Brian Schottenheimer Is Winning Me Over

[r8rh8rmike]

I had serious doubts about Shotty when he was hired, especially after seeing his play calls in NY, which were often head scratchers. But I have to admit, I'm impressed with what he's done so far with the Rams offense and Sam Bradford. Most notably, making effective adjustments to help Bradford get back on track, something Josh McDaniels could not, or would not do. I though his play calling against Baltimore was spot on, creating momentum, getting Bradford into a nice rhythm, and keeping the defense off balance with a good run/pass mix. Obviously, getting Jackson more active in the offense was a big factor, but IMO, the way he set up Bradford was inspired.

We'll see if it carries over to the regular season, where Bradford is going to see starting defenses with more complicated schemes, but I'm encouraged.

[Curly Horns]

Yeah, I like what I see so far. It's been quite vanilla, but I get a good picture of what he is trying to accomplish. It's not a high octane offense, but I believe it is an offense that can overwhelm opponents if the right circumstances play out in a game. I'm looking forward to seeing how things ramp up (schemes, game plans, halftime and in time adjustments) during the upcoming regular season games.

Brian Schottenheimer's Offensive Philosophy

“We want to have a system that is very flexible,” Schottenheimer said. “I do believe in this: I do believe number one, you’ve got to take care of the football. We want to be balanced. We want to have a physical running game, but we want to be able to keep people off balance with play-action and run-action attack. I think the big thing in terms of the running game and one of the things we were able to do early on in New York is the ability to have a physical mentality, that no matter what front people were in, there’s eight-man front, nine-man front things like that, that, ‘Hey we’re going to run the football. We’re going to find a way to get movement by being physical and by being exact with our fundamentals and our fits and things in the running game.’

“In terms of the passing game, I think I talked a little bit about the play-action, run-action attack, and that will be, the term we use all the time, quite honestly, is sameness. Make the runs and the passes kind of look the same. But it all starts in the passing game with protection. The quarterbacks need to be upright. This is a league anymore where pass rushers are getting bigger, faster and stronger. That’s getting harder and harder, but again I think it all comes down to some main beliefs of take care of the football, be physical, protect the passer, and then do what your personnel does best.”

[mde8352gorams]

Don't overlook Frank Cignetti the QB coach who is probably big help to Sam.

Go Rams!

[Rambos]

I was hoping Shotty biggest impact would be in the Red zone. We have moved the ball that last two years just can't convert. He had a decent percentage in NY, lets hope last weeks game becomes the norm.

[r8rh8rmike]

Don't overlook Frank Cignetti the QB coach who is probably big help to Sam.

I have no doubt that Cignetti is making a difference with Bradford, unlike last years QB coach, a cardboard cutout of Josh McDaniels.

[NJ Ramsfan1]

Yeah, I like what I see so far. It's been quite vanilla, but I get a good picture of what he is trying to accomplish. It's not a high octane offense, but I believe it is an offense that can overwhelm opponents if the right circumstances play out in a game. I'm looking forward to seeing how things ramp up (schemes, game plans, halftime and in time adjustments) during the upcoming regular season games.

I think vanilla is going to be the name of the game with the Rams offense. Fisher's track record states as such. Ball control with Steven Jackson while mixing in the pass as opposed to a throw-first mentality. As the Rams talent and depth increase, so will the tendency to open it up a bit, but until then they'll employ a close-to-the-vest approach while building their talent base and developing a pressure defense up front.

Like r8rh8rmike, I too had reservations about Schottenheimer, living in the NY/NJ area and seeing the Jets each week. But I think he's the right guy for this offensive approach. We just have to resign ourselves to understanding this will be a far cry from the GSOT!

[laram0]

I like what I've seen so far. The running game looks solid and the short passing game reminds me of Bradfords rookie season. I would like to see more deep throws though.

[Rambos]

I think vanilla is going to be the name of the game with the Rams offense. Fisher's track record states as such. Ball control with Steven Jackson while mixing in the pass as opposed to a throw-first mentality. As the Rams talent and depth increase, so will the tendency to open it up a bit, but until then they'll employ a close-to-the-vest approach while building their talent base and developing a pressure defense up front.

Like r8rh8rmike, I too had reservations about Schottenheimer, living in the NY/NJ area and seeing the Jets each week. But I think he's the right guy for this offensive approach. We just have to resign ourselves to understanding this will be a far cry from the GSOT!

Spot on NJ, I'm preparing for the second coming of John Robinson, for awhile anyways.

[Trevor]

Well, he had Sanchez in NY, he now has Sam Bradford.

[rams4life88]

Hes a lot better for our offense than Mcdaniels was. For Mcdaniels, you need to have a great offensive line for that scheme to work. Both Denvers and New Englands offensive lines were pretty good. He never adjusted his scheme to fit our personnel and that was basically suicide. Thats why Bradford was getting killed every game. At least Brian adjusts to what he has and plays to the strengths of the team.

[fliptalianstallion]

During the first part of the season, we will see a run heavy offense. As Bradford and the O-line gets more comfortable with the playbook and team chemistry, we should see some more shades of Coryell and that's when Givens steps up.

[Tampa_Ram]

Although Schotty is using his own vanilla offense right now, it is still not nearly as dink and dunk as shumurs ever was. The short passes arn't 2-3 yard passes, they are 5-10. The screens actually work(thank god) and the play action is constantly used(and Bradford has gotten better at the deception).

My personal opinion is that our offense will look more like the Giants offense with fewer deep passes. And so far, even in limited playbook calls, its working overall. I know its just preseason, but it seems like a shumurs offense with(pardon my language) balls or on steroids. It may not be the high octane offenses of the saints or lions in the passin game, since we use the running game as our base, but it is far better then shumurs, and i am so far sold on it, and hope that Schotty can limit bad play calling, which i remember reading about was part of his problem in NY, and was one of McDouches problems as well last year.

I hadnt really thought about it till you made this post Mike, but i agree 100%, your points of what he has done so far in rythm and with Bradford and momentum and keeping defenses off guard are spot on, and i hope it continues.

[bruce4life]

We shall see in the next few days what our Rams offense looks like. I believe we will be only as good as Bradford progresses this season. If he does not progress and take that next step, we will be a 18-22nd rank offensive ballclub. If Bradford can take that next step and make mediocre players around him better than what they actually are then we are looking at a 8-12 ranked offensive ballclub.

[HornIt]

On the other hand, Bradford had a nice preseason last year, the Rams as a team had a nice preseason and most Rams fans were jacked about having McDaniels, the guy who would finally unleash Sam Bradford, and were predicting a division championship. Then the regular season came.

I had serious doubts about Shotty when he was hired, especially after seeing his play calls in NY, which were often head scratchers. But I have to admit, I'm impressed with what he's done so far with the Rams offense and Sam Bradford. Most notably, making effective adjustments to help Bradford get back on track, something Josh McDaniels could not, or would not do. I though his play calling against Baltimore was spot on, creating momentum, getting Bradford into a nice rhythm, and keeping the defense off balance with a good run/pass mix. Obviously, getting Jackson more active in the offense was a big factor, but IMO, the way he set up Bradford was inspired.

We'll see if it carries over to the regular season, where Bradford is going to see starting defenses with more complicated schemes, but I'm encouraged.

[r8rh8rmike]

On the other hand, Bradford had a nice preseason last year, the Rams as a team had a nice preseason and most Rams fans were jacked about having McDaniels, the guy who would finally unleash Sam Bradford, and were predicting a division championship. Then the regular season came.

The difference is, Bradford had struggles this preseason, and despite the battered QB syndrome claims, Shotty was able to change things up, and get Bradford back on track. At least that's the way I see it. Marshall Faulk also saw it that way, making numerous comments during the Ravens game about how much he liked what Shotty was doing with play calling to help Bradford out.

You're right that the regular season will be the true test of both Bradford and Schottenheimer. I'm confident it will work out.