i think the best thing i can say about donald is i get emotional when i watch him play… haha!

seriously though. there are very few players i can say that about. the only player during those gsot days that would evoke that kind of emotion within me was marshall faulk. ok. london fletcher too. but that was it. not even isaac. and i loved isaac. since then i would say steven jackson would elicit a similar response.

but i gotta say. donald is stirring up some emotions in me. i’m hoping gurley will eventually do the same… hehe…

just want to add one thing. to kind of temper the excitement around foles. he got lucky. the terms we use. the intangibles. the improvisation. being a gamer. it could have easily gone the other way. the pass to tavon was woefully underthrown and should have been a td. the pass to cook in the first half was a terrible throw and should easily have been a touchdown. instead it was just a first down. that jump shot to cunningham everyone raves about. easily could have been a disaster. those things aren’t always going to go well. i don’t think foles is that good. i’m still of the belief that he ultimately needs a strong running game to mask his shortcomings. mostly his lack of arm strength.

but most importantly, that touchdown to kendricks was also woefully underthrown. if bailey doesn’t trip over his own feet. he easily breaks up that pass. and we might be looking at a rams’ loss.

just wanted to add that to here. although i do think he played well. don’t get me wrong. it’s good to know he can make plays when the rams need it. and that’ll come in handy. but ultimately i think the rams need the running game fast or defenses will start making foles pay.

but it’s not just the position he plays although i do agree that it is an important and difficult position to fill. it’s the fact that he graded out higher than anyone else at his position. as a rookie. in the entire league… and so far he looks to have actually improved. and he seems to be the type of guy who will always be looking to improve. now a lot of guys provide that lip service but i actually believe him when he says it.

i think years from now he will emerge as the crown jewel of that draft. and that was a pretty good year.

and pretty soon donald will be in the discussion of the best players in the league – not just at his position.

Donald isn’t far off from establishing himself as the best player from a 2014 draft class that also features Raiders OLB Khalil Mack and Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr.

before last year’s draft i had expressed the hope that the rams could at some point pick the flat out best player in one of these drafts. didn’t matter who it was. but you just look back on that draft and think to yourself that team just nailed that pick.

i think the rams nailed that pick.

these things will only help as the offensive line continues to gel and the running game gets healthy again.

knowing that foles can get it done under pressure will only make them that much more dangerous. i hope this is the real nick foles. we’ll see. but he did it against what should be a very good defense, so that is very encouraging.

i think one of the biggest things this means is that the rams have a good chance of not having to climb back from behind. just seems like the last two years. rams have had a lousy first half which killed any chance at the playoffs.

of course in 2013 they had a thrilling first game against arizona and then promptly layed an egg the next three. so it’s not just this game. but the next several games that will give us an indication where this team could go.

one thing though is that this team is set up to keep getting better as key guys get healthy and young units have the potential to keep gelling as the season goes on – for example the offensive line. but also nick foles’ chemsitry with his receivers.

we’ll see just how much these young guys have learned from the past several years.

it is a special time isn’t it? dare i say i’m starting to get those same feelings i used to get watching faulk, bruce, and holt play way back then.

i didn’t get to watch deacon and the fearsome foursome or youngblood. i hope donald and quinn realize the opportunity in front of them. they got a chance to create something special here.

well we’ll see. they’re not all going to be this good. i still don’t think this is a formula for success. i don’t think the rams do either. and hopefully mason and gurley will be ready soon.

i think some of his freelancing he got lucky. i don’t think he’ll always be that lucky. that jump shot to cunningham could have been disastrous. i think he tried to fit another pass into a tight space which was luckily just a broken pass.

but he was also forced into some of these situations. rams were constantly having to come from behind and with no running game that seattle would be intimidated by. so i understand that.

i am encouraged by the high ypa. i hope that continues even as the running game starts to come together. and i think it will. well not that high. not 11 ypa. but i’m hoping for around 8 yards ypa. i think he’s perfectly capable of that.

the one thing that disturbs me the most is the turnovers. fumbled twice himself. that needs to be squared away. and again. maybe some of that is taken care of when reinforcements come to the running game, and he isn’t forced to do so much himself.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 11 months ago by InvaderRam.

zn wrote:

wv wrote:

This has to be one of the ALLTIME best Ram openers.

Maybe THE best.

Can anyone think of a better, more significant,
more exciting Opening win that this?

I cant.

w
v

I can think of a couple of other good ones.

Baltimore 99.

And, an exciting game though for some wrong reasons (including bad defense):

Denver, 2000.

.

denver was good. but it didn’t have the ups and downs this one did.

ya know. just thinking out loud. but playing without that running game should help this passing game get some confidence. especially with a performance like this against a premier defense. should come into handy later on when they need the passing game…

like they did today.

grob. i’m giving him until the second half of this season until i form any hard opinions on him, but it ain’t looking good so far.

rfl wrote:

Eternal Ramnation wrote:

RFL Donald very nearly had 3 sacks himself but ended 2

A case could be made for Donald being the best player in the league other than QBs. He’s immense.

And he’s the kind of player that inspires the guys around him. Best Ram defender since probably Jack Youngblood. And that’s playing on the same team as R. Quinn!

i’d still give that to watt. but man. he was possessed out there. unblockable.

today i felt this dline as a whole was playing like people have expected them to. now they gotta maintain that level. something about donald tells me he is going to inspire this unit to do that. he just has that relentlessness that the great ones have. he’s got that tenaciousness that i used to see in london fletcher every time he lined up. i haven’t seen that in a long time. well. since london fletcher was playing for the rams.

rfl wrote:

InvaderRam wrote:

aaron donald is going to be the talisman of this team. he was unbelievable. shoot. that whole dline was unbelievable. no slow start for quinn. brockers with a huge stop at the end

What a soothing, delicious, delightful thing to read about the freaking RAMS!

If Williams figures out how to use those guys, it’s gonna be a good year!

i thought donald was the best player on the field. period. it wasn’t even close.

couple things.

seahawks last year ranked 2nd in ypa allowed at 6.3. today the rams averaged 11.0 ypa. last year the rams had ypa’s of 8.2 and 6.6 against the seahawks. overall they had a ypa of 7.2. that was good for 15th in the league. hopefully, the rams can build on this.

imagine how good this offense could look with gurley and mason carrying the ball.

aaron donald is going to be the talisman of this team. he was unbelievable. shoot. that whole dline was unbelievable. no slow start for quinn. brockers with a huge stop at the end.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 11 months ago by InvaderRam.