Vikes game, our reactions

Rams won a big game despite the play from MATTHEW GAROPPOLO…Rams are lucky that he didn’t turnover the ball even more…

Defense, ST, and running game played great.

Matt Gay continues to make kicks…

On to Baltimore….

Defense played great

Makeshift Oline played great.

Stafford played poorly.

Rams were the better team. Given everything they’ve gone through the past couple weeks, I’m happy with the win.

Thank you Brandon Powell!

They can’t win if they have this version of Stafford in the playoffs. It’s the interceptions and the under throws. I’d like to see him play better the next two weeks.

Only saw the highlights so far.

Stafford is a bit of an enigma, aint he. The reason I suspect
‘part’ of the problem is nagging-injuries is because of that deep throw
to Van Jefferson that was underthrown and intercepted. Why the underthrow?
Stafford has a cannon. He made that exact throw not too long ago for a TD.
I’m not saying all his issues are reducible to injuries, but i suspect
thats part of it. Ah well. He’s had four clunkers I’d say, and eleven good games.

Gotta hope he aint bad-stafford in the playoffs.

Defense, Sony, kicking-game — team is looking like a solid playoff team
now.

We are blessed.

w
v

zn wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

Stafford was bad but McVay is even more frustrating. Either he just can’t read the flow of a game, or he simple disregards it and calls whatever he wants to call regardless of what’s happening right in front of him.

That’s been my take on McVay. He’s a great offensive mind when it comes to overall strategy and play design. But he does not always seem to have in-the-moment game instincts and a tactical feel for game situations.

Other than the squib kick right before halftime, I thought McVay and the Rams managed the game well…

the Rams had the ball over 10 min in the 4th qtr….Kupp and Stafford made some huge 3rd down conversions… Rams converted 4 3rd downs on that drive that set up Gay’s FG

I will take the Win, and it puts the Rams in the driver’s seat for the division.

But this team has just been a bit rickety all season long, and today was more of the same. We are 15 games into the season, and the Rams have not put out a performance that makes one optimistic about surviving 3 straight playoff games. While the Rams had the upper hand most of the game, they did not put the Vikings away as early as they should have.

Offense: Gotta start with Stafford. That was a bad game from him, and while I expected there would be a learning curve throughout his first season with the Rams, I expected them to be errors of unfamiliarity, and that’s not what I’m seeing. He runs hot and cold like Goff did, and he makes bad throws. Bad Throws. Maybe he’s hurt, as wv the staffordsniffer likes to argue, but I’m inclined to think that’s just Stafford. I dunno. I’ve seen him play a total of 15 games in my life, so I’m no Stafford Expert, but from Game One, he has just made some bad, bad throws. Today he threw 3 INTs, and missed open receivers badly at least twice. That INT to Jefferson was a poor decision. He was double-covered, and well-covered, and that was not an open target. That was more wishful thinking than a read. I don’t blame QBs for tipped balls that go up in the air, so I let that one go, but the 3rd INT was also a terrible throw. And I don’t recall any of his passes that were brilliant like we have seen him throw in the past. Just not good from him.

What’s not to like about Sony Michel? He’s been everything I’ve hoped for in my most optimistic state when I read about the trade. I’m very glad the Rams have him. He never surrenders, he breaks tackles, he makes good reads of his blocks, he hits holes, he catches well, and he blocks. He reminds me a bit of CJ Anderson, the way he came in and filled in for Gurley. He’s better than Henderson, and even if Akers returns, I gotta think Michel is the guy.

The OL is impressive. With the injuries and Covid, they’ve had all the continuity of a game of 52-card pickup, and they have done a great job. They are giving Stafford time, and opening holes for Michel, and they did all that today against one of the better DLs in the business, all while playing musical chairs. I spent Boxing Day with my parents who live 100 miles away, so I have read no reports, or seen any commentary, but it appeared to me that Allen’s injury was not life-threatening, so when I think of Whitworth and Noteboom returning, and the quality play we’ve seen from the depth, I’m feeling as good about the OL as I am anybody else not named Donald, Ramsey, or Kupp.

As far as the receivers go, I’m not sure how Kupp manages to have good games even when he doesn’t have a particularly good game, but whatever. OBJ and Jefferson seem to be solid accessories to the Cooper Kupp Show, and it’s good to have Higbee back.

Defense: Hey, guess what? Aaron Donald wrecked the Vikings today, and the DL showed up again in spite of a rather modest sack total on the day. The defense is playing better, though I still hate Morris for calling so much zone when it seems clear to my amateur ass that the Rams are better playing man. But…whatever. It’s been working better as the season has ripened. The Vikings had two good drives all day, one of which ended in the only TD they really deserved, and the other in an INT due to a good breakup by Williams. While Cousins had a better game than Stafford, he couldn’t overcome the Rams’ secondary to convert 3rd downs, and apart from those 2 drives, the MN offense didn’t achieve anything.

I hated to see Jones leave on a cart. That’s not a good sign, and he has been doing his job out there. Reeder had himself quite a day, but the Rams don’t want Jones on the sideline.

ST: Welp, the Rams got more than 4 yards on a punt return this year, and Powell looks like he owns that role for the rest of the year. I thought that return was mostly a colossal failure of the Vikings coverage rather than a great run by Powell, but that was fun, and it balanced out the cheap ass TD the Vikes got after that deflected INT. Also, there seemed to be a Hekker siting today, and that Matt Gay guy they got from the Used Car lot last year seems to be running fine.

In the end, the Rams don’t have much time to seal the leaks, and there is really not a lot of reason to hope they will end the season hoisting the Lombardi, but they’ve at least got the ship headed the right direction after that brutal 3-game losing streak, and if they can put together convincing wins against Baltimore and San Francisco, I will let my hope soar right up to the sky. I still need to see them play well everywhere, instead of just in spots. Still…considering the brutal Covid stretch, a win in Seattle followed by a long trip to MN on Christmas with a super short work week, against a team good enough to cause every other team in the league problems, I’m going to sleep well tonight.

…so i was watching that vikes vid above, and the two talkers
were ripping kirk cousins to pieces for a couple of minutes, blah blah blah cousins
etc — and then, they mention as an aside:

‘maybe that cracked rib affected him’

Ya think?

w
v

canadaram wrote:

I was watching a Vikings wrap-up show from a Minneapolis station last night. The two dudes on that show were both critical and grateful that McVay did not run the ball more often.

Michel carried it 27 times, and Funk and Henderson had a carry each. 29 carries is not ignoring the run game.