The Stinking Truth podcast presented by Core Water. I just think those teams, when you talk to their players, they'll tell you, they have a better base knowledge because of the guys that they have played for, because of Beletchuck and because of Sean McVey, that their base knowledge of football has grown immensely because of their coaching. It's not just enough to tell you what to do, but they want to tell you how to do it, why you're doing it, and how eventually it's going to win you a football game. And that sounds simplistic, but it's really hard.
And I just think talking to their players, they just have a better understanding and base knowledge of football in general. And the similarities of these two teams are really great, and they are exceptionally well coached. I've had a lot of people ask me a couple of questions, so I'm just going to tell you my thought process on this. How do you block your end on them?
Well, I've game-planned against Lawrence Taylor, I've game-planned against Ryan J. White, Warren Sapp, John Randall. You name it some of the best of the best junior set-up guys like that, Derek Thomas. And one thing that we always did was we wanted those guys to be involved in the game.
We wanted those guys to have to make plays at the point of attack. We never tried to run away from those guys because they're so athletic and they rely on that athleticism. Turn tight corners to get you in the backfield, strip sack fumble type of stuff. So what we always want to do is run at that guy, because when you run at that guy, eventually he has to stop his feet.
Therefore, he limits or you limit his athleticism. So don't run away from him. Run out. If I'm facing Aaron Donald, I'm doing everything in my power to give him as many looks at the point of attack as possible.
So I influence with a guard, I track him with the other guard. Now I slide the tight end across the formation and ear hole him on the inside of the Wamboth. Then I do it from the other side of the tight end going outside in and Wamboth on the outside ear hole with that tight end. I run a fullback out at him and block him with a full back.
I double team at the point of attack. And what I want to make him do is get involved in the run game. I want him to have to defend the run. I want him to have to stop his feet and make tackles.
And even if it's a tackle for no gain or a yard or two yards, what that's going to help me do is block him in play action. So if I get a five-step drop with no hitches and I know my quarterback is going to get ready quick, I can up kick him. I can jump him and show run even though it's a pass. And I'll probably be able to survive one-on-one with that type of block.
So it's imperative that you game plan him that way. I will tell you one thing that's really interesting to me about the Rams. The Rams base everything out of wide zone. So it's 19 hand off, it's 18 hand off, it's 18 hand off force, 19 hand off force.
It's a 19 pitch, 19 toss, 18 pitch, 18 toss. And all that really means is the back has a path toward the hip, the inside hip of the tight end. But he's really trying to get the defense to stretch and find that cut back lane. And he wants to enter the line of scrimmage where that tight end actually lines up.
Not where he happens to block the guard, but where he lines up. And one issue the Patriots have had is stopping the wide zone blocking scheme. They've always had a difficult time doing that. So much so that when Eric Mangini left the league and came to work for ESPN with me for a couple of years, he pulled me inside one afternoon and I did about a two-hour tutorial on what we try to do when it comes to zone running.
So I really feel like if the Rams can solidify that, they can get their backs going. All that play pass stuff, all the play action boot keeps up. That becomes a very pivotal part of the game plan. The Nukem Patriots have played exceptionally well up front.
They keep Tom Brady clean up the middle with that run game and the things they've been able to do. They're a tough team to beat. A lot of people have looked at Rob Gronkowski like he's losing his step. Let me just tell you something about Rob Gronkowski.
He had one of the biggest effects of any player in the divisional playoff round. He had one catch. He was absolutely whipping ass and dispensing justice on the line for the scrimmage blocking defensive ends one-on-one, blocking line back to one-on-one and just crushing people. So he's exceptional with that kind of stuff.
I think it comes down to this. I think it's going to be a great ball game. I think it's going to be a very tightly contested ball game. And it really, as it always does, comes down to turnovers and can you rattle Jared Goff.
One thing I've talked to co-ordinators about, and this is different co-ordinators who have faced him, have always felt like if he throws the ball a long time, if it's out of his hand quickly to his first raid, he's exceptionally accurate. Where you can eliminate some of the accuracy. If you make him hit and get off the first read and throw it to a secondary receiver, that's where some co-ordinators that I've talked to have felt like, they've got a chance to at least slow down the passing game of the Los Angeles Rams. This is going to be a great game.
There's no question about it. I'm just not going to pick against the Noodle Patriots. I'm not going to pick against Tom Brady. I think it's going to be one of those 31, 27 type ball games, 31, 28 type ball games I'm going with the Noodle Patriots.
For everybody involved in the Stinkin Truth Podcast, we appreciate you. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back with you to wrap it up next week. The Stinkin Truth Podcast, presented by Core Water. Subscribe to the Stinkin Truth Podcast via Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, SoundCloud, and plenty of other podcast platforms.