Sean McVay has Jared Goff cooking and the Rams offense should roll vs. Cowboys

[CGI_Ram]

Sean McVay has Jared Goff cooking and the Rams offense should roll vs. Cowboys

It turns out coaching does matter in the NFL.

When running back Todd Gurley called the Rams' offense -- coached by all-time loser Jeff Fisher at the time -- a "middle-school offense" last December, he was thought to have done so out of frustration. It wasn't considered to be an analytical response to answer the questions behind No. 1 pick Jared Goff'srookie-year struggles and Gurley's own mysterious sophomore slump. But Gurley wasn't that far off with his answer. The Rams' offensive catastrophe was almost entirely related to its scheme. The first three games of the 2017 season is enough proof.

So far, the Rams' offense is torching foes -- they're averaging the seventh-most yards per game (374.3) and the most points per game (35.7) in all of football. Goff looks like Legolas sniping Orcs -- he's first in yards per attempt (10.09) and third in passer rating (118.2). Gurley looks like he's actually wearing a touchdown magnet -- he's tied for the league lead in rushing/receiving touchdowns (six) after scoring six touchdowns over the course of the entire 2016 season.

For all of that, the Rams can thank their new 31-year-old coach, Sean McVay, who replaced Fisher and immediately implemented an offense that caters to its personnel's strengths -- plus, he spells his name the right way. And they can also thank newcomers in receivers Sammy Watkins, Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, and left tackle Andrew Whitworth. The Rams' offense received upgrades this offseason in both coaching and personnel.

This is a rather long article with images. For the rest, read here;

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...-and-the-rams-offense-should-roll-vs-cowboys/

 

[nighttrain]

good read
train

 

[yrba1]

good read
train

Any read that involves shitting on Fisher and his egregious micromanagement on offense is a good read

 

[sjm1582002]

Big road game.

Time for the run defense to assert itself.

This early? I would not get too excited/despondent over the result of the game.

I like where the Rams are headed.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Goff's been good in part because McVay's creating easy throws with big windows. He's done this by using a ton of play-action:

man it shits me when the media keeps blurting this out as a qualifier for his good play. when brady is throwing passes to wide open receivers all game the media rave that he's doing something extraordinary, they don't say the coach is making it easy for him.

i read a few more sentences but the article had the same vibe so i stopped there. making things easy for the qb should be the coaches job, not the exception. maybe it's because they're so used to spags and fisherball with the rams receivers completely blanketed that when they see the rams running a real offense they think mcvay is using kids gloves on goff. the play action is the staple of an nfl offense, it's not some gimmick exclusively used to make goff look better.

aaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggghhhhhh!!!!!!

ahhh, i feel better now.

.

 

[LesBaker]

good read

It was except for the second sentence where he says "When running back Todd Gurley called the Rams' offense -- coached by all-time loser Jeff Fisher at the time".

Fisher was totally hands off on O and saying all time loser is a grade school move for a professional journalist IMO. The standards are just SO low these days.

Thanks interweb!

Any read that involves crapping on Fisher and his egregious micromanagement on offense is a good read

His problem was the opposite of micro management. He hired incompetent OC's that had no experience and then let them do what they wanted to do, a huge mistake on his part.

This early? I would not get too excited/despondent over the result of the game.

Normally I'd agree, especially with the new practice rules from the new CBA.

BUT.

If the Rams slow down the Cowboys O and put up a big day on their O I'm going to start to think they have a shot at the division this year. If the score ends up 31-17 or 30-14 we as fans will have reasons to be excited.

Linehan is widely disliked by Rams fans, and he was partially a scapegoat for the FO that was shitty as fuck IMO. He is one of the best OC's in the biz, that's how he got a shot at a HC job in the first place. He played QB for Dennis Erickson who is quite the innovative offensive mind.

So the chess match in this game, just my opinion of course, is between his already established offense group that have all been in that system for a few seasons, versus Phillips who is still getting his defense up to speed and taking players that have been is a straight up 4-3 and teaching them to work in a 3-4/4-3 hybrid.

That's why I think it's likely to be a close game and the team that wins will have one ST play that makes a difference or a key turnover or one critical drive. This is likely to be a close one.

If the Rams win in a dominant fashion against a team with above average O and middle of the pack D then I'm getting excited @sjm1582002 and you should too!!!!

 

[Ramrocket]

man it shits me when the media keeps blurting this out as a qualifier for his good play. when brady is throwing passes to wide open receivers all game the media rave that he's doing something extraordinary, they don't say the coach is making it easy for him.

Ditto. Goff got criticised by Collinsworth on Thursday night for stepping back rather than stepping up into the pocket. When Brady did exactly the same thing against the Texans, he was the 2nd and 3rd coming of Christ because he gave himself more time. Granted, it wasn't Collinsworth who praised Brady but you get my drift.

The double standards are nauseating.

 

[yrba1]

His problem was the opposite of micro management. He hired incompetent OC's that had no experience and then let them do what they wanted to do, a huge mistake on his part.

Pardon me for wording that wrong, the thought of Fisher and offense between 10 words makes my blood boil.

 

[LesBaker]

Pardon me for wording that wrong, the thought of Fisher and offense between 10 words makes my blood boil.

When we look back at the OC's it's just effing bizarro-world.

Schottenheimer, then Fisher promoted the TE coach and QB coach to OC and let them do what they wanted. It was probably the worst run of offense in the modern era. Especially when you factor in the O the previous 3 years before Fisher. It was horrific.

10.9 PPG one year! And that's including scores from the D and ST of course.

 

[1maGoh]

It was except for the second sentence where he says "When running back Todd Gurley called the Rams' offense -- coached by all-time loser Jeff Fisher at the time".

Fisher was totally hands off on O and saying all time loser is a grade school move for a professional journalist IMO. The standards are just SO low these days.

Thanks interweb!



His problem was the opposite of micro management. He hired incompetent OC's that had no experience and then let them do what they wanted to do, a huge mistake on his part.



Normally I'd agree, especially with the new practice rules from the new CBA.

BUT.

If the Rams slow down the Cowboys O and put up a big day on their O I'm going to start to think they have a shot at the division this year. If the score ends up 31-17 or 30-14 we as fans will have reasons to be excited.

Linehan is widely disliked by Rams fans, and he was partially a scapegoat for the FO that was crappy as freak IMO. He is one of the best OC's in the biz, that's how he got a shot at a HC job in the first place. He played QB for Dennis Erickson who is quite the innovative offensive mind.

So the chess match in this game, just my opinion of course, is between his already established offense group that have all been in that system for a few seasons, versus Phillips who is still getting his defense up to speed and taking players that have been is a straight up 4-3 and teaching them to work in a 3-4/4-3 hybrid.

That's why I think it's likely to be a close game and the team that wins will have one ST play that makes a difference or a key turnover or one critical drive. This is likely to be a close one.

If the Rams win in a dominant fashion against a team with above average O and middle of the pack D then I'm getting excited @sjm1582002 and you should too!!!!

I thought, and I'm fully willing to admit that I may be wrong, that I read an article last year or the year before that he was always with the offense in training camp because they needed so much help.

I'd try to find it... But I'm super lazy.

 

[Mojo Ram]

Any read that involves crapping on Fisher and his egregious micromanagement on offense is a good read

I disagree. Fisher brought excellent defense and special teams and took the Rams from the perennial basement to average.

We've all had our fun lynch mobbing Fisher after he was fired. Easy target. Yes he failed but personally i think less of Linehan and Spags who brought us the worst 5 year stretch in NFL history. I'm tired of the Fisher stuff.

JMO

 

[RamsSince1969]

Coach is running with the receivers coaching them up! Maybe a few other coaches also do this, I don't know about a head coach. I bet the players appreciate him being so hands on.

 

[yrba1]

I disagree. Fisher brought excellent defense and special teams and took the Rams from the perennial basement to average.

We've all had our fun lynch mobbing Fisher after he was fired. Easy target. Yes he failed but personally i think less of Linehan and Spags who brought us the worst 5 year stretch in NFL history. I'm tired of the Fisher stuff.

JMO

I feel ya. I'll give all the credit in the world to Fisher and his staff for turning our defense and special teams playoff caliber.

I simply will talk shit on his merits on offense; I've defended him for years despite the glaring issues there and it wasn't until last year where my morbid cynicism transcended into mutiny. I guess it's those lost years where I feel the need to vent for defending him

 

[LesBaker]

But I'm super lazy.

LOL. Millennial.

 

[LesBaker]

We've all had our fun lynch mobbing Fisher after he was fired. Easy target. Yes he failed but personally i think less of Linehan and Spags who brought us the worst 5 year stretch in NFL history. I'm tired of the Fisher stuff.

Bad OC and shit QB will not win games, ever. And the Rams have had to deal with that garbage for many years.

Over a decade of bad OC and bad QB. Going back to Bulger's last few years, to Bradford, to the string of guys who played after that.

The Spagnoulo/Linehan era is the WORST in this teams history, nothing else is even close.

And factor in Haslett's fantastic 10 game losing streak and as fans it's fair to say WTF!!!!!

Devaney was the biggest problem in that era. He and Demoff. That combo was straight poison.

 

[Merlin]

But Gurley wasn't that far off with his answer. The Rams' offensive catastrophe was almost entirely related to its scheme. The first three games of the 2017 season is enough proof.

I think we all saw the scheme issues, and that they were a problem. But this year's team also received an offensive supplement of a Pro Bowl LT in Big Whit, vet C in Sully, Pro Bowl WR in Watkins, vet possession WR in Woods, and a couple good young pieces for the passing game through draftees Kupp and Everett.

So gotta give credit where it's due, that this regime also saw the deficiencies at key positions and moved decisively to address them.

 

[Prime Time]

A good article with lots of instructive gifs. Best lines from the article...

Goff looks like Legolas sniping Orcs

Watching last year's Rams offense versus this year's unit is like going from watching the "Star Wars" prequels to watching "Rogue One."

 

[LesBaker]

for stepping back rather than stepping up into the pocket

It's a minor thing and guess what........not ONE single time did it result in a sack.

I'm not defending it, because it's not a great idea when you should be climbing up in the pocket. But it hasn't hurt the Rams.

When Bulger was first playing he used to do a spin move to get away from pressure and I was critical about it because I was sure he was going to spin right into an unblocked DE and get smashed. He did it for a few weeks then stopped. He learned it was a bad idea.

I think now that Goff is smart enough to learn where the sun comes up that he can be taught a better way to move in the pocket.

 

[den-the-coach]

The Spagnoulo/Linehan era is the WORST in this teams history, nothing else is even close.

Sad part both very good coordinators although I was totally against the Linehan hiring from the outset after listening to his press conference it was clear that Linehan was not comfortable in his own skin and could not address a group of men. As to Steve Spagnuolo, who orchestrated one of the greatest upsets in NFL history, well, when you become a rookie Head Coach who don't surround yourself with rookie Coordinators and Spagnuolo had two of them in OC Pat Shurmur and DC Ken Flajole...Spags was paranoid, now so was Martz, but Martz had good reason to be, whereas Spags had no reason to be the Rams gave Spagnuolo everything he asked for and it was an epic fail.

For the record that is why Spagnuolo & Linehan will never be a Head Coach again in the NFL unless it's on an interim basis. Spagnuolo's career record is 10-38, Linehan 11-25 and with those records IMHO, they will never have a chance to be a Head Coach again.

 

[FarNorth]

When we look back at the OC's it's just effing bizarro-world.

Schottenheimer, then Fisher promoted the TE coach and QB coach to OC and let them do what they wanted. It was probably the worst run of offense in the modern era. Especially when you factor in the O the previous 3 years before Fisher. It was horrific.

10.9 PPG one year! And that's including scores from the D and ST of course.

I think it WAS the worst NFL offense of the modern era. Definitely the worst I've ever seen, and for reasons that were hard to fathom and difficult to excuse. Not even able to use a great running back... not ever being able to surprise a D... no downfield passing game... and on and on