Tag: rams 49ers

How the 49ers can — and must — solve the Jalen Ramsey problem

If the 49ers want to get to their second Super Bowl in three seasons, they’ll have to solve the Jalen Ramsey problem.

Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey is arguably the best at his position in the NFL. His size, technique and anticipation are unmatched. This five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro will have a big task ahead of him as he must lead this Los Angeles Rams defense in physicality and communication against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game.

Oftentimes, opponents will avoid Ramsey’s side of the field completely, which means he won’t get many plays on the ball. Because of this, there are times Ramsey will overpursue in order to make a play. Some teams, including the 49ers, have used this against him.

It’s not often that Ramsey gets beat; and to be fair, the 49ers won’t have any Mike Evans-caliber receivers out there.

So, plays like this are unlikely to happen. The 49ers will have to take a different approach in order to beat Ramsey.

Two of the many traits of Ramsey’s game that take him to the next level are his physicality and mental processing. Since Ramsey can recognize a play developing, he does a great job closing to the ball quickly.

When Ramsey is the furthest defender to the outside without a wide out blocking, there is absolutely no point in running in his direction. He has proved that he will not be out muscled one-on-one.

One way the 49ers exploited his aggressiveness in 27-24 overtime win in Week 18 was to let Ramsey overpursue.

In the clip below, the tight-end sells the fake block perfectly and with the motion lead-blocking for Deebo Samuel, we can’t blame Ramsey for falling for that one. Who knew Samuel had an arm like that?!

The 49ers will have to have some tricks up their sleeve, and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will have to execute to perfection.

Against man coverage, Garoppolo might have to look off some his throws and use pump fakes to get his receivers open against Ramsey. On rub routes, he must remain patient and allow the pick to play out.

In week 10, Ramsey was defending the slot, as he went inside, the wideout took two steps forward then cut inside.

In Week 18, the 49ers used a similar rub route concept, except this time, Ramsey was lined up on the outside. He still bit on the underneath route.

Garoppolo’s pump fake really made the difference here and allowed his receiver to get some space from Ramsey.

In this zone-match defense, the other way to beat Ramsey is by forcing him to defend the in route when he is playing off coverage.

On these routes, since it’s tough to beat Ramsey over the top, underneath is the way to go. These routes are open. Keep in mind that if Ramsey is in zone, he won’t even break inside because the nickel corner will be there.

The next progression from the in route is the dig; this is where a receiver will fake a go route and then cut inside.

Ramsey has great anticipation but the chance of getting beat by a double move allows a little bit of separation at the receiver’s break.

Trick plays, rub routes and digs should all be in the game plan this weekend for the 49ers.

It’s almost impossible to avoid Ramsey completely, but these are a few ways to beat him in man and zone-match coverage. Garoppolo must sell his fakes, remain patient and try not to throw it to Ramsey when he is defending out routes, Those are his specialty.

If the 49ers solve the Ramsey problem, they could well be on their way to another Super Bowl.

Rams should thank Jets for taking Robert Saleh out of NFC West

The Rams had a lot of trouble against Robert Saleh’s defense the last two years, but that won’t be a problem anymore.

The New York Jets have found their new head coach and the Los Angeles Rams should thank them for hiring who they did. On Thursday night, the Jets announced that Robert Saleh will be their next head coach, replacing Adam Gase at the helm in New York.

With Saleh earning this promotion, he’ll no longer be a thorn in the side of Sean McVay and the Rams in the NFC West. And for that, they should be thankful. The Rams have had trouble against the 49ers while Saleh was their defensive coordinator, specifically in the last two years.

In their eight meetings since 2017, when Saleh and McVay were both hired by their respective teams, the Rams have been heled to 20 points or fewer four times. They’ve lost four games in a row against San Francisco, and in each of those games, the Rams had at least one turnover.

And the Rams’ two losses to San Francisco this season were both games they were favored to win. The 49ers were missing several key players on both sides of the ball, but specifically on defense, they were without Nick Bosa, Solomon Thomas and Richard Sherman in the first game, though Sherman returned for the second.

Yet the Rams still failed to get anything going offensively. They scored 16 points in their October meeting and 20 against the 49ers in November, dropping the games by a combined 11 points.

Jared Goff specifically should be thankful that Saleh is gone. In the last two seasons against the 49ers, he has four touchdown passes and four interceptions, taking six sacks with a total passer rating of only 70.3.

The 49ers seemed to figure out the Rams offense in the last two seasons and it’s largely due to Saleh’s presence. Now, neither Goff nor McVay will have to face him again until the Jets pop back up on the Rams’ schedule in 2024.

Now, the three coaches who seemed to crack the code to McVay’s offense reside in the AFC East: Bill Belichick, Brian Flores and Saleh.

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Sean McVay wasn’t thrilled with how Rams’ O-line played vs. 49ers

For the most part, he’s been pleased. But Week 12 wasn’t good enough.

Though no major changes were made to the Rams’ offensive line this past offseason, the group is playing significantly better than it did a year ago. It was especially good in the beginning of the season, but their play has tailed off a bit in recent weeks.

Against the 49ers on Sunday, the offensive line struggled to protect Jared Goff, pick up blitzes and clear running lanes for the Rams’ backs. Goff was hit seven times and except for Cam Akers’ 61-yard run, there weren’t many quality runs on the ground by the Rams.

Sean McVay has been pleased with the offensive line thus far, but he doesn’t think they played very well against San Francisco.

“I think they’ve been pretty steady for the most part,” McVay said Wednesday. “I thought last week was not one of their best performances for the expectations that we have. I think you have to give San Francisco credit, but I think, for the most part, we’ve done a better job of handling movement, covering people up in the run game and creating movement. We weren’t really able to really do that, with the exception of a couple of runs. I’ve been pleased with them and I think Coach (Aaron) Kromer does an outstanding job, but I do think last week wasn’t reflective of the standards and the expectations. I know those guys are itching to be able to get a chance to compete against a tough front this week.”

Not exactly a glowing review of the front five coming out of Week 12, especially considering they went up against a defensive line that didn’t have Nick Bosa or Solomon Thomas. Sure, Arik Armstead and Kerry Hyder are still a handful for blockers, but the offensive line should’ve played better than it did this past week.

On Sunday against the Cardinals, the Rams won’t have to worry about Chandler Jones, who’s out for the year. Arizona’s defense isn’t nearly as good as San Francisco’s either, particularly up front. This is a good chance for the offensive line to bounce back.

Rams film room: Breaking down Jared Goff’s performance vs. 49ers

Jared Goff had his share of miscues against the 49ers, missing open receivers and making bad decisions.

Jared Goff has struggled with turnovers in his last four games. Since Week 8, he’s thrown six interceptions and lost four fumbles, which gives him 14 total turnovers on the year – second-most of any player.

Sunday’s game to the 49ers was especially bad as he threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, in the Rams’ 23-20 loss to their divisional foes. As troubling as those giveaways are, they weren’t the only issues in Goff’s performance.

He wasn’t seeing the field well, he was missing throws he usually makes and didn’t navigate the pocket very well. The result was a 19-for-31 showing, totaling only 198 yards with no touchdowns.

We dove into the film and uncovered where things went wrong for Goff.

Rams Week 12 report card: Grading every position vs. 49ers

The offense did not play well on Sunday against the 49ers, receiving poor grades on this week’s report card.

For the second time this season, the Los Angeles Rams were upset by the San Francisco 49ers, one of the most injury-ravaged teams in the NFL. Despite falling behind 17-3, the Rams still had a chance to win in the end, but two field goal drives by the 49ers in the fourth quarter tied the game and eventually won it, 23-20.

The Rams are left picking up the pieces after that deflating loss, reflecting on what went wrong at home. The defense played well enough to win, but it wasn’t an all-world effort like the ones we’ve seen in recent weeks.

Here’s how we graded every position group for the Rams in Week 12.

Turnovers weren’t the reason the Rams lost to the 49ers on Sunday

The Rams punted seven times and only had three offensive possessions that ended in points.

When looking at the box score from Sunday’s game between the Rams and 49ers, the category that sticks out like a sore thumb is turnovers. The Rams gave the ball away four times, while the 49ers turned it over three times themselves.

It was as sloppy a first half of football as you’ll see, with the teams combining for five turnovers and 10 total points. And while the Rams’ four giveaways were costly – three of which were by Jared Goff alone – they weren’t the only reason Los Angeles lost 23-20.

There’s far more to the story than just those mistakes.

For starters, the 49ers did almost nothing to capitalize on the Rams’ blunders. After recovering Malcolm Brown’s fumble, the 49ers threw an interception on the ensuing drive. Later in the first quarter, Goff threw an unsightly interception to Richard Sherman. The 49ers turned around and gave the ball right back to the Rams on the first play of the drive when Jeff Wilson lost a fumble.

In the second quarter, Goff coughed up a fumble while attempting to scramble for a first down, which was recovered by the 49ers. Surely, San Francisco had to have turned this takeaway into points, right? Wrong. The 49ers ran four plays after recovering the fumble and then missed a 50-yard field goal just before halftime.

So not only did the 49ers fail to capitalize on the Rams’ turnovers in the first half, but they turned it over themselves twice on the next possession. Sure, Goff’s fumble came at the 49ers’ 36-yard line, so it did potentially take points off the board as the Rams were driving. But it didn’t turn into points for the 49ers, either.

Brown’s fumble came at the Rams’ own 45-yard line, so it’s not as if they were in scoring range on that drive. And on Goff’s first interception, the Rams were at their own 36. Again, not exactly driving to score points.

We’d be remiss not to acknowledge that Goff’s pick-six to Javon Kinlaw directly led to points. That was costly right out of the half. But on three of the Rams’ four turnovers, the 49ers didn’t score any points. The opportunities for L.A. to win this game were absolutely there for the taking.

The real issue on Sunday was Los Angeles’ inability to do anything on its other 10 possessions – excluding the kneel-down before halftime. Here’s how the Rams’ drives that didn’t end in turnovers went.

  • 6 plays, 41 yards: Field goal
  • 3 plays, 7 yards: Punt
  • 6 plays, 8 yards: Punt
  • 3 plays, 8 yards: Punt
  • 3 plays, 8 yards: Punt
  • 3 plays, 8 yards: Punt
  • 7 plays, 53 yards: Field goal
  • 3 plays, 68 yards: Touchdown
  • 5 plays, 15 yards: Punt
  • 5 plays, 19 yards: Punt

The Rams punted seven times against the 49ers, including twice on their final two drives of the game. They didn’t have a single drive of more than seven plays and went three-and-out four times.

If not for Cooper Kupp’s 33-yard catch near the end of the third quarter or Cam Akers’ 61-yard run a few minutes later, the Rams probably wouldn’t have scored those final 10 points at the end of the third and the start of the fourth quarter.

Put simply, the offense was inept all afternoon. The turnovers were deflating and were understandably frustrating, but they don’t tell the whole story. Goff failed to execute on offense outside of those three turnovers, with one of his biggest mistakes being an overthrow to Darrell Henderson for what should’ve been a touchdown; it would’ve made the score 17-10 instead of 17-6 after L.A. settled for a field goal.

Goff has to cut down on the turnovers, but he also has to be better when it comes to moving the ball effectively and efficiently. And as for the defense, it failed to step up when the Rams needed it to most.

The 49ers made game-tying and game-winning field goals on their last two drives, which totaled 100 yards of offense. If the Rams had stopped Nick Mullens on either drive, the game would’ve gone into overtime, at the very worst.

It’s foolish to pin this loss on the defense, which we’re not here to do, but Brandon Staley’s unit bent too much late in the game after an otherwise strong performance.

Sean McVay never considered benching Jared Goff vs. 49ers or Dolphins

In both of those games, McVay felt the Rams had a chance to come back and win.

As poorly as Jared Goff played in Week 12 against the San Francisco 49ers, Sean McVay never thought about pulling his quarterback. He didn’t consider it when Goff threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles against the Dolphins in Week 8, either.

The Rams lost both of those games, but they had a chance to win each time – even despite Goff’s inability to protect the football. For that reason, McVay stuck with Goff under center rather than benching him for backup John Wolford.

“If I thought it was going to be the best thing to just take a deep breath and step away, then I’d say, maybe. But not in either of those situations, because both of those reflected kind of having an opportunity where there was enough plays made to get back in it,” McVay told reporters Monday. “The Dolphins game, maybe a little bit different, but I thought it was important to be able to play through some of those things, learn from it, especially just based on some of the things that they were activating defensively.”

The Rams lost to the Dolphins by 11, and that was with L.A. shutting Miami out in the second half. They trailed by 18 points at halftime, but McVay didn’t feel his team was completely out of it. He didn’t feel that way against the 49ers on Sunday, either.

Even with all those costly turnovers, the Rams had a chance to win the game in the final minutes, only to have their last drive stall and end in a punt. Aaron Donald and Cam Akers helped give the Rams a chance by making two game-changing plays, but the offense sputtered down the stretch.

“Yesterday, each of those situations that occurred that ended up hurting us, were kind of different in their own right,” he explained. “All of them happened to be versus a man-coverage type of situation, the three turnovers that he had. Really for us, we got back in that game where we had a good little bit of momentum on that drive, that you get the big play to Cooper (Kupp), then you end up hitting Josh Reynolds and then we just kind of missed hitting a touchdown to Darrell Henderson, which ended up getting it to 17-6. Then Aaron does an unbelievable job of forcing the fumble and then the next thing you know, the next drive you get, that’s where you see Cam break a 61-yarder and he has a tough, hard red-zone run that two plays later, you punch it in and then you’re looking up and you’re winning the game. Yesterday that was never part of the consideration nor was it really for Miami, to answer your question.”

Wolford has never taken a regular-season snap in the NFL. He’s barely played in the preseason, either, being a second-year player after going undrafted out of Wake Forest. He has potential, but there’s no reason to believe he would’ve been better suited to lift the Rams to victory against the 49ers than Goff was.

Goff’s play has certainly been frustrating in recent weeks, with 10 turnovers in his last four games, but McVay knows he’s capable of playing better and will give him the chance to do just that – even in the toughest of circumstances.

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Raheem Mostert says Aaron Donald ‘got really lucky’ on his forced fumble

Donald made the play of the game in the third quarter, which led to a Rams touchdown.

When the Rams needed a play most, Aaron Donald came through and put the team on his back. In a two-play sequence during the third quarter of Sunday’s game, Donald thwarted two 49ers possessions with game-changing plays that led to points for the Rams.

The first was a forced fumble on a tackle behind the line of scrimmage, knocking the ball out of Raheem Mostert’s hands before it was scooped up by Troy Hill and returned for a touchdown. It was the best play in a really sloppy game, but in Mostert’s mind, it was more of a lucky play than a good one.

After the 49ers’ win, he acknowledged that Donald is a great player, but simultaneously said Donald got “really lucky” on that forced fumble. Here’s what Mostert said, via Greg Beacham of the Associated Press.

Let’s take a look at the take to determine whether Mostert is right in his assertion that Donald simply got lucky.

You probably know the answer already.

It takes more than luck to slip into the backfield in a split-second to blow up a running play and dislodge the ball from a running back’s grasp. It’s hard to say what’s “lucky” about the play Donald made because from a coaching perspective, that’s textbook.

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6 takeaways from Rams’ disappointing Week 12 loss to 49ers

The Rams have finally found a kicker, but they still need help at linebacker.

If there’s one word to describe Sunday’s game between the Rams and 49ers, it’s “ugly.” There were seven turnovers, two offensive touchdowns and seven total conversions on 27 third-down attempts.

The Rams would’ve taken an ugly win, but the defense bent just enough at the end to net San Francisco its fifth win of the season on a 42-yard game-winning field goal. Los Angeles, on the other hand, falls to 7-4 and possibly out of first place in the NFC West.

Here are six key takeaways from the loss for the Rams, which includes some good and some bad.

Rams fall to 49ers in ugly 23-20 loss: Everything we know

The Rams have now lost four straight games to the 49ers.

In what was one of the weirdest and most unpredictable games that swung in both teams’ direction a number of times, the Los Angeles Rams came up short against their division rivals. The San Francisco 49ers, without Jimmy Garoppolo and George Kittle, pulled off the upset and beat the Rams 23-20 on Sunday afternoon.

The Rams drop to 7-4 on the year and will need a loss by the Seahawks on Monday night in order to maintain first place in the NFC West. This is their fourth straight loss to the 49ers, getting swept by Kyle Shanahan’s team for the second consecutive year.

Robbie Gould’s 42-yard field goal as time expired capped off the win for the 49ers, sinking the Rams at SoFi Stadium. Here’s a quick recap of the Week 12 loss.