[Elvis]

We're actually pretty bad in the turnover department, tied for 5th most at 1.7 giveaways per game...

[AvengerRam]

Interesting...

The Rams are currently the only team holding a playoff spot with a negative turnover ratio (-1).

The bright side of that is that this is a correctable number. If the Rams can get on the upside of this stat...

[aeneas1]

the rams have coughed up the ball 4+ times in 4 of the 27 games they've played since last season, these four games account for close to 40% of the rams turnovers for the 2019-2020 stretch... looking at only games in which teams didn't turn the ball over 4+ times, in the rams case it's 23 games, the rams rank 8th in fewest turnovers per game - in short, outside of the relatively infrequent 4+ turnover games, the rams have done a good job of taking care of the ball over the last couple of years.

would the rams have beaten the dolphins and niners if they hadn't coughed it up 4+ times, if goff hadn't coughed it up so much? maybe - but outside of those turnover drives, when goff and the rams weren't turning the ball over, they still stunk up the field.

the rams had 22 non-turnover drives to work with against the dolphins and niners, 22 firggin' drives, and what did they to do with them? scored 3 measly tds (for those counting at home, 3 tds in 22 drives is a laughable 14% rate, the league average is 24% the jets average is 11%) as they stumbled to an average of 15 offensive points per game.

the rams also punted a whopping 13 times, which is close to a 60% rate (league average is 24%), and failed to score on 16 drives (drives in which they averaged an embarrassing 19 yards).

headed into week 12 the rams rank 23rd in tds scored per drive, 30th in field goals scored per drive, and 31st in offensive scores per drive, ahead of only the jets.

mcvay can blame goff all he wants, can blame goff's turnovers, but from where i'm sitting mcvay's 2020 scheme, his horizontal quick pass one-read 2020 scheme, is the biggest elephant in room, it just hasn't been effective, at least not nearly consistently enough... sure, i suppose we can pray that goff and the rams don't turn the ball over in the hope that they can win despite scoring just 17 offensive points, despite scoring just 13 points, but that's zero fun for this fan - instead i'd much rather see mcvay pull out his genius card and get this shit fixed.

[/zn/]

Thanks for supporting my point.

That's just lame flame tactics. Shrug.

[/zn/]

I just want to add that his fumble last game bothered me much more than the interceptions. Quarterbacks throw interceptions and some of them look really bad. Remember Brady against the Rams last week?

But that fumble was inexcusable. Sometimes the quarterback get blindsided and fumbles. And sometimes the ball gets knocked out of their hand when they are in a passing motion. Understandable. But Goff is immobile. He rarely runs with the ball and for good reason. On those few occasions when he scrambles forward he has to know to get down when he is going to be hit. In this case he wasn’t even hit hard. Just a total bonehead play.

He was pressing. It's a big flaw of his. His first instincts are to make something happen, regardless, and that's not always the smart move. He has no business trying to juke defenders on runs instead of just sliding. You can bet you never see that again. He will slide. No more RB wannabe from Goff.

[Gareth]

I'm not arguing that the current model isn't GREATLY improved over previous ones.
Are we wrong to expect *more* now?

Good question.

Considering that this version of the Rams made it to the Super Bowl two years ago, expecting more would be to win the Super Bowl right?

Is it wrong to expect that? I’m not sure I would use the word wrong but it might be over ambitious.

[/zn/]

Let's take your Saints playoff game angle and apply it to McVay..

Lemme see if I get this right...

"I guess McVay didn't have his genius card handy when he called a game that helped Goff get 370+ yards against a top 5 defense at Tampa! And.. boy.. those horizontal passes and short passes didn't work in that game!"

Yes there are defensive schemes and attacks that give McVay more problems than others. Tampa has a tough front and great LBs but play zone behind that. SF can attack on the DL AND cover.

Not that it's all despair. In the 2nd 2019 SF game, in the 2nd half the Rams adjusted to SF taking their rollouts away, and came back twice, once to lead and once to tie. And SF had Bosa in that game against an inexperienced replacement OL, so it wasn't easy pickins. It was the defense that lost that game on consecutive 3rd and 16s.

[aeneas1]

Let's take your Saints playoff game angle and apply it to McVay..

Lemme see if I get this right...

"I guess McVay didn't have his genius card handy when he called a game that helped Goff get 370+ yards against a top 5 defense at Tampa! And.. boy.. those horizontal passes and short passes didn't work in that game!"

pretty sure you're trying to flip what i wrote previously, but i don't think i'm following, what can i say, i'm thick....

mcvay's scheme worked against the bucs, for the most part, it was great to see, even though it followed a season long trend in which the rams do well with their first few drives then drop off considerably as the game unfolds, in the bucs case it was 17 points on their first 4 drives followed by 2 scores and a lot of miscues on their next 9 drives... anyway, as i wrote before, imo this scheme has been very inconsistent, more than a few teams have shut it down completely, it's led to an 18th ranking (currently) in offensive scoring.

saints game? that game in which things were perfect for goff which allowed him to outplay brees, in brees' house no less, in the second half, with the game on the line (goff posted a 111.0 qb rating in the second half), and lead the rams to the super bowl? that game?

seriously tho, goff needs to avoid big turnover games, and has for the most part, but imo mcvay has to work the combo tumblers a lot more to see if he can get much better production out of what he's trying to do, i think there's enough talent on offense to be much better than what we've seen, probably not top 5, but top 10 i would think, and certainly not bottom half of the league.

[/zn/]

And if Goff didn't throw a careless pick six...
Again.. an unforced, bad decision.

Which they came back from. They would not be in a position to win that game without the 2nd half offensive performance. That's both playcalling and qb performance.

Pick 6s can happen, and often we don't really know why (was there a mix-up on a route?)

Do defenses often allow consecutive 3rd and 16s to be converted with the game on the line in the final minutes?

...

[aeneas1]

Good question.

Considering that this version of the Rams made it to the Super Bowl two years ago, expecting more would be to win the Super Bowl right?

Is it wrong to expect that? I’m not sure I would use the word wrong but it might be over ambitious.

back in the day i was a lombardi or nothing guy, but age has mellowed me considerably, i just want the rams to be competitive enough to make a championship run, and they've been that the last 4 years, even last year imo, so i've been a pretty damn happy camper since mcvay's arrival... that said, it does get frustrating when you believe that your competitive team is better than it's played, which has been the case the last couple of years for me, but it still beats the hell out of the many long, bleak stretches we've seen as rams fans!