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When the St. Louis Rams revamped their offense this season, Sam Bradford appeared set to break out. Wide Receiver Tavon Austin, Left Tackle Jake Long and Tight End Jared Cook were all expected to alter the identity of Brian Schottenheimer's offense.
Bradford had been impressive as a rookie, but dealt with too many issues on the offense around him to succeed since then. After five weeks of this season, it appears that Bradford isn't taking advantage of the improvements around him. The relatively young quarterback has missed throws and appeared too tentative at times.
While it's clear that Matt Schaub of the Houston Texans has lost his confidence, it's a misconception that Bradford is the issue in St. Louis.
The Rams have a number of problems on offense. They don't rank 29th in yards and 20th in scoring because of poor play at the quarterback position. Bradford hasn't been overwhelmingly good, but he also hasn't been overwhelmingly bad.
It's important to understand what is limiting the Rams offense because it tells us if they can turn it around or not. It tells us if it's worth holding onto Jared Cook and Tavon Austin or if it's time to sell them for whatever you can get.
The Rams have two major issues and a number of minor issues. The minor issues are all about player execution and the chemistry between receivers and the quarterback, while the major issues can be traced to poor offensive line play.
Because of the importance of statistics in fantasy football, we often look to segregate the passing game from the running game. The Rams rank 30th in the NFL in average per carry. That means that they can't run the ball, but it's also the primary reason why they can't throw the ball.
Teams don't worry about the running game when they play the Rams. More often than not, defenses have played Cover-2 against the Rams this year. That means they keep two safeties deep with man coverage underneath to blanket receivers. Not only that, teams often only rush four and keep an extra linebacker or two in coverage to further flood the underneath coverage.
Because the interior of the Rams offensive line is unable to create running lanes or move defensive tackles consistently, they can't run the ball even when the defense overcommits to the pass. Not only that, when the defense rushes four or even three defenders, they can still quickly get pressure on Bradford.
When you can get pressure with just three or four defenders and the offense can't run the ball, the defense can do whatever it likes in coverage.
This play, when the Rams run play-action on first and 10, is a good example of a typical play for the Rams offense. The deep safety is watching Bradford's eyes and reacting to his movement. The two cornerbacks outside are taking away any deep throws outside, while the linebacker running underneath is there to intercept any underthrown passes. Bradford's check down option is double-teamed.
Bradford is aggressive and he throws the ball down the field to the receiver running a crossing route. However, that receiver is triple teamed and Bradford comes closer to throwing an interception than he does a completion. The ball is eventually tipped, but this is the kind of window that Bradford is often forced to throw into because of the way defenses can disregard the Rams running game and pass protection.
While watching Bradford on the broadcast tape, it looks like he checks down too much and isn't aggressive enough throwing down the field. However, Bradford has very rarely decided to ignore a potential big play for a check down.
Instead he has consistently taken what he can get on plays. He has missed some big plays down the field at times, but most of those throws come down to execution or not being on the same page as his receivers. Both of those things can come with growth and confidence at least.
Growth and confidence is something that isn't coming from the coaching staff in St. Louis. While the Rams are consistently seeing these kinds of coverages, Brian Schottenheimer's play-calling isn't helping. The Rams run too many deep routes and their route combinations don't complement each other or counter the types of coverage the Rams are seeing.
Now, if the defense was consistently changing up the coverage it played against the Rams then you could excuse this, but Schottenheimer hasn't looked to get the ball out of Bradford's hands early often enough. Against the Jacksonville Jaguars this week, the Rams did get the ball out quicker to Tavon Austin on occasion, but often that was just becuase he was uncovered at the snap.
The Rams often find themselves in difficult situations where they need chunks of yardage. It makes sense that they would run deep routes in those situations, but too often those deep routes are all just straight lines down the field with a checkdown underneath. It's easy for teams to defend.
If Schottenheimer is going to consistently run this type of offense, the Rams need to be able to run the ball better. The scheme and the offensive line are two major issues for this offense that likely won't be resolved until next season. Until then, the minor improvements that will come from Tavon Austin, who hasn't settled in the NFL yet, Bradford, who has missed some big plays, and Jared Cook, who just needs to be more consistent, will only slightly improve the offense's production.
Bradford isn't the only quarterback being hampered by his offensive line. While the Miami Dolphins were facing maybe the best defensive front in the NFL last week when they played the Baltimore Ravens, there's no excuse for how horrendous the team's offensive line was protecting Ryan Tannehill.
Tannehill is performing in spite of his line and it has been an issue all season long. The young quarterback should produce better than he has to this point in the season, but even if he doesn't, it's hard to blame him for that. Much like the Rams, the Dolphins need to improve their offensive line and that may not happen until the offseason.
While both of those young quarterbacks are being held back by their offensive lines, Andrew Luck continues to flourish in spite of his.
Luck's numbers aren't overwhelming yet, but he has faced four good defenses. The one worry with the Colts is that they want to run the ball, but Trent Richardson hasn't been able to consistently gain yards so far and their line has always been inconsistent blocking for their backs.
Because Luck is making throws like these consistently, the chances of there will always be avenues for big plays for Luck. His production should rise as the season grows rather than fall.
Other Thoughts from the Tape
Eugene Monroe Note
Just in case anyone missed it, Eugene Monroe was traded to the Baltimore Ravens last week but he didn't play at the weekend. Joe Flacco was constantly under pressure against a good defensive front, but much of that came from Bryant McKinnie who was playing in Monroe's spot.
Monroe should have a big impact on the Ravens' productivity on offense.
Carson Palmer and Andre Ellington
I have been a staunch defender of Carson Palmer in recent years. He is a very good quarterback who has an unfair reputation, similar to that of Tony Romo. Palmer proved in Oakland that he could produce with a lesser receiving corps behind a poor offensive line.
In Arizona, the offensive line has hampered him for most of the season, but that wasn't the case this past weekend. Last weekend, Palmer played terrible football and turned the ball over too many times without anyone else to blame. He needs to turn it around, because if this continues for much longer he is in danger of being finished physically.
Andre Ellington was outstanding again for the Cardinals. Bruce Arians has said that he won't put a heavy load on Ellington because he wants to keep him fresh. His touches may be limited, but if Ellington continues to play the way he has been playing, he could have a similar career to that of Darren Sproles.
Justin Blackmon's Return
Blackmon's first target after his suspension went for a big touchdown. He made a defender miss in space, but he only came free initially because of a blown coverage. The young receiver looked good, but not great, in his return for the Jaguars. He and Cecil Shorts are going to be tough to match up to for many defenses.
The addition of Stephen Williams to the Jaguars receiving corps is interesting also. Williams has the speed and size to stretch the field effectively, he should be a dramatic improvement on what Ace Sanders has brought to the team so far.
Cincinnati Bengals Losing Trust in Andy Dalton?
Andy Dalton hasn't been a great quarterback throughout his career. In fact, he hasn't even really been good. However, the Bengals never took the offense away from him. Against the Patriots, he threw the ball 27 times but many of those throws looked like plays when the Bengals were scared of what Dalton would do. He was treated much like a rookie would be.
Tom Brady has his own Problems and Kenbrell Can't Catch
Brady didn't play well against the Bengals. There will be lots of excuses made, but he was definitely a part of the problem. His accuracy cost Danny Amendola a touchdown and he missed a number of other throws.
Kenbrell Thompkins has been heavily involved for the Patriots, but his inability to locate the ball and coral it comfortably is an issue moving forward. Thompkins doesn't have the sure hands of the receivers that the Patriots have typically used in recent years.
Ryan Fitzpatrick is a Major Problem
Ryan Fitzpatrick's numbers weren't as bad as his performance this weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs. He should have been intercepted more often than he was and he left a lot of yards on the field with bad throws.