Los Angeles Rams Week Five Takeaways
The Los Angeles Rams fell to the Buffalo Bills at home and recorded their first loss in Los Angeles for the year. A combination of poor quarterback play, missed blocking assignments, and lack of tackling discipline send the Rams back to the drawing board for their next game in Detroit. Some of the issues they need to resolve include the following.
Injuries
Before running back LeSean McCoy is praised too much, the point must be made that three Rams defensive line starters were unable to play against him. Both defensive ends, William Hayes and Robert Quinn, were sidelined along with Aaron Donald’s partner-in-crime Michael Brockers.
There had been a lot of talk with how deep the Rams line was, and it seemed to get even deeper as Morgan Fox was brought up to the roster earlier in the week. However, Sunday showed us a different story as McCoy ran for 150 yards and QB Tyrod Taylor was sacked only twice.
Though a big part of McCoy’s standout day was all-around defensive confusion, including some embarrassing tackling, the defensive line was the big hole in the unit this afternoon. If the Rams want to continue to shut teams down in both the pass and the run, they need to keep all four starters healthy and continue to develop the talent of the reserve linemen.
Struggles Playing from Behind
The Rams have been fortunate enough to jump out ahead in their past three wins. They even put the first points on the board this afternoon. However, as the turnovers piled up and the spread grew larger, the Rams became less disciplined and began to show all around sloppiness.
The offensive line has been struggling in run blocking all season, but when guard Cody Wichmann went down, the passing protection began to suffer, as well. Buffalo’s linebackers were having a field day with their blitzes as Los Angeles linemen double teamed the wrong players and let the extra rushers get free shots at Case Keenum.
Keenum was in a funk from the beginning with a painful overthrow to a wide open Brian Quick. He then outdid this misplay when he threw an interception to former USC Trojan Nickell Robey, which was taken all the way for a touchdown. Keenum never recovered from the mistake and continued to misfire for the remainder of the game.
With an under-performing offense and the strength of their schedule, the Rams need to show more mental toughness when facing a deficit. Keenum must stay more poised in the face of adversity and his line must communicate better with overwhelming rushes. The competition will only grow tougher as the season continues.
Coach Fisher’s Calls
Head coach Jeff Fisher has made some highly questionable calls in his career, but this match-up saw some key gaffes.
In the Bills’ red zone and down by seven, the Rams faced a fourth down and instead of going for the touchdown, they decided to take the three points. This was very peculiar when considering how well the defense had been holding in the second half. If there was a time to take a calculated risk, this would be it. If it pays off, the Rams tie the game, if it does not, they still have the Bills in poor yard position.
This decision was compounded later when they found themselves faced with a fourth down in their own territory. Fisher called for a fake punt that was quickly broken up by the Bills, who then proceeded to add a touchdown to their lead.
For some reason, Fisher saw it wise to add a meaningless three points in the red zone, but decided to gamble in their own territory for a first down conversion. Execution aside, the risk assessment was very suspect and the result was a draining loss and a drop from first place.
Conclusion
The Rams incurred their first obstacle since their Monday night debacle in week five and their high-flying ways saw a little ground when the clock ran out. Though they came into the game severely handicapped, when the chips were down, they flopped. As Los Angeles gets ready to meet to a red hot Detroit Lions squad, they would do well to take account of their fundamentals and take a greater focus on working toward consistency in stopping running backs and avoiding costly passing miscues. The loss presents a great learning opportunity and perhaps a chance for a necessary reality check early enough in the year to salvage a promising start.
