If that means occasionally giving him the ball against a look that's less than ideal, so be it. After all, it's not like someone else is making things happen with so-called better matchups.

In Austin's four most productive games this season, the Rams are 3-1. In the two games he went over 100 yards of total offense -- against San Francisco and Arizona -- the Rams won both. And in the four games in which Austin scored a touchdown, the Rams are also 3-1.

"Defenses, we’ve been saying since he’s been here, they’re concerned about him," Fisher said. "They don’t want him to get the ball on the edge. They’re concerned about him. So with that in mind, if they’re edge conscious and they’re aware of him on the, we call them 'ghosts,' then something else should open up for us."

The problem, however, is that either something else isn't opening up for the Rams, they don't have the talent at those other spots to take advantage, or a combination of the two. That doesn't mean the Rams need to shoot for 15 to 20 touches a game or anything near what Gurley should get, but something closer to the seven to 10 range would probably be the sweet spot for Austin.

Which means offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti needs to make sure there are enough calls in the game plan to get the ball in Austin's hands, without putting him in position to take a big loss on those plays when something might not look favorable.

"It depends on what’s called," Fisher said. "You don’t want to hand a reverse off to him and have a defensive back five yards back in backfield making a tackle for loss. So, it depends on the nature of the call."
 

LACHAMP46

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In re-watching the game, Tavon took a pretty nice hit on a punt return on the sideline. His very next one, he muffed. He later had a huge 3rd down drop...And then his next play was a badly thrown ball on a timing route....Seemed his reverse touches were down, but his targets were normal....
 

ramfan46

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I just don't see why it's so hard to get him going on slants, crossers and deep balls out of trips or just motion. I feel like I haven't even seen crossing routes with him since his TD vs Indy in 13. I'm sure he's run them, but it's just so rare. Just goes back to the Rams being allergic to the middle of the field. The damage is done between LBs and Safeties IMO. Those are just better match ups for the skill players to make a big play. We haven't been able to attack anyone and put them on their heels yet.
 

Merlin

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The prob isn't them not gettin Tavon the ball enough. It's that they were beat in scheming to where the plays they had prepared for him were not set up for success. When that happens, as Fish pointed out, someone else should be open and the offense should execute in that direction. The fact that you can shut this offense down by focusing on Gurley and Tavon demonstrates how simplistic and not ready for the playoffs it is. In the playoffs teams are typically going to be able do shut down or severely limit your top receiving option and stuff your running game early on. To belong there offensively you need to be able to go to a second or even third receiving option depending on how good the opposing defense is, and sustain enough drives so that the running game can start wearing down the rush.

This is a gimmick offense that wants to be a power offense. It is just not gonna get better until after the offseason and even then only if they bring in better offensive coaching and some players who can execute. If they just go with players then there is that chance Cigs is not good enough and they're set back yet another year. That's why Fish has to blow it up and rebuild that offense with new pieces for OL, WR, TE, and QB not to mention the coordinator. Significant work ahead IMO.
 

RamzFanz

Damnit
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Um...yeah. Did anyone think getting the ball to TA twice would be a win?

Here TA, run this ball...16 yards.

Never hand it to him again. :palm:

No win this season has TA under 5 touches or less.
 
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