nittany ram wrote:

Short, stocky, not very fast, but shifty

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Yes, shifty. Before the injury Williams was having a great season based on his work inside the ten yard line alone. He just seems to find the smallest of creases to work his way across the goal line.  A huge weapon when the Rams are in scoring position. If the Rams can get him consistently rolling outside of the redzone, things will get exciting.

“Instead of feeling happy, I feel sort of let down.” – Charlie Brown

After yesterday’s loss the Rams would currently pick 9th in the draft. Arizona has the first pick.

https://www.tankathon.com/nfl

Zooey wrote:

That’s kind of a bleak outlook. I think they will win more than just that game. They will beat AZ, probably. I think they have a better than 50-50 chance of beating the Commies and Giants. 50-50 to beat the Packers, Saints, and Seahawks (they just own Seattle the way SF owns them). They should lose to Dallas, but Dallas has a way of getting in their own way. Ravens, Browns, Niners…losses. I still think they are going to end with 8 or 9 wins (which is what I thought before the season started).

Well the Rams certainly have been competitive in every game so far, and that’s why I’m not calling this season a disappointment. So perhaps they can snatch a couple of more victories along the way. I just won’t be expecting it to happen  on those game days

“I wear black in the outside because black is how I feel on the inside.” – Morrissey

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by canadaram.

Zooey wrote:

The Rams are 15-10-2 all time against the Steelers. They started out 12-1-2 against them. The Steelers have owned them since the Super Bowl. Last time the Rams beat the Steelers was 20 years ago.

I was about to correct you and remind you of when Torry Holt had that huge first half against the Steelers in Pittsburgh and the Rams won with relative ease. Then I remembered where I was living when I watched that game.  Then I remembered in what year I was living there.  Then I realized that it was in fact 20 years ago. Then I got depressed.

I love to see a solid running game. They seemed particularly effective running to the right side. One specific moment where not running the ball seemed costly in the first half was the drive where Nacua had his endzone drop. Williams has repeatedly proven himself a weapon deep in the red zone. I assumed that a run was coming, but instead it was all passes and the Rams had to settle for the FG. I had a sense of impending doom at that moment.

I also had an uneasy feeling after the Kupp TD. Arizona was moving the ball easily through the air on their next drive. Kendricks had another big penalty to help them out. Seems like a weekly thing with him. Thankfully, Dobbs bailed out the Rams and Rozenboom was able to hold on to that ball. Ernest Jones is having a very good season.

The Rams have already reached the low end of my 3-5 win season prediction window.

zn wrote:

Highlights: Kyren Williams’ Best Plays In His 106-yard Game vs. Colts In Week 4

zn wrote:

Highlights: Kyren Williams’ Best Plays In His 106-yard Game vs. Colts In Week 4

I understand that that highlight package was to showcase Williams’ offensive output but I would have added his blitz pickup on Stafford’s TD pass to Nacua. Stafford got the ball out so quickly that the block may not have been needed but Williams stood in there and got trucked by the Colts defender. Definitely slowed him down though. I’ve moved from being unsure about Williams to being a huge fan.

Zooey wrote:

canadaram wrote:

Of all the Rams teams that I had no expectations of, this might be my favourite ever. Love the young guys. Love Stafford. Great to see a 100 yard rusher again. Williams is a TD machine inside the ten. A fun, fun win.

That’s an interesting comment. If this team has a rival in this regard, it’s ’99. So it’s been a long, long time since I had a team exceed expectations as much as this team has. I thought they would be better than everyone was saying, but this team is giving glimpses of playoff potential. I was hoping for .500. Like Nittany said, there’s a lot of talent. More than I hoped for with so many youngsters in the starting lineup. This is an all-time great draft, by the looks of it. Nacua and Avila are off the charts for rookies, and they’re getting help from Young, Turner, and some of the 2nd year guys. They are ahead of schedule in their refurbishment, that is certain. Today’s weakness seems to be penalties. I haven’t looked at the stats yet, but it sure seemed to be a problem. Welp. This is going to be an exciting season, not just an interesting one, looks like. Let’s catch Philly by surprise next week.

Pretty silly of me to forget 99 and the low expectations that I had then. That would be the gold standard. Maybe I forgot about my low expectations after Green went down. I don’t know what I was thinking.

This is definitely looking like an all-time great draft. To hit on multiple players on both sides of the ball is rare indeed. Great job by the coaches in developing these guys.

Forgive me if this topic has previously been discussed,  but one thing that just dawned on me – not sure why it took this long – is that the Rams follow up this MNF road trip with an away game in Indianapolis. I don’t care how weak the opponents may or may not be, that’s a tough test in the NFL.

Zooey wrote:

canadaram wrote:

On that great catch sideline catch by Nakua I’m wondering why Atwell was right there behind him. I’m assuming that the play wasn’t designed that way.

I thought that seeing it live, but the replay shows Atwell pulling up as soon as he sees the trajectory of Stafford’s release. If Stafford had been throwing to Atwell, he would have had 10-15 yards of separation from Nakua.

Ahhh, that makes sense.

The moment of Jefferson’s drop was like a gut punch. He did end up having a couple of important catches in the game so he wasn’t a total disaster, but he doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence.

Pleasantly surprised would be an understatement for me, so I’d say that I’m ecstatically shocked. Love Nakua and any contributions from Atwell are a bonus. I thought the running game was mostly underwhelming for most of the game, but it was great inside the 5. For such a young defense to only give up 13 points and shutdown Seattle in the 2nd half was what really shocked me. Hope that Witherspoon is ok. Special teams was terrible in preseason and not much better today. But man, any time the Rams beat Seattle is a great day. Congratulations to us all.

In years where my expectations for the Rams are low, one of my survival techniques is to ride the wave of individual players having great years. Steven Jackson got me through some pretty lean times. I’m planning on Kupp getting me through 2023, looks like this injury could foil this plan.

Looking at the numbers at each position group and with the inevitable roster changes that will happen it might not be too difficult to predict who is going to be released sooner or later. Five safeties?  Jason Taylor can’t be feeling too comfortable. One of the TE’s (last season they began the year with 2) offensive linemen (last year the initial roster had 8) could also be shuffled out in the near future.  Lot of young fellas on this team. Here’s hoping that a few of them catch lightning in a bottle.

Seems to me that the Rams defense might end up being an issue. I have no idea who will step up on the edge and opposing offenses might be able to run at will. I don’t know how much having Aaron Donald on the field will change those issues.