Rams Fans United - Los Angeles Rams Fan Discussion Forum

according to nfl.com the rams rank a very respectable 9th in qb hits allowed per pass attempt and 12th in combined sacks and hits allowed per pass attempt, not too shabby.

that said, like all teams, the rams have been caught off guard and confused by blitzes, including disguised and delayed blitzes, and overloaded sides have caused havoc, and pain.

given the very encouraging pass pro stats, it appears that the rams have figured out a way to counter to some extent, but watching the 22 it seems there's still plenty of room for improvement, especially considering these plays can be devastating to a qb's health, especially to a young, green, qb's health.

on this play the jets send 2 extra guys, benny is clearly supposed to pick up one, but what about the other guy, who was supposed to pick him up? more importantly, who did keenum think was going to pick him up? don't the rams audible? don't they have contingencies? did a wr blow a hot route (didn't appear to be the case)?



again, who does the qb think is going to pick up these 3 guys? case drops back as if he has no idea 3 guys have overloaded the right side and are chomping at the bit to get after him.



here's goff's first preseason game when he got crushed by a delayed blitz... the lb (red arrow) pretends to drop into coverage and then crashes in behind the db.. malcom does a great job picking up the first guy through, but akunne comes in untouched and levels goff... granted, goff is playing behind backups, including 2 who didn't make the team, but it's the type of play the starters have been susceptible to all year.





here's a look at where teams rank in combined hits/sacks and hits allowed per pass attempt through last weekend... to the far right i've also included a column titled "pass depth rank" which shows where the top and bottom teams rank in terms of depth of completed pass.

not surprisingly, the top 11 teams in fewest hits/sacks allowed per pass attempt also tend to rank very low in average depth of completed pass, they average a 20th ranking in depth of pass completed, whereas the bottom 11 teams in fewest hits/sacks allowed per pass attempt tend to rank high in depth of completed pass, they average a 10th ranking in depth of completed pass. moral of the story? the deeper you throw in the nfl the more your qb is going to get hit. that said, the cowboys and titans olines, who pff ranked 1st and 5th through week 5, seem to live up to their billing - both teams rank high in depth of completed pass yet low in sacks/hits allowed per pass attempt:

Miami is going to stack the box and blitz heavy. Goff may have low comp % but he should have some big gainers. Beat the blitz and they will slow down. Get eaten by the blitz, andwe're toast

Goff is used to poor pass protection and still excelled in college. Crossing fingers.

Not blocking Ndamukong Suh.

quickest way to get goff killed
Is to play him VS Miami

In the Bills shot it looks to me as if Gurley should have either raced over (as Benny tried) or Keenum should have switched him. Gurley almost seems to slide out as if its supposed to be a screen but then stops and there is no one to block.

And Goff will have to get rid of that ball faster than he does there. He held it a beat too long. That is what I hope is the first change we see. Goff not waiting as Keenum seemed to do over and over. Keenum often seemed to wait so long the receiver went from being open to covered by the time the ball left his hand.

Go Rams!

So is the scheme flawed or has Keenum not been calling protections properly? Or both?

Will0120 wrote:
In the first play posted, Keenum needs to hit that short crossing WR FAST. That one is on him.

In the second play posted, I think that one is on the RG & RT. Always block inside out. They picked up the two outside guys and left Alexander a clear path inside to Keenum. He had no chance on that one.

In the Goff play, I think it's just a very well designed blitz play in which Goff didn't see the delayed blitz either. Had he seen it though, not sure if there was much he can do anyways. RB did a nice job picking up the initial blitzer too.

Agreed, Keenum seemed to miss the hot read in play #1. The wr ran the route where the blitzer was.

Play 1


The only thing with the blocking that is confusing, is why the Havs doesn't pick up the backside blitz. It's almost like he thinks its the back responsibility, Whatever it actually doesn't have a bearing on the play.



This one is on Keenum



Just look at the two quick crossing routes. First is TA who is open quick for a short completion and RAC. Second, it looks like Cooper right behind him wide open crossing with a Safety mayb 5 yards deep closing over the top.


Watch Keenums feet.


Why on God's green earth on these patterns, especially when he reads the blitz is he taking a 7 step drop OUT OF THE SHOTGUN? Why drop at all?Snap>Set>Throw. It takes all of 1.5 seconds to hit TA. Or 1.6 sec to hit Cooper crossing on trailer.. By the time he sets his feet after taking a 7 step drop the window for the crossers are over..WTF?? Even take a 3 step drop> set and climb forward and fire...... = no sack and completion. Even worst case scenario you wanted to go deep and needed a 7 step drop from the shotgun *cough*.... climb forward in the pocket and throw the ball down field.


Or even last case you keep it and scramble for yardage inside the blitzer in that big wide open lane.