I notice the Rams were bad in short-yardage rushing situations last year. Not just bad, but historically bad. As in arguably the worst numbers in the last 10 years.
Andy carefully logs all of the plays were opponents need 1 yard to either score or keep a drive alive. We like to see what teams do in those situations – which backs they use, and how effective they are.
But the Rams last year ran the ball on only 12 of those plays all year. That was 5 fewer than any other team. It was 30 fewer than the Ravens, who had a league-high 42 of those plays.
They also were simply lousy at them. They converted only 5 of those 12. Every other team in the league converted over half of their runs in those situations. And by “convert”, I mean they either scored or keep the drive alive by moving the sticks on third or fourth down.
The 5 successful runs is the fewest by any team in the last 10 years. The 12 attempts is the 2nd-fewest. And the success rate (42 percent) is the 2nd-lowest of any team in the last 10 years.
St. Louis was pretty good passing in those situations (11 of 15).
Tre Mason sparked the running game some in the second half of the season, but he was only 1 of 3 on those kind of plays.
| "AND ONE" RUSHING NUMBERS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Team | Good | Att | Pct |
| 1. | Philadelphia | 19 | 24 | 79.2% |
| 2. | Seattle | 21 | 27 | 77.8% |
| 3. | Tampa Bay | 16 | 21 | 76.2% |
| 4. | Dallas | 25 | 33 | 75.8% |
| 5. | Denver | 25 | 33 | 75.8% |
| 6. | NY Jets | 23 | 31 | 74.2% |
| 7. | Cincinnati | 24 | 33 | 72.7% |
| 8. | Detroit | 16 | 22 | 72.7% |
| 9. | Chicago | 21 | 29 | 72.4% |
| 10. | Pittsburgh | 19 | 27 | 70.4% |
| 11. | Atlanta | 16 | 23 | 69.6% |
| 12. | Cleveland | 16 | 23 | 69.6% |
| 13. | San Diego | 13 | 19 | 68.4% |
| 14. | Houston | 24 | 36 | 66.7% |
| 15. | NY Giants | 22 | 33 | 66.7% |
| 16. | Miami | 16 | 24 | 66.7% |
| 17. | Arizona | 14 | 21 | 66.7% |
| 18. | Buffalo | 15 | 23 | 65.2% |
| 19. | Kansas City | 15 | 23 | 65.2% |
| 20. | Tennessee | 11 | 17 | 64.7% |
| 21. | Carolina | 18 | 28 | 64.3% |
| 22. | New Orleans | 17 | 27 | 63.0% |
| 23. | New England | 25 | 40 | 62.5% |
| 24. | Minnesota | 13 | 21 | 61.9% |
| 25. | Jacksonville | 19 | 31 | 61.3% |
| 26. | Baltimore | 25 | 42 | 59.5% |
| 27. | Green Bay | 16 | 27 | 59.3% |
| 28. | San Francisco | 16 | 27 | 59.3% |
| 29. | Indianapolis | 17 | 29 | 58.6% |
| 30. | Washington | 16 | 28 | 57.1% |
| 31. | Oakland | 12 | 22 | 54.5% |
| 32. | St. Louis | 5 | 12 | 41.7% |
—Ian Allan