Rams Review: The Follow-Up

Posted: September 14th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 28 Comments »

I went back and re-watched parts of the Rams game to see if I missed anything and also to answer some other questions.  There are times when I get so caught up in individuals that I overlook scheme and strategy.

* Biggest thing that I missed was not giving Antonio Dixon credit for creating the defensive TD.  On that play he drove the C backward.  The C then stepped on Bradford’s foot.  That caused Same to slip to the ground.  That’s when Tapp knocked the ball away and Juqua turned into Gayle Sayers.  Dixon gets no stat for the play, but it was him winning the battle with the C that created the whole mess.  Well done, big fella.

* The Rams did some interesting things to try and hurt us.  They stacked their WRs to one side.  We didn’t flop the CBs to that side.  Generally they did this to our right.  That meant Nnamdi was on the outside receiver.  We had Kurt Coleman go down and cover the slot guy.  We then did something interesting on the backside.  We had Jarrad Page walk down like a 4th LB.  Asante Samuel then lined up deep, like the centerfielder Safety.

They burned us with this a couple of times.  Coleman was blocked too easily by the slot receiver on some plays.  If the RB did make it into the 2nd level, Asante was slow to come up in support.  He actually had a solid day as a tackler, but he’s not meant to be a run stopper in the deep middle.  I’ll be interested to see if we make some changes to this or stick with the alignment.

* The Rams used wham blocks effectively vs our DTs.  This is when a TE or FB or H-back lines up in the backfield, but right up behind the OL.  The player then goes to the opposite side of the line (right to left or left to right).  The premise of the play is the same as a trap block.  Invite the DT up the field and then hit him from the side.  That gives the RB a clear lane.  It also is a blocking victory for the offense.  When a TE/FB can take out a DT that lets OL go beat up on LBs.  Moise Fokou can attest to that.  He took some big shots from Rams blockers on the 2nd level.

The Rams left our DTs unblocked a couple of times and tried to burn them with influence plays.  Dixon got burned at least once, maybe twice.  Trevor Laws was able to disrupt a play by grabbing the RB as he tried to go by him.  DL are taught early on that when no one blocks you, be on the look out.  Someone is coming from your blindside or you’re being suckered.  Dixon and Laws won’t be fooled as quickly the next time someone tries this.

* I paid a lot of attention to our LBs.  The biggest culprit in the run game early on was definitely Moise Fokou.  Dude gets so amped up that he’s ready to run through a wall.  That intensity is great, unless you get out of covering your gap and leave gigantic running lanes.  He was at fault on the Jackson TD.  There was another play in the 1st half when Casey Matthews read the play and started to his right, only to get creamed by Fokou.  Moise started hard to the inside and got leveled by LT Rodger Saffold.  That block took out Fokou and Matthews and left a big running lane.

Fokou did really impress me with his closing speed.  When the Rams tried to throw short stuff over the middle, Moise flew up in a hurry and put guys down.  Looked really fast.

* We did have some coverage issues.  The biggest problem was communication.  There was especially a problem with Nnamdi and the LBs.  The Rams would run the TE over the middle.  Matthews took him (and covered well most of the night).  There would be a WR to that side.  Then a RB would release to the area.  A couple of times Nnamdi and the LB both covered the WR in the flat and left the RB open.  I would think Nnamdi was definitely supposed to be on the WR, but a couple of different LBs made the mistake.  That made me wonder who was in the wrong.

The good news in all of this is that our players looked good in coverage.  The speed and cover skills are there.  Now they need to clean up the issues about who has who.  This should be a pretty simple fix.

* I want to address the notion that we got luck vs the Rams.  They dropped 8 passes (per a Rams guy on Twitter).  They made some bonehead mistakes.  They missed a FG.  They lost Jackson, Amendola, and Bradford at various stages of the game.  And so on.

B.S.  What about our patchwork OL?  Or the fact we had a backup starting at SS?  Or the fact Jeremy Maclin was in his first game since January?  How about the fact they ran a couple of trick plays?  How about the highly questionable penalty on Asante that kept a drive alive for them?  How about us turning the ball over inside the Red Zone?  How about us having poor field position for the whole game?  How about DeSean dropping a likely 80-yd TD?  How about Vick being off target on some wide open receivers?

Both teams were sloppy.  Both teams had tough circumstances to deal with.  We were the better team and it showed.

* * * * *

I’ll start writing about the Falcons this evening.  I like to do research so I’m not just going off headlines or guessing.  I do know this.  It is only Wednesday and I’m already tired of the angle that Vick is returning home.


28 Comments on “Rams Review: The Follow-Up”

  1. 1 Mac said at 4:19 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    Yes Tommy, and for good reason. Vick isn’t returning “home” because that will happen in week 3 when he finally gets to play a home game in his new $100 million “home”. Suck it Atlanta.

  2. 2 Nicolaj Nielsen said at 4:30 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    The worst part about the lucky argument is the dropped balls. That’s not unlucky, it’s poor play. That’s like saying we were unlucky our LBs overran or were blocked on the Jackson TD. Injuries are unfortunate but part of the game.

    Tommy, what can you do to counter the wham blocks? Is it the DTs being aware of it and avoid it or is it simply up to the LBs to beat the OL when they do it?

    Remember in the off-season we talked about whether we would run more cover 2 with Juan as DC? Has that been the case in the first game and pre-season?

  3. 3 Anonymous said at 5:54 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    In order to beat a wham/trap block you either have to be so fast up field that you get to the back before the blocker gets you or if you sense it coming you can stop and either rip inside of the blocker or blow his ass up and make a pile. Of course as soon as you start slowing up and stopping the trap then they influence you. It’s a constant cat and mouse.

  4. 4 Anonymous said at 5:54 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    In order to beat a wham/trap block you either have to be so fast up field that you get to the back before the blocker gets you or if you sense it coming you can stop and either rip inside of the blocker or blow his ass up and make a pile. Of course as soon as you start slowing up and stopping the trap then they influence you. It’s a constant cat and mouse.

  5. 5 Morton said at 6:12 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    I think the argument is valid, because dropped balls mean that the WR had beaten the coverage and would have been in position to make a long gain or a touchdown had it not been for an error on their part. In terms of the final win/loss, it obviously is meaningless, but if we are using it to extrapolate future performance of the defense, it is most definitely troubling. TEs and WRs beat the Eagles’ defense on numerous occasions in teh Rams game and errors on their part prevented them from being big plays. Who’s to say that in future games, more skilled WRs such as Julio Jones or Hakeem Nicks *won’t* drop those balls in the same situations?

    I’m particularly troubled by the play of Nnamdi. He looks slow out there, and he was beaten by one of the NFL’s most mediocre WRs (Brandon Gibson) on a few occasions. I thought this guy was a shutdown cornerback? Maybe there’s a reason Al Davis didn’t prioritize re-signing him (other than the salary cap issues): he’s lost a step at age 30.

  6. 6 Anonymous said at 10:15 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    D3FB is wise.

    I want Antonio Dixon to take the wham blocker and use him to attack the RB. Dixon could have done that, but got caught off guard. Nice job by Josh McDaniels and the Rams in coming up with that. Isn’t used a lot.

  7. 7 jason scott said at 4:46 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    Well Tommy, looks like Rolle may be moving ahead of Fokou for WIL per McLane. More OL pancakes please.

  8. 8 Anonymous said at 6:02 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    Wow, interesting. Rolle got some 1st team reps at WLB. Fokou didn’t play the run well, as I noted above. I did like his tackling.

  9. 9 Ben Hessel said at 6:46 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    Is this Rolle looking really good and earning the job, or Fokou playing really bad and making them desperate to try someone else? I don’t like the idea of being desperate at a thin position. The backup will often “look better” (Tebow)…

  10. 10 Anonymous said at 5:02 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    What concerned me the most in the game was the easy completions Bradford was getting inside the hashes. He’d do a 5 step drop and just fire to a slot WR, We couldn’t stop it. On the replays, no one would cover him. Good to see that you identified that it was a communication issue between Nnamdi and the rest of the team.

    I was disappointed that Asomugha didn’t press all game. Frankly, I don’t understand that at all.

  11. 11 Anonymous said at 5:48 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    Nnamdi did play press. Didn’t do any kind of count, but he did press.

  12. 12 Anonymous said at 6:06 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    He was 3 yards off most of the game (it does look like press given that Asante plays 10 yards off!). It was weird, I’m still not sure what technique is playing. What shocked me was seeing Brandon Gibson, not exactly a speedster, run right by him.

  13. 13 Alex Grimaldi said at 9:39 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    Seriously though. Did this concern anyone else? Nnamdi didn’t exactly look stellar. I’m just not sure if he’s still uncertain while adjusting to a new defense or if it’s an erosion of his physical skills.

  14. 14 Anonymous said at 5:04 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    Thanks! Lots of interesting observations.

  15. 15 Gary R said at 5:49 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    As far as the Rams getting unlucky in regards to their injuries, the Jackson injury was unfortunate for them, but you have depth so that when a player goes down early the game isn’t over for you. With Bradford, the actual injury he got was somewhat unlucky, but really he was pretty fortunate not to have another more serious injury from all those shots he was taking. The five sacks don’t even tell the whole story. He was getting hit almost every passing play. And I can’t say how much I love that we were doing that with just our front four most of the time. The game was over when Bradford came out anyway.

  16. 16 Morton said at 6:20 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    Here’s a strong referendum on the Eagles’ recent drafting strategy of trading down to acquire more volume and less quality:

    “3) Soft at the second level

    A perceived area of weakness on the Eagles defense is linebacker and that turned out to be the case against the Rams. SLB Jamar Chaney was particularly poor in coverage (-2.4) allowing six of nine passes to be complete for 58 yards. He was consistently a step behind running back Cadillac Williams. WLB Moise Fokou was much better dropping back but really struggled at getting off blocks. He was primarily responsible for Jackson’s long touchdown to open the game. We highlighted the struggles of Casey Matthews in the preseason and he graded out as we expected in Week 1 (-3.6). In run defense he made just two defensive stops and looked lost in zone coverage.”

    (From http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/09/14/re-focused-eagles-rams-week-1/)

    and

    “2) Lee Breaks Out

    Sean Lee (+1.4) thrived in his first game as a full time inside linebacker. Lee, who posted a +9.4 overall grade last year in just 169 snaps was a guy we had already pinpointed as someone who should get more snaps in 2011. He was on the field for most of the time, as his two fellow inside linebackers rotated in and out, and responded by leading the team in tackles and intercepting a pass that he returned to the one yard line to set up a score.”

    (From http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/09/13/re-focused-cowboys-jets-week-1/)

    This Eagles defense may still be good this year, but the LBs will be a liablity throughout the season. Now think back to the 2010 draft when the Eagles had two second round picks left following the trade-up for Brandon Graham. They had already selected Nate Allen in the top of the second round, and Sean Lee, an excellent MLB on a quality team (Penn State) was sitting there for them with their 2nd second round pick. Instead of selecting him, they trade down with a hated division rival (Dallas) and acquire a bunch of extra, but lower-quality draft picks, while the Cowboys go ahead an select Lee. Right now, Lee looks to be a perennial Pro Bowler at a position the Eagles are weak at (LB) and the players the Eagles did select with all of those extra picks have mostly been cut or relegated to the Practice Squad.

    How much better would this defense be with an excellent cover MLB such as Sean Lee? There would have been no need for the Casey Matthews pick, and we’d have the next Brian Urlacher playing behind that great defensive line. Sigh.

  17. 17 Anonymous said at 6:47 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    I wouldn’t have drafted Lee (like I wouldn’t have drafted Carter). I’m not taking someone with a serious knee injury history in the first 2 rounds. Obviously other teams thought so too since they passed on a 1st round talent multiple teams in RD2. The same thing happened to Bowers this year

  18. 18 Anonymous said at 10:53 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    Yeah, and we drafted Jermane Mayerry with Ray Lewis on the board. Jermane became a very good player and provided what the team needed. Ray Lewis became arguably the greatest living Linebacker.

    You win some, you lose some. Either way, it is WAY too early to be judging the merits of ANY 2010 draft picks. Way, way, WAY too early.

  19. 19 Morton said at 6:20 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    Here’s a strong referendum on the Eagles’ recent drafting strategy of trading down to acquire more volume and less quality:

    “3) Soft at the second level

    A perceived area of weakness on the Eagles defense is linebacker and that turned out to be the case against the Rams. SLB Jamar Chaney was particularly poor in coverage (-2.4) allowing six of nine passes to be complete for 58 yards. He was consistently a step behind running back Cadillac Williams. WLB Moise Fokou was much better dropping back but really struggled at getting off blocks. He was primarily responsible for Jackson’s long touchdown to open the game. We highlighted the struggles of Casey Matthews in the preseason and he graded out as we expected in Week 1 (-3.6). In run defense he made just two defensive stops and looked lost in zone coverage.”

    (From http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/09/14/re-focused-eagles-rams-week-1/)

    and

    “2) Lee Breaks Out

    Sean Lee (+1.4) thrived in his first game as a full time inside linebacker. Lee, who posted a +9.4 overall grade last year in just 169 snaps was a guy we had already pinpointed as someone who should get more snaps in 2011. He was on the field for most of the time, as his two fellow inside linebackers rotated in and out, and responded by leading the team in tackles and intercepting a pass that he returned to the one yard line to set up a score.”

    (From http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/09/13/re-focused-cowboys-jets-week-1/)

    This Eagles defense may still be good this year, but the LBs will be a liablity throughout the season. Now think back to the 2010 draft when the Eagles had two second round picks left following the trade-up for Brandon Graham. They had already selected Nate Allen in the top of the second round, and Sean Lee, an excellent MLB on a quality team (Penn State) was sitting there for them with their 2nd second round pick. Instead of selecting him, they trade down with a hated division rival (Dallas) and acquire a bunch of extra, but lower-quality draft picks, while the Cowboys go ahead an select Lee. Right now, Lee looks to be a perennial Pro Bowler at a position the Eagles are weak at (LB) and the players the Eagles did select with all of those extra picks have mostly been cut or relegated to the Practice Squad.

    How much better would this defense be with an excellent cover MLB such as Sean Lee? There would have been no need for the Casey Matthews pick, and we’d have the next Brian Urlacher playing behind that great defensive line. Sigh.

  20. 20 Anonymous said at 9:54 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    Fearless Prediction: Brian Rolle will be this year’s Jamar Chaney. He’ll get into the starting line-up late in the year and he’ll make a bunch of plays. He’ll be a a guy we’ll all be excited about going into next season.

    I think going into next season our outside linebackers may be looked as a strength with Rolle and Chaney.

  21. 21 Anonymous said at 11:11 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    At this point, I’m not sure I’d call Steven Jackson getting injured “unlucky.” More like par for the course.

  22. 22 Anonymous said at 12:06 AM on September 15th, 2011:

    It is funny because it is true.

  23. 23 Cliff Hall said at 11:40 PM on September 14th, 2011:

    RE: Nnamdi Overreaction

    Did you guys think no WR was going to catch a pass on us this year or something? Our D played well. Look around the NFL: offenses are way ahead of defenses right now. Our team and its 3 Pro Bowl corners are no exception.

  24. 24 Keith McMillan said at 12:06 AM on September 15th, 2011:

    We like that you like to do research. Take your time and don’t apologize for it.

  25. 25 Anonymous said at 2:27 AM on October 1st, 2011:

    If anything the Rams caught the biggest break of the game. The turnover by Vick should have been a huge penalty on the Rams. If you watch the tape(especially in slow motion) it’s obvious helmet to helmet contact with Vick being hit from behind, or close to his right ear and his head snaps forward. I think it was with 5:10 left in the 1st half. I respect Vick 4 not whining like one of the Manning’s, but I which he would complain & get plays reversed for the sake of the team.

  26. 26 Anonymous said at 2:28 AM on October 1st, 2011:

    It was great to finally see on Thursdays NFL Network both a player from the Jets and one from the Cowboys come out and say the truth, after all the liars on ESPN and elsewhere, admit that Vick and other mobile QB’s don’t get the same treatment as Brady, Manning and Brees. Just like I see it you touch them you’re in the dog house big time. While with 5:10 left in the 2nd half of our 2nd game it was clear Vick was standing in the pocket, then QM launched himself at full speed right in the back/right side of Vick’s helmet without Vick having any idea. Of course it was turn over and the refs didn’t see any need for a flag. If that happened to one of those 3 QB’s mentioned QM would be suspended for the year and have the biggest in history. That’s why those players mentioned they can’t do that to them those 3.

  27. 27 Anonymous said at 2:39 AM on October 1st, 2011:

    I like the 3 LB’s we have now; I think Rolle and Chenny could be excellent for yrs. after a couple weeks of playing together.

  28. 28 Anonymous said at 2:51 AM on October 1st, 2011:

    Just signed up on Disqus; sorry that 1st comment I wrote like 10 days ago and somehow got in there.