To anyone who stayed up to watch the Rams offense this Monday, ESPN owes you an apology for the appalling product that was put on TV. The Rams were downright awful, especially in the passing game. When the passing game falters like it did on Monday, the blame tends to fall squarely on the QB and Case Keenum took a lot of heat for his performance. While this heat was deserving as he had statistically the worst performance of any QB in the NFL, it wasn’t all on him. Watching the film, I found that while Case Keenum had really poor timing on the curl/comeback route and showed no ability or even will to go downfield, the offensive line (especially at RG) was a disaster in pass protection and the WR committed were making mistakes in their route running.

Play 1

Situation: 3rd and 10 at SF 46

Description: Q1 – (11:32) (Shotgun) C. Keenum Pass Incomplete Short Right to T. Austin

RB Benny Cunningham (#23) isn’t going to last much longer as a third down back if he does this throughout the season. Cunningham faces to the outside for no reason and it leaves completely out of position to deal with the blitz. ILB Navarro Bowman (#53) comes on the blitz and Rodger Safford (#76) is forced to pick him up as the inside pass rusher. This leaves Cunnigham to block DT Ronald Blair (#98) and while it isn’t fair, he has to pick him up. Cunnigham’s outside turn gives him no chance to get in the way of Blair. This forces QB Case Keenum (#17) on the run and any QB scrambling not named Russell Wilson is going to struggle to throw an accurate pass while scrambling. This throw towards WR Tavon Austin (#11) is wildly off and Keenum should do better, but Cunnigham made a terrible error on this play.

Play 2

Situation: 3rd and 8 at LA 11

Description: Q1 – (7:30) (Shotgun) C. Keenum Sacked at LA 5 for -6 Yards (A. Brooks)

The 49ers deserve some credit here, this is a really effective stunt by DT Erik Armstead (#91) and OLB Ahmad Brooks (#55). Armstead gets RG Jamon Brown (#68) moving to the outside while Brooks has RT Rob Havenstein (#79) backpedaling hard to defend against an outside move. Once they decide to stunt, the offensive linemen are in all sorts of trouble. Brown’s momentum is going the wrong way to pick up Brooks and Havenstein’s poor footwork (crossing feet is a mortal sin) allows Armstead to split the gap between Brown and Havenstein with a bull rush. Keenum has Cunningham open on the out route as Cunningham (#23) beats ILB Ray Ray Armstrong (#54) to the outside. Keenum (#17) has barely a chance to throw to Cunningham but the pressure is on top of him as soon as he tries to make the throw so he holds on to the ball for a sack instead of having a turnover happen due to being hit. I cannot blame him for this, but a better QB makes this throw under fire and the Rams get a first down.

Play 3

Situation: 1st and 10 at SF 45

Description: Q2 – (11:07) (Shotgun) C. Keenum Pass Short Middle Intended for T. Gurley Intercepted by N. Bowman (Q. Dial) at SF 41. N. Bowman to SF 41 for No Gain (R. Saffold)

There are two things that the Rams do wrong on the play. The first is that Austin (#11) runs a terrible route. Keenum (#17) makes a good read to the throw the ball towards Austin as he beats CB Jimmie Ward (#25) to the inside on the slant. Austin turns it upfield after his cut instead of staying short which lets Ward get back into position. Even if the pass isn’t tipped, Ward may get the interception anyways. The second is RG Cody Winchman (#69) does a terrible job in pass protection. DT Quinton Dial (#92) uses a bull rush and Winchman gets put on roller skates due to his feet being narrow when he is engaged. Keenum can’t get the ball out quickly due to Bowman (#53) being in the initial throwing lane and has to hold the ball for an extra tick. This allows Dial to get his big mitt in the air and it would have taken an exceptional throw to get around him. The tip leads to the interception and Wichmann owes Keenum an apology

Play 4

Situation: 2nd and 8 at LA 41

Description: Q2 – (2:38) C. Keenum Pass Incomplete Short Left to T. Higbee (R. Armstrong)

Keenum makes a fine read in going to TE Tyler Higbee (#89) on the play. Armstrong (#54) is playing for the out route and Higbee gets inside leverage on him as soon as he turns. This should be a completion for a five-yard gain or more by Keenum (#17) is late on his throw. As soon as Higbee starts turning, the ball should be in the air. Higbee is almost through by the time the ball comes out of his hand and this matters because of the pass rush. LG Rodger Safford (#76) gets bullied by DT DeForrest Buckner (#99) on this play because he lets Buckner get inside hand position. Once Bucker extends his arms, he is able to push him to the side and get the pressure. Keenum beats the pass rush with a sooner throw, but the late throw allows Buckner to get in his grill and it forces an inaccurate throw low and to the outside. This gives Armstrong a chance to rip the ball out of Higbee’s hands for the incompletion.

Play 5

Situation: 2nd and 15 at LA 34

Description: Q2 – (0:40) (No Huddle, Shotgun) C. Keenum Pass Incomplete Short Right to B. Quick

This play is a whole lot of what should have been. Austin (#11) is running a go route from the slot and he is open for a touchdown as Ward (#25) is slow transitioning out of the backpedal and FS Eric Reid (#35) is focused on TE Lance Kendricks (#88) on the post route. I don’t know if Keenum (#17) doesn’t see him or if he wasn’t comfortable with the throw but he missed a golden opportunity. Keenum instead goes to WR Brian Quick (#83) on the deep curl route. Keenum sees that CB Tramaine Brock (#26) is bailing in his coverage and to the inside of a Quick so he throws it towards the sideline. This is exactly where he is supposed to throw the ball but Quick turns the wrong way out of his break. He needs to see that Brock is playing him with inside leverage and turn to the outside to take advantage of it. Quick’s miscue on the turn forces him to adjust to the outside throw on the fly and allows Brock to disrupt the play.

Play 6

Situation: 3rd and 15 at LA 34

Description: Q2 – (0:35) (Shotgun) C. Keenum Sacked at LA 30 for -4 Yards (A. Armstead)

It is very rare that a screen pass doesn’t have enough time to develop due to poor offensive line play. Havenstein (#79) terrible pass protection though gives this play no chance. He is too far on his heels, off balanced, and narrow in his foot placement. This prevents him from being able to even touch Brooks (#55) once he puts a hand on him. Keenum (#17) is forced out to his left which gives him no chance to complete the screen pass to Austin (#11). Brown (#68) actually does a good job in pass protection on Armstead (#91) but once Keenum starts scrambling, all bets are off as only Armstead can see where Keenum is. Armstead is able to disengage from Brown to the inside and track Keenum down for the sack as Keenum is not at the launch point that Brown expects him to be at.

Play 7

Situation: 1st and 10 at LA 17

Description: Q3 – (10:16) C. Keenum Pass Incomplete Deep Right to T. Austin

Whoever designed this play needs to be told that Austin (#11) is faster than WR Kenny Britt (#18). The Go-Trail concept can be very effective (especially against Cover 2 Man like the 49ers are in), the routes are in my opinion too close to each other. A ten to a 15-yard gap between the two receivers is what I would want but Austin is closer to eight to ten yards from Britt. Having Austin go first and Britt underneath would have given more separation. Saying that, there is a window to throw the ball into as Austin gets a step on Ward (#25) as he turns upfield and Tartt (#29) is playing over the top of Britt’s route. An outside throw that makes Austin run under it would be a big gain. But the pass protection let the offense down again. Bucker (#99) is a big dude at 291 lbs and Kendricks (#88) has no chance to block him one on one. Either Higbee (#89) or LT Greg Robinson (#73) has to help him out on this. Instead, Kendricks gets tossed like a rag doll and Buckner gets quick pressure on Keenum (#17). Bucker is soon joined by Dial (#92) as he uses and effective rip move on Brown (#68) to get outside leverage (Brown gets too wide in his stance and cannot react to the move). This causes Keenum to fade on his throw (he cannot step up into the throw without blowing out his knee) which causes the ball to be underthrown. Austin is not a WR who can outjump someone for a underthrown pass and Ward is able to recover and disrupt Austin enough to cause the incompletion.

Play 8

Situation: 2nd and 9 at SF 26

Description: Q3 – (1:10) (Shotgun) C. Keenum Pass Short Middle Intended for L. Kendricks Intercepted by R. Armstrong at SF 18. R. Armstrong to SF 23 for 5 Yards (G. Robinson)

Keenum (#17) has Kendricks (#88) open on this play. Armstrong (#54) expands outside of Kendricks to get underneath of Austin’s go route and fill in for Ward (#25) blitzing off the edge. If Keenum throws this with good timing and to the inside, Kendricks has an easy catch for a first down. Instead, Keenum takes forever to throw this pass and Armstrong is already breaking on Kendricks before the ball is in the air. You never throw the ball late in the middle of the field and Keenum threw one of the latest balls I’ve ever seen at the NFL level. If the ball is thrown to the inside of Kendricks, it would have not even mattered though due to how much open space Kendricks found himself in the middle of the field. Instead, he throws this pass low and to the outside of Kendricks. This late throw and poor accuracy allows Armstrong to undercut Kendricks and pick off the pass. This is one of the worst throws I have ever seen a QB make to an open receiver.

Play 9

Situation: 1st and 10 at LA 25

Description: Q4 – (12:07) (Shotgun) C. Keenum Pass Incomplete Short Right to T. Austin

Keenum (#17) rarely had to leave his first read throughout the game and this was one time he shouldn’t have. Kendricks (#88) is running a seam route and beats Reid (#35) to the inside. Keenum should fire this to Kendricks inside shoulder as soon as he breaks up the field and the Rams should have a first down. Instead, he declines to throw to Kendricks and looks at Austin (#11) on the comeback route. Brock (#26) is on Austin’s inside shoulder so an outside and low throw should be a completion to Austin. Keenum doesn’t even give Austin a chance though to make a play as he feels the pass rush closing on him. Wichmann (#69) does one of the stupidest things I’ve seen an offensive lineman do as he decides to stop blocking Dial (#92) with C Tim Barnes (#61) and chase after Armstead (#91) on the outside. Havenstein (#79) has Armstead pushed behind Keenum so Wichmann has no reason to chase after him. Him bailing on Barnes leaves a major gap in the line for Dial to exploit. Keenum feels this pressure and throws the ball way too early for Austin to make a catch. Keenum needs to take some blame for this early throw as he should have climbed the pocket to give himself an extra second or two. This would have given Austin enough time to break on his route and make a catch.

Play 10

Situation: 2nd and 10 at SF 24

Description: Q4 – (2:54) (Shotgun) C. Keenum Pass Incomplete Short Left to T. Austin [E. Reid]

The Rams pass protection self-destructs again. Barnes (#61) does get engaged by Blair (#98) but Blair disengages quickly. This should be setting off alarm bells in Barne’s head and he has to have his head on a swivel to look for another pass rusher. With Brown (#68) engaged by DT Tony Jerod-Eddie (#63) and Havenstein (#79) picking up OLB Tank Carradine (#95) on the edge, Barnes needs to be peeling off and picking up Reid (#35) coming on the blitz. Instead, he focuses on Jerod-Eddie and Reid has a free shot. Even with all this, this should be a first down for the Rams. Kendricks (#88) has inside leverage on CB Dontae Johnson (#36) on the seam route and runs right past him. Keenum (#17) should have this pass out quickly and hit Kendricks for the first down. Instead, he drifts to his left and looks at RB Malcolm Brown (#39) running the wheel route. Yes, Brown does beat Armstrong (#54) in coverage, but by the time Keenum sees this, Reid hits him and the ball doesn’t even get close to Brown.

Play 11

Situation: 3rd and 10 at SF 24

Description: Q4 – (2:50) (Shotgun) C. Keenum Pass Incomplete Short Left to K. Britt

Keenum (#17) does everything right on this play. He sees that Britt (#18) has Johnson (#36) on his inside shoulder and downfield on the deep curl route and throws a well-timed pass to Britt on his outside shoulder. Britt turns to the inside which puts him in a bad position to catch this pass. He needs to realize where Johnson is and turn to the outside to make this catch easier. This should still be a catch though as it hits him in the hands and he drops the ball.

Conclusions

The Rams passing game not a pleasant thing to watch. Keenum showed poor timing on his curl route throws and no ability to throw the ball deep, the pass protection was very poor, and the Rams WR were not at their best to say the least. San Franciso has to be given some credit. Their zone blitzing is going to be a chore to handle no matter who is blocking with how well they disguise it and the CBs was playing very well (especially Brock). But the 49ers should not be celebrating their amazing pass defense yet . The Rams missed opportunities to exploit the holes in the coverage and most of the incompletions were self-inflicted errors over a great play by the defense. A better offensive line and QB would have taken advantage of the blitzing to attack the holes in the coverage

There have been a few who have said that Keenum needs to be benched after this performance. I don’t agree with this statement. He did not play well by any stretch, but there were some bright spots in his game. Most of the reads and decisions he made were spot on and he showed the ability to put the ball in the correct spot on the outside. Plus, I don’t think many QBs would have succeeded tonight with how poor the offensive line was. The right side was especially bad and Wichmann shouldn’t see the field next week (Brown wasn’t good but he wasn’t dreadful like Wichmann was). The Rams do not catch a break tomorrow with the Seahawks rolling into town and I don’t see Keenum’s numbers getting much better unless the WR and offensive line improve immensely.