Post by Philly Jedi on Mar 24, 2011 11:10:21 GMT -5
My week 7 (Season 3) matchup was with my most hated rival the Saint Louis Rams. (FlashWar)
I've played against FlashWar's Rams for 15+ years, and no matter what our teams are rated, I always get a difficult game from him. This week's game was no different.
The Rams decided to change things up completely and forgo the rushing attack. I've played Flash before, but have never seen a dedication to the pass like I saw this game. (68 pass attempts, 5 rush attempts) He decided to go to the 5 wide-out set for 95% of the game. With their #1 draft pick being #84 Michael Lincoln, I knew I was in for a long day. Add to the fact that I traded for a cornerback (EJ Biggers) who did well his first two games, and then got hurt for 7 weeks. So I had 5 healthy cornerbacks to cover 5 wide receivers. During the game 1 got hurt on special teams. So Flash's decision to attack a preceived weakness was pretty smart. A few times, Ted Ginn, Michael Crabtree, and Aaron Scott were playing cornerback... (through no choice of mine!)
When we first tried to play our game, the Rams got out to a 28-14 lead with the Rams possessing the ball. But FlashWar got disconnected. Both General Puntang and I were suprised. The 49ers were more prepared for the passing attack the second game, and luckily we still have back to back offensive MVP Frank Gore lining up behind our rookie quarterback. This game he made a stake for MVP this year! Frank Gore had 6 touchdown runs of 37 yards or greater in this game! The only thing keeping him from 400 rushing yards was the fear of injury. I think this game was decided because of 4 Ram turnovers. 1.) In the 1st quarter, after a Gore 47 yard touchdown run, the ensuing kickoff was fumbled, and returned 20 yards for a consecutive score! 2.) In less than a minute after that fumble return for a touchdown, Sam Bradford threw an interception to Dashon Golston, and 37 yards later, Frank Gore scampered into the endzone. 3.) In the 2nd quarter, after a Gore 75 yard run for a touchdown, the Rams were forced to punt. 43 yards later, Frank Gore has another rushing touchdown! 4.) Later on in the 2nd quarter, the Rams were able to capitalize on a 49er interception, scoring back to back touchdowns. After forcing the Niners to punt on their ensuing drive, with 23 seconds left on the clock, instead of ending the first half down 31-35, the Rams try to drive 80 yards in 20 seconds. Sam Bradford was CRUSHED by Manny Lawson, and Justin Smith picked up the fumble for the 13 yard score before halftime! The second half was just the 49ers and Rams exchanging scores with an 10-11 point spread between the teams. The Rams scored last... But lost. (49ers 63 - Rams 59)
Rams Offense:
Like I mentioned earlier. FlashWar has always been a top 3 passer in this league. In my opinion, there isn't anyone currently in the league that can pass better than Flash now. So expect the pass, and don't expect much support from the run. In our last game, Sam Bradford had 2 attempts for -13 yards. Everyone else had 1 attempt for a total of 5 rushing attempts, for 20 yards rushing. Now he did have 643 yards passing on 68 attempts, but I've never seen him pass this much. I think he was trying to do what a former Cowboys owner tried against me during last season's regular season game. All pass no run. (the Cowboys had 11 yards rushing in that game) If you play Flash in the future, I'm sure he will run much more than he did against me. The 49ers are pretty good against the run, and I'm sure that swayed his will to run... If you are good at stopping the pass you'll be successful against the Rams. The set I saw the most (90%) was 5 WR. At the end of the game, there was a few 4 WR sets, and 1 time he ran a 3 WR/2 RB set out of shotgun. Just make sure you know how to deal with shotgun sets... It still won't be easy stopping him.
Rams Defense:
From what I saw, the Rams were running initially a 3-4 defensive set. After a few big Gore runs, he went to a blitz heavy 4-4 set. After a few more successful runs and passes, he went to a traditional 4-3 set. I think he had the most success, against me, in the 4-3 set. He didn't realize this until the second half. There were 3 reasons Gore didn't get 400 yars rushing. #55 James Laurinatis, #57 Jason Williams, and #21 OJ Atogwe. I can think of several tackles these guys made keeping me from getting really, really, big runs... Outside of these guys, there wasn't much resistance against the run... But since my run game is a little better than most, your results may vary. If you decide to pass, YOU MUST avoid OJ Atogwe. He is a star, and will make you pay if you pass against this free safety. He moves him around in his sets, and will have him play the strong safety as well. You must identify where he is pre-snap... Your quarterback rating will thank you. Outside of that, everyone else is average against the pass, so use your judgement.
As usual it was a great (difficult) game, and I look forward to my next challenge in St. Louis, on the road. I hope you have more success against him than I did...
(cause I hate the Damn Rams!)
I've played against FlashWar's Rams for 15+ years, and no matter what our teams are rated, I always get a difficult game from him. This week's game was no different.
The Rams decided to change things up completely and forgo the rushing attack. I've played Flash before, but have never seen a dedication to the pass like I saw this game. (68 pass attempts, 5 rush attempts) He decided to go to the 5 wide-out set for 95% of the game. With their #1 draft pick being #84 Michael Lincoln, I knew I was in for a long day. Add to the fact that I traded for a cornerback (EJ Biggers) who did well his first two games, and then got hurt for 7 weeks. So I had 5 healthy cornerbacks to cover 5 wide receivers. During the game 1 got hurt on special teams. So Flash's decision to attack a preceived weakness was pretty smart. A few times, Ted Ginn, Michael Crabtree, and Aaron Scott were playing cornerback... (through no choice of mine!)
When we first tried to play our game, the Rams got out to a 28-14 lead with the Rams possessing the ball. But FlashWar got disconnected. Both General Puntang and I were suprised. The 49ers were more prepared for the passing attack the second game, and luckily we still have back to back offensive MVP Frank Gore lining up behind our rookie quarterback. This game he made a stake for MVP this year! Frank Gore had 6 touchdown runs of 37 yards or greater in this game! The only thing keeping him from 400 rushing yards was the fear of injury. I think this game was decided because of 4 Ram turnovers. 1.) In the 1st quarter, after a Gore 47 yard touchdown run, the ensuing kickoff was fumbled, and returned 20 yards for a consecutive score! 2.) In less than a minute after that fumble return for a touchdown, Sam Bradford threw an interception to Dashon Golston, and 37 yards later, Frank Gore scampered into the endzone. 3.) In the 2nd quarter, after a Gore 75 yard run for a touchdown, the Rams were forced to punt. 43 yards later, Frank Gore has another rushing touchdown! 4.) Later on in the 2nd quarter, the Rams were able to capitalize on a 49er interception, scoring back to back touchdowns. After forcing the Niners to punt on their ensuing drive, with 23 seconds left on the clock, instead of ending the first half down 31-35, the Rams try to drive 80 yards in 20 seconds. Sam Bradford was CRUSHED by Manny Lawson, and Justin Smith picked up the fumble for the 13 yard score before halftime! The second half was just the 49ers and Rams exchanging scores with an 10-11 point spread between the teams. The Rams scored last... But lost. (49ers 63 - Rams 59)
Rams Offense:
Like I mentioned earlier. FlashWar has always been a top 3 passer in this league. In my opinion, there isn't anyone currently in the league that can pass better than Flash now. So expect the pass, and don't expect much support from the run. In our last game, Sam Bradford had 2 attempts for -13 yards. Everyone else had 1 attempt for a total of 5 rushing attempts, for 20 yards rushing. Now he did have 643 yards passing on 68 attempts, but I've never seen him pass this much. I think he was trying to do what a former Cowboys owner tried against me during last season's regular season game. All pass no run. (the Cowboys had 11 yards rushing in that game) If you play Flash in the future, I'm sure he will run much more than he did against me. The 49ers are pretty good against the run, and I'm sure that swayed his will to run... If you are good at stopping the pass you'll be successful against the Rams. The set I saw the most (90%) was 5 WR. At the end of the game, there was a few 4 WR sets, and 1 time he ran a 3 WR/2 RB set out of shotgun. Just make sure you know how to deal with shotgun sets... It still won't be easy stopping him.
Rams Defense:
From what I saw, the Rams were running initially a 3-4 defensive set. After a few big Gore runs, he went to a blitz heavy 4-4 set. After a few more successful runs and passes, he went to a traditional 4-3 set. I think he had the most success, against me, in the 4-3 set. He didn't realize this until the second half. There were 3 reasons Gore didn't get 400 yars rushing. #55 James Laurinatis, #57 Jason Williams, and #21 OJ Atogwe. I can think of several tackles these guys made keeping me from getting really, really, big runs... Outside of these guys, there wasn't much resistance against the run... But since my run game is a little better than most, your results may vary. If you decide to pass, YOU MUST avoid OJ Atogwe. He is a star, and will make you pay if you pass against this free safety. He moves him around in his sets, and will have him play the strong safety as well. You must identify where he is pre-snap... Your quarterback rating will thank you. Outside of that, everyone else is average against the pass, so use your judgement.
As usual it was a great (difficult) game, and I look forward to my next challenge in St. Louis, on the road. I hope you have more success against him than I did...
(cause I hate the Damn Rams!)