'The Main Culprit!' Rams Weakness Exposed by Chargers?
There were two phases to the Los Angeles Rams' rush defense against the Los Angeles Chargers.
In the first half, the Rams were allowing small, grind-it-out chunk plays to running backs Joshua Kelley and Isaiah Spiller. However, in the second half, tailback Elijah Dotson blew the door off its hinges with explosive 37- and 40-yard touchdown runs that put the game out of reach, as the Chargers walked — or should we say ran — to a 34-17 win over the Rams Saturday.
Let's go chronologically and start with the first half.
On the first two drives of the opening quarter, Kelley garnered eight of the game's first 12 rushes with Spiller getting the other four. Kelley and Spiller rushed for 54 and 23 yards, respectively, helping chop down the Rams' defense on consecutive 13-play drives that both resulted in field goals.
Chargers head coach Brandon Staley saw that without All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald plugging the running lanes and wreaking havoc, he could run it down the Rams' throats — and he did.
Staley called seven-consecutive run plays to start the Chargers' second drive of the game against a majority of Rams starters, and they simply couldn't stop it. Kelley and Spiller in that stretch had runs of 5, 2, 13, 5, 7, 7, and 13 yards — with the last getting negated by a 10-yard holding penalty — all before quarterback Easton Stick attempted a pass.
"Some of the stuff early on, it felt like they were getting some good surges," head coach Sean McVay said after the game. "I felt like we could use our hands overall better. We talk about trying to be able to gap-and-a-half, play with some violence up front, and didn't feel like we played the way that we were capable of."
Now, moving on to the second half.
Spiller had a 71-yard touchdown nullified by a holding penalty early in the third quarter, but the Chargers' big-play abilities were only just getting started.
Two plays after a drive-extending pass interference on third-and-17, Chargers running back Elijah Dotson bounced off left tackle, got the edge, turned the corner, and left nothing but a cloud of dust behind him, coasting 37 yards for a touchdown.
He wasn't done, though, as his 40-yard touchdown scamper looked very similar to the first — defense doesn't set the edge, Dotson gets the corner, turns upfield and turn out the lights - the Rams party's over.
Dotson led the Chargers' gashing ground attack with 92 of their 214 yards and both of their rushing touchdowns. The only Chargers running back that didn't average at least 5.4 yards per carry was Larry Rountree III, who was held to nine yards on five attempts.
"Some of the late ones that they hit, we just lost the integrity on the edge of our defense was kind of the main culprit there," McVay said.
The Chargers' rushing total was more than any single-game total the Rams gave up all of last season. While Donald's return will help seal those inside creases, the Rams' edge defenders and linebackers need to play with the speed to prevent future big runs like the ones Dotson broke Saturday.
You can follow Casey Smith on Twitter @casey_smith2419
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