Rams’ pass rush had one of its worst games since 2016 vs. 49ers
Kyle Allen and Alex Smith barely had time to blink in the pocket last week before a Rams defender was in the backfield disrupting the play. Coming off a game in which they had eight sacks and allowed 108 total yards, the Rams defense really struggled against the 49ers on Sunday night.
The pass rush was especially bad, and that doesn’t exclude Aaron Donald. He had more sacks against Washington than he had pressures in Week 6, which is telling of how great San Francisco’s game plan was for Donald and the Rams’ pass rushers as a whole.
Jimmy Garoppolo dropped back 33 times on Sunday night and only twice was he pressured by the Rams. Their pressure rate of 6.1% is the second-lowest since the Rams moved back to Los Angeles in 2016, which is startling, with the other game coming in Week 17 of 2017 when the Rams played their backups.
Not to mention, the Rams’ two pressures were both by Donald, which means no one else really even got close to Garoppolo in this one.
The Rams lowest pressure rate in a game over the last five seasons also came against a Kyle Shanahan-led 49ers offense.
In Week 17, 2017, the Rams did not generate a single pressure on 33 dropbacks.#LARvsSF | #FTTB
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 19, 2020
This is certainly not the performance the Rams were expecting from their pass rushers after sacking Allen and Smith eight times last week, but even in that game it was Donald doing the bulk of the damage. Troy Reeder had three sacks on either blitzes or quarterback scrambles, but Jachai Polite and Leonard Floyd were the only other players to hit the quarterback (once each).
The 49ers had a great plan to neutralize the Rams’ pass rush, throwing quick passes underneath with very few shots downfield. That’s part of the reason for the pass rush’s lack of pressure, as Garoppolo got rid of the ball in an average of 2.38 seconds – second-quickest in the NFL this week.
His passing chart paints a better picture, with all but four of his completions coming within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage.
There’s no question the Rams pass rush has to be better moving forward. Not every coach is as good as Kyle Shanahan and he has a knack for drawing up a great game plan against the Rams, but the lack of pressure on Garoppolo made life easy for the 49ers quarterback.
L.A. will have a chance to turn things around next week in prime time again as they host the Chicago Bears in Week 7 on Monday Night Football.
