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  • February 28, 2019 at 1:18 pm #98375

    In reply to: autophagy and apoptosis

    Avatar photonittany ram
    Moderator

    I’ve read a PNAS paper on Yoshinori Ohsumi’s autophagy work and also a 46 minute talk on it by Ohsumi himself and I have yet to find his endorsement for fasting as a weight loss mechanism.

    I’m not saying the fasting method described in the video is unhealthy or doesn’t work as Dr Bosworth says, but I do find it interesting that she is trying to associate her fasting/keto diet with the research of a Nobel Prize winning scientist who may never have even heard of it.

    A quick google search shows she’s not the only one. There a many “health” sites out there making a connection between fasting and his autophagy work. Autophagy is likely a very important survival mechanism when cells are stressed and/or starved, but Ohsumi doesn’t say we should be “fasting for 7 days” as Dr. Bosworth’s 80 year old patients are.

    There is research that suggests calorie restriction can improve health and longevity, but it’s far from proven. See below…

    https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/calorie-restriction-and-fasting-diets-what-do-we-know

    Calorie Restriction and Fasting Diets: What Do We Know?
    On this page:

    What Are the Different Forms of Calorie Restriction and Fasting?
    What’s the Evidence from Animal Studies?
    What’s the Evidence from Human Studies of Calorie Restriction?
    What’s the Evidence from Human Studies of Fasting?
    How Does Calorie Restriction or Fasting Work?
    What’s Next in Research?
    Should You Try Calorie Restriction or a Fasting Diet?
    You may have heard about calorie restriction and fasting diets and wondered why they’re getting so much attention in the news. Aren’t they just other terms for dieting to lose weight?

    No, they’re not. Calorie restriction means reducing average daily caloric intake below what is typical or habitual, without malnutrition or deprivation of essential nutrients. In a fasting diet, a person does not eat at all or severely limits intake during certain times of the day, week, or month. A practical effect of a fasting diet may be fewer calories because there is less time for regular eating.a small plate of salad

    These eating patterns are being studied as possible ways to maintain good health and live longer. They are not temporary weight-loss plans. Interest in their potential health and aging benefits stems from decades of research with a variety of animals, including worms, crabs, snails, fruit flies, and rodents. In many experiments, calorie-restricted feeding delayed the onset of age-related disorders and, in some studies, extended lifespan.

    Given these results in animals, researchers are studying if and how calorie restriction or a fasting diet affects health and lifespan in people. Many studies have shown that obese and overweight people who lose weight by dieting can improve their health. But scientists still have much to learn about how calorie restriction and fasting affect people who are not overweight, including older adults. They also don’t know whether these eating patterns are safe or even doable in the long run. In short, there’s not enough evidence to recommend any such eating regimen to the public.

    What Are the Different Forms of Calorie Restriction and Fasting?
    Calorie restriction is a consistent pattern of reducing average daily caloric intake, while fasting regimens primarily focus on the frequency of eating. The fasting diet may or may not involve a restriction in the intake of calories during non-fasting times.

    There are a variety of fasting diets, sometimes called “intermittent fasting.” You may have read about:

    Time-restricted feeding—Meals are consumed within a limited number of hours (such as 6-8 hours) each day, with nothing consumed during the other hours.
    Alternate-day fasting—Eating is unrestricted every other day, and no or minimal calories can be consumed on the days in between.
    5:2 eating pattern—Eating is unrestricted for 5 straight days each week, followed by 2 days of restricted caloric intake.
    Periodic fasting—Caloric intake is restricted for multiple consecutive days, such as 5 days in a row once a month, and unrestricted on all other days.
    What’s the Evidence from Animal Studies?
    More animal research has been done on calorie restriction than on fasting. In some experiments, calorie restriction is also a form of fasting because the lab animals consume all their daily allotted food within hours and go many more hours without any food.

    In these studies, when rodents and other animals were given 10 percent to 40 percent fewer calories than usual but provided with all necessary nutrients, many showed extension of lifespan and reduced rates of several diseases, especially cancers. But, some studies did not show this benefit, and in some mouse strains, calorie restriction shortened lifespan rather than extending it.

    In the worm C. elegans, a fasting diet increased lifespan by 40 percent. A study with fruit flies found that calorie restriction—but not intermittent fasting—was associated with living longer. One study of male mice found that lifelong alternate-day fasting increased longevity, mainly by delaying cancer occurrence rather than slowing other aging processes.

    Two National Institute on Aging (NIA)-supported studies in rhesus monkeys sought to find out whether the benefits of calorie restriction are seen in longer-lived species. In both studies, the monkeys were kept on a calorie-restriction diet (30 percent fewer calories than for monkeys in the control groups) for more than 20 years. Although there were differences between the two studies—including monkey breed and type of food—both provided evidence that calorie restriction reduced the incidence of age-related conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. One study found an extension of lifespan, while the other did not. Many of the monkeys are still alive, so the full impact of calorie restriction on their maximum lifespan has yet to be determined.

    What’s the Evidence from Human Studies of Calorie Restriction?
    Some study results suggest that calorie restriction may have health benefits for humans, but more research is needed before we understand its long-term effects. There are no data in humans on the relationship between calorie restriction and longevity.

    Some people have voluntarily practiced extreme degrees of calorie restriction over many years in the belief that it will extend lifespan or preserve health. Studies on these individuals have found markedly low levels of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The studies have also found many other physiologic effects whose long-term benefits and risks are uncertain, as well as reductions in sexual interest and the ability to maintain body temperature in cold environments. These people generally consume a variety of nutritional supplements, which limits knowing which effects are due to calorie restriction versus other factors.

    To conduct a more rigorous study of calorie restriction in humans, NIA supported a pioneering clinical trial called Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE).

    In CALERIE, 218 young and middle-aged, normal-weight or moderately overweight adults were randomly divided into two groups. People in the experimental group were told to follow a calorie-restriction diet for 2 years, while those in the control group followed their usual diet.

    The study was designed to have participants in the experimental group eat 25 percent fewer calories per day than they had regularly consumed before the study. Although they did not meet this target, they reduced their daily caloric intake by 12 percent and maintained, on average, a 10 percent loss in body weight over 2 years. A follow-up study 2 years after the intervention ended found that participants had sustained much of this weight loss.

    It’s important to note that calorie-restriction regimens are not starvation diets. The weight loss achieved with calorie restriction in the CALERIE trial resulted in body weights within the normal or overweight range.

    Compared to participants in the control group, those in the calorie-restriction group had reduced risk factors (lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol) for age-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. They also showed decreases in some inflammatory factors and thyroid hormones. There is some evidence that lower levels of these measures are associated with longer lifespan and diminished risk for age-related diseases. Moreover, in the calorie-restricted individuals, no adverse effects (and some favorable ones) were found on quality of life, mood, sexual function, and sleep.

    The calorie-restriction intervention did cause slight declines in bone density, lean body mass, and aerobic capacity (the ability of the body to use oxygen during exercise). However, these declines were generally no more than expected based on participants’ weight loss. Other short-term studies have found that combining physical activity with calorie restriction protects against losses of bone, muscle mass, and aerobic capacity.

    Some CALERIE participants also experienced brief episodes of anemia (diminished number of circulating red blood cells that carry oxygen through the body). Overall, these findings indicate that while the degree of calorie restriction in CALERIE is safe for normal-weight or moderately obese people, clinical monitoring is recommended.

    What’s the Evidence from Human Studies of Fasting?
    Most research to date has focused on the weight-loss aspect of fasting, primarily in obese people, and only a few small clinical trials have been conducted. More work is needed to determine which, if any, types of fasting diets have long-term benefits.

    Observational studies have been conducted in people who practice fasting in one form or another. In an observational study, the investigator does not determine the treatment to offer and does not randomize subjects into a control group or experimental group. Instead, the investigator records data from real-life situations.

    For example, one observational study compared people who routinely fasted (as part of a religious practice or for another reason) to those who did not fast. It found that those who routinely fasted were less likely to have clogged arteries or coronary artery disease. However, the study did not control for other factors that could have affected the results, such as the kind of diet, quality of food consumed, or use of nutritional supplements.

    How Does Calorie Restriction or Fasting Work?
    After decades of research, scientists still don’t know why calorie restriction extends lifespan and delays age-related diseases in laboratory animals. Do these results come from consuming fewer calories or eating within a certain timeframe? Are the results affected by the diet’s mix of nutrients?

    Several studies have focused on what occurs inside the body when caloric intake is restricted. In laboratory animals, calorie restriction affects many processes that have been proposed to regulate the rate of aging. These include inflammation, sugar metabolism, maintenance of protein structures, the capacity to provide energy for cellular processes, and modifications to DNA. Another process that is affected by calorie restriction is oxidative stress, which is the production of toxic byproducts of oxygen metabolism that can damage cells and tissues.

    Several of these processes were similarly affected by calorie restriction in the human CALERIE trial. However, we do not yet know which factors are responsible for calorie restriction’s effects on aging or whether other factors contribute.

    Research supported by NIA has also focused on the effects of intermittent fasting. During fasting, the body uses up glucose and glycogen, then turns to energy reserves stored in fat. This stored energy is released in the form of chemicals called ketones. These chemicals help cells—especially brain cells—keep working at full capacity. Some researchers think that because ketones are a more efficient energy source than glucose, they may protect against aging-related decline in the central nervous system that might cause dementia and other disorders.

    Ketones also may inhibit the development of cancer because malignant cells cannot effectively obtain energy from ketones. In addition, studies show that ketones may help protect against inflammatory diseases such as arthritis. Ketones also reduce the level of insulin in the blood, which could protect against type 2 diabetes.

    But too many ketones in the blood can have harmful health effects. This is one of the reasons researchers want to understand more about how calorie restriction diets work before recommending them.

    Why the Science Is Uncertain
    Despite a lot of research on calorie restriction and fasting, there are no firm conclusions about the benefits for human health. Here’s a summary of the reasons why:

    – Most of the relevant studies have been conducted in laboratory and animal models, from yeast cells to primates. These findings do not necessarily apply to humans.

    – Most clinical trials with humans have been short (a few weeks or months), conducted in overweight subjects, and focused on weight loss rather than aging processes. The longest trial so far (CALERIE) lasted 2 years, which isn’t long enough to learn about the long-term health effects of calorie restriction.

    – These clinical trials have typically recruited adults age 60 or younger, so the results don’t necessarily apply to younger or older people.

    -A tremendous number of organic and chemical processes keep the human body functioning. Researchers must sort out how these processes are affected under different dietary conditions.

    – Humans are quite different from each other in terms of gender, size, age, genetics, environment, lifestyle, and other factors. An eating pattern that’s found to help one person might not have the same effect on another.

    -With animal studies, the researcher provides the food so knows how much has been eaten and when. This kind of reliable evidence is harder to obtain in human studies. Although new techniques can objectively measure overall caloric intake, it is still challenging to get accurate reports of diet information from individuals going about their lives.

    What’s Next in Research?
    Most calorie-restriction and fasting-diet studies have been in younger people, but researchers are beginning to study older adults. A clinical trial conducted by NIA is testing the 5:2 diet in obese people, age 55 to 70, with insulin resistance. (This is a condition in which cells do not respond normally to the hormone insulin. This can lead to serious diseases such as diabetes.) People in the experimental group can eat at will for 5 days, and then for 2 consecutive days are restricted to 500 to 600 calories per day. The experiment is designed to find out how 8 weeks of the 5:2 diet, compared to a regular diet, affects insulin resistance and the brain chemicals that play a role in Alzheimer’s disease.

    In the coming years, researchers will continue to explore many unresolved questions. What are the long-term benefits and risks of the various eating patterns? Which diets are feasible as a long-term practice? What specific biological effects on aging and disease are triggered by a particular eating pattern? If a specific way of eating is recommended, at what age is it best to start, and is it safe to continue as you get older?

    Scientists are exploring many aspects of calorie restriction and fasting and their effects on people of all ages. Some are conducting clinical studies and trials to learn more. If you are interested in volunteering for this type of research, search ClinicalTrials.gov using keywords such as “intermittent fasting,” “time-restricted feeding,” or “calorie restriction.”

    Should You Try Calorie Restriction or a Fasting Diet?
    There’s insufficient evidence to recommend any type of calorie-restriction or fasting diet. A lot more needs to be learned about their effectiveness and safety, especially in older adults.

    You may be tempted to try one of these eating patterns. It’s important to make sure that whatever you try provides you with a safe level of nutrition. Talk with your healthcare provider about the benefits and risks before making any significant changes to your eating pattern.

    Meanwhile, there’s plenty of evidence for other actions you can take to stay healthy as you age:

    Eat a balanced diet with nutritious food in moderate amounts.
    Engage in regular physical exercise.
    Drink alcohol in moderation or not at all.
    Don’t smoke.
    Maintain an active social lifestyle.
    Get a good night’s sleep.

    February 28, 2019 at 11:57 am #98370

    In reply to: autophagy and apoptosis

    Avatar photonittany ram
    Moderator

    Ketogenic diet: Is the ultimate low-carb diet good for you?

    Recently, many of my patients have been asking about a ketogenic diet. Is a ketogenic diet safe? Would you recommend it? Despite the recent hype, a ketogenic diet is not something new. In medicine, we have been using it for almost 100 years to treat drug-resistant epilepsy, especially in children. In the 1970s, Dr. Atkins popularized his very-low-carbohydrate diet for weight loss that began with a very strict two-week ketogenic phase. Over the years, other fad diets incorporated a similar approach for weight loss.

    What is a ketogenic (keto) diet?

    In essence, it is a diet that causes the body to release ketones into the bloodstream. Most cells prefer to use blood sugar, which comes from carbohydrates, as the body’s main source of energy. In the absence of circulating blood sugar from food, we start breaking down stored fat into molecules called ketone bodies (the process is called ketosis). Once you reach ketosis, most cells will use ketone bodies to generate energy until we start eating carbohydrates again. The shift, from using circulating glucose to breaking down stored fat as a source of energy, usually happens over two to four days of eating fewer than 20 to 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. Keep in mind that this is a highly individualized process, and some people need a more restricted diet to start producing enough ketones.

    Because it lacks carbohydrates, a ketogenic diet is rich in proteins and fats. It typically includes plenty of meats, eggs, processed meats, sausages, cheeses, fish, nuts, butter, oils, seeds, and fibrous vegetables. Because it is so restrictive, it is really hard to follow over the long run. Carbohydrates normally account for at least 50% of the typical American diet. One of the main criticisms of this diet is that many people tend to eat too much protein and poor-quality fats from processed foods, with very few fruits and vegetables. Patients with kidney disease need to be cautious because this diet could worsen their condition. Additionally, some patients may feel a little tired in the beginning, while some may have bad breath, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and sleep problems.

    Is a ketogenic diet healthy?

    We have solid evidence showing that a ketogenic diet reduces seizures in children, sometimes as effectively as medication. Because of these neuroprotective effects, questions have been raised about the possible benefits for other brain disorders such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, sleep disorders, autism, and even brain cancer. However, there are no human studies to support recommending ketosis to treat these conditions.

    Weight loss is the primary reason my patients use the ketogenic diet. Previous research shows good evidence of a faster weight loss when patients go on a ketogenic or very low carbohydrate diet compared to participants on a more traditional low-fat diet, or even a Mediterranean diet. However, that difference in weight loss seems to disappear over time.

    A ketogenic diet also has been shown to improve blood sugar control for patients with type 2 diabetes, at least in the short term. There is even more controversy when we consider the effect on cholesterol levels. A few studies show some patients have increase in cholesterol levels in the beginning, only to see cholesterol fall a few months later. However, there is no long-term research analyzing its effects over time on diabetes and high cholesterol.

    Key takeaways from a ketogenic diet review?

    A ketogenic diet could be an interesting alternative to treat certain conditions, and may accelerate weight loss. But it is hard to follow and it can be heavy on red meat and other fatty, processed, and salty foods that are notoriously unhealthy. We also do not know much about its long-term effects, probably because it’s so hard to stick with that people can’t eat this way for a long time. It is also important to remember that “yo-yo diets” that lead to rapid weight loss fluctuation are associated with increased mortality. Instead of engaging in the next popular diet that would last only a few weeks to months (for most people that includes a ketogenic diet), try to embrace change that is sustainable over the long term. A balanced, unprocessed diet, rich in very colorful fruits and vegetables, lean meats, fish, whole grains, nuts, seeds, olive oil, and lots of water seems to have the best evidence for a long, healthier, vibrant life.

    February 15, 2019 at 4:39 pm #98080

    In reply to: Laker World

    Avatar photoBilly_T
    Participant

    I can see how it would be annoying to fans of other teams. All of this attention. But most of it is negative attention these days. The media turned fairly quickly on LeBron, for instance, it seems. Lots of talk about how no one wants to join the Lakers because he’s there. Same thing was said about Kobe. And they haven’t even made the playoffs in years.

    I’ve followed them as a diehard fan since the days of West and Baylor, even before they got Wilt. It wasn’t always like this — the negative attention, etc. Ironically, I think they received less attention back in the day when they were actually a far better franchise. I really don’t like the way they’ve been run the last coupla of decades.

    For instance, I’d rather see them build a team for the long haul. I don’t like the strategy of finding aging superstars for a last hurrah. Prefer the idea of “home grown” development . . . of course, with key additions here and there. But without trades that mortgage the future. And the Lakers, especially during the Kobe era, did way too much of that. Traded away umpteen draft picks for a Steve Nash or some other “past his prime” vet.

    Not a fan of that.

    The Lakers may be unique in this regard, though: They likely have the least patient fan base in the NBA. They feel entitled to win now, and next year, and the year after. Me? As long as they’re working toward contending, I’m good.

    February 8, 2019 at 11:10 pm #97949

    In reply to: reactions to the super bowl game

    Cal
    Participant

    I was initially disappointed in McVay. I thought this was a game where McVay gave up on the run too early. Romo’s comments in the first half about the Pats needing to stick with the run so that Brady isn’t forced to throw the ball 40+ times only reinforced my frustration with McVay’s play calling while watching the game.

    Even if TG was injured he still looked pretty good at times–the Pats certainly didn’t shut him down. I was curious to take a closer look at some plays and see if my feelings about McVay would change.

    Anyways here’s some plays that stood out to me and made a big difference in the first half.

    1st play of the game: Gurley runs between Saffold and Whitworth. There’s a nice hole between Whit and Saffold, but the DE manages to stick his leg out and trip up Gurley. This could and probably should have been a nice 6-7 yard gain on the ground to open the game.

    3rd play of the game: 3rd & 7. Goff throws short of the first and low to Reynolds who can’t make the catch. On replay, it looks like the safety is clearly shifted towards Robert Woods side of the field, leaving Everett one on one with #27 Jackson. Everett is running up the seam and it looks like he has a step on Jackson. A good throw here from Goff could have been a big play.

    Prior to the super bowl, I saw an ESPN vid where Mangini criticized Andy Reid for not attacking Jackson with Kelce until the 2nd half in the AFC championship game as Beliceck shifted the secondary’s focus to Hill. The Rams should have come out looking for that matchup as well.

    2nd Possession 3rd & 3 from Pats 42. Goff flat out ignores a wide open Cooks. Lined up behind Reynolds, Cooks is able to break outside is wide open as Gilmore gets caught up in the traffic as Reynolds goes straight down field. Woods is on the same side of the field and is open at the hash mark until Chung crashes in from his safety spot and knocks the ball. Nice play by Chung but Cooks is wide open.

    3rd Possession 2nd and 5 after a nice 5 yard run from Anderson deep in the Rams own territory. The refs call a false start on Havenstein that is almost impossible to identify. I thought it was a curious call while watching the game and I still can’t tell if Have moved early after re-watching the play a ridiculous number of times.

    It probably wouldn’t have mattered as the pre-snap penalty wiped out a nice play by the DE who whipped Higbee and clotheslined CJ in the backfield.

    4th Possession 2nd and 7 from NE 46. Sullivan whiffs on Danny Shelton who nails CJ for a 3 yard loss. This looks like it could have been another nice run if not for Sullivan’s whiff.

    5th Possession 2nd and 5 from the 50: This is the only thing that I’ve seen that makes me question Gurley’s health. I thought he looked pretty much like he has all year during the super bowl. It looks like he could have broke this outside to his left and picked up some nice yards if Everett is able to make any type of block on Van Noy. Gurley, however, stayed patient and banged up the middle for two. Was this a case where Gurley lacked the confidence to cut and go? Or was he just being patient? Gurley did make a similar cut to his left later in the game on the nice run that was called back on Sullivan’s holding.

    Last possession before halftime 3rd & 2: Goff throws low to Woods. Everett, on the other side of the field, runs a fantastic route and cleanly beats Jackson. I wonder if this could have been a match-up the Rams could have exploited. Everett ended the game with zero targets. He’s a young guy but I like what he offers.

    Taking a closer look makes me feel more confident about next year. This is a tough offense to defend. There’s talent all over the field on offense. A combination of guys on the oline getting whipped, Goff making the wrong guess where to throw the ball and two weeks of preparation for Beliceck led to a shit game.

    • This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by Cal.
    • This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by Cal.
    February 8, 2019 at 10:32 am #97920

    In reply to: tweets & other bits … 2/7 & 2/8

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Rodger Saffold@Rodger_Saffold
    Every failure I’ve had has made me stronger. It’s a lesson learned and the hunger I have to be better for my teammates for myself and for the city! Must be patient tho get a little rest and then get after it like I’ve never done before! I just wanna go back to the Super Bowl!

    February 4, 2019 at 11:33 am #97784

    In reply to: super bowl tweets … (look for the Orlovsky stuff in post 7)

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Vincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore
    For Jared Goff, the key now is making sure Sunday’s performance in #SuperBowlLIII isn’t in vain. He needs to learn from his struggles and use them as fuel.

    Gerald Everett@lightningstrk12
    not the outcome we wanted of course but we will grow & move forward. Year 2 was for sure one to remember!! Horns up.

    Sam Farmer@LATimesfarmer
    The game wasn’t over for three seconds, I swear, when I got a text from Mark Davis reminding me the Raiders are the only Los Angeles team to have won a Super Bowl.

    Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
    The game that really wobbled the Rams was Detroit. The Lions threw that quarters/zone defense at them and executed it well. Chicago followed the next week. Different personnel but similar results. You think Matt Patricia and Belichick perhaps talked a bit?

    J.B. Long@JB_Long
    First time #LARams have been shut out in a 1st half under Sean McVay, and it comes in #SBLlll.

    Dan Orlovsky@danorlovsky7
    Sooo the team that played more man-to-man defense than anyone in the #NFL this year, naturally comes out in #SuperBowl53 and runs 80-90% zone coverage???!?!?

    Belichick game plan even better than I thought.
    -early Downs played 6 guys at the line of scrimmage. Allowed most guys to get 1 on 1’s and penetrate up front. Hightower could play slow at the 1 MLB spot and respect play-action
    -3rd down rush pkg had 1 DL on field

    The @Patriots controlled the ball all game. Owned T.O.P to get @RamsNFL DL as tired as possible. Than went empty at the perfect moment-knowing the rush wouldn’t be what it was early on-3 straight plays outta empty. Zone=check down Man=Gronk shot. #timing #SuperBowl53

    Classic Belichick-forcing the @RamsNFL to go on tons of long drives. Are you patient enough to out-grind him/them? #SuperBowl53

    I’m younger than most-but I grew up in the @Patriots run/domination. In my opinion, this is the greatest coaching job Bill Belichick has ever done.

    Goff needed to play way more boring-take completions. Low to high-get ball out. Throws were there. #SuperBowl53

    ==

    February 2, 2019 at 12:14 pm #97621

    In reply to: bad lip reading NFL

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    (Mock patient passive aggressive tone): that’s okay WV I’ll just delete my earlier posting of this.

    January 27, 2019 at 4:46 pm #97359

    In reply to: the non-call issue continues & has earned another thread

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator
    Billy_T wrote:

    Even if we make the logical error in claiming one play can be decisive — it can’t possibly be — if the play were called to perfection, the Saints have to replay the down. Penalties offset.

    Saints fans know this argument and you don’t see agreement over it. In fact around here, Patz fans know this argument and they don’t agree.

    This is what we face, like it or not. Near the end of the game there is an open, completely visible, flagrant pass interference assault that is not called. A first down in that situation gives the Saints an enormous advantage, given the time left and where the ball would be placed.

    The emotional impact of seeing that and NOT getting a call is just simply not off-set by Rams fans pulling up screen caps and going look, that’s a facemask.

    And why not. There is no “truth” here. There’s just differing emotional takes. It’s judgment call v. judgment call.

    I live in Patz territory, where the near universal view is, the Rams got a gift. No one I have talked to accepts the view that there were non-calls against the Rams or that one non-call does not define a game.

    And everyone is completely annoyed if it is suggested to them that I am being reasonable and they just have this emotional take they ought to see through.

    Rams fans think like Rams fans about this, and Saints fans think like Saints fans (though it’s not just Saints fans as I have found out in Patz territory).

    And as Rams fans what we have to live with is that right or wrong, the non-call has a real effect on how the team is seen. We’re not going to talk anyone out of that, and we’re not going to triumph with “reason” in the face of their partisan emotion….it just doesn’t work like that. (Partly because there is no “reason” on this, just clashing fan-emotion driven perspectives.)

    What we should patiently wait for is the time when the McVay Rams have done so much that the non-call just doesn’t have the same significance anymore. It won’t go away but it will ease up (but not till the Rams have done enough to make that happen).

    And don’t get me wrong. I don ‘t always talk this way. To the contrary. Around here, where I live, when Patz fans say to me “they were gifted that game,” I say “naw there were other non-calls in that game like a facemask the series before, and the Saints had their chances.” I don’t actually change anyone’s mind (nor expect to), but at least I come across to them as a dedicated Rams fan who is sticking by his team.

    January 25, 2019 at 7:18 am #97252

    Topic: Film: Un Traductor

    in forum The Public House
    Avatar photowv
    Participant

    Saw a sweet little film. Its set in Cuba in 1989. Child-Patients from the USSR were brought to Cuba for medical care after the Chernobyl disaster. Un traductor means ‘translator’.

    January 24, 2019 at 11:14 pm #97250

    Topic: When Atlanta Last Hosted a Super Bowl…

    in forum The Rams Huddle
    Avatar photoAgamemnon
    Participant

    https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/22/rams-saints-les-snead-stan-kroenke-nfc-championship-super-bowl-nfl-playoffs

    When Atlanta Last Hosted a Super Bowl…

    There was an epic ice storm, a dancing dot-com chimp, a nail-biter of a game and an All-Pro’s arrest on murder charges. Super Bowl XXXIV, at the turn of the century, was something else. Perhaps that’s why it took the NFL so long to return to Atlanta.
    By Ben Baskin
    January 24, 2019

    This story appears in the Jan. 28, 2019, issue of Sports Illustrated. For more great storytelling and in-depth analysis, subscribe to the magazine—and get up to 94% off the cover price. Click here for more.

    On Feb. 3 the Super Bowl returns to Atlanta for the first time in 19 years. The last go-round? Well. The Rams and the Titans clashed in what would be one of the most thrilling championship games ever—but the event is remembered for other reasons. Two historic ice storms racked the region in the lead-up. And the Monday-after watercooler talk centered on the over-the-top dot-com commercials and the overnight arrest of one of the league’s biggest stars. As the city prepares to rewrite its hosting history, we look back at the last Big Game in the ATL.
    I. THE BID

    Go back four years before the game, to Oct. 31, 1996. All 30 NFL owners gathered in a New Orleans ballroom and voted anonymously on which city would host Super Bowl XXXIV, in January 2000.

    JIM STEEG (NFL executive director of special events, 1979 to 2005): Atlanta was up for the bid against Tampa Bay. Commissioner [Paul] Tagliabue had, in effect, promised Tampa: If you build a new stadium, we’ll play a Super Bowl there.

    RICH MCKAY (Buccaneers GM, 1995 to 2003; current Falcons CEO): We had gotten the vote to build [Raymond James Stadium], done our politicking and kind of knew the votes.

    STEEG: The Glazer family [which still owns the team] thought pretty strongly the game was theirs.

    MCKAY: Then Atlanta made its case: Rankin Smith was ill.

    STEEG: Taylor Smith made the argument, “My father is dying, why don’t you give this game to him as a reward for being a loyal [owner] for 30 years.” The vote came down and the game was awarded to Atlanta. (Rankin Smith died a year later, at 72.)

    MCKAY: [Malcolm] Glazer did not take that well.

    STEEG: The Glazers literally went crazy.

    MCKAY: Tagliabue, who was always the smartest guy in the room, figured a way to save a bad situation. He asked if we’d be willing to have the next Super Bowl vote right then.

    STEEG: So we awarded two games that day. Tampa got 2001 as a consolation. And Atlanta would host in 2000.
    II. THE BUILDUP

    Fast-forward four years. The 1999 season kicked off on Sept. 12. Neither the Rams nor the Titans were seen as contenders. In the NFC, St. Louis was coming off a 4–12 campaign, but for years its front office had been hoarding offensive talent, culminating in ’99 with the first-round selection of N.C. State receiver Torry Holt and the fortuitous signing of Arena League QB Kurt Warner. The Rams added to that mix offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who would create a scheme unlike any the league has ever seen.

    MIKE JONES (Rams linebacker, 1997 to 2000): We were the worst team in the NFL the year before that. We couldn’t find a way to win.

    HOLT (Rams receiver, 1999 to 2008): When they drafted me, I was like, “I don’t want to go to this s—– team.” But then I got there and saw all the talent and . . . Oh, my God.

    JONES: First it was the trade for [running back] Marshall Faulk [from the Colts, in April]. Then the Kurt Warner story.

    ISAAC BRUCE (Rams receiver, 1994 to 2007): And Mike Martz.

    MARTZ (Rams offensive coordinator, 1999): I was in Washington with Norv Turner [in ’97 and ’98] and he made a comment in a meeting that we had such good third-down plays, and we didn’t often get to use them. We kind of laughed. Then I went to the Rams . . . .

    DICK VERMEIL (Rams coach, 1997 to ’99): When I brought Mike here, I told him the offense would be his baby. Neither he nor I anticipated it’d be as explosive as it was.

    MCKAY: They suffered the injury at the end of the preseason to their starting quarterback [Trent Green], and now here comes Warner . . . .

    WARNER (Rams QB, 1998 to 2003): My first thought was: This system is perfect for me.

    HOLT: I remember looking at the pages of plays and how vertical everything was in the passing game.

    WARNER: We were going to throw it down the field, and we were going to try to score on every play.

    BRUCE: I like to compare it to when Muhammad Ali first came on the scene.

    WARNER: A lot of people didn’t believe we would be able to sustain that.

    MARTZ: It was the antithesis of the way the game was being played at the time. We said, “If you can cover everybody, God bless you. But I bet you can’t.”

    WARNER: It was the perfect storm. We had a collection of talent that was ridiculous.

    HOLT: We were pretty damn good, man. We were the Greatest Show on Turf.

    The old Oilers had rebranded and relocated to Tennessee. After two 8–8 seasons in two temporary homes, their first year at Nashville’s Adelphia Coliseum, in 1999, was spectacular, with a star quarterback-running back tandem and a tenacious D.

    AL DEL GRECO (Oilers/Titans kicker, 1991 to 2000): When I got to the Oilers we were a pretty good team. It went downhill when [QB] Warren Moon left, in ’93.

    BRUCE MATTHEWS (Oilers/Titans, 1983 to 2001): [Owner Bud] Adams announced in ’95 that we’d be moving. Those next four years sucked.

    DEL GRECO: The last season in Houston there was a “Save the Oilers” rally at City Hall. There were about 38 people.

    MATTHEWS: We were a lame duck team. We’d had seven years in a row in the playoffs. Then, all of a sudden, there’s 17,000 fans in the [Astrodome]. Everything about the move was billed as, “Wait till ’97! We’ll play in Memphis the first year, but they’ll embrace us!” That wasn’t the case at all.

    EDDIE GEORGE (Oilers/Titans running back, 1996 to 2003): We couldn’t give away tickets in Memphis. Playing in front of 16,000 fans, the majority cheering for the opposing team . . . . It wasn’t conducive to winning.

    MATTHEWS: The ’98 season they said, “We’ll play at Vanderbilt Stadium [in Nashville]—then we’ll really start experiencing what it’s all about!” That sucked as well.

    KEVIN DYSON (Oilers/Titans receiver, 1998 to 2002): [In ’99] we move again, finally, to Nashville. But now it’s, What’s our name going to be? What are our colors going to be? When they finally made that announcement, it was a special moment. We knew who we were.

    MATTHEWS: There was newfound optimism. New uniform, new name, new stadium . . .

    DYSON: Now we are home.

    DEL GRECO: We’d been building, adding bits and pieces. Eddie George. Steve McNair was coming into his own.

    GEORGE: The key piece was finding a dynamic pass rusher, a game changer on the defensive side. We drafted Jevon [Kearse in ’99], and Day One he made his presence felt as the freak of nature he was.

    DYSON: He changed our team. We were championship-caliber.

    The Titans went 13–3 and entered the playoffs as the AFC’s No. 4 seed.

    JEFF FISHER (Oilers/Titans coach, 1995 to 2010): We were built well. We were built physically. It wasn’t a fluke that we got there.

    GEORGE: Most teams weren’t built the way we were, hadn’t gone through what we had. We were mentally, physically and emotionally tough.

    MATTHEWS: And we beat the Rams earlier in the year. We matched up well with them. We really felt like, “This is going to happen.”

    GEORGE: [Going into SB XXXIV], everyone was giving it to the Rams. It’s going to be a blowout; it’s not worth watching. We embraced that.

    St. Louis also went 13–3, breaking records with an offense that changed how football is played and earning the NFC’s No. 1 seed.

    MARTZ: We had been [6–0] when we played the Titans earlier that year, and they beat us 24–21. They had us down 21–0 at half.

    JONES: After that first game we knew that if we got them on a neutral site we could beat them.

    DEXTER MCCLEON (Rams cornerback, 1997 to 2002): It was definitely revenge.

    HOLT: We wanted to get that ass back.
    III. THE STORM

    A destructive ice storm—hundreds of car wrecks, including one 47-car pile-up; $48 million in damage—was certainly not the way the NFL wanted to usher in its biggest event, but that’s what it got in Atlanta one week before the game. Locals called it a 100-Year Storm—and then, two days before kickoff, a second one hit.

    FISHER: The Super Bowl fell immediately after the conference championship games. One week. That made everything more difficult.

    MCCLEON: When we got there, there was ice all over Atlanta.

    MARTZ: It was hanging from the trees.

    DAVID RATCLIFFE (Georgia Power CEO, 1993 to 2003): It was one of the worst ice storms we ever had. We had 350,000 to 400,000 people out of service.

    STEEG: Those were the days before practice bubbles. The Titans were at Georgia Tech, the Rams were at the Falcons’ practice facility. Both were outside.

    TODD HEWITT (Rams equipment manager, 1986 to 2001): We planned like it was Green Bay in late December. All the players had thermals. Coaches had gloves, stocking caps; everyone had hand warmers.

    HOLT: It was still cold as all get-out.

    GEORGE: It felt like we were practicing on sheets of ice.

    HEWITT: I ordered blowers. The sidelines looked like a street corner, a bunch of guys huddling by the heater.

    BRUCE: If you were looking for Isaac Bruce, I was right next to the heater.

    STEEG: And there wasn’t enough room in the hotels. We had to put a tent in the parking lot for [Titans] press conferences.

    FISHER: Players didn’t want to go in there for interviews, it was so cold. And cold in the South is different—it’s a wet, bone-chilling cold.

    STEEG: It was so cold the orange juice we put out for everybody literally froze.

    MCCLEON: Everything was ice. All the roads were frozen. The buses couldn’t move.

    STEEG: But by midweek we were thinking, O.K., we’ve blown through this and we don’t have to worry about it anymore.

    RATCLIFFE: Then the second storm comes. It was like, Can we get a break here?

    HEWITT: On Saturday we didn’t even go to the stadium for practice, because of the weather. We had a walk-through at our hotel.

    MARTZ: Cars slid off the road. It was a nightmare. It created havoc.

    STEEG: You know when Hartsfield Airport closes down it’s reached a really serious point.

    VERMEIL: I had family members that almost didn’t get there. It was a disaster.

    STEEG: The NFL had its big party scheduled for Saturday night. Three or four thousand people. They canceled it because nobody could get to it.

    HEWITT: We ended up taking our kids to Hooters instead.

    BRUCE: Still, I don’t think the weather dampened the whole mood. We knew on Sunday we were playing in the Georgia Dome.

    MCCLEON: Guys were so excited. We could have been playing in Alaska.

    GEORGE: There could have been a tsunami and I wouldn’t have noticed. We were in the damn Super Bowl.
    IV. THE BROADCAST

    It was the start of a new millennium—no, the world did not end on Jan. 1, 2000—and American industry was embracing the digital revolution. Riding this wave, a whopping 25 (mostly unknown) Internet companies paid exorbitant fees to purchase 30-second ads to air during what would come to be known as the Dot-com Bowl.

    MIKE ZAPOLIN (Tech entrepreneur): This was the year that made the commercials part of what the Super Bowl is.

    STEVE JOHNSON (Chicago Tribune TV critic): Through the ’90s this was building as a cultural phenomenon, but that 2000 game really cemented the feeling.

    ROBERT LACHKY (Anheuser Busch CMO): We had become known as the ultimate advertiser in the Super Bowl. Ten years in a row of dominance. Then, all of a sudden, the buzz was the dot-coms.

    ZAPOLIN: The frenzy of investment [in dot-coms] was overwhelming. You’d go to your dentist and your dentist was like, “Oh, yeah, I have a startup fund. I have an incubator.”

    GEORGE: I was getting approached by entrepreneurs. Everybody had a dot-com . Somebody knew somebody that had an uncle . . . .

    JOHNSON: People were throwing billions of dollars around, right and left. And all of that led to this ridiculous onslaught of ads. That and the phenomenal success of a really great Monster.com commercial the year before.

    ZAPOLIN: Monster.com had a successful Super Bowl ad, and now they had a billion-dollar market cap. I owned Computers.com and I said, “Wouldn’t it be amazing to do a Super Bowl ad to launch this thing?” . . . . We approached ABC. They said, “We can sell you one of Pepsi’s ad spots, but you have to pay $2.75 million.”

    STEEG: The ad rates went up dramatically that year, to [an average of] $2.2 million, a new high.

    ZAPOLIN: It was an arms race. But the commercials had to be crazy.

    JOHNSON: They were all determinedly wacky.

    ZAPOLIN: Cyberian Outpost had an ad where they shot gerbils out of a cannon. It was insane.

    JOHNSON: The E-Trade ad was two guys and a dancing chimp. Onscreen it said, “Well, we just wasted $2,000,000.” Basically you had the sense that a bunch of companies were just spending all their venture-capital money on this one shot. And in many cases blowing it spectacularly.

    JONATHAN BEAMER (Monster.com CMO): For a lot of these companies, the world wasn’t quite yet ready for them.

    ZAPOLIN: Only a few months after the game, the bubble burst. All the funding stopped. Then it all crashed.

    MCKAY: Within four years, half of those companies didn’t exist.

    HOLT: But it’s still so fitting that the Internet was the new wave, revolutionizing the world. And the Greatest Show on Turf was a new wave. We were creative, we were innovative. We were the Internet of football.
    Bill Frakes
    V. THE GAME

    Despite the ice storm (and a bomb threat that came about 45 minutes before kickoff), the game went on. Faith Hill belted out the national anthem and at 6:25 EST, on Jan. 30, 2000, the Titans kicked off to begin Super Bowl XXXIV.

    MCCLEON: Our game plan was to stop Eddie George and keep Steve McNair in the pocket.

    JONES: Eddie was the center of their offense. He set everything up.

    HOLT: I had never seen a running back that big [6’ 3” and 235 pounds]. I was enamored and in awe of his size.

    MCCLEON: And Steve was like an extra running back. Even if you got your hands on him, he could shake you. The Titans were dangerous in many ways.

    MATTHEWS: We struggled early. Offensively, we weren’t playing very well in the first half.

    GEORGE: We got out of our element. We were wide-eyed and got away from our game plan.

    FISHER: We got caught up in the Greatest Show on Turf and tried to throw the ball all over the yard. We were not about that.

    GEORGE: It was like we were playing in quicksand. But [the Rams] weren’t scoring either.

    HOLT: We were moving the ball up and down the field, but we had problems in the red zone.

    MATTHEWS: We were very thankful our defense held them to field goals.

    DYSON: It gave us a fighting chance.

    BRUCE: I don’t think the Titans had a Hall of Famer on that defense, but they played so well together.

    MARTZ: Their whole deal was pressure. It seemed like they blitzed on every snap.

    HOLT: They had Kearse. The Freak, man. The Freak.

    MARTZ: He was going nuts. Nobody could block him

    VERMEIL: They were knocking Kurt down. He got whacked.

    HOLT: He took a beating. You could hit a quarterback back then. And they were hitting the quarterback.

    MCCLEON: We led 9–0 at halftime, played about as well as we could on defense. But you knew those guys were going to get it right at half.

    BRUCE: Field goals weren’t going to beat this team. Not the Tennessee Titans, led by Steve McNair. It just wasn’t going to happen.
    John W. McDonough

    But first, the halftime show: Phil Collins! Toni Braxton! Christina Aguilera and Enrique Iglesias! Giant puppets! And fireworks!

    STEEG: The halftime show was important in history because ABC broadcast the game, and Disney had just bought ABC. Now, for halftime, you basically got the production company of the network broadcasting the game. That begot CBS two years later wanting [its Viacom partner] MTV to do the halftime show for their Super Bowl, which a couple years later begot MTV doing the Janet Jackson show.

    BRUCE: Walking back on the field, the smoke from the halftime show settled right at the top of the dome. It had no exit.

    HEWITT: It looked like we were in a fog bowl, or like there was a fire.

    MCCLEON: Our offense took it right down the field to start the second half. You couldn’t ask for a better start: 16-0. We thought we had the game in hand.

    HOLT: We got the rhythm now. Here comes the Greatest Show on Turf.

    JONES: When we got up on teams, they usually didn’t come back.

    BRUCE: But the Titans had different plans, man.

    GEORGE: They felt like they’d won the game. Jeff Fisher said, “They’re celebrating. What are you going to do about it?”

    DYSON: We looked over at the Rams celebrating and it was like, Let’s calm down and do what we do. If we go out doing what we do, we can live with that.

    VERMEIL: They just started pounding it. They were patient. They didn’t play as if they were behind 16–0.

    MATTHEWS: We went back to what had gotten us to that point.

    DYSON: Hand the ball to Eddie George left. Hand the ball to Eddie George right. And let Steve McNair make some plays. We beat them down and wore them out.

    HOLT: Eddie had two physical touchdown runs to bring them back. More powerful, physical runs that I had seen in quite some time.

    JONES: Before we know it, we look up and a 16–0 game is now tied 16–16.

    GEORGE: The possibility of us pulling off this magical season was within our grasp. We felt like we were destined to win.

    MCCLEON: They had the momentum at that point. Martz was thinking, We need to do something to get it back real fast.

    MARTZ: With two minutes and 12 seconds left, we thought we’d take a shot.

    VERMEIL: I said, “Mike, this corner is about five and a half yards off Isaac Bruce and they are playing one-on-one. He can’t cover Isaac Bruce one-on-one.” And Mike called the play.

    BRUCE: Twins Right, Ace Right, 999 H Balloon. I knew immediately I was getting the football.

    HOLT: It was an All Go.

    BRUCE: Four receivers spread out, they all run down the field, try to take the top off the defense. And I had a free release.

    HOLT: Kearse was closing on Kurt. Kearse hit him and took a little bit of juice off the ball.

    GEORGE: He came within an inch.

    MCCLEON: But Kurt just took a chance.

    BRUCE: After that it was me and the defensive back running stride for stride . . . then the ball dropped out of the sky, into my hands [for a 73-yard catch].

    VERMEIL: Bang. Touchdown. But we scored [to make it 23–16] too fast.

    GEORGE: We looked at the clock and said, “Oh, we got plenty of time.”

    MATTHEWS: There was no doubt we were going to drive down and take this thing to overtime.

    BRUCE: One minute and 48 seconds left, and we’re playing Steve McNair? Oh my goodness. Here we go.

    DYSON: We started on our own 11.

    GEORGE: And that’s when 9 went to work.

    FISHER: It was a drive for the ages, what Steve was able to do.

    BRUCE: I think a legend was introduced to America on that drive.

    HOLT: I’m seeing him move the ball. I’m in awe. It was beautiful to sit there and watch him show his mastery of the position.

    MCCCLEON: We were looking at that clock like, Please run! We went like 30 straight plays against Steve. That was one of the toughest things I’ve ever been through on the football field.

    BRUCE: I didn’t want to see him succeed, but I felt helpless at that moment, watching his greatness.

    MCCLEON: We got them to third down [with 22 seconds left]. Steve was scrambling around; it looked like we had him bottled up a couple times.

    VERMEIL: [Defensive end] Kevin Carter had him in his grasp and was spinning him around.

    JONES: Then Steve takes off. He whirls around.

    BRUCE: He had two defensive linemen—about 600 pounds—hanging on him.

    HOLT: Two of our biggest guys, he’s shedding them off.

    BRUCE: It’s a true example of what we call “country strong.”

    DYSON: Steve extended the play and I found a crease in the zone, and he delivered. I caught it [at the 10] to set up the final play.

    HOLT: That’s when I was like, S—.

    DEL GRECO: This stuff doesn’t happen unless we are supposed to win.

    MCCLEON: They called a timeout with six seconds left. Time for one play.

    BRUCE: I was getting my mind right to play the first overtime game in Super Bowl history.

    GEORGE: If it went into overtime? They didn’t have a chance. They were exhausted.

    VERMEIL: We were worn down from chasing McNair, tackling Eddie George.

    HOLT: That’s what Super Bowl moments are all about. The two best teams in the National Football League going one on one against each other and it all comes down to one moment, one play.

    GEORGE: The play that everybody remembers.

    MCCLEON: We had a combo call [on defense]. 77 Blast. Cover 7 on both sides

    DYSON: When I saw they were in zone, I knew the ball was coming to my side.

    JONES: I [was covering] the inside. So as I’m running with [tight end Frank] Wycheck I’m looking at Kevin Dyson the entire time.

    DYSON: Frank was pushing vertical, extending Mike. I’m coming underneath Frank to force that linebacker to make a choice.

    JONES: Kevin comes underneath. I see him plant his foot in the ground to come back for the ball, and I come with him. I don’t think he sees me. I think, I’m going to kill Kevin.

    DYSON: I saw him, but I didn’t think he was in position to make a tackle. I thought I could run through his arms into the end zone.

    JONES: He catches it, and when I wrap him up I have my arm around his right hip. He tries to extend.

    DYSON: I remember seeing the yellow paint of the end zone and thinking I had it.

    JONES: Then I bring my left arm around and I catch his knee right as he’s going up. He falls like a tree because he can’t keep his balance.

    DYSON: As I’m going down, I do that one last extension. If I could just get the nose of the ball across. . . . Then I see the blue and gold confetti coming down.

    DEL GRECO: They call that The Tackle, I guess.

    HOLT: Talk about moments. Mike Jones had his moment.

    LACHKY: Mike Jones, God bless his soul.

    HOLT: I want to hug him now.

    GEORGE: I recall looking up at the clock to see if there was more time left. It can’t end like this.

    DEL GRECO: There has to be more time.

    MATTHEWS: To this day when I watch it, I’m thinking we’re going to find a way to win this thing.

    DEL GRECO: You wonder what that party would have been like if we won.

    HOLT: We partied like s— in the locker room. I ended up going to different parties in Atlanta that night. Next thing I remember, I was on top of a truck, bobbing and weaving in St. Louis.
    VI. THE MURDER

    At approximately 4 a.m. outside one of those parties—in Buckhead, seven miles north of Georgia Dome—two men died in a stabbing incident. Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, in town for the festivities, was arrested and charged with double murder. The news broke Monday morning.

    MCCLEON: That was supposed to be the time we wake up as Super Bowl champs and it’s all about us on the news: the Miracle Rams. But the talk that morning was all about what happened in Buckhead.

    FISHER: We made it back to Nashville on Monday, and all the headlines were about Ray Lewis.

    GEORGE: We didn’t know if he did it, didn’t do it. We just knew two people were dead and they were accusing Ray of doing it.

    HEWITT: Players were talking about it on the plane home [Monday], as we were getting ready to take off. Did you hear what happened? Where was it? It was right here!?

    DYSON: I was actually at that same party. I left just before the incident and went to another party. It was surreal.

    STEEG: I got a call Monday from the police telling us [Lewis] was under arrest. I had to go tell Tagliabue. He was at a chef’s table at the Hyatt. I got him, and I remember going back up the elevator trying to explain what little I knew: There was a murder investigation and Lewis was in the middle of it.

    GEORGE: To wrap your head around him being involved in a situation like that was mind-boggling.

    MATTHEWS: All I know is, I wanted him suspended for the next year’s playoffs. [He wasn’t.] Instead they beat us. The Ravens’ defense was just nuts.

    STEEG: You go from Ray Lewis being arrested to, a year later, he was named MVP of [Super Bowl XXXV].

    GEORGE: Certainly, it was a strange time.

    Lewis ultimately pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice but was cleared of charges. He settled with the families of both victims.

    From the SI Vault: Kurt Warner Was His Usual Stellar Self as the Rams Hung on to Beat the Titans in the Best Super Bowl Ever
    VII. THE RETURN

    After two decades of unprecedented growth and the opening of the state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz Stadium, in 2017, Atlanta will host another Super Bowl. This time, city and league officials believe they’ll get it right. (Oh, and Tampa? The city is hosting again in 2021.)

    GEORGE: I’ve heard people say Atlanta should never host another Super Bowl.

    MCKAY: When I went to work for the Falcons [in 2003, as GM] we tried to make a bid for the Super Bowl in ’07. We were pretty confident we had a good bid. I think weather played a big part in us not getting that. [That game went to Miami.]

    RATCLIFFE: All of us are hoping [a storm] doesn’t happen again. This is a huge opportunity for Atlanta to demonstrate the progress we made from 2000.

    STEVE CANNON (CEO of AMB Group, which owns the Falcons): It’s interesting, when you look at that 19-year span, how Atlanta has developed as a city.

    MCKAY: It’s a completely different Atlanta.

    CANNON: In 2000, this wasn’t considered one of the most significant cities in America. It is now.

    MCKAY: We as a city have really done a very good job in hosting a lot of big events over the last 30 years. There is one event that didn’t come off perfectly and that was the Super Bowl. We want to change that perception.

    HEWITT: Now you just have to pray that the weather doesn’t drop.

    MCKAY: If it happens, we are prepared for it. We spent a lot of time with the weather plan. The city is so much better suited to deal with inclement weather. We don’t want to host just this Super Bowl. We want to host Super Bowls. We want people to say: “This is as good a place to host a Super Bowl as any other place in the country.”

    SCOTT JENKINS (Mercedes-Benz Stadium GM): If the weather cooperates, we are going to set the standard for what the Super Bowl is.

    MCKAY: Bring a pair of shorts.s.”

    Agamemnon

    January 21, 2019 at 10:41 am #97017

    In reply to: Refs also missed several calls that really hurt Rams

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator
    Hram wrote:

    Yes, there were some missed calls earlier in the game, but I don’t think there were many blatant missed calls.

    The pass interference by NRC was blatant.

    Doesn’t take away from the win at all imo. Great game by both teams. Don’t think anyone got hurt which is huge.

    All true IMO. And unfortunately the non-call will never go away. For non-Rams fans it will define that game forever.

    Is that fair or right? I am not even sure that;s the right question. It just is what it is.

    I do think this though. If the situation were reversed and the Rams could have won except for a non-call near the end like that, my guess is most of us would NEVER let it go.

    Here’s what we can do though. We can patiently wait for the day when the McVay Rams have done so much that the non-call just becomes old history. It won’t disappear but it can be superseded. Till then think of it as just another speed bump in the way of the Rams getting the respect they deserve.

    That’s how I am taking it anyway.

    Nothin wrong with that approach IMO.

    January 18, 2019 at 3:07 am #96853

    Topic: McVay, Phillips … 1/17 … transcripts

    in forum The Rams Huddle
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – January 17, 2019

    (On how the team has maintained its level of concentration getting ready for Sunday despite the distractions surrounding the game)

    “I think it’s just having been in somewhat similar experiences and, really, atmospheres earlier in the year where we had to deal with some of the things that went on in the community, dealing with the fires. Our players just seamlessly adjust and adapt to whatever circumstance we have to deal with. We talked about it today. We’re not going to allow the weather to be any bit of an excuse. We felt like this was a better option and alternative than having to travel somewhere else. So, we’ll get some good work in today. I trust that guys won’t be affected by it. Even though it’s not exactly like the environment that we’ll play in, being indoors, but we’re not going allow it to be a distraction. We know we’ve got a great opportunity to play against the Saints for a conference championship and that’s solely what our focus is on.”

    (On how the veteran leadership on the team factors into that)

    “That’s exactly right. I think that, to me, is as strong an influence on what we do as anything is those veteran players having the ownership, having the understanding to worry about things that we can only control. We can’t control the weather. We can’t control where we’re practicing just based on where we’re at. All we can control is having a great day of preparation.”

    (On the way that RB Todd Gurley II has accepted the role of RB C.J. Anderson and if he had to have a conversation with him)

    “(RB) Todd (Gurley II) knows he’s a special, unique football player. I think he’s very secure in himself so that he understands that (RB) C.J. (Anderson) helps us. Really, for Todd, just getting back in the flow, being able to kind of just get his wind back and be able to have as productive of a game as he did with him having really had a month off, I think, is a large credit to Todd. But, then, also his understanding and security to be able to be supportive of C.J. If there’s one thing that you hear about Todd that I think says as much as anything, any time that he’s asked about how we’re doing or the running game, he’s always quick to give credit to everybody else. He’s definitely recognized what a good job C.J. has done to help our football team. I think when your best players have that mindset, as far as, it’s about the team and it’s about how can we best win a football game. I think knows that being able to stay fresh while he’s still our guy, but also then giving C.J. an opportunity to make some plays is best for the team right now. I think that’s a large credit to our leadership and Todd being one of those key leaders.”

    (On today’s plan for practice)

    “Yeah, we’ll get outside. We’re going to try to get some of that work in that we try to do with some of the fast pace, up-tempo periods. If we feel like it’s to the point where we’re not getting as much out of it, just based on the field conditions – we had a tarp over the field. So, it seems like it’s in good shape right now, but worst case scenario, we can always bump right inside to that nice, big tent that you guys see out there.”

    (On if the team explored going to other locations to practice and, if so, where were they considering and how quickly did the situation to bring in the tent come together)

    “Really, when we looked at what the weather was going to be last week and then when you start to explore the options, to actually think about having to go off-site and have the players leave their families and their kids – and the coaches as well – earlier, we felt like that wasn’t going to give us the reward. We wanted to be able to keep our normal rhythm and routine, even if we did have to practice in the rain. The tent was a result of once we made that decision that we weren’t going to explore any of those other options. It would have to be so far that we would have to travel. I think the most important thing is keeping our guys in a normal rhythm and a routine. If there’s one thing that they’ve demonstrated, especially as you get this late in the season, it’s that they have the ability to be able to take a lot of mental reps, maximize some of those physical reps and then have it translate to the game. You don’t take for granted the importance of those physical reps during the course of a week, but if you said we’re going to supplement that to be able to stay here, get some more mental work as opposed to picking up and traveling and going somewhere else. We just felt like that was going to be best for our team to keep it in-house here.”

    (On if there is a scheduled plan on how they’re going to rotate Anderson and Gurley)

    “I think it’s more of a feel than anything else based on the flow of the game. Thought (Running Backs Coach) Skip (Peete) did a great job. We want to be able to get those guys both involved, but certainly, when Todd is rolling you want to keep him rolling. I think it’s more of a result of, ‘Okay, how is the flow of the game going, certain situations that come up.’ But, you do feel good about having two very productive backs and their ability to be able to kind of spell each other. Todd is going to go and he’s going to make a lot of different plays and he’s going to get a lot of opportunities. But, I do think with Todd having played basically almost 100 percent of the time prior to taking a little bit of time off with his knee, this has provided a good opportunity for us to say, ‘Hey, you’re still our guy, but now if C.J. comes in, he’s played productive football.’ I think that’s the biggest thing that gives Todd a quieted mind when he wants to come off. He’s such a team guy that he doesn’t want to come off because he doesn’t want to feel like he’s letting anybody else down. But I think as a result of some of the production that you’ve seen from C.J., he can feel good about getting his good work in, but if he needs a blow then C.J. is coming in and doing a nice job.”

    (On if he is noticing defenses lining up a certain way when Anderson is in the game that is affording them to be able to do some things off of run action)

    “I wouldn’t necessarily say that. We’ve only really had one game with those guys playing together. C.J. has made some plays in the screen game. He can catch the ball. The first week he was here he made a couple big-time, one-handed snags on some routes down the sideline and stuff. So, don’t sleep on him (laughs).”

    (On if there was a particular shortcoming from the first matchup with the Saints that he believed they needed to commit to focusing on the rest of the way)

    “I think, really, just our ability to kind of – we fell behind. They capitalized on some of the turnovers. We ended up not converting on a fake field goal opportunity. They’re so explosive and I thought they were so efficient in the red zone, they were so efficient on third downs. I thought there was a point in time where once we came out of the half, I thought getting a field goal at the end of the half to really cut it. (K) Greg (Zuerlein) hits a big-time one with our offense operating at the end of the first half. Then, you come out and you find a way just to creep back into it and you get it to 35 all before you know it because the defense started playing really well. But, I just think when you fall behind against such an explosive team, then they can start to dictate a lot of different looks defensively. They can speed it up or slow it down on you offensively and they’re so dangerous with their special teams and some of the things they present as well. Really, it’s just a matter of falling behind and then some of those situational things that we could do a better job of.”

    (On how much of a challenge it is as play caller when you’ve seen this team in Week 9 and now on a stage of this magnitude)

    “It’s a great challenge because they’re a great defense. I don’t think it’s necessarily exclusive to the fact that we’ve played them already. There’s been so much inventory and so many snaps that have taken place since we’ve played them dating back, so you’ve got a lot of different things that they’ve done. There’s a lot of different things that we’ve done and it’s about figuring out, ‘Okay, what’s the best way to put our players in situations that put them in spots to succeed, that accentuate their skill sets, but also gives us answers versus the defensive structures that they’re presenting or the offensive things that we expect (Saints Head) Coach (Sean) Payton to present to (Defensive Coordinator) Wade (Phillips) and our defense.’ I think, really, it is a great challenge, but it’s because it’s a great football team we’re playing, not necessarily because we’ve played them already.”

    (On what QB Jared Goff improved with from the time he was struggling a little bit)

    “Sometimes it can be just the fact of a ball bouncing one way or the other. The quarterback is under such a microscope with every single thing. Sometimes if you have a game where a play that you’re aggressive, you try to fit it into a window, two of those times where it gets tipped up and they end up getting picks on those plays where sometimes they go incomplete or you fit it in there for a completion – that’s the difference in somebody being evaluated as in a slump, out of a slump. So, I think it’s such a fine line. But, what he’s done a good job of, is the consistent decision making down-in and down-out. I think the ability to distribute the ball and get a variety of play-makers involved – whatever phase of our passing game that we’re operating in. I thought he did do some really good things in the Philly game. Then, we’ve talked about, really, going back to the Chicago (Bears) game – that was a collaborative effort and it started with me there. I think everybody wants to make a big deal of the way that he was playing. But, I think it large part, it’s because he was playing at such an elite level, he almost became a victim of his own success. But, he really didn’t fall off at all. I think it was just some of those things that bounced one way or the other. Then, defensive guys made some good plays. So, he’s settled in. I think he’s done an excellent job over the last month of the season and most importantly, I think our team’s in a good place. We had a little bit of a lull there where everybody was ready to press the panic button, except for everybody in this building. I think that’s what’s a credit to our players, our coaching staff – finishing up the season in the right way. Got a little bit of momentum having played the way that we did against a great Dallas (Cowboys) football team and we’re excited about the challenge for the Conference Championship this week.”

    (On each of the last 10 Conference Championship games have been won by the home team and how much of an advantage it is for the New Orleans Saints)

    “It’s definitely an advantage, especially when you look at the type of atmosphere that you’re going to have in New Orleans and having been there, you have a respect for that. We’d love to be at home, but it’s a great opportunity for us to go into their place, try to play a great game and see if we can break that 10-year streak.”

    (On getting T Andrew Whitworth last season and if he’s ever seen a player at that age perform the way that he is)

    “I think until you actually go back and – I didn’t know enough about him to realize what a special person he was. So, I think the appreciation that you gain from being around somebody like that, just increases as you’re around him more. Watching the way that he leads, watching the way that he’s made me a better coach. Just seeing the way that he interacts with his coaches, his teammates and what he’s meant to this organization. I don’t think you could really put a price on it, how instrumental he’s been with what he’s done and how he’s influenced and affected his teammates over the last couple years and really, this overall culture that you hear us talk about. The production has been incredible. I thought he played his best game of the year last week, too. He looked fresh. He looked healthy. He was explosive – finishing blocks in the run game. He was patient and used his hands in protection. It’s really incredible. If you look back at the numbers, it really hasn’t been – there’s only a few guys that have ever done it in the history of this league. For him to be playing at this level, for him to be able to lead the way that he does, that’s why games like last week were so special because you care so much about those guys and seeing them have success. That’s what you love about this game. That’s what makes you want to work that much harder. But, I don’t think you could put a price on how important that guy is. You can’t say anything else, but, I’m sure glad that he got here, and you love (T) Andrew Whitworth.”

    (On how he’s going to prepare for the crowd noise with practicing outside and how Whitworth has made him a better coach)

    “So, the first part of it, we’ll have the speakers out, like we normally would. I don’t think you can truly mimic and emulate that noise that you’re going to have. So, that’s how we’ll do that as far as just kind of getting acclimated to the noise, specifically when our offense is operating. Then, I think, really, just the players perspective that Andrew gives you with regards to things that he might see because he has such a good understanding. I didn’t play offensive line, but some of the things – tips, tells or just based on his overall vantage point and experience that he’s able to give you that you don’t have unless you’re a player, make you more in-tune with some things as a coach. But, I think what you learn more importantly, is just how you lead in an authentic and genuine way. Watching him operate has definitely been one of the things that’s kind of changed the way that you view what true leadership is – the way I view it. I think it’s because it comes from such a just natural place because he’s got such an empathy for people and it’s an authentic way that he’s connecting. He doesn’t necessarily have to say it all the time, but he just does right all the time. He touches guys individually and it’s something that’s been really beneficial for our football team and to be able to see it, you can’t help but get better being around somebody like him.”

    (On how he monitors himself so that he doesn’t get too conservative or too aggressive during the NFC Championship with fourth down conversions and fake plays)

    “I think it goes back to the communication that exists amongst, really, our coaching staff and really kind of following our process. Then, there is an element where a lot of those decisions – I see the stats and different things like that, but so much of it is a product of a gut feel. The one thing I think, especially when you’re talking about football compared to some of the other stats where you use those numbers, you’re talking about 22 moving parts on every single snap – matchups that occur. I get what it says on the fourth-and-1 – here’s what the chart says – different things like that. But, if you feel like you’re getting good knock off, you’ve got confidence and a belief in your players to be able to execute – that’s more of a gut thing, then sometimes it is. Same thing with the QB sneak that we did in Seattle. So, I think we are an aggressive team by nature. I think that’s our mindset, that’s our mentality, but you don’t want to be reckless. So, there’s an element of making sure that that communication is amongst your coaches where you’re utilizing those resources around you. But, then there’s also a feel where, man, we feel real confident in our players ability to execute and we’re going to play not fearing failure, but to go attack an opportunity to go win a conference championship. I know they have the same thing – that’s what I respect so much about the Saints is that they’re aggressive. They’re down 14 from the two-yard line, they go for it and they deliver in a big way. That gets them back into it. You look back at the Baltimore game earlier in the year. So, I have a lot of respect and admiration for (Saints Head) Coach (Sean) Payton and the way that he calls a game to go win it – not being afraid of losing it. I’d like to think that’s something that we do at the Rams as well. We’re going to continue to do that going into this weekend.”

    ***

    Rams Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips – January 17, 2019

    (Opening statement)

    “I have a history with this team also. It’s pretty much up all of them. These guys, obviously scored 45 points the first time we played them. They got two great running backs, all-time great quarterback and the leading receiver in the League. A really good offensive line, so it’s going to be a big challenge for us. But like I said last week, each game is its own entity. Everybody said, ‘You all can’t stop the run. You aren’t going to be able to run on them.’ All those things. Whatever happens this game is going to happen. I feel like we’ve been playing better defensively as the year went along and we played well last week, so that’s what we expect”

    (On if he agrees with head coach Sean McVay that DT Ndamukong Suh played his best game against Dallas)

    “I do. Especially with the head coach. I don’t want to (inaudible) with him. That’s why I’m here now.”

    (On what made Suh so successful against the Cowboys)

    “Well, he just played really well. He used his talent. He’s got great talent and he utilized it. Hopefully we put him in a position to make some plays, but, it’s the players themselves. I think he was really motivated to play well and he did. We were pleased with that and we expect more from him.”

    (On how having CB Aqib Talib back changes the defense)

    “Well it changes – as you can see, since (CB) Aqib’s (Talib) been back, we haven’t given up a lot of big plays in the passing game. He helps out there. He helps with communication, he helps with his talent and we don’t have to change people around to cover up for a guy that hadn’t been playing. It gives us a versatility that didnt have when he wasn’t in there and I think we’ve played better since he’s been in there.”

    (On if it took a while to figure out how to best work Suh and DT Aaron Donald in combination)

    “I think it’s the whole defense. That’s what you do, is try to get a feel for what they really do well and what their real strengths are, and if they have some weaknesses, try not to put them in those situations. I said earlier, I did that with (CB) Marcus Peters. I did a disservice to him in that first game because he didn’t have any help with the receivers. We learn as we go. I’m just about to get experienced enough to learn how to do it. That’s what our job is – try to get them in good position to make plays.”

    (On having a fully integrated OLB Dante Fowler Jr. this time versus the Saints)

    “Yeah, I mean (OLB) Dante (Fowler Jr.) was new with us last time we played. I think he’s a lot more comfortable with the defense. He’s made some big plays since he’s been with us. The more he learned, the more we were able to learn what he could do. We expect him to have a good game.”

    (On Talib’s leadership)

    “He’s a natural leader. He was that way in Denver, the same way. He was a real driving force in our playoff, championship and Super Bowl win as a leader, also. He played really well, but he was a big factor. There were a lot of things that came up in the locker room, all those things, him helping prepare the team just like coaches do.”

    (On teammates naturally gravitating to Talib or is he proactive about it)

    “He’s pretty proactive about everything. He’s a big personality so you can’t help but be drawn to him. I tell him he always takes the other side. Whatever side you take, well he’s going to argue the other side and those kind of things. You know, that’s him. He gets going, he gets excitable about a lot of things and he’s a lot of fun to be around. And he made me ‘drippin’ in the Super Bowl so that was nice.”

    (On how Talib’s ability to be proactive help from a communication standpoint when facing Saints QB Drew Brees)

    “(Saints QB) Drew Brees is not only one of the greatest of all time, he’s having an even better year than he had last year when he set the record for highest percentage of completions. He’s a tremendous quarterback. He knows what you’re in most of the time, so you got to be able to play whatever your technique is and play it really well when he does know what you’re in. We still try to disguise things and certainly we are going to move around on him, but it’s hard to catch him not knowing, basically, where the weakness of the defense is, or where his one-on-one situation with (Saints WR) Michael Thomas. If he sees that, well then he’s going to try to hope his guy can beat your guy – he knows that. It goes to him in those situations. If you double one guy, then he knows to go somewhere else. And if you’re playing zone, he knows the weaknesses and sweet spots of the zones are.”

    (On similarities he sees between Saints head coach Sean Payton and McVay)

    “Well the big things, obviously. They’re well-disciplined in what they do. They know what they’re doing and know how to take advantage of defenses. When they see something that you’re in, they come back with something that will hurt it – those kinds of things. Coach McVay is not only a really good offensive coach, he’s a heck of a head coach. He helps us on defense, too.”

    (On what he recalls seeing from McVay that really made him believe that he wanted to coach on his staff)

    “Well it was mostly my son, Wes (Phillips), who worked with him, you know, with the (Washington) Redskins. Wes told me all about him. I had met him (McVay) before, but Wes told me all about him, all the great things about him. Wes had already said he thought he was going to be a great head coach and he has great command of the room and all those things. So it was really from Wes. Wes is a young, offensive coach that knows Sean McVay, just if anyone is looking for a head coach. He knows him real well.”

    (On his son, Wes, not being wrong about McVay)

    “Oh no, Wes was absolutely correct, which he usually is, and that’s why he’s a really good coach.”

    (On how tough of a matchup Saints RB Alvin Kamara is)

    “Yeah, he’s a matchup problem. I go back to the old days, (Hall of Fame RB) Marshall Faulk was that way. He could run with the ball great and you could put him out as a wide receiver and he could run wide receiver routes or he could beat you out of the backfield. You know, it’s the same type of guy with great ability. I’m not going to put him in the Hall of Fame yet, but he has a lot of similar traits that are hard matchup problems for you.”

    (On the challenges Saints QB Taysom Hill presents)

    “They’ve utilized the ability he has, certainly. Special teams, he’s a good special teamer, but he’s got a lot of speed, he can throw the ball at quarterback. When you throw a guy in that can play tight end and all of the sudden he’s playing quarterback, he’s very versatile. It causes you to say, ‘Hey, you know if he’s playing tight end you do this, if he’s playing wide receiver you have to do this, if he’s playing quarterback you have to do this and even running back.’ It makes you prepare for a lot of different things and you have to be real sound in what you do. So, they utilize him really in that way.”

    (On if he was surprised by all the talent acquired on defense – Talib, Suh, Peters – during the same offseason and how to get them all acclimated)

    “That’s what (Rams GM) Les (Snead) and Sean do, is try to get talent. They go out and do a great job of it, obviously. We are 14-3 now, so we got a lot of talent. It’s not all coaching. They do a good of acquiring players and those two guys are veteran guys that have played really well in the league and are smart players. I think that bodes well for any team.”

    January 1, 2019 at 1:08 am #95908

    In reply to: tweets … 12/31

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Gary Klein@LATimesklein
    Andrew Whitworth on knee bruise. “It’s nothing. I mean we could’ve played. It was more precautionary.”

    Downtown Rams@DowntownRams
    #Bengals have requested an interview with #Rams passing game coordinator Shane Waldron now. That’s two Rams coaches being requested to interview for Cincinnati’s HC vacancy.

    Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
    Bengals join Cardinals. Taylor seems to be a rising star, and teams also use these interviews as fact-finding missions, to pick the brain of someone on a successful team.

    Vincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore
    Over the past two years #Rams are tied for best record in NFL at 24-8, have won their division both years and lead NFL in scoring and point differential

    Four of #Rams wins this year came against playoff teams. The #Patriots also have four wins against teams that advanced to the postseason

    Cj Anderson@cjandersonb22
    Coach Alex Gibbs told me my rookie year “Bam Bam put ya foot in the ground and go” in 2014 my brother @DeMarcusWare told me “Keep Running” my other brother @ESanders_10 said “Be Patient” Thank you for the wisdom. They will never understand simple words made me who I am today

    December 20, 2018 at 12:08 am #95433

    In reply to: Whats wrong with the offense?

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    hammer

    Goff’s struggles are attributable to more pressure and less time in the pocket to make reads. Why less time? Defenses have mostly taken away the mid to deep routes, playing a bend but don’t break defense and the Rams have been unable to score because of turnovers or failed red zone production resulting in fieldgoals. Certainly Goff could improve ball security and make better decision on throws, but his poor performance stems from an offensive line not performing as well after the bye week.

    I don’t think it is entirely attributable to age of the linemen. That could be a factor, but you would think after the bye week they may be somewhat refreshed. I think the offensive line issues began on the first drive against Detroit when Gurley was tacked awkwardly and had to come out. The Rams barely ran after that, when they did it was not as effective as it had been. The jet sweep or even the threat of one was not present and has not been since that game. With little to no running threat, PLAY ACTION IS NOT CAUSING THE DEFENSE TO HESITATE.

    Against the Bears I saw the same thing. It looked like things were turning around early for the run game against the Eagles, when two injuries occurred. The center in an early drive and Gurley at some point in the first half. Again no jet sweeps, little to no Run threat and defense for the third game in a row playing 4 deep.

    A defense which calls for the offense to RUN, be patient and dump if off to a running back out of the back field. All year screens and catches out of the back field by Gurley have provided significant production until the Detroit game. When the Rams pulled the center out after a potential concussion the offense was immediately stagnant and out of sync.

    Under the current McVay offensive scheme, Gurley or some other running back must pick up the slack so the threat of the Run is realized. If the defensive line and linebackers have to respect the threat of the run and can be moved by the jet sweep or threat we will see Goff with more time and we will see the Rams be better able to attack a defense who is playing 4 deep.

    Losing Malcom Brown earlier was huge and the Rams depth has been exposed. I am also convinced that losing Kupp has contributed to Goff’s ineffectiveness, he seemed to use Kupp as a very effective safety net. He was such an intriguing part of the offense.

    If Gurley doesn’t return to full ability, then McVay better change up his offensive scheme.

    December 19, 2018 at 8:36 am #95398

    In reply to: Whats wrong with the offense?

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator
    wv wrote:

    know youve all seen this, but its worth thinkin about. Can Goff ever be patient enough to adjust to defenses taking away his favorite stuff?

    Seen and gotten some good responses to it. The issue is Goff in that vid because the guy making the vid wants the issue to be Goff. That’s his focus. So you end up with the construct of an “impatient Goff.” BUT in fact a lot of that against Chicago was play design. People who watched the 22 say the idea that Goff always had short options built into plays does not hold up. In fact that changes with the Eagles game, where McVay DID build an offense around short ball control passing. This was so visible that in fact it was a running theme in Collinsworth;s commentary. We were remarking in it in the chat room during the game.

    So I think the whole thing that vid tries to come up with about an “impatient Goff” is in his head. That’s not the issue. For one thing, how likely is it that McVay would stand there and watch his qb overlook shorter options on passes pass after pass and say nothing? Much more likely is what the guys who watch the 22 say: that the issue against Chicago was not Goff ignoring safer options, it was the lack of safer options, something that McVay corrects for the Eagles game.

    You might be interested in the discussion that follows that vid, here: http://theramshuddle.com/topic/goff-day-how-the-bears-defense-baited-jared-goff-into-his-worst-game-ever/

    December 19, 2018 at 8:19 am #95396

    In reply to: Whats wrong with the offense?

    Avatar photowv
    Participant

    I know youve all seen this, but its worth thinkin about. Can Goff ever be patient enough to adjust to defenses taking away his favorite stuff?

    December 18, 2018 at 10:42 pm #95383

    In reply to: Whats wrong with the offense?

    Avatar photoZooey
    Moderator
    zn wrote:

    Also against Chicago, they did not adjust to how defenses are playing them now. Defenses are subtracting the intermediate “chunk” passes they thrived on earlier, and then also both (1) attacking the OL and (2) gameplanning Donald out of the picture which means fewer dramatic defensive plays limiting the score.

    One answer to the defensive strategy of taking away the 11-25 yard chunk plays is to develop a patient short passing game. They WERE doing that against the Eagles but then getting behind meant they had to junk that approach.

    And when they junked the short passing game in desperation late in the game, they nearly came back.

    • This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Avatar photoZooey.
    December 18, 2018 at 10:23 pm #95382

    In reply to: Whats wrong with the offense?

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator
    wv wrote:

    OK, whats wrong with the Rams offense ?

    1. Gurley is hurt.
    2. They miss Cooper Kupp.
    3. Oline is fading for whatever reason.
    4. Defenses have developed better strategies for stopping the offense.
    5. Goff is pressing big-time because of all of the above.

    Is that about it?

    w
    v

    Also against Chicago, they did not adjust to how defenses are playing them now. Defenses are subtracting the intermediate “chunk” passes they thrived on earlier, and then also both (1) attacking the OL and (2) gameplanning Donald out of the picture which means fewer dramatic defensive plays limiting the score.

    One answer to the defensive strategy of taking away the 11-25 yard chunk plays is to develop a patient short passing game. They WERE doing that against the Eagles but then getting behind meant they had to junk that approach.

    November 28, 2018 at 1:25 pm #94600

    Topic: Cancer death rate twice as high for patients who use alternative medicine

    in forum The Public House
    Avatar photonittany ram
    Moderator

    Link: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/cancer-treatment-patients-acupuncture-herbal-medicine-homeopathy-death-rate-higher-a8454791.html

    November 16, 2018 at 1:24 am #93964

    Topic: what Chiefs fans are saying

    in forum The Rams Huddle
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    collected/formatted by Prime Time

    https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=318706

    ————

    Let’s talk about the Rams

    yeah this might be a fun game

    ————
    I’m not overly worried – their defense looked more porous than Rocky Dennis in Mask.
    ————-
    Interior line has to be stout in this one, the Saints were able to move the ball so easily because Suh and Donald were mostly taken care of with the OL.

    The biggest issue will of course be can the defense do anything because the Saints managed to turn the Rams into a passing team.
    ————
    Penalties
    Chiefs 92
    Rams 46

    Turnovers
    Rams +7
    Chiefs +5

    Defensive Coordinators

    Chiefs =Sutton
    Rams=Wade Phillips

    We’ll beat ourselves
    ————-
    Seriously – The Rams ‘over the top’ help is garbage, their safeties may literally be worse than KC’s.
    ————-
    This is our statement game. We lose to the Rams after losing to NE we’ll be paper tigers.
    ————-
    Talib saw the writing on the wall and GTFO of Denver. He wants nothing to do with Mahomes
    ————-
    We have NOTHING to worry about. This is going to be a glorified scrimmage.
    ———–
    What we really need to talk about is the coin toss, we have to go offense first it could be a bad day
    ————-
    Let’s Butt**** the Rams.
    ————
    Somebody even want to bother to tell me how you stop Gurley?

    I expect Sutton will drop everyone to slow down Goff and Gurley will give us the good ol’ Leveon Bell treatment.
    ———–
    I sure wouldn’t.

    They live off of running the ball and using hard PA to get Goff clean pockets and easy throws. I’d send lots of pressure knowing that I’m not going to stop them much either way, but maybe you get some TFLs or big sacks/INTs that way.
    ————-
    Pat is going to whip it out and Molly Whop their defense.

    I’m more afraid of golden retriever puppies than Goff. Little, fluffy, waggy, golden retriever puppies. Gurley will be nothing more than a receiver come the 3rd quarter.

    37-31 Chiefs. Rams get the obligatory 10 in garbage time.
    ————
    Our defense still stinks bad. Forget stopping them, it wont happen. Just hope you get the ball last and have a shot for the win.
    ————-
    We’ll play pure bend don’t break. They’ll move down the field easily so it comes down to if we hold them to field goals or touchdowns.
    ———–
    The ram defense is good enough to get a few stops.

    Our defense will give up 6 TD’s. Their punter might not as well suit up.
    ———–
    Rams defense is overrated IMO

    their d line is easily their biggest strength. Aside from that, I’m not particularly impressed. Just like our D, their biggest weakness is the middle.
    ———-
    The Rams defense is a one man show basically. Two when Suh decides to give max effort.

    We can put up plenty of points on them IMO. Question is will KC be able to make a few big plays on defense or special teams.
    ————
    They’re not going to ‘stop’ Hunt either – especially if we run in the face of the exact opposite side you’d think, directly at the right side of Rams D line.
    ———–
    We own the Lambs and will dominate them again.

    At least they can get some tequila and tacos after their loss.
    ———–
    Sports Media really seems to be stroking on Goff’s knob, but I think they are blowing smoke up everybody’s ass. What real adversity has he faced? Has he ever came back from a deficit like Mahomes has?
    ———-
    Toad’s keys to the Rams game
    1) PP = Protect Pat
    2) Limit penalties
    3) Be special on special teams
    ———-
    I’ve never been so unafraid of a team in my life.
    ———
    They ****ing suck!!!!!
    ———-
    That stadium will be Arrowhead South by the time the game is over. An entirely new market down there will be stealing Chiefs jerseys and wearing them proudly.

    With Peters playing so badly and Talib out, I just don’t think that secondary matches up with our weapons at all. Their best hope is to pressure Mahomes into mistakes, but so far he has been historically amazing outside the pocket.

    Chiefs have just as good of a running game as the Lambs. I think we can gash them on the ground by doubling Donald and getting to that second level. We know how Peters tackles.

    Their offense is a handful, no doubt, and will put up 30 on us, but the Chiefs are built for a shootout. Mahomes can get us a TD in 12 seconds if we need one. As long as we don’t make a bunch of dumb penalties to extend their drives, I think we can get enough stops to still win by 10.
    ———-
    I hope they run press man like they ran vs the Saints. I’d love to see Peters try to jam Tyreek at the line. He’d be seeing deuces by the time he realized what was going on.

    Also, run right at Peters all game.
    ———–
    I love the chiefs but I think this game will be like NE whoever has the ball last wins.
    I believe the D is getting better but this is the best offense we can face without practicing against our 1’s so giving up some points wouldn’t be horrible.
    ————
    The only thing that could make this game like NE is if Mahomes comes out all geeked-up in the first instead of just taking command and playing his game.
    ———-
    You have to know that with the criticism Peters has been taking he is REALLY NOT looking forward to this game.
    ———
    I’ll call it now; he’s getting pulled from this game. Pulled or ejected, one of the two.
    ———-
    Time to take out the trash.
    ———-
    Or if the refs are on the “LA Express”…which they already are. If you watched the Chargers game last week….the WR stepped out of bounds with half his foot and they still let the TD stand. It was a Patriots-level call…even Chargers fans were “WTF”.

    Like I said earlier…this game has implications for BOTH LA teams. It’s really the Chargers best shot at gaining a game on KC….then think of the ratings on that Thursday night game.

    I dont see a fairly officiated game in either of those two…so KC is going to have to be humming.
    ———–
    Rams will clobber us
    ———
    Rams > Cards

    We better see a huge improvement over this week.
    ———-
    Hopefully Andy has the team watch this week’s game, because the rams will copy it on defense. The difference is they are a lot better. Thankfully most teams are not that talented.
    ———-
    Donald and Suh vs. a reclamation project at LG, a 3rd string C, and an undrafted FA practice squad signing 2nd year guy at RG.

    Yeah, I’m nervous.
    ———-
    Is the Chiefs’ offense better than the Rams?

    I think Mahomes is way better than Goff, and the skill players are better, but their line is way better than KC’s.
    ———–
    If the Rams commit to the run it’ll be a long day. Hopefully they aren’t smart lol.
    ———–
    Going to be up to the offense to basically make them a passing team.
    ———–
    Rams are front runners

    Let’s talk about the Rams

    If you can get stops early in the game, which are more likely to happen when players aren’t as tired…you have potential of getting 14pt swings at the end/start of the half if you play it right. At a bare minimum you possibly get 2 extra possessions your opponent otherwise you not get.
    ————-
    We are going to need Dorian O’Daniel and our safeties to make good tackles on Gurley.

    Let that guy get some decent runs. Limit him in the passing game and we’ll win.
    ———–
    Rams giving up to many yards for the clock to help that much.
    ————
    They’re trash. Will be on a 2 game losing streak that should be 3. That can’t beat anyone who can score.
    ———–
    Does anyone besides the team the Rams are playing give a rat’s ass about the Rams?
    ———–
    So the Rams had to sweat out a last second victory at home against a .500 ball club that is Russell Wilson and nothing else.

    Color me not afraid.
    ———-
    Rams shut the Cards out at home 34-0 while Chiefs could not. Apples to Oranges.
    ———-
    Something that hasn’t been talked about enough: Peters talking crap on Mahomes awhile back.

    I’d hate to be him next week.
    ———-
    Here’s what’s scary about the Rams:

    Donald and Suh vs. our patchwork interior line.

    Gurley vs. our crap run defense.

    Literally nothing else scares me about them. But those two situations are enough to make me nervous.
    ————
    If I’m the Rams….all I would do is feed Gurley and dare the Chiefs to stop him.

    I don’t think they’ll be able to.

    My fears are that Gurley goes full blown Clinton Portis on this D on a MNF stage.

    My next biggest fear is that crappy field gonna cause an injury to a Chiefs player.
    ———–
    We can win as long as we execute early and exploit peters early. Also eric fisher stop ****ing up.
    ———–
    One thing I am hoping for is they get impatient and move away from the run. A quick lead could get them in that mode. 273 yards to seattle rushing Kareem is going to light it up.
    ———–
    so it begins

    ————
    Over/Under opens at 63.5,I do believe that’s the highest ever for an NFL game

    Rams open as 2.5 favorite
    ———-
    The SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas on Sunday opened the Chiefs-Rams over/under at 64, which, if it holds, would be the highest since at least 1986, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
    ———–
    I think it should be 70. Rams and Saints put 80 on the board. I don’t think the Chiefs or Rams defenses are good enough to keep this one below 70. Heck, the crappy Mexico field condition might actually be the best defense in this game.
    ———-
    Tyreek need to run go routes all night gas Marcus peters early. Also their pressure comes from the middle, they have ZERO outside pressure, Move the pocket roll outs etc
    ———-
    Hill will rake his ass.
    ———
    Oh Andy if you are reading this, JET SWEEPS ALL NIGHT LONG
    ———
    I’m guessing this is a loss – which is fine, you’re gonna drop 2 or 3 games along the way even if you’re a great team.

    They are the best team in the league on offense and we’re one of the worst on defense. They have balance on offense, they’re a top team both running and passing, so we aren’t going to solve their offense with scheme.

    Their defense is middle of the road at this point, but they aren’t especially weak against the run or the pass, they’re more or less balanced on that side of the ball too.

    This is the kind of team you’d rather be in a big game, a team that’s not only a top team in some categories but one without a huge glaring weakness for another great team to attack.

    Probably a track meet, so who knows. Maybe someone takes over the game or Goff doesn’t show up or something, but if we drop this game I’m not going to be too upset about it. This is the last of the three really tough opponents on our schedule and we should cruise to that home divisional playoff game from here.
    ———–
    The Chiefs have the higher scoring offense.

    When we look at points allowed, LA has given up 231 and KC has given up 240. Both teams have played 10 games
    ———–
    Every possession will have to be almost perfect. Our o-line will not stop the interior D-line of the Rams. Fisher will have a difficult time with Fowler thus he will need chip aid most of the night. It will be quick slants and outs all night to Hill and Watkins. No 5-7 step drops stepping up in the pocket that is for sure, BUT rolling out (bootleg) going after Peters will definitely off set the lack of pocket passing.[​IMG]

    I think Hunt and Kelce will have a big night in the passing game because I don’t see the Rams defense able to cover them. I don’t see our o-line pushing the Rams interior d-line around opening holes for Hunt between the tackles.

    BUT every possession will have to be almost perfect and the saving grace is that Andy knows exactly how to game plan against Peters and Peters knows what is coming and there is nothing he can do because Peters is still a coward and head case when it comes to hard nosed football still wanting to do his own thing and avoiding contact.[​IMG] McVey and Phillips will be in his ear all week and it still won’t help.
    ————-
    I get that, with playing against the Rams’ offense, the margin for error will be very slim.

    Isn’t that true for the Rams’ offense as well? They’ll be attempting to match pace with (arguably) the best offense they’ve seen all year.

    This game is a coin flip at worst to me. One of the QBs will eventually miss a few throws. That’ll probably decide the game.
    ———–
    a reminder that the Rams safeties are probably worse than ours.
    ———-
    Talib doesn’t want anything to do with “The Freak” I assure you and why it is after Turkey day for his return.
    ———–
    I expect a game similar to the one in New England, with turnovers being the difference.
    ———-
    Chiefs need to feed, feed, and feed Kareem Hunt the football as much as possible.

    As much crap we give the Chiefs D for their inability to stop the run, the Rams happen to be just as bad.

    We’re on CP discussing how Gurley might rape the Chiefs D next week, but I can guarantee you on Rams boards they’re saying the same thing about Hunt.

    Keep Rams offense on the damn bench by feeding Hunt over and over and over again. He can handle the load.

    Problem is…Reid is too much of a chickenshit to do something like that, and he’ll pass it 95% of the time and play right into the Rams DL game.

    Hunt needs to have 25-30 touches in this game.
    ———-
    Hmmm from what I have seen Rams fans are pretty damn cocky. I don’t think they have the self-awareness to be worried about that.
    ———-
    They’re all cocky bandwagon shitheads who were probably Raider fans this time last year.

    I remember when the Chiefs played the St. Louis Rams the year after they won the Super Bowl. I was watching the game at a bar with some other Chief fans and there was a table of Rams assholes wearing brand new jerseys there who wouldn’t stop running their mouths about how badly the Chiefs would get killed.

    Instead, the Chiefs beat the crap out of them. All those pricks were gone by halftime. It was beautiful.
    ————
    First to 50 wins.
    ———-
    Chiefs 51
    Rams 17
    ———
    I’m very nervous about injuries in this one. Suh is dirty. The field is terrible.

    I’d be happy losing the game if we don’t have any injuries.
    ———
    Robert Woods is pretty good too. They have a ton of weapons. Even if Gurley went down, they also have Malcolm Brown who is pretty damn capable in his own right.

    November 10, 2018 at 8:40 am #93631

    In reply to: wildfires: Rams cancel Friday practice

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator
    joemad wrote:

    Several wildfires burning in California … we’re located about 175 miles from the Wildfires in No Cal…

    California wildfires turn deadly as tens of thousands evacuate

    https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/camp-fire-paradise-california-butte-county-woolsey-chico-wildfire-latest-evacuation-live-updates/

    A wildfire has destroyed most of a Northern California town of about 27,000 people. At least nine people were killed by the “Camp Fire” in Paradise, authorities said Friday. The victims have not been identified.

    Firefighters across the state were battling three major fires that forced a total of 250,000 residents out of their homes, authorities said. Evacuation orders included the entire city of Malibu, which is home to 13,000, among them some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

    “There was really no firefight involved,” Capt. Scott McLean of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said of the blaze near Paradise. He said crews gave up attacking the flames and instead helped people get out alive. “Pretty much the community of Paradise is destroyed. It’s that kind of devastation.”

    In Southern California, wildfires forced evacuations in Thousand Oaks, a city reeling from a shooting rampage this week that left 12 people dead at a country music bar. Three-quarters of the city were under evacuation orders — a number that likely includes those affected by massacre, Mayor Andy Fox said.

    3 major fires by the numbers

    Firefighters are battling three major wildfires in California. Here’s a breakdown by the numbers as of Friday evening, according to Cal Fire and local officials.

    The Camp Fire
    Location: Butte County
    90,000 acres burned
    5 percent contained
    35 people reported missing
    9 fatalities confirmed
    1,385 people in shelters
    52,000 have been evacuated

    Woolsey Fire
    Location: Ventura County
    200,000 residents under mandatory evacuation
    35,000 acres burned
    Zero percent contained

    Hill Fire
    Location: Ventura County
    About 4,500 acres burned
    15 percent contained

    Utility company will cooperate with investigation

    The Pacific Gas & Electric Company said it will cooperate with any investigations stemming from the massive wildfire in Northern California. The company told state regulators Thursday that it experienced a problem on an electrical transmission line near the site of the blaze minutes before the fire broke out.

    The company said it later observed damage to a transmission tower on the line. Lynsey Paulo, a company spokesperson, said the information was preliminary and stressed the cause of the fire has not been determined.

    Death toll rises to 9

    At least nine people were killed by the wildfire in Paradise, California, authorities said. The fire has burned 90,000 acres and destroyed more than 6,700 structures.

    Three of the victims were found outside homes and four others inside vehicles, Butte County Sheriff Korey Honea said Friday. Another victim was found near outside their vehicle, he said.

    Nurse fights flames escaping wildfire

    Nurses and patients have recounted their dramatic escapes from a hospital in Paradise that was devastated by a ferocious wildfire. Nurse Darrel Wilken told the Chico Enterprise-Record newspaper that the fire came so quickly that he and other coworkers used their own cars to evacuate patients from the Adventist Health Feather River Hospital.

    Wilken said he took three patients in his car and that two of them were in critical condition. He said he battled gridlocked traffic on a road surrounded on both sides by fire.

    Cody Knowles said his wife, Francine, was having gallbladder surgery Thursday morning.

    When the evacuation was announced, she was still asleep from anesthesia. He waited until she woke up and they escaped in a hospital employee’s car. The hospital said it evacuated 60 patients to other facilities.

    Wildfire causes “utter panic” as people try to escape

    As the fast-moving fire ravaged Northern California, highways were jammed with cars as people desperately tried to escape. One man battled burning ash as he tried to find a way out. He’s safe now, but others were forced to abandon their cars and run for their lives.

    Five miles north of Paradise, Tisha Aroyo and her grandfather stayed behind. He said he thought he could save her house, but they would only watch helplessly as their home burned.

    JT Ford and his wife Stacey went to a nearby pasture, where they watched their home go up in flames. “The fire roared through so quick it was only an hour of utter panic and fear because then everything burned out,” Ford said.

    Flames have moved so quickly there’s not a lot firefighters can do. “That fire from the second it started was off to the races,” said Ken Pimlott, director of Cal Fire. “It’s all hands on deck to rescue people and get people out of harm’s way.”

    Blaze burns TV set used for “Westworld”

    The so-called “Woolsey Fire” has burned a Western-themed television production set in Southern California, according to the National Park Service. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area said on Twitter that the wildfire hit Western Town at Paramount Ranch in Agoura.

    Western Town was built in the 1950s for television shows, according to the park service. HBO’s “Westworld” has been filmed there, ET reports.

    A CBS Los Angeles reporter posted pictures to Twitter of burned-down structures on the set. The ranch has also been featured on such shows as CBS’ “The Mentalist” and “Weeds,” which aired on Showtime, a division of CBS.

    Congestion in Southern California evacuation area

    A law enforcement official said that there was congestion on roads in an evacuation area near the “Woolsey Fire” in Southern California. Division Chief John Benedict of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told reporters that people were evacuating an area south of the U.S. 101 freeway between Las Virgenes Canyon Road and the line between Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

    Benedict advised people to travel toward the coast and then east toward Santa Monica on the Pacific Coast Highway to ease the congestion. Benedict urged people evacuating to remember their identification, medication, personal documents and “anything that you might think that you’re going to need down the road.

    “This thing moves fast, and you need to be prepared, so if you’re ready to go, go, and if you’re being told to go, get out of there,” Benedict said.

    Smoke from wildfire pollutes San Francisco air

    Authorities issued an unhealthy air quality alert for parts of the San Francisco Bay Area as smoke from the Camp Fire drifts south, polluting the air. The air in San Francisco Friday was hazy and the smell of smoke was overwhelming.

    Officials advised older people and children to move physical activities indoors. All people were encouraged to limit their outdoor activities.

    Camp Fire nearly quadruples in size

    A California fire official said the Camp Fire nearly quadrupled in size overnight. Capt. Scott McLean of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the fire near the town of Paradise has grown to 70,000 acres, which is nearly 110 square miles.

    Southern California fire forces evacuation of Malibu

    The entire city of Malibu was ordered to evacuate Friday morning as the Woolsey Fire roared toward the beachside community that is home for many Hollywood celebrities. A city-wide evacuation was ordered early Friday and then was scaled back, only to be reinstated.

    The Los Angeles County Fire Department tweeted that the fire raging through the Santa Monica Mountains was headed to the ocean. Malibu has about 13,000 residents and lies along 21 miles of coast at the southern foot of the mountain range.

    “Imminent threat!” the department said in its warning. The erupted Thursday near the northwest corner of the city of Los Angeles as the region’s notorious Santa Ana winds gusted, triggering overnight evacuations of an estimated 75,000 homes in western Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County.

    The fire then pushed southward, jumped the wide U.S. 101 freeway before dawn Friday and pushed into the Santa Monica range. Meanwhile, the so-called “Hill Fire” was burning farther west in Ventura County and was also moving toward the ocean.

    “Heavenly father, please help us”

    Surrounded by walls of flames whipped by winds of 50 mph, people drove through hell trying to escape, CBS News correspondent David Begnaud reports from Paradise. “Heavenly father, please help us,” a woman said on a video while driving on a road bookended by flames.

    The Camp Fire exploded in intensity, filling the sky with toxic smoke that could be seen from San Francisco, which is nearly 150 miles away. “Everything is burning up around us,” a woman said on a video posted to Facebook.

    There was very little time for the 27,000 people who live in Paradise to evacuate. “We grabbed our animals and some food and some clothes, and we’re getting the heck out of here,” Kevin Winstead of Paradise told CBS Chico affiliate KHSL-TV.

    October 29, 2018 at 11:17 am #93019

    Topic: Do we under-appreciate Higbee?

    in forum The Rams Huddle
    Avatar photowv
    Participant

    The Peter King article.

    w
    v

    ======================
    “The key is Higbee,” Gurley told me at his locker after the game. That’s Tyler Higbee, the Rams’ Bavaro-like 255-pound tight end. “Higbee’s a beast.”

    On this play, Gurley is split left in the slot, and he runs out just past the line, then does a crosser to the right. The Packers’ precocious inside linebacker, Blake Martinez, spies Gurley and makes a beeline for him. But here comes Higbee. All he wants to do is “accidentally” knock the Gurley cover guy off his course. Higbee puts an “accidental” shoulder into Martinez, and suddenly, Gurley is wide open. Martinez, who would have been hopelessly behind Gurley, now covers Higbee, hoping one of his mates sees the legal pick play…..

    …McVay, afterward, didn’t want to give away the store, but he did tell me, “That was by design.” Of course it was. So many things the Rams do are by design, ghost-like maneuvers you don’t see clearly but when they’re over, you wonder, “How’d that happen?”

    At his locker, Gurley was almost sheepish about it, like his coach. “Their guy [Martinez] was off me a little bit,” Gurley said. “My job is just be patient and then go across, come underneath him. It was wide open. We were practicing this play for probably a month.”

    “A month?” I said.

    “Yeah,” he said. “Never called it once. Not in a game. Just in practice. In practice, our guys haven’t been able to pick it up, not one time in practice. We’re like, ‘Yeah, this is gonna work.’ “

    “You mean the pick part of it?” I said.

    “Yup,” he said. “It’s a natural pick. Higbee’s the best. He’s one of the best shift blockers in the league. He does a lot of great stuff that gets unnoticed on this team. He’s our sixth offensive lineman and he’s always doing great job in play action passes, everything. His work does not go unnoticed by his teammates—tell you that.”…see link
    link:https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/10/29/rams-packers-todd-gurley-fmia-nfl-week-8-peter-king/?cid=rotoworld

    October 21, 2018 at 10:30 am #92617

    Topic: Placebo myths

    in forum The Public House
    Avatar photonittany ram
    Moderator

    Link: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/placebo-myths-debunked/
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    Placebo effects are largely misunderstood, even by professionals, and this leads to a lot of sloppy thinking about potential treatments. This problem has been exacerbated by the alternative medicine phenomenon.

    Several decades ago, the proponents of so-called CAM promised that if only their preferred if unconventional treatments were properly tested medical science would discover how effective they are. “Effective” (or more precisely, “efficacy”) has a specific definition in medical science – it means that a treatment has been found to perform statistically significantly better than placebo in a blinded controlled trial. Several decades and thousands of studies later, the most popular CAM modalities (homeopathy, acupuncture, reiki, manipulation for medical indications, and more) have been shown to be no more effective than placebo. This means they don’t work.

    Not to be deterred by reality, CAM proponents simply shifted the goal posts. Now many of them are saying that placebo effects are real, and therefore being as effective as placebo means that their treatments “work.” As part of this strategy they have promoted and amplified common myths about placebo effects. Let’s take a closer look at these myths and show why they are wrong.

    Myth #1 – “The” placebo effect
    The first and overriding myth about placebos is that there is one placebo effect (singular). This confusion is understandable, because scientists often refer to “the” placebo effect. However, they are referring to what is measured in the placebo arm of a clinical trial – that net effect (the difference between baseline or no treatment at all and a placebo treatment) is the placebo effect for that study.

    There are multiple placebo effects contributing to that difference, however. Anything that might give the appearance of an improvement will contribute to the measured placebo effect. These placebo effects include: Regression to the mean – when symptoms flare, they are likely to return to baseline on their own. If you take any illness that fluctuates in severity, any treatment you take when your symptoms are at their peak is likely by chance alone to be followed by a period of less intense symptoms.

    Similar to this but distinct is the reality that many illnesses are self-limiting. If you have a cold, you will likely get better even if you do nothing – so anything you do will be followed by improvement. There is also bias in perceiving and reporting subjective symptoms. People want to feel better, they want to think that the treatment is working, and they may want to please the researcher or their physician. Further, researchers and doctors want their treatments to work.

    There are also many possible non-specific effects just from the act of being treated. Hope can be a very positive emotion, and that alone may make people subjectively feel better. Subjects in a trial are also getting medical attention, and are likely paying more attention to their own health. They are likely to be more compliant with other treatments.

    The treatment under study itself may have several components, some specific and some non-specific. Do people sometimes feel better after a session of reiki or acupuncture because they were laying down listening to music and smelling incense during the treatment? How much of a relaxation effect is at play? Does it matter if you actually stick the needles in alleged acupuncture points (the answer is no)?

    Myth #2 – Placebo effects can cause healing
    Because it is often believed that “the” placebo effect is one thing, that one thing is often believed to be a real mind-over-matter physical healing. There is no evidence to support this interpretation, however. In fact researchers looking for that real healing effect of placebos have only demonstrated that it doesn’t exist.

    Part of the problem here is that the term “healing” is vague. It does not have a specific definition, but the implication is that biological repair is taking place. In practice researchers distinguish objective vs subjective markers of improvement. Subjective just means that the patient feels better in some way, per their own report. They rate their own pain, for example. An objective outcome is something measurable, like blood pressure, survival, or tumor burden.

    A systematic review of cancer research, for example, found that placebo interventions resulted in minor improvements in subjective symptoms, but no improvement in the cancer itself.

    Placebo effects break down into several categories. One category is illusory – the misperception of improvement through regression to the mean or biased reporting. The second category is non-specific effects, such as emotional comfort from a practitioner, relaxation, or improved self-care or compliance. This third category is comprised of effects which can plausibly result from psychological interventions only. These relate mainly to stress, depression, anxiety, and the perception of pain and similar subjective symptoms. There is a mind-body connection – it’s called the brain.

    There is, however, no magical control of your brain over biological or physiological processes that are not networked with the brain through nerves or hormones.

    Myth #3 – Animals and babies cannot have a placebo effect
    This myth results from the false assumption that in order to have a placebo effect you need to believe that you are taking an active treatment. It is the belief that is causing the effect, and therefore it is a prerequisite. The logic then follows that animals and babies, who cannot know they are receiving a treatment, can therefore not have a placebo effect. Any improvement in this context, therefore, must be a physiological response to the treatment itself.

    It should already be obvious, however, that these assumptions are incorrect. There are many sources of placebo effects that do not depend upon the subject knowing they are being treated, such as regression to the mean, the self-limiting nature of many ailments, and non-specific effects or benefits from simultaneous interventions.

    Further, however, someone has to determine that the animal or baby has improved. That person is vulnerable to biased perception and reporting, and will also contribute to any measured effect.

    This means that studies of treatments in animals or babies still need to be properly controlled, and whoever is assessing the outcome needs to be properly blinded to treatment allocation.

    Myth #4 – Fanciful or alternative treatments yield better placebo effects
    Desperate to salvage a role for their preferred but ineffective treatments, many alternative practitioners will argue that their real expertise is in maximizing placebo effects. OK, sure, the scientific evidence shows that my treatment is no better than placebo, but placebo effects are real, and I am very good at eliciting them. This is the “placebo medicine” gambit.

    I have already debunked the first part of that claim. There is also no evidence for the second part, that alternative practitioners elicit more of a placebo effect. What the scientific evidence shows is that all interventions will produce some placebo effect, depending mainly on the outcome to be followed. The more subjective and amenable to variables such as mood, the larger the measured effect will be.

    The existence of a placebo effect does not justify using inactive or pseudoscientific treatments. You can elicit the same effects from science-based interventions. Related to this is the notion of placebo effects without deception. This is certainly possible, if you include all the non-specific and statistical effects, but most patients would likely not be happy to be receiving a treatment that they were told was completely inert, just so it may bias their perception of their symptoms. All pseudoscientific treatments, even if they are justified through placebo effects, are given with a generous helping of deception, which violates patient autonomy.

    The other variable that seems to be important, but requires further study, is the therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient. Having a positive relationship may enhance the measured placebo effect, but that may be just another measure of bias.

    In any case, anything useful about placebo effects can be had with a positive therapeutic relationship, using science-based interventions, and following the ethical requirements of informed consent and patient autonomy.

    October 19, 2018 at 11:15 am #92567

    Topic: VB interviews Pastoors (long & pretty "must read"-ish)

    in forum The Rams Huddle
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Q&A: Rams cap guru Tony Pastoors on offseason deals, the Jared Goff ‘high-class problem’ and ‘more work to do’

    Vincent Bonsignore

    https://theathletic.com/594953/2018/10/19/qa-rams-cap-guru-tony-pastoors-on-offseason-deals-the-jared-goff-high-class-problem-and-more-work-to-do/

    There​ is a classic​ scene in the movie “Swingers”​ where​ Vince Vaughn’s character introduces Jon​ Favreau’s character​ as​ “The guy​ behind the​​ guy behind the guy.”
    Ironically, that line aptly describes most NFL front offices these days. The Rams included.
    Out front, we always see general manager Les Snead or head coach Sean McVay or COO and executive vice president of football operations Kevin Demoff. And while the trio is largely responsible for the Rams’ undefeated start through the first six weeks of the season, there exists a guy behind the guy behind the guy, someone who largely operates behind the scenes without much fanfare or recognition.
    But he’s just as important to the whole operation as Snead, McVay and Demoff.
    Tony Pastoors — a quiet, measured 31-year-old former Dartmouth football standout — holds the title of vice president of football and business administration. And with a professional inscription as impressive as that, you can only imagine how wide and deep his responsibilities run.
    But for the purpose of brevity, all you really need to know about Patoors is that he’s the Rams salary cap guru and their chief contract negotiator.
    And while Snead and his staff are in charge of identifying and acquiring all the players and McVay and his staff are entrusted with coaching them up and Demoff and owner Stan Kroenke decide what the budget looks like each year, it is Pastoors who somehow makes it all work within the NFL’s incredibly complex and excruciatingly difficult salary cap.
    So if you’re a Rams fan looking to thank anyone for the incredible offseason the franchise achieved in which it rewarded Aaron Donald (six-year $135 million extension), Todd Gurley (four years, $57.5 million), Rob Havenstein (four years, $32.5 million), added Ndamukong Suh for $14 million, acquired Brandin Cooks and gave him a five-year $34 million extension and traded for Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, then Pastoors is your guy. He made it all work under the cap.
    And keep in mind Pastoors also preserved financial flexibility moving forward to take care of Jared Goff, who is creeping into that rarified air occupied by franchise quarterbacks and will need to get paid like one sooner rather than later.
    With an eye on the present and the future, Patoors helped lock in the Rams’ incredible young core. He also left plenty of room to supplement it in such a way that, provided they keep making sound personnel decisions, it will leave the Rams as playoff contenders over an extended window.
    “His job is to make sure that, ‘Hey, not only can we have Christmas but we can have birthdays and next year’s Christmas and next year’s birthdays and so on and so forth,’ ” Snead said.
    Demoff, a fellow Dartmouth alum, brought Pastoors to the Rams in 2010 after he graduated. Pastoors’ role continued to grow and evolve until Demoff finally handed over contract negotiating responsibilities to him in 2015.
    “I always knew I wanted to work in sports,” Pastoors said. “I’m a passionate sports fan and always loved the team aspect and being around a team. And wanting to help build a team.
    “I don’t know that I ever dreamt about negotiating contracts. I think that’s just one of those things, it’s just how the world worked out. I had an unbelievable mentor in Kevin to learn from and over the years, kind of helped to take things off his plate more and more and more until one day he kind of looked at me and said, ‘Hey go for it.’ ”
    Along the way, Pastoors has cultivated a much-needed calming presence in the often volatile and emotional world of pro football in which the desire to win now must be balanced with the bigger picture. What might look great today could cause major ramifications tomorrow.
    “He’s a great compass,” Snead said. “Because he’s the one who will constantly remind us of our philosophy that was designed and put together during the calm moments and not during the storm when we’re irrational or emotional.”
    “When all four of us are together he’s going to listen like 95 percent of the time,” Snead added. “But then when he does say something, it’s absolutely worth listening to.”

    Pastoors sat down with The Athletic to talk about his role, the Rams’ offseason and how things look moving forward.

    In your role as the salary cap manager and contract negotiator, do you ever have to play the role of the parent having to tell the kids they might not be able to get that one big present they were hoping for?

    I hope that’s never happened (laughing). No, honestly I think that’s probably a lot of Kevin’s role. At the end of the day, that’s big picture. And while I certainly do that, part of what I always strive to do is to make sure you never have to say no. And be in a position where you always have the flexibility to do those kinds of things. Now, I don’t want to say I’ve never said no. But certainly, and I think Les and Sean have an unbelievable understanding of all this, there are tradeoffs to everything we do. So yes, we may be able to do this, but we’re not going to be able to do this, this or this. Fortunately, to this point, we haven’t had to say no too much, but I think a lot of that is because of their understanding.

    It would seem in your world with managing a salary cap that you’re constantly thinking one year, two years, five years down the road. Is that accurate?

    That’s probably more of how I operate than say Sean and Les. Especially during the season, right? Coach lives in a week-to-week, so Sean is only thinking right now. And certainly Les goes right along with that. What do we need this week? Especially in season, they’re pretty focused on the now. Every once in a while you’ll be able to get Les out and have a bigger picture conversation. But if you want to talk about the future or planning right now with Sean, it’s probably not an ideal time. So yeah, it’s pretty much how I function. I have to look ahead.

    I’m constantly trying to plan years out in advance and forecasting where we’re going to be. And obviously it looks nice right now, but realistically how much is it going to be that way? In a perfect world, it’s ‘Hey, this is what we’ll look like in ‘19, this is what we’ll look like in ‘20.’ But obviously, there’s hundreds of variables in between that will change all that. So at times you kind of feel like you plan ahead only to throw it all away anyway.
    But, no, right now I’m not looking much at all at 2018. We’re done and gone there. We’re looking ahead to 2019, 2020 and 2021 and trying to figure it out and make sure we’re continually set up for success.

    You were front and center in an incredibly successful — and I’m sure stressful — offseason. Let’s start with the Aaron Donald situation, which for obvious reasons dominated the news. It took more than a year to get that done. As the person in the thick of those negotiations, can you shed any light on what the primary sticking point was?

    There’s so many — especially deals of that magnitude — there’s just so many little nuances that go into it. Obviously, the dollar amount is what everyone will fixate on or the guarantee amount. But the structure and how the mechanisms in that contract work and when the guarantees fully vest and what does that mean from a financial standpoint for the club and things like that, all of those things get played into it. And since it had been a while since a top-notch defender was done like that, I think it further complicated things.
    And so, trying to put Aaron in a position where he felt appreciated and he felt the contract was commensurate with his play and do it in a structure that we were able to actually deal with and handle today, tomorrow and two or three years from now — right? — you can’t just do a deal and say, “Hey, you’re the highest paid defensive player, great, let’s just move on.” I mean, that deal is going to, we’re going to feel that for years to come. And if he keeps playing the way he plays I don’t think we’ll have any issues with it, right?
    But just making sure we’re set up for success because this is one of those games where it’s not just about that one guy. There’s always going to be 53 guys and so how do you manage all of that and, like I said, if things continue to progress and go the right way, hopefully, we’re looking at another big contract for a quarterback here soon. And so how does all that fit in? And how do we spread these things out and manage them over the years?

    Staying on 2018, it was a pretty active offseason with the trades for Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib and Brandin Cooks and adding Ndamukong Suh and extending Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley and Rob Havenstein and Cooks. It really could not have played out much better. What do you attribute the smoothness to?

    I think it starts and ends with (Rams owner) Stan Kroenke. Players have taken note, right? And so, we had a pretty successful year a year ago and have an unbelievable young head coach who the players really, really respect and love and that gets around pretty quick. I think all of those things made the offseason much easier than it probably could have been.
    Not to say it was easy by any stretch. It’s never easy getting some of those things done. But between Kevin and Les and Sean and the support we have around here, we were able to get things done. And we were fortunate we worked with some really good agents on the other end who were willing to work with us and, at times, were willing to be creative.
    We’re not always the most simple “this is how we do things” (franchise). We have no problems looking at things differently and creatively. And so we were pretty fortunate in that sense.

    From the outside looking in, the perception is you guys were much more aggressive this offseason in adding players. Fair? And if so, what was the motivation?

    I don’t know that we were more aggressive this offseason than we’ve ever been. I think it was just, probably, it just came across as a little different. And people probably pay a little more attention because you are 11-5 and you are in Los Angeles and you have Sean as your head coach and Les. And things are going the right way and people kind of sensed and felt that.
    But with every move, there’s a tradeoff and so we’ve been fortunate in that we’ve had a lot of good players. And some of them left in free agency and so, OK, how do we supplement some of that? And we trade away players too, right? We acquired an Aqib Talib and a Marcus Peters, but we also traded away a former defensive captain and former first-team All-Pro.
    So things went in and things went out. That’s where the notion that we were ultra-aggressive, it probably just manifested itself in a different way than it had before. But I think every offseason you go into wanting to try and better your team.
    That said, even with all the moves you made, this wasn’t a one-and-done situation. The long range has been protected.
    The notion that we pushed all the chips in and went all in (this year), I mean, I understand where it comes from. It’s just not how we’re set up at all.

    You mentioned the possibility of a big contract soon for your quarterback, Jared Goff. For whatever reason, there is a certain line of thinking that it’s so hard to build a Super Bowl contending team while paying a quarterback big money. It’s almost like some people think it’s impossible to do so. Where do you fall in that regard, especially as someone who manages the salary cap and negotiates contracts and who has a young, high-level quarterback who will eventually be paid as one?

    I’m actually going through Super Bowl teams in my head and, aside from Russell Wilson on a rookie deal and, obviously, Philadelphia was different last year because of the quarterback injury. But aside from those two examples, I’m pretty sure they were all veteran quarterbacks or guys that were not on rookie contracts.
    Matt Ryan was on a $20-plus-million contract when he played in a Super Bowl. Cam Newton, when he played in a Super Bowl, was on his second contract. Obviously, Peyton Manning was well-paid in his Super Bowl appearances. Ben Roethlisberger, aside from maybe his first one, was on a big contract. Eli Manning was on a second contract. Aaron Rodgers was on a second contract. Drew Brees was not on a rookie deal when he won a Super Bowl. And obviously, Tom Brady has been on a few contracts.
    And so the notion of, your (only or best) shot is when your quarterback is on a rookie deal has been disproven regularly. And certainly you have the ability to do some things, and you try to stagger some of these things in how and when people are paid in preparation for assuming a quarterback contract.
    That position is just different. That’s the one position in this game you can’t truly scheme away from. If the best pass rusher is on one end, well, you can run away from him. The best receiver, you can double cover him. The quarterback is getting the ball on every play, and there’s nothing you can really do to stop that. And certainly, there are defensive coordinators over the years that have shown ways to slow it down or maybe affect it. But you can’t stop — whether it’s Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers or whoever from getting the snap from center and doing what they do. And so that position is different. It’s paid what it is for a reason. And I don’t think it’s a hindrance to pay a quarterback.
    If you’re paying a quarterback, it means you’ve got a quarterback. And if you’ve got a quarterback, you’ve got a chance. Otherwise, you’re looking for one. And we did that for a number of years. Some unfortunate injuries and (other factors), and so you were looking.
    Obviously, Jared has demonstrated over the last year plus he is truly in command of this offense and what he’s done so far (this year) speaks volumes to who he is as a player and the work he’s put in and the relationship he has with Sean and the work they’re doing together. Really, that offense as a whole. But it’s a great problem to have. A high-class problem. Worrying about paying a quarterback? Great. That means we’ve got one. We can figure out the rest.

    Does having an owner with the resources of a Stan Kroenke help when it comes to managing the salary cap? The way you can structure contracts and pay them out?

    Not really because there’s such parity in the NFL and you have the hard salary cap. In the NBA, you have a luxury tax in which the big-market teams can go above and beyond because of their local TV deals. Baseball you can do the same. But with it being a truly hard cap, it makes it a pretty even playing field across the board and between all the owners and the teams. With the CBA and the minimum spend thresholds over four-year periods and everything like that, we’re all pretty much living in the same world. And so, I don’t know that it gives us any sort of advantage.
    I think the advantage we have from our owner — and I truly believe we have an unbelievable advantage having someone like Mr. Kroenke. I mean it’s right there on the wall (pointing to a wall-sized rendering of the new $4.5 billion stadium the Rams are building in Inglewood). What he’s doing here in Los Angeles — players and coaches and media and people are taking note. What he’s doing here is special and unique and it’s probably once in a lifetime. And to be able to be a part of it is pretty cool. I think our players see that every day and we’re fortunate to have a guy like Sean, but to me, it all starts and ends with Stan.

    You seem like a very laidback guy. But as someone who negotiates contracts, that can be a pretty volatile, emotional world. How would you describe your demeanor as a negotiator?

    I try to be laidback. I’m not sure you’ve ever seen Kevin or Les on game day but … someone needs to be laidback. Or at least calm.
    No, I think that’s, I think by nature I’m a little more tranquil, but I certainly can get excited at times. I think anyone can. But that’s something I’ve learned over the years and something I learned from Kevin. And certainly something you learn from Stan. I mean, he’s as even-keeled as they come. Obviously, those two have been pretty successful in what they’ve done, so you try to imitate some of that. And obviously, you see Sean on the sidelines in the way he handles himself.
    I don’t know that getting into an argument is going to help either side. It doesn’t mean I always agree, but there are certain ways to communicate that in a respectful manner and not get everybody all up in arms.

    Sean McVay has talked about still evolving as a play caller. Do you feel the same way managing a salary cap and negotiating contracts?

    If you’re not learning and evolving, you’re probably in trouble. I think it’s with everything we do. You want to look at it and go back and, “OK, what did we do well? What did we do not so well?” And for me, it’s always keeping an eye on what’s going on around the league. It’s not just our deals we look at, it might be others.
    And I’m just a fan of sports and building and managing teams. No different than Sean being a fan of great coaches. I’m a big sports fan. So whether it’s the NBA or the NHL, MLB, NFL or even some of the soccer stuff now. You follow that stuff. You keep tabs on it. A big contract comes in, and how do these things get done? And so it’s always been interesting to me how things get done, how they’re put together and how do people build teams. Whether it’s this sport or another sport.
    What the Warriors have done is really, really impressive. Being able to put that team together with, and while everyone talks about “Oh, they went and bought Kevin Durant in free agency,” but that team was essentially put together through the draft. And you kind of forget about that. Look, a few years prior to that, Oklahoma City with James Harden and Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant you kind of look back and go, “Whoa.”
    And so, how do those teams get put together? How do you keep those teams together? And that’s the hardest part. And we have one here in the NFL that somehow does it year in and year out in New England. How do they continually have such success? So certainly you keep tabs on all that stuff and try to learn from them. And even in the business world. I mean, I look at that (the rendering of the new Inglewood stadium) every day, right? And how that came to be and everything that went into it.
    That will make an unbelievable book someday. But just being able to see how that all came about, there’s so many different ways to learn.

    Obviously, the CBA is incredibly complicated. Are there elements in there that would take you by surprise?

    There’s always going to be something. But you always want to continue to learn. And I would never say, “Oh, I’ve mastered the salary cap” and this is easy or anything like that. Because there’s a lot that goes into it and a lot of preparation for everything we do and a lot of planning and forward thinking.
    And I think the other part of it is, while the salary cap — and people kind of get fascinated by it and talk about how teams manage it — but at the end of the day there’s real money behind it. And it’s not my money. So I will always be, probably, overly careful and overly cautious or at least try to be. Because you take very seriously the responsibility of taking care of, or spending, someone else’s money. And like I said, it begins and ends with Stan, and for him to give us these resources and allow us to compensate our players well, it’s a responsibility you don’t take lightly.

    With the NFL salary cap as hard as it is, does it get frustrating at times knowing you simply have to come to grips with making difficult decisions?

    It certainly can be frustrating, but I think what you always want to do is set yourself up and set the organization up to be flexible to adapt. And you never want to disappoint anyone. Whether it’s the coaches or the players. But inevitably someone’s maybe not going to feel valued the way they think they should.
    But we’re pretty fortunate, and at the end of the day you can always manipulate salary caps. And Kevin will tell you, it’s like a credit card, right? You can pay it all now or you can pay it over time and feel the pain little by little. And for the most part, we’ve always tried to take as much pain in the here and now. Now, obviously, when you do a deal like Aaron Donald or Todd Gurley you can’t exactly do that. And so, there’s some elements of where we deviated a little bit from how we’ve done things in the past.
    But at times you have to be willing to do that for exceptional players like that. And when you have the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, you’re probably going to have to do that. And we’re unbelievably fortunate because of everything Mr. Kroenke allows us to do and the resources he gives and the support he provides everyone in this building. It really makes a lot of it manageable.

    Trades can happen in a variety of ways — quick process, prolonged — and as the salary cap guy you probably have to have answers quickly in order to give Les a sense of what can be accomplished or not. In the case of, say, the Marcus Peters trade, how did that play out?

    That one actually came about pretty quick. But I think it was no secret to anyone that one of the places we looked at this offseason to improve was at cornerback. And we had a guy (Trumaine Johnson) who was on two franchise tags and we’re making a decision about financially how does it work potentially putting a third tag and what does his free agency number look like and all those different things.
    You lean on the scouts as far as what does the draft look like? Where we’re picking, what are the chances we can get a guy who can come in and play right away? And we fill those things in. OK, if he’s not a right-away day-one starter and he’s a year or two away, what do we do this year? How do you fill that spot? So you’re looking at all these different scenarios and all these different ways to address it.
    And so when Kansas City reached out, it was a pretty quick conversation. Les came over and said, “OK, what’s the contract look like?” And it’s a rookie deal. So you knew financially that it fits. Especially at that time of the year. And from there, Les and Sean sit down and go through the player and watch tape together and that kind of stuff. And all the while you’re trying to figure out what’s the ask. What do they really want? And what are we willing to give up in exchange for a player like this? And obviously a player like Marcus’ caliber, they don’t come cheap.
    And then just finding a way to get that deal done — obviously not having a 2018 second-rounder, you had to look ahead to 2019. You put that deal together and you’re able to when Les and Sean and everyone kind of signs off and Les and we’re constantly bouncing off, “OK, what exactly does the compensation look like?” And when Les finally gets us to a place where we’re all like, “OK.” At that point, you just wait for the trade papers.

    But making a trade like you did for Marcus Peters, there are financial considerations looming in terms of his next contract. How much is that talked about?

    Yes, you have to look at everything. You can’t just say, “Hey we’re going to make this trade and it’s all going to work out and life is good.” You have to look at: What does this mean a year from now? Two years from now? What’s the fifth-year option number? What does the franchise tag potentially looks like? How does that fit if that’s the road you have to go down? Are you able to actually do that?
    And then for us, once that deal was done, OK, how do you address the other (cornerback) side? And credit to Les and credit to our scouts, they were able to scour college, pro, everything. And there aren’t enough guys on the planet that can go outside and play corner. There just aren’t.
    So to be able to acquire two good ones (Aqib Talib being the other) in one offseason is a credit to those guys. And trying to figure out how to actually make it work, I’m just trying to hold up my side of it.

    And almost simultaneously, here comes a trade for Brandin Cooks for a first-round pick knowing he was set to become a free agent at the end of the year. Can you shed light, from your end of things, how that that all played out?

    There was some interest last year. Obviously, he was traded to New England, so it’s a guy you kept tabs on.
    When we went into free agency, we were unsure where we were going to end up with (Sammy Watkins), and when that got to a point where it’s just not looking good, it’s going to end up here, you kind of go back to work and say, “OK, what are our other options? What does the draft look like? Who are the other free-agent options? Who can you potentially trade for?”
    And so you kind of talk through that list and then Les kind of reaches out to New England and obviously the whole story of Sean and Bill Belichick at a clinic together. Then it’s how does it all work? And the thing that made that one a little tougher is we were courting Ndamukong Suh at the time.
    So, trying to balance, “Hey, where can we go on Ndamukong?” And … “if this is where Ndamukong’s number grows to or this is where that market heads, you can’t fit this in too.” And so if this is going to come, then Ndamukong has to be between this and this. And how does it all balance itself out?
    And during the offseason when Sean’s not in game-plan mode — he’s in the office and he’s grinding on tape and doing all that kind of stuff — we’re constantly talking as a group. And Kevin will be here as well. And so what does it look like moving forward.
    And so then, when you formulate all that stuff you kind of run it up the flagpole and get Stan’s perspective on it as well. Which is always invaluable. Especially this offseason, the support. Obviously, he was a major part of last season. He’s been a major part of every offseason but obviously this year incredibly so.

    It just seems like there was an urgency. Not to say there wasn’t one when you were making the climb up, but winning the division and the goal line being within arm’s reach, it just seems like there was an urgency during the offseason to close that gap.

    Last year just felt different for everybody. And wanting to build on that and from the day the season ended, 11-5 was fun, it was great, but it’s not good enough. And so how do we take those next steps and Mr. Kroenke is a major part of that process with us.
    And so, as we went through everything this offseason for him to be supportive and part of it and, really, in a lot of regards the driving force behind all of this, that’s where we have such an advantage with him. We wouldn’t get Suh if Stan is not a part of this. And that’s where it’s so awesome to have an owner like that.

    It almost seems like, at the beginning of Suh’s free agency you guys couldn’t be serious contenders considering everything else that was going on. But you stayed patient and it just seemed like his market eventually fell into your world.

    Yeah, sometimes I think being patient is just fine. It’s not always hurry up so you get something done. And so you make decisions. And again, a lot of that comes from the guidance of guys like Kevin and Stan.
    So while, yeah, it would have been great if we were able to get it all done a year earlier or six months earlier or whatever it may have been, the process had to play out.
    It’s no different than players, right? Sometimes you’d love to, say, “I wish we would have done Aaron’s deal a year earlier.” It would have probably caused me a lot less stress and him a lot less stress and Les and Sean and our fanbase a ton less stress. But sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way. And being patient is never a bad thing. And sometimes things fall to you, sometimes things don’t. But I think people, players especially, they see and they know what’s going on here. And so sometimes we can afford to be patient and things work themselves out.
    You don’t get any of these deals done, whether it’s trades or extensions or anything like that, without a buy-in from players. We can offer a lot of these guys whatever it is, but if this isn’t where you want to be or this doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not going to work out for anybody. And that’s something we’ve been extremely fortunate with.

    Do you give yourself a chance to celebrate or is it always onto the next one?

    This offseason, it definitely felt like, “OK, we’re on to the next one.” But it’s exciting, obviously. And I don’t want to take away from that. To be able to extend a guy like Todd Gurley and keep him in a Rams uniform for a long time is really exciting for our fans and our coaches. For the city of Los Angeles. And so, I don’t want to take that away and I never would.
    But I don’t know if it was last season, and kind of the mentality of this offseason, but we feel like we’ve got more work to do. There’s unfinished business. And so it was — it’s great to get those things done because I hope it sets us up for years to come. But at the same time, while an NFC West championship last year was a great first step, it’s not the ultimate goal.

    October 15, 2018 at 12:53 pm #92394

    In reply to: daring the Rams to run (VB & Salfino on the Denver game)

    Avatar photonittany ram
    Moderator

    The​ announcers were too​ dim-witted to notice​ but​ the Broncos​ wisely​ letting Todd​ Gurley​ run​ the​ ball up and​ down the​​ field resulted in the Rams being below average in scoring points.

    I wondered about this during the game. I remember Belicheat talking about how they wanted the Rams to run in the Super Bowl. I remember him saying that they felt if Marshall Faulk got over 100 yards, then the Pats would have a chance.

    What made me wonder about that was that for all the success Gurley was having on the ground, then play action should be working, but it wasn’t. Whenever they showed a replay of one of Goff’s incompletions it seemed like every Rams receiver was locked up with a defender. Play action passing isn’t going to be effective when the defense ignores the “play action” part – which is what a defense can do if they aren’t vested in stopping the running game.

    So, what do the Rams do if other teams try to limit their scoring by giving them the running game and taking away the pass?

    Then they need to take what the defense is gives them. Run it. But scoring TDs in the redzone becomes more of a priority, so McVay can’t be as impatient as he was against Denver. And the defense needs to get off the field. They have to tighten up the pass defense.

    And that might not be as difficult as it seems.

    I don’t think the Rams pass defense was that bad against Denver. Hill gave up a coupla big plays, but that last Denver drive to get to within three points never should have happened. A Denver receiver committed a blatant pass interference penalty against Hill that the refs completely missed. Then there was the phantom facemask penalty on Countess, and the bad interference penalty on Shields on what was arguably an uncatchable ball. The Broncos likely don’t score if they weren’t aided by those bad calls and non-calls.

    The biggest problem with the Rams pass defense is the lack of a pass rush. Sure, Donald and Suh are great at hurrying the QB, but the QB just rolls away from pressure and finds a receiver. They need to find an edge rusher that can keep the QB in the pocket. Hopefully Ogbonnia Okoronkwo can help. The fact that Matt Longacre sees extensive playing time as an edge rusher is an indictment of the talent the Rams have at that spot.

    October 15, 2018 at 11:04 am #92390

    Topic: daring the Rams to run (VB & Salfino on the Denver game)

    in forum The Rams Huddle
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    https://theathletic.com/589786/2018/10/14/week-6-scouting-notebook-tarik-cohen-david-njoku-level-up/

    Michael Salfino

    The​ announcers were too​ dim-witted to notice​ but​ the Broncos​ wisely​ letting Todd​ Gurley​ run​ the​ ball up and​ down the​​ field resulted in the Rams being below average in scoring points. The object of defense is to limit points, not shut down the running game. I’ve said for a couple of weeks now that this was how defenses should play the Rams. This will catch on. Todd Gurley will run wild. But that Rams passing game and receivers will be less productive and thus total Rams points will decrease.
    My analogy with this approach is that the Rams are Mr. Freeze and defenses are Batman. Does Batman want Mr. Freeze to just shoot him (analogous to quick touchdowns via the air) or laboriously try to kill him by making him into a snow cone (the slow death via the running game). Like Batman, a defense can avoid the slow death. Here’s a photo to help you understand these advanced football concepts.
    Finally, the Rams had 17 third downs. They converted eight. But the key is getting Los Angeles into third down. Against the Vikings when they lit it up, they had seven third downs (and converted just one).
    The Vikings are the poor-man’s Rams in that you want to dare them to run not only because their passing game is so deadly but because they seemingly can’t run. That changed today when Latavius Murray romped for 155 yards. If you can wait like three weeks, buy Dalvin Cook.

    ===

    Sean McVay’s harsh self-critique reveals just how accountable Rams really are

    https://theathletic.com/589867/2018/10/15/sean-mcvays-harsh-self-critique-reveals-just-how-accountable-rams-really-are/

    DENVER​ — Maybe the​ craziest part of​ all​ is that,​ as​ much as​ Twitter​ was​ @-ing​ Rams head coach​ Sean McVay​​ wondering why he wasn’t just feeding Todd Gurley every time the Rams sniffed the red zone on Sunday, no one was criticizing McVay louder or with more frequency than McVay himself.
    It happens like that sometimes, even for an offensive wunderkind like McVay, whose Rams improved to 6-0 with a much closer than expected 23-20 win over the Denver Broncos. Frankly, they pulled off the victory somewhat in spite of their 32-year-old head coach.
    “I thought I put us in some horrible spots throughout the game [by] really getting impatient, forcing things that weren’t there,” McVay said. “The players bailed me out finding a way to get a win.”
    That seems odd considering the Rams just completed a two-game road sweep in two of the most difficult places for visiting teams to win in the NFL — Seattle and Denver — and did so in wet, cold and very un-L.A.-like weather conditions while digging deep into their depth chart to overcome the losses of some key starters for long stretches of both games.
    But these Rams are an accountable bunch, and it starts at the very top. So while everyone was celebrating another big road win, McVay was kicking himself for making it harder than it should have been.
    “We were able to stay ahead of the chains,” he said. “Really with an exception of some things with me putting us in bad spots.”
    That might be pushing it a little bit. Especially since no one is more responsible for the franchise’s dramatic turnaround than McVay, whose creativity, passion and offensive genius have turned the Rams into one of the most dangerous teams in the NFL.
    But then, the criticism was mostly self-directed.
    In fact, McVay chastised himself after his Rams survived the snow, frigid cold and stubborn Broncos. The way he sees it, he got a little too cute and a tad too aggressive on a couple of early red-zone trips that resulted in field goals instead of touchdowns and turned a potential blowout into an eventual nail biter.
    And as the Rams’ play caller, the blame falls squarely on his shoulders.
    “The cold didn’t really dictate the play selection,” McVay muttered afterward. “If anything, the cold might have just affected my brain with some of the decisions I made.”

    The play calling did seem a bit curious considering the Broncos opted to over-defense Jared Goff and the passing game while blanketing the second and third levels and bringing plenty of heat with the pass rush duo of Bradley Chubb and Von Miller.
    The Broncos did so knowing full well it might mean Gurley going off.
    “Today, that was kind of part of our game plan, try to make them run the ball, really,” Broncos cornerback Chris Harris said. “Their offense has been putting up 40 points per game, so we just tried to figure out a way to slow them down.”
    Defending the Rams these days has become a dangerous game of pick your poison. The Broncos decided if anyone on the Rams was going to beat them, it was going to be Gurley.
    “One of the centerpieces of what makes us so special on offense is that week in and week out we see teams and defensive coordinators that (decide) either Todd’s not going to beat me or I’m going to let Todd get off and stop them from throwing the football,” Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth told The Athletic.
    Or as Goff explained it: “We had a good feeling we were going to get some removal up front on some of these guys if they wanted to play a little bit deeper like they did in the secondary, which is fine. They were having a hard time stopping the running. Today we were able to run home. It is a testament to up front what we were able to do so. Todd, just being the guy he is, he’s the same guy every week and today we got to see it in full-force.”
    Gurley ran for a career-high 208 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries, averaging 7.4 yards per carry. It was a spectacular performance that thrusts him back into the MVP conversation.
    And it was evident very early that Sunday had all the characteristics of one of Gurley’s signature-type games as he kept gashing the Broncos for big chunks of yards.
    “It was obvious when we’re carrying the ball [and] getting five, 10 yards per carry,” Gurley said.”Obviously you want to go with what’s working and that’s what we did today.”
    Gurley’s numbers could have been more pronounced — and the path to a Rams win much, much clearer — had McVay remained disciplined at some critical junctures and simply pounded the Broncos with his reigning Offensive Player of the Year.
    “You ride the hot hand, right?” Rams center Jon Sullivan said. “No matter what, we’re going to execute the plays that are called. We trust Sean. That’s never going to change. I’m not going to say at times we weren’t lobbying to keep running that thing.”
    But McVay got away from the run game at times. He admits it probably cost the Rams.
    “The players will look at themselves as well, but there was a handful of plays that I really thought I didn’t do a very good job for us today,” McVay said.
    The first curious decisions came on the Rams’ first drive of the game when they threw six straight times only to stall at the Denver 8-yard-line and settle for a 26-yard Cairo Santos field goal. The second head scratcher took place on their next possession when Gurley ran five times for 43 yards but, with the Rams facing a third-and-2 from the Broncos 22, McVay opted against another Gurley run in favor of a short pass to Robert Woods that fell incomplete. Out came Cairo again for a 39-yard field goal to make it 6-0.
    Only it felt like the Rams should have led 14-0.
    The third curious play call might have been the most egregious. Leading 13-3, the Rams got the ball at the 50-yard line with 39 seconds left in the first half after the Broncos were thrown for an 11-yard loss on fourth down. Denver smartly over-defended the long pass on the back end and brought pressure off both edges and along the interior of the line. The situation was ripe for a screen pass or a draw play to Gurley to beat the heat or a short-to-intermediate pass to work the sideline to get the Rams into field goal position.
    Instead, the Rams tried to push the ball downfield with slower developing pass concepts, resulting in Goff getting sacked on two of his three pass drops to negate any chance for a field goal attempt.
    McVay fumed at himself.
    “I think that’s where I’m most bothered is because of the decisions where I put our guys in those spots where you can stay ahead of the chains,” he said. “Some of those third downs or even the two-minute at the end of the half, I thought I did a poor job of running plays that give us the best chance to execute. That’s something I’ve got to do a much better job of.
    “Fortunately, with the way the team and the players played, coaches doing a good job, you can learn being able to win in a tough atmosphere on the road. Those are some things that you can’t wait to go back, look at the tape and think about why some of the decisions were made.”
    The Rams are 6-0 as the league’s lone undefeated team. So it’s sort of a new world problem, right?
    That said, McVay shouldn’t beat up himself too much. After the Broncos cut the lead to 20-13 in the fourth quarter, he called nine runs as part of a 13-play drive that took 5:39 off the clock and resulted in a field goal for a 23-13 lead with 3:15 remaining.
    McVay’s players urged him to go easy on himself.
    “I thought he was great today. He may say differently, but I thought he did a great job,” Goff said. “There are just things to learn from the win. We hold ourselves to such a high standard that if we do not turn the ball over and score 30 points, it does not feel the same.
    “I think as the rest of the night goes on, I think that mood may shift. A win is a win and we are 6-0 overall. We are lucky to be in this position but have worked to be here. It’s a great road win.”

    October 11, 2018 at 10:00 am #92244

    In reply to: Donald and Suh to blame for poor run defense?

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator
    nittany ram wrote:

    Hmmm, well I’ll need to verify the legitimacy of that source.

    I’ve never heard of this “LA Times”.

    And the name ‘Gary Klein’ sounds made-up to me.

    Yeah sorry the link takes you to the wrong post. It’s the post before the one the link prefers (ie. it’s the one before the Klein article post).

    That post contains IMO the best analysis of what’s wrong with the D we’ve seen yet. Here’s the key line, from VB: “Their fourth-quarter defensive play shows what they are capable of when they lock down on their assignments and play disciplined.”

    And…screw the link, here’s the whole post:

    —

    from Rams Q&A recap: Vinny Bonsignore

    My personal feeling is Peters isn’t totally healthy, and some of what he usually can do from an athletic standpoint he just isn’t able to do right now. I think he might have to make an adjustment to compensate – which I believe he has to some extent. But if I’m a fan, I remain patient. When it’s all said and done he’s going to be fine

    The defensive struggles against the Seahawks, I felt, was related to honoring Russell Wilson and dealing with him and some guys trying to do too much. They got burned in the counter game as a result. Once they started playing more disciplined and focusing on their individual assignments it got better. That said they have to do a better job tackling. They were attacking much too high on runners I felt

    They need to play the full game the way they play the fourth. They’ve only given up three points in the fourth quarter over the last three games. Only six all together.

    No question the Seahawks were taking advantage of the Rams aggressive rush.

    This is what Michael Brockers told me when I asked him basically about that very thing:

    “Definitely got to have great assignment on your end because it’s like we have to squeeze a box on him. I said it before you have to kind of collapse on him and if you don’t collapse on him you leave that open and he’ll take advantage of it. His guys do a great job of doing the scramble drill and you know, getting open when he gets to moving around. It’s definitely a strategic way to rush Russell Wilson.”

    “Yeah, because we got everything together. We got on the sideline, came together, and just talked about how we needed to improve as a defense and do better for our offense. Our offense did a hell of a job today and we just wanted to step up for those guys most importantly. It’s just about playing defense. Executing the defense, the way we should. Everybody tries to play the game within the game and I think that was a big deal with me today is trying to read what I’ve got and play off of it and stuff like that. As long as we do what we practiced and win our gaps, execute, and just dominate, I think we’ll be fine.”

    “Personally for me. I feel like I was just trying to get out there and get to the quarterback or make plays in the back field, stopping the running stuff. Just doing way too much when I could’ve just been doing my job and everything would’ve handled itself.”

    Their fourth-quarter defensive play shows what they are capable of when they lock down on their assignments and play disciplined. They just need to get off to better starts

    October 11, 2018 at 9:51 am #92242

    In reply to: McVay, Kromer, Goff … 10/10 … vid & transcripts

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Rams HC McVay, RGC Kromer, QBGoff, – 10/10/18

    ***

    Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – October 10, 2018

    (On an update on WRs Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp)

    “Yeah, they’re progressing along in the protocol, making positive steps in the right direction. We’ll have a little bit more of an update if they’re on track to play, but everything is good. No setbacks or anything like that. They’re progressing in the right direction.”

    (On if Cooks and Kupp will practice today)

    “No, just because of the way that you have to go through it. They were able to take part in the walk-thru. They won’t practice today, but they just took part in – today is a big mental day for us anyways. We kind of alleviate the physical toll on these guys. So, they were able to take part in that part just now.”

    (On if he expects WRs Josh Reynolds and KhaDarel Hodge to step in if Cooks and Kupp are unable to play on Sunday)

    “Yeah, it would be those guys that did a nice job stepping in last week. But, unless there’s any setbacks, as long as they continue to take steps in the right direction, we feel good about those guys being ready to go.”

    (On if there’s something to be said about the defense knowing how to close games in the second half and fourth quarter)

    “Yeah, for sure there is. I think (Defensive Coordinator) Wade (Phillips) said it the other day – good teams plays their best in some of those pressure situations and I think that’s what you’ve seen from our defense. It’s a real credit to those guys. Certainly, the goal is to always play those complete games, but the other guys get paid too. There’s been some really good stuff that’s been done on the other side that you definitely don’t want to take credit away from, some of the things that these offenses have done. I know the work that our guys put in week-in, week-out. I know the work that the coaches put in to put in a game plan that’s conducive for putting our players in good spots. Our goal is to start fast and finish strong. That’s something that’s going to be a great challenge against an offense that presents a variety of problems in the run game, guys that make plays in the pass game. So, it’s a great challenge for us this week.”

    (On WR Josh Reynolds suffering injuries in both of the past two training camps, if that set him back both years and how he’s seen him progress since he got drafted)

    “Yeah, it’s hard to say. Certainly, hurting that ankle this past year, it definitely set him back in terms of just getting the reps. But in terms of the confidence, I thought (WR) Josh (Reynolds) took a lot of really good steps in the right direction with the offseason program that he had, the comfort level. Even though he had his shoulder injury where he wasn’t totally full speed, he was able to get out there, do a lot of the reps. He was intentional about learning the system in the meetings, where he’s got some position flex where he can really play all of our receiver spots because, really, (Wide Receivers Coach Eric) Yarber teaches concepts as opposed to just single spots. When those guys have a big picture understanding, it helps them to have a little bit more versatility and flexibility with some of the positions that we’re playing them at. Really, we’ve got such confidence in those three – have played so well that his opportunities have been limited, but to his credit, when his number was called this past week he did a great job delivering. It was the same thing when last year he got a couple opportunities. So, you never want to see guys get injured, but we do – like we’ve mentioned before – we feel like Josh is a starting-caliber player. We feel like he demonstrated that the other day and continues to take steps to get better.”

    (On if there’s anything he can do to prepare the team to potentially play in the snow in October)

    “Not really. I think, really, they’ve got to play in that as well. You’ve got to adjust. There’s a couple different things just menu-wise with your play selection that you want to be aware of, but it’s just like anything else. They’ve got to deal with those elements as well. Out here in southern California, unless we want to go to an ice rink, I don’t think we can really mimic and emulate that.”

    (On the weather concerns him at all regarding LB Mark Barron being able to play)

    “Really, until you brought it up, it could potentially just because of what occurred last year in Tennessee. It’s a good point and that’s something that we do want to think about as far as just making sure that we do all the little things to try to manage and make sure that’s not an issue. But, could it come up? Maybe it could, but I think (LB) Mark (Barron) would probably give you a better answer in terms of just how that cold affects his body.”

    (On concerns for K Greg Zuerlein kicking in those conditions and if he’s still a possibility to play this week)

    “He’s probably another week away. I thought (K) Cairo (Santos) did a nice job last week. Obviously, the thing that says as much as anything is the ability to respond. Missed the extra point, but then he makes a game-winning field goal. We always talk about the response and that was something that was instrumental obviously in getting that win the other day. But, I think the biggest thing is, talking to (Special Teams Coordinator John Fassel) ‘Bones’ and even talking to (K) Greg (Zuerlein), and as you continue to try to get more familiar – especially with the history of this injury with regards to kickers. The last thing you want to do is rush them back where they could potentially have a setback. The confidence that we do have in Cairo enables us to be a little bit more patient than maybe we would otherwise.”

    (On if the offense’s ability to get ahead dictates the way their defense plays because opposing offenses are always trying to catch up and if that makes it difficult on the defense)

    “Well, these five games have kind of provided a little bit different approach in each of the games. We were behind at the half against the (Oakland) Raiders. We had a lead for the entire game against the (Arizona) Cardinals and then it was kind of back and forth in those other two. Then, obviously playing from behind towards the end of the game against the (Seattle) Seahawks where you’ve got to kick a field goal with a few minutes left. So, I think the guys have done a good job. We always talk about playing complementary football. That’s one of the things as a coaching staff we try to make sure that we collaborate on is, offense, defense, special teams – what are the things that their phases do well? What do we need to do in order to be able to try to accomplish a win and put our guys in good spots? But, we always try to talk about playing complementary football. I think to the defense’s credit, when we’ve needed a stop at the most important times throughout the course this year, they’ve delivered in a big way. We always want to try to play those complete games in all three phases, but we know that that’s easier said than done. But, I think those guys have done a nice job and we always talk about playing that complementary football. I don’t know if that answers – hopefully that answers your question a little bit.”

    (On if they anticipated DB Blake Countess providing a big lift as a kickoff returner and what that has provided for the team)

    “He did a nice job. I thought there were some really good setups on the returns. He hit it. He had good ball security. Then (OLB Matt) Longacre got involved a little bit as well and got a couple returns. So, (DB) Blake (Countess) did a nice job. Going back to Auburn, he has some history returning kicks. You can see he hits that fearless. He’s got the speed to be able to press it and set some of those returns the right way and that’s what you want from a kick returner. He’s demonstrated that and we’ll continue to move forward with him. Obviously, he plays a valuable role on (special) teams and some other phases and on defense as well.”

    (On how he felt he did with red zone play calling this past week)

    “I think really, the first one, you’re disappointed because after an efficient run on first down, then you probably should’ve run it again, especially when you get a three-man rush and a loaded zone kind of look behind that, that leads to a turnover. You just want to make sure, ‘Alright, are you doing things that put our guys in good spots?’ Later on, then when we didn’t punch it in from the one (yard line) right there, that’s something that we can learn from in terms of they played a little bit different defensive structure than what they had shown. It was kind of the same look that they played later on when we ran the (quarterback) sneak. But I thought our players did a really good job after those first two, getting four conversions in a row where you end up going four for six. The goal is to always come away with points most importantly, but prefer touchdowns. I think you just want to continue to learn. One of the things that I’m not afraid to admit is that this is only the fourth year that I’ve done it. By no means do I have all the answers or the solutions. You try to look at yourself critically, and that really goes for all of us as coaches is figuring out, ‘Alright, are we making decisions’ – and it’s not so much the result as much as, ‘Alright, was this in alignment with what we think is best?’ If it works out – and sometimes there’s a lot of situations, more times than not – where I get lucky because the players end up bailing you out. So, that’s where some of those situations as far as remaining patient, are we getting good removal in the run game and if that’s the case then you want to be aware of that, but you also want to have that unpredictable element as well.”

    (On if play calling is something that you get better at with experience or if it’s something where you can really study it)

    “Yeah, I think experience is so valuable. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned is if you try to learn from your mistakes and make sure that you put those things in the memory bank, that’s really valuable. I think that’s one of the things that’s been as humbling and as eye opening as anything else. You always sit back and you hope to be able to get a chance to call plays and, ‘Oh yeah, you can do it,’ or whatever and then when you actually get into that role, it’s a little bit more humbling than what you thought. You’ve got to make sure that you’re adjusting, you’re able to adapt. You’re making sure that, ‘Alright, are you playing the game within the game beforehand so that you’ve got those decisions already made before, but then you’re also ready to adjust if they do something that’s different than what the film had said and kind of what you were planning on with regards to your game plan.’ I thought our coaches did an excellent job, in the second half especially, when you lose two key players like (WR) Brandin (Cooks) and (WR) Cooper (Kupp), to have their guys ready. Then, for the players to be able to adjust and adapt and still have a productive second half says a lot about the coaches and then obviously the players’ ability, most importantly, to handle that.”

    ***

    Rams Run Game Coordinator Aaron Kromer – October 10, 2018

    (Opening statement)

    “Hey guys, I would like to start by just saying this first. We’ve had a good start but I feel like on our offense, especially the offensive line, that we have a lot of things that we can work on and that we can get better at. We left some plays out there, blocking scheme – wise. I think we blocked the right guys, we did the right thing, but it just didn’t quite finish out all the run plays like we wanted to in the last game. Had a couple pressures on the quarterback that I think we can get back. But, that’s where I think we are right now as an offensive line.”

    (On the offensive line being graded as one of, if not the best offensive line this season and if there’s anything they’re doing different this year or if the players are just clicking more in their second year together)

    “I think it’s clicking in the second year. I believe that it’s a case where these guys understand what we’re trying to get done. I said this two weeks ago, that they have a better understanding of what’s happening, and where the quarterback is in pass-protection downs and what the runner’s intent is in the running game. I think when everybody does that then you have a chance to, whoever’s grading, grade out better than you think. Like I said, I still think we can get a lot better and keep improving as the year goes on. That’s always the goal, by the end of the year to be better.”

    (On playing a team that didn’t have the greatest run-game defense last week and how they approach that)

    “I think in general, in last week’s game the Jets made some big plays that I think some guys were just out of position and didn’t make the tackle. I think they’ll get that fixed. I think it’s more than just a normal, they just rushed for 300 yards. They broke out some really big plays, where you get one guy slightly out of position and that’s how it works. That’s professional football league defense. So, I’m sure they’ll get that fixed and it’ll be a tough road for us. They have two talented players on the edge, they’ve been good in the middle. I think that was just a blimp on the radar for them.”

    (On the final possession of the Seattle game where the punt team came out and then they decided to go for it on offense and if he was on the phone with Head Coach Sean McVay saying they should go for it)

    “That’s a good question. I had nothing to do with it (laughs). Honestly, what was happening was a decision was being made by the head coach, the players came off just as (Head Coach) Sean (McVay) has said. The players came off with full confidence that they could get that yard to gain and I believe at that point it convinced the coach. There was no need to ask anyone else. When the guys doing it think they can, there’s a great chance that they’ll get it done.”

    ***

    Rams Quarterback Jared Goff – October 10, 2018

    (On how he felt he played against Seattle and what he thinks he can improve on moving forward)

    “I felt like we did a lot of good things offensively and moved the ball pretty good. Again, I say it almost every week, you always want to finish in the red zone and that’s a lot to do with me there with that turnover there. Just finishing with touchdowns as much as we can and continue to take care of the ball.”

    (On how irreplaceable players like WRs Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp are)

    “They’re great players. They’re tremendous players and guys that I think would start on any team in the league, which makes them so special. I think more than anything, you miss their intellect and how smart they are. That’s not taking away from what they can do physically obviously, but they’re just so smart and get everyone lined up and are always on top of everything, understand the whole play. It’s hard to replace, but like you said, I think (WR) Josh (Reynolds) and (WR) KhaDarel (Hodge) did such a great job filling in. Hopefully, I’d like to get those two guys back this week.”

    (On the offensive line)

    “They’ve been tremendous. They’ve been really, really good all five weeks. They’ve kept me clean, they’ve kept the holes big for (RB) Todd (Gurley II) and they’re probably the number one reason we’ve been able to be so successful up to this point is their work up front. There hasn’t been a better group in the league I don’t think.”

    (On what he has seen from Broncos QB Case Keenum since he was last with the Rams)

    “Well last year, obviously the run he made with the (Minnesota) Vikings. That was so cool to see with him coming into the season, I don’t think expecting to play, and then all the circumstances that happened there. Then he finishes out the season with such a great year. Everything he did there was so great to see. You just seem him continue to get comfortable. I think from the year I was with him until now, I think – just like I have – we’ve both grown and gotten so much better. You see him more comfortable and just continuing to get better and it’s rare that that happens. But, I think that’s such a testament to the guy he is that this late in his career that he’s able to continue to get better and continue to improve. It’s awesome to see.”

    (On if there’s anything he can do mentally or physically to prepare for playing in the snow and the cold in Denver)

    “No. Just try to stay warm. If it is going to be cold, try to stay warm and do your best. I know that equipment will get us ready with a lot of stuff. Can’t really replicate that weather out here too well. Right now, it’s pretty nice. So if it is cold, we’ll play in it and if it’s not we’ll play in it and adjust accordingly. Yeah, I don’t know.”

    (On if he always has to know where Broncos OLB Von Miller is on the field)

    “Yes and no. I think on certain plays ‘no’ and some plays ‘yes.’ If it’s a known passing situation, knowing where a guy like that is that’s had so much success in those situations is, is important. But, I trust (T) Rob (Havenstein) and (T Andrew Whitworth) ‘Whit’ – whichever side he decides to play this week. I trust both those guys tremendously and what they’re done this year and through their whole careers has earned that trust and we feel good about both matchups. Not taking away from (Broncos OLB) Von (Miller) though. He’s a tremendous player.”

    (On RB Todd Gurley II’s ability to block for him and how much does that help what they’re able to do as an offense)

    “I think the ability to keep him in on third downs is huge. It’s just rare a back can run the way he does and then be so good in protection, so smart and understand the protection fully and then catch out of the backfield as well. All those things put together, he’s a three-down back. He’s a guy that we can leave him in there on third downs and be comfortable with him picking up linebackers and picking up corner blitzes and everything.”

    (On if he thinks Coach McVay has improved as a red zone play caller)

    “I think he’s a great play caller in any situation. We’re all trying to improve in every situation. Like I just said a minute ago, I’ve thrown three interceptions in the red zone and that’s definitely not helping us out. We’re all trying to improve and I think that’s really great when you can see a coach take ownership in things, especially if it’s not his fault. It’s awesome to see and I think it trickles down through the team.”

    (On if he thinks McVay is overly critical of himself)

    “Yes. Yeah, I do. He’s been great. We can be great, we can do a lot better as well.”

    (On what he’s seen from WR Josh Reynolds and his growth since last year and what he’s seen from WR KhaDarel Hodge)

    “(WR) KhaDarel’s (Hodge) a guy who’s — I don’t think he was on a team before we got him in camp, and that’s crazy to me because he was so good in the preseason and has been great with us so far. He’s good on special teams and is smart and strong and fast and all that. He’s been great. And then (WR) Josh (Reynolds), yeah, seeing him grow over the last year has been awesome. He came in learning a lot of things last year, just seeing him become more of a pro and a guy that I can trust down in and down out. Last year, he had to play a few games last year when (WR) ‘Rob’ (Woods) got hurt. Had some big plays against the Saints, probably could of had a couple touchdowns if I threw a better ball on a couple of things. He’s been great, he’s a guy that we trust. If he’s the one that has to go at any time, at any game we feel totally comfortable with it.”

    October 11, 2018 at 2:43 am #92230

    In reply to: Tweets – 10/10 Rams sign OT Rick Leonard to their practice squad.

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Downtown Rams
    @DowntownRams
    #Rams have signed former #Saints fourth-round OT Rick Wagner to their practice squad.

    Rams sign Rick Leonard (not Wagner) to practice squad

    ===

    Rick Leonard
    No. 73 – Los Angeles Rams
    Position: Offensive tackle
    Height: 6 ft 7
    Weight: 311 lb
    College: Florida State
    NFL Draft: 2018 / Round: 4 / Pick: 127

    Career history
    New Orleans Saints (2018)*
    Los Angeles Rams (2018–present)*

    New Orleans Saints
    Leonard was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round, 127th overall, of the 2018 NFL Draft. He was waived on September 1, 2018 and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was released on October 2, 2018.

    Los Angeles Rams
    On October 9, 2018, Leonard was signed to the Los Angeles Rams’ practice squad.

    …

    Rick Leonard has the size (6’7″, 311 lbs) NFL teams want, but he’s a raw prospect who will take a patient coaching staff to mold him into a contributor. He’s a converted defensive lineman who has the speed and power to become an NFL offensive lineman, but his technique and fundamentals are still far behind many of his peers.

    …

    Pos: Big-bodied tackle best on the strong side. Blocks with proper lean, keeps his feet moving and stays square. Strong at the point, effective with his hands and blocks with leverage. Displays terrific vision and awareness, keeps his feet moving and plays with a nasty attitude. Explosive at the point and fires off the snap into blocks.

    Neg: Lacks footwork and overall agility. Does a bit of bending at the waist. Cannot slide off the edge and overextends in his attempt to stop pass rushers.

    Analysis: Leonard showed development last season and has the underlying ability to eventually develop at the next level but will need time to finish his game. He’s likely headed for the practice squad this fall.

    October 9, 2018 at 8:45 pm #92139

    In reply to: going into week 6…what are the problems on D?

    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    from Rams Q&A recap: Vinny Bonsignore

    https://theathletic.com/578588/2018/10/09/rams-live-qa-vinny-bonsignore-answers-your-questions-on-tuesday-oct-9-from-noon-to-2-p-m-pt/

    (this is in 2 threads but that’s okay, this is just a time when something belongs in 2)

    …

    My personal feeling is Peters isn’t totally healthy, and some of what he usually can do from an athletic standpoint he just isn’t able to do right now. I think he might have to make an adjustment to compensate – which I believe he has to some extent. But if I’m a fan, I remain patient. When it’s all said and done he’s going to be fine

    The defensive struggles against the Seahawks, I felt, was related to honoring Russell Wilson and dealing with him and some guys trying to do too much. They got burned in the counter game as a result. Once they started playing more disciplined and focusing on their individual assignments it got better. That said they have to do a better job tackling. They were attacking much too high on runners I felt

    They need to play the full game the way they play the fourth. They’ve only given up three points in the fourth quarter over the last three games. Only six all together.

    No question the Seahawks were taking advantage of the Rams aggressive rush.

    This is what Michael Brockers told me when I asked him basically about that very thing:

    “Definitely got to have great assignment on your end because it’s like we have to squeeze a box on him. I said it before you have to kind of collapse on him and if you don’t collapse on him you leave that open and he’ll take advantage of it. His guys do a great job of doing the scramble drill and you know, getting open when he gets to moving around. It’s definitely a strategic way to rush Russell Wilson.”

    “Yeah, because we got everything together. We got on the sideline, came together, and just talked about how we needed to improve as a defense and do better for our offense. Our offense did a hell of a job today and we just wanted to step up for those guys most importantly. It’s just about playing defense. Executing the defense, the way we should. Everybody tries to play the game within the game and I think that was a big deal with me today is trying to read what I’ve got and play off of it and stuff like that. As long as we do what we practiced and win our gaps, execute, and just dominate, I think we’ll be fine.”

    “Personally for me. I feel like I was just trying to get out there and get to the quarterback or make plays in the back field, stopping the running stuff. Just doing way too much when I could’ve just been doing my job and everything would’ve handled itself.”

    Their fourth-quarter defensive play shows what they are capable of when they lock down on their assignments and play disciplined. They just need to get off to better starts

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