from around the net, on the Dallas game

off the net from Rampage2K

Wow…that was amazing!!! To steal what Ty Burrell said on the pregame show (that I’m watching on dvr right now)

“As a life long Rams fan- this feels like an hallucination”

The last couple days kinda felt like I was living a dream…packing the car for the trip up to LA was one of those “I can’t believe I’m doing this right now” moments.
I thought I might shed a tear when I saw the team run out onto the field, but I have to admit, I didn’t even make it to my seats…as soon as I got through the gates and turned around to see my wife and kids coming in behind me , with a big smile on my face I told them I loved them and it hit me – I got choked up, it was quite emotional for me and I’m not afraid to admit it.

The place was packed!!! Yes there were lots of Dallas fans as was expected, but the Rams fans outnumbered them 4-1…. I understand people wanted to cash in on the frenzy, but to me that game was more important historically then the season opener . The first game back in 22 years was something I wasn’t going to miss!!!

As for the game…..ughhhh, not the start we wanted to see, but what an ending!!! As I said last week in my camp report that Mannion was by far the most improved player on the team, it was nice to see him come out and prove it!!! :bravo

Yes it was a meaningless preseason game, but that game and win was far from meaningless…..That was awesome for them to come back like that and start the rebirth in LA with a great win!!!!

The good the bad and the ugly….

The good-
The RB’s are deep on this team, they all had flashes and looked great…someone is going to get cut that deserves a spot on a team.

The QB’s looked good…Case played well and I was impressed by Mannion. …the dude was great yesterday rallying this team from a 24-7 deficit to winning 28-24 in a game that meant a lot more then just a meaningless preseason game… He was quick and decisive, confident ,no dumb delay penalties or false starts, calm under pressure and pretty damn accurate…. he looked pretty damn good to me…a far cry from what I saw out of him last year in Oxnard. That was a HUGE WIN yesterday IMO and he was a big part of it….

As far as Goff, I thought he looked pretty damn good…only to be failed by his young WR’s and their drops. I had a great view from my seat on that pass to Cooper and it was a great throw!!! Would have been great catch as he got popped, but he has to hold onto that ball…we score on the next play if he makes that catch.

The offense as a whole was impressive, except for the WR drops that plagued us through out the night…drive killers

Higbee lived up to the hype he has been getting around here, dude is a beast and you better scoop this guy up in your fantasy leagues as he looks to be a big part of this offense.

Spruuuuce….. Dude is a baller!!! No way this kid gets cut….

A couple young guys on defense helped themselves last night..Seau and Hill to name a couple.

The bad-
The defense looked pathetic, not gonna lie… They looked slow and uninterested in stopping anything…although, there were some suspicion officials helping them look bad.
Dez’s first catch was a drop, they showed it on the stadium replay and it was clearly a drop, but Dallas was smart and hurried up to get the next play off before Fish could challenge…he should have thrown the flag..bad call there by Fish!!! Dez’s TD catch was suspicious considering the new rules, but it stood as a catch.. On the Williams TD, the play before was 2nd and 10, the Dallas RB was down a yard behind the first down but rolled another couple yards and the moron ref spotted the ball there, instead of where it should have Been spotted bringing up a 3rd and 1, instead it was a first down and the Cowboys took a shot and hit the long TD to Williams….another opportunity missed by Fish to challenge a bad call/spot.

The ugly-
On a day as beautiful as yesterday, it was hard to find anything ugly

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off the net from laram

First it was an experience like none other to see Rams football back in Los Angeles.

I saw Rosey Grier and was able to talk to him for a minute. He use to live above me in Fox Hills many years ago.

I shed a tear talking to him about Lamar, Merlin and Deacon not being there to witness this event. Deacon was very grateful to ST Louis for the way they treated him, but he always wanted the Rams to come home.

On to the game.

Can anyone name one area where the Rams were dominant in this game? The Rams were once again flat and didn’t come out ready to play and focused on their assignments. Lane integrity was awful on the opening kickoff and the Rams paid for it.

STUDS

The RB’s – Brown, Reynolds, Green and the Swiss Army knife Benny Cunningham all ran hard and acquitted themselves quite well. Rams are in good shape in the backfield. I love Benny but the tackling on his TD run by the Cowboys was atrocious.

Tim Barnes – Watch his movement and the way he operates in space. He’s not a phone booth center, where he’s gonna sit there and maul you in a tight quarter, but there are very few centers that can move as he does. He’s perfect for the Rams misdirection, traps and zone blocking schemes. .

Tyler Higbee – The guy looks like a player. Big target with good athleticism and hands. I haven’t seen him blocking on an end or LB, but in the pass game he’s gonna be a force.

Nelson Spruce – I’m giving this kid STUD status because of his moxy and nice hands. He appears to have fly paper for hands, and bailed out Mannion nicely on a poorly thrown ball in the seam. But I need to see more of him going up against better corners, not guys that will be selling insurance in a couple of weeks. I need to see if he can create separation, for I didn’t notice anything in Spruce’s movements that jumped out at me.

Matt Longacre – It was Longacre that made the 4th down stop in the middle, not Easley. I wanted to give him credit for making a play. He was active

DUDS

~The first team defense was flat out slow, flat footed and soft.

~ Tru Johnson – Prescott came out the gate throwing right at Tru, and he never stood up. Soft coverage and he got beat a couple of times in a row on simple routes.

~ Coty Sensabaugh had tight coverage on Dez on a couple of passes and still got beat by a superior athlete. That’s an issue for a corner because you’re gonna go up against some very talented and athletic receivers in the NFL and you gotta be able to win. He was beat by others as well.

~ Lamarcus Joyner – Beat badly on a double move by who, T. Whizzle??

~ Aaron Donald – Got blown off the ball a couple of times and ran past another. Bad foul on the PAT. He was uninspiring in this game, in front of some greats from Rams past.

~ Quinton Coples – Fisher gave him plenty of playing time to see something. I’m sure Fisher is still looking.

~ D. Easley – Same for Easley. He didn’t make a play until late in the game going up against 3rd stringers. Really uninspiring play by him.

~ TJMcD – Loafing and out of position on the opening KO. First game back in the great Coliseum, show some pride!!

~ Tavon Austin – Maybe I was to hard on Groh for comparing TA to Welker and Edleman. He does look like Welker, with the drops. They both have very inconsistent hands, just ask Gisele. Didn’t Tavon lead the Rams in drops his rookie year? Ugh

~ Case Keenum – He didn’t throw a ball that traveled more than 5 yards in the air. We might have a new check down king here.

~ Sean Mannion – He was essentially playing pitch and catch in the backyard out there and only threw one pass with any degree of difficulty. The out pattern he threw to Spruce on the far side on 4th down was his only NFL throw IMO. I don’t like his mechanics, wasn’t thrilled with his accuracy, and he showed me nothing to think that he should make the team. Looks like the same guy to me.

~ Jeff Fisher – We get all of these camp reports about Goff running with the 1’s in 2 minute drill, and what happens in the game? Perfect opportunity for Goff and the Rams to run the drill and they botch it!! Fisher is just not a good game manager, PERIOD!

HONORABLE MENTION

~ Jared Goff – His performance was good and bad, but the bad has more to do with his inexperience than anything. I am encouraged by what I saw from him. He stood tall in the pocket and made some nice throws with zip on the ball. However I do need to point out a few mistake HE made that are being attributed to the o-line.

* On the INT, the Cowboys showed that blitz look two plays in a row. The first one the faked the blitz, the second one they came on. That’s the type of games defenses run especially on rookie qb’s. That was on Jared, he should have been aware of it, and he held the ball to long. It was a delayed blitz, and the rusher came from well off the line.

* On the second sack that Goff took, it was indecision on his part that contributed to the sack. Sure he got immediate pressure, but in his face and he had his release valve Reynolds right in his sight line that he hesitated to…oops to late. Things move faster in the NFL, so I hope that was a lesson learned for young Goff. Hopefully he is a quick study, because he has a lot to learn.

But overall I thought he was quite accurate and appeared to be pretty steady in the pocket. I didn’t see any of the frenetic movement that I saw from his college tape. He showed good promise, and I am hopeful for the kid.

~ Ian Seau – Some good pressure, a sack and a missed sack. The missed sack was obviously glaring. Thus far after one PS game, Seau looks just like another rookie from last season who didn’t make the team. Lots of pressure, sack, pushed back in the run game. Let’s see if Seau makes the team.

Final Thoughts

This game reminded me of the Dallas game at home in 2013 season where the Rams were paying tribute to Rams legends. The Rams come out with a totally uninspiring performance and get their asses handed to them in front of the Rams greats. Fast forward its a HUGE day for Rams fans as well as football fans in general, playing in front of a record crowd and the Rams starters come out and lay an egg. HTH does that continue to happen?

I know some will poo poo it and pass it off as the first preseason game. Its more than that, its a trend, its a disturbing pattern with Jeff Fisher teams. . This team is still not good enough to turn it on and off when ever they want to. This crap really bothers me.

Before the game Snead was interviewed right in front of me and said…”If Case Keenum had been our qb the last 4 seasons we would have made the playoffs two of those 4 seasons” I just about fell out of my seat. He needs to go when Fisher does, this dude is dillusional.

off the net from Dick84

Boras and Groh seem to be working together well. Incorporating Goff’s college concepts shows that they are flexible and smart. Looking forward to seeing what they can do. Goff will be more comfortable in the offense sooner than you think.. because they’re incorporating a bunch of Cal stuff and, as he said, the concepts behind the Rams shotgun and what they did at Cal are similar. That deep route to Cooper is also something that takes advantage of a pass Goff threw *very well* in college. They didn’t look like they’re developing a one-dimensional offense.

Having Gurley out there and Goff and Higbee will make this a functional unit. Oline is looking a little better to me… I saw push on several running plays on the right side.

The issues the offense had were with execution (drops), not scheme. They actually got guys open. … the Rams have paid attention to what has and hasn’t worked for QBs coming from spreads. They’re integrating aspects of Goff’s college offense that work with what they are doing to *ease* his transition. Pretty obvious and it’s pretty obvious that’s one of the reasons he looked comfortable. Good work by the staff on that one.

Goff’s *performance* didn’t show me anything that makes me believe he’s overwhelmed in any way and his *talent* is obvious. Goff seemed to be completely in control of the offense.. no issues getting plays in, lining guys up and getting plays off. No penalties.. no confused looks to the sideline.. and when Cooper was lining up incorrectly, *instantly* and jumped on him, getting him in position *and* got the play off well in time. His reads on progressions were very solid.

So Goff looked prepared to me, and they integrated more shotgun. That throw isn’t in there for Keenum. Unlike Prescott, Goff had to go through progressions. Looked like Prescott was making single reads. Prescott had a delay of game penalty and had the ball snapped while two players were still in motion. He also started to look very average as they got deeper into it.

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Westbrooks is way more likely to be the 4th DE than Coples. Westbrooks has more “get off the line” and more bend getting around a corner. It’s not a criticism of Coples, btw. Maybe he’s just miscast as a DE. Coples is still pretty athletic and very large.

*

Quick’s not going anywhere. Made the catch on the only ball on target to him.. .threw a solid, solid block to spring Benny.. stripped a defender after the int. He’s going to get a shot this season. We’ll see if he can take it.