[aeneas1]

some will tell you that it takes years for an oline to finally "gel", for example three years seems to be a popular time frame, but of course that's just one of those silly threadbare nfl isms that has simply never passed the sniff test, especially in today's turnover happy nfl.

in the rams case it seems that it only took a couple of weeks, not years, for the new oline to come together, assuming you use the last two games as your starting point... all told, team whitworth (lt), corbett (lg), blythe (c), edwards (rg) and evans (rt) have played 4 games together, the last 4 games, in which the rams have posted a 3-1 record.

but it's the last two games that have been particularly impressive, two games in which the rams have rolled to over 1,000 yards while outscoring the bad guys 62-19.

so has the offensive line really come together, have the rams hit on a great combo, or has mcvay simply, finally, figured a few things out? if you ask me, it's the latter.

in the last two games mcvay has moved goff around more than he has in the 11 previous games combined it seems, goff has been rolling out and bootlegging a ton, which of course has greatly helped out the oline in pass pro... mcvay has also started attacking the outside edges in the run game more frequently using sweeps and edge runs, and it's paid dividends, as opposed to banging his head against the between the tackles wall.

for example, against the seahawks the rams ran wide 15 times for 110 yards (7.3 avg) - compare this to their other runs on the day: off-tackle 11 times for 32 yards (2.9 avg) and between the tackles 9 times for 20 yards (2.2 avg)... the stat sheet for the seattle game shows 162 rushing yards which points to great oline play, but as mentioned 110 of those yards came on edge runs, runs in which bunched wr cracked back and helped the oline shine.

in all, mcvay has simply been calling much better games imo, and he's finally had counters to some of the looks that have given the rams offense fits - for example the first time the seahawks shifted into a 6-1 look, goff checked out of the play and the rams instead ran a jet sweep for a big gain, it was beautiful.

and for the second week in a row the rams went with the rollout pass to a straggling higbee over the middle for another huge gain, a play where goff rolls right with his receivers running right across the field as well, as higbee quietly holds up in the middle of the field as all of the defenders chase the receivers to the right, just beautiful.

anyway, here's a look a the olines the rams have fielded this year, you have to wonder why the rams felt demby was the next man up instead of edwards or evans in game 3 (cle) and game 5 (sfo)... also, there's been a lot of positive talk by rams fans in terms of edwards and evans, but corbett has played well next to big whit, in fact i think he may have won a permanent spot... evans? still not impressed, slow and surprisingly not as athletic as he should be imo... allen? i think he lost his job to blythe or, better put, he should lose his job to blythe.... if i had to rank rams olinemen at this point it would be whit, edwards, noteboom, havenstein, blythe, corbettt, evans, allen.

[AvengerRam]

As you noted, I think we're seeing some smarter play calling that reduces the OL's "degree of difficulty" significantly.

In particular, I think Goff's ability to throw off designed rollout plays is underrated, and has taken a lot of pressure off the OL.

We still need more OL talent (though I do think that guys with less than 10 starts under their belt have the chance to improve and become those guys), but for now, I like how McVay is playing to the current OL's strength.

[ramsfan1977]

Going to keep pounding this like a drum. No more Havenstein!

[snackdaddy]

I think McVay has a lot more games of opponents film to study. He can better see the tendencies and adapt to them. Especially teams with new coordinators or coaches. He's also starting to figure out how the attack those fronts that have been giving them problems. I don't know how the 49er game will end up, but I have a feeling the offense is going to do much better next time. I see us winning at least two of the next 3. But is that enough or do they need all 3?

[safer]

I thought Evans played well last night as he was left alone on Clowney most of the game. He handled him much better than I think Big Rob would have.
As for Havenstein, I think we are stuck with him for a couple of years, with that contract. I'd move him inside to compete.
I still think we should draft a mid round olineman, especially one who can at OT.

[/zn/]

Usually 3 injury replacements midseason is going to hurt an OL. As it happens, though, the Rams had talent on hand because they were building the 2020 OL. So that's 5 picks in 2 years plus a trade for a 6th. Usually teams don't have lots of young talented OL depth like that.

I don't know who would say it takes years to build a solid OL--if you have a couple of pieces in place already it can be done overnight. I think that's fairly widely known. People can easily think of examples of that happening.

Though as has been said already, Seattle and Arizona were not stern tests of this OL. ARZ is 17th in qb pressures, Seattle is 29th. Dallas in contrast is 7th. SF is 2nd. (Rams are 3rd.)

[/zn/]

As for Havenstein, I think we are stuck with him for a couple of years, with that contract.

They can cut him next year and get some cap savings out of it. If they trade him they get more savings out of it. They are not stuck with Hav. They have options.

[aeneas1]

Seahawks pass rush is flat-out bad. And that’s with Ziggy.
Love the Oline improvement, but last night wasn’t a huge test. Scored same as last game against them with a bad line.

they managed to drop jimmy g-spot 5 times, murray 4 times and wentz 3 times... but you're right, they're not one of the better pass rush teams in the league, but they aren't bottom of the barrel in hurries, they're 15th, but in terms of overall pressure (hurries + qb knock downs + sacks) they're close to the bottom (they haven't knocked the qb to the ground a lot this season).

anyway, that said, the cowboys rank 7th in qb pressure...

As you noted, I think we're seeing some smarter play calling that reduces the OL's "degree of difficulty" significantly.

In particular, I think Goff's ability to throw off designed rollout plays is underrated, and has taken a lot of pressure off the OL.

We still need more OL talent (though I do think that guys with less than 10 starts under their belt have the chance to improve and become those guys), but for now, I like how McVay is playing to the current OL's strength.

i came across an interesting stat a while back, i'll see if i can track it down, it showed that overall goff is effective throwing the ball when rolling out but what was surprising was that he's actually been more successful when rolling out to his left and throwing than to his right, it's usually the other way around for rh qbs.

[Indrid Cold]

Hmm, outside zone and bootleg rollouts off it. Sounds a lot like last year and just that McVay is running his bread and butter as neither AZ or SEA featured that 6-man front.

Pleased as hell with the results, but I don't see some magic adjustment yet.

[/zn/]

Hmm, outside zone and bootleg rollouts off it. Sounds a lot like last year and just that McVay is running his bread and butter as neither AZ or SEA featured that 6-man front.

Pleased as hell with the results, but I don't see some magic adjustment yet.

Seattle did run some 6-man front though. The announcers were focusing on it during the game, and talking about how the Rams countered it.