Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
znModeratorMerlin wrote:
here’s a quick look at the Cards:
DEFENSE
* Their scoring defense continues to be poor, sitting at 25.3 ppg (26th).
* Passer rating against is 85.4 (13th).
* Rush defense is 3.7 ypc (6th).
* Sack percentage over the past three games has jumped from 6.29% to 8.49% (from 18th to 7th).
* Third down conversion against is 42.17% (27th). Note: last three games is 30.00% (5th).OFFENSE
* Scoring is 18.5 ppg (24th).
* Passer rating is 81.7 (23rd). Note: home passer rating 91.5 (17th), away 72.7 (26th).
* Rushing is 3.0 ppg (32nd).
* Sacked percentage is 6.32% (15th). Note: last three games it is 4.03% (9th).
* Third down conversion is 37.58% (20th).Cards actually don’t look that bad defensively in some metrics. Their third down conversion against sucks, but of late they have been much better.
Offensively the QB position is what is killing them. It’s leading to the struggles in the run game as well, as teams load it up on them. Couple areas of concern are that they’ve gotten better QB play at home, plus Gabbert over the past three games has played pretty well.
So overall the Rams should be able to win this game going away. But it’s a divisional matchup with the first game in London being one the Rams embarrassed them in, so I expect them to get everything the Cards have. Defense needs to play like they did vs Brees this past weekend, and we should be fine.
znModeratorGiants bench Eli Manning for Geno Smith, will eventually play rookie Davis Webb
Manning’s starting streak is officially overSean Wagner-McGough
http://www.ramsfansunited.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6995
The Giants’ unexpected disastrous season took another strange turn on Tuesday when the team announced that they will bench franchise legend Eli Manning for Geno Smith against the Raiders on Sunday. They also committed to playing rookie Davis Webb at some point this season.
“Geno will start this week,” Giants coach Ben McAdoo said. “Over the last five games, we will take a look at Geno, and we will also give Davis an opportunity.”
And that means Manning’s consecutive starts streak will end at 210. According to the Giants’ press release, Manning willingly accepted his demotion. He was given the chance to maintain his streak, but declined the opportunity to start. Basically, it sounds like Manning was told that he could start and continue his streak before getting pulled mid-game for Smith or Webb.
That’s why he said no thanks.
“Coach McAdoo told me I could continue to start while Geno and Davis are given an opportunity to play,” Manning said. “My feeling is that if you are going to play the other guys, play them. Starting just to keep the streak going and knowing you won’t finish the game and have a chance to win it is pointless to me, and it tarnishes the streak. Like I always have, I will be ready to play if and when I am needed. I will help Geno and Davis prepare to play as well as they possibly can.”
More to come.
znModeratorleafnose wrote:
Jared has done an outstanding job of selling the play action
what I thought was a thriller of play design late in the 3rd came in the form of Higbee lining up in a near fullback set, OL set fairly close in and sold me as being a run down
Higbee crashes down inside, and Goff turns his back to the defense and playacts right at Gurley. Sold me.
Gurley gets the ball ……ah heck…..I’ve been fooled, and so have the Saints…..and in a flash Goff reads out the defense, and ball is to Watkins for a nifty 20 yard plus gain
to me? That was such a great play. McVay, Goff…..the design. An enormous difference in blocking, and 11 guys doing their job. Wow, wow, wow.November 28, 2017 at 11:45 pm in reply to: Silver: Rams' defense roughs up Drew Brees, Saints #78051znModeratorDefensive effort versus Saints shows Rams’ balance
Drew Brees was under duress all afternoon because of Aaron Donald and the Rams defense.
Alden Gonzalez
LOS ANGELES — The New Orleans Saints arrived in Los Angeles averaging the NFL’s third-most points. They had the league’s best running-back duo in Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara, paired with a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Drew Brees, and were on pace to become the first team in 17 years to finish within the top three in both passing yards and rushing yards. The Los Angeles Rams’ defense would be tested in ways it hasn’t been all year.
Sunday’s triumph, by a 26-20 score, proved once again that the Rams are among the NFL’s best, most balanced teams.
Their offense has instantly turned into one of the league’s most dangerous under first-year head coach Sean McVay. But long-time defensive coordinator Wade Phillips has his side clicking, too. The Rams allowed Kamara to break free for a 74-yard touchdown run early, but didn’t give up much else outside of that. Take away that one run, and the Rams allowed one touchdown, 272 yards from scrimmage and 3.1 yards per carry.
The Saints, led by an offensive mastermind in Sean Payton, entered Sunday’s game with 57 20-plus-yard plays, at least 10 more than any other team.
McVay referenced that in the postgame news conference.
“Our defense as a whole played really well,” he said. “I can’t say enough about the respect that I have for the New Orleans offense, led by Drew, what Coach Payton does. I studied them hard for the last handful of years. They’ve been one of the standards, so, really great job by our defense, and hats off to Wade and his staff.”
The Rams blitzed 40 percent of the time from Weeks 1 to 11, but only 11 percent of the time against the Saints on Sunday, according to data compiled by Pro Football Focus.
Still, they pressured the quarterback on 25 percent of passing snaps.
Brees absorbed a season-high three sacks, two of which came back-to-back by Aaron Donald and Robert Quinn on the Saints’ opening drive. Donald added two tackles for loss, Samson Ebukam picked up the third sack, and inside linebackers Alec Ogletree and Mark Barron — two of the game’s most athletic at their positions — consistently made plays on the ball.
“Flying around and swarming to the ball,” Donald, with a team-leading six sacks, said of how the defense held its own. “We started off a little sloppy, missing a lot of tackles, but we fixed things.”
The Rams also missed a handful of opportunities for easy interceptions. But their secondary made plays, too. Cornerback Kayvon Webster and safety Lamarcus Joyner, who spent a lot of Sunday’s game in the slot, combined to allow only four catches on 10 targets and broke up three passes, according to Pro Football Focus. Quinn and Ogletree combined for nine defensive stops, and the Saints were held to just 3-for-13 on third downs.
The Rams’ defense now ranks within the top 10 in forced turnovers (tied for fifth with 19), sacks per attempt (tied for sixth at 8.4 percent) and average points allowed (seventh at 18.73).
“We found a way to get it done, and that’s all you can ask for,” Ogletree said. “We definitely missed a lot of opportunities to create turnovers, but after all, we did enough to get the job done.”
znModeratorhttp://subscribers.footballguys.com/apps/article.php?article=waldmantop10wk13
Matt Waldman
IS JARED GOFF A PUPPET DOOMED FOR A LETDOWN?
My friend Josh Norris noted today that Rams head coach Sean McVay is taking full advantage of the ability to be in Jared Goff’s ear at the line of scrimmage. The Rams often line up with 25 seconds on the play clock. It gives McVay and Goff a chance to see the defense and McVay to feed an audible to Goff before the helmet transmission shuts down.Norris didn’t criticize or even minimize Goff’s performance in light of this information, but he rightly stated that McVay’s usage of the time and technology was notable and although common in the college game, it’s currently rare to other NFL teams. The resulting commentary on Norris’ Twitter thread was filled with commentary from fans and some of them broached Chip Kelly and Nick Foles during Foles’ lone strong year.
Naturally, there were suggestions that Goff is a fluke who needs McVay to be a good quarterback in this league and, if the NFL changes the transmission rule, Goff will be lost an unable to handle the complexities of the Rams system. This is a complete overreaction and simplification of Goff and McVay.
First, there is no point of comparison between Goff and Foles when it comes to execution. Foles always had issues handling pressure in the pocket and making erratic decisions in the middle of the field when pressure arrived. Goff has never displayed this problem. In fact, he’s consistently shown poise, toughness, and smarts with throwing the ball away or taking a calculated risk that at least makes sense in theory.
Quarterbacking is a physical, technical, conceptual, and intuitive craft of execution and leadership. The best quarterbacks prospects have the skill to tie together what they do best with each of these components. After watching a season of tape to prepare for the Saints’ game, Tony Romo had a lot of praise for Goff this weekend. Much of it was focused on the way Goff tied together technique, field awareness, aggression, and poise.
The points Romo makes about Goff’s pocket presence and footwork in the clip below aren’t dramatic changes to what Goff displayed at Cal. Rookies often display some uncharacteristic behavior when uncomfortable. Goff displayed more poise and pocket presence than credited last year. When he had lapsed, his feet weren’t as quiet as what Romo discusses below.
I’ve often discussed Goff’s ability to avoid pressure with efficient movement and linked it to the pocket presence we’ve seen from top pros. Romo breaks this down well, and again, it’s not something Foles ever displayed in Philadelphia.
McVay, Matt LaFleur, and Greg Olsen have given Goff a sound framework to continue mastering the West Coast Offense and a stable and knowledgeable crew to maximizes Goff’s strengths as a technician and on-field strategist. They didn’t turn a proverbial bedwetter into a poised and steely-eyed field general. Goff was never the former.
If anything, McVay’s presence in Goff’s helmet will serve as a useful transition for Goff to eventually make sound audibles of his own choosing. The West Coast Offense is a difficult system and Goff had to learn it from scratch as a rookie and then McVay’s play calls in Year Two. The Cal offense may not be as intellectually demanding with play calls and route variations, but it doesn’t make Goff dumb.
However, we’ve heard these concerns before during the history of football. Otto Graham was a robot who didn’t think because Paul Brown shuttled Don Shula and Chuck Noll from the sideline to the huddle with play calls. Joe Montana had scripted plays early in the game. The quarterbacks of the 1990s weren’t calling the plays like the majority of great passes of previous decades.
It’s far too simplistic to say that Goff is being fed answers to the test or a robot with his coach holding the controls. McVay’s role is close to that of a good corner man shouting out salient advice during a prize fight. Goff still must understand the defenses and make the connection between the current defensive look and McVay’s audible. Most important, Goff’s integration of his physical, technical, strategic, and intuitive talents cannot be controlled by a coach on the sideline as the play unfolds.
This is where Goff is shining the brightest.
znModeratorBumRap wrote:
That was some of the best commentating and insight I have ever listened to from a former player. I thought Olsen did a great job but Romo brought passion and a love for the game with insight regarding all facets of the game as well as clock management etc.
He made the win that much more pleasureable.
BTW I know some think Keyshawn knows so much but Romo keyed in on Goff and appears to be very impressed as he gets it regarding 1st full season and new system an all the nuances Jared is mastering.
==
MachS wrote:I’m not sure how many of you paid attention to it, but Tony was giving our boy some mad props today. He said Jared has the traits of a great QB and in Tony’s opinion has a very high ceiling.
It’s one thing for some ESPN analyst who played DB in college to give praise, but an ex pro bowl QB I feel holds much more weight
He was showing how Jared keeps his weight on his back foot which allows him to deliver balls under duress very quickly and without a lot of wasted movement. Also showcased a little swing pass to Tavon with a free runner coming right at his face.
We all know he’s going to be a great QB but I thought it was cool hearing another great QB highlight some things that make him a beast.
znModeratorNovember 27, 2017 at 11:28 pm in reply to: Waldman, Benoit, Baldinger … on Rams, Goff, the Saints game #78032znModeratorNovember 27, 2017 at 11:28 pm in reply to: Waldman, Benoit, Baldinger … on Rams, Goff, the Saints game #78031znModeratorznModeratorNantz: Why didn’t they think he could play? Romo: People look at the stats
A post shared by Matt Waldman (@mattwaldmanrsp) on
===
Nantz: Why didn’t they think he could play?
Romo: People look at the statsmike_valverde
Can’t take away what both Matt LaFleur and Greg Olsen have done to help.mattwaldmanrsp
At the same time, don’t overstate it as an overshadowing factor of what Goff always had. There’s a balance to be found between the two points.…
November 27, 2017 at 11:26 pm in reply to: Waldman, Benoit, Baldinger … on Rams, Goff, the Saints game #78029znModeratorznModeratoralyoshamucci wrote:
Man, what a sweet game (minus the nail biting at the end).
Had My Mom here watching and my brother (Sun Tzu) on the phone … so we had a blast. I really think it’s a blessing in disguise that Woods was out. Got Reynolds some meaningful reps and and got Kupp on track.
The Great
1) Goff. I was right to draft him in fantasy ball … I watched him in college and he had the best footwork I had ever seen … I felt vindicated when Romo highlighted his feet.
2) Kupp comeback.
3) Quinn getting around the corner to keep his streak of terrorizing Brees going.
4) Sammy on the hands team. Great move to have the vice grips on the field.
5) Gurley’s ferocity.
The Good
6) Just good enough pass protection. Just … good … enough.
7) Sammy on the first play of the game, that’s what I wanted.
8) JOSH!!!! Way to go buddy! And he does his thing, double catches and almost drops a crosser and corrals a tough pass in the end zone.
9) Brockers had another really good game.
10) Higbee’s run after the catch …
11) Greg the freaking Leg.
12) Aggressive playcall on the back shoulder to Sammy at the end of the game.
The Bad
13) 2 dropped INTs … really?
14) Barron took some bad angles.
15) Our OTs didn’t just get beat by Jordan (Who is great, no shade) … they got torched.
16) Ohhhh the INT … Sammy … c’mon man.
17) Where is Everett? Can we have some news on him? He having playbook issues?
The Ugly
18) How did they go down the field AND get out of bounds 3 times that fast?
19) HOW MANY MISSED TACKLES ON KAMARA? There was 6 on one run.
znModeratorCraigMatson wrote:
Game observations v Saints
Attended game yesterday and wanted to post a few quick notes .
Todd Gurley was running with intensity . Seeing #30 cutting back and accelerating out there doing his best when the Rams where backed up deep in thier own territory or near the opposition’s end zone.
It was a noticible effort and his talent is ascendant ,,kinda reminded me of McCutcheon at his best.
Shout out to Robert Quinn .I’m daring to give him credit for his flash plays yesterday.
Was surprised to see Quinn dancing in Defencive Huddle’s on breaks ? . That ..compared to rumors of his constant pain. He showed speed to the QB around the corner on more than one occasion ,,,and he didn’t go down at the average punch of a OT ..Rather he attacked the pocket and made an impact on the game .Without stat watching it was hard to know Goff had that great a game ,,,very good game yes though . Passes that stood out to me in accending order ,,,
In route to Watkins ,, the timing on that was a thing of beauty.
Pass to Watkins down to right sideline and the juggling catch for 31 yards ..Sammy that catch with defenders close showed why he should be resigned just as much as any other. Good accurate throw by Goff and impressive effort on Watkins part in a show of strength in securing that catch.19 yd roll out sideline tippy toes precise throw to Kupp . That was a perfect strike on the run and perfect show of work between Kupp and Goff as well as Kupps ability to shake loose in zones . Wouldn’t be a thing without the bullseye throw though.
The flair to Gurley . Sometimes the smart quick throw to your RB in space out of the backfield is straight money . With Gurley s ability to turn the Jets and put a ankle breaking move on you never know when a 7 yard pass could go 20 ,and when the timing and form is so perfect you gotta like that.
The throw to Higbee downfield .Lol .. Goff found him so wide open and Higbee made a couple effort moves for more yards after .. gotta give to both of them .
Last (extra ) the simple short out to Reynolds at the marker . Pass on point great quick catch under duress by Reynolds showed toughness .Kid will make the dirty clutch catch .He’s not just the the deep ball threat and Goff made the great throw that play.
Webster s tackle on Thomas was huge . That may have been the game if the Saints score six .
Wow what a difference.Mind you Thomas was probably as motivated as any Saint coming back home to his prep area (Taft High alum ala Fisher ). Somebody had to cover that man before he had a career day.
Over all the experience was great . Second game this year and walking amongst the crowd Coming into gates immediately I felt the intensity between the fan base… And the playoff vibe . I knew it was a hugely meaningful game.
Overall I felt like we controlled the game dominated time of possession and had a semi comfortable two score lead although that got a bit nervous at the end .
Whitworth was a bit challenged by Jordan this game and so be it the ex Cal Bear is recognised top NFL player
Glad I made the made the game.
Keep going Rams
Winning season is a lock now !!!.
HoorahznModeratori have this on the Rams / Saints media thread
Thanks for moving it here. I will delete the one on the other thread.
znModeratorI keep replaying somethin the great marshall faulk said on tv a few weeks ago — He said “I hated playing Wade Philips teams.”
That carried a lot of weight with me.
w
vBefore 2017, counting only his years where he starts out as a team’s DC (which includes years he became an interim head coach), WP has coordinated 25 defenses in his career. Of those 25, 13 were top 10. 8 were top 5. He’s a hall of fame DC.
This Rams defense does not have the personnel yet…it has a few holes (CB depth, OLB, NT). But he works around it. Statistically, just on paper, for the season it is mediocre…but in reality it is up and down and capable of some tremendous games.
November 27, 2017 at 2:08 pm in reply to: articles, vids, n tweets n more media stuff on the SAINTS game #78010znModeratorfrom The Race Is On to Catch the Patriots
Ranking the teams with the best chance to dethrone New England in the postseason, including the Eagles, Steelers, Vikings, Rams, Saints and morePeter King
4. Los Angeles Rams (8-3). Speaking of pressure teams, this is one that could really give the Patriots issues. Aaron Donald is an equal-opportunity destroyer. I watched most of the Rams-Saints game Sunday, and this Jared Goff gets better every week—seriously. You’ve heard of “throwing receivers open?” It’s a quarterback throwing to an open area, leading a receiver more than he normally would. It’s a sign the quarterback is mastering the offense and has the confidence to make a throw a little out of the box.
Goff did that on his second-quarter TD throw to rookie Josh Reynolds, motioning for him to go further across the edge of the end zone—which Reynolds did—and Goff lasered a strike to him. The Rams buried a bad loss at Minnesota last week pretty quickly, which you’ve got to do when games matter so much now.
“We weren’t going to let Minnesota beat us twice,” defensive leader Alec Ogletree told me from Los Angeles on Sunday night. Huh? “They beat us last week, and we weren’t going to let it hang with us—it was over. Gotta move on.” They did. The Rams put up 415 yards on a good defense, and knocked Drew Brees around most of the day.
znModeratorI doubt this team looks ahead.
The REAL issue IMO is that Arizona is no slouch. That even being focused on one game at a time without looking ahead, the Rams will be facing a tough divisional opponent on their own turf, a team that just beat Jacksonville by hanging in there tough, and which is also looking for payback for the London game.
If you look at just their last 3 games, ARZ is ranked 5th on defense.
On paper, you would think this would be a win, but look closer, and the ink on that paper is fading a bit.
…
znModeratorsaints_alive wrote:
Congrats. That was a frustrating game to watch for the Saints. I knew our d was going to struggle without our starting corners but I thought our offense would play better. 3 of 13 on 3rd down, tons of penalties…it was ugly, outside of Kamara and Cam Jordan (who might own the title of Best Player Ever On a Terrible Defense, for whatever that’s worth. No idea why Payton went away from Kamara until the very end. Dumb.
Rams d won the battle against our O line, which hasnt happened much this year. Drew looked bad – even in his ‘lesser’ games this year he wasnt forcing the ball into coverage or missing wide open guys.
Rams were just better in all 3 phases. I hope we pull it together – our next stretch is critical – Panthers and Atlanta (x 2) in the next 4 weeks
znModeratorI posted this already but it had an error in it so I deleted the first version and corrected the error and in the process expanded it a bit.
It’s true Goff had a very good game. It’s true Brees wasn’t as good as normal. A lot of that though was pressure–though that’s not really it. It’s not pressure, it;’s the qb’s REACTION to pressure. Goff was pressured more than usual yesterday, and never lost his composure. For the season, the Rams offense has been 8th in sack percentage with 4.9%…yesterday, they allowed 9%. Yet the passes kept coming out the same.
In contrast the Rams have long since shown that they can rattle Brees with pressure. Brees was more erratic than his norm yesterday, and that’s not new when playing the Rams. Counting today and going back to 2011, the Rams have beaten the Saints 3 out of the last 4 times they played.
Brees was sacked 3 times yesterday, which is the most he has been sacked in a game all year. That’s a 9.375 sack percentage when up to this game, the Saints offense was 1st in sack percentage, with 2.8%. And of course that doesn’t count hurries, hits, ie total pressures.
That has happened a couple of times previously.
The Rams pass rush gets to Brees and throws him off. The Rams beat the Saints in 2011 with AJ Feeley at qb, and they sacked Brees 6 times in the process. That was the most he was sacked in 2011 (the 2nd most was 3). They beat them again in 2013 with Clemens at qb. They sacked Brees 4 times in that game, the 2nd most times he was sacked in 2013.
They lost to the Saints in 2016 and only sacked him twice.
November 27, 2017 at 1:41 am in reply to: articles, vids, n tweets n more media stuff on the SAINTS game #77988znModeratorRams show resolve in win over Saints, one week after flinching against Vikings
VINCENT BONSIGNORE
There was a subtlety to Rams urgency this week. It was obvious without being overbearing. Present but not noisy.
They needed a win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday in the worst way after losing last week to the Vikings, a prominent NFC power and a potential future playoff opponent. To restore any lost confidence upon losing to a quality opponent, stay one step ahead of their division foe Seattle Seahawks and maintain pace with the rest of the NFC’s playoff contenders.
And whether they wanted to openly admit it or not, to confirm to themselves and everyone else they’re capabl of not just going toe-to-toe with another playoff caliber team, but beating them.
“To show that we are something to be reckoned with,” is how Rams defensive end Robert Quinn put it.
Sure, the Rams had won seven of their first 10 games, many in convincing fashion behind the second-highest scoring offense in the NFL. But who had they played? Who had they really beaten?
Just as important, look who they lost to: The Vikings, Seahawks and Redskins. To date, the best three teams on their schedule.
It’s complex stuff, confidence and faith and conviction in one’s self. And no matter how much you try to fake it till you make it, eventually a moment of reckoning arrives and your choices are clear.
You either respond or you don’t.
These Rams respond, as we learned on Sunday in their 26-20 win over the red-hot Saints. The victory is another step in what’s shaping up as one of the more remarkable season-to-season turnarounds in recent memory.
The win moves them to 8-3, a game ahead of the Seahawks with five to play. In the span of seven days, they reclaimed whatever momentum they lost last week in Minnesota, and re-established themselves as one of the best teams in the NFC.
The Rams flinched a bit against the Vikings. That much is certain. But it’s going to take more than one punch to hurt them so much it creates a carry over effect.
“This team is battle tested,” declared defensive tackle Michael Brockers. “I think we showed that today.”
They’ve shown it all year, which is why the periodic loss hasn’t yet snowballed into a losing streak and mistakes don’t linger and issues don’t go unaddressed.
“We refuse to let a team beat us twice,” said Brockers.
Point being, the Vikings got them once. And hats off to them for that. But the Rams were darn sure not going to let that loss be their demise against the Saints.
Use it as motivation? Yes.
“The standard is so different and high around here, even when things are going well we keep challenging ourselves to do better,” said Quinn.
Adjust off it?
Absolutely.
“To fix what we didn’t execute last game,” Brockers said.
But let it linger and do anymore damage, as so many Rams teams have done in the past?
Absolutely not.
“We’ve changed a bunch of stuff, but I think ultimately what we have now is a lot of confidence,” quarterback Jared Goff said.
A week after Case Keenum torched them by sidestepping or escaping pressure with his legs to make one frustrating big play after another downfield, they shook up future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees by getting in his face and getting him to the ground.
And when Brees did complete a pass, they minimized the damage with sure, disciplined tackling.
Meanwhile, aside from a 74-yard touchdown run by Alvin Kamara, they bottled up a powerful Saints running game by allowing just 49 yards on 16 carries.
They did it with a three-pronged effort that included the pass rush pressure of Aaron Donald and his defensive line mates, tight coverage in the back end and sound tackling.
In other words, much of what they failed to do against the Vikings.
“Less mistakes,” Donald said. “Play better.”
And not just against anyone, mind you.
The Saints came in averaging a league-leading 415 yards per game. They were in the top three in scoring per game, stood atop the NFC South and were riding an eight-game winning streak.
And all due respect to Keenum, but he isn’t Brees, one of the best to ever play quarterback in the NFL and still going strong at 38.
By the end of a rough Sunday, Brees had just 223 yards, was sacked three times and the Saints had converted just 3 of 14 third down attempts.
Yes, they scored 20 points, but seven of them came with 42 seconds remaining and the Rams in prevent mode.
“Brees is a Hall of Famer, no doubt,” Quinn said. “If you let him get going early, you know they type of chaos he can cause for a defense.”
The Rams never let that happen.
“Flying around and swarming to the ball,” is how Donald explained it. “We fixed things and did what we needed to do.”
The defensive response allowed Jared Goff and the offense to gradually pull away.
Goff finished with 354 yards and two touchdowns. It’s his second highest passing total of his young career. Rookie wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who has a regrettable day against the Vikings with a critical fumble and a key dropped pass, responded with a career high eight catches for 118 yards.
By the middle of the fourth quarter, the Rams were in firm control.
Faith resorted.
“Everybody trusts the process that we’ve been doing all year,” said Alec Ogletree. “And everyone is continuing to work and believe that we can win games.”
November 27, 2017 at 12:44 am in reply to: articles, vids, n tweets n more media stuff on the SAINTS game #77986znModeratorRams and Jared Goff hold off Saints to become true playoff contenders
RICH HAMMOND
LOS ANGELES — This would be the week when the Rams fold. They’d been playing over the heads, they got humbled last week by a legitimate winning team and, finally, they’d be exposed on their own turf.
A year ago, it would have happened. At any point in the last decade, the Rams probably would have rolled over. Same old Rams. Can’t get over the hump. Untapped potential. Now it’s fair to bundle all of that, dig a hole at the 50-yard line and bury it forever. The Rams proved Sunday that they are winners.
Faced with arguably the stiffest test of their season, the Rams not only were clinical in their 26-20 victory over the New Orleans Saints, but they left room for improvement in the regular season’s final month.
RELATED ARTICLES
Whicker: Saints sound a familiar lament after running into Rams
Rams show resolve in win over Saints, one week after flinching against Vikings
Cooper Kupp, Sammy Watkins give Rams much-needed boost in victory
After strong game, Rams’ Kayvon Webster keeps reminder of one mistake
The Rams (8-3) have guaranteed at least their first .500 season since 2006 and are one victory away from their first winning season since 2003. In September, a winning record in 2017 seemed inconceivable. Now, it will feel like a disappointment if the Rams don’t win the NFC West title.Imagine how that must feel for a player such as offensive lineman Rodger Saffold, who has been with the Rams since the start of this decade and is still waiting to experience his first playoff game.
“It’s definitely better walking into the building on Monday,” Saffold said. “Usually it was tough. Some years, it was going back and forth between winning and losing, and it was constantly losing in other years. Having this type of success, and having it consistently happen, is big for us.”
The thing is, this doesn’t feel magical. The fact that the Rams took down a division-leading team, one that had won eight consecutive games and featured one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL, that doesn’t even feel strange anymore. It seems normal, and that’s all about Coach Sean McVay’s culture change.
The Rams could have been fragile at the start of this week. Not only were they embarrassed last week in Minnesota, but they lost their top receiver, Robert Woods, to a shoulder injury.
McVay, a 31-year-old rookie coach, kept his hands firmly on the wheel. He assumed full responsibility for the Rams’ struggles against the Vikings and pledged to be better, and the mood in the Rams’ locker room seemed positive all week. Imagine how it will be this week, now that the Rams have claimed a late-November victory over one of the top teams in the NFC.
Still, several of the Rams’ veterans, including linebacker Robert Quinn, who has been with the team since 2011, shrugged when asked to wax poetic about the Rams’ most significant victory in years.
“I just think it was a game we needed to win,” Quinn said. “Every week is crucial. We played a great team today, on an eight-game winning streak, and it was a big challenge for our team to show that we are something to be reckoned with. We have a lot to prove still, but it’s great to have this one under our belts.”
It’s notable that, when asked about the game, Saffold pointed first to the negatives, to the things the Rams can clean up, to their desire not only to beat teams, but to be “showing our best.”
Surely, Saffold has a point. The Rams were far from perfect Sunday, and neither was McVay, whose play-calling went too far away from star running back Todd Gurley at times. McVay seemed to be trying a bit too hard at times, but in general, he came up with a great game plan for quarterback Jared Goff.
McVay has implicit trust in Goff, who had another stellar game and completed 28 of 43 attempts for 354 yards and one touchdown. Goff vastly outplayed Saints quarterback Drew Brees, a future Hall of Famer who completed 22 of 32 attempts for 246 yards and one touchdown.
Even without Woods, Goff spread the ball around well. Six different Rams had at least three catches. Cooper Kupp had eight catches for 116 yards and Sammy Watkins had four catches for 82 yards.
The Rams never lost control of the game. They scored a touchdown on the game’s first possession, led 17-10 at halftime and held a double-digit lead for most of the second half. The Saints pulled within 26-20 late in the fourth quarter, but Watkins recovered an onside kick to clinch the victory.
And while the Rams’ offense was inconsistent at times, the defense was stellar. Saints running back Alvin Kamara had a 74-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, but the Saints totaled only 272 yards and 13 points for the rest of the game. Kamara finished with 87 yards and running back Mark Ingram, headed to a 1,000-yard season, had only 31 yards on 11 carries.
“Everybody trusts the process that we’ve been doing all year,” linebacker Alec Ogletree said, “and everybody is continuing to work and believing that we can win games.”
That belief comes from veteran players, but it also starts with McVay, who heaps criticism on himself after Rams losses but, after wins, punts the praise to his players.
The rest of the season won’t be easy for the Rams, who have to play Arizona on the road next week, then have tough games against Philadelphia, Seattle and Tennessee. Any thought that the Rams might be complacent, now that they’ve finally reached eight wins, seems like folly.
“I think the guys set the standards themselves,” McVay said. “They have high expectations, week in and week out. When you put in the amount of work we do, you want to come away with a win. We have a lot of confident players in that locker room.
“When you look at some of the veteran leaders we have, either guys who have been here or guys who have come from other places, that’s the expectation they’ve started to set, and they have a lot of confidence but they also appreciate and value the fact that, you did a good job today, but if we don’t get ourselves ready, we can get humbled really quickly the following week.”
znModeratorznModeratorznModeratorOn this date in 1989… Flipper makes @NFLHistory!
336 receiving yards in ONE game! #NOvsLA pic.twitter.com/jGza56Z0kI
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) November 26, 2017
znModeratorGoff ➡️ Watkins for 6️⃣!#NOvsLA pic.twitter.com/Q1g2jDv08l
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) November 26, 2017
znModeratorGet you one, @J_Rey_11!
First @NFL touchdown for 8️⃣3️⃣! #NOvsLA pic.twitter.com/oyQJd57Jhl
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) November 26, 2017
znModerator.@sammywatkins out here juggling! 🤹♂️ #NOvsLA pic.twitter.com/khPloX5G3z
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) November 26, 2017
znModeratorWHAT. A. TACKLE.
👏 @kayvonwebster #NOvsLA pic.twitter.com/LvHeNXI5JG
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) November 27, 2017
znModerator"It's all about family." #LARams pic.twitter.com/MXt58OjXgD
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) November 27, 2017
November 26, 2017 at 10:16 pm in reply to: articles, vids, n tweets n more media stuff on the SAINTS game #77971znModeratorfrom Rams vs. Saints Postgame Notes (11/26/17)
– Goff’s 354 yards is the second-highest single game output of his career and the fourth time that he has posted 300-plus yards.
– RB Todd Gurley rushed 17 times for 74 yards and had four receptions for 54 yards. Gurley totaled 21 touches for 128 yards from scrimmage.
– Gurley had one reception for a 31-yard gain. Entering Week 12, Gurley led all running backs in the NFL with six 25-plus yard receptions. He now has seven 25-plus yard receptions on the season which leads the NFL at his position. He is followed by Washington RB Chris Thompson with five and Cleveland RB Duke Johnson with four.
– The last Rams RB to post seven 25-plus yard receptions in a single season was Marshall Faulk in 1999.
– WR Sammy Watkins notched a 5-yard touchdown reception from Goff. Marked his fifth touchdown as a Ram.
– WR Cooper Kupp had a career day with eight receptions for 116 yards, a 14.5-yard average and a 53-yard long. Marked ths first 100-plus yard game of Kupp’s career.
– WR Josh Reynolds made his first NFL start and registered his first touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Goff.
– DT Aaron Donald sacked Saints QB Drew Brees for a loss of six yards. Donald now has 6.0 sacks this season.
– OLB Robert Quinn sacked Brees on the following play and caused him to fumble. Quinn has 3.5 sacks this season and 57.5 career sacks. The last time the Rams had sacks on back-to-back plays was on 10/26/14 against the Chiefs. Robert Quinn sacked Alex Smith on back-to-back plays for losses of one and seven yards.
– The last time that Brees was sacked on back-to-back plays was on 11/24/14 vs. Baltimore. Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil both sacked Brees for six yard losses on back-to-back plays. The Ravens won that game 34-27. That game was also in Week 12 of that respective season.
– Quinn recorded his fifth career sack against New Orleans. That is the most sacks Quinn has against a team outside of the NFC West.
o Seattle: 12.0 sacks
o Arizona: 9.5 sacks
o San Francisco: 5.5 sacks
o New Orleans: 5.0 sacks
– According to press box statistics, LB Alec Ogletree led the team in tackles with seven (five solo).
– The Rams defense was the first team to hold Saints RB Mark Ingram under 50 yards since the Vikings held him to 17 yards in Week 1.
– KR Pharoh Cooper registered two long kickoff return of 40 yards. Marked his fourth 40-plus yard kickoff return this season. The Rams have scored on all three-of-four possessions following a 40-plus yard return from Cooper this season:
o 66 yard kickoff return at DAL ended with a field goal
o 103 yard kickoff return at JAC was for a touchdown
o 40 yard kickoff return vs. NO was ended with a touchdown
– Zuerlein (129) passed former RB Marshall Faulk (128 in 2001) for fifth on the all-time single season point total list. He needs two points to pass David Ray (130 in 1973) for fourth and he needs three points to pass Jeff Wilkins (131 in 2006) for third most.
– P Johnny Hekker punted three times for 138 yards, a 46.0-yard average and 46.0-yard net average. This was the third game of the season that Hekker pinned all of his attempts inside the 20. -
AuthorPosts
