(Editor’s note: This is excerpted from Mike Sando’s Pick Six of Dec. 23, 2024.)
4. The Rams have recast themselves as a physical football team. That’s their edge in the NFC West.
The Los Angeles Rams are 8-2 in their past 10 games and in firm control of the NFC West after beating the New York Jets 19-9 and watching the Seattle Seahawks lose to the Minnesota Vikings.
Not quite two weeks ago, after the Rams outlasted the San Francisco 49ers in an ugly slog played in rainy conditions, an executive from another team made an observation: The Rams had surpassed the 49ers as the most physical team in the NFC West. Injuries to Trent Williams and some other 49ers contributed to the change, but not as much as the overhaul Sean McVay’s team has been implementing over the past couple of seasons.
🚨 Kevin Dotson coming thru 🚨 pic.twitter.com/JmWA35Rm5S
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 13, 2024
The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue detailed schematic changes the Rams have made in evolving their run game away from zone concepts to a more physical, attacking style. Adding offensive linemen in the mold of Kevin Dotson and Steve Avila has facilitated the change. Puka Nacua is one of the NFL’s more physical receivers. Running back Kyren Williams is like a boxer who punches above his weight class.
“I give the Rams credit because they were soft and they knew it, and they identified a couple things, and now they have become a grittier team than the 49ers,” the exec said.
The Rams have gone under center more than any team in the NFC West. They are more run-oriented than any team in the division (48 percent pass on early downs in the first 28 minutes of games, before time remaining and score differential exert more influence on playcalling). They use the lowest rate of five-man pass protections in the division. All of these things reflect an orientation.
Adding 2024 draft picks Jared Verse and Braden Fiske to the defensive front seven has affected that side of the ball as well.
“You look at how Detroit wins on the line of scrimmage, how Minnesota wins on the line of scrimmage, how Green Bay wins on the line of scrimmage,” a coach from a Rams opponent said. “They are much in the same vein, where Verse is having a Defensive Rookie of the Year type season, and Fiske is in the mix as well. They are a physical team on defense and the offensive line is now healthy, so it is more physical too.”
(Photo of Sean McVay: Luke Hales / Getty Images)
