Last week, I broke down the St. Louis Rams offense and what they needed to do to fix it. Subsequently, the Rams scored 38 points against the Houston Texans this week. A short-sighted view would say that the Rams have turned it around, you don't score 38 points by accident, but 14 of those points came on special teams or defense and much of the Rams' success on offense came at the expense of poor Texans play.
The Rams first drive looked like every other one during this season so far. They couldn't run the ball and the Texans rushed just four to get pressure on Sam Bradford. The second drive was heading in the same direction, but a defensive pass interference penalty kept the drive alive and sparked some efficiency.
A quick screen to Chris Givens showed that Brian Schottenheimer was altering his emphasis somewhat, but the passing game was aided by the Texans' reluctance to play man coverage. The Texans played with two safeties deep throughout the game, but they played mostly zone underneath and were punished by Jared Cook on the few plays when they played man coverage.
Even though Bradford threw for three touchdowns, he only finished the game with 117 yards. That is partly because Chris Givens couldn't locate a perfect pass for what would have been an 80 yard touchdown and the Rams just looked to run out the clock in the fourth quarter, but it also reflects how the offense really didn't get back on track. Even if you give Bradford the 80 yards that Givens dropped, he still only finishes the game with around 200 yards.
Only one aspect of the Rams' display this week is truly telling. Running Back Zac Stacy is a huge upgrade in the backfield over Isiah Pead or Daryl Richardson.
Stacy made the most out of his touches more often than not. His willingness to let plays develop, his decisiveness when making cuts and his power complemented the Rams run blocking. The Rams still couldn't protect the passer upfront, but the line looked good creating lanes for Stacy, with Jake Long in particular standing out.
Instead of spreading the field with their receivers, the Rams focused on bringing the defense in tight in this game. Playing with two tight ends was a staple, while they often made use of a fullback in front of Stacy.
The Rams run a counter play to the left side, but crucially, they don't ask Jared Cook to block. Cook isn't a blocking tight end, he is essentially a glorified receiver. Instead of asking him to block the linebacker, they use his threat as a receiver to draw the defender out of the running lane as he threatens to be part of a play-action bootleg.
That play combined with Jake Long's ability to clamp down on the right defensive end creates a huge hole to the left of the offense. Stacy and his fullback in front of him immediately attack that space.
Stacy doesn't hesitate and he immediately runs on the shoulder of his fullback. Had his fullback given him a better block on the second level, he could have potentially found his way into the endzone, but ultimately Stacy puts his head down and drives forward for a good gain.
On the next play, Stacy is able to show off his vision and patience, while the Rams show off some creativity with tight end Lance Kendricks. Kendricks begins the play behind the line of scrimmage but on the outside shoulder of the left tackle. Before the snap, he motions inside so that he is behind the left guard.
After the snap, the Rams look to single block each defender at the line of scrimmage. Kendricks runs between the center and left guard and essentially becomes a fullback for Stacy. However, the Texans have three defenders in the gaps where Stacy wants to attack and two of those are crashing towards the line of scrimmage.
At this point in the play, Stacy isn't moving forward. He is hesitating and waiting for his blocking to develop.
The center does enough to push the defensive tackle into the backfield, while Kendricks hits the linebacker but doesn't move him. Kendricks' presence alone gives Stacy a lane to run through because he stayed patient and attacked the hole at the right time.
Stacy is aggressive and fast through the hole, which allows him to gain five yards.
Much like LeVeon Bell for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Stacy isn't a big back or a fast back. He has that vision however and he has the ability to slip through smaller gaps in the offensive line.
Stacy has all the tools to be continually productive in the NFL. He may have played against a less-than-stellar defensive front in Houston, but that doesn't take away from the individual traits that he showed off. So long as the Rams offensive line can be as effective as they were against the Texans, which wasn't overly effective, Stacy should be able to continue to be effective.
That will open up the passing game for Sam Bradford. He still won't be putting up over 300 yards every game or even scoring three touchdowns, but he should become a more efficient player with the passes he does throw.
Matthew Stafford's Impressive Play
The impact of Calvin Johnson on the Detroit Lions offense can't be overstated. Without Johnson in Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers, the offense wilted. Without a fully fit Johnson, the focus shifted onto quarterback Matthew Stafford this week. Stafford didn't play well in Week 5 and he has always been a player who is flattered by his output.
However, when the Lions needed him against the Cleveland Browns this week, Stafford showed up.
He missed a handful of throws and had one horrendous penalty for spiking the football after a scramble, but he also consistently made good decisions and made enough plays to get the victory.
Joseph Fauria stole the headlines with his three touchdown passes. Even though Fauria is huge and has a similar wingspan to that of Calvin Johnson, two of his touchdown receptions required very precise throws from his quarterback.
He threw another pass in the end zone to Calvin Johnson that should have been a touchdown, but Johnson dropped it after beating Joe Haden on a slant route.
Stafford's ability to throw the football accurately has never been questioned. On this play, he immediately locates Kris Durham running down the sideline against Haden. Although a defender is penetrating the pocket by skipping past the right tackle, Stafford keeps his composure and waits long enough for Durham to get downfield.
Durham doesn't beat Haden down the sideline, but with his size and Haden not facing the football, Stafford understands that he can create a big play with good ball placement. Stafford' rockets a perfect pass into a spot where Durham can snatch it out of the sky.
More impressive than the accuracy on specific throws, was Stafford's consistency throughout the game. He showed excellent awareness and smart decision-making to repeatedly move the ball down the field.
On this play, Stafford immediately looks to his right where receivers are escaping out of a bunch formation. He quickly sees that the defense is in zone coverage and stays with his receivers long enough to make sure none of them are coming free.
At that point, Stafford works through his progression back to the other side of the field. His eyes actually created a gap for his backside receiver by drawing the linebacker in the middle of the field to the other side of the formation.
From there, it's a simple throw for a key third down conversion.
On another third and three, Stafford stares down his tight end Brandon Pettigrew. Pettigrew appears to be running a quick out route and D'Qwell Jackson is covering him on his own.
However, even though Stafford is staring down one receiver, he is still manipulating the coverage. He perfectly times a very quick pump fake when Pettigrew is at the top of his route. That draws Jackson to the wrong side of Pettigrew, who is wide open over the middle of the field for an easy first down conversion.
With Ray Horton calling plays for the Browns defense, Stafford was always going to be at risk of big plays going the other way in this game.
On this play, Haden blitzes off the edge and the Browns rotate a safety to cover Calvin Johnson on that side of the field. Stafford never looks at Haden, but he recognizes the disguise because he is looking at Jackson who is dropping deep and the defensive back running to the sideline.
Even though he never looked that direction before the snap, Stafford immediately looks to Johnson at the snap. Even though Joe Haden is directly in his line of sight, he makes a precise throw that gives Johnson a chance to catch the ball.
Unfortunately, Johnson makes an uncharacteristic drop.
Maybe his most important pass in the game was one that he didn't throw.
On first and 10 deep in Lions territory, Stafford fakes a hand-off to the back next to him while he keeps his eyes on Barkevious Mingo who is covering the slot receiver. Mingo, an outside linebacker, on a slot receiver should be a matchup advantage for the offense so Stafford is making the right read.
Both receivers to that side of the field are running slant routes, so Stafford should have a receiver free regardless of whether the defense is playing zone or man coverage.
However, Mingo makes an outstanding play as he steps inside of the slant route from the slot receiver, but keeps his eyes on the quarterback and an upright body position to still fill the outside passing lane. Mingo could easily intercept any pass that Stafford throws to that side of the field.
Stafford winds back to throw the ball to one of those receivers, but he pulls it back at the last moment before flipping it away underneath to avoid what would have been a very costly interception.
Eventually, he was intercepted, but it wasn't an interception that would guarantee a scoring opportunity for the Browns. It also wasn't an interception that was his fault.
Late in the third quarter, the Cowboys came out with two receivers to the right and one to the left. The Browns are playing off coverage outside, with press coverage to the bottom of the screen against Calvin Johnson.
After the snap, Romo focuses in on the deep safety to the left side of the defense. He is able to read the coverage off that safety because of the route combinations. The outside receiver to that side of the field, Patrick Edwards, is running a post route, while the inside receiver, Joseph Fauria, is running a deep out route.
That deep safety closes down on Fauria, leaving space in behind for Edwards to run into.
Edwards runs into that space and is in great position when Stafford throws the ball. However, Edwards fades away from the football as it arrives, which allows the more aggressive defensive back to punch it into the air. That leads to an interception for the other safety who came across the field, while Edwards falls down in the end zone without the football.
Edwards also dropped a deep ball in this game, something that was an issue with many of the Lions' receivers, so it's no real surprise that he was cut the very next day.
Stafford showed that he could adjust to play without a fully fit Calvin Johnson. That should stand to him for the remainder of the season so he can make more plays without focusing on his star receiver.
The young quarterback has shown more than enough promise to offset the poor play from Kansas City.
The mishandling of Andrew Luck
On Monday Night Football, the Indianapolis Colts caused their own downfall. Andrew Luck's receivers dropped multiple passes, which is an issue, but the most worrying aspect of the game was offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton's play-calling.
The Colts' heavy-set, run-first philosophy on offense is questionable already, but Hamilton made it worse with his play-calling. A third and two play showed epitomised how the Colts offense doesn't play to the strengths of its quarterback. Hamilton rolled Luck out of the pocket to his weakside and turned the play into one read and run.
With a quarterback such as Luck who can make any throw and go through his progressions, that kind of play makes no sense at all in a critical situation. Luck may keep producing big numbers this year, but he'll only do so in spite of his coaching staff.
