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  • #1

    Sunday's victory shows importance of running game

    Sunday's victory shows importance of running game
    By Bryan Burwell
    Of the Post-Dispatch
    Monday, Sep. 13 2004

    Of all the days on a pro football calendar, Mondays are usually the best
    indicator of the delicate, almost razor-thin line that separates winners from
    losers in the National Football League. All across the NFL map yesterday, 32
    head coaches stood in front of banks of microphones for their Monday
    post-mortems, with the losers offering begrudging excuses and regrets and the
    winners tossing around compliments free and easy.

    It hardly mattered how many mistakes were made, how many yards were gained, how
    many tackles were missed or made. The harsh reality of the NFL is based on one
    simple fact of life:

    Did you win or lose on Sunday?

    On Monday afternoon at Rams Park, Mike Martz was one of the lucky ones,
    comforted in the knowledge that winning cures all the evils of the somewhat
    bumpy road his Rams encountered in their 17-10 season-opening victory over the
    Arizona Cardinals. Martz knew he could stand there at his afternoon news
    conference armed with the only statistic that mattered now that the race for
    Paul Tagilabue's silver Super Bowl trophy has begun.

    The Rams won.

    They are 1-0 and everything about this Monday just felt a lot better than last
    year's Day After Opening Day. Remember how after last year's 23-13 loss to the
    New York Giants, Martz spent most of that uncomfortable day trying to explain
    why Kurt Warner's head was all scrambled, and why Marc Bulger was now going to
    take the starting QB job after Warner's six-fumble disaster in the Meadowlands?

    Yet oddly enough, there are still some odd similarities between those two
    Mondays, because there's just as much uncertainty about exactly where this
    young season is headed as there was this time last year.

    Sure, there are plenty of positive signs, such as an offense that showed an
    impressive mean streak with a dominant running attack, and a defense that
    limited the Arizona offense to only 10 points. But there are still just as many
    question marks about a team still too prone to turnovers and so prone to
    injuries that you have no idea how long any of this good stuff will last.

    But right now, being 1-0 is still a lot better than being 0-1. So Martz smartly
    accentuated all the positives of his undefeated patchwork Rams. And the thing
    that he accentuated the most - and with good reason - was his surprisingly
    productive offensive line, whose nickname ought to be The Musical Chairs for
    all the position switches that these guys have gone through over the past few
    weeks because of injuries, retirements and contract squabbles.

    "They haven't missed a beat," Martz said. "I told our staff today that I felt
    like this is probably the best performance of an offensive line since I've been
    here. Any time you rush for those kind of yards (176 yards, 5.9 yards a carry)
    and don't give up any sacks, that's pretty exceptional."

    Running behind The Musical Chairs, Marshall Faulk and Steven Jackson are
    showing that there's good reason to believe that the Rams can vastly improve on
    their anemic running game from last season, when they ranked 30th in the league
    in rushing offense. Even an incurable offensive swashbuckler such as Martz has
    to know how Faulk and Jackson will help Mad Mike. The more they run, the easier
    it will be for Martz to let Bulger go bombs away to Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt.

    And if Martz needed any more convincing of how vital it will be to continue to
    emphasize the running game, this is it: 20-0.

    Since 1999, the Rams are 20-0 when they run the ball 30 or more times a game.
    Here's another delicious number: Every time Faulk gains 100 yards rushing - 25
    times as a Ram - St. Louis wins.

    After Sunday's game, right guard Adam Timmerman liked the sound of a Rams
    offense relying on its running game. "I kind of hope so," he said, as a wide
    grin appeared under his thick mustache and goatee. "I'd love to see us get a
    little brutish around here. This offensive line is up to the challenge.
    Hopefully, we'll get that attitude of being more physical, because we love it."

    __________________________________________________________
    Keeping the Rams Nation Talking
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Sunday's victory shows importance of running game

    Originally posted by RamDez
    Since 1999, the Rams are 20-0 when they run the ball 30 or more times a game.
    Here's another delicious number: Every time Faulk gains 100 yards rushing - 25
    times as a Ram - St. Louis wins.
    This is a great stat, but I think it's important to look at it in the context of things. For instance, I'd like to know how often a team rushes for 30+ attempts and doesn't win a game. The 100-yard stat is more impressive to me, to be honest. But I still think this tells you more about the opposition's defense than it does anything about how we should gameplan or run the team.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Sunday's victory shows importance of running game

      Running the ball controls the clock and keeps the opposing offense off the field. If you can do that consistently, you will win more games than you will lose.
      Clannie Nominee for ClanRam's Thickest Poster

      Comment

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      • RamWraith
        It's come to pass: Martz discovers a running game
        by RamWraith
        By Bryan Burwell
        Of the Post-Dispatch
        10/04/2004

        Just before he walked out of the cramped visitors' locker room inside Monster Park Sunday night with a much-needed victory in his pocket, Marc Bulger paused for a moment to recognize the obvious. Something extra had happened on that perfectly manicured grass field of old Candlestick Park, something even more substantial than a mere victory over the pitiful *****.

        "I think we got a little credibility back," Bulger said.

        With a national television audience watching - and probably anticipating (perhaps even hoping for) a big, fat embarrassing Rams meltdown - the Rams had reclaimed no small measure of personal, professional and local pride. The pro football world is filled with all sorts of buttoned-down, less adventurous folks would have liked nothing more than to have seen Bulger's audacious boss Mike Martz get a little comeuppance on national TV.

        But within a blink of an eye, the Rams ruined all those plans. They took complete control of the night, broke out to an emphatic 24-0 first-half lead and gave the unbeaten Seahawks something substantial to ponder as they prepare for next weekend's big showdown in Seattle.

        At last tossing aside his pass-happy, run-thin philosophy, Martz put together the sort of well-balanced, clock-controlling attack that might be able to put the 2-2 Rams back into serious contention against Seattle (3-0) in the NFC West.

        The Rams did everything a good and smart football team is supposed to do in plundering the *****. Martz pragmatically used every one of his offensive weapons of mass destruction. He called running plays when the ***** were looking for passes. He called passes when they were stacking up to stop the run. Instead of fast and furious, he gave us choice blend. Instead of stubborn insistence on guns blazing, he chose a more surgical approach.

        But I'm a pessimist by nature. And even as I kept watching Marshall Faulk galloping all over Monster Park, a little voice in my head kept whispering:

        "How long will this last?"

        We've been to this party too many times before. We all know that just as often as he takes two steps forward, he's just as likely to take three steps back with a few one-dimensional air shows like he did against the Falcons and Saints.

        So again, that's why I keep hearing that little voice.

        "How long will this last?"

        So as a public service, I think it is important that we again bombard Mad (or is it Methodical?) Mike with some valuable numbers to look at in case he gets that predictable urge to stray from running the ball, particularly when some manic defensive coordinator plots out endless strategies to take Faulk out of the game.

        Remember Mike, statistics don't lie. Putting the ball in Faulk's hands is still the surest...
        -10-05-2004, 12:32 PM
      • RamWraith
        Rams gladly reply to *****' invitation
        by RamWraith
        By Jim Thomas
        Of the Post-Dispatch
        Tuesday, Oct. 05 2004

        The evening began with ***** linebacker Jamie Winborn trash-talking some of the
        Rams during pregame warmups. It ended with a San Francisco assistant coach
        dropping by the St. Louis locker room, thanking the Rams for not running up the
        score in the second half.

        In between, it was Marshall Faulk left, Marshall Faulk right, with a dose of
        Steven Jackson thrown in for good measure. About the last thing the *****
        expected from St. Louis Sunday night was a running game, but that's what they
        got in a 24-14 Rams victory.

        "I had heard they were getting some heat from their press in that they weren't
        running the ball, but also, up to this game, that had been our strength," *****
        linebacker Jeff Ulbrich said. "I felt like we played the run real well."

        The ***** entered the game ranked fifth in the NFL in run defense, but you
        wouldn't have known it by the way they got pounded by St. Louis. The Rams
        rushed for 174 yards - more than twice the *****' per-game average in rushing
        yards allowed entering the game.
        So even on Monday, a day after the Rams evened their record at 2-2, the
        question remaining in everyone's minds was: Where did all those running plays
        come from?

        "We've always been a little pragmatic about things in the last six years,"
        coach Mike Martz said. "That's kind of how we approach things. You're standing
        there on the sidelines, you look at it, they're playing a real soft Cover 2."

        The ***** were playing their safeties deep, basically inviting the Rams to run
        the football. Martz accepted the invitation.

        "You start handing the ball off, and start rolling pretty good," Martz said.

        So you keep handing it off.

        "And that's what kind of happened," Martz said. "The offensive line took it
        upon themselves to make things happen, and they certainly did. ... It's just
        like in the passing game. If you're hitting them, you keep going. You do
        whatever it takes to win."

        By game's end, the Rams had 36 carries and only 25 pass plays. It doesn't
        happen that way often, but more often than you'd think. In Martz's four-plus
        seasons as head coach, the Rams have had 11 games when they've run more often
        than they've passed. They are 11-0 in such games.

        For an offensive lineman, run blocking beats the heck out of pass blocking, oh,
        50 times a game.

        "It does," offensive tackle Orlando Pace said, laughing. "I was telling Grant
        Williams that (Sunday night). Man, it feels good to get out and actually run
        block. I know the guys on...
        -10-05-2004, 05:38 AM
      • DJRamFan
        [*****] Martz instrumental in demise of Rams
        by DJRamFan
        Ira Miller
        Wednesday, September 29, 2004



        --------------------------------------------------------------------------------




        chart attached


        In the Super Bowl following the 2001 season, the New England Patriots played a nickel defense virtually the entire game, daring St. Louis to run.

        The Rams didn't take the bait. Of course, you might remember, New England, a two-touchdown underdog, won the game -- the second-biggest upset in Super Bowl history.

        St. Louis coach Mike Martz did not get his reputation as an offensive wizard by ordering his quarterbacks to hand off. Three seasons later, Martz has not changed. The Rams still live -- and, frequently these days, die -- by the pass.

        St. Louis, which is averaging fewer running plays than any other team in the NFL, will bring a 1-2 record to San Francisco for a Sunday night game against the *****. The Rams have beaten only winless Arizona -- in a game the Cardinals led after three quarters -- and their roster includes better talent than their won-lost record shows.

        The quarterback, Marc Bulger, leads the NFL in completions and has a completion percentage of 69.3. One receiver, Isaac Bruce, leads the league in receptions and receiving yardage, and the other, Torry Holt, was the league leader in 2003. Left tackle Orlando Pace might be the best in the game. Running back Marshall Faulk has slipped with age, but remains effective. And nine of the 11 starters return on a defense that at least was decent in the recent past.

        So how come the Rams stink?

        Yeah, it's time to take another look at Mad Mike.

        As a head coach, Martz makes an easy target because he is outgoing, outspoken and different. But for all his offensive flair, Martz still doesn't get it. The Rams thought they were starting a dynasty when they won the Super Bowl under Dick Vermeil following the 1999 season, but they haven't come close to fulfilling their promise.

        A month ago, this game looked like a certain loss for San Francisco. Now, despite how wretchedly the ***** played at Seattle, it's up for grabs.

        The Rams have had the same problems for five seasons under Martz. They lack attention to detail, play sloppily, allow their quarterback to take too many hits (which is what happened to Kurt Warner) and use questionable strategy and play-calling that ignore the running game.

        Since Martz became their head coach, the Rams have been more than 37 percent above the league average in losing turnovers and 17 percent above the league average in giving up quarterback sacks. Except for last season, they also have been penalized at a rate well above the league average.

        Yet, rather than change, Martz apparently has become defiant about doing it his way.

        When he was questioned...
        -09-30-2004, 01:24 PM
      • RamWraith
        Whiner press blasts Martz
        by RamWraith
        Wednesday, September 29, 2004


        Martz instrumental in demise of Rams


        Ira Miller

        In the Super Bowl following the 2001 season, the New England Patriots played a nickel defense virtually the entire game, daring St. Louis to run.

        The Rams didn't take the bait. Of course, you might remember, New England, a two-touchdown underdog, won the game -- the second-biggest upset in Super Bowl history.

        St. Louis coach Mike Martz did not get his reputation as an offensive wizard by ordering his quarterbacks to hand off. Three seasons later, Martz has not changed. The Rams still live -- and, frequently these days, die -- by the pass.

        St. Louis, which is averaging fewer running plays than any other team in the NFL, will bring a 1-2 record to San Francisco for a Sunday night game against the *****. The Rams have beaten only winless Arizona -- in a game the Cardinals led after three quarters -- and their roster includes better talent than their won-lost record shows.

        The quarterback, Marc Bulger, leads the NFL in completions and has a completion percentage of 69.3. One receiver, Isaac Bruce, leads the league in receptions and receiving yardage, and the other, Torry Holt, was the league leader in 2003. Left tackle Orlando Pace might be the best in the game. Running back Marshall Faulk has slipped with age, but remains effective. And nine of the 11 starters return on a defense that at least was decent in the recent past.

        So how come the Rams stink?

        Yeah, it's time to take another look at Mad Mike.

        As a head coach, Martz makes an easy target because he is outgoing, outspoken and different. But for all his offensive flair, Martz still doesn't get it. The Rams thought they were starting a dynasty when they won the Super Bowl under Dick Vermeil following the 1999 season, but they haven't come close to fulfilling their promise.

        A month ago, this game looked like a certain loss for San Francisco. Now, despite how wretchedly the ***** played at Seattle, it's up for grabs.

        The Rams have had the same problems for five seasons under Martz. They lack attention to detail, play sloppily, allow their quarterback to take too many hits (which is what happened to Kurt Warner) and use questionable strategy and play-calling that ignore the running game.

        Since Martz became their head coach, the Rams have been more than 37 percent above the league average in losing turnovers and 17 percent above the league average in giving up quarterback sacks. Except for last season, they also have been penalized at a rate well above the league average.

        Yet, rather than change, Martz apparently has become defiant about doing it his way.

        When he was questioned in St. Louis this week about the abject lack of balance on offense -- 29 runs, 91 passes called in...
        -09-30-2004, 05:40 AM
      • MauiRam
        How Mike Martz and The Greatest Show on Turf kicked off an NFL revolution
        by MauiRam
        Ben Baskin
        Tuesday May 23rd, 2017

        Sometimes a catalyzing event occurs, one so extreme that it disrupts the natural order, compelling a species to change. Those are the anomalies, the aberrations, the hurricanes and tornados, extreme mutations, phenomena that upend the system. In those instances the evolution is rapid, sudden and without warning. In biology, they call it the punctuated equilibrium theory. In football, we called it the Greatest Show on Turf.

        Dick Vermeil got his first NFL coaching job in 1969, hired by Marv Levy to be a special teams coach with the Los Angeles Rams. Roman Gabriel, the Rams quarterback that season, threw for 2,549 yards and completed 54.4% of his passes—good enough to be named NFL MVP. Thirty seasons later Vermeil returned to the Rams, this time to be the head coach of a very different team, in a new city, with a very different MVP under center.

        “I saw the evolution,” Vermeil says. “It was slow. Every year teams threw a little more, scoring went up a little more. When you have 32 teams, they don’t all transcend to a new philosophy at the same time.”

        But the 1999 Rams transcended. For decades the NFL had been slowly inching towards putting a greater emphasis on the passing game, with incremental changes coming every year. But then along came the Rams. And they blew the whole damn thing up.

        In the three decades between 1969 and ’98 the average quarterback rating in the NFL rose 6.7 points, passing totals increased 27.5 yards per game and completion percentage grew 4.0%. In the seasons since 1999, when those Rams upended and redefined the NFL’s status quo, QB rating has risen 11.0 points, passing output 36.5 yards, and completion percentage 6.4%—nearly double the increase, in roughly half the time.


        The Rams were the tornado, the anomaly that compelled a sudden and rapid evolution of football. They were the catalyzing event that disrupted the equipoise of the NFL, a punctuated equilibrium of pigskin.

        “At the time, we knew we were doing something special,” Rams receiver Torry Holt says. “But we didn’t know we were revolutionizing the game.”

        Last season, the Atlanta Falcons scored 540 offensive points, which tied the Rams for seventh most in NFL history. The Falcons’ offense, led by Kyle Shanahan, was as close to a direct descendent of the 1999 St. Louis team as we’ve seen. Aaron Rodgers leading the NFL in fantasy points? Thank the Rams. Record books that have been razed and rewritten? Blame the Rams. Running backs who now need to run routes and catch passes as part of their job description; tight ends who now are no longer glorified blockers, but athletic freaks and dynamic pass catchers; receivers who now are no longer just big and tall and asked to run one route, but small and shifty and running every route in the book? Rams, Rams, Rams.

        “The more and more I sit back and think about it,” Holt...
        -05-24-2017, 10:17 AM
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