The Los Angeles Rams beat the Seattle Seahawks in overtime in Week 9 to improve to 4-4 on the year. While it may not have been the cleanest of games, there were certainly a few standout performances worth mentioning. Namely, Jared Verse and Braden Fiske showed why the led on of the best defenses in the country last season. The two rookies took over this game and showed what opposing teams will have to deal with at least for the next four years. This week’s film review shows just how good that duo was and why this was probably Verse’s best overall performance to date.
Jared Verse and the run game
It feels like I’m talking about Jared Verse every week at this point. However, it’s for good reason. While there were concerns about his ability to tackle early in the season, it was only a matter of time before the game started to slow down for him. The plays that Verse was just missing on, he is now making more consistently and the result has been a dominant player.
Verse is eight games into his NFL career and he already may have of one of the best bull rushes in the NFL. The amount of power that he brings on every play is truly impressive. However, it’s not Verse’s pass rushing that I’ll be bringing up today. What Verse did in the run game against the Seahawks is why Sunday’s game might be his best all-around performance. He was consistently in the Seahawks backfield.
Again, Verse is very early in his NFL career and he’s already arguably the most important player on the Rams defense. The Rams have been used to Aaron Donald dominating in games against the Seahawks. Donald may not have been playing on Sunday, but the Rams still managed a dominant defensive performance and a lot of that was because of Verse.
The rookie’s biggest play of the game came on the final drive in overtime. Verse sheds an immediate block and the navigates through traffic to find the running back. He tackles Kenneth Walker in the backfield on 3rd-and-1, stopping him short of the first down. While the saying ‘big players make big plays in big moments’ is cliche, Verse was that player on Sunday.
While it was Verse’s impact in the run game that impressed against the Seahawks, he still showed up as a pass rusher. His power pops on tape. The Rams did a good job at lining him up across from Mike Jarrell after George Fant went out. Still, Verse had some good moments against Charles Cross as well. There were a few times that Verse walked Cross directly into Geno Smith. On the play below, he beats Cross and also gets past Zach Charbonnet.
Braden Fiske has ‘Welcome to the NFL’ game
The Seahawks had to have entered the season with a sense of relief that they never had to play against Aaron Donald ever again. This isn’t to say that Verse or Fiske for that matter are as good as Donald. However, the way they took over the game on Sunday was Donald-esque.
Fiske has shown several flashes this season, but Sunday’s game against the Seahawks was the first where he made an impact for 60-minutes. He played strong in the run game and had three sack contributions. Fiske was a force to be reckoned with on the inside and just an absolute menace.
Fiske essentially took over this game. On the final drive, he had another sack that should have clinched the win. Instead, Ahkello Witherspoon gave up a big catch on the very next play. The Rams rookie defensive lineman finished with a career-high six pressures. Hopefully, it’s a sign of things to come.
Rams have leaned into 3-safety looks on defense
Against the Green Bay Packers, Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula started to lean more into a 3-safety dime look. It was an adjustment that Shula made in which he started to use Quentin Lake more as a deep safety with Kam Curl and then Jaylen McCollough as the dime linebacker.
A lot of good things have happened in that personnel grouping and Shula has continued to lean into it more to see how much he can get away with. It started as something that the Rams would only use on third down passing situations to also including second-and-longs. Against the Seahawks, the Rams primarily operated out of that look. McCollough played in a season-high 70 percent of the defensive snaps. Meanwhile, Omar Speights and Jake Hummel combined for 12 snaps total.
The reason the Rams are able to operate in this personnel group is because they are winning at the line of scrimmage. Kenneth Walker averaged just 3.3 yards per carry against the Rams in Week 9 which is surprising considering the lighter personnel on the field. McCollough isn’t necessarily being used like Mark Barron as a pure linebacker, but the Rams have taken advantage of his instincts at the line of scrimmage, while also having his versatility in coverage given that he is technically a safety.
This will be something that I will continue to have my eye on over the next few weeks. Was this more matchup induced or is Shula committed to this look?
Michael Hoecht quietly having a good year
There may not have been a player that got criticized more last year than Michael Hoecht. However, after a full year as an edge, he’s really coming into his own at that spot. He looks like a veteran player at that spot that’s been playing the position for five or six years. Shula has also done a good job of moving Hoecht around and lining him up inside in a stand-up position over the center at times. He still occasionally drops into coverage, but overall, he looks more comfortable.
Hoecht should never be a featured player on a defense. With that said, he is a good role player which is what he has been allowed to be this year. The Rams use him on obvious running down or when they try to get bigger in the red zone. That was the case on Kam Kinchens’ second interception. Hoecht doesn’t let his eyes deceive him and crash down on the running back. He recognizes the play action fake and pursues Smith. That forces Smith into a rushed throw that leads to a turnover.
Davis Allen improving as a blocker
Over the past three weeks, the Rams have mixed in quite a bit of 12 personnel into the offense. A reason for that is they are able to trust that their tight ends are going to make the necessary blocks. Tight end Davis Allen’s snap count has gone up each of the last three games. He played in a season-high 55 percent of the team’s offensive snaps last week.
One of Allen’s biggest concerns coming out of Clemson was his ability to block. It’s not always perfect and he needs to get more consistent, but he is certainly improving. According to PFF, Allen had a 66.8 run-blocking grade against the Seahawks which was his best since last Week 18 last season.
For Allen to see the field more, like Rams wide receivers, he needs to prove his value in the run game. Again, he can still be inconsistent, but over the last three weeks, he’s been the Rams best run-blocking tight ends. Hopefully this eventually leads to more opportunities in the passing game.
Honorable Mention
Matthew Stafford will sometimes have a statistically average game and it gets swept under the rug. That was the case against the Seahawks. Stafford didn’t necessarily light the world on fire. He certainly got away with a few poor decisions and bad throws. He had a dropped interception, threw a hero ball to Davis Allen up for grabs in the end zone, and if Riq Woolen plays with more urgency, he could have had a third interception in overtime.
However, the Rams also don’t win this game without Stafford. The Seahawks made things very difficult for him. Their defensive backs played very sticky, they completely took away the middle of the field, and Mike Macdonald made sure to get pressure on Stafford. That’s the type of game plan defensive coordinators should have against the Rams. Still, it doesn’t matter if Stafford is able to make throws like the one below.
It was not an easy day for Stafford at the office or a good one. He was 3-for-15 with an interception under pressure. Despite that, Stafford was able to make the big throws when it mattered which is why the Rams trust him as their quarterback.
While an ill-advised throw in a sense, Stafford’s ability to change his arm angle, and sidearm this throw in overtime over the linebacker and in front of the cornerback and anticipating that Tyler Johnson is going to get there is very impressive. It’s the type of throws that make Stafford one of the elite guys in the NFL. It wasn’t the best day at the office for Stafford, but it’s also one of those performances that can get taken for granted.
