There’s No Easy Fix for Rams in 2020 Part 1

BY ADAM GREENE

With another blown coverage on a long pass play, the Los Angeles Rams surrendered their 2019-20 season in a 34-31 loss to the San Francisco 49ers Sunday. It was a dumb play. It was an ugly play. And it was entirely preventable.

And it sums up pretty much every single problem with this year’s Rams team. With no first round pick for the next two seasons and no real salary cap room to pursue marquee free agents, this is it. This is the Rams team we’re getting for the next two years at least. So what can they do?

THE OFFENSE

Sean McVay had to figure a lot out on the fly this season after the rest of the league caught up to what he was doing with the Rams offense and their 11 personnel (3 WRs, 1 TE, 1 RB). Everything was a struggle as the team’s offensive line melted down, Todd Gurley was slowed and Jared Goff couldn’t find consistency from one pass to another. McVay was able to cobble a scheme together that worked enough to keep the Rams in it, in spite of a carousel offensive line and got enough out of Goff to keep the Rams alive into December, but that’s all he did.

It’s time to make some fundamental changes, especially at your QB coach position. Goff unquestionably regressed this season after losing Zac Taylor to the Cincinnati Bengals and there’s no reason to keep the current guy, Shane Waldron, in his position when as quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, he obviously did a sub-par job.

McVay needs to go back to the drawing board on plenty of his gameplans and playcalls and, frankly, he needs to add a fullback to the roster. Once the team got out of 11 personnel this season, they consistently moved the ball better and turned tight end Tyler Higbee into a budding superstar.

What they couldn’t do is move the ball consistently on the ground when just a few yards were needed. McVay needs to steal some plays from his friend Kyle Shanahan and put an FB into the offensive mix.

THE DEFENSE

I wrote last week that it was time to get rid of the old guys in the NFL’s front offices. It might be time to send some coaches out on the nearest ice flow as well. As much as it pains me to write it, Wade Phillips might be one of those guys.

For the last two seasons, the Rams defense has been one of stellar performances paired with massive breakdowns that have cost them games. This year, those breakdowns came more frequently, especially in guarding the deep pass at key moments at the end of games. It happened so many times, you could almost predict the 49ers would pull one off Sunday and they did, setting up their game-winning field goal.

The Rams had far too much talent across the defense to put forth some of the pathetic performances they did this season against the Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens and in the first 49ers game. The defensive scheme used against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should have gotten somebody fired after the final whistle.

Last season, the Rams lost home field advantage in the playoffs with a blown coverage against Michael Thomas in their regular season game against the New Orleans Saints. This year blown coverages cost them multiple games, all in the fourth quarter, regardless of who was playing safety and corner, including the completion that ended any hopes of the playoffs.

A lot of the blame last season and early this year was placed on departed CB Marcus Peters, but with the Ravens he’s been a different player. An elite player. He’s getting better coaching and it’s obvious.

It’s time for Phillips to go.

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