.@RamsNFL @TG3II is now the Rams leading receiver and is league’s only 2000 yard from scrimmage player. #BaldyBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/iPd0fsU3na

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 27, 2017

.@RamsNFL @NFLRAMS_Jbrown with a set of violent hands stopping this T-T twist. #BaldyBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/mqqgMXcGtm

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 27, 2017

.@RamsNFL @TG3II goes 80 to paydirt- perfect play v the overloaded pressure. LeBeau would say, “ sometimes you get the bull and sometimes the bull gets you “. #BaldyBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/6c3XSD569U

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 27, 2017

.@RamsNFL @TG3II benefits from adroit perimeter blocking. It is a team effort freeing @TG3II to havevthis MVP type season. #BaldyBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/E92B3Qw8Wn

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 27, 2017

Dov Kleiman@NFL_DovKleiman
It seems that Sean McVay will win the coach of the year honors and Aaron Donald might win defensive player of the year honors with Todd Gurley offensive player of the year honors.

For a team that won’t finish with the number 1 or 2 seed in its conference that’s a lot of hardware

Mike Sando@SandoESPN
Jared Goff vs the @Titans’ blitz (5+ pass-rushers): 7-12 for 128 yards and 4 TD. @ESPNStatsInfo

Pete Prisco@PriscoCBS
I am as big a quarterback guy as there is, but I am starting to think my MVP vote might be going to Todd Gurley

Mel R. Valenzuela‏ @MelMatchmaker
in a perfect world, who would you like to see the @RamsNFL play in the first round?

Vincent Bonsignore@DailyNewsVinny
It’s almost splitting hairs. When #Rams are playing to potential they can beat anyone anytime anywhere.

Really no right or wrong way for Sean McVay to handle relatively meaningless #Rams game this week. Only stake is 1st rd. home opponent

Should be whatever he feels best prepares #Rams for playoffs. Whether it’s rest guys or go full throttle.

Joe Curley@vcsjoecurley
McVay said OG Rodger Saffold’s injury was an oblique, “He’s good to go. Checked out OK.

McVay says Matt Longacre will be IRed with his back injury. That’s a big blow @CVRamsClub

“You have a home playoff game no matter what… that’s a luxury that you want to take advantage of.” — McVay

McVay says Mark Barron’s Achilles injury came “out of nowhere.” Hints he may rest Barron.

SN’s Vinnie Iyer@vinnieiyer
Todd Gurley needed a lot of things to break his way to possibly trump Tom Brady as NFL MVP. They happened Sunday.

Alden Gonzalez@Alden_Gonzalez
Rams coach Sean McVay said the team will “move forward with confidence” in new kicker Sam Ficken, who missed two early field goals on Sunda

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
Rich Hammond Retweeted Los Angeles Rams
Rams will play four other 2017 division champions in 2018, three of them at home.

Brent Lancaster@lannyosu
Sammy Watkins has 8 TD’s on only 39 catches. That’s a TD for every 5 catches.

Ben Volin@BenVolin
Nick Foles is going to get eaten alive in the playoffs. Tough break for the Eagles

Michael Lombardi‏@mlombardiNFL
Bruce Arians, a two-time NFL Coach of the Year who is just less than two seasons removed from taking the Arizona Cardinals to the NFC title game, will agree to part ways with the Cardinals next week, multiple sources tell Hub Arkush of Pro Football Weekly.

Jason Cole@JasonCole62
How is it that Jeff Fisher is being talked about for another head coaching job before somebody like Mike Smith or Steve Spagnuolo? Fisher is better than some believe, but so are Smith and Spags

Jeff Darlington@JeffDarlington
In 2013, Richie Incognito was suspended and sent into NFL exile. For a year, he was toxic. And he probably should’ve accepted the end.

Four years later, at 34, he’s been voted by his peers to the Pro Bowl — not as an alternate like years past. A starter.

Man, that’s something.

==

"#Gurley4MVP! Touchdown LA!"

Inside the #LARams radio booth 🎙 pic.twitter.com/IX7kw1hjLP

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 26, 2017

==

Early look at Sunday Notes, with @danorlovsky7 and Mike Shanahan helping explain the incredible turnaround by Jared Goff and the Rams under Sean McVay https://t.co/B9h8cDEMMM

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) December 23, 2017

joemad wrote:

Adversity examples back up QB and linemen

2016 Dolphins Tannenhill Matt Moore QB combo behind 8 starting linemen
10 wins

2016 Broncos
Manning Osweiler 8 starting linemen SB

2016 Houston … Hoyer Weeden 8 different starting linemen 11 wins

2014 QBs Staton , Palmer,Lindley 9 different starting linemen 11-5

2012 49ers CK7 / Alex Smith behind 9 linemen in 2012 finished 11-5

1994 49ers Grbac replaced Young 11 starting linemen SB

I used to like Fisher but I got tired of the lack of discipline and penalties.

The tipping point for me was Hard Knocks. I was not impressed, the guy may have football knowledge, but he can’t implement … . He didn’t show me the he can communicate well in meetings or with people, he’s just not a good manager to lead a team to a high level of play.

BTW I really miss the forum to chat during games…

No, sorry, your examples are not even remotely like what the Rams went through. And I might add, this issue pre-dates Fisher. In fact one reason I am so practiced at this discussion is that I have been having it since 2007, when the Rams OL got massively wrecked (to a really historic extent) yet some fans argued that the offense declined because of Bulger.

I have had this discussion a lot and I am very exact in what I mean. I always distinguish between a relatively healthy OL, with at most 1 or 2 replacements, and an OL damaged to the point where it loses effectiveness. That means extensive simultaneous OL injuries. For example, in the first half of 2012, they had 8 linemen playing 3 positions in 8 games (those positions being LOT, LOG, & OC). Wells went out and Turner slid over from guard, Saffold went out, and then they played Watkins, Ojinakka, Smith, Hunter, and Barksdale. That is an extensively injured OL.

In total, in the 64 games from 2012-2015, they had BOTH a starting caliber qb AND a relatively healthy & veteran OL in 15 of 64 games.

In terms of your examples, you;re making the mistake of not looking at who was out simultaneously. Just listing OL who missed starts does not count. You have to have extensive SIMULTANEOUS injuries for a series of games. Not some subs along the way during the season. That only makes sense. Teams usually have a relative degree of depth, and so a relatively healthy line can miss a starter here or there. But not 2 or more simultaneously for a series of games. That’s how I have always defined this, going back to 2007, and that’s what happened in 2007, and that’s what happened in the first half of 2012.

So looking at your list to see who fits what I was saying.

Also you got your qbs wrong. Houston 2016, for example, is Osweiller has 14 starts, though he is replaced in one, with Savage listed as 2 starts though really he plays in 3. Houston missed Brown at LOT for the 1st 4 games, and Clark slides over with Newton taking over at ROT. I wouldn;t count that as Rams-level extensively injured. The only game where they have more that that in terms of replacements is game 6.

If you think any of your examples contains stretches where they have extensive simultaneous OL injuries and are starting a back-up qb (the equivalent of Clemens, Hill, and Davis) point it out and I will check to see if it meets the criteria I use when discussing Rams OL injuries.

…

With his 9th win this season (Week 16 at DAL), @Seahawks QB Russell Wilson became the first QB in NFL history to have a winning record in each of his first 6 seasons (min. 8 starts each season) @NFLhistory

— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) December 25, 2017

InvaderRam wrote:

rams could very well have the best pair of safeties in the league.

Yeah close to if not actually the best pair.

Johnson came out of nowhere for me. I figured he would be good cause Wade influenced the pick, and his draft write-ups were interesting. But I never expected a rookie 3rd rounder to be THIS good.

Man if this kind of drafting keeps up the Rams are going to be contenders for years.

…

Legatron4 wrote:

Goff has really stepped up his game after the bye week.

1st 7 games, 1-7
1719 yards 9 touchdowns 4 INTs qb rating 98.3 (with lows of 48.9 & 75.8)

8 games since the bye, 8-15
2085 yards 19 touchdowns 3 INTs qb rating 116.3 (with lows of 79.2 & 93.4)

if he were to have the same output as the later half of a season for an entire season that’s 4768 yards 43-44 touchdowns and 6-7 INTs

Alden Gonzalez
ESPN Staff Writer
Jared Goff joined Kurt Warner as the only Rams quarterbacks to pass for 300 yards and four touchdowns twice in the same season. Goff went 7-of-12 for 128 yards and 4 touchdowns against the blitz on Sunday, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Most TD passes against the blitz by any QB this season.

Todd Gurley leads Rams to win over Titans, division title

Alden Gonzalez

http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/37031/todd-gurley-leads-rams-to-win-over-titans-division-title

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Aaron Donald wore an “NFC West Champions” cap and smiled like he never has in front of a camera.

“The last time I won a championship, I was 7 years old,” Donald revealed. “It’s been a long time, and I’m just happy — happy to be a part of it with these guys.”

Backed by another MVP-caliber performance from Todd Gurley and a defense that buckled down late, Donald’s Los Angeles Rams beat the Tennessee Titans, 27-23, at Nissan Stadium on Christmas Eve and thus secured the franchise’s first division title since 2003.

Watching from a luxury suite was their former coach, Jeff Fisher, who was fired 13 games into a 2016 season that finished with a 4-12 record. Now the Rams, under 31-year-old rookie head coach Sean McVay, are 11-4, sitting as the No. 3 seed in their conference and getting ready to host the first NFL playoff game in L.A. in nearly 25 years.

“I’m still sitting here just trying to wrap my mind around it,” Alec Ogletree said, a big smile on his face. “I’m excited, happy. And just thankful and blessed to be a part of this.”

Many had a hand in it, but nobody more so than Gurley, who amassed 276 scrimmage yards and scored two touchdowns on Sunday.

The Rams fell behind by four near the midway point of the second quarter, when a Jurrell Casey sack of Jared Goff led to a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. But on the next drive, Gurley took a screen pass and went untouched for an 80-yard score. The Rams went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Titans’ 13-yard line near the midway point of the third quarter, largely because their new kicker, Sam Ficken, missed an extra point and field goal. But Gurley took what could’ve been a 5-yard loss and turned it into a 10-yard gain, putting the ball at the 3-yard line to set up an easy touchdown pass from Goff to Sammy Watkins.

The Rams trailed again, 23-20 at the start of the fourth quarter. But Goff capped a six-play, 68-yard drive with a pass to a diving Cooper Kupp in the corner of the end zone. It became the winning touchdown, thanks to a defense that held a Marcus Mariota-led Titans offense to 64 yards — and zero points — over the last 16 plays.

The drive was made possible by Gurley.

“He’s been doing that all year,” Rams outside linebacker Robert Quinn said. “When things don’t go right, it seems like he always comes out and adds a spark, or gives life back to the team.”

Gurley made 10 catches for 158 yards and needed only 21 carries to pick up 118 rushing yards against a defense that entered the game allowing the third-fewest rushing yards in the NFL. With that, he became the first player since Herschel Walker in 1986 with at least 100 rushing yards and 150 receiving yards in the same game, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Gurley, with 2,093 scrimmage yards on the season, is the third player in NFL history with 2,000 scrimmage yards, 10-plus rushing touchdowns and more than five receiving touchdowns in a single season, joining Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk and O.J. Simpson. His 19 touchdowns easily lead the NFL. And after the game, several Rams players pushed hard for Gurley to win the MVP, an award that has gone to quarterbacks after nine of the past 10 seasons.

Gurley was more excited about the division championship.

“Breathtaking” was how he described the scene in the postgame locker room. “Everybody was happy for each other and giving hugs and telling everybody that we love each other. That’s what football is all about — getting to have this feeling, winning games and a playoff spot. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

At this time last year, the Rams dropped a heartbreaker at home to the division-rival San Francisco 49ers. It was their sixth of seven consecutive losses to end their first season back in L.A. They didn’t have a head coach or a competent offense, and they had no idea whether they actually had a franchise quarterback. Goff stood behind the podium that Saturday and said, “I promise you guys it will get fixed. Everything in my heart and soul to get it all fixed.”

Three-hundred and sixty-five days later, Goff went 22-of-38 for 301 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions in a game that wrapped up the division.

He was asked how the turnaround happened so quickly.

“I guess from the outside looking in you could be surprised,” Goff said. “But being on the inside of it and being there daily, and seeing all the changes that happened, and everything that went in the right direction this offseason, coming in through OTAs and through training camp, and trending upward and feeling good about it — you never know how this whole season is going to play out, but we felt good about our year and coming into it. And now we are sitting here division champs, and it feels really good.”