Rams offense and defense: one quarter, two teams

by Ryan Van Bibber on Oct 9, 2009 11:28 AM CDT in Game Planning

When you go back and revisit the St. Louis Rams first four games this season, you may remember the the first half of those games, thanks mostly to the defense, having a little potential...before going to hell in handbasket.

Yesterday, in the discussion about the Rams DVOA, GrnGyant asked about breaking down the performance of the Rams defense between the first and second half of games. Well, we aim to please here at TST, and the finding is pretty interesting. (Again, DVOA, Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, is a system that breaks down every single NFL play and compares a team's performance to a league baseline based on situation in order to determine value over average). Take a look:

Rams defensive DVOA with rank in parentheses.

1st half	2nd half
7.3% (19)	34.8% (31)

That pretty much confirms what we've seen all season. The Rams defense limits opposing offenses early in the game. Opponents have scored an average of 12.5 points against the Rams in the first half of games so far this season. Green Bay was the only opponent to score more than half of their total points against the Rams in the first half of a game this season. And really, points-wise it's better than that when you consider that the 49ers only scored against the Rams in the first half of last week's game thanks to a gaff on special teams.

Now, let's break it down by quarter, with rank in parentheses.

1Q	2Q	3Q	4Q
-46.2% (3)	46.1% (31)	37.2% (30)	32.4% (25)

Remember, for defenses, a negative DVOA is desirable, indicating a negative likelihood of opposing offenses running successful plays. Look at that first quarter number. The Rams defense has been stout. Opponents have scored an average of 3 points in the first quarter, two teams have been completely shut out in the first fifteen minutes (Seattle and San Francisco) and no team has scored a touchdown against the Rams in the first quarter this season. That's impressive.

So what's the problem? Let me sum it up with another number, the Rams offensive DVOA from the first quarter this season:

-33.6% (27)

That number points to the utter failure of the Rams offense in the first quarter this season. That failure to get any points on the board early and make it a competitive event or to keep the defense off the field for any significant amount of time has contributed to the one number that really burns: 0-4.

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Comments

Van, that is some great service. I’m really glad you broke it out into quarters as well. It shows that they come out strong, and then just wear down as they get exhausted.

My guess about the 4th quarter bump, is due to teams not needing to score in the 4th because the game is already locked up (Although I’m betting that Farve won’t let that worry him should it occur this week).

by GrnGyant on Oct 9, 2009 12:19 PM CDT reply actions

The foruth quarter bump is something I've noticed, anecdotally, too

I’m not sure if it’s the other offenses laying off, or our team resolving to finish a game strong, or a combination of both. The Seattle game was a notable instance.

RamsHerd.com - Graphic Rams Discussion

by taiko on Oct 9, 2009 6:50 PM CDT up reply actions

Call me crazy but...

for some weird reason i feel the rams pulling a win outta this one

by Habte E on Oct 9, 2009 7:46 PM CDT reply actions

You are crazy

Free Brandon Wood!

by gorams77 on Oct 10, 2009 1:03 AM CDT up reply actions

Hey i hope for a miracle too lmao

by james535 on Oct 10, 2009 2:50 AM CDT up reply actions

Offense has not helped the defense this year in any game in any way

our offense sucks and our offensive play calling is the worst in all the NFL

by james535 on Oct 10, 2009 2:49 AM CDT reply actions

I listen to Shurmer oh my god he's all excuses lol and wont give a direct answer ever lol

this guys is like a politician that’s avoiding the truth lol what a snake and dam he looks just like Linnehan too lmao, he got to go, if nothing for the sake of bringing back bad memories lol

by james535 on Oct 10, 2009 2:58 AM CDT reply actions

think about this for a second

we have the ball on our own 16 yard line and he calls a double reverse that is fumbled and run back for a touchdown by the 49rs. if he calls this kind of complicated shit against the Vikings we will get killed,we don’t have the team for complex offensive schemes,we need simple basic football and focus on our basics don’t make mistakes the more simple the better

by james535 on Oct 10, 2009 3:06 AM CDT reply actions

Van...

Now THAT is analysis. Thank you for sharing. I was totally unaware of that stat before TST. I’ll say it again, people on this blog seem to know more about football and this team than the people in charge of running the team.

by victorian on Oct 10, 2009 12:27 PM CDT reply actions