the media sets up the DETROIT game

Rams to be tested by Lions receiver Marvin Jones, who has replaced the retired Calvin Johnson

JACK WANG / STAFF WRITER

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rams-731991-goff-jones.html

The Rams and the Lions are only 10 months removed from their most recent meeting, which the former won by a touchdown. But according to Jim Caldwell, that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be much familiarity heading into Sunday’s rematch at Ford Field.

“The team changes probably about 30 percent or so each and every year,” the Detroit coach said. “And you add a few injuries to that and it’s almost a completely different group that you’re working with.”

Both teams are hoping for change, having finished with 7-9 records in 2015.

But while the Rams have undergone plenty of transformation – moving across two time zones, drafting and sitting a No. 1 overall pick in Jared Goff – it’s the Lions who are moving into a distinctly new era.

This past offseason, Calvin Johnson quietly retired, forgoing grand announcements but nevertheless drawing his fair share of tributes. Former teammate Nate Burleson, a receiver-turned-analyst, wrote about his skill and humility – while also encouraging him to somehow sign with the Patriots and get a Super Bowl ring. Charles Tillman, who lined up across from Johnson for years as a Bears cornerback, narrated an open letter produced by NFL Films.

Considering his six Pro Bowls and single-season record for receiving yards, it was a fitting farewell – one that also left the Lions with a problem.

“There’s no way humanly possible to replace Calvin Johnson,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said Wednesday. “But they’ve done a good job, and they’ve got weapons all over the place now.”

One in particular stands out. The key to Detroit’s post-Megatron effort has been Marvin Jones, whom the team signed to a five-year deal worth up to $40 million.

The signing did not send shockwaves around the NFL. Since entering the league as a fifth-round pick out of Cal in 2012, Jones has been more widely regarded as a capable second or third receiver – one who could be effective in an offense that included another top weapon. Playing next to A.J. Green in Cincinnati, Jones twice topped 700 receiving yards, totaling 14 touchdown catches in his last two healthy seasons.

But in his first five games as a top target this season, the 6-foot-2 wideout has outperformed expectations. His league-leading 519 receiving yards put him just ahead of Green, who has 518, as well as other Pro Bowl receivers such as Julio Jones (517), T.Y. Hilton (507), and Antonio Brown (447).

“He’s explosive,” said Rams cornerback Troy Hill, who got a close look at Marvin Jones when they were both in Cincinnati.

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was nonchalant about the transition. Although he acknowledged that losing a talent such as Johnson “affects some things,” he said it didn’t take him long to adjust to life without the future Hall of Famer.

“You get out there on the field, and you throw to the guys you have, and whoever is open gets the ball,” Stafford said. “That’s kind of how I’ve always been.”

Still, Jones deserves credit for his production, particularly given his new surroundings.

“He’s one of those guys that has a natural knack for the position,” Caldwell said. “I think he’s a very fine route-runner, but he’s also a guy that’s really a stickler for details. He and Matt worked intensely for quite a while during the spring and that is still carrying over even today.

“I don’t think you ever really get a real good feel for one another until you’ve kind of been through it all together. But I think they’re working in that direction.”

Lions aren’t deceived by Todd Gurley’s slow start

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nfl/2016/10/12/lions-wary-rams-second-year-back-gurley/91958398/

Allen Park — By this point last season, through five games, Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley already had four 100-yard rushing performances.

This season, he’s still looking for his first.

What gives?

“Don’t be fooled by it,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell said Wednesday, with a sly grin. “I’m going to tell you something, that guy is dangerous.
“He’s really still powerful, has got speed, got versatility.

“He’s just as dangerous as he’s been before.”

That seems to be the common chorus in the Lions locker room, ahead of Sunday’s meeting with the Rams at Ford Field (1 p.m., Fox/WJR).

The Rams offense is scuffling, on all fronts, and a big reason why is the running game. The Rams rank 28th out of 32 teams, at 81.8 yards per game.

Last season, they ranked seventh, thanks to Gurley, who rushed for 1,106 yards as a rookie, the No. 10 overall pick out of Georgia. That included five games of 100 yards or more on the ground out of the 13 he played.

“What are the stats you’re expecting?” Lions linebacker Kyle Van Noy said. “He’s still probably gonna rush for over 1,000 yards. That’s crazy.

“He’s still good.”

After the third-worst rushing game of his career — a 33-yard performance in a Week 4 win over Arizona — Gurley, a 6-foot-1, 226-pounder, bounced back last week for 72 yards on 23 carries, including a touchdown, his third of the season.

This weekend, Gurley, 22, faces a Lions rush defense that’s among the least-effective in the league, allowing nearly 115 yards a game.

So, it sounds like a fine time for Gurley to get going — “I’ve got to pick it up,” he told ESPN recently — not unlike when Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers busted out of his supposed slump against the Lions in a game earlier this season.

“He’s a big-play guy and we’ve just got to find ways to give him the football,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher told Detroit reporters on a conference call Tuesday. “We have not gotten started in the run game, per se.

“We’ve got to get it going, and our feeling is if we can keep Todd involved in the game in the fourth quarter, then we’ve got a chance.”

Gurley has rushed for 288 yards through five games, an average of 57.6 — down from 85.1 as a rookie a year ago.

That said, the Rams have gotten him more involved in the receiving game. He had 108 total yards in last week’s loss to Buffalo, with three catches for 36 yards.

The Rams are searching for any way to move the football, and it’s been a struggle. They’re dead last in total offense, at 284.2 yards per game.
A Gurley resurgence, perhaps this week, can change that in a hurry.

“What don’t he mean is an easier answer,” Lions safety Glover Quin said, smirking, when asked what Gurley — who’s already fumbled twice, after fumbling just three times all last season — means to the Rams offense. “He means everything. They’re gonna give him the ball. He’ll probably touch the ball 25, 30 times.

“He’s a very, very, very, very talented back. They understand that, they know that.”

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-practicereport/Practice-Report-1014-The-Challenges-of-a-Long-Road-Trip/656300e7-19b4-4051-b8c9-02ea929191da

LAST TIME AGAINST DETROIT…

When the Rams faced the Lions in Week 14 last year, they were in strong need of a victory. They had just lost their fifth game in a row, and Fisher made the call to dismiss offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti in favor of Rob Boras.

Starting with that game — a 21-14 victory over Detroit — Boras did enough over the last four weeks to keep the job for the 2016 season.

“It was a blur, but it was a great win for the organization, just like anytime you’re on a losing streak,” Boras said. “It was exciting, it was nerve-racking for all of us, but the players found a way and responded and played really well in that game.”

That game also represented Keenum’s second start of the season, after he’d missed the last two games due to injury. Again, it was a contest where Keenum began showing enough to maintain his standing as QB-1 through this season.

Plus, defensive tackle Aaron Donald was named Defensive Player of the Week after racking up 3.0 sacks, six quarterback hits, and three tackles for loss. And running back Todd Gurley broke out for 140 yards and two touchdowns on just 16 carries.

“Any time you watch film like that, it’s hard not to remember some of those good feelings,” Keenum said. “So I think it’s a good thing to watch some of those good plays and see what we did well, learn from the things we didn’t do well.”

Of course, it’s a different year and both teams are different. The Lions, for example, no longer have a Hall of Fame-caliber wideout in Calvin Johnson after his retirement this offseason.

“It was a pretty good game,” Gurley said, “but it was last year. I wish I was doing what I was doing last year, but I’m not. So just have to focus on this game.”