Category: Latest Rams news

Despite early struggles, Rams allowed fewest sacks in NFL this season

The Los Angeles Rams’ offensive line has been criticized all season long. Despite that, they gave up the fewest sacks in the NFL.

The Los Angeles Rams’ offensive line has received plenty of criticism over the course of the 2019 season. Many have pointed the finger at the line being a major reason why both Jared Goff and Todd Gurley regressed this year.

Much of the criticism was warranted. But here’s a truly surprising stat about the 2019 Rams: They finished the season giving up the fewest number of sacks in the NFL. The Rams gave up just 22 sacks on the season, narrowly beating out the Dallas Cowboys, who gave up 23.

This was the second-lowest total for the Rams in a full 16-game season, only trailing the 2015 unit that gave up just 18 sacks on the year. Goff was sacked only 10 times over the team’s final 10 games, and four of those sacks came against Pittsburgh.

Veteran tackle Andrew Whitworth was asked how it was possible that the Rams gave up the fewest sacks in the NFL. “I don’t know,” Whitworth joked. “Sure doesn’t fit the narrative though.”

The aforementioned Pittsburgh game was a disastrous performance for the Rams’ offensive line, and the team lost starters Brian Allen and Rob Havenstein in the process. They rolled out a new-look offensive line the following week, with Austin Blythe sliding from guard to center, David Edwards sliding from left guard to right guard, rookie Bobby Evans stepping in at right tackle, and mid-season acquisition Austin Corbett stepped in at left guard. Whitworth was the only constant on the offensive line this season.

The new-look group deserves plenty of praise for this number, as they gave up just six sacks in the seven games they started together. Goff was much more comfortable behind this group, completing 6% more of his passes in the final seven games than he did in the previous nine. Most importantly, Goff fumbled just one time and the Rams were able to recover it. He fumbled nine times in the previous nine games, and the Rams lost five of them.

Leading the league in fewest sacks allowed should give Rams fans a sense of optimism about the offensive line moving forward. They were far from perfect, particularly in the running game. But this unit was able to bounce back after a disastrous start to the season, and both Goff and Gurley played better in the second half of the year. The rookie duo on the right side of the line played far better than the veteran combination of Rob Havenstein and Austin Blythe, and Blythe played far better at center than he did at guard.

The Rams will have some decisions to make on the line heading into 2019. Blythe and Whitworth are free agents, with the latter mulling over retirement. Rob Havenstein, Joseph Noteboom, and Brian Allen will be returning from injury. All three of them were outplayed by their replacements, and all three are under contract in 2020.

Regardless, both Rams fans and the Rams staff have to feel better about this unit heading into the offseason than they did after the Pittsburgh game. Things are looking up in Los Angeles, at least when it comes to the front five.

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Jared Goff: Rams offense found ‘new identity’ in final 5 games

In Week 13, the Rams flipped a switch and utilized more two-tight end sets.

When you look back on the Rams’ 2019 season, it’s difficult to say what their identity was on offense. The past two years, they were a team that ran the ball successfully and utilized play-action passes better than just about any other team in the NFL.

This season, neither was the case. Todd Gurley averaged 3.8 yards per carry and wasn’t a factor as a receiver, while Jared Goff had two touchdowns and five interceptions on play action.

The lack of consistency on that side of the ball was startling. The Rams would go weeks with 35-plus pass attempts and abandon the running game in the fourth quarter, while other times, they’d try to run the ball down the opponent’s throat with Gurley and Malcolm Brown.

In Week 13, they seemed to find a groove. Sean McVay turned to more two-tight end sets with Tyler Higbee and Johnny Mundt, taking some pressure off of the receivers. Cooper Kupp and Brandin Cooks played fewer snaps as a result, but the offense was more consistent.

Goff says the Rams found a “new identity” in that 34-7 win over the Cardinals, changing things for the final five weeks of the season. He says that’s how the offense was supposed to look all along, with an abundance of play action, rollouts and heavy packages.

“It’s supposed to look like how it looked today. How it looked today, how it a handful of the last weeks, if you take out Dallas. I think since we played Arizona, we kind of did find a new identity. I think ultimately, we found different ways to win games,” he said after Sunday’s season finale.

Defenses adapted to what the Rams did best, which was outside zone runs and play action. They figured out ways to counter McVay’s scheme, just as the Patriots did in the Super Bowl and the Bears did last season.

Goff acknowledged that fact, admitting teams figured out parts of the Rams’ offense.

“I think that’s the biggest thing we can take away, is that we were so specific the last two seasons and then this year, we had to find different ways to win. Teams figured some stuff out where we had to adjust,” he continued. “We did adjust and we adjusted well, just unfortunately, we were one game short, two games short, whatever you want to call it. That’s the way it goes. I think it’s a good learning experience for all of us, coaches included. I know myself, personally, like I mentioned, we’ll use this as motivation and come back next year stronger. It’s something that eats at you and you never want to – especially if you think about the fans.”

The Rams will have to adjust and adapt again in 2020 as teams gather film on McVay’s offense. It’s part of being a coach in the NFL, needing to find different ways to win each week. Los Angeles just took too long to figure it out, coming up a little bit short of the playoffs.

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8 offseason moves to make the Rams Super Bowl contenders again in 2020

The Rams should consider making these eight moves in order to get back to the Super Bowl next year.

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

After three-plus months of battling and trying to right the ship, the Los Angeles Rams came up short of their primary goal this season: making the playoffs. In a year where the NFC was littered with Super Bowl contenders, the Rams’ 9-7 record wasn’t enough to get them into the dance.

After making the Super Bowl last season, heading home at the end of December is certainly not something the Rams saw coming. But, it’s the reality of not playing up to the standards and failing to find any sort of consistency over the course of 17 weeks.

Now, the Rams enter the offseason with endless questions. Will Wade Phillips be back? Will they trade Todd Gurley? What is Gerald Everett’s future? Can Sean McVay find his magic again?

No matter what happens this spring, the Rams will likely be considered one of the more dangerous teams in the NFC just based on the core they’ve built with Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey and Jared Goff. If they want to get back to the Super Bowl again, though, here’s a list of moves they should consider making.

Re-sign Cory Littleton

Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The Rams will probably have to decide between keeping Littleton or Dante Fowler Jr. If they can find a way to keep both, they absolutely should. But given their top-heavy roster with Jalen Ramsey still to pay, it’s hard to imagine them coming up with the funds to extend all of them. Quality pass rushers like Fowler are hard to find, but so are linebackers in the mold of Littleton.

He can do it all for the Rams, from covering running backs to defending the run to blitzing off the edge or up the middle. He finished the season with 134 tackles (six for a loss), 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles (four recoveries), two interceptions and nine passes defensed.

Here are all the players with at least 130 tackles, 3.0 sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions this season: Cory Littleton.

That’s it.

He’s a unique linebacker who can do everything in the middle of the field for a defense, and someone the Rams must find a way to keep. They just have to hope Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Samson Ebukam and their other young pass rushers can step up in Fowler’s place if he leaves.

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Final NFL power rankings of 2019: Rams finish as best non-playoff team

The Rams finish the 2019 regular season No. 13 in Touchdown Wire’s power rankings.

The Rams came into the 2019 season with Super Bowl aspirations, looking like legitimate contenders to reach the big game for the second straight year. They came up well short of their goal, missing the playoffs with a 9-7 record.

It was a rollercoaster season filled with ups and downs, but the Rams closed things out by going 1-2 in their last three games to miss the postseason. It wasn’t all bad for Los Angeles, but given the way the team went all-in for 2019, it was a disappointing campaign.

In the final power rankings of the season, Touchdown Wire moved the Rams up a few spots from their Week 16 position. They finished the year as the best non-playoff team, ranking 13th in the NFL.

The Rams wrapped up their season with a 31-24 win against Arizona to finish with a winning record. Like it mattered? This is a team that was in the Super Bowl last year and didn’t even qualify for the postseason this year. The Rams might have been the league’s most disappointing team, especially after going all-in each of the past two years. General manager Les Snead’s track record suggests he’ll go all-in again this offseason. The Rams are moving into a new stadium next year, and they need to win to draw big crowds. It’s not hard to figure out what Snead needs to work on. It’s the running game. When the Rams were good, Todd Gurley was the focal point of the offense. But Gurley, who has issues with his knee, wasn’t the focal point this season. Quarterback Jared Goff isn’t good enough to take this team deep into the playoffs by himself. The Rams need to find a new running back.

The core of the roster will be back in 2020, for better or worse. Jared Goff, Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks are all signed for the foreseeable future, as is Tyler Higbee and Rob Havenstein.

Jalen Ramsey needs a new contract, Eric Weddle will most likely be cut and Cooper Kupp is set to be a free agent in 2021, so the Rams have some housekeeping to take care off in the next year. But with Donald, Goff, Ramsey and Gurley all expected to be back, the Rams have plenty of talent to make another postseason run in 2020.

Rams Week 17 snap counts: Gerald Everett doesn’t see field in finale

Gerald Everett was a no-show in Sunday’s win over the Cardinals.

With Tyler Higbee’s emergence in the month of December, Gerald Everett has quickly fallen out of favor with the Rams. He returned from a knee injury last week against the Seahawks and only played four snaps.

In his second game back on Sunday, Everett wasn’t on the field for a single snap in the Rams’ 31-24 win. It wasn’t because the Rams leaned heavily on 11 personnel, either, because Johnny Mundt played 34 snaps.

It’s an interesting development, as it’s unclear if the Rams don’t see Everett as a factor or they simply wanted to avoid further injury in a meaningless game.

We’ll take a look at the complete list of snap counts from Sunday’s game, beginning with the offensive side of the ball.

Offense

Tyler Higbee only came off the field on three plays, once again proving to be one of Jared Goff’s favorite targets. He caught eight passes for 84 yards and a touchdown, continuing his hot streak in the month of December.

Sean McVay wanted to take it easy on Todd Gurley in the season finale, only playing him on 68% of the snaps. Malcolm Brown spelled him on 26 plays, carrying the ball nine times on those snaps.

Robert Woods once again led the way at WR with 78 snaps played, followed by Cooper Kupp (50), Brandin Cooks (49) and Josh Reynolds (38). The Rams wanted to get all four receivers involved, but Reynolds didn’t record a catch and Cooks only had three catches for 40 yards.

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Studs and duds from Rams’ Week 17 victory vs. Cardinals

The Rams had quite a few standout performances in Week 17.

The 2019 season has wrapped up with the Los Angeles Rams finishing the year 9-7 after beating the Arizona Cardinals 31-24 on Sunday. It was a game that the Rams couldn’t put away despite being given chances to do so, but they held on for the one-touchdown win.

It was a good way to cap off an underwhelming season, winning the final Rams game at the Coliseum. Here are the best and worst performers from Week 17, beginning with the studs.

Studs

Jared Goff

Goff finished the year on a positive note, throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns. It was one of his cleanest games of the year, orchestrating the offense well throughout the game. He didn’t many any glaring mistakes and only one pass was nearly intercepted, completing 29 of the 45 throws he attempted. It was a solid performance against a team he’s dominated over the last three years.

Tyler Higbee

Higbee owned the month of December. After four straight 100-yard games, Higbee posted eight catches for 84 yards and a touchdown – completing the best season ever by a Rams tight end. He whiffed on one run block early in the game, but he made big plays in the passing game and was once a reliable target for Goff.

Darious Williams

Williams made another strong statement on Sunday at the Coliseum, picking off one pass and breaking up another. He has great ball skills and hands, as evidenced by his last two games for the Rams. His play was yet another example of the excellent depth the Rams have at cornerback.

Taylor Rapp

Rapp recovered one fumble and picked off his second pass of the season, recording six tackles in the game. He bounced back from the blown-coverage blunder in Week 16 that essentially cost the Rams a win, playing well against Arizona on Sunday. He’s heading into the offseason on a high note.

Cory Littleton

Littleton left the game in the second half with a chest injury, but he was all over the field before exiting. He had three tackles, one sack, and a fumble recovery, helping limit the Cardinals’ rushing attack outside of a 24-yard run by Kenyan Drake – which came after Littleton was injured. Hopefully his injury is only minor as he enters free agency in March.

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2020 NFL draft order: When will the Rams make their first pick?

The Rams will make their first selection in the 2020 draft at No. 52 overall.

By now, you’re probably aware that the Los Angeles Rams won’t make a first-round pick in the NFL draft until 2022. They traded their next two first-rounders to the Jaguars for Jalen Ramsey, which is a deal that looks to have worked out for both teams.

The Rams made that trade believing they’d be picking toward the end of the first round, looking like a perennial playoff team with Super Bowl aspirations. The 2019 season didn’t go exactly as planned with the Rams missing the playoffs, and to make matters worse, they won’t have the benefit of a top-32 pick.

Instead, they’ll have to wait a while before making their first selection in the draft. The pick order for the 20 non-playoff teams is set and the Rams won’t be on the clock until No. 52 overall in the second round.

That’s a long time to wait, but it’s not out of the ordinary for the Rams. In fact, it’s more the norm than it is an anomaly. In 2017, the Rams didn’t pick until 44th overall after trading for Jared Goff the year before.

The following year, their first pick came at No. 89 with Joseph Noteboom. Last year, the Rams traded back three times – including out of the first round – before selecting Taylor Rapp at No. 61 overall.

So barring any trades, this will be the second-highest draft slot of the Sean McVay era.

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Watch highlights from Rams’ 31-24 win vs. Cardinals

The Cardinals wouldn’t go away quietly against the Rams on Sunday.

It wasn’t the season the Rams were hoping for, but they finished the year on a positive note with a win over the Cardinals on Sunday at the Coliseum. It was the final Rams game at the historic stadium, with the team moving into SoFi Stadium next season.

The Rams were in control for most of the game and only trailed once in the first quarter, but the Cardinals would not go down quietly without a fight. In the end, the Rams won 31-24 to clinch a 9-7 record, finishing third in the division after winning it the last two years.

Jared Goff posed his sixth 300-yard game of the season, Todd Gurley had 89 yards from scrimmage and Tyler Higbee had another eight catches with one touchdown. The defense forced five turnovers, as well, with Darious Williams and Taylor Rapp both picking off passes.

If you missed all the action from Sunday’s win, check out the highlight package below.

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What Sean McVay told Rams locker room after win over Cardinals

Sean McVay gave one last victory speech in 2019 Sunday.

One of the best parts about Rams wins are the victory speeches that come from Sean McVay in the locker room afterwards. He always knows how to fire up the room after a win, usually handing out game balls to standout players or those who deserve some recognition for one reason or another.

After the Rams beat the Cardinals 31-24 on Sunday afternoon, McVay rallied the locker room one last time in 2019. He didn’t hand out any game balls, but he did mention the defense creating a bunch of turnovers, as well as Jared Goff putting together a great performance.

To break it down, he called upon Andrew Whitworth, who’s a nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

“Cannot say enough – we talked about finishing,” McVay said. “That says a lot about you guys. Being able to have four turnovers by the defense. Offensively, being able to respond time in and time out, give it up for Jared Goff – three touchdowns, 300 yards. Very appreciative of you guys. We’ll have a team meeting tomorrow and who better to close it than the guy that started it out in this locker room for this game. Give it up for Whitworth, man.”

The Rams will head into the offseason with plenty of questions to answer and a lot of decisions to make, but they do so with the core of the team still intact and McVay still at the helm.

They came up short in 2019, but there’s little doubt about the talent that the Rams possess for the future.

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4 takeaways from Rams’ 31-24 win over Cardinals in Week 17

Everything we learned from Sunday’s Week 17 win.

Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

After 16 games in 17 weeks, the 2019 season has officially come to an end for the Los Angeles Rams. They missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016, heading home for the offseason early after finishing the year 9-7.

They did end the season on a high note with a 31-24 win over the Cardinals, but it was barely a silver lining to an otherwise underwhelming campaign. They simply weren’t consistent enough to make the postseason, coming up just one game shy in the standings.

Here are four takeaways from Sunday’s win, which was the Rams’ sixth in a row against the Cardinals.

Special teams remains an issue

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

After two years with one of the best special teams units in the NFL, the Rams took a huge step back in 2019. Greg Zuerlein missed his ninth field goal of the season on Sunday, a 47-yard attempt. The Rams also failed to pick up the first down on a fake field goal try from their own 17-yard line, which Sean McVay was not happy about.

There seemed to be a disconnect between McVay and John Fassel on that fake punt call, with McVay saying to his special teams coordinator after the play, “What are you doing?” It was a microcosm of the Rams’ season on special teams, struggling to find any sort of consistency punting, kicking field goals and in the return game.

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