Los Angeles Rams: Stopping Kyler Murray and the Cardinals Offense

The Los Angeles Rams defense gets round two with the Arizona Cardinals this week. Their Week 4 matchup broke the Rams three game winning streak to open the season with a 37-20 loss. That game still remains the most points given up by this defense. And with Kyler Murray and Deandre Hopkins fully healthy, and James Conner picking up steam, this Cardinals offense is different than what the Rams previously faced.

The Cardinals Offense

The Cardinals are currently 10-2 and First in the NFC West. They also currently hold the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs as the top team in the Conference. The Los Angeles Rams defense will need to bring their best game in order to get this win. Especially now that the team is almost back to full strength, health wise.

Run Game

The running attack is lead by resurgent running back James Conner. The last time the Los Angeles Rams played the Cardinals in Week 4, Chase Edmonds was the lead back. Conner was still operating a high efficiency capacity. Making the most of his limited touches, scoring 8 rushing touchdowns between Week 3 and Week 8.

In Week 9, Edmonds was injured and placed on IR. Since then, Conner has completely taken over the backfield averaging 16 rushes per game (as many as 21) and 4 targets per game. And while he has yet to top 100 yards on the ground at any point this season, Conner has been generating an average of over 111 scrimmage yards per game since Week 9. While this may be the same team the Los Angeles Rams are facing for the second time, this running game has a whole different look.

Tendencies

• The offensive line is ranked 21st in run blocking by The Undroppables
• 4th overall in rushing attempts per game (31.0)
• 10th overall in rushing yards per game (124.2)
• 2nd overall in rush play percentage (48.31%)
• Most successful rushing on 2nd Down
• Kyler Murray is the most successful runner with a 65% success rate
  • Murray has a 100% success rate on 4th Down runs
• Run plays between the tackles are most successful over the Left Guard
  • Outside run plays are most successful to the outside right

Passing Attack

Kyler Murray, the 2019 Offensive Rookie of the Year, is back from an ankle injury that kept him out of three games. He looks to be at 100% and was quoted as saying, “he’s glad he didn’t come back too soon and have to manage the ankle injury the rest of the season”. Deandre Hopkins also looks to be back, although possibly not at 100%, after missing the same amount of time due to a hamstring strain.

While Murray and Hopkins were out, the run game carried them. Now that the passing attack is back to 100% Kyler can get back to spreading the ball around to his six (more than) capable receivers. He can get back to doing Kyler things. Well, not if the Los Angeles Rams defense can stop it.

DeAndre Hopkins has been having a bit of a disappointing season, especially compared to his 2020 production. This is partly due to his age, being keyed in on by the defense as the alpha receiver, and the increase in talent around him. Murray no longer has to rely on Hopkins to make plays. Fourth year wide receiver Christian Kirk is pacing the team in targets with 64, and is on pace for his best statistical year ever.

Veteran A.J. Green has been surprisingly productive despite a career low in targets. A typical X receiver, Green has been lining up in the slot almost 37% of the time (24th most in the NFL), creating mismatches with his height. Rookie Rondale Moore has been a YAC monster this year. Ranking second in the league behind Deebo Samuel with 8.6 YAC/reception. He’s not getting the targets to sustain fantasy relevancy, but when he does get the ball in his hands he is dangerous.

Zach Ertz has been filling in nicely for IR Tight End Maxx Williams, who was having himself a very nice season before getting injured. Since joining the Cardinals in Week 7, Ertz has put up a respectable stat line of 31 targets, 23 receptions, 279 yards and 3 touchdowns. Not bad for a tight end in this run happy offense operating out of the air raid offense.

Tendencies

• The offensive line is ranked 8th in pass blocking by The Undroppables
• 26th in passing attempts per game (30.9)
• 16th in passing completions per game (22.7)
• 11th in passing yards per game (244.6)
• 11th in passing touchdowns per game (1.8)
• 18th in QB sacked per game (2.3)
• 75% of all passes are short (<15 yards)
• On 3rd Down and long, deep passes are equally thrown to the deep left and deep right
  • Those passes typically are thrown to the slot receivers (Kirk and Moore)
  • Passes to the deep middle on 3rd and long typically are thrown to the taller receivers (Hopkins and Green)

Defensive Game Plan

The best way to beat speed is by attacking it with speed. Set the tone early, and don’t lay off the gas. The front seven will have their hands full with Kyler Murray. The key will be to contain him on the outside, and bring pressure up the middle. The blitz package should include dog blitzes off the edge, fire zone blitzes in second and long pass downs, nickel blitzes. Coach Morris will need to show Murray a lot of different looks to keep him uncomfortable. Run inside and outside line games, to give Aaron Donald off angles to create pass rush lanes.

In the secondary, Jalen Ramsey needs to play physical just like he did in Week 4. They don’t have the luxury to double team any one receiver this week as all 5 pass catchers (not including the running backs) can make plays. Kyler will spread the ball to whomever is open, so everyone will need to be covered. The Rams should be able to keep pace with the speed of the Cardinals so they can afford to play Man coverage with two high safeties. That Man coverage should mix with linebacker blitzes and spying Kyler with Earnest Jones or even Will Fuller.

Exploiting Tendencies

• Run line games and blitzes on run downs to attack the offensive line
• Use Nickel packages, or bring in more speed to the Box, in order to cover sideline to sideline on runs
• Use outside pressure to contain Murray and Conner
• Move Donald around across the line to create multiple points of pressure
• Protect the seams on 3rd and Long
  • The linebackers need to get deep in their drops
• When playing Zone, keep heads on a swivel for a scrambling Murray

About Post Author

Tommy Mo

author

Tommy Mo is a former D2 student-athlete that brings his decades of football experience to Downtown Rams. Tommy lives in Long Beach, CA and covers the Rams as the home town team. He also writes and oversees content creation for The Undroppables. You can find him on Twitter at @2on1FFB.

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