Coming off a road victory against the Cleveland Browns last week, the St. Louis Rams had hoped to build a late-season rally. The Rams had quite the opportunity on Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome, hosting the Seattle Seahawks.
Things looked good in the first quarter as the Rams jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a 30 yard Sam Bradford touchdown pass to Brandon Lloyd. The score came off a Seattle turnover that let the Rams start with the ball on the Seattle 27 yard line. It was hardly a "scoring drive." Instead, it was a nice 30 yard play to Lloyd that ended in a touchdown. Besides the nice play from Bradford to Lloyd, the Rams offense did little else the rest of the game, gaining only 185 total yards.
The game, much like the rest of the season, was a display of offensive incompetence by Bradford, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, and the rest of the St. Louis Rams.
The Rams could not do anything right, and frankly, I do not want to hear the excuses any longer.
Handing the ball to Steven Jackson normally provides positive results, but Jackson often was given the ball and within milliseconds was being tackled by untouched Seattle defensive lineman. Jackson carried the ball 15 times for 42 yards in the loss. Take away his 19 yard scamper, and Jackson was able to average just 1.64 yards on his other 14 carries. Inexcusable.
Because the Rams running game could not get on track, McDaniels dialed up 42 pass plays, resulting in just 143 yards of offense. That is a miserable 3.40 yards per pass attempt.
Bradford lost two fumbles in the game as well, mostly because his line could not protect him and also because he is an absolute statue that can not make quick reads and continuously locks on to one receiver on each play.
Bradford was sacked five times by the Seattle defense as the make-shift offensive line could not hold. Missing offensive tackle Rodger Saffold, the Rams offensive line could not open up holes for Jackson or protect Bradford.
But Bradford ending up on his back is not entirely the offensive line's fault. Bradford is to blame as well, as he stares down his receivers, does not make adjustments, and holds on to the ball for entirely too long.
Here is the evidence. Bradford targeted Brandon Lloyd 14 times on the afternoon, completing just five of those passes. Once the ball was snapped, Bradford would literally stare at Lloyd's side of the field and not look anywhere else, even though the talented wide receiver was often blanked by two Seahawks defenders.
There is plenty of blame to go around.
You can blame the putrid play of the offensive line. The group clearly can not open up holes or protect Bradford and there really is no excuse. Injuries happen and for as much money and draft picks that have been wasted on this group, the results are simply horrendous.
You can blame Bradford, who looks lost in the McDaniels offense. Bradford has regressed after an outstanding rookie season in every facet of the game. He has zero pocket awareness, decreased accuracy, and does not seem capable of making reads and checking down to second and third options on plays.
Finally, you can blame McDaniels. The "genius" has been unable to put together a game plan to match the talent he has to work with. McDaniels has not made a single adjustment to the poor play of the offensive line and has further complicated things for his second year quarterback by calling plays that Bradford does not seem to understand. It is McDaniels job to make changes and get results, and he simply has not done so.
The offense at the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday for the Blue and Gold was simply incompetent. A fan base looking for a late-season rally was left searching for answers as to how this offense can be this bad.
There is one thing for certain though. There are no more excuses. Excuses are for losers and remember, this is the NFL.
Even the lowly, Peyton-less Indianapolis Colts are outscoring these Rams. Its time to make some drastic changes on offense in St. Louis.
Sources:
Things looked good in the first quarter as the Rams jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a 30 yard Sam Bradford touchdown pass to Brandon Lloyd. The score came off a Seattle turnover that let the Rams start with the ball on the Seattle 27 yard line. It was hardly a "scoring drive." Instead, it was a nice 30 yard play to Lloyd that ended in a touchdown. Besides the nice play from Bradford to Lloyd, the Rams offense did little else the rest of the game, gaining only 185 total yards.
The game, much like the rest of the season, was a display of offensive incompetence by Bradford, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, and the rest of the St. Louis Rams.
The Rams could not do anything right, and frankly, I do not want to hear the excuses any longer.
Handing the ball to Steven Jackson normally provides positive results, but Jackson often was given the ball and within milliseconds was being tackled by untouched Seattle defensive lineman. Jackson carried the ball 15 times for 42 yards in the loss. Take away his 19 yard scamper, and Jackson was able to average just 1.64 yards on his other 14 carries. Inexcusable.
Because the Rams running game could not get on track, McDaniels dialed up 42 pass plays, resulting in just 143 yards of offense. That is a miserable 3.40 yards per pass attempt.
Bradford lost two fumbles in the game as well, mostly because his line could not protect him and also because he is an absolute statue that can not make quick reads and continuously locks on to one receiver on each play.
Bradford was sacked five times by the Seattle defense as the make-shift offensive line could not hold. Missing offensive tackle Rodger Saffold, the Rams offensive line could not open up holes for Jackson or protect Bradford.
But Bradford ending up on his back is not entirely the offensive line's fault. Bradford is to blame as well, as he stares down his receivers, does not make adjustments, and holds on to the ball for entirely too long.
Here is the evidence. Bradford targeted Brandon Lloyd 14 times on the afternoon, completing just five of those passes. Once the ball was snapped, Bradford would literally stare at Lloyd's side of the field and not look anywhere else, even though the talented wide receiver was often blanked by two Seahawks defenders.
There is plenty of blame to go around.
You can blame the putrid play of the offensive line. The group clearly can not open up holes or protect Bradford and there really is no excuse. Injuries happen and for as much money and draft picks that have been wasted on this group, the results are simply horrendous.
You can blame Bradford, who looks lost in the McDaniels offense. Bradford has regressed after an outstanding rookie season in every facet of the game. He has zero pocket awareness, decreased accuracy, and does not seem capable of making reads and checking down to second and third options on plays.
Finally, you can blame McDaniels. The "genius" has been unable to put together a game plan to match the talent he has to work with. McDaniels has not made a single adjustment to the poor play of the offensive line and has further complicated things for his second year quarterback by calling plays that Bradford does not seem to understand. It is McDaniels job to make changes and get results, and he simply has not done so.
The offense at the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday for the Blue and Gold was simply incompetent. A fan base looking for a late-season rally was left searching for answers as to how this offense can be this bad.
There is one thing for certain though. There are no more excuses. Excuses are for losers and remember, this is the NFL.
Even the lowly, Peyton-less Indianapolis Colts are outscoring these Rams. Its time to make some drastic changes on offense in St. Louis.
Sources:
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