How can Rams fix several bad decisions before facing the Patriots in Week 11?

As the LA Rams prepared to host the Miami Dolphins in Week 10, there was a sense that the team had to rush their injured offensive linemen to the football field to handle business. The team wanted to get both Jonah Jackson and Steve Avila onto the football field. While that may have been prompted by good intentions, it certainly did not hold up on the football field.

Perhaps the coaching staff failed to comprehend that the group was already facing upheaval with the injury to RT Rob Havenstein, and the fact that backup swing tackle Joe Noteboom would take his place. But the game is history. The team felt it best to swap out three players who had not surrendered a single quarterback sack in Week 9, for offensive linemen who were returning to health, but who hadn't played together as a group all season:

The Rams needed the best out of the offense.

Unfortunately, they didn't get it. Four quarterback sacks, one interception, no touchdowns. For the second week in a row, the Rams offense seemed hapless and ineffective. Is the team becoming too predictable once more?

After two consecutive weeks of leaning more into their 12-personnel offense, the Rams backed off in Week 10. Let's run down the formation breakdown since the team's Week 6 BYE:

• Week 7: 1 RB - 100% | 1 TE - 85% | 2 TE - 15%
• Week 8: 1 RB - 100% | 1 TE - 55% | 2 TE - 45%
• Week 9: 1 RB - 100% | 1 TE - 69% | 2 TE - 31%
• Week10: 1 RB - 100% | 1 TE - 91% | 2 TE - 9%

Here are a couple of thoughts about the Rams use of two tight ends. The most points scored since the BYE happened in Week 8, the same week in which the offense played a two-tight end offense nearly half of the time. But the other anomaly occured in Week 10. In a game with a backup offensive tackle, why did the Rams suddenly drastically cut their use of 12-personnel?

I'm not an NFL coach, but wouldn't the extra help blocking for a backup offensive tackle only make sense?

Rams made several fatal errors in Week 10

Let's be honest, I don't think anybody can defend the offensive struggle in Week 10 and suggest that the Rams deserved to win with that effort. Despite taking the football field three times in Miami Dolphins territory, the Rams didn't score a touchdown, That will seldom win a football game.

But the offense never seemed to be in any type of groove. Replacing steady-freddie center Beaux Limmer with veteran Jonah Jackson turned the nearly-automatic snap of the football into a roulette wheel. Some suggest that it was the uncertainty of the snap that bothered Stafford throughout the game, and that is hard to dispute after the fact.

The Rams offensive linemen did not play in Week 10. How poorly did they play? Per Pro Football Focus, the Rams offensive linemen graded out with:

• Left tackle Alaric Jackson - 65.3 overall
• Left guard Steve Avila - 62.8 overall
• Center Jonah Jackson - 51.9 overall
• Right guard Kevin Dotson - 61.7 overall
• Right tackle Joe Noteboom - 57.0 overall
  

Those are not very promising grades, particularly at the midseason mark, at home, in a game that the team needed to win.

While some fans may bash swing tackle Joe Noteboom, consider this. The Rams helped out starting RT Rob Havenstein with a tight end nearly a third of the time on average since the BYE. So why would the team suddenly pull that type of tight end assistance when the backup takes the field?

That is something that I will never figure out.

What Rams must do for Week 11

Of course, even at 4-5, this is no time to panic. The team simply needs to get that offense on track. And the best way to do that is the same ole stanza we've been singing all season long. The Rams' offense is simply much better when they send two tight ends onto the field at least 40 percent of the time.

Let's examine the two best wins for this team in 2024. There is the Week 3 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. In that game, the Rams made ample use of their 12 personnel package. The Rams two-tight-end offense was a significant reason for that win. So why not go with it more frequently?

As you may not from an earlier slide in this article, the Rams leaned quite heavily into two tight ends in their Week 8 and Week 9 victories as well. But in Week 10, with a backup offensive tackle starting,t he Rams thought it wiser to run 11-personnel almost exclusively. I suppose that old habits are simply hard to break.

Unfortunately, the fix does not stop there. The Rams have tried to turn the surplus of offensive guards into an NFL center. But with the rapid ascension of rookie center Beaux Limmer, why bother? The Rams' offensive line has the makings of a young group that can grow together. The team has LT Alaric Jackson (who should be re-signed at season's end), LG Steve Avila, C Beaux Limmer, RG Kevin Dotson, and simply needs to address a Rob Havenstein successor at right tackle in the 2025 NFL Draft.

For now, restore Beaux Limmer to center, and go with that. I get it. Jonah Jackson is a veteran. But the Rams thought to start Joe Noteboom at left tackle, but fell to injury, the team started undrafted offensive tackle Alaric Jackson and haven't looked back. The sam story is playing out at the center position.

Coaches can make mistakes. The rush to get the Rams projected starting offensive linemen back onto the football field was simply too irresistable. But the experiment is over. The Rams play better with Beaux Limmer. The Rams play better in 12-personnel. It really isn't rocket science after all. It's simply how to optimize the roster on offense this season.

Thanks for reading.

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