How the Rams and Patriots built the most consistent offensive lines in the NFL

Los Angeles Rams starting right tackle Rob Havenstein rolls his eyes. He’s just been told that there’s a statistic that helps show how the Rams and New England Patriots offensive lines have been indispensable to their teams’ success, and his skepticism is obvious. “I mean, stats are stats…” he says, laughing.

But once he hears the stat in question, Havenstein perks up. The Rams and Patriots have had their offensive lines intact for the longest time of any two teams this season, according to ESPN Stats & Info. The Rams O-line starters rank first in most snaps taken (1,098), yards gained (7,118) and touchdowns (56) when on the field together; the Patriots starting line ranks second in all three categories.

“That’s a great stat, you’re right,” says Havenstein. “Being that it is the offensive line, cohesion is a huge thing: it’s five guys playing as one, not five individuals. To have the same guys around, and have guys be healthy — you know how people play, the little different tendencies everyone has. You can come up with some communication that you don’t need to verbalize, like you might for someone who’s new.”

The offensive line is unique among football position groups in the level of teamwork required. Synergy has to be seamless and instant, with a small margin for error in a game that’s already defined by inches and seconds.

“Everyone on the line needs to know what everyone else is doing,” Havenstein adds. “Knowing how guys are going to hit different blocks, where the double teams are, where the stress of the play is going to be. I think a lot of that just comes with guys playing together a decent amount.”

A large part of what makes that consistency possible is injury prevention. It’s exceedingly rare for a team not to lose any O-line starters to injury, something that the Rams have done for two years in a row.

“The coaches have done a tremendous job listening to the data that’s been collected throughout practices by the strength staff and the training staff,” says starting right guard Austin Blythe, alluding to the granular data about exertion that’s now gathered via jersey tracking devices at most NFL practices. It’s the same kind of tracking that provides the NFL’s much-touted in-game Next Gen Stats. “How many yards we’re running, exertion overall — the coaches know it plays a part in today’s game. It’s definitely not arbitrary, everything is planned.”

In line with the running narrative of the Rams and Patriots’ matchup, where the Rams are using technology and new (to the pro level) techniques to try to reinvent the NFL offense, the Patriots are sticking to the system: an offensive line specific subsection of the Patriot way.

”There’s a lot of people who come in and say, ‘Oh my God, what are we in for?’” says longtime Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, who has been with the team on and off since 1982. Over that span, he’s developed one of the most consistent units in the league, one that is currently also its 26th cheapest. “You gotta learn a whole new system, one that’s been in place for 20 years — and it’s not an easy system to come into. There are a lot of demands that are put upon you.”

For the Pats, getting a lot of reps in practice remains a priority over calibrating exertion: old school versus new school. “Honestly, I don’t think we do too much of the limiting reps,” says Patriots offensive lineman LaAdrian Waddle. “If anything, we’re on the opposite side — more about getting those reps in to be as prepared as possible. Not overdoing it, but we definitely like to get our reps in.”

“We’re probably one of the few teams that was in padded practice throughout the season,” says Scarnecchia. “We did 13 of them. We had one last week, we’re going to have one tomorrow. That’s the system — it’s not a country club.”

Patriots starting right tackle Marcus Cannon credits the practice squad with pushing the unit during all those rehearsals. “From the outside looking in, you might think there are just five guys working hard,” says Cannon. “But it wouldn’t be right to just say that it’s us, because those guys are right there along with us, working with us, struggling with us, sweating with us, bleeding with us.”

No matter how they got there, the remarkable continuity on the Rams and Patriots offensive lines have been vital to their success to this point — two of the less-lauded weapons on teams loaded with talent and top-tier coaches. “The consistency of them playing together is going to elevate the rest of the offense,” says Rams assistant offensive line coach Andy Dickerson. “All those stats for the other players, they contributed to that.”