press on the TITANS game including tweets etc.

InvaderRam wrote:

gurley is getting big time publicity for mvp honors.

i gotta think he at least wins offensive player of the year.

and donald gets defensive player of the year.

that’d be cool.

And then also they clearly have a franchise qb in Goff.

That’s 3 first round picks in a row that must count as big scores.

2 of them in the conversation for either mvp or offensive/defensive player of the year.

I know some teams in the past have used the first round well, but who has surpassed that?

I don;t literally mean the players have to be in line for mvp etc, that’s just a way of talking about how good they are.

So 3 such 1st round players in five years.

First five years of Noll they took Greene, Bradsha, and Franco Harris. Maybe that tops the Rams a bit.

What about the Perkins/Parcells Giants? Starting with Lawrence Taylor in 1981, they took….Woolfolk, Kinard, Banks, and Adams. So, unh-unh.

It’s just not a common thing.

…

from Rams at Titans Postgame Notes (12-24-17)

– Rams Head Coach Sean McVay became the youngest head coach to win NFC West. Previously, the record was Dick Nolan, San Francisco, 1970 – 38 years old.

– Rams Head Coach Sean McVay became the youngest head coach to win his division since John Madden, Oakland in 1970 at 34 years old.

– QB Jared Goff (3,804) passed former QB Sam Bradford (3,512) for the 10th-highest and ninth-highest (3,702) single-season passing yard output in franchise history.

– Goff (28) passed Roman Gabriel (25) for the sixth-most passing touchdowns in a season in franchise history.

– Goff (16) passed Jim Everett (14 in 1992) for the fourth-highest single-season passing touchdown output on the road in franchise history.

– RB Todd Gurley had a 3-yard touchdown reception and an 80-yard touchdown reception from Goff.

– Gurley now has 19 touchdowns on the season (13 rushing, 6 receiving). Gurley passed Greg Bell (18 in 1988) for the fourth most touchdowns scored in a single season in franchise history.

– Gurley II (630) passed Amp Lee (667 in 1998) for the sixth most receiving yards by a running back in franchise history.

– Gurley (13) tied Marshall Faulk (13 in 2000) for the most touchdowns scored on the road in a single season in franchise history.

– Gurley (2,093) has passed Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson (2,026 in 1986) for the seventh most scrimmage yards in a single season in franchise history.

– Gurley has 16 rushes for 118 yards and nine receptions for 158 yards. The last Rams RB to notch 100-plus rushing and receiving yards in a game was Steven Jackson.

– Gurley (779) now has the fifth most receiving yards by a running back in a single season in franchise history. He passed Marshall Faulk (765 in 2001). Steven Jackson (806 in 2006) is fourth, Amp Lee (825 in 1997) is third and Marshall Faulk (830 in 2000) is second.

– Gurley (3,267) has passed Wendell Tyler (3,266) for ninth on the Rams all-time rushing list.

– WR Sammy Watkins notched a 3-yard touchdown reception. Watkins now has eight touchdowns this season.

– Rookie WR Cooper Kupp hauled in a 34-yard pass from Goff. Kupp now has 12, 20-plus yard receptions. Kupp also had a 14-yard touchdown pass.

– LB Cory Littleton intercepted Titans QB Marcus Mariota on their opening drive. Marked Littleton’s first career interception.

– The Rams have forced turnovers on the opening drive of the game in eight games this season.

– Littleton added a sack on Mariota, the first of his career.

Rich Hammond‏@Rich_Hammond
Rodger Saffold, on Sean McVay: “He deserves all the credit, because the staff he put together and the way we’ve been coached has been top-notch, and we all appreciate that.”

Robert Quinn: “With McVay and Wade leading this team, I don’t know what they did, but they just brought the best out of everybody, brought some new guys in and everybody rose up to the challenge.”

Saffold, on Gurley’s MVP candidacy: “When you see the numbers that Tom Brady puts up and the numbers Drew Brees puts up, they’re around the same, it seems like, every year. This guy has just been dominant, every single game, and put us in position to be NFC West champions.”

Rodger Saffold, more on McVay: “We haven’t always done everything the right way. The way he’s been coaching us, we could have been 16-0.”

Lindsey Thiry‏@LindseyThiry
Wade Phillips also keeps his streak alive. Every team where he’s taken over the defense has made it to the playoffs in the first year.

Joe Curley@vcsjoecurley
Since McVay is the youngest coach since 1938, he’s automatically the youngest coach to win a division in at least 79 years. @CVRamsClub

He’s the youngest head coach/manager to make the playoffs in the 4 major sports since Jerry Colangelo coached the 1969-70 Suns to the NBA playoffs at age 30

Alden Gonzalez@Alden_Gonzalez
Rams OLB Robert Quinn, in his seventh year with the organization: “It was worth the wait, I can tell you that.”

Rams OLB Robert Quinn, on Todd Gurley: “When things don’t go right, it seems like he always comes out and adds a spark, or gives life back to the team. TG for MVP.”

Rams DT Aaron Donald, on Todd Gurley: “MVP for sure. If he don’t win it, there’s something wrong. You see it.” .

Rams QB Jared Goff, on going from 4-12 to first place: “I guess from the outside looking in you could be surprised. But being on the inside of it and being there daily, and seeing all the changes that happened, and everything that went in the right direction this offseason, coming in through OTAs and through training camp, and trending upwards and feeling good about it. You never know how this whole season is going to play out, but we felt good about our year and coming into it. And now we are sitting here division champs. And it feels really good.”

LG Rodger Saffold exited the game early with a rib injury, but Sean McVay said, “I think he’s OK.” Saffold was in good spirits and seemed fine postgame. ILB Mark Barron, a surprising inactive, has some soreness in his Achilles and has had a multitude of other ailments this season. “We’ll have some updates on that moving forward,” McVay said. Doesn’t sound good.

==

Jared Goff has now thrown for more touchdowns in a season than any @rams QB since Kurt Warner (36, 2001). On the road in 2017, 18 TD and just 2 INT. Congrats on an NFC West title, QB1.

A post shared by J.B. Long (@ramsradio) on Dec 24, 2017 at 4:28pm PST

==

Here’s @TG3II’s 80-yard touchdown catch and run on #RamsRadio with @MJD. https://t.co/P0yuILoLWT pic.twitter.com/LmdU6j9fz8

— J.B. Long (@JB_Long) December 24, 2017

InvaderRam wrote:

http://latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-rams-titans-farmer-20171224-story.html#nt=oft01a-1li2

“He’s the most complete back I’ve ever played with, and he’s having the best season of any back I’ve ever played with,” Rams center John Sullivan said.

the same john sullivan who blocked for adrian peterson during his mvp season.

Hey invader. You have access to the Times? Mine ran out for this month. Could you post the whole article? Thanks.

Rams clinch NFC West title, home playoff game with victory over Tennessee Titans

RICH HAMMOND

link: https://www.ocregister.com/2017/12/24/rams-clinch-nfc-west-title-home-playoff-game-with-victory-over-tennessee-titans/

NASHVILLE — The moment felt slow, dramatic and almost corny, like an action scene out of one of those old football movies. The ball floated, floated and floated, touched a couple hands and fell softly to the turf.

Cue the wild celebration, the hugs, the tears, the hats and T-shirts and, amid it all, a feeling of joyous bewilderment. The Rams, who started this season as a running joke, clinched the NFC West championship Sunday with a hold-your-breath 27-23 victory over Tennessee at Nissan Stadium.

“This is big. It’s history,’” cornerback Trumaine Johnson said. “I’ve been with this team for six years and have been on the other side. Hard times. It’s all glory to God. When you look back at it, you put so much into this with your teammates, going back to training camp and OTAs. All for us. It’s been 14 years.”

The Rams (11-4) hadn’t celebrated a division title since 2003. Their coach was in high school. Their star running back (and perhaps league MVP), Todd Gurley, had just turned 9. The ensuing 14 years would include a laundry list of ineffective coaches and players and never more than eight victories in a season.

Then came Sunday, and fourth-and-4.

The Titans had the ball at the Rams’ 43, down four points with plenty of time. Quarterback Marcus Mariota rolled out of pressure for a moment, but then had Rams linebacker Connor Barwin on his heels. Mariota heaved a pass into a cluster of players from both teams, and it got knocked to the ground.

“It seemed like that ball hung up in the air for a long time,” Rams coach Sean McVay said.

Game over. Season, just beginning, thanks in large part to Gurley, who boosted his MVP chances with an extraordinary effort that included 118 rushing yards, 158 receiving yards and two touchdowns. After the game, Gurley smiled broadly while wearing a NFC West champions hat.

The Rams will be either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the NFC and will host a first-round playoff game in two weeks. Four months ago, that idea seemed preposterous.

The Rams went 4-12 in 2016 with the NFL’s worst offense, then hired the youngest coach in NFL history. It was an absurdly bold move, one that seemingly would take years to pay off, if it ever would.

Former coach Jeff Fisher attended Sunday’s game and watched from a luxury box. He couldn’t have recognized what took place on the field. McVay transformed the Rams from laughingstocks to champions.

“He deserves all the credit,” veteran offensive lineman Rodger Saffold said, “because the staff he put together and the way we’ve been coached has been top-notch, and we all appreciate that. … We haven’t always done everything the right way. The way he’s been coaching us, we could have been 16-0.”

Getting to 11 wins was hard enough. The Rams didn’t totally need this game. They could have clinched the division with a final-week win against San Francisco next Sunday, but why leave it to chance?

The Rams muddled through much of this game. Their new kicker missed a field goal and an extra point. The offensive line gave up a strip-sack that the Titans returned for a touchdown. The special-teams unit, usually a strength, made a handful of uncharacteristic mistakes.

Yet the Rams hung tough against a Titans team that probably needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. The game was tied 13-13 at halftime and 20-20 at the end of the third quarter, before Tennessee’s Ryan Succop made a 27-yard field goal to give the Titans the lead early in the fourth quarter.

The Rams responded with a six-play, 68-yard drive, and scored the winning touchdown 3:09 into the fourth quarter, when quarterback Jared Goff connected with receiver Cooper Kupp for a circus-catch, 14-yard touchdown to put the Rams up 27-23 with 11:51 to go.

The Rams’ defense, porous at times, came up big in the fourth quarter and stopped the Titans on three drives, including the final one. That’s when Barwin, who broke his forearm last month, chased down Mariota on fourth down and forced him into the game-clinching incomplete pass.

“I’m just thinking, don’t let him run for the first down,” Barwin said. “I knew it was fourth down and I knew he was going to run it if he had the chance, so I just tried to cut him off and run as fast as I could.”

All around the Rams’ locker room, there were redemption stories. It started with management, which got mocked for McVay’s hiring. It went to Gurley, whose status as an elite NFL running back was doubted last year. It went to a defense that underachieved last season, even with solid talent.

Most of all, perhaps, it centered on Goff, who had been dismissed by many as a “bust” after his rookie season of 2016, in which he started seven games and lost of them and, at times, looked lost himself, thanks in large part to substandard coaching, blocking and receiving targets.

Exactly one year earlier, on Dec. 24, after the Rams’ penultimate game of 2016, Goff stood, subdued but unbroken, and made a promise to Rams fans during his postgame news conference. Goff said he would give “everything in my heart and soul to get it all fixed.”

Goff threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns against the Titans. After the game, Goff started to pull on the dress shirt he wore upon arrival. Instead, he stuck with the blue T-shirt he had pulled on moments earlier, one that designated him as a champion.

“You never know how the whole season is going to play out,” Goff said, “but we felt good about our year coming into it, and now we are sitting here division champions and it feels pretty good.”

Todd Gurley leads Rams to win over Titans, division title

Alden Gonzalez

http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/37031/todd-gurley-leads-rams-to-win-over-titans-division-title

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Aaron Donald wore an “NFC West Champions” cap and smiled like he never has in front of a camera.

“The last time I won a championship, I was 7 years old,” Donald revealed. “It’s been a long time, and I’m just happy — happy to be a part of it with these guys.”

Backed by another MVP-caliber performance from Todd Gurley and a defense that buckled down late, Donald’s Los Angeles Rams beat the Tennessee Titans, 27-23, at Nissan Stadium on Christmas Eve and thus secured the franchise’s first division title since 2003.

Watching from a luxury suite was their former coach, Jeff Fisher, who was fired 13 games into a 2016 season that finished with a 4-12 record. Now the Rams, under 31-year-old rookie head coach Sean McVay, are 11-4, sitting as the No. 3 seed in their conference and getting ready to host the first NFL playoff game in L.A. in nearly 25 years.

“I’m still sitting here just trying to wrap my mind around it,” Alec Ogletree said, a big smile on his face. “I’m excited, happy. And just thankful and blessed to be a part of this.”

Many had a hand in it, but nobody more so than Gurley, who amassed 276 scrimmage yards and scored two touchdowns on Sunday.

The Rams fell behind by four near the midway point of the second quarter, when a Jurrell Casey sack of Jared Goff led to a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. But on the next drive, Gurley took a screen pass and went untouched for an 80-yard score. The Rams went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Titans’ 13-yard line near the midway point of the third quarter, largely because their new kicker, Sam Ficken, missed an extra point and field goal. But Gurley took what could’ve been a 5-yard loss and turned it into a 10-yard gain, putting the ball at the 3-yard line to set up an easy touchdown pass from Goff to Sammy Watkins.

The Rams trailed again, 23-20 at the start of the fourth quarter. But Goff capped a six-play, 68-yard drive with a pass to a diving Cooper Kupp in the corner of the end zone. It became the winning touchdown, thanks to a defense that held a Marcus Mariota-led Titans offense to 64 yards — and zero points — over the last 16 plays.

The drive was made possible by Gurley.

“He’s been doing that all year,” Rams outside linebacker Robert Quinn said. “When things don’t go right, it seems like he always comes out and adds a spark, or gives life back to the team.”

Gurley made 10 catches for 158 yards and needed only 21 carries to pick up 118 rushing yards against a defense that entered the game allowing the third-fewest rushing yards in the NFL. With that, he became the first player since Herschel Walker in 1986 with at least 100 rushing yards and 150 receiving yards in the same game, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Gurley, with 2,093 scrimmage yards on the season, is the third player in NFL history with 2,000 scrimmage yards, 10-plus rushing touchdowns and more than five receiving touchdowns in a single season, joining Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk and O.J. Simpson. His 19 touchdowns easily lead the NFL. And after the game, several Rams players pushed hard for Gurley to win the MVP, an award that has gone to quarterbacks after nine of the past 10 seasons.

Gurley was more excited about the division championship.

“Breathtaking” was how he described the scene in the postgame locker room. “Everybody was happy for each other and giving hugs and telling everybody that we love each other. That’s what football is all about — getting to have this feeling, winning games and a playoff spot. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

At this time last year, the Rams dropped a heartbreaker at home to the division-rival San Francisco 49ers. It was their sixth of seven consecutive losses to end their first season back in L.A. They didn’t have a head coach or a competent offense, and they had no idea whether they actually had a franchise quarterback. Goff stood behind the podium that Saturday and said, “I promise you guys it will get fixed. Everything in my heart and soul to get it all fixed.”

Three-hundred and sixty-five days later, Goff went 22-of-38 for 301 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions in a game that wrapped up the division.

He was asked how the turnaround happened so quickly.

“I guess from the outside looking in you could be surprised,” Goff said. “But being on the inside of it and being there daily, and seeing all the changes that happened, and everything that went in the right direction this offseason, coming in through OTAs and through training camp, and trending upward and feeling good about it — you never know how this whole season is going to play out, but we felt good about our year and coming into it. And now we are sitting here division champs, and it feels really good.”

Rams get an ‘A’ for clinching NFC West

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-week-16-grades-rams-get-an-a-for-clinching-nfc-west-browns-get-an-f/?ref=yfp

The Rams needed a win to clinch the NFC West on Sunday, and it seems that Todd Gurley took that as a personal challenge. Apparently he also told Jared Goff about that challenge, because those two players led the Rams to a wild victory in Tennessee.
With the Rams needing a win to take home their first division title since 2003, Gurley went out and totaled 276 yards and two touchdowns — and the Rams needed all of that — in their 27-23 defeat of the Titans.

The most impressive part about Gurley’s performance is that he threw himself to the front of the MVP race by doing something that no NFL player had done in more than 30 years.
Of Gurley’s 276 yards in Tennessee, 118 came on the ground and 158 through the air, making him the first player since Herschel Walker in 1986 to rack up 100 rushing yards and 150 receiving yards in the same game. Gurley’s yardage total was also the highest number put up by any NFL player this season.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned since the arrival of Sean McVay, it’s that he knows how to use every weapon he has on offense, and Gurley is proof of that. To give you an idea of how much McVay has opened up the Rams offense, just consider this crazy fact: With one play against the Titans, Gurley topped his highs for touchdown catches and receiving yards in a game under Jeff Fisher.

CONFIRMED: @TG3II is going to #HaveADay.

This man cannot be stopped. #LARams pic.twitter.com/4nVVXTaeKk

— NFL (@NFL) December 24, 2017

Before McVay’s arrival, Gurley had zero touchdown catches under Fisher, and his highest receiving total was just 49 yards. Gurley topped both those numbers with just that one 80-yard touchdown catch against the Titans. Since the hiring of McVay, Gurley has suddenly become one of the most versatile players in the NFL. Under McVay, Gurley has now caught six touchdown passes, including two Sunday against the Titans, after none in two seasons with Fisher.

With just 10 catches and 22 carries in the game, Gurley averaged an amazing 8.6 yards per touch. You can basically waltz down the field when your running back is putting up numbers like that.

Gurley’s game against Tennessee was actually so amazing that Goff’s performance almost became an afterthought, even though he threw for 304 yards and four touchdowns. When you hear this Rams team being compared to the Greatest Show on Turf teams of the early 2000s, it’s not as crazy as it sounds, and Goff is the proof. The Rams’ second-year quarterback is putting up numbers that Rams fans haven’t seen since Kurt Warner played.

Jared Goff joins Kurt Warner as the only quarterbacks in @RamsNFL history with multiple games of 300+ pass yards, 4+ pass TD & 0 INT in the same season@kurt13warner did it three times during his 2001 MVP season

— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) December 24, 2017

Now that the Rams have won the division, they can starting setting their sights on something bigger, like winning the Super Bowl. Gurley seems ready to carry them there if that’s what needs to be done.

Although we gave the headline to Todd Gurley and Jared Goff, it’s definitely worth noting that the Rams were once again dominant on defense. The Rams only gave up 16 points on defense, with the other seven coming after the Titans returned a Jared Goff fumble for a touchdown. The Rams’ defense came up especially big in the fourth quarter: With L.A. clinging to a 27-23 lead, the Titans got the ball three times in the quarter, but came nowhere close to scoring.

Titans: B-
This game is a good example of why no one in Tennessee seems to know if Marcus Mariota is actually a franchise quarterback. At times, he looks like the quarterback of the future for the Titans; at other times, he looks like he’s playing football for the first time. One of Mariota’s most inexplicable plays was an interception that he threw on Tennessee’s opening possession.

On his first pass of the day, Marcus Mariota was intercepted by @RamsNFL Cory Littleton

Per Next Gen Stats, Mariota entered Week 16 with the worst passer rating on tight window throws (17.5) this season among 30 QBs

Tight Window: Less than 1-yard of separation at catch

— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) December 24, 2017

The pick hurt because the Rams turned it into a touchdown just three plays later. Mariota also gave his team no chance to win when he made a crazy throw on fourth down on Tennessee’s final drive of the game. That’s not exactly how you want to bookend your performance when your team is fighting for a playoff berth.