Sean McVay had a tough night on Monday against the Bengals. Not only did the Rams lose, but he’s come under a lot of criticism for his questionable game plan.
He abandoned the run, had poor clock management at the end of the game and he did nothing to help his backup left tackle, Zachary Thomas, after Alaric Jackson got hurt. Fans were livid after the 19-16 loss and plenty of analysts called out McVay for some of his mistakes, with Brian Baldinger joining the party on Tuesday morning.
Buy Rams TicketsAs part of his weekly breakdowns, Baldinger criticized the Rams for the way they countered the Bengals’ pass rush and blitzes – or, the way they didn’t counter them. In his first clip, Baldinger wondered why the Rams ran so many deep routes against a zero blitz.
Rather than using a short, quick passing game to get into a manageable third-down situation, none of the Rams’ receivers were even turned before Matthew Stafford got planted on his back.
“What I don’t get is this: You know it’s blitz zero, but it’s only second-and-10. Where’s the short route? Where’s the cut-off route? Where’s the route to get 5 yards to get to third down? Everybody’s running a deep route, Stafford has no chance.”
.@RamsNFL v @Bengals BLITZ ZERO LOOK. It’s only 2-10. Where is the adjustment route to the look. You don’t need all 10 but you definitely don’t need a sack and a vicious hit to the QB. #whodey #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/uYyepeeLwK
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 26, 2023
In his second breakdown, Baldinger asked a question that many Rams fans also asked. Where was the help for Thomas at left tackle?
“I know it’s a backup free agent tackle, but when you get that, you’ve gotta win, you’ve gotta knock the Rams out,” Baldinger said. “I don’t know what the Rams were doing by not helping a backup, Zachary Thomas, at tackle out like that? But you watch these plays, and this is the worst. You’re going to drop Hubbard and you’re just going to rush three. When you rush three and you move the quarterback like this, now Stafford’s gotta move.”
.@Bengals @HendricksonTrey is a problem and the @RamsNFL did not treat him like a problem so he helped wreck their offense #whodey #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/RWIGHKumdn
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 26, 2023
It’s fair for Baldinger to question this approach by McVay and the Rams. It seemed so obvious and everyone saw the trouble Thomas was having with Trey Hendrickson, who finished with 10 total pressures in the game. Yet, McVay didn’t adjust and kept dropping his quarterback with no chips or help on the edge.
McVay is a very smart coach but he looked bad on Monday night.
