I really have to scratch my head over the gameplan. Clearly they could not throw the ball yesterday. And when they tried they were often deep drops by the QB and slower developing routes. The oline got beat. Period. Even when he seemed to have time, Goff’s throws were not great. Last week I saw a stat where he has 18 tds and 2 ints at home. He was 9-5 on the road. That got worse. He has not been good on the road this year. So fine. He was having a bad night. But even so–Gurley got way too few touches.

The Josh Reynolds show was not spectacular. Honestly, Reynolds seems to be a very meek receiver. The hail Mary wasn’t all that terrible but Reynolds never made an effort. On the pick on the sideline where Goff stared at Reynolds the whole way–Reynolds should have at least tried to play defense. He didn’t. On the catch Reynolds made where he could have taken two or three steps and gotten a first down, he chose to avoid contact and simply stopped and tried to run around the defender. He got stopped.

This team misses Cooper Kupp and Goff REALLY misses him.

Reynolds has to play better.

I didn’t understand why McVay did not adjust to what was happening on the field. Maybe shorter passes? EWven when Goff went through his progressions and went to check down, his passes were off. Maybe more quick throws? The only ones they seemed to try were some screens to Woods that went no where. And when Gurley did start clicking McVay went back to the pass. I hope he is not an inflexible coach. I’ve seen this team adjust before but last night they never did. It was a curious sort of gameplan. Mcvay seemed almost stubborn. Maybe he just didn’t have answers, I don’t know. I know that the oline had major problems.

As for defense? I thought they played well against a horrible QB. They certainly played well enough to win. No–this loss was on the offense.

This team has not blown everyone out. They have been in some coin flip games but found a way to win. Last night they didn’t.

Right now–I just want them to get a bye. 2 out of the next 3 clinches that.

I just hope that Goff is not in some serious funk right now. That would not be good.

There is no reason they can’t run the table. They probably should run the table. But I expect there will be a let down game somewhere along the line. The interesting question is that once the division and bye week are locked up(probably two more wins for bye week)how will Mcvay play them? Will they go all out for home field? I tend to think they will as long as they have that chance. And if the Saints keep pressing them I think the Rams will be less likely for the let down game.

I am curious to see how they come out of the bye. I expect it to be a long day for Detroit.

The Bears pose the biggest challenge, obviously. And they could win. But if the Rams are playing to potential I see them pulling that out even on a cold night in Chicago.

At worst I see 13-3. At worst.

Yes, everyone in that area please stay safe.

I’ve been watching this with horror.

Another thing: the Rams get a free pass this week. I dont know how the Seahawks game will go but with the fire and shooting it had to be a horrible week to prepare for a game.

Some things are bigger than football.

Of course I hope they win. I won’t have a word to say if they don’t.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by PA Ram.

I will just repeat what everyone else is saying.

Peters sucks. Not only can he not cover anyone–he also can’t tackle very well. What–exactly–does he bring to the team besides a huge hole for the offense to exploit? I also think that Joyner is having a crappy year. I don’t know what happened to him. Right now there are only two decent players in the secondary and one of them is hurt. Johnson and Talib.

Are you kidding me with this pass rush? Where was it? Donald got close. Fowler looked good. Brockers and Suh didn’t do much of anything. You will never beat Brees giving him that kind of time–I don’t care how good the secondary is(and ours isn’t good).

On offense, I thought the Saints did pretty well shutting Gurley down. He’s a great player but they contained him pretty well and did not let him take over the game. Goff was inconsistent. He made some great throws and made some really bad ones. Unfortunately the last two series showcased the bad Goff throws. When he needed to be at his best–he wasn’t. He needs to step up a bit further if he wants to be considered in the elite class.

Mcvay had a spotty game was well. After the turnover Gurley wasn’t even in the game for a 3 and out. And why on earth do you throw deep on that 3rd and 2? Just get the 1st.

So–the Rams got beat. But I have to complain about the horrible officiating on one particular call: the Hekker 1st down–because it was obvious to a blind man he made it. How does ANYONE look at that replay and decide he did not get there? HOW? This is what gives the NFL a black eye. I get close calls but how does a referee talk himself into deciding that Hekker missed that? Horrible.

There were some things to like(the comeback) and some things to hate.

The Rams are still a Superbowl contender but they certainly have things to clean up if that is going to happen. Now we get to see how they respond after a loss. This can be a volatile team if this all goes south. There won’t be any “Ramily” anymore. It will get ugly. Anyone see Saffold shove Goff away?

We will see how Mcvay handles it.

One last note on Peters. I’m tired of hearing how he’s hurt. His mistakes are mental errors. He is getting beat mentally. If he is THAT hurt then sit him. I don’t think that’s the case. Unfortunately the Rams do not have much in the way of options until Talib gets back. When that happens I’d consider starting Talib and Hill(and that’s not great option either)because this seems to happen every week. If Peters can’t fix it till then, he won’t fix it for the playoffs.

I try to imagine the Rams winning this game but I can’t. This teams has been flirting with a loss over the last several weeks(other than 9ers). It feels to me that this whole undefeated thing, along with a tough road game against a good team has to cat h up to them.

This feels like the one that is just a bit too tough.

I think the Saints will also have home refs advantage too. I can see some really bad calls going against them.

It all feels like “a bridge too far”.

I hope the Rams embarrass me for my lack of faith. But I have a sick feeling today

Well, who knows? Sometimes these things work out. Sometimes they don’t.

The Watkins deal kind of failed in the way things worked out. It wasn’t a miserable failure but they lost him and he didn’t have a great impact anyway.

The Cooks deal has been fantastic. Worth the pick.

The Peters deal–not so much so far.

The Fowler deal? We will see.

They certainly needed to upgrade their edge rush so it is worth the gamble. Hopefully he can have an impact the rest of the year.

The thing I keep hearing about Green Bay is that the coach doesn’t run enough. Aaron Jones is pretty good–a good sized back, but they don’t use him enough. I wonder if that changes against the Rams?

I see this is a repeat of the Minnesota game: lots of scoring, big plays–sort of a shootout and closer than the point spread. This is a rested Packers team who had two weeks to study the Rams.

Still, I like that GZ is back and I believe he may make the difference. I think the Rams win this one with a field goal or two difference. Could be very exciting.

I’d love them to be 8-0 going into New Orleans. That game will be huge for playoff implications regarding home field and such.

zn wrote:

Does everyone know that the Rams have not gone 7-0 since 1985?

Ahhh…but the 9ers broke their undefeated season. I see what you did there.

In any case–the thing that worries me the most about this game is how little I’m worried about it. I’m setting myself up for a fall. I hope the Rams take it more seriously than I do.

I do think that Beathard is playing better than I expected. Brieda can run.

Still….

Rams win. No prediction on the score.

Average time before Goff throws the ball: 2.93 seconds. That’s the longest in the league. Give him time and he kills you. Denver will try to change that today. Teams can not attack the Rams offense without some kind of pressure. The Denver defense is playing some complicated scheme and wasting Von Miller by putting him into coverage. I would expect that to change. Goff is blitzed at less than any quarterback in the league.

I’m getting this from a Denver radio station by the way. They want pressure.

This, to me, is up to Gurley and the defense. To win this the Rams will have to run well and play great defense.

And Santos will have to hit those field goals.

It will be tough.

zn wrote:

Well I think that the Rams being frontrunners means that every team they play brings their A game.

Though in some cases that doesn’t mean much. Some teams don’t have much of an A game.

But in some cases it does.

I agree with this. There won’t be any easy game. This is a big game for everyone who plays the Rams–ESPECIALLY while they carry the undefeated flag. Beating them could really turn things around for a team like Denver. By the way–Denver plays an away game on Thursday after the Rams game so I don’t know if that will affect them for this one.

I worry that the Seahawks game wore them out a little bit right before a second road trip and one in Denver at that. How tired will the Rams be? Denver is pissed as well–after a bad game at New York.

I agree with your list, zn but I might put Chicago in purple. Although I am not impressed with Tribisky.

Also this team is handicapped every year by only having 7 true home games. Yes, the Mexico game isn’t as bad as traveling to England but it is still one less home game. I hope when the new stadium is built they back away from that a little.

Well, I believe this is going to be their first loss.

The weather is a problem, yes. But so is the altitude. Denver is a big home field advantage. This team won’t be able to breathe by the 4th quarter.

The offense will slow down. Everything will be slower. This hurts the Rams.

The pass rush with Von Miller will create some problems. They will need Gurley to do this with his feet if they are going to win. But mostly this is a game that the defense must win. This game is on the defense and special teams. It’s their game to win. I think this will be a 20-17 type of game.

But I can also see Denver winning bigger if they get Lindsey running and give Keenum time. I can see Denver winning a 35-17 kind of game. We will see. But I don’t see this as their week.

Broncos:20

Rams: 17

I hope I’m wrong.

Last year Vikes won 24-7.

They rushed for over 170 yards in that contest. Latavius Murray(who may play agfain this year because of uncertainty about Dalvin Cook) had a very good day. Another big problem for the Rams defense was Dominique Hatfield. He was torched on a regular basis. I’m not sure if he will have to play this time or not. Let’s hope not.

Now this is a much difference defense, of course. Quinn is gone. Ogeltree is gone. Johnson is gone.

Sadly, Peters and Talib are gone.

So I expect Cousins to complete some passes. The corners just can’t give up the big plays, miss tackles and so on.

Barron played a lot in coverage that game but he’s gone as well.

The Bills game is a fluke to me. They were clearly looking ahead and not ready.

They will be ready for this one.

Goff had a decent game but momentum swung when Kupp lost a fumble at the goal line and the Rams never got it back. The Rams rushed for a total of about 43 yards but they got down in the game and threw the ball more. The game was closer than the score but Hatfield was exploited time and time again.

The Rams can have success with Gurley. The Vikes give up about 105 yards rushing a game. He can do very well this week. But the Rams can also throw on this defense. I do worry about the kicking game. They need touchdowns in this one because without Talib and Peters, and what has been a poor pass rush, this has the looks of a shootout type of game.

Rams: 34
Vikes 30

Yes! The games is being televised here! Love it!

I see a close game. My biggest fear is Ficken having to make key field goals to win it and he WILL have to make key field goals today. It is the first test of the season and I hope the edge rushers show up today. The linebackers will have to watch those drop off passes to the backs. Their backs are good and can get 1st downs. I look for Gurley to have a big day running the ball.

Rams:27
Chargers:24

Come on

Ficken!

I don’t really know what to think of the team right now. It’s tough because our only measurement is against two poor teams. The next two games, I feel, will help to further define who they really are.

This might seem crazy to say about two blowout wins but…the games felt oddly closer than the final score indicated.

I hope they solve the slow offensive start.

I don’t know what the defense is doing but it feels like the defensive stars right now are in the secondary. The opposing QBs just aren’t seeing anything they like. So through fear of the pass rush and tough coverage, they are scheming quick throws. This allows the defenders to come up and make plays. And there isn’t a lot of home run plays. You can’t argue with the numbers. It seems to work. But they haven’t played an elite level QB yet. They will this weekend. So we will see if this continues to work. The Rams may present a puzzle on defense that is very difficult to solve but teams will keep trying–and they won’t always do the same things. We will run into the team that insists on pounding the ball, the one that comes in and airs it out anyway, and we will see. These two games tell very little. But they did what they had to do.

I really have come to view Goff as an elite “game manager” style QB. He will never be Rodgers or Brady, IMO. But he can be the best Joe Flacco we’ve ever seen. He isn’t great at so-called off schedule plays, when he gets pressured and has to improvise. Watch the crazy things Rothlesberger did yesterday. I couldn’t see Goff ever doing something like a backward flip of the ball behind a defenders back. That isn’t him. He needs good players and a great scheme. He is getting better all the time at reading things, going through progressions and making good decisions. He can make an elite level pass but can also miss the easy ones. His next step is to get consistency in that area and work a little more on his pressure response because he WILL be pressured this year.

Gurley is just amazing. Period. Even his not so great days look great. He’s a threat that defenses HAVE to account for. Even when he isn’t in the play he makes an impact.

I LOVE the Rams receivers. Cooks, Woods and Kupp are just fantastic. They are the best trio in football in my mind.

I’d love for the tight ends to step up more because that’s just another weapon. I’m not sure either Everett or Higbee or impact types but they can be functional.

I’m sick about GZ but how about Johhny Hekker, eh? Wow!

And if you don’t love Natsun you are a sick individual.

Look–this is one of the top teams, for sure. But are they at THE top? We will soon find out.

The offensive line did a fantastic job for the Rams. For some reason McVay didn’t want to run the ball in the 1st half but in the 2nd he did and it really opened up the offense. One way or the other, this offense runs through Gurley.

The defensive line had an impact even if they didn’t go to sack city. The holding calls alone had an impact.

I love Brandin Cooks. I expected a deep threat but he is soooo much more than that. Upgrade over Watkins.

I love our coaching staff. They know how to adjust at halftime. They had nothing to go on to start the game. But they figured it out. So what if Jared Cook got yards. They scored 13 points. Julio Jones had 160 against the Eagles. He didn’t score.

I was pleasantly surprised by the linebackers–especially Corey Littleton. Very nice game.

GZ with a nice 55 yard FG. Great kickoffs.

It sucks about Cooper but I’m glad they were able to bring back Natsun.

I hope they don’t overlook the Cards. Beyond that I worry about home games. They were not great at home last year.