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Not that our running game has been a problem so far this season with Jackson, but I was wondering why Samkon Gado has not gotten any playing time in 3 games. He was the most consistent during the preseason but now that the season has started Darby has been the 1st running back in for Jackson. Gado has shown that he can be the spark that this team might need to kick start winning!!
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Re: Why No Gado????
I've been wondering the same thing. Gado really showed some flashes during the preseason and now he's been buried on the depth chart. I think the Rams could use him on all those third downs when Jackson leaves the field, which is something else that has me wondering. -
Re: Why No Gado????
I think some serious questions about Shurmur's lack/misuse of players like Gado, Darby, all the TEs, and Avery in the passing game have arisen now that we have seen 3 game plans.
Does anyone think Avery was the best guy to be running an outlet route on his big fumble in the Skins game over, say, Fells or McMichael? All his best traits are negated and his weaknesses exacerbated,imo.
Darby showed excellent hands and YAC ability on his one reception in the last game.Never saw it tried again.
Have Randy or Avery ever been a primary target deep where we have actually thrown the ball except as a desperation heave on a scramble/rollout ? The hardliners can kvetch all they want about randy's failure to scoop up that low & away fastball that stalled a key drive in the 3rd Q but that is a low % completion for a 250lb TE at the best of times.
I'm sure someone will counter with "that's WCO; short passes that get YAC". Well, that's not true especially in the Philly version from which our OC came. Mcnabb throws deep plenty. The short passes and RB screens/swings set it up. What's the point of slamming SJ into the DL every play if you don't try to take advantage of the D's box-stacking that results? I don't get it. And do not tell me that we didn't have enough drives/offensive TOP to try it. There was less than a minute diff. in TOP in the last game.
We are all concerned about the drops,etc, by both players but by allowing the field to be shrunk by the playcalling is only making it harder for these guys to get on track,imo. So when these guys, as 3rd or 4th option, do get a throw their way the window is so small that the pass & catch have to be absolutely perfect & ball security is even harder to maintain as gangs of defenders converge on them, never mind YAC.
It's a phenomenon discussed last night in re The Panthers on MNF.
To me, Woodson looked extremely troubled by our WR speed on Sun but I never saw The Rams try to pass deep on him & we seldom, if ever, tested their shaky safeties, either.We are in for a long year of poor pass production if the only time the QB is throwing to a WR or TE beyond 15 yds is when they are single-covered by a LB. That's playing not to lose,imo, and wasting SJ's titanic efforts in the run game..
Boller's protection (much better than many seem to want to see in the GB game,imo ) & his mobility gave us even more chances to do stretch the field & ,once again, Shurmur's halftime adjustments, if there were any, didn't seem to reflect that.
I thought we were done with forcing players into roles for which their talents were not suited & poor gametime coaching. Shurmur is a rookie & of course losing Bulger and Laurent early on made it even more difficult to try adjustments on the fly but I see a lot of progress being wasted in other areas like runblocking and pass pro by this risk-averse strategy.Comment
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Re: Why No Gado????
Sometimes it looks to me more like we are playing not to lose on both sides of the ball. Let's face it, we are not that good right now. So why not try some unusual(trick) plays and long throws and blitzes and stuff. At least once it looks like we are out of the game anyway.Comment
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Re: Why No Gado????
Azul, you hit some comments perfectly in your post. Shurmur came from a Philly offense that loves to throw deep to keep defenses honest. We didn't go deep ONCE in the Green Bay game, despite being down by 17 at one point. Even in our in vein attempt at a come back late in the 4th quarter we were still running and passing short.
I don't see any reason why we're keeping a deep threat like Avery contained in short routes for the entire game. It doesn't make sense to me. With the safeties pressed up close to the LOS for run support, it then doesn't make lanes for the YAC on the short routes either. We need Avery running those long routes and catching some long balls to makes those safeties stay honest and upfield so that we can get longer runs and some YAC on those short slants. Hopefully we'll see some next game...I believe!:ram:Comment
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Re: Why No Gado????
The coaches need to do as much growing as our young players. I don't feel (especially offensively) that we are utilizing personnel the way we should be.
So far this year, I'm really disappointed with what the coaches are doing.The Rams... Where dreams go to die.Comment
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Re: Why No Gado????
Thanks,Teke. and while I got off the OP's topic with my little rant about the deep game, I think the same observations about Avery,et al, in the pass O can be applied to the conspicuous absence of Gado and minimal use of Darby in the run game. We all know SJ can get outside & turn the corner; we saw it repeatedly last game, but is he always the best guy to do it?Originally posted by TekeRam View Post
Despite his overall superior talent,I really doubt he is the quickest RB on the team.
Again, a lack/misuse of the available talent, imo.
It really bugs me to see plays work then never see the light of day again.Comment
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Re: Why No Gado????
I liked what I saw from Darby on Sunday and if memory serves, he was pretty good at picking up the blitz last season. I don't know which I'd prefer to fill in if Jackson went down, but right now Darby seems like a pretty competent change of pace back.Comment
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Re: Why No Gado????
Good question Stable. I'd like to see Gado more involved in the running game, at least in some formations. :helmet:Comment
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One wrinkle that Shurmur brought out in the first half was the Pro-Set formation with Jackson and Darby in the backfield. This is something I had hoped for in preseason.
Hopefully, we'll see this formation much more often, becuase it was effective against Tampa and has potential to be even more effective in other ways ...
Think about it. The inside handoffs to Darby were nice. But you can fake these handoffs, and swing it outside to either back. Either back can get out on a wheel route ...
These are the types of things I want to see. Darby has proven to be quite effective in space. We need to get him more touches on a regular basis ...
These types of tricky formations can raise hell. While I'm not ready to hang the coaching staff by any means, I am ready to see some bold moves. If they do not trust the WR's, and do not want to put the entire game on Sam's shoulders, they need to find more ways to get playmakers at the RB and TE position involved ...
This is one of those ways!-10-25-2010, 05:08 AM -
I know that Pit and Gado are in the headlines for doing real well and I do agree that Darby didn't have a great game, but I don't think he did as poorly as everyone is insinuating. He DID completely mess up on picking up the blitz a couple of times, but for the most part, when he got the ball in his hands to run he looked QUICK AS HECK! He can really move. And the problem of not getting many yards seemed to come from the lack of holes that were created for him on the plays where he ran.
I'm not saying he had a great game but I do think he's talented and I do hope that the give him another chance to prove himself as a #2 before they pull him down on the depth chart. I saw him do some really great things in training camp practices and in games last year. One cool thing about this kid is that he can catch real well. I've seen him numerous balls on slants, etc from 20 yards away. I think he's valuable as a special teams guy as well. So we'll just have to see what he does in the game.-08-16-2009, 09:41 AM -
My biggest gripe, among many, with this game is the play calling. All the things that made Boller successful when he came in the game were gone in the second half ...
None of the misdirection passes ...
No quick hitters ...
Overuse of Jackson. When you run him 67% of the time, they know he's coming ...
Shurmur looked like a genius in the first half, a rookie in the second ...
Why don't we blitz linebackers or DB's, ever?
Why are we running the ball at all down two TD's late in the 4th?
Why is McMichael still on this team? He sucked all the momentum out with a drop on 3rd down ...
Why was Billy Devaney looking pissed off after the game to point of being called "murderous" looking by Bernie?
I'm sick over this game, absolutely sick. Sterling Sharpe was right, Rams would have an opportunity to win this game. And we blew it, better yet, we choked, from the coaches down ...
Effort is there, but the execution is questionable at best. Very angry with our coaching staff this week. Unacceptable loss in my opinion. Had a chance to win over the fans, and they were doing ok, then it unraveled as usual. No excuses this week ...-09-27-2009, 02:15 PM -
Here's somethings I noticed that I thought were worth talking about. Please fire away ....
1A. Our team is like the stock market ...
-35, -28, -24, -17, +2, +20, -7, -21, -44
1B. No quarterback can succeed in this system. The playcalling is horrible. The offensive line is broken, careless, and dumb. The wide receivers are too inexperienced to comprehend Saunders complicated route system, and the ones that can just suck, except Looker who is solid. Really, can Saunders not simplify the playbook? Are there no crossing routes? Wait, there was one that Burton took off on for a 28 yard gain. Are there no effective screens? Wait, there was one misdirection screen that Pittman ran for 22 on. Are there any dig routes? Wait, there was one that Avery snagged for 21. These are all staples of the Saunders-Martz type offense, yet we never utilize them. Why don't we run slant patterns? AND IF I EVER HAVE TO SEE A DRAW PLAY ON 3RD AND 10+, I WILL JUST SHOOT MYSELF. And before everyone gets their pants wet over Trent Green, realize that 38 of his passing yards came on screens to Pittman, and another 28 came on that simple crossing route to Burton, where Keenan turned on the jets and made a big gain. So outside these plays where he really did nothing, he was 2-7, for 4 yards, and 1 INT. He misfired just as badly as Bulger did, and in large part to #2 ....
2. The young wide receivers are overwhelmed. I don't understand why we are asking them to do such complicated things as we are. Look at the Bulger INT. Yes, it was forced into coverage, but go back and watch the wideouts. They are running 20+ yards downfield and are within 2 yards of one another! Because of this, you had 3 defensive backs in the area. The freakin' safety was on the sideline! Bad route running by these guys, and it is not their fault. I just see alot of potential on hitting these guys with quick hitters. We've seen Avery take these smoke routes and turn them into 6 or 7 yard gains. Stanley turned a short slant into 12. What happened to simple crossing routes, and posts, and drag slants? Seems most all other teams in the league have success on these routes, we can't we?
3. Torry Holt is a hinderance to this team. I don't know if he has lost a step, he doesn't care, or if he is just saving his body for next season, either as a Ram or playing for some other team, but we would not be doing ourselves any harm by benching this guy and letting the young blood play. The Holt of last year gets the first down after catching that 5 yard out on the first drive. The Holt of this year catches it and is ready to go down. He shows nothing with body langauge, and apparently cannot get open. You think Andre Johnson doesn't see double teams each week? Yet, he still manages to put up huge numbers. Holt is a fraction of the player he once was at this point, and maybe even a fraction of the man he was if he is cashing in the season. I really...-11-10-2008, 12:48 PM -
Why do we keep calling dive plays for Jackson when they've been failing miserably since week one. That play simply has not been working for Jax but someone, perhaps Shurmur, keeps running it like clockwork. Perhaps we could have earned a W in weeks 1 & 2 if we had not thrown away so many downs with that dive play up the middle. We finally got some success with that play in the second half when Darby & Toston came in to sub for Jax. Coincidence? Perhaps, but why all the persistence with this play when it clearly was paying off little to no dividends. Perhaps someone here can enlighten me.
Also, could Bradford's speed be a factor in some of the dropped passes we've seen so far?
Go "Dem Rams"!!!-09-29-2010, 01:02 AM
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