the media tribe on the BENGALS game

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
I certainly understand the attitude of “a win’s a win.” But the Rams do, and should, have high expectations for themselves. Getting back on track like this is important, but much more is needed.

Andrew Whitworth now has a victory over every existing NFL team. I’m not even sure if the Browns can say that.

Rams were held without a first-quarter touchdown for the 7th time in 8 games. They had only one possession, of course.

Dante Fowler got full credit for that last sack so he now has 6.5 for the season, including 4.5 in the last 6 quarters.

Cooper Kupp is at 220 receiving yards. Here are the top 3 games in Rams history:
1. Willie Anderson, 336 yards at New Orleans, 11/26/89
2. Jim Benton, 303 yards at Detroit, 11/22/45
3. Harold Jackson, 238 yards vs. Dallas, 10/14/73

Rams exhale after another win but know this level of play isn’t good enough

Vincent Bonsignore

https://theathletic.com/1328575/2019/10/27/rams-exhale-after-another-win-but-know-this-level-of-play-isnt-good-enough/?source=shared-article

LONDON — Bloodied and reeling after a three-punch barrage sent them crashing to the canvass, the Rams’ sense of urgency was at its highest level three weeks ago. Then a fortuitous break in the schedule delivered the hapless Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals to their doorstep, and that bit of good fortune, coupled with a feeling of imperativeness, awakened them just in time to save their season.

A two-game sweep of the soft belly of their schedule ensued, culminating with Cooper Kupp’s brilliant takeover of prestigious Wembley Stadium on Sunday in a 24-10 win over the Bengals. For the moment, the Rams seem to have averted the disaster they were facing at the start of the month. And while they’re not wholly satisfied or content, they will happily embrace the winning streak and the 5-3 record they’ve managed as they start their bye week.

“We’ll get our players a chance to get themselves healthy, get away a little bit,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “Our staff will get some rest and look at ourselves, figure out what can we do a great job of from an evaluation standpoint, especially these first eight weeks, and then putting ourselves in a position to hopefully peak at the right time.”

The second half of the season awaits, and the Rams’ recent surge provides renewed hope and at least a chance to chase down the division-leading San Francisco 49ers and second-place Seattle Seahawks during the final eight games of the season. There is still time and opportunity to achieve even their most ambitious goals, and given where they stood just a couple weeks ago, the good vibes swirling around their locker room on Sunday seemed justified.

“I like our chances. I like our odds against anybody,” Rams safety Eric Weddle said when asked about his mindset as the second half of the season approaches. “When we play at a high level and communicate and do things we’re supposed to do, I like our chances against anybody.”

He said it with conviction. But there was also a fair warning.

“We can’t have little lapses here and there,” Weddle said.

He was talking in generalities, but parts of Sunday provided specific examples. As did plenty of other wobbly, inefficient stretches and sequences during the first eight games. Some they survived; many others they didn’t. It all adds up to a less-than-stellar record and a third-place standing in the NFC West and explains why we can’t yet go all-in on these 2019 Rams.

A blowout loomed Sunday. Kupp totaled 165 of his career-best 220 receiving yards in the first half, as the Bengals continually lost track of the Rams’ receivers. Problem is, the Rams’ defense couldn’t quite put a first-half clamp of the Bengals’ offense, which resulted in a rather confusing 17-10 Rams halftime lead.

The defense restored order in the second half and recorded a shutout, but even though Jared Goff and all his weapons repeatedly got the ball in favorable positions, the offense that lit up the Bengals in the first half pretty much disappeared over the final two quarters.

The Rams never lost control, and never once did the game feel in doubt, but the Bengals marched into the Rams’ red zone twice in the last five minutes with chances to pull within one score. They surrendered on downs at the Rams’ 6- and 9-yard-lines, respectively, but what should have been a complete takedown of a winless opponent turned into something far less impressive.

Once again, the Rams’ inability to establish a potent run game made it difficult to close out an easy win. Todd Gurley managed just 44 yards on 10 carries and wasn’t on the field at all in the fourth quarter. Darrell Henderson wasn’t much better, with 49 yards on 11 carries, and he certainly wasn’t up to the challenge of closing out the game when the Rams kept feeding him in the fourth quarter.

The quality of opponent rendered the inefficiency moot. But on another day, against a better team, it might very well have resulted in their demise.

Goff had 273 yards in the first half, on 13-of-19 passing. He completed just four of his 12 second-half passes for 99 yards. Kupp had five catches for 165 yards through the first two quarters but then had just two more for 55 yards.

The Bengals simply weren’t good enough to take advantage.

But the NFC is loaded with other teams that can — the Seahawks and 49ers among them.

Once again, the Rams sabotaged themselves at too many junctures with costly penalties — nine total, for 59 yards. They survived, but mostly because they were playing against a team that is barreling toward the first winless season in franchise history.

That makes sizing up the Rams so difficult.

For all the flashes of brilliance, for all the displays of power, there have been far too many moments of inefficiency. The Rams have lacked staying power this year. Where prolonged success was the norm last year, there are noticeable gaps.

It might not be glaring.

But unless they regain consistency, it could be their undoing.

“And you go all the way back to the games that we weren’t able to pull out that W, it’s little things that I think show up throughout the game that can change the course of a game,” Kupp said. “Play against some good teams and they take advantage of small things and it changes the course of games.

“And that’s what I’m saying, we’ve got to be on our Ps and Qs. The little things, the little nuances of the game that you have to be good at to be a good team in this league, because there’s so many competitive teams, so many good players, they’ll make you pay if you make mistakes. It’s on us to focus in and make sure we’re not making those mistakes.”

As the Rams prepared for one last night in London before heading home to Los Angeles on Monday, they were already thinking ahead to reestablishing their power and balance. They all feel the answers are within their building and are there for the finding. And they are eager to get it figured out.

“I think it is going to be a lot of things,” McVay said. “It’s hard to point out one thing individually. But I do think that there’s going to be a lot of things in all three phases that, the types of coaches (and) the types of players we have, with the standards that we expect to operate with day in, day out and game in, game out, there’s definitely going to be some good things we can look at. And it’s nice to feel that way after two wins.”

The Rams took care of business the last two weeks to point themselves back in the right direction. But as they left Wembley Stadium, there was recognition of the work ahead of them.

“You never take for granted wins in this league,” Weddle said. “Everyone knows where we were at two-and-a-half weeks ago. And rightfully so. We weren’t playing well, we let a game get away and we played terrible against ‘Frisco. You know, we didn’t play well. So you reel it back in and as I was telling the guys, we all get a little bit better, just look at yourself first.

“And look, (we were) six games in. You never want to start too fast in this league and then you hit a lull. I believe we hit some adversity up front, we got through it, and now we’re gonna be hitting our stride in the second half. And that’s what you want, ultimately. You want to be playing your best ball in November and December.”

This is tough. I think it's clear these three are in the first tier
49ers
Saints
Packers

Next up,
Seahawks
Vikings
Rams

Then Eagles and Cowboys https://t.co/ZVESRwTaeW

— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) October 28, 2019

Deadpool

Last Goff completed 65% of his passes, why is he going backwards on comp. percentage, esp if the line is playing better? It’s strange to me because he can absolutely drop one in the bucket, then miss a guy by a mile. IMO, its not the OL, its not the lack of a running game, but its the fact that defenses are throwing a lot more zone coverage against him, and he has struggled against zone coverage.

Its a mixed bag with pressure for Goff

He’s on pace to be blitzed over 200 times, last year only 151
he’s on pace to be hurried about 60 times, last year it was 66
he’s on pace to be hit about 50 times, last year it was 34
he’s on pace to be sacked 24 times, last year it was 33
he’s on pace to scramble 6 times, last year he scrambled 18 times

So as far as hurries+Hits+sacks

2018 – 133
2019 – 134 (on pace)
so, is it really the line? (yes it kinda is)

But Goff is completing a lower % of passes, his bad throw % is up, and his WRs have already dropped as many passes (13) as they did last year.

PFF ReFocused: Los Angeles Rams 24, Cincinnati Bengals 10

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-week-8-pff-refocused-los-angeles-rams-24-cincinnati-bengals-10

LOS ANGELES RAMS

After a quiet (by his standards) last few weeks, Cooper Kupp exploded in a big way against the Bengals in Week 8. The highlight of his day was a 65-yard touchdown late in the first half, but he had plenty of big plays working over the middle of the field all day in this one.

The box score is going to look great for Jared Goff, but he did get away with a couple of poor throws that should have resulted in interceptions. He targeted Kupp early and often in this one, and the Bengals had no answer for them all night.

CINCINNATI BENGALS

The Bengals’ secondary struggled to contain Kupp all game long, especially in the middle of the field where he did his most damage. There were a few occasions where defenders had the opportunity to make an interception, but they were dropped/misplayed. As a result, the defense was unable to make any game-changing plays for their team.

The Bengals’ defensive front struggled generating any pressure on Goff, and that resulted in numerous big plays down the field in the passing game for the Rams