The Rams look ugly, but, if there is a positive in that, they usually force their opponents to look ugly too.

They’ve lost to some of the best teams in the NFC – the 5-1 Lions, 5-2 Packers, and 4-2 Bears…which one of those teams looked particularly impressive against the Rams?  They uglied their way to victories over the extremely talented, but weirdly inconsistent 9’ers, and the hapless Raiders.

The only team that looked great against them was the Cardinals, but that was a case of Kyler Murray taking out years of frustration against a Donald-less team that didn’t look ready to play.

That said, they could easily get rolled by the Vikings this Thursday.  But I wouldn’t be surprised if they got enough ‘ugly’ on the Vikes to make the game competitive.

Defense is stinky-poo.

Two rookies that had been struggling had their coming-out parties against the Rams.

Hard to know how much of this can be laid at Shula’s feet.  Secondary is horrible and I’m sure it wasn’t his call to trade Earnest Jones.

Zooey wrote:

I can’t help but think about all those redshirts swaggering into “Levi South” and gloating for the first 57 minutes of the game, only to have drive 6 hours back to SF stewing on that finish and the $500 they spent to attend the game. A couple more victories in LA for the Rams, and the 9er faithful will be more reluctant to make that trip.

I think most of those redshirts live in LA.

The Rams next four games are against the Cards (away), 49ers, Bears (away), and Packers.  Assuming there are no more injuries to key starters, they could go 3-1 against that schedule, especially if Jordan Love can’t play.   The injuries have been catastrophic but it isn’t panic time yet.  After the bye they could still be sitting at 3-2 with all/most of the starters back facing a very bad Raiders team.

Proud of the way they battled given all the adversity.

I hope Puka, Noteboom, and Avila are able to play next week.

Zooey wrote:

wv wrote:

From the vid — …with all the talent, (Kittle, Purdy, Shannahan, Deebo, Aiyuk, etc) the 49ers had, they went 0 and 3 without Trent Williams. 12 and 2 with him. With him they scored 32 points a game. Without him 17 points a game. Both Kimes and her guest agreed Williams had a serious claim to being the NFL MVP. w v

Top Secret Update from my incognito position, deep in the heart of 49er territory: On the flagship radio station this morning, there is some serious concern. Trent Williams is the glue, decidedly. They broke down all the other OL on the 9ers, and apart from Williams, the belief is that the OL is resembling the OL that Russell Wilson suffered behind in Seattle. While they value Aiyuk, and want him back, they don’t think his absence sinks the season. They do think that no Trent Williams = Lost Season. Here’s the situation: Williams has no guaranteed money on his contract. Unlike Aiyuk, Williams is not making a scene. He’s in Texas. He’s told the 49ers that that is where he will be until he gets a new deal. No fanfare. Nothing. But the way Williams sees it, he’s the best LOT in the NFL, and he should be paid that way. The wrinkle is that the 49ers are going to have to give Purdy $60m/year at the end of this season, and Williams – with no guaranteed money – is an easy cut because ALL of his money would be freed up. No cap hit. So that’s his position, and not surprisingly, he doesn’t find that situation acceptable. Signing Williams is going to cost some other guys on the roster, though (next year). Bottom line is that the window is closing on this group, and a rebuild around Purdy is on the way. And they have a shaky OL heading into this season. For those of you who don’t know much about football, shaky OLs are not helpful.

I don’t think that Purdy is going to get that kind of money.

He has great numbers because he’s a decent QB benefitting from Shannahan’s brilliance and the elite talent around him.

But Purdy himself isn’t elite.  He’s a coached-up Case Keenum.  He isn’t worth top shelf QB money.

Maybe the Rams would be more interested in extending him if they didn’t have Hacksaw Speights in their back pocket.

“Out of town” is code for “court-mandated community service” no doubt.

Congrats, Mack.

Billy_T wrote:

Thanks for the concern, folks. I had some health stuff to deal with, and am still in recovery mode. Not going to post a lot here or elsewhere for a bit, but may throw in my two cents about the draft down thread. Hope all of you are well.

Get well, BT and please don’t be a stranger.

Each pick was highly regarded and for a position of need.  No reaches.  Hard to find fault with it.

Wow. How sad.  JPMiller was one of the originals.  A good person and a good fan.

Stuff like this is bound to happen when you  post with the same people for nearly 30 years, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

If Tre White can stay healthy, they will have turned a team weakness into a strength (the secondary).

And that’s good, because they will need guys that can cover a LONG time.

Zooey wrote:

zn wrote:

They have Jones and Turner in the front 7

Turner is going to get a good deal more attention this season, and I expect his effectiveness to drop. Nothing would make me happier than to be ridiculed for this comment at the end of the season.

Yeah, I was never sold on Turner. I think he’s probably ok, but just ok.

zn wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

Kroenke needs to erect a Ring of Honor in SoFi and Donald needs to be the first person on it. He should have a statue outside the main entrance as well.

Then they should animate the statue and draft it.

“With the 19th pick in the draft, the Los Angeles Rams select <pause for effect>… Android Donald.”

Unfortunately, everything that made AD a great DT would violate one or more of Asimov’s Laws of Robotics.