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December 3, 2019 at 9:30 pm #108952
znModeratorRams’ resilience must be proved over tough four-game span
Lindsey Thiry
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Jared Goff didn’t exactly want to say the Los Angeles Rams needed a win over the Arizona Cardinals.
But with the Rams on the verge of falling out of the wild-card race, the Rams needed a win over the Cardinals.
“Being able to show that we can respond and show that we do have the resiliency among us, it’s great,” Goff said. “We’ve had some rocky times in the past few weeks.”
The Rams went 1-2 in November. They fell inexplicably to the Pittsburgh Steelers 17-12 coming off a bye week. Two weeks later, they took a 45-6 drubbing by the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football. It was the worst loss in Sean McVay’s three seasons as coach, and it appeared possible, perhaps probable, that the Rams’ season would come to a crashing end.
But in a 34-7 victory over the Cardinals, the Rams proved they still have some of the spark that powered them to back-to-back division titles.
“It’s a good step in the right direction,” McVay said.
Even if it was against one of the worst-ranked defenses in the NFL, and a young offense still finding its footing.
“We knew we had to show up,” said defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who had 1.5 sacks after he was nearly absent from the stat sheet a week earlier. “That’s the type of football we’ve got to stay doing for the last couple of games and we’ll see what happens from there.”
With the win, the Rams’ playoff chances increased from 8.5 to 14.4%, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, and their postseason probability changed again on Monday night, rising to 17.8% after the Seattle Seahawks beat the Minnesota Vikings.
However, at 7-5, the Rams likely need to win their remaining four games to earn a third consecutive playoff berth.
It is a tall task and one that will require Goff and the defense to play at their best, against much stiffer competition. The Rams’ remaining schedule ranks as the third-most difficult, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index.
On Sunday, the Rams return to prime time for the third time in a four-week span, for a rematch against the division-rival Seahawks (10-2), who beat them 30-29 in Week 5 when Greg Zuerlein’s 44-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right with 15 seconds to go.
They’ll play road games against the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys (6-6) and NFC West-leading San Francisco 49ers (10-2), then return home to play a regular-season finale against the Cardinals (3-8-1).
Coaches and players understand what’s at stake, though they have committed — as least publicly — to the cliché one-game-at-time approach.
“Just on to next week,” said running back Todd Gurley, who rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries against the Cardinals. “Just trying to knock that game out the way.”
The Rams have won three of their five games against the Seahawks since 2017, when McVay took over as coach. They’ll need to play the way they did against the Cardinals to have a chance against their division foe.
“We cannot be satisfied,” Donald said. “As long as we keep doing that and stay hungry, we’ll be fine.”
Against the Cardinals, the Rams recorded a season-high 549 yards. Goff passed for 424 yards, the third most in his career, and two touchdowns, breaking a three-game drought in which he failed to throw a single touchdown pass and committed six turnovers. Blake Bortles replaced him midway through the fourth quarter.
“To respond and play the way he did, play free, it just shows you the confidence he has in the system and the confidence he has in the guys around him,” receiver Cooper Kupp said about Goff. “It was incredible to see him play the way he did.”
Goff’s highlight play wasn’t a pass, but a block downfield. In the third quarter, Goff found receiver Robert Woods on a short throw on the left side of the field. However, Woods cut back to his right and Goff became his lead blocker before he was shoved aside by Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson.
Woods picked up 48 yards on the play.
“It’s happened before and often I try to get out there, but I never get a chance to hit somebody,” Goff said about his block. “Had it been someone other than a defensive back, I’m not sure what I would have done.”
The Rams had 275 receiving yards after the catch, the most by any team in the past four seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information data. Woods had a career-high 172 receiving yards, 131 of which were earned after the catch.
Tight end Tyler Higbee also recorded a career-best 107 receiving yards, averaging 15.3 yards per catch.
The Rams’ defense was 8:35 away from posting a shutout, sacking Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray six times. Rookie safety Taylor Rapp returned a Murray interception 31 yards for a touchdown.
“It always will be and always has been how you respond,” Goff said.
The question that remains is whether the Rams can do it against better competition, and for four weeks straight.
December 5, 2019 at 6:19 pm #108997znModeratorHow Rams coach Sean McVay is handling his biggest challenge yet
Lindsey Thiry
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — “Hold up!” a loud voice echoed inside the Los Angeles Rams locker room, after a celebratory postgame cheer.
John Fassel, the Rams’ special teams coordinator, stepped to the middle of the room.
“When you talk about adversity, we’ve got a great leader, who always carries us through the highs and the lows,” Fassel hollered in Rams coach Sean McVay’s direction. “When it’s time to work, he keeps focused on the mission.”
Fassel handed McVay a game ball. “For everything you do,” he said.
Ten months after McVay took the Rams to Super Bowl LIII, was hailed as an offensive genius and sent teams with coaching vacancies scrambling and reaching to hire anyone remotely connected to him, the Rams’ 33-year-old coach has drifted back to reality.
The Rams are 7-5, and after winning back-to-back division titles are hoping, at best, for a wild-card playoff berth. As they prepare for a Sunday Night Football matchup against the 10-2 Seattle Seahawks (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC), the Rams have a 17.7% chance of making the postseason, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index.
From the outside, it’s easy to ask what has gone wrong, as McVay’s signature offense has unexpectedly and repeatedly stalled. Last season, the Rams’ offense was among the highest-scoring units in the NFL, averaging 26.5 points, but this season it has dropped to 17th, averaging 21.2. The defense, while often stout behind two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald, showed gaping holes in losses to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baltimore Ravens.
“I would be lying to say that this [season] hasn’t been more challenging,” McVay said. “But that’s also why there’s a motivation to make sure to do right and to use this as an opportunity to try to respond in the way that you challenge your players and everybody else to.”
McVay received a game ball after earning his first win as coach in 2017. He received a second game ball last season, after leading the Rams to their first playoff victory in 13 years.
But when Fassel stopped the celebration to acknowledge McVay, it wasn’t a historic milestone — it was merely Week 11 of the regular season, moments after the Rams delivered a gritty, much-needed win over the Chicago Bears.
That night, in front of a prime-time audience and coming off an inexplicable loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, McVay started an offensive line held together by threads, he lost receiver Robert Woods, who three hours before kickoff notified the team he would miss the game, and McVay utilized a game plan that departed from anything he’d previously shown, as they committed heavily to the run.
“The team basically gave him a game ball because he keeps pointing them in the right direction,” defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said. “He’s done a great job with that.”
Through the ups and downs, which for the first time in McVay’s career have included a plethora of injuries and personal issues that have affected the team, Rams assistants and players continue to point to what McVay is doing right.
The culture he established that helped turn around a team entrenched in mediocrity practically overnight remains intact, several players said.
“The foundation is still set,” cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman said. “Our chemistry is still on point.”
Players continue to dash from the locker room to team meetings, fearing arriving even a second late could result in a fine. And attitudes throughout the locker room remain upbeat, despite sitting at five losses — tied for the most in a single season since McVay’s arrival — with four games remaining.
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McVay often has appeared as his energetic, upbeat self. For better or worse, he has kept to his way of shouldering blame for the Rams’ shortcomings, especially on offense.
“You go through those first two years with all the success in the regular season and then, you kind of think, ‘Man, what’s it going to be like if we are not riding high at all times?'” said quarterback Jared Goff, who has passed for 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. “Now, we’re not exactly doing that, but he’s been the same guy.”
“Your normal self’s a lot easier when you’re winning every game and everyone’s telling you you’re a genius,” said offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, when asked how McVay has handled the uneven season. “He’s just as much of a genius, or just as good as a football mind this year.”
In McVay’s third season, though, he has shown a vulnerability off the field that’s a reminder that despite the overwhelming success early in his career, he’s still a first-time head coach with plenty to learn.
Days after a stunning Week 4 loss to the flailing Tampa Bay Buccaneers, McVay spoke about his stress in a way he never had before. “I’m stressed because I’m always stressed out,” he said. Days before a Week 10 loss to the Steelers, McVay appeared out of character, as his voice sounded hoarse and his eyes appeared wide. “It’s been an exciting week,” McVay said. “A lot of yelling.”
Perhaps, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when the Steelers upset the Rams 17-12 two days later.
What did come as a shock was the 45-6 shellacking delivered by the Ravens on Monday Night Football. It was the worst loss of McVay’s career. “There’s not anything good to take away from this,” McVay said. “Other than the fact that I did feel that our team continued to battle.”
Six days later and amid the chaos of a short Thanksgiving week, the Rams bounced back to deliver a drubbing of their own in a 34-7 win over the Arizona Cardinals (3-8-1).
“It’s been pretty much the same approach,” running back Todd Gurley said about McVay’s demeanor throughout the year. “Just trying to stay positive and just keep taking it game by game.”
The Rams probably need to win their next four to advance to the playoffs for a third consecutive season. It won’t be easy with games against the Seahawks, at the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers before finishing at home with the Cardinals. With McVay leading the way, there’s confidence it can be done.
“That dude is steady,” Goff said. “We feed off him.”
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