battle of the backfields.

brees and ingram/kamara vs goff and gurley.

should be fun. even though they don’t actually go up against each other.

they went up against another great backfield in rivers and gordon earlier in the year and outproduced them. and then shortly after the new orleans game, they’ll go against another hotshot YOUNG backfield like them in mahomes and hunt.

fun times. this is a huge stretch of the season.

alyoshamucci

I can’t say what has transpired since then, but being derailed like that is a serious thing … then a coaching change?

yeah. that’s what makes me think this could be a good thing. his rookie year was wiped out by an acl. his sophomore year he was coming off an injury and a year out of football. his third year he broke out somewhat with 8 sacks.

now this year he hasn’t been very productive. but it’s his last year. he’s playing out of position. i mean he’s a 255 pound 4-3 defensive end in that system. doesn’t seem like a fit. and the jags don’t seem interested in re-signing him. so there’s no incentive to try and fit him into the defense.

maybe as a stand-up rusher who can be moved around. maybe that’ll work. i don’t think he’s a starter. more of a situation pass rusher to start out with. but he’ll get plenty of reps here.

also he’ll be a pass rushing lb here instead of a defensive end. maybe that makes a difference?

zn wrote:

Quarterback Jared Goff wasn’t perfect and missed on more throws than usual due to his offensive line struggling to protect him, but he made enough big plays to win the game

yeah, i like that. he was up and down. but made some really good plays.

so here is how goff ranks according to various metrics.
qb rating – 7th
total qbr – 5th
football outsiders – 5th
pff – 5th

wv wrote:

Isnt that entering Faulk territory?

yeah. you’re talking about all-time great season for a running back territory over a 16 game season. the type of season that can get you votes for league mvp.

of course there’s still another half to play. but he’s on pace for sure.

it’s not just the yardage. it’s the yardage AND the touchdowns combined.

i am troubled by one thing though. he’s on pace for exactly 400 touches on the season… i don’t like seeing that number. they need to find spots where they can rest him. if he can finish the season at around 370 touches, i’d feel a lot better – especially with playoffs coming.

higbee is a grunt. he’s a robert holcombe/ernie conwell type grunt who allows the other players to shine.

nittany ram wrote:

Yeah, the Rams defense certainly have room to improve but what constitutes great defense might have to be redefined based on the new rules.

well, i look at this defense compared to its contemporaries.

and while they may be ranked 7th in total defense, their average yards per play is in the bottom half. so that concerns me.

and it won’t be any easier these next three games.

i do think they’re improving. that’s a very good offense in green bay. and they were coming off a bye week. mike mccarthy is a helluva coach. he had 2 weeks to prepare for this defense. aaron rodgers is the best qb of this generation.

just one question. can marcus get his head out of his ass? don’t mean to be rude. but i think he’s capable of being much better than he has been. i think he knows it too. hopefully, he can turn it around because he’s shown before how good he can be.

Herzog wrote:

Goff outplayed Rodgers in an ‘away game’ environment.

I’ll take it.

i don’t know that he exactly outplayed rodgers… but he definitely held his own. again. only goff’s second season in the same system. he’s 24 years old. and came from a college system about as raw as a qb could be entering the pros. so i think this was a good game from him. he had lots of pressure. and this is just me guessing. but he probably saw things pre-snap and post-snap that he had never seen before. he’ll continue to learn. far from a finished product. far far far. i mean look at what other qbs were doing at a similar age. patrick mahomes aside.

Billy_T wrote:

It would appear that everyone thinks Gurley did the right thing by staying out of the endzone at the end. Announcers, pundits, etc. etc. But I’m not so sure.

the chances of the packers coming back either way were very slim. but this is what would worry me the most. injuries. i don’t want to see a defensive players tweaking a muscle or snapping a ligament because they had to go back on the field. the chances of that happening on a kneel down are far less. look at what happened to will fuller when the game was completely out of reach in the texans game.

i think he did the right thing.

just got back and watched the fourth quarter.

well. the bye week makes a difference. green bay looked fired up at the beginning of the game. they had time to come up with a game plan against the rams. almost worked.

rams really miss cooper kupp. he makes those 3 wr sets really work. i like reynolds. but the rams lose something with kupp out.

donald. when he wasn’t sacking rodgers, he was constantly in his face. 10 sacks at the half. wow. and that’s after a slow start.

peters. the rams should not re-sign him. at this point. maybe he’s hurt. maybe he gets healthy and turns it around for the last 8 games. we’ll see.

gurley. coulda had 2 tds and kept him on pace to break the record. but unselfishly kneels down to run out time. how cool is that? smart unselfish player.

goff. no it wasn’t the greatest game. i think we’re becoming spoiled. still had a rating of 111.0 and ypa of 8.4. and it’s important to remember he’s only 24 years old…

zn wrote:

Then, add the context of how he changes space second-most often of any back on downs when he’s not the ball carrier or targeted (as measured by how many defenders are on him and how close they stay to him). The idea behind this metric is to measure how related a player is to wins, and no running back — or any other offensive player who is not a quarterback — rates higher through seven weeks.

very cool. and interesting.

zn wrote:

Hali, who ranks first, is an edge rusher who doesn’t start at the snap surrounded by blockers

I wish they had put up the nearest DT who did anything close to that

yeah. he always seems to be fighting through multiple blockers.

he’s like wolverine. he’s short and stubby. but powerful and quick. hard for blockers to get their hands on him and slow him down.

Zooey wrote:

If you hate the Rams so much, why don’t you move to Milwaukee?

haha.

seriously though. last year his first 7 games compared to his last 8 games. his qb rating jumped 19.1 points. his passing tds jumped by 10. his ypa increased by 0.5 points.

if he could do that. and do it against guys like rodgers, brees, wilson, mahomes, wentz, stafford… and i know that qbs don’t actually go up against each other. but still. if he can do it against them and win…

well… that would be interesting.

zn wrote:

I agree, but, it was nothing like last year’s slump (games 5-7, Seattle, Jax, Aez).

So even his slumps are better this year.

no not even close. and last game he still had an efficient game. 127.4 rating and 8.4 ypa.

last year at this time (week 7) his rating was 90.3. he had a 59.9 completion percentage. 9 tds and 4 ints. 7.7 ypa. and then games 8-15 he just took off.

i don’t expect a similar jump this year from the first half to the second half. i mean that’d just be crazy right? but shoot. he just keeps getting better and better the more he plays.

zn wrote:

Joyner’s doing what they’re asking and playing the deep part of the field. They like what he’s doing. Does that mean he comes back long term?

dunno. i think jj and littleton would be candidates before joyner. but don’t get me wrong. i like joyner. rams are gonna have to make some tough choices.

proehl??? not related to the one and only is he?