Previewing The Ravens at The Rams Monday Night

This game, unlike Cincinnati, is a real trap game. You’re now rolling, you’ve got three signature wins under your belt in the last four weeks crushing what many consider to be the top teams and 2 MVP candidates.

You’re going to go a game that’s a relative must-win for a LA team that wants a shot at the playoffs. With Balt, Dal, Sea, SF still on the schedule, they are going to have to beat at least 2 quality teams. I’m guessing that 10 wins may not be enough so maybe 3 wins in that bunch for the playoffs. There are very few “must-win” games at this stage of the season, but this one carries weight for an LA team.

They’ve got a one man wrecking crew who they can line up over our weakest two OL. They have a top flight CB. They’ve got an offensive system that when clicking is hard to stop. They’ve got a home crowd that will be much better than Cinci’s. We have to travel across the country. And they should feel like they’ve got something to prove at this stage. And we’ve got the other top team in the NFL looming on our scheduled for the next week on a short week.

I think the Ravens handle this game without a blink of an eye. And the extra day rest to some degree is an advantage. Plus the primetime game always gets our team amped up. If this was a Sunday 4:25 game, it’d be a bit more trappy, IMO.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

But there is a demonstrable talent gap between these two teams. But I checked out the Rams offense on tape from the Chicago game to find what they did well.

The narrative out of the media is that Gurley is “back”, ironically, the first thing Gurley does when he has the ball is put it on the ground on an off tackle run with a FB lead.

From there the Rams kept it tight in the box. There were lots of tight formations early, and lots of two WR looks. But Goff seemed determined to give the game away early. Gurley hit a big 13 yard run after his fumble, they caught a busted coverage for a big gain, and then on the second PA waggle of the game, Goff just makes an inexplicable throw on 2^nd and 7 outside of the pocket. There is no window here, and you’re in the red zone. Goff has to dump this out of bounds.

The Rams got good push early from the interior line. Particularly on the right side. The OL pushes back the DL a good 3 yards before Gurley gets back to the LOS. On a running down against a tight formation, that’s solid OL push from a pretty maligned Rams group.

The Rams also jet sweeped on what felt like nearly every single play. They stayed tight, had two TEs on a lot of plays and played the FB a lot. The sweeps seemed to keep the ILB for Chicago off balance.

But Chicago had zero respect for Goff. On this play, they rush 3 and really only 2, dropping 8. Goff can’t find a receiver and can’t rush for the first even with all that time.

What I saw on tape is a Rams offense that is looking to exploit on the first read and if they don’t get it, a QB that can’t go through his progressions. But this is an example of not staying disciplined. It’s not even like Goff is looking off the safety, he just bites underneath and Kupp runs right by him, wide open for a 50-yard gain.

It got ugly for the Rams after that. 3 and out. 3 and out. One first down and out. 3 and out. 3 and out.

Finally on the very last drive they seemed to get after it a bit when they really spread things out again. Chicago again, continued to only rush 4 or less. This is a 5-wide play, the Bears have 4 at the LOS and drop a spy off the line and only rush 3. Clinton Dix leaves his man and it’s a busted coverage for a big play inside the 5. It’s a nice route combo, but in this situation in the game, Dix can’t let that guy get behind him.

I think the Rams will be less “big” in their packages if Cooks is back and particularly if the Ravens score early. But ultimately, we just need to stay disciplined and I don’t see a Rams offense that scares me. If Kupp is in the slot often, I think the Ravens line Humphrey up over him as well.