Rams' Mike LaFleur Addresses Offensive Failures in Atlanta

LaFleur Speaks His Mind

LaFleur was asked a variety of questions regarding the Rams' offensive woes in Atlanta, with the Rams' offensive coordinator refusing to put forth anything but the flat-out truth. LaFleur was first asked about the play of the Rams' offensive line.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford was put under pressure all night long.

“First, I want to give credit to Atlanta," stated LaFleur. "I thought they did some really good stuff with their front. They were chopping it up pretty good and they made it challenging in some ways. I thought our guys battled their butts off."

"We know it wasn't our finest hour and credit to them on that night for beating us. It will be great learning experiences for us going forward. Luckily, that wasn't a game that knocked us out of the playoffs by any means. We still get to play this Sunday and will work to win that and then we will worry about the playoffs when we get there. But it was a good learning experiences for us and we'll only be better from it.”

LaFleur went on to detail the lessons he took away from the loss.

“There were a lot," stated LaFleur. "We've played pretty good football for the better half since the bye. Even before the bye we were playing, I wouldn't call it great football, but we were playing winnable football. That game from every facet, every player, every coach, it was a collective effort of not playing, winning football."

"I think it's just pointing those things out, handling them, doing your 1/11th, handling your job, doing your job within your position, within your unit. When we do that, I think we all see what that clip looks like. So again, credit to them, the defense has a say, those guys were ready to freaking go and they got us that day but sometimes those things can be better moving forward since we had to go through that.”

LaFleur spoke about their uncharacteristically slow start on offense and how quickly things can go sideways in the NFL.

“We have," stated LaFleur. "I want to say in our first quarter points, especially compared to the year before, which was brutally bad, we've done a really good job of starting fast. Three-and-outs kill us, they kill any team and having that three-and-out. It was a great job by Matthew recognizing the pressure. [Wide Receiver Konata Mumpfield] ‘Mumph’ just ended up being an inch or two short and next thing you know, you're punting."

"It wasn't even a long drive by Atlanta, but it felt like we were off the field for a minute there timewise. Then you get back out there and you have a pretty sustainable drive and a little miscue on fourth-and-one, so now you're behind right there. It just was one of those days. Again, I'm not going to get into the total specifics because I don't even want to put out there what we're telling our guys about what we did right and what we did wrong. It's just a lot of correctable moments.”