Turf Show Times
The Los Angeles Rams head into the New Year in a bit of a slump, dropping three of their last five games which includes their last two. Since Week 13, they’ve taken a step back and need to find themselves before it’s too late. Here are five New Year’s resolutions that will help them get back on track as well as solve some issues going forward.
Last January, the Rams got ran over by the Philadelphia Eagles. While the down-to-down consistency was there, it was the back-breaking long touchdown runs that were problematic. In the playoff game, the Rams allowed touchdown runs of 44, 62, and 78 yards. During the offseason, the Rams made it a point to be better against the run. They signed Poona Ford in free agency and also brought in Nate Landman. Jared Verse and Byron Young both improved against the run on the edge.
That had proven to be the case for a majority of the season, but over the last two weeks, the Rams have allowed touchdown runs of 55 and 93 yards to Kenneth Walker and Bijan Robinson. Again, the down-to-down consistency is there. Walker had just a 45.5 percent success rate which ranked 16th among running backs with 10 or more rushes in Week 16. Bijan Robinson also had a 45.5 percent success rate.
In Weeks 1-11, the Rams allowed a 47.1 percent rushing success rate, but just a 1.7 percent explosive run rate. Their 47.1 percent rushing success rate allowed ranked ninth. Additionally, only 9.5 percent of their rushing yards allowed came via explosive runs. Since Week 12, the Rams are still allowing a 45.3 percent rushing success rate which ranks seventh. However, the difference is that they are allowing a five percent explosive run rate and 35.6 percent of their rushing yards allowed have come via explosive runs. If the Rams can get back to cutting out the explosives, their run defense will get back to what it was.
This isn’t to say that the Rams need to give Atwell 60 percent of the snaps on offense and force-feed him four targets per game. At the same time, he remains the best deep threat on the roster. Throughout this season, the Rams have valued experience in order to give them a higher floor at certain positions. That ethos makes it even more confusing why Atwell is getting out-snapped by Konata Mumpfield and Xavier Smith.
On deep routes this season, Mumpfield has zero receptions on three targets. Overall he’s caught 10-of-22 targets which is less than half. Smith has been better, catching three of seven deep targets, but Atwell has more experience in that role. Atwell has caught 3-of-6 deep targets this season after catching six-of-10 last season. An argument can be made that Atwell has been one of the better deep targets in the NFL. Again, this isn’t to say that the Rams need...
