Each weekday, theRams.com will be taking a look around the internet for the top Rams headlines of the day. Here's a look at what's out there for Wednesday, January 16th about your Los Angeles Rams.
GUTSY PLAY CALLS IN NOLA
Peter Schrager of NFL Network's Good Morning Football says the Rams can win in New Orleans, but head coach Sean McVay will have to be aggressive. Schrager gave quarterback Jared Goff's Week 5 QB sneak against the Seahawks and running back C.J. Anderson's fourth-down touchdown carry in the Divisional round as examples of McVay's gutsy playcalling.
McVay made a risky call in Week 9 against the Saints — calling for a fake field goal with the game tied early in the second quarter. Punter Johnny Hekker took the snap and rolled out to the right looking for tight end Tyler Higbee, before elected to tuck and run. But he came up just shy of the sticks for a turnover on downs.
PLAY-ACTION GAME
The Ringer's Danny Heifetz says quarterback Jared Goff is the least-proven signal caller entering championship Sunday. Heifetz highlights Goff's production in play-action scenarios, and says it could be another key come Sunday.
According to Heifetz and Pro Football Focus, Goff averaged 10 yards per attempt in play-action passes. Here's how well it went against Cowboys:
"Perhaps sensing that his team had yet to hit any diminishing returns in the play-action game, McVay doubled down against the Cowboys and used it on just over half of Goff's dropbacks. Of Goff's 28 attempts, 14 came on play-action, and he completed eight of those for 104 yards. Goff's 14 non-play-action attempts resulted in seven completions and 82 yards. It was the highest rate of play-action fakes per dropback of Goff's career."
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DONALD'S PRESSURE
Pro Football Focus compared defensive tackles Aaron Donald's QB pressures in the 2018 to the entire Saints defense on Tuesday night.
Neither Donald and the Rams or the Saints recorded a sack in Week 9. Each of the Rams three losses in 2018 have come without a Donald sack.
O-LINE OF THE WEEK
The Rams' offensive line was tabbed offensive line of the week by NFL.com's Shaun O'Hara following its performance against the Cowboys.
O'Hara gave L.A.'s O-line the top spot for opening up the run game and allowing just two pressures. According to O'Hara, tackles Andrew Whitworth and Rob Havenstein, along with center John Sullivan did not allow a single pressure in the Divisional round.
"The O-line deserves a ton of credit, considering 99 of the Rams' 273 rush yards were before contact, according to Pro Football Focus. Gurley and Anderson excelled against the Cowboys when running between the tackles, with Los Angeles averaging 6.3 yards per rush between the tackles. Guards Austin Blythe and Rodger Saffold were exceptional in the run game and helped set the edge for this rushing attack. Blythe and Saffold were instrumental in helping Gurley and Anderson get downhill and were good at the second level."
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