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St. Louis Rams: Last Place Offense Needs To Open Up Playbook

By Matt LaPan

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Through three games of the 2015 NFL season the St. Louis Rams are 1-2 – losing their past two contests to the Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers. These loses come despite St. Louis having the ninth ranked defense in the NFL. The major problem for the Rams has been offensive output and efficiency, where they currently rank 32nd in total yards and 29th in 3rd down conversion percentage.

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The numbers have been less than stellar for Nick Foles and the Rams, totaling just 274.3 yards per game – a full 11 yards less than the Philadelphia Eagles who occupy the 31st worst offensive spot. The Rams are also just 10-of-33 on 3rd down conversions, only ahead of Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Kansas City.

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The Rams inability to sustain drives has also been a major problem, as they have run just 42 first down plays on the season, worst in the NFL. The clear problem has come in the run game for St. Louis, as they are again 29th in the NFL with an average of 71.3 yards per game.

These problems have all been at a head on the open play of drives, which has helped to compound the Rams problems of sustaining drives. In their Week 3 loss to the Steelers, the Rams had nine drives. Of those nine drives, only twice did the Rams gain more than seven yards on the opening play of the drive. They had two times where the opening play of the drive went for negative yards, and one drive start with a turnover.

In that matchup the Rams started five of their nine drives with a run play. Those plays averaged just 1.2 yards per play – gaining just six yards on the five plays. That is in comparison to four pass plays that averaged 11 yards per play – although a Nick Foles interception has to be factored into those four plays.

One play that signifies a major problem for the Rams was on a 1st-&-10 in the 2nd quarter. This was rookie Todd Gurley’s first career carry, a play that went for two yards. Gurley takes the handoff from Foles, looking to go off left tackle. The left side of the Rams line – which has had many problems of their own – does a good job creating a hole for Gurley, with tackle Greg Robinson sealing the end, guard Jamon Brown getting to the second level and center Tim Barnes reaching the nose tackle. Gurley does not follow the blocks, but rather cuts back into the strength of the Steelers defense, leading to a modest two-yard gain.

With these troubles running on first down, offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti needs to look into a quick passing game on first down. The Rams have allowed just five sacks on the season, and are averaging 7.3 yards per attempts on passing plays. This would be a vast improvement over the 3.8 yards per play they average on the ground.

By going to the passing attack, the Rams would be able to improve on their 16.7 points per game average. As a team, the Rams have scored four touchdowns through three games, evenly split between the ground and the air. They have, however, gained 28 first downs through the air compared to just 11 on the ground. Not only will opening up the playbook help sustain drives, it will put less pressure on the defense, which has been the lone bright spot for St. Louis

Next: After Further Thought: Week 3 Early Edition

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