our reactions to the Eagles game

As I said in the chat, it is going to take a few years to get back.

In alphabetical order, this team desperately needs

1. Center. Neither Brian Allen, nor Cameron Shelton, would be a starter, on another NFL roster.

2. Cornerback, to work opposite of Witherspoon

3. Edge. Hoecht should be on the DLine, as a 3/4 DE

4. Left Tackle. They can’t stay healthy there.

5. Safety. Not really talented there.

6. QB. Someone to replace Stafford, when he retires.

We don’t have them, right now.

If we can get those, then we may able to get back to the Super Bowl, in 3 to 4 years.

well.  the eagles are supposed to have the best lines offensive and defensive in the entire league?  so the rams won’t always have to face that.  but having said that, i think that should be the focus of the rams for next offseason.  strengthening both sides of the lines.  i think matthew was fine until his protection petered out.  i think kupp got a little leggy there at the end.  but that can’t be too surprising.  nacua had his first big blunder but otherwise was solid.  i think the receiving corps will be fine.  i think the tight ends will be fine.  kyren williams ran tough.  i like him.  but he needs help.  but that shouldn’t be too difficult to find him help.  the secondary was getting gashed but hurts had forever to throw the ball.  again that comes down to the dline.  but they also need another edge rusher.  young was close but couldn’t quite close the deal.  he was also going against a helluva qb.

improve the oline.  improve the dline.  add another edge rusher.  find another running back to pair with williams.  but yeah.  they’re closer than i thought they were before the season began.

• This reply was modified 7 months ago by InvaderRam.

This was the young defense that I expected to see more this year. A young secondary combined with a missing pass rush will eventually give up big plays. The 30 second drive that the Eagles ended the first half with was an example of that.  Too many guys missing on the offensive line to move the ball in the second half. I’m still enjoying watching this team though. Lot of scrappy young guys.

It was good to see the entire game, “live.”

As others have mentioned, the Rams hung in there early, but just couldn’t maintain. In my view, it really boils down to a lack of size/strength along the D-line to stop the run, and athleticism/skill at edge and defensive back to stop the pass. Hoecht, for instance, is playing out of position, and just lacks the bend, agility, and twitch to cover anyone. But he also lacks the strength to be stout along the D-line. In my view, the Rams need to push him to beef up with good weight and move back to DT. As long as their scheme calls for edges to also cover, they need quick twitch athletes out there who can. They desperately need to keep their draft picks and load up on blue-chippers on D, and the O-line, especially.

IMO, rhey’ve had far too many years without top picks, and the late pick/UDFA route has just left them without the overall athleticism/skill sets needed to compete.

I agree with this take from Turf Show Times:

https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2023/10/8/23908958/rams-eagles-roster-defense-offense-sean-mcvay

2nd half swoon 4 games in a row simplest explanation is conditioning

i don’t think it was conditioning.  and the defense actually played better in the second half than the first half.

i can’t remember who it was in the post-game show.  but he was commenting how the eagles defense was playing man in the first half.  at the beginning of the second half they switched to zone and the pass rush then started getting to matthew a bit more.  on top of that olineman were going down to injury.  and the offense stalled.  didn’t score a single point in the second half.  so the defense held the eagles to only 6 points in the second half despite the eagles dominating the ball.  sounds like it was eagles defense making second half adjustments and the rams offense failing to counter that but also having to weather injuries.

and then of course the rams defense made some critical errors.  especially before the first half ended – kendrick.  also i think the rams defense could have tackled better.  too many broken tackles for extra yardage.  but easy for me to say.  i’m not out there running and chasing guys around the field.

Am I the only one who thought the PI call against Kendrick in the EZ at the end of the first half was bogus?  I haven’t rewatched it.  I only saw what was shown during the original broadcast, but it looked like to me the the receiver initiated the contact and then fell down.

ZN,

Good point about ends or edges not generally lighting it up with sacks as rookies.

I haven’t looked at other players, but had to check on Deacon. In just 14 games, 6 starts, he had 9.5 his first year (or more). They weren’t doing “official” tallies at the time, so they may have missed some.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/J/JoneDe00.htm

Billy_T wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

Am I the only one who thought the PI call against Kendrick in the EZ at the end of the first half was bogus? I haven’t rewatched it. I only saw what was shown during the original broadcast, but it looked like to me the the receiver initiated the contact and then fell down.

I agree. Thought so at the time. It looked more like offensive pass interference, or a no-call. As in, I thought it was bogus too.

Yeah, I only saw the play live, and the replays they showed live, but it appeared to me that the WR initiated contact, and that a play like that is usually a non-call, but…there ya go. In every game, there are blown calls (usually non-calls, like holding), and sometimes they matter.

It was strange the way this game paralleled the SF game, and I’ve seen others say the same thing. Take away those 7 points at the end of the 1st half in each of those games, and the 2nd half is a different ballgame. The Rams folded twice against the two best teams in the NFC in that situation, but that’s how close they are. A play here or there.

I’m still happier than I expected to be at this point. The Rams are definitely ahead of schedule in returning to competitiveness (aided by the best draft in years), and their growth may continue upward significantly through this season, as long as everyone stays healthy. So many young guys getting their first real experience in the NFL. I think the Rams have to be a contender for that one team that nobody really wants to draw in the playoffs, everyone hoping they don’t get in.

I haven’t had a chance to look at the game box score, stats, etc., but the Rams allowed long drives all day long. Philly made very few unforced errors. The Rams had no answer for their TE, seemed like. And Philly just ground them down. Philly is better.

But…hey…we’ve talked about Nacua, Turner, Young, Avila…how about that Ethan Evans? Good lord. That man can punt. What a job he did yesterday.