I was quite pessimistic yesterday but after reviewing the first two games I am slightly more hopeful. It will all depend on the game plan. On offense Garcia has been terrible. Yesterday he played like he’d never seen a D-line stunt and got Murray leveled. He leaves a huge hole in the line but Jones makes too many penalties to be an option. Hudson must help. There’s no way around it, Humphries was also terrible yesterday. He’s been decent though, so he should be okay.
Normally if you watch a game you can discern a plan of attack. If there was one yesterday, I couldn’t identify it. They targeted no particular part of the defense. There was no attempt to preempt the pass rush with quick throws, rollouts or delays. It seemed to be ad hoc play calling that let the Seahawks defense dictate the game. Kirk disappeared for much of the game. I think Ertz had only 2 targets in the first half. They did put Murray under center but that should have started 3 years ago. He hasn‘t developed deceptive technique and isn’t strong enough for QB sneaks. You can’t push him with linemen as he’s fragile.
The Rams game plan seems fairly obvious. You can‘t block Donald, so you have to tire him out and influence him. Roll out Murray. Use tons of motion and misdirection. Quick release slants will also frustrate him. If they have Edmonds back they can take him outside. What can’t happen is dropping Murray straight back time after time and expecting him to be elusive as a substitute for blocking. They could actually keep a back in or occasionally shift a tight end to the backfield. At best they could chip a rusher but that might be enough to buy time. I like middle screens where you dump the ball behind Donald, usually the Rams don’t cover those gaps tightly.
On defense if the Cards had Bowles I’d like their chances more. Bowles likes to blitz and has numerous deceptive patterns as well as stunts. Stafford has always been easy to rattle and pressure is the key. The Cards are healthy with regard to their best rushers and blitzers. With apologies to Mickey (Rocky), don’t let Stafford breathe! The D-line has to hold against the run. Maybe they get Phillips back. Certainly Watt’s presence will redirect rushers. Hicks needs to play his best game and be patient. I guess there’s no hope to dump the zone. Nonetheless I’d modify it and have Murphy follow Kupp. He can’t be stopped but he can be limited. You can’t drop linebackers or linemen into deep cover. You can’t let safeties get isolated on Kupp unless you’re getting pressure on Stafford.
This game can be won, but the Cards will need to play better than any second half game including Dallas. The must attack from the kickoff and take the game to the Rams physically. The Niners did and the Rams couldn’t hold up.
