There’s a lot of blame to go around for the Rams’ current two-game losing streak. Sean McVay’s play calling has been questionable, the defense couldn’t stop San Francisco’s ground game and the offense only scored 26 points in the last two games.
As concerning and frustrating as it was to watch the 49ers gash the Rams for 156 yards rushing in their 31-10 loss last week, the offense has been a bigger problem than the defense in the last two games.
Don’t get me wrong, both have really struggled at points during the Rams’ two-game losing skid, but Matthew Stafford and the offense deserve more of the blame for the team’s recent struggles.
As bad as it is that the offense has only scored 26 points in the last two games, it looks even worse when you consider most of those points have come in garbage time in the fourth quarter. According to Stathead, the Rams have scored only 13 points in the first three quarters of their last two games combined. That means they’ve also scored 13 points in the fourth quarter of those games when the outcome was already decided.
From Week 9-10, the Rams 13 points scored in the first three quarters are the second-fewest of any team that played two games. Only the Packers scored fewer in that span. The defense hasn’t been any better, allowing 45 points through the third quarter of their last two games, which is tied for the third-most in Weeks 9-10.
But those numbers deserve some context. Of those 45 points, 14 are directly attributed to Stafford’s two pick-sixes. And one of his other interceptions set the Titans up at the Rams’ 2-yard line.
So essentially, 21 of the 45 points allowed by the Rams in the first three quarters are on the offense. In reality, giving up 24 points in six quarters isn’t all that bad – and is certainly good enough to help the Rams win.
It’s just that the offense has done nothing to carry its weight.
Against the Titans, the Rams only gave up 194 yards of total offense. The 49ers felt like they were unstoppable but even they only gained 335 yards against the Rams – their fifth-fewest allowed this season.
In the last two games, the Rams averaged just 4.9 yards per play, which ranked 22nd in the NFL over that span. The defense allowed just 4.4 yards per play, good for seventh-fewest.
No one is excusing the Rams defense of blame for this two-game slide. Morris’ play calling was not good enough, nor was the defense’s tackling or coverage, outside of a select few players. But if Stafford doesn’t hand the Titans 14 points in the first half and the offense scores more than six points in the first three quarters, the Rams probably win that game. And if the receivers don’t drop six passes against the 49ers, maybe Los Angeles has a fighting chance in that one, too.
Sean McVay acknowledged that Stafford can play better, but he also said he should be getting more help from his teammates – and himself as a play caller.
“It is the greatest team sport. I expect that he can play a little bit better,” McVay said last week. “I think there’s some decisions, but I didn’t think he got much help from a lot of really good teammates that I know can play a lot better. And then there’s definitely some things that we can do to put him in better spots.”
If the Rams are going to make any noise in the playoffs, they need both the offense and defense to play better. But in a year when the defense was expected to regress, the offense has to make up for it by improving in the coming weeks.
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