Can the Rams run on the Redskins?
by VanRam on Oct 7, 2008 2:25 PM CDT
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It goes without saying that Steven Jackson is the Rams best playmaker on offense. He finally cracked the 100 yard mark in his last outing against the Bills, and the Rams will need to create opportunities for him to work his magic against the Redskins this week to have a chance at the upset.
That's not going to be an easy task. Last week, the Redskins held the Brian Westbrook-led Eagles to just 58 yards rushing. The week before, the Cowboys manged just 44 total yards on the ground. In week 2, they managed to hold the Saints to just 55 yards rushing. Only Arizona in week 3 (James had 93 yards) and the Giants in week 1 (Brandon Jacobs had 116 yards) have topped 100 yards rushing against the Redskins. Much of their success against the run has come with DL Demetric Evans filling in for DE Jason Taylor and DT Cornelius Griffin.
Intimidating as those numbers are, the fact is Buffalo has a better run defense than the Redskins...for now. The Bills' rush defense has a DVOA of 0.2%, 16th in the league. The Redskins rank 22nd with a DVOA of 6.4%, meaning that if the Rams line was able to move aside Bills' DT Marcus Stroud enough to help Steven Jackson run for 110 yards on 24 carries, then there's hope to move the ball against the Redskins.
There's always hope. Now we just have to see if these whispers of rejuvenation and boundless energy at Rams Park translate to better play.
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Westbrook broke a rib
That had to hurt (pun not intended) their running game’s results last week.
Don’t know much about Demetric Evans, but if he is a guy who is only brought in on “non-passing downs,” we may be able to get good results by going against conventional wisdom – i.e. running on third downs.
"Attaway to stomp 'em. Stomp the piss out of 'em. Stomp 'em when they're down. Kick 'em and stomp 'em. Attaway to go boys. Pound that old Budweiser into you and go get them tomorrow." -- Joe Schultz
by taiko on Oct 7, 2008 3:56 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Better results, Yes. But growing a W, still unlikely.
by mpire on Oct 8, 2008 8:13 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
The real reason for better run defense
Demetric Evans is only a small part of why the Redskins are playing so good against the run. The most significant reason is because the Redskins are stacking the box and playing more man coverage in the secondary. They’re daring teams to beat them with the pass, but not allowing other teams to control the clock with their running games. Look for the same against the Rams. They’ll have 8 in the box all day, and their main objective will be to shut down Steven Jackson. They won’t allow the Rams to run, and they will force Bulger to try to beat them with the passing game.
by AdamHankins on Oct 8, 2008 10:42 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
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