zn wrote:

Will Brinson‏@WillBrinson
Best 3rd down conversion % in NFL through Week 9:

1. Rams (49.1)
2. Eagles (46.8)
3. Patriots (45.9)
4. Cowboys (45.5)
5. Panthers (43.4)

Ryan Kartje@Ryan_Kartje
Last season, the Rams converted just 31.5 percent of third downs, worst in the NFL. They’ve improved by 17.6 percent. That’s insane.

Umm no.

This year’s 3rd down conversion rate of 49.1% is a 55.9% improvement over last season’s rate of 31.5%

49.1 – 31.5 = 17.6

(17.6/31.5) x 100 = 55.9%

Agamemnon wrote:

The Rams have ticked all the boxes. It doesn’t get much better than this.
.
Will they keep going? They need to stay healthy.

Yeah. Injuries and/or self-inflicted gaffes are the only thing that can derail this team.

The only team that can beat the Rams is the Rams.

And maybe the Eagles.

InvaderRam wrote:

zn wrote:

zn wrote:

where they need to improve/change the most IMO

Redzone offense.

Speak of the devil.

Joe Curley‏ @vcsjoecurley
Matt Lafleur mentions red zone as being a place of improvement worked on during the bye week.
Lafleur hints the Rams need to run the ball better in the red zone in order to have success in those situations.

interesting. i would think it’d fall more on goff, but i trust what lafleur says.

My impression is they abandon the run too quickly in the red zone.

ESPN FPI says Giants have a 61.9% chance to win.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/game?gameId=400951758

The Rams are better than all those teams except maybe the Eagles. The Seahawks in Seattle will be tough. No reason they can’t go at least 5-4 the rest of the way. That would get them to 10-6 which should be good enough to make the playoffs.

Ahh, the lamentations of the conquered.

Cards embarrass themselves nationally and, now, internationally. If the greedy NFL could figure a way to play football in space, the Cards would embarrass themselves universally.

That was a good one.

How does Donald compares to the all-time greats at DT? Does he already deserve to be mentioned among the best ever of the game…Merlin Olsen, Bob Lilly, Alan Page, Joe Greene, etc?

It would be cool if PFF went back and looked at film of those players and graded them using the same metrics they use today.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Donald graded out better than them. He may be the best DT who ever played.

It’s exceedingly rare for a team to have the best player of all-time at a given position on their roster. Obviously it’s even more rare to have the two best players of all-time at their positions on their roster at the same time.

But the Rams probably do in Hekker and Donald.

wv wrote:

Thats exactly the way they should be handling him. Having said that he just doesnt have the ‘bend-around-the-corner-ability’ he used to have. He still has the ‘get off’ or ‘speed’ but he doesnt seem to have the speed PLUS power PLUS ‘twistyness’ to bull the OT and get around the corner. He looks like most of the time he just rockets upfield and zooms past the QB and ends up on the ground. The ‘turn’ around the corner just isnt happening anymore. And i assmue thats the effect of the back-injury-surgery.

I imagine, Quinn and Tavon will be gone next year. Though i dunno the cap situation with Quinn.

w
v

Yeah, that’s my impression too. The back injuries have made him stiff.

I don’t see how he remains a Ram at his current salary. Same with Tavon, of course. Maybe they would take a pay cut to stay.

zn wrote:

People worried about Quinn. Would Quinn be his old productive self? Turns out–he’s not. AND it doesn’t matter. Rams are 5th in sacks anyway.

…

I’m still holding out hope (albeit fading) that he has a bigger impact as he gains more experience in his new role.

If that doesn’t happen I guess it will be hard to justify his salary given his limited production.

That’s the one stadium in the North East I’ve never visited.

Zooey wrote:

Plus…it’s well-known that Fitzgerald and Palmer are at the age where jet lag really takes a toll physically. It’s questionable whether they will even make it to the stadium.

Plus, I hear that BBC Four is planning a “Last of the Summer Wine” marathon this weekend. If they happen to catch part of that there’s a good chance they won’t even make the flight home.

Yeah, the Rams don’t really have a home field advantage. The greater LA area has a population of 18 million people. It’s hard to believe with a population of that size you can’t find 60,000 people who want to go to a football game.

Overall, I’m glad they are back in LA. That’s where they were when I became a fan and most of my fondest memories of the Rams were formed there. But I’m not sure even winning will fill that stadium. I’m not sure LA cares enough or ever will. It’s not a knock on LA. Other than a few thousand diehards, it’s not like the city campaigned to get the Rams back.

But I find the lack of interest odd. There’s less than a million people in the greater Pittsburgh area but if the Steelers built a 300,000 seat stadium they’d fill it.

zn wrote:

2006 I think you mean. Typo man. In 2008 they went 2-14. Which, admittedly, does have a 2 and a 4 in it.

Well, you didn’t specify the order in which the numbers had to appear.

I’m not a mind reader. Next time be more clear.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by nittany ram.

Tough scrappy win against a great defense.

Defenses have figured out how to limit the Rams passing game.

Fortunately they don’t have to face the Seahawks’ and Jaguars’ defense every week.

zn wrote:

from Week 6 NFL Power Rankings: And your playoff chances are …

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/page/NFLpowerrankingsx171010/nfl-2017-week-6-power-rankings-kansas-city-chiefs-green-bay-packers-atlanta-falcons-lead-playoff-chances

11. Los Angeles Rams

2017 record: 3-2
Week 5 ranking: No. 16

16.2 percent chance. That percentage might seem low for a 3-2 Rams team, but keep in mind that they currently rank 25th in efficiency, according to FPI. And despite his improvements, Jared Goff ranks just 15th in Total QBR through five weeks.

What is this “efficiency” stat and why should I care about it?