wv wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

The Rams will likely have to win 10 or 11 games to get a wildcard. That means they’ll need to win 7 or 8 more games.

Here’s the remainder of the schedule…

@Det
NYG
Car
&NYJ
Mia
@NE
NO
Atl
@Sea
SF
Arz

Are there 7 or 8 wins there?

————-
I got a feeling it will be more like 9 or 10, to get that last wildcard slot.

Lots of parity, not a lot of good teams.

We’ll see.

The Rams will do the 7-9-bullshit thing again,
if Quinn aint back to full strength soon. His ability to constantly
bend around the edge like a great-black-shark,
while A.Donald threatens the middle just…changes things.

w
v

Yeah they will need the DL to be at full strength especially if TruJo misses significant time as it appears he will.

The Rams will likely have to win 10 or 11 games to get a wildcard. That means they’ll need to win 7 or 8 more games.

Here’s the remainder of the schedule…

@Det
NYG
Car
&NYJ
Mia
@NE
NO
Atl
@Sea
SF
Arz

Are there 7 or 8 wins there?

PA Ram wrote:

Case with a bad game.

Actually if not for the pick 6 that would have been Case’s best game. I don’t count that second INT after a desperation throw.

Overall he played pretty well. There’s just too much on his shoulders right now. Gurley got a wee bit on track today but according to Rich Gannon there are inherent flaws in the run blocking from a schematic standpoint. Of course, if the scheme is part of the problem the obvious question is if he sees it, why don’t Fisher and Boras?

I don’t know, but the Rams do seem to let defenders go unblocked alot.

Yeah, Snowpiercer was good. Was that a ‘made for Netflix’ film? Netflix has a bunch of good but relatively unheralded programs.

There is some good info in that article about point differential as a predictor of team success and the DVOA. However, the article is predicated on the idea that the Rams offense won’t improve. Keenum is certainly flawed but his play has been trending upwards. How good does he have to be? I think if he can play close to like he did against the Cards going forward that would be sufficient. If they can ever jump start the running game (by no means a given) then the Rams’ offense certainly should be good enough for a playoff run.

wv said:

Could be that he has a good ‘feel’ of long-lofties and just enough arm-strength when he can set his feet to be a good long-lofty-passer.

Yeah, being a good deep passer is more about timing (when the ball is released) and accuracy than about arm strength. I don’t have the numbers but, for example, I bet Joe Montana hit on a higher percentage of deep throws than Brett Favre.

You could ask the same question about Pharaoh Cooper and the answer would be the same I suppose.

Rams are three point favorites which is what you get for playing at home so Vegas sees these teams as evenly matched.

So do I.

Really hard to pick a winner but the Bills are coming off two dominating victories over the Cards and Pats whereas the Rams have been just squeaking by regardless of how good their opponent is.

Both teams are a work in progress but I think the Bills might be farther along the developmental curve right now so I give them a slight edge.

russellwilsonfan4life said:

Depends what you mean. I dont think anything has to get better for them to grab nine ugly wins. I think they can play at the level they are playing at, and they can still get to nine wins. With no improvement in the running game.

I don’t think 9 wins gets you a playoff berth. I think even a wildcard will require 10 or 11 wins. Fortunately their schedule doesn’t look so formidable now with the Lions, Giants, Jets, Dolphins and Panthers struggling. But there are still plenty of games left on the schedule they could lose, including this week’s game with Buffalo.

But unlike you I’m not satisfied with the Rams being a mirage that sneaks into the playoffs based on a soft schedule only to be ousted by the first real team they face. I want the Rams to BELONG in the playoffs. For that to happen they’ll need a good running game.

NorCalSeahawkfan said:

They could be 1-3. And it’s fine to think that they are starting to “make plays,” but I dunno how much faith to put in that. It’s like investing some quality into the Rams, some intangible improvement that is still somewhat reliable going forward, and I’m not so sure of that.

Yeah, I agree. Can’t count on clutch plays.

Running game has to get better, period.

The whole offense is predicated on it. The Rams passing game is neither built for nor capable of carrying this offense. Eventually this whole thing comes crashing down unless the running game improves.

Yeah it was a good movie. The dialogue is clever and often hilarious.

The violence is more graphic and less ‘cartoony’ than in Marvel films like ‘The Avengers’ or ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ but it wasn’t a turn-off by any means.

Billy_T wrote:

I think Gurley is missing holes. And that the line is not blocking for him well.

It’s both/and, to my eyes.

Just doing some dime-store psychologizing here, but I think the Rams may have hurt his development by basically anointing him king of LA before the season, and MVP for the team. He’s too young for that, and it’s just not necessary. His actions on the field will tell everyone all they need to know about those things. There is no need for the Rams to try to produce a star before he’s actually “born.”

In short, I think Gurley is pressing at least in part because he believes he is the team MVP. Attendant insecurities follow and snowball when he doesn’t perform well, etc. etc.

Anyway, I wish he would watch a ton of film on Edgerrin James. While he wasn’t in the same category as the Rams’ own Eric Dickerson, he was, to my mind, the best of his generation in following his blockers, letting the play develop, and getting the most from openings. In short, that “patience” the writer talks about.

Right now, Gurley doesn’t seem to have it, and he’s not seeing the field very well. He’s running frustrated, which rarely produces good results.

Lots of “blame” to go around, but Gurley is a good part of that.

Yeah, I agree. I think the issues have as much to do with Gurley as anything else.

zn wrote:

PA Ram wrote:

Fan blogger or not, I agree with Nittany that the Gurley point may be a good one.

Well, but, as we know, both you and Nittany are Eagles fans.

Nevertheless, it is possible that Gurley is not settling down enough in this offense. Point taken.

Even Eagles fans can make a point now and then.

..

Settling down? zn, I’m not sure why you insist upon making light of Gurley’s problems. It’s almost like you don’t want people to see the truth. But why? So the problems don’t get fixed? What do you gain by Gurley failing?

Anyway, Gurley has followed up his historically great first four starts of 2015 with a historically bad first four starts of 2016 (first back with 40 or more attempts through the first four games to average less than 3 yds per carry).

But his issues might not even be about this season. As I mentioned yesterday, going back to last season, Gurley has had only one 100 yard game in his last 12 starts. And he’s had only two games where he averaged at least 4 yds/carry.

Maybe Gurley hasn’t been right for some time. Now, maybe it has less to do with Gurley than what’s going on around him (stacking the box, poor run blocking, etc) but something’s not right.

And the Rams aren’t going to continue to ride Keenum’s arm all the way to the playoffs. If they can’t get the running game fixed those close wins will turn into tough losses.

And that seems to be exactly what zn wants.

InvaderRam wrote:

Zooey wrote:

LoyalRam

The ‘table’ said that the star of the team in Hollywood, was the DLine, which wasn’t very “LA”.

Right, cuz nobody in LA ever warmed up to Fred Dryer or Merlin Olsen.

The LA stereotype will never go away, but it is as stupid as any other stereotype.

yeah. i thought that was odd cuz the la rams had some of their biggest names on the dline.

The most famous d-line in the history of football was in LA.

Winnbrad wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

After the game, I said Case Keenum was what a really good Austin Davis would look like because he’s a gamer with limited ability. But he’s smarter than Davis. So I’m gonna revise my comparison. Case Keenum is a more mobile, grittier version of Pat Haden.

I don’t disagree, but he also kinda reminds me of the Jeff Garcia type. Not saying that’s good or bad, just what I think of when I watch him.

I agree with you. He is like Garcia although I think Garcia was a little better than Keenum is now.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 5 months ago by nittany ram.