Rams Film Review: Was the run defense really that bad against the Eagles?

The Rams run defense may not have been as bad as you think against the Eagles

The Los Angeles Rams finished their season last Sunday with a heartbreaking loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. They came 14-yards away from hosting the NFC Championship game, falling just short. Watching it back, it became clear that overall the Rams played the better game. However, there were five or six devastating moments and another handful of missed plays that ended up being the difference.

It’s one thing to give up three touchdown runs of 40 or more yards. However, combined with missed opportunities and it’s hard to recover. In the first half, Tyler Higbee catches a pass and cuts towards the sideline. If he runs upfield, it’s probably a first down. On the following play, the Rams have a screen set up to Kyren Williams that may end up in scoring range. Instead, Oren Burks makes an open field tackle. Higbee and Puka Nacua had two drops in the second half on back-to-back plays. During the final sequence, Kevin Dotson and Beaux Limmer have a miscommunication as Higbee runs open over the middle.

Still, there was also a lot to like about the Rams season and how they performed against the Eagles. Let’s jump into the final film review of the season.

Rams Run Defense Was More About Moments

Against the Eagles, the Rams couldn’t allow one thing to happen and that was explosive runs from Saquon Barkley. They gave up two of them, both of which were devastating in the moment. The Eagles running back finished with 26 carries for 205 yards and two touchdowns.

Multiple things can be true when it comes to Barkley’s performance. The Rams defense needed to do a better job limiting those explosive runs. At the same time, throughout the course of the game, they did a good job containing Barkley. The long runs were more about the Eagles taking advantage of specific defensive looks. On the first touchdown run, the Eagles have a 3rd-and-4 and Hurts checks to a run with the Rams in their lighter dime look on defense. The result was not enough big bodies at the second level to make a play. The second touchdown run was poor gap discipline.

On the other 24 runs, the Rams held Barkley to just 2.7 yards per carry. It’s not as if he was gashing them six or seven yards at a time. It was almost diabolical that Chris Shula pulled out Vic Fangio’s 6-1 front that stifled McVay for 18 months against the Eagles. On the play below, you’ll see the defensive front completely takes away any cutback lane for Barkley.

This is not to say that the Rams run defense was great against the Eagles. However, the big picture shows that they did well. Unfortunately, there are a few stains that take away from the performance as a whole. The defense could still use an upgrade over Christian Rozeboom and another gap-eating nose tackle. However, it should also be a positive that after Week 7, there was only one team to have success running the ball against the Rams and it just happened to be the best running team in the NFL.

Everything Right and Wrong With Kyren Williams in One Play

There will be a lot of discussion this offseason around Kyren Williams and what the Rams should do at the running back position. Again, multiple things can be true with Williams. He is clearly an important piece of the Rams offense. His value in the red zone and short yardage is a big reason why he’s been so successful. McVay also seems to trust him a lot in pass protection. At the same time, he is also a somewhat limited player.

Williams simply isn’t going to get more than what the play is blocked for and he lacks the breakaway speed to hit the home run. He’s a singles hitter than may occasionally hit a double. He’s the Anthony Volpe or Sal Frelick of the Rams. Williams is a good singles hitter and getting on base. Occasionally he’ll surprise with a double. He has the intangibles and is a great player to have in the locker room. Williams will bring in some runs. However, he isn’t hitting the ball deep.

That’s all shown in the play below. With breakaway speed, Williams scores on this play. A running back like Bucky Irving scores on this play. The Rams running back shows off his good vision and contact balance, but gets caught from behind by Zack Baun who spent the first half of the play stumbling. Williams lacks burst and speed in the open field. Instead of a touchdown, the Rams end up having to settle for a field goal.

One Final Jared Verse Appreciation Thread

It’s very likely that Jared Verse will win the Defensive Rookie of the Year award. He had an incredible first season. From a pressure and impact standpoint, the rookie showed he will be among the best edge rushers in the NFL. Verse may have only had 4.5 sacks as a rookie, but that doesn’t count the opportunities he created and those will come.

Verse spent the week leading up to the Eagles talking a lot. While he talked the talk, he most certainly also walked the walk. On several keys plays, Verse completely took over the game. The play below is a third down in field goal range. Chris Shula runs a stunt with Byron Young coming from a standup linebacker position and Verse. Verse rushes inside and runs through 364-pound Mekhi Becton and ends up at Jalen Hurts.

Later in the game, Verse once again displays his power. In the first meeting, Verse knocked Mailata on his back into Hurts. Verse got the better of Mailata on the play below as well. The Rams rookie bull rushes Mailata into Hurts. This rushes Hurts’ process and forces an inaccurate throw. It’s one of the dozens of examples of Verse impacting the play while not necessarily showing up on the stat sheet with a sack. The fact that Verse got a little bit of a taste of defeat in the playoffs is only a good thing for the Rams heading into year two.

Michael Hoecht is a Priority Signing This Offseason

One year ago, not many would have wanted to bring back Michael Hoecht. Had the Rams signed Andrew Van Ginkel like originally planned, he may not have been back. It’s a good thing everything worked out the way that it did because Hoecht showed throughout the season why he is an important piece to the Rams defense and special teams units.

Hoecht was a true Swiss army knife or gadget type player on the Rams defense this season. He rushed from the edge, played as a standup linebacker, and occasionally lined up inside. It’s important to remember that Hoecht was in his first season as an edge rusher last year. There was going to be a learning curve. Hoecht thrived in the joker role on the Rams defense, and was another big body to have on obvious running downs.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the Rams handle Hoecht and if he has a market in free agency. If the Rams are able to bring Hoecht back on a two-year deal with a low salary next year and a favorable option to move on following 2025, it makes a lot of sense.

Honorable Mentions

There are a few quick things worth pointing out and mentioning before wrapping up. There were two negative plays during the game that showed just how well coached and how much heart the Rams players have. On Barkley’s 62-yard run, Verse runs from behind the play and nearly catches Barkley. He hit 21.60 miles per hour in pursuit of the Eagles running back. That’s a play that is very easy to give up on and accept early that Barkley is probably going to score.

Later in the game, Kevin Dotson does the same thing. Following the Kyren Williams fumble, Dotson runs down the Eagles defender from behind the play in a full-out sprint. Without Dotson, it likely ends up in a scoop and score. Instead, Dotson pushes the defender out of bounds and it keeps the Rams in the game.

The last thing worth pointing out is how well Matthew Stafford played. It’s crazy now that the narrative before Stafford arrived in Los Angeles was that he couldn’t win big games in the playoffs. Some of Stafford’s best games for the Rams have all come in the playoffs. The Rams quarterback pulled out the ‘no look pass’ twice against the Eagles, including the touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson as the Rams were mounting their comeback.