LA Rams rope-a-dope drops team from NFC West Title hunt

Rope A Dope

In both games, the Rams’ offense flailed about helplessly while their opponents connected with heavy body punches. The Rams simply do not have an answer. If there is an NFL equivalent of a Rope-A-Dope, that is the strategy of the LA Rams right now. Missed tackles. Dropped passes. Bad game plans. Failure to adapt.

It felt as though the Rams didn’t have an answer. In two consecutive games, the Rams faced an opponent that wailed on them relentlessly, and the Rams simply leaned back into the ropes, covered up, and got pummeled.

The Rams defense allowed the Titans to convert six of 14 third and fourth downs into first downs. That same defensive strategy allowed the 49ers to convert nine of 16 third and fourth downs into first downs.

New receivers on the field? Pass pass pass

Despite the challenge of the Rams receiver changes, the team chose to pass the football. The offense did not attempt a running game to drive the football down the defense’s throats. Nor did the offense think to try to control the ball, giving the defense a chance to catch their breath.

Meanwhile,  the defense struggled to force the offense to punt the football. Of course, missing tackles go a long way in thwarting a three-and-out. But this was a game without any help coming from the sidelines, again. The team is struggling in the past two games. Blatantly so. But isn’t that where the coaches must intervene?

The offense has 12-personnel packages that were left on the shelf. The offense never tried the running game, despite it showing significant promise in the past two games. The defense is not limiting the offense’s ability to score, nor is the defense forcing punts.  The Week 10 performance was so bad that the camera caught a very frustrated Jalen Ramsey on the sidelines voicing his concerns to Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris.

Now, the Rams have just two weeks to placate the best defensive back in the NFL.