Turf Show Times
Rams doomed by first quarter inefficiency
The Los Angeles Rams offense suddenly reappeared on Sunday in a much needed victory against the New England Patriots. Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly from the win.
Braden Fiske continues to make his case for DROY
When Les Snead moved up on the second day of the NFL draft to take Braden Fiske off the board he received instant scrutiny—it was the biggest overpay in the second round in recent memory. That decision continues to look like the right one as the season continues. Against the Patriots, Fiske had two sacks, three pressures, and a violent forced fumble that pushed momentum in LA’s favor. His impact on the game goes farther than just the baseline stats though. With his ability to cause disruption in the middle of the line other players are able to play off of him and many have capitalized on his efforts.
Jared Verse is the front runner for the DROY award, but it is hard not to talk about Fiske in the same breath. It may not be the “Aaron Donald” effect, but the rookie out of FSU is a problem for the opposition every week.
Beaux Limmer earns the starting center position
After last week’s poor performance from the offensive line, Sean McVay had no other option than to shake things up in Week 11. Jonah Jackson is the latest free agent benching by the Rams after a dreadful performance against the Miami Dolphins last week forced him out of favor with the team. In the end, it was all for the better. Beaux Limmer, the 217th pick of this year’s draft, officially took over as the team’s center against New England which proved to be an instant upgrade over Jackson. He only allowed one pressure and zero hurries while also grading high in run-block efficiency (78.6 according to PFF). The offensive line as a whole kept Matthew Stafford standing all game long and Limmer’s return played a huge part in that.
Explosive plays are back in LA
Let’s not sugar-coat it, the Rams offense has been hard to watch this year even in victories—that was until this past Sunday. The day was highlighted by a beautiful pass by Stafford to Cooper Kupp on zero blitz that went for a 69-yard touchdown. The pass game looked like vintage McVay offense with his ageless wonder at quarterback finishing with his highest average-yards-per-attempt this season with 13.89 yards (his highest previously being 9.64 yards in Week 3) along with a QBR of 142.7. Puka Nacua looked back to his normal self and finished with a team-high 123 yards receiving with a long of 37. Kyren Williams was also breaking free for big gains with a long of 18-yards. He finished the game with 86 yards on just 15 attempts for an average of 5.7 yards-per-rush.
The Rams have had plenty of issues with scoring in the redzone this season but that can be masked...
