Proud of the defense. Offense? Not so much… (game reaction thread)

agree too. that gb pass rush tied for second with rams in sacks. but yeah. foles made mistakes that could have avoided even with all that pressure. cook again continues to hurt this team. i’ll be glad when he’s gone.

gurley. just amazing what he’s done his first two starts in the nfl. with what? 6 carries in what amounted to a preseason game for him against pittsburgh? and you know why this is encouraging? not just that he did it off of a severe knee injury. but the fact that to get here required a huge amount of hard work and character and all those good things. and obviously being blessed with such a great set of genes. as well. this is the kind of leader the offense needs. it’s not just the running. it’s the pass blocking – the little things. it’s coming into this offense with what amounted mostly to mental reps in the preseason and 1 game to get in game shape. that requires an intense amount of prepartion. focus. discipline. talent. desire. i’ll continue to say it, but he reminds so much of jackson in that respect. he sets that tone for the rest of the offense. just need to get these young guys up to speed.

this could be a great rest of the season we’re getting ready for.

or not.

How about that fake punt? I called it right as 3rd down failed. Then the Packers shuffled around because they saw it coming. I think everybody in the stadium knew it was coming. And Hekker found a DB for a completion for a first down anyway on a nice rollout.

And at that point, Hekker had 50% as many yards passing as Foles.

Another thought. On one of those early sacks, Matthews (I think it was) stuck a helmet directly in Foles’ chest. No call.

I’m just not a Foles fan. He got beat up, and he’s tough and a gamer, but he just has accuracy problems. The tipped interception was thrown behind Kendricks, allowing the tip. And he missed a bunch of other throws, too. The Pick 6 looked like it might have been on Cook, though, who pulled up short on his crossing route.

I hate Cook. He is a talented, lazy, ass. The guy is tying up too much space for about 10 good catches a year.

i don’t even joke when i say that they should cut cook now. really send a message that anything less than full effort and being totally engaged will not be tolerated.

a little disappointed by foles. but i’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt when one of the youngest olines got tested by one of the fiercest pass rushes in the entire league. it shouldn’t be nearly this bad going forward.

defense continues to impress against top qbs in the league. and this was their toughest test. they did their job today. the offense outside if gurley did not.

but again. going forward if they can maintain this focus and correct their mistakes they look to be ok.

On that last sack of Foles, Reynolds didn’t put a finger on Matthews who lined up on his left shoulder. I hope Saffold is back after the bye, and I hope Wichmann or someone gets it together soon because Reynolds is awful.

I am disappointed in the game, but not hugely. The defense did enough to win, and that’s good. The offense was terrible until they changed to a Gurley/Austin plan, and I can’t help but think that they should have used those two more from the beginning instead of trying for so long to move through the air. Once they started running, they moved the ball. Green Bay just shut down their passing game. Three missed FGs and a gift Pick-6, and that’s the ball game.

A week off, and then Cleveland and SF at home, and the Rams should be 4-3 and 3-0 in the division. I will gladly take that.

Here’s to Long and Saffold getting well.

Zooey wrote:

On that last sack of Foles, Reynolds didn’t put a finger on Matthews who lined up on his left shoulder. I hope Saffold is back after the bye, and I hope Wichmann or someone gets it together soon because Reynolds is awful.

IMO that’s just ordinary miscommunication. A play like that does not mean the lineman in question is forever doomed to awfulness. It’s a big mistake but it’s the kind that can be straightened out.

wv wrote:

So many strengths on this team,
but the OLine is dragging everything down. So far.

At any rate, losing to GB in GB is to be expected.

w
v

Well I am flowing the same direction you are. Last off-season if someone said “the Rams will start an inexperienced OL this season and in game 5 they will play GB in Lambeau plus the Packers D will be better than it has been for years, and I bet the Rams OL does well under those conditions,” would you bet against whoever said that?

InvaderRam wrote:

if foles takes care of the ball better. if cooks is not on this team. if the oline was more sound. rams win this game.

and just for good measure try to upgrade the receiver corps. i don’t like britt. i don’t like quick. maybe i change my mind. probably not.

I don’t even think it’s that extreme. I think it’s just if Foles doesn’t throw the endzone TD and Zuerelein hits the FGs.

I look at it this way. They had all sorts of opportunities to win that game, and they beat themselves.

I don’t think anyone expected even that much out of them in this game.

Granted the line has to gel but we knew that much last May.

.

fisher rams with jackson and amendola were fun to watch.

this team is even more fun to watch.

gurley and austin are more fun to watch than jackson/amendola.

i think gurley. and i’m going to say this already. his vision and balance are light years ahead of where jackson was at the same age. jackson didn’t have those attributes off the bat. i remember reading about how he didn’t really develop a lot of those abilities until later under the tutelage of stephen davis. it’s amazing to see how decisive gurley already is so early on. and he’s going to continue to hone those skills the more he plays. jackson did not have that decisiveness in his younger years. he tended to dance way too often at the line of scrimmage and despite that power it seemed to me he could get knocked off balance a lot easier. he also tended to miss a lot of holes that were there to exploit. not with this guy as far as i can tell. he hits the hole. gets what he can. and then does it again. trusting that he’s going to bust one big. and he’s got such body control that he can bounce off contact and still keep his feet under him moving forward. of course it helps that he’s smaller than steven. he’s listed at 6’1″, but he’s more like 6′. and while he’s listed at 227 pounds, he looks more like 220 pounds. that’s in contrast to steven who was every bit of the 6’2″ 240 lbs he was listed at. just at first glance he looks a lot smaller than steven did going from my very foggy memory.

and austin. he isn’t the receiver that amendola was, but he can do so many other things. he can take those sweeps and reverses. and he has a knack for finding the endzone. i would have liked to see more of an impact from him today, but foles was getting his butt kicked. i think that might have had something to do with it.

also.

i think this offense is one offensive line and one dominant possession receiver away from being superbowl worthy. as long as this defense is healthy and dominant. gurley and austin can’t do it by themselves. just as jackson and amendola could not either.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by InvaderRam.

defense could have tightened things up here and there. those two touchdowns were given up a little too easily. from what i read and heard, sounded like they were both on busted coverages. not necessarily getting beat. so hopefully those things are fixable. want to see this defense become a truly great defense. need to eliminate the mental errors. if you get beat physically that’s one thing. but beating yourself is worse.

meh – that was Arron fucking rogers. Best GB QB ever (I said it). Best ever ever when all is said and done maybe.

The Rams are going to win plenty with that D and Gurley. Gonna happen. OL needs to grow the fuck up. I still see playoffs in a weaker NFC field and the schedule lightening up.

I heard the play-by-play via the Packers broadcast on NFL Game Pass during the game yesterday….

Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) radio guy for the Packers….was/is very high on this Rams team…. had positive things to say about the Rams defense throughout the game., noted many times that Gurley is going to be a great NFL back… he also mentioned that he saw all 4 of the Rams games this season and that he is very impressed with this Rams team…even when the game was out of reach for the Rams late in the 4th qtr, he kept stating this this was a “very competitive contest”…

Unfortunately, he recurring call in the 4th quarter was “The RAMS are DENIED AGAIN!”

On a side note, on NFL Game pass, i’ve been listening to the majority of the Rams games live on audio…… i’ll listen to 1 qtr of Rams football on the opponent’s radio broadcast. .. Pittsburgh, and Arizona, had total homers doing play by play, I couldn’t bear with it, thus switched back to Savard and DeMarco, but yesterday, I listed to the majority of the broadcast on Packer radio.. I missed listening to DeMarco yesterday, but this Wayne Larrivee guy is much much better than Savard.

Rams get a bye next week to prepare for some winnable games through Thanksgiving…..

Agamemnon wrote:

If we want to be 10 – 6, we probably have to win 4 of the next 5, then 4 of the next 6 games. Maybe we can win 5 of the next 5? Winning 5 of 5 is hard to do, but they are all weaker teams.

i think they very well could go 5 of 5 after the bye which would put them at 7-3.

the remaining 6 games i see seattle, cincinnati, and arizona as tough games. but i can see them beating cincinnati. and we also gotta remember that the oline should continue to gel throughout the season and foles should develop more of a rapport with his receivers. the rams should be a much different team those last 6 games.

so yeah 10-6 is possible. if they go 8-8 i would be very disappointed.

zn wrote:

InvaderRam wrote:

the rams should be a much different team those last 6 games.

Barring injury, I bet that’s likely.

and you know. people might say well that’s true of any team. what makes the rams any different?

well. maybe. but specifically looking at the offensive line. they start 2 rookies and one greener than most sophomore left tackle. so i’d guess that it’s “truer” for this team which is one of the youngest in the league and specifically for this offensive line than most other teams.

couple that with foles who is in his first year under this system and receivers he’s never played with before…

ya know. seattle had similar problems at offensive line beginning this season. but. wilson knows the offense. he’s been in it for several years. i’m guessing he’s familiar with many of his teammates. they do have to integrate jimmy graham. but many of his receivers are still there. baldwin. kearse.

the rams? as far as i can tell zero games with his receivers and tight ends. new offense. new coaches. on top of that they’re installing a new zone scheme which is stalling the running game. so yeah. lots of moving parts. lots of young guys unfamiliar with one another. but. not just with one another. but with another level of competition.

now might we see this rams offense see a similar improvement in performance as LAST year’s rams DEFENSE? well. i wouldn’t quite expect THAT kind of ascension. but i do expect to see SOME improvement.

by the way… this just makes gurley’s first two starts that much more startling. truly inspiring. pure fucking genius this gurley. just gotta get him involved in the passing game.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by InvaderRam.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by InvaderRam.

Agamemnon wrote:

We turned Rogers into an ordinary QB. We did it wo/ blitzing.

The GBay defense is better than I thought it was. They played almost as good as our defense. imo They couldn’t stop Gurley. I hope we don’t wear Gurley out before he gets is brace off.

i am worried that fisher will overuse him. he ran chris johnson ragged his sophomore year. i think he overused eddie george too.

gurley is averaging his last two starts nearly 25 carries a game. less than a year removed from knee surgery. that doesn’t jive with me. they have to back off in my opinion.

an optimal gurley in my opinion should only be getting 18-19 carries a game. throw in several receptions in there as well. get mason another 5 carries a game. he’s only averaged 2 per game the last 2…. i mean he’s a starting caliber nfl running back. use him. keep gurley fresh. not just for the game. but for the season. for his career. let mason soften them up a little bit for gurley.

if it was me. i’d designate 5-6 carries for mason. in the second and third quarters. then let gurley have the rest depending on how the game is going. sprinkling in mason additionally as needed.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by InvaderRam.