Washington wins, Rams clinch

Let’s go, Jimmy G! Beat Seattle!

zn wrote:

I don’t really look forward to this that much. I don’t like watching the 2s in a meaningless game, and then that could be quickly followed by a Rams playoff defeat, depending on who they get in the first round (not their year). So if it goes that way–a 2s game followed by a playoff loss–the next good Rams game we get to see will be next September. Unless they win their 1st playoff game, which depends on who they play. That could be a win and a good watch, depending.

I just want one good game before the season ends.

They could do a lot between now and September and field a real contender in 2025. Need to draft and/or sign an OT, a CB or 2, an ILB, and probably a fast receiver. Which is all do-able.

Yeah, i agree with all that.

I dont like this way of clinching a division. Should have come down to actually beating Seattle.

Such a weird season. The narrative is that the Rams won X number of games after the bye, etc, etc, but are they really playing good football now? The next two games could be ugly. Which would mean they have been playing ugly football since the Saints game, other than the crazy game against the Bills.

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If you watch this vid, you will see how the Seahawks never had a chance. Even if they had beaten the Rams. They would have needed, like, ten teams to win along WITH their win.

Well. Yeah. It doesn’t look good. This team is not flying high in all phases of the game, and Kupp “looks washed” (Cowherd), and Stafford has thrown half a dozen dropped INTs in the last 3 games.

But just for the sake of shooting the bull on a message board, we should acknowledge that football is especially prone to Recency Bias.

Let’s quickly review the season. Starts off with a narrow overtime loss to one of the NFL’s best teams on the road, a game during which the Rams lost 2 MORE OL and Puka Nacua, and still nearly pulled it off, and only lost because, like, half the defense was playing their 1st NFL game.

That was followed by Hell on wheels for a 1-4 start prior to the bye.

Since the bye…well…everyone knows. They’ve won a lot, and the Defense has grown significantly. More than I would have expected in a season. And the offense was doing fine until the last 3 weeks, starting with a 0-TD performance in SFO. That was followed by a low-scoring, Arctic affair, and then…the Rams’ offense ran out of weather-related excuses against AZ.

What stands out from that? Well, Williams, the OL, and Puka Nacua were fine. Stafford and Kupp were disappointing. That’s what we’re looking at here. I look at Stafford particularly. Uncharacteristically, he has thrown a lot of errant balls over the 3 games. Not just the near-INTs. Some bad throws like Goff used to hoist up every so often. So…why?

He didn’t age 10 years after the Buffalo game. He didn’t forget how to play. He’s had pretty good protection. So, he’s hurt. Maybe he got a bad bruise in his shoulder, or fractured his ring finger, or something. In which case… you know… he could be fine in two weeks.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that something like this is LIKELY. But it’s plausible. And it certainly sounds more reasonable to me than “Stafford and Kupp have hit a wall, and the Rams offense isn’t any good anymore, and defenses have figured out McVay and taken away the passing game.” This is not a 7-9 bullshit offense, even though it has looked like it recently. It’s not.

And at this point, I interrupted my post to go get some evidence to look at, and I have returned with the following screen capture from Statmuse:

Stafford has 6 games this year with a rating over 100, including 4 in a row: NE, PHI, NO, BUF.

He are Stafford’s spray charts (fingers crossed I don’t screw up the formatting on this post) since Buffalo with my emphasis on passes over 10 yards:

Against Buffalo, Stafford was 11/15 over 10 yards.

San Francisco: 1/7 over 10 yds.

NYJ: 2/4 over 10 yds with 1 INT.

AZ: 4/8 over 10 yds.

He hasn’t been throwing as deep for 3 games in a row. Weather was certainly a factor in SF and NY, but maybe not the only factor. All I’m saying.

I propose that we vote against zn’s proposal for a good game against Seattle, and instead put Stafford on ice until next Monday, then fire him up. That’s my plan. I think the simplest explanation for their woes is that Stafford isn’t healthy. As long as it isn’t a torn rotator cuff or something crazy, he could be back to his 100+ ratings the second weekend of January, and then who knows what happens after that?

zn wrote:

I didn’t propose that. I assume Stafford will be out against Seattle. That just means the final game is less fun for me. I didn’t argue that Stafford should play in that game. I just accepted that he isn’t but then lamented that that comes close to meaning the end of fun to watch games.

I expected you were going to say that. I should have edited it out. Saying you want to see a quality, meaningful game is different from wishing to see it in Week 18. I suppose what I was trying to say is that I think the chances of us getting that in the WC round is actually pretty good. I don’t think the apprehension we are all expressing is based in any definite reason. The offense has not played well recently Why?

Lost their mojo isn’t a thing.

There are reasons. There are factors. And there is no reason to think those factors will be in place 2 weeks from now. The game will be in LA. They have a “bye,” basically. They can focus their film study and game-planning on potential playoff opponents, and give some recovery time to anybody who has a health issue. Why wouldn’t they play their best game of the season on that day? They are healthier than they’ve been all year.

zn wrote:

They could do a lot between now and September and field a real contender in 2025. Need to draft and/or sign an OT, a CB or 2, an ILB, and probably a fast receiver. Which is all do-able.

they need to re-sign stafford too.

i’ll be continually worried until they actually re-sign him.

nittany ram wrote:

Resign Stafford, or go all-in for Sam Darnold?

i know you’re joking but no. he’s had a good season but hell no.

i’m also hoping they sign staley for new rams left tackle.

then draft a receiver and a defensive back in the draft. sprinkle in some lb, dl, and ol depth in the draft.

zn wrote:

I would also argue that you don’t bring in a new FA to replace a young one who has been with you…keep your guy, and use FA money to bring in an outsider who fits a position where you have issues to fix.

if they bring back jackson, i’ll be happy too. and i agree with you about adding a tackle in the draft.

one question. what do the rams do with jonah jackson at the end of the season? is it feasible to cut him? or do you even want to cut him? keep him for depth?

If only Limmer had been no good, they wouldn’t have this problem.

Zooey wrote:

If the Rams offense doesn’t show up, it really doesn’t matter anyway.

yeah. and i’m not holding out hope for the offense. unless kupp can magically regain his prime self. that’s probably been the saddest thing to watch on the rams this season.