Rams film review: Why is the offense struggling in the red zone?

The Los Angeles Rams are heading into Week 5 at 1-3 with a matchup against the Green Bay Packers looming. One of the biggest issues at this point in the season has been the offense’s performance in the red zone. Had they been able to capitalize with touchdowns in that area of the field, it’s hard to argue that they aren’t sitting at 3-1. At the same time, the defense also continues to be lackluster. Time to check out what we saw on tape this week.

Why are Rams struggling to score touchdowns in the red zone?

There is no doubt that the Rams offense has been struggling this season. In games against the Detroit Lions and now the Bears, not being able to capitalize in that area of the field has cost them. The issues are more complex than “just run the ball more”, but the idea behind that sentiment is true. Right now, the Rams are making it way too difficult in the red zone. It’s true that they probably miss playmakers like Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. The offense simply doesn’t have a receiver that they can trust in that area of the field where the margins are so small. At the same time, there are way too many low-percentage plays being called from a play-calling standpoint.

While there are certainly moments where it’s ok to trust that a playmaker is going to make a play in an iso-situation or back corner fade. With that being said, that is current McVay’s fastball in that area of the field rather than the slider going away. The Rams currently have a 12.5 percent pass rate over expected in the red zone which is the fifth-highest in the NFL. Last season, they had a -5.7 percent pass rate over expected in the red zone. When you start relying on the low percentage plays, it becomes more important to hit on the easier ones. If the defense happens to have the right play call and those miss, things start to snowball.

Rams are missing Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp

As mentioned earlier, the Rams are missing Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. That’s not to say that wide receivers such as TuTu Atwell and Jordan Whittington haven’t stepped up in their absence. However, Tyler Johnson has left a lot to be desired and Demarcus Robinson has shown that he is only the third option in the offense at best.

The Rams miss Kupp and Nacua in the red zone, but in other situations as well. In the play below, Whittington needs to read the coverage during his route. If it’s man, he needs to keep running. However, if it’s zone, he’s supposed to sit in the soft spot. Whittington misreads zone and had he kept running, it sets the Rams up nicely on third down. Instead, Stafford and Whittington aren’t on the same page and it results in a 3rd-and-15 and the Rams have to settle for a field goal.

Defense needs to start winning on first and second down

Sunday’s game against the Bears was one of the first times that the Rams defense saw some third-and-long situations. What Chris Shula dialed up in those situations was actually very creative and if the Rams can get into more of those, it will be a good thing. However, the Rams defense ranks last on early downs. On the early downs, they are allowing an EPA per play of 0.141 and a 49.5 percent success rate. Those both rank 32nd and 31st in the NFL.

Early in the first quarter, Shula calls a stunt between Byron Young and and Braden Fiske. The Bears are unable to pick it up and Young comes free through the middle. It’s only a pressure, but it forces Williams out of the pocked and to throw the ball away.

Another look that was very interesting and only came on third down was one in which Shula took Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom off the field. Rams overloaded one side here with Verse, Fiske, and Kobie Turner. Behind them, Quentin Lake is coming on the blitz. On this play, Lake and Michael Hoecht are the defacto linebackers. Lake blitzes while Hoecht acts as a spy. The blitz from Lake gets home. Shula also did this with Verse acting as an inside linebacker and rushing over the center.

Rams have issues at linebacker, but secondary struggling as well

There’s no doubt that the Rams have issues at the linebacker position and those are well-documented. The play below is a prime example. Neville Gallimore creates a gap for Rozeboom behind him. Instead of shooting the gap, Rozeboom runs directly into traffic and takes the long way to the ball carrier.

With that said, the Rams are also struggling on the backend behind the linebackers. Some of this is relying on inexperience. With John Johnson III out with an injury, the defense has had to rely on Kam Kinchens at that spot. There were some concerns when Kinchens wasn’t talked about a lot during training camp. It’s becoming clear why that was the case.

It was easy to get excited about Kinchens after the draft and looking at his 11 interceptions over the last two years. However, an issue that Kinchens had at Miami was taking bad angles in the run game. That bad habit showed up on two bit plays for the Bears offense on Sunday. Unfortunately the Rams don’t have many other options at safety, but this year was clearly supposed to be a development year for Kinchens. The hope here is that these bad habits don’t stick and improve as the game slows down.

Jared Verse is going to be very good

Multiple things can be true when it comes to Rams rookie edge rusher Jared Verse. Yes, he needs to do better wrapping up and making tackles. While that is true, that also seems to be taking away from the fact that the Rams have themselves a very good pass rusher on the edge. If his two sacks aren’t taken away due to holding penalties, his game against the Bears is seen as a dominant performance.

So far this season, Verse ranks eighth in pass rush win-rate via ESPN and his 18 percent pressure rate via NextGen stats trails only Will Anderson, Danielle Hunter, Will McDonald, and Myles Garrett. The advanced metrics have Verse right up there with some of the elite pass rushers in the NFL. He’s a rookie and can’t be expected to be Aaron Donald. When it clicks, he’s going to be special.

Honorable Mentions

As always, we’ll finish with a few honorable mentions. Quarterback Matthew Stafford hit a few in-breakers against the Bears that were seriously impressive. This throw to TuTu Atwell is just one of them. It’s also worth noting Ronnie Rivers’ pickup in pass protection. He had a few of those and that’s why he’s playing over Blake Corum.

Lastly, it is worth pointing out the performance from Logan Bruss. Two years ago when Bruss destroyed his knee, not many would have given him a chance to make it in the NFL, let alone become a quality depth piece on an offensive line. The Rams could have easily moved on, but Bruss is a perfect example of why it’s important to remain patient in player development. Not every player develops at the same rate and some just need time.

This isn’t to say that Bruss has been perfect. He has some lapses in pass protection which is going to happen for a backup offensive lineman. However, in the run game he’s been nothing short of dominant. ESPN has Bruss with the fourth-highest run block win-rate and PFF has him graded as the top-rated guard on gap scheme runs. He may not be the starting guard that some expected him to be when he was drafted, but it’s hard not to be happy with where he’s at currently after all that he’s been through.