ClutchPoints
Over the past few weeks, one of the more interesting developments to the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive identity has been the emergence of a strong screen game set up by pulling interior offensive linemen.
Now granted, the Rams have called screens in the past, as have pretty much every team in the NFL, but after watching his team execute the play exceptionally over the past few weeks, Sean McVay has seemingly been calling the play more often, with the results working very well for LA’s finest.
Asked about the decision to use the play more often and if the play of Steve Avila and Kevin Dotson has led to the decision during his Friday media call, McVay said yes, noting that their efforts in the open field have helped to influence his play calling in December.
“It’s being able to have an open mind. You’re right because you don’t want to pigeonhole people into just being able to do one thing. I think that’s the benefit of having really functional, athletic guards that have an incredible ability to be able to move and accelerate in space and be able to have close quarters contact with people,” McVay told reporters.
“When you do have guys like that, that’s a real benefit where you’re saying, ‘What can’t they do?’ I think you’ve seen it and you’ve mentioned it a little bit. We’ve been able to get some of our outside zone hitting run plays going. You can’t get those plays going if you don’t have guys that have the ability to be able to reach, cut off, and then be able to finish on second-level angles of departure. Both ‘K-Dot’ and Steve can do that in the run game with different ways of being fully functional. In the screen game, I think you’ve seen their athleticism displayed. ‘K-Dot’ had two, but Steve had a key block on that play as well that went viral for Puka on the screen.”
McVay is correct; Dotson’s block did go viral for his impressive play down the field both for how easily he moved players down the field and for how it set up a big play for Nacua. If the Rams can add that to their weekly efforts moving forward, it’s safe to say fans will be very happy with the decision.
Discussing the screen game further, McVay noted that he considers it part of the running game and plans to use it more often.
“I think because there’s some relief on the offensive line and in some instances, you don’t take for granted how difficult some of the arm slot changes are for the quarterback. There’s not as much mental toll. I think it has a lot of benefits to be able to slow the rush. You can make it look like a lot of different things depending upon what type of screen you’re talking about,” McVay told reporters. “The ones that...
