Setting up Lions vs Rams playoff game

Zooey wrote:

Of course, that leaves out that Goff has played more games, and Stafford can make every throw Goff can make, but Goff cannot make throws Stafford makes, and that Stafford has a Lombardi.

Cherry picked stats to support a preconceived belief.

which stafford will show up @ det?

 

no qb was hotter during wks 12-16, staff threw 14 tds, 1 int, and posted 100+ qb rtg in every game during the 5-game stretch.

 

for wk 17 tho he ranked: #23 qb rating, #21 epa, #30 when pressured, #27 when clean, shades of his shaky 2023 start.

that is one worry i have. he’s a very streaky qb. hopefully the rams get the dialed in stafford for the playoffs. and i also worry about nacua. he’s already played 17 games. he always seems to have energy but 17 games has got to wear on a player who’s only played double digit games in one season of college football.

if kupp can get right. and he’s only played 12 games this season which might actually benefit the rams in the playoffs. the rams offense could go on a roll. kyren too. 12 games so he should have plenty in reserve.

i think goff in this offense the way it’s currently constructed would thrive.

2021 – not so much. but this offense i think you’d see a goff similar to 2017-2018.

zn wrote:

Draft Utopia@DraftUtopia

Rams have arguably healthiest depth chart in nfc

For teams playing this weekend, maybe.

The SF flagship station this morning said everyone on the 9ers is expected to be good to go except maybe Clelin Ferrell (DE), a guy the 9ers will be just fine without.

This is another reason why I think it’s important for the Rams to get up on the Lions early. They need to score first, and score second, and fill that stadium with horror from the seats right down into Goff’s head. The Rams winning this game would be a NIGHTMARE for Detroit.

2023

stafford on the road:
———————-
4-3, 26.7 offensive pts per game avg
11 tds, 7 int, 91.7 qb rating

goff at home:
————–
6-2, 30.1 offensive pts per game avg
19 tds, 6 int, 107.9 qb rtg pic.twitter.com/qqSPh36fkc

— roberto clemente (@rclemente2121) January 11, 2024

I was there, I thought Goff was going to pull off the upset. Ramsey picked him off on the goal line dropping the Lions to 0-8.

Rams defense has really grown on me this season, but they have nothing close to Ramsey in the secondary.

Rams have had bad juju in Detroit. Remember when the GSOT lost to Gus Frerotte and Johnnie Morton to hand the 6-1 Rams their second straight loss???

One major Rams’ advantage this Sunday, the Rams’ coaching staff, specifically play calling in crucial moments. I’ve watched almost every Lions game since “The Trade” ….Dan Campbell takes foolish risks that cost the Lions a lot of  games in the Goff era the past 3 seasons.

Rams 28-19 Lions (Oct 24, 2021) Game Recap – ESPN

Stafford throws 3 TD passes, Rams edge Goff’s Lions 28-19

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — — Jared Goff was under immediate pressure from Aaron Donald when he dropped back late in a one-score game. He threw to the end zone while being dropped, and Jalen Ramsey picked it off.

Goff didn’t need a homecoming game to remind him it’s much easier to win when the Los Angeles Rams’ stars are on your side.

And Matthew Stafford is still loving his spot on the other side of the current chasm between the Lions and the Rams.

Stafford passed for 334 yards and three touchdowns against his former team, and Ramsey made an end-zone interception with five minutes left in the Rams’ 28-19 victory over Goff and winless Detroit on Sunday.

Stafford and Goff both acknowledged high emotions in the first game since they switched uniforms in a blockbuster trade last winter. Their postgame reunions with former teammates and coaches were uniformly warm, but their new teams stayed on the same season trajectories with the Rams’ (6-1) narrow win.

“Am I happy it’s over with? Yeah,” said Stafford, who passed for 45,109 yards and never won a playoff game in his dozen years in Detroit. “Got a lot of great friends, got a lot of people that I care about that are on that team or from that city, and just just glad to have this one over with. Can put the storylines away and just go out and play football the rest of the year, and just enjoy it.”

Goff passed for 268 yards and led the Lions (0-7) within striking distance of an upset before falling heartbreakingly short. Afterward, Goff chatted with his former teammates and exchanged pleasantries with coach Sean McVay, who slapped his former quarterback’s helmet after their hug.

“I didn’t think about it until after, but there’s a lot of guys I never saw after the trade,” Goff said. “Being able to see them and say hello and catch up for two minutes was good. It was healthy. And then once the game started, it was very as usual. It really felt like any other game.”

That was bad news for the struggling Lions and good news for the Rams, who hung on despite a litany of mistakes.

The Rams led 25-19 when Goff drove the Lions to the Los Angeles 12 while converting four third downs. But Ramsey came up with his latest game-changing play on his 27th birthday while Goff was being hit by Donald, the Rams’ other 2020 All-Pro.

“Those two guys are the best at their position for a reason, and made a great play on us,” Goff said.

Goff still hasn’t won an NFL start without McVay as his head coach, falling to 0-14. McVay declined to say much about his postgame conversation with Goff, but the coach praised his replacement.

“He was great in the clutch,” McVay said of Stafford. “And really, even when things weren’t going well, he just stays nice and even-keeled, and that’s what a great quarterback does. He’s our leader.”

Cooper Kupp had 10 catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns for the Rams, including the go-ahead score with 13:59 left. Van Jefferson also caught a scoring pass from Stafford, whose first TD pass to Kupp was the 300th of his NFL career.

“Detroit’s a tough out,” Stafford said. “Always have been, probably always will be. Just happy to get one.”

D’Andre Swift made a 63-yard catch-and-run TD on the opening possession for the Lions, who lost their 11th straight game despite jumping to a double-digit lead in a rare strong start. Kalif Raymond had six catches for 115 yards.

Austin Seibert kicked four field goals in a superb special teams game for the Lions, who also recovered an early onside kick and ran two successful fake punts.

But the Rams kept Goff’s offense out of the end zone in the final 57 minutes as they rallied from an early double-digit deficit and improved to 42-0 with a halftime lead under McVay.

“This is a different caliber team,” Detroit coach Dan Campbell said of the Rams. “This is a team that’s been built over years, and they’ve got some weapons. We actually didn’t make as many errors as we’ve made. We gave ourselves a chance.”

The Lions’ opening drive produced their first touchdown in the first half since Week 2. Goff read a blitz and threw a short screen pass to Swift, who scampered through the secondary.

Detroit then got to snap the ball with a lead for the first time all season when it embarrassed the Rams’ special teams twice, recovering an onside kick three plays before punter Jack Fox completed a fourth-down pass.

Stafford eventually led three scoring drives in the first half, but Detroit led 19-17 late in the third quarter. Stafford converted two long third downs before finding Kupp for a TD early in the fourth.

Robert Woods, who had six catches for 70 yards, took in the 2-point conversion for a six-point lead.

MONSTER KUPP

Kupp’s immediate connection with Stafford is becoming historic: He is the first player in the Super Bowl era to record more than 800 yards receiving and nine TDs in his team’s first seven games.

OLD FRIENDS

Along with the numerous reunions for Goff and Stafford, stalwart defensive tackle Michael Brockers also had warm pregame meetings with several ex-teammates. He spent his first nine NFL seasons with the Rams.

INJURIES

Rams rookie CB Robert Rochell injured his knee in the first half.

Lions LB Trey Flowers injured his knee in the second half. … DB AJ Parker injured his shoulder in the second half.

UP NEXT

Lions: host Eagles on Sunday.

Rams: at Texans on Sunday.

Zooey wrote:

This is another reason why I think it’s important for the Rams to get up on the Lions early. They need to score first, and score second, and fill that stadium with horror from the seats right down into Goff’s head. The Rams winning this game would be a NIGHTMARE for Detroit.

Bad post.

The reason I’m referring to is perhaps clear only if you watch the video. The reason is that the stadium is going to Kingdome/Superdome level of loud.

Detroit is absolutely starving to death to see the Lions win a playoff game, and they are believers in this team. If the Lions get out on top early, the Rams will have to go silent count the rest of the game. They haven’t had to do that all year.

I think it’s very important that the Rams shut that crowd up early, and make them sit there in fear, rather than get excited.

Zooey wrote:

Okay, but this fails to take into account that the Rams defense has been saving up all of its turnover allotment for the playoffs. The Lions’ TE can get 50 + yards, but with 2 INTs and 2 fumble recoveries game-planned into this thing, the Rams will be fine.

Don’t know why I didn’t think of that.

Frank Schwab, from https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-picks-against-the-spread-ok-cowboys-its-now-or-never-to-make-a-playoff-run-201552782.html

Rams (+3) over Lions

Sam LaPorta‘s knee injury was the key talking point after the Lions played their starters in Week 18. That allowed the defense’s issues to fly under the radar.

The Lions secondary is not playing well. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens played twice against the Lions in the past three weeks, and he had 807 passing yards. Yes, that Nick Mullens. In Week 17, Dak Prescott threw for 345 against Detroit. Now the Lions have to face a rested Matthew Stafford, rested Cooper Kupp and record-breaking rookie Puka Nacua (and a rested Kyren Williams on the ground).

Detroit’s crowd will be great and that might make a big difference. The Lions are a good team even if LaPorta doesn’t play (and we shouldn’t expect that he will). But the Rams seem set up to get a lot of yards and points. Los Angeles has a shot at the upset. It’s a bad matchup for Detroit.

zn wrote:

PARAM

The last 6 seasons, the NFC’s #6 seed has beat the #3 seed. It’s happened 3 times in the AFC. 9 of 12 possible times. Weird eh?