Early in the Rams’ second preseason game, against the Raiders, wide receiver Ben Skowronek motioned from the right side of the formation to the left. At the moment he was behind the quarterback, the ball was snapped and Skowronek faked the reception of a jet sweep toss. The ball was handed off to running back Ronnie Rivers, who started running left, then cut back to the right side from which Skowronek originally came. He gained nine yards.
In terms of the weapons in the Rams’ arsenal, this was the equivalent of a peashooter. The stuff the offense was willing to give away when the games don’t matter. It does, however, underscore a point: The Rams are really good at picking defenders to mess with on every play and making their lives miserable. Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane shuffled two paces to the left to mirror Skowronek, then another pace left when it appeared Rivers was coming his way. Then, a tidal wave of Rams blockers crashed from the right side, walled off an out-of-position Raiders defense, and left the team’s central run defender unable to stop a chunk of yardage from being gained.
Spillane, like all of the Rams’ targets, had an unsolvable dilemma. To shuffle or not to shuffle? If he hadn’t moved, chances are the Rams could have just pounded the vacant space he chose not to occupy. When he did shuffle, they pounded the vacant space he left behind.
