Stafford ” is not that” lacks ” intangibles”

PS – I do think Stafford is ‘pressing’ a bit. That much seems clear
to me. But that happens when the wheels start coming off.

w
v

Eternal Ramnation wrote:

Just focusing on the offense here but Stafford’s first year in it he loses Akers in Camp then Funk Mundt Harris Atwell Woods for the season Skowronek last week after a bye trying to hurriedly implement OBJ and deal with several lingering injuries. Looking at the first 8 games some of the amazing throws that Goff wouldn’t make on his best day. He didn’t suddenly become an awful QB. Late November at Lambeau he lost a 1 possession game to the same Packers team that beat the Cards while down 5 starters.

==========

Bad news either way.
If the problem is Stafford, it aint gonna get better.
If the problem is injuries to Stafford and the Oline, and Woods, Akers, etc,
that aint gonna get better either.

At any rate, I love the fact that they finish up against the 49ers.
I hope both teams need that game to make the damn playoffs.
Let the rams earn it, If they can, agains the bullies who have
beat them up five times in a row.

w
v

I think Stafford has “intangibles” in spades. Very few QBs have ever played with more pain, for instance, and his teammates rave about his dedication and football IQ. He’s Gabe, but a lot smaller. As in, he has no business being as tough as he is, as he’s always been. His arms are even thinner than Goff’s. But that, IMO, may be a fatal flaw. That obstinate belief in his own ability to keep going. He will play through major injuries and refuses to acknowledge that these injuries are screwing with his passing. Throw in another pattern that seems to be emerging, and it has the makings of one of those “perfect storms”:

McVay doesn’t seem to admit to players being banged up until it’s too late.

Also: I’m not getting the Jeff George comparisons at all. George had a better arm. Stafford, when healthy, has a really good arm, but it’s not as good as George’s. But George, if memory serves, was a head-case, on and off the field, and that pretty much ruined him. All the “arm talent” in the world, but a head-case.

That’s not Stafford.

And all of those team injuries? Freakish for the Rams, based on past seasons. Which makes me think yet again how utterly stupid it was for the players to agree to that extra game. Players have been dropping like flies already this season. The sixteen-game schedule was already too long. And they agree to more? It’s pretty much a given that 17 will lead to 18 all too soon, as you can’t keep going with uneven home and away scenarios. Which means every team is going to have to live with umpteen players on IR. And the Rams are in cap hell for as far as the eye can see, with next to no draft capital . . . .

Oh, well. Whadyagonnado?

Joemad,

I was against the trade from the jump. I thought it was way too much to give up for a QB his age, and I didn’t think the level of upgrade was sufficient to warrant all those picks. I would have preferred it if they had just kept Goff, worked on his throwing motion, and supported him when he was down. Lift him back up. Cuz, given what he had done for the Rams in the past, it had to be mostly an issue of confidence, which McVay wasn’t helping.

Of course, then you have to go back to the stupidity of that huge contract extension, which was — what? — two years before they had to worry about it? Gurley too. And, all of those picks they gave up to move up to draft him in the first place. I’m a diehard, going all the way back to 1966, but I hate when they botch things like this. Though, I have to admit, when they botch things, they do it with panache!

;>)

Anyway, I think if Stafford is healthy, he’s better than Goff. But he’s not healthy, and he likely has too much wear on his tires to ever be what he once was. I wouldn’t have made the trade**, but I support him now, etc.

**Maybe Goff and a 3rd. Maybe. Even that might be too much. And Detroit wasn’t going to agree to that, obviously, which would have been just fine with me.

Anybody know exactly ‘what’ injury issues Stafford is dealing with?

w
v

Billy_T wrote:

I haven’t seen any specifics. Just generalized stuff: back pain, ankle, and throwing arm…

..Bottom line for me: I think McVay is a good coach, and Snead is a pretty good GM. But they have their share of major whiffs…

===

Well, an injured/beaten-up QB needs a good OLine.

And the Rams drafted a tutu instead of an OLineman.

Thats still my biggest gripe this year.

w
v