Retired NFL lineman Geoff Schwartz explains what the Rams need to fix, why the Cowboys offense is fake news, and tries to guess who wins the AFC.
The Rams are broken. There’s no other way to describe them after losing at home to the Eagles, who might need me to come play corner for them. The Rams started the season on fire, just like last season, but since their big win against the Chiefs on Monday Night Football the team has been totally different.
The Rams came off their bye and went to Detroit and won 30-16, but it was much closer than the final score. The following week they went back on the road to another NFC North opponent, the Chicago Bears, and got whooped. The offense especially was concerning, only mustering 6 points. Sunday night might have been worse. The Eagles dominated the Rams, handing Sean McVay’s Rams their first back-to-back regular season losses under his watch. This game was ugly from start to finish as the Eagles won 30-23 with Nick Foles at quarterback.
The Rams offense looks nothing like itself lately and there are many reasons for it
- First and foremost, the turnovers must be addressed. The Rams have committed 11 turnovers in their last four games: Two apiece against the Chiefs and Lions, three against the Eagles, and four against the Bears. Yikes. Adding to their turnover woes is the general lack of efficient play by Jared Goff and the offense in general.
- McVay didn’t forget how to coach, but it seems as though defenses have figured them out. The Rams stay in one personnel grouping the entire game. That’s 11 personnel: one back, three wide receivers and one tight end. The Rams line up with Goff under center and use fly/jet motion/sweeps to pull apart the defense and run zone behind those movements. They rely on play action pass to generate most of their run game. Without Cooper Kupp, they’ve lost their No. 1 threat but that doesn’t mean the offense should just shut down.
- Defenses have started to punch the Rams’ usually excellent offensive line in the mouth and have wrecked havoc up the middle in the run and pass game.
- They’ve started to hammer the tight ends and to force runs to hit in different areas.
- It seems like teams aren’t allowing the Rams WRs to run in the middle of the field as freely.
- Jared Goff, for all these reasons, isn’t crisp. His balls don’t seem to have the same zip and they aren’t being thrown with the same anticipation as we’ve come to expect.
The Rams have won the NFC West. There’s no need to panic. They will have a home playoff game and most likely a bye as well. But they need to spend these next couple of weeks figuring out what how to fix this offense. It seems easy enough but they need to be more diverse on with their formations and give new looks for the defense.
The Cowboys offense has been exposed
The Cowboys got thumped by the Colts in Indy 23-0. Finally, the masses can jump off the Cowboys bandwagon and see the Cowboys, and mostly their offense, for what they are: fake.
I’ve been saying for weeks now this offense isn’t as good as people want them to be. The old “Amari Cooper catches a simple pass and runs to the house” offense isn’t a sustainable offense. Dak Prescott, or the play calling, or a combination of both, doesn’t consistently move the ball down the field without home run plays. Prescott also continues to hold the ball too long and fumble too much. He’s got to be better at both. Add in three starting offensive linemen out with injury, and you get a bad offense at times.
Even though the Cowboys will most likely win the NFC East, I’m not sold on their offense, or their prospects in the Wild Card Round — even with their outstanding defense.
The Bears are for real, but the Super Bowl might not be in cards
Club Dub was lit, as the young kids say, in the locker room at Soldier Field after the Bears beat the Packers to win the NFC North for the first time since 2010. I’ve been skeptical of the Bears as legitimate playoff contenders because of their quarterback, but there’s no denying their defense is good enough to make things interesting.
If the standings hold up as is, going to Chicago for the Wild Card Round will be difficult for anyone. The teams that could be on deck — the Vikings, Eagles and Panthers (??)— would struggle against this defense. The Bears would then travel to Los Angeles to play a Rams team they’ve already beaten. The Rams, if they fix their offense, could be a different team than the one the Bears beat, but the Bears might be the favorite. The Bears heading into New Orleans for the NFC Championship would be a beast I don’t think they could overcome, though. The Saints are my favorite to win the NFC still.
Who wins the AFC?
Who knows after the Patriots lost 17-10 to the Steelers. The current standings, from top to bottom, are Chiefs, Texans, Patriots, Steelers, Chargers, and Ravens. The Colts are lurking as well. Do any of these teams strike you as a favorite? They all have flaws.
I think the Chargers are the most complete team but they are the Chargers. Can they be trusted?