i’m a little surprised but not too surprised given how well johnson played on sunday. i woulda thought he’d have some special teams value but thomas is a special teams dynamo.

but yeah. at safety, they might have something special in jj. he’s versatile. dynamic. smart.

aaron donald is back.

also. on that second to last play. tough play for kupp. i don’t blame him. and at first i thought goff could have been more accurate. but now i’m not so sure. he had to get it above that other defenders hands. i think it was pretty much the only place he could put it. i think. either way it shouldn’t have come down to that play, but woulda been crazy if they had.

yeah. i think on one interception his arm got knocked? i don’t know if i’m remembering correctly. i don’t fault him for that. i do think the other interception where he was trying to dump it off to gurley was poorly placed. it was a bad throw. as far as the fumble. i don’t know that i necessarily blame him in that one instance. but overall, i wonder about his fumbling rate. he isn’t getting hit that much (6 sacks), but he’s coughed up the ball 3 times already. maybe just an aberration.

as far as his game, i thought he struggled this last week. but like i said, he’s young. 12 games starting experience. between the move his rookie season and the coaching change his sophomore season, i count this as part of his rookie season.

he needed a game like this. these are the games he will grow from and ultimately get better from if it doesn’t break him. but he’s tough. so i don’t expect that it will break him.

their defense. could it be better than seattle?

i haven’t seen much of them. actually i haven’t seen any of them, but it should be a big test for goff. i think they’re vulnerable to the run.

on defense i think fournette is starting to pick up speed. so big test for run defense. they did ok against seattle, but their running game is suspect at best. bortles should present less problems than wilson.

link: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/10/08/rams-rookie-safety-john-johnson-shines-in-surprising-first-nfl-start/

Rams rookie safety John Johnson shines in (surprising) first NFL start

By RICH HAMMOND | rhammond@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: October 8, 2017 at 7:46 pm | UPDATED: October 8, 2017 at 8:21 pm
LOS ANGELES — The Rams picked quite a time to show their trust in rookie John Johnson.

With starting safety Lamarcus Joyner, out of the lineup Sunday with a hamstring injury, the Rams chose to bench their other starter, Maurice Alexander, and replace him with Johnson, a third-round draft pick.

Like many bold moves, it worked. Alexander had been increasingly unreliable, both on pass defense and in run support. Johnson broke up a pass early in the game and then, five minutes into the second quarter, Johnson intercepted Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson and returned the ball 69 yards.

The turnover set up a field goal that gave the Rams a 10-0 lead, and while the Seahawks later had some success throwing to tight ends covered by Johnson, the rookie seemed solid in his first NFL start.

“I thought he did a tremendous job,” Rams linebacker and defensive captain Alec Ogletree said. “I told him before the game it was going to be his game to come out and let people know who you are. I’m definitely proud of him. He’s got to continue to work and get better, and I think he will do that.”

A former standout at Boston College, Johnson said he had “no idea,” in advance, that he would be displacing Alexander, but the Rams had showed increased confidence in Johnson after he overcame an injury that sidelined him for the early part of training camp.

Johnson actually slid into Joyner’s spot at free safety, while Cody Davis took Alexander’s spot at strong safety, and Davis also recorded an interception in the first quarter.

Johnson said he felt “real comfortable” in his first start, and his only major lament after the game was that he failed to score a touchdown on his interception and was chased down by Wilson.

“I’ll get it right and I will take them to the house,” Johnson said. “But it was great to finally get an interception. I feel like the first one is always hard to get, so hopefully there are a lot more coming.”

BIG IMPROVEMENT

The Rams’ defense, which struggled against San Francisco and during the first half last week against Dallas, carried over its strong play from the second half against the Cowboys. Seattle gained only 240 yards, including only 62 rushing yards (and an average of 2.5 yards per rush).

Seattle lost its top rusher, Chris Carson, to injury last week, but the Rams largely shut down Thomas Rawls and Eddie Lacy and held Wilson, an excellent scrambler, to 16 yards.

“We knew they liked to run the ball and we had to stop the run first and defend the pass second,” Ogletree said. “We did a good job of stopping the run. I wish we could have come out different, but definitely proud as a defense, for sure.”

LOST JOB?

Tavon Austin might be ousted as the Rams’ punt returner. Austin, who suffered fumbling issues in previous games, dropped both of the punts he attempted to field Sunday, and lost one.

Austin fumbled Seattle’s first punt, early in the first quarter, and the Rams went to rookie Cooper Kupp on Seattle’s second attempt. For some reason, the Rams went back to Austin in the second quarter, and he fumbled. The Rams went back to Kupp for Seattle’s only other punt.

“I’m a little scarred up right now, but it’s all right,” Austin said. “I’m never going to make excuses. I’m going to keep working at it, day in and day out, hoping I get it back when I’m feeling more comfortable catching the ball back there.”

Asked about the job going forward, Coach Sean McVay said, “Tavon is a guy who is our punt returner and he’s going to be better than that,” but when pressed again, McVay said, “We will go back after this game and evaluate some of those things moving forward.”

ALL QUIET

Sammy Watkins, expected to be the Rams’ top receiver this season, was blanketed by Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman and did not have a catch. Watkins was the target of four of Jared Goff’s passes. Last week against Dallas, Watkins had only one catch for 17 yards.

Most troubling, against Seattle, might have been a play when Watkins appeared to stop running his route and a Goff pass sailed over his head. Goff said Watkins was a “little bit confused” on the play and that they talked about what happened on the play.

“I think it was probably one of those plays that he didn’t expect,” McVay said, “and I’d have to talk to Sammy about that. Until you go back and truly look at it, I can’t say and I haven’t had a chance to specifically talk to Sammy about that one individual play.”

really. i think it just came down to turnovers. 5 rams’ turnovers to the seahawks’ 2.

no way a team – especially this young – wins with that. and at least 3 of them were unnecessary. gurley doesn’t need to stick the ball out like that and expose it. austin needs to hold onto the punt. goff throws a poor pass to gurley and loses a fg.

so i count at least 13 points right there (including gz’s missed fg). i can’t remember what happened after the austin fumble, but i assume a fg there. so that’s 16 points. [ok. nevermind. i forgot. it was an int. still. that’s 13 points.]

taking care of the ball, gz making an easy fg, and better execution wins the game easily.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.

10 points left on the table. that’s gonna burn.

not taking care of the ball. i don’t know if the tavon muffed punt led to a fg or a td.

it burns.

how much of that was roman and how much of that was kromer? how did he do at other stops?

i would be curious to know how much input from kromer, lafleur, and mcvay there was on the running game. and obviously they got input from gurley himself and looked at tape of gurley to find out what he did well.

whatever they’re doing, i hope it continues.

zn wrote:

How about Smart’s dimensions?

6-1, 296 lbs.

According to this, he basically weighs 6 pounds less that Brockers but is shorter, but at NT that can be an advantage (leverage). Phillips has used NTs built like this before (Earl Mitchell, 6-1 289 lbs, NT for Houston’s 7th ranked D in 2013).

It may just be that Smart is a good NT and Brockers is a good DE.

If so, this could be an interesting development.

i like the idea of smart at nose tackle. i especially like quinn’s comments about him. that he had never seen a rookie prepare like tanzel has other than donald.

and if he works out what a draft. everett, kupp, and smart. and i believe that johnson is gonna be good too.

Agamemnon wrote:

It is a good idea to actually use your best WR.

i’m sure they will. if for no other reason than they can’t keep giving gurley the ball at this rate. maybe not tomorrow but in the second half of the season.

i don’t know. i can’t base this on anything other than just a feeling but i feel sammy is being genuine. i think he sees the environment. young guys like himself in a big city with lots to do. a young offense with a young qb where they can grow together. and one of the brightest offensive minds in the league.

he would rather be a part of that than be the big fish in a little pond. i think the chances of re-signing him are good. of course if the money is good cuz that’s when he probably won’t be so unselfish.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.

if dallas was the rams’ collective first big test, this is jared’s first big individual test.

perform well against seattle, and jared takes a big step toward being recognized as a legitimate franchise qb.

damn i’m getting nervous. just me personally i know what i see, and it looks real. but i feel like i need to see it for three more games before i can really believe it.

zn wrote:

BTW in case this isn’t clear, I am not arguing or nothin like that, just thinking out loud.

that’s how i read it.

makes me wonder what carroll’s plan is. do they drop guys in coverage? make it harder for goff to find clear passing lanes. but then i’m assuming mcvay’s plan is to pound the ball with plenty of play action.

whatever the case this should be a good learning experience for goff.

you posted it on the goff game 4 thread.

nfl matchup on espn.

so it’s percentage of dropbacks. thing is rams are near the bottom in pass attempts. so while the total may be low the percentage is high. mcvay’s playcalling is having an effect.

https://mobile.twitter.com/NFLMatchup/status/914921209460117505/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheramshuddle.com%2Ftopic%2Fthe-word-on-goff-after-game-4%2F

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.

depending on how everything goes rams could have their qb head coach combo for at least a decade. that’s huge. i mean i’m stating the obvious here but when i look at stability around the league it’s because that team has their head coach and qb in place. not the only difference but a pretty big deal.

still too early to know for sure.

seattle vulnerable to the run. gurley should have a big day.

seattle’s starting running back is hurt.