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Rams are in for a playoff-like test with Vikings as some of the NFC’s best face off

Gary Klein

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-vikings-20171118-story.html

Minutes after last week’s victory over the Houston Texans — his team’s fourth consecutive win — Rams coach Sean McVay neared the end of his postgame speech in the Coliseum locker room.

McVay was already looking ahead, telling players who had forged a 7-2 record that they had a “great NFC matchup” coming up in Minnesota against a Vikings team with the same record.

“Great opportunity to see if we can be our best, when our best is required against a great team,” McVay said.

On Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, the Rams get another chance to prove that they are playoff worthy, and that they should remain in the conversation for a possible return trip here for the Super Bowl.

The challenge is expected to be their toughest test to date.

The Rams are 5-0 away from Coliseum, including victories over the Dallas Cowboys and the Jacksonville Jaguars, both regarded as possible playoff teams.

But the Rams have not been particularly extended lately.

Their last three wins came against the Arizona Cardinals, the New York Giants and the Texans, injury-depleted teams that have a combined 8-19 record.

Now they face a Vikings team that has won five consecutive games and is in first place in the NFC North.

Rams’ John Sullivan will return to his NFL roots in Minnesota on Sunday, but doesn’t have nostalgia on his mind
Rams receiver Robert Woods described it as an even matchup.

“This is about want-to and determination,” Woods said. “Who wants it more?”

The game features quarterbacks Jared Goff and Case Keenum, Rams teammates in 2016.

Goff, the first pick in the 2016 draft, started against the Vikings here in the final preseason game of his rookie season. Keenum and nearly all of the frontline players took the night off.

Goff completed six of 16 passes, including a touchdown, but he had a pass intercepted and lost a fumble. He then stood on the sidelines for nine regular-season games until former coach Jeff Fisher finally turned to the future and replaced Keenum with Goff.

Fourteen months later, Goff returns to Minneapolis as the leader of the NFL’s highest-scoring offense.

Goff faces a defense that ranks fifth in the NFL.

“No weaknesses, really, at every spot,” Goff said.

Former USC lineman Everson Griffen has a team-best 10 sacks for the Vikings.

In assessing the challenge at hand, Rams running back Todd Gurley named every member of the secondary and several linebackers.

“Definitely going to be a handful,” he said.

The Rams’ defense is equally as stout.

After struggling at times early in the season, it has played well since the second half of a Week 4 victory at Dallas.

Lineman Aaron Donald and others will try to rattle Keenum, who is thriving since taking over for injured Sam Bradford.

Keenum passed for four touchdowns, with two interceptions, in last week’s victory over the Washington Redskins.

“I’m the same guy I’ve always been,” Keenum said, “but I feel like I’ve gotten better.”

Keenum, however, faces a Rams defense that knows his strengths, weaknesses and tendencies.

“It’s going to be fun,” cornerback Trumaine Johnson said. “He’s a gunslinger, he really is.”

Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips also is familiar with Keenum. Phillips was on the Texans staff — and eventually served as interim coach — when Keenum made eight winless starts for the team in 2013.

But Keenum is on a hot streak now.

Despite Teddy Bridgewater’s recent return from a knee injury that sidelined him for the 2016 season, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer is sticking with Keenum.

A capacity crowd of more than 66,000 is expected to fill one of the NFL’s loudest stadiums for the showdown between division leaders.

The Rams prepped for the noise this week by turning up the music at practice.

“I don’t think you can ever truly mimic exactly what that’s going to be like,” McVay said, adding, “It’s going to be a very challenging environment, especially for us offensively.”

No problem, offensive lineman Jamon Brown said.

“We’ve played in loud places before,” he said. “The goal is to take the crowd out of it early.”

Rams Power Rankings: Week 11

Kristen Lago

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Rams-Power-Rankings-Week-11/1cd1a38d-5240-4e67-8a1a-8dc1357e04c3

The Rams will be on the road this week travelling to Minnesota to take on the Vikings in an NFC North vs. NFC West matchup. After a commanding 33-7 win over the Texans at the Coliseum, L.A. will be looking for its fifth consecutive win on Sunday.

Every week, TheRams.com will be taking an aggregate look at where the team ranks in different outlets across the sports media landscape. Here are the power rankings for the Rams heading into Week 11:

NFL.com, Elliot Harrison Rank: 2

Last Week: 2

Change: –

“Somebody tell the Rams they can lose now. Nobody seems to like that they’re batting in the two-hole in these rankings. But they’re the perfect Mark McLemore. Sorry, dated baseball reference to a player who was a nice No. 2 hitter for a while. Ah, but so many Rams are sacrificing for their teammates, starting with the members of the offensive line. Oft-maligned in 2016, the group has been far improved in 2017. Andrew Whitworth was a brilliant free-agent signing (steal). The unit as a whole helped L.A. gain 6.7 yards per play against Houston on Sunday. That’s quite a robust figure. Even if the Rams did allow a few tackles for losses, most of those came on the final drive, with L.A. running out the clock into 99-man fronts. Thought it was time to spread the credit around.”

ESPN.com Rank: 7

Last Week: 7

Change: –

“Projected wins: 11.0. The Rams have scored at least 30 points in six games this season, the most in the NFL. The improvement on offense is the biggest reason they’re now projected to win five more games than predicted in the preseason.”

Yahoo! Shutdown Corner Rank: 4

Last Week: 5

Change: 1

“The Rams’ offense is getting a lot of attention, and for obvious reasons. But did you know the Rams defense hasn’t given up more than 17 points since Oct. 1? Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was always a good bet to have a good first season with the Rams, it just took a little longer than expected.”

The Washington Post Rank: 4

Last Week: 4

Change: –

“The Rams have games left against the Vikings, Saints, Eagles and Seahawks. It should be pretty clear by the end of the regular season exactly how they measure up against the NFC’s other top contenders.”

USA Today Rank: 4

Last Week: 4

Change: –

“Raise your hand if you thought Robert Woods would be the most impactful former Buffalo receiver GM Les Snead acquired before this season.”

Bleacher Report Rank: 6

Last Week: 5

Change: – 1

“Sean McVay is the hottest play-caller in the NFL. Because of him, the Rams have to be in the discussion for having the most surgical offense in the sport—along with New England.”

“The L.A. defense can create chaos up front, and it can create turnovers. This fits right in with what the Rams want to do as a team. Do you want to get into a track meet with the Rams and try matching them point for point? I don’t think anyone does. We’ll see just how good this Rams team is in the coming weeks. They’ll play the Saints, Eagles and Vikings within the next month.”

CBS Sports, Pete Prisco Rank: 4

Last Week: 4

Change: –

“They continue to roll up big numbers on offense. That unit faces a major test at Minnesota this week.”

Sports Illustrated Rank: 5

Last Week: 6

Change: 1

Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio Rank: 4

Last Week: 4

Change: –

THIS WEEK’S OPPONENT’S RANKS — THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS

NFL.com — 6

ESPN.com — 6

Yahoo! Shutdown Corner — 8

Pro Football Talk — 5

The Washington Post — 6

USA Today — 8

CBS Sports — 6

Bleacher Report — 5

Sports Illustrated — 6

aeneas1 of RFU gathered these:

Hobbled during the week, Rams return to almost full health before Vikings showdown

RICH HAMMOND

link: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/17/hobbled-during-the-week-rams-return-to-almost-full-health-before-vikings-showdown/

THOUSAND OAKS — Whatever magical injury elixir the Rams have cooked up at their Cal Lutheran headquarters, it seems to have worked for another week.

Shockingly healthy all season, the Rams had several important players sidelined during early-week practices, but almost all returned to full participation Friday morning and are expected to play Sunday at Minnesota in a matchup of two surprising division-leading teams with 7-2 records.

Four starters — linebackers Mark Barron and Connor Barwin, center John Sullivan and safety Lamarcus Joyner — missed practice Wednesday and Thursday but returned for the week’s final session and are expected to play, as are tackle Andrew Whitworth and linebacker Matt Longacre, who were limited Thursday.

Guard Rodger Saffold, who sprained his ankle last week, and linebacker Robert Quinn, who missed last week’s game due to illness, also are expected to play.

Rams’ high-scoring offense is getting a boost from turnover-producing defense
Rams tackle Andrew Whitworth, the NFL’s oldest starting lineman, continues to defy odds
Vikings’ Case Keenum ready to face Rams and the quarterback who took his job, Jared Goff
NFL Week 11 in the L.A. TV market: Pssst, no Rams, Vikings intel at risk with active player in Fox TV booth
The only Rams listed as “questionable” for Sunday are backup cornerback Troy Hill (hamstring), who participated in Friday’s practice, and backup tight end Derek Carrier (hamstring), who did not.

So while the Rams were lighter than normal in practice manpower this week, they expressed confidence that it won’t lead to a lack of preparation on Sunday.

“We still feel like we got some good work in,” Coach Sean McVay said after Friday’s practice, “and what we feel is most important is making sure it’s a volume-and-intensity balance with the practice week. Then, making sure that on Sunday, guys are as fresh as possible.”

The Vikings also have issues. Defensive end Everson Griffen, who ranks third in the NFL this season with 10 sacks, missed last week’s game and is considered questionable for Sunday because of a foot injury. The Vikings will be without two starters: safety Andrew Sendejo and right tackle Mike Remmers.

That’s practically more injury strife than the Rams have had all season. They lost starting defensive end Dominique Easley (knee) in training camp, and now are without backup safety Cody Davis (quad) and backup running back Malcolm Brown (knee), but otherwise are healthy.

McVay and players frequently credit trainer Reggie Scott and strength coach Ted Rath for their fortune. Scott was one of the few holdovers from the previous coaching staff, and he had input on the hiring of Rath, who worked for the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions for the previous eight seasons.

The training staff, McVay said, is in “lock step,” and is proactive about taking players out of practice if they don’t feel 100 percent. For instance, even starting in training camp, veterans such as Whitworth, Sullivan and Barwin have been given “rest days,” when they stay off the field for afternoon practices.

Running back Todd Gurley said trainers check in with players every day, and inquire with them about “how our body feels.”

“As long as we communicate with those guys,” Gurley said, “they do a great job taking care of us as far as limiting the (weight-room) reps or doing different exercises or lifts. So they’ve been doing a great job.”

BRING THE NOISE

In a game with higher stakes than anyone anticipated at the start of the season, the Rams figure to enter a hostile environment at Minnesota’s U.S. Bank Stadium, which seats more than 66,000.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer went public this week and encouraged Vikings fans to be loud, and the Rams did their best to prepare. McVay and offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur said the Rams pumped in extra-loud music during practices this week to help prepare the offense for the decibel level.

“I think we’ve gotten a couple noise complaints,” McVay joked. “I don’t think you can ever truly mimic exactly what that’s going to be like. It’s a great atmosphere, it’s going to be a very challenging environment, especially for us offensively, but one that hopefully we’ll be able to handle with poise and concentration.”

TOUGH TASK

Gurley has gained more than 100 rushing yards in four of nine games this season, but he failed to top 70 yards in either of his last two games. That challenge won’t get easier against Minnesota, which has one of the best run defenses in the NFL.

The Vikings have held opponents to fewer than 100 rushing yards in six of nine games this season and have yet to allow more than 115 rushing yards in a game. No single running back has gained more against the Vikings this season than Detroit’s Ameer Abdullah, who reached 94 yards.

“They disguise (coverages) very well; it’s very hard,” Gurley said. “That’s why you’ve got to prepare, know your protections, get lined up, do what you’re going to do, get on the same track as the linemen.”

From inferior to elite: How Jared Goff and Case Keenum got here

Alden Gonzalez

http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/36417/from-inferior-to-elite-how-jared-goff-and-case-keenum-got-here

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The 2016 season ended and Case Keenum sat down with Les Snead, the Los Angeles Rams’ general manager. It was your typical exit interview, the kind one would imagine after a woefully disappointing 4-12 season. By the end of it, Keenum felt it was “going to be in everybody’s best interest to move on.”

Keenum didn’t know what was next, but, really, neither did the Rams. They had Jared Goff, the young quarterback they took with the No. 1 overall pick in the most recent draft. But they didn’t know what they had in him. Goff started for the last seven weeks and finished with an 18.3 Total QBR, which ranked last among those with at least five starts at quarterback. Keenum finished with a 37.5 Total QBR, last among quarterbacks with enough reps to qualify.

A year later, according to ESPN Stats & Information, Keenum and Goff represent the NFL’s two biggest Total QBR improvements. They’re leading two 7-2 teams, playing at their best heading into Sunday’s highly anticipated matchup between the Rams and the Minnesota Vikings from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

“I’m pumped for him,” Keenum said about Goff to L.A.-based reporters on a conference call.

“I couldn’t be happier for the guy,” Goff said of Keenum. “He deserves it all.”

Goff has completed 39 of 59 passes for 666 yards, seven touchdowns and zero interceptions in the past two games. He leads the NFL with 8.5 yards per attempt and ranks seventh with a 101.5 passer rating for a Rams team that is averaging a league-best 32.9 points per game. Keenum, still holding off Teddy Bridgewater for the Vikings’ starting job, is coming off a four-touchdown performance and ranks third in the NFL with a 72.6 Total QBR for an offense that ranks seventh in defense-adjusted value over average, or DVOA.

Keenum was asked whether he could have ever predicted this, he and Goff playing so well for offenses that are running so efficiently.

“I think you predicted that, right?” Keenum said, drawing a laugh. “It’s a funny game and it’s a crazy business, but that’s what makes this so cool.”

The success of Goff and Keenum seems, ostensibly, like an indictment on Jeff Fisher, the former Rams coach who oversaw ineffective, antiquated offenses for half a decade.

But there’s more to it than that.

A new Goff

For Goff, Fisher’s absence is only half of one answer.

First-year Rams coach Sean McVay, who at 31 is already one of the game’s sharpest offensive minds, has put a staff and a scheme around Goff that has set him up for success. But the Rams also have better players around him. Goff is taking snaps behind a significantly improved offensive line, thanks to the additions of left tackle Andrew Whitworth and center John Sullivan. And he’s throwing to a far more talented collection of receivers, a group that includes a trio of newcomers in Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp.

But Goff has improved, too.

He went to work at the very beginning of the offseason, immersing himself in film at the Rams’ facility by early January. He studied McVay’s Washington Redskins offenses as soon as the Rams hired him later that month, then worked at the acclaimed 3DQB program in California when NFL rules kept him from being around the team. When new receivers joined, he scheduled workouts to throw with them immediately.

Goff’s Rapid Rise

Jared Goff has thrown 10 passing touchdowns and no interceptions in four road games. Of the 44 quarterbacks with at least 15 pass attempts on the road this season, he’s the only one who has yet to throw an interception. A breakdown of his improvement from 2016 to 2017:

2016 2017
Comp pct. 54.6 61.2
Yards per att. 5.3 8.5
TD/Int ratio 0.7 4.0
Total QBR 18 54
ESPN Stats & Information

Some of that work ethic came from watching Keenum.

“He wasn’t super highly touted coming out of college, and he made his career by working hard,” Goff said. “That hard work is something I tried to grasp as much as I could.”

The criticism toward Goff was intense after a rookie season in which he completed 54.6 percent of his passes, averaged 5.3 yards per attempt, threw five touchdowns to seven interceptions and lost all seven of his starts. But teammates quickly saw someone taking more command of this offense, and of his career, heading into 2017. Woods, who came over as a free agent, saw a natural thrower.

“It started in the summer,” Woods said. “He has a pretty ball. It’s just shorts and a T-shirt, but I’ve seen him click in the season and in training camp. He’s been in control and been dominant pretty much since I got here.”

Goff heads into Sunday as the first quarterback in franchise history with back-to-back performances of 300-plus passing yards, three-plus touchdowns and zero interceptions. He has taken only 13 sacks, half the number he absorbed in two fewer games last season. Thanks to McVay’s scheme, which marries the run and the pass in innovative ways, he has thrown 12 more touchdowns than interceptions and is on pace for 4,240 yards.

Goff’s mental toughness draws constant praise — Keenum volunteered that himself, while talking about how Goff handled a trying 2016 season — but McVay also sees evolution in Goff’s decision-making.

Todd Gurley, the NFC’s leader in yards from scrimmage, isn’t surprised by Goff’s emergence in his second season.

“The guy went No. 1,” Gurley said. “Dude don’t go No. 1 for no reason.”

Making his Case

Those were the circumstances under which Keenum entered the 2016 season. He was the incumbent starter, a man who performed well for a lifeless offense in the final four games of 2015 with the Rams. But the Rams moved up 14 spots to take Goff in April of 2016, and the focus never shifted away from him.

Keenum started the first nine games of the 2016 season, all of them amid incessant speculation about when Goff would take his turn. By Week 9, a home crowd was chanting “We want Goff!” whenever Keenum’s passes fell incomplete. The following week, after a 9-6 road victory over the New York Jets, Goff was named the starter. Fisher made up his mind before that game even began.

“I wasn’t happy,” Keenum said then. “I want to play.”

But Keenum remained a captain and vowed to keep his focus on the team, even with free agency months away. He promised to be there for Goff, which is why so many in the Rams’ locker room are now happy to see Keenum succeed on his own.

“Everybody here has an abundant amount of respect for him,” Rams left guard Rodger Saffold said.

“I think Case is a heck of a football player,” defensive tackle Aaron Donald added. “Things happen how they happen, and they happen for the best, I guess, because he’s playing good football.”

Keenum, like Goff, is largely a product of better surroundings. He throws to arguably the NFL’s best receiver duo in Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen, and he also has a reliable tight end in Kyle Rudolph. He’s supported by a running game that, with Jerick McKinnon and Latavius Murray, remains strong in the wake of Dalvin Cook’s season-ending injury. The offensive line, meanwhile, has improved significantly with the offseason additions of tackles Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers.

But it starts with Pat Shurmur, the Vikings’ offensive coordinator who has in some ways catered his offense to Keenum, a more mobile quarterback than Game 1 starter Sam Bradford, who is on injured reserve with a knee injury.

“I love the scheme,” Keenum said.

But Bridgewater is healthy now, nearly 15 months after suffering a devastating knee injury during practice. Keenum’s days as the Vikings’ starter seem numbered. That has been the story in each of his five NFL seasons since going undrafted in 2012. His leash is always short, his margin for error perpetually small.

In the meantime, though, Keenum — and Goff, for that matter — is proof that good quarterbacks can thrive in the right environments.

“That’s an outsider’s perspective; it’s not for me to say,” Keenum said, deflecting the logic. “What I try to do is try to be the best quarterback that I can be and put my team in the best chance possible to win football games — no matter what team I’m on, no matter what offense I’m in, no matter what play is called.”

TSRF wrote:

I don’t buy the argument that he only had back-up QB’s in 2016.

Look how good Goff AND Keenum are doing this year…

I was glad when Fisher was hired, I liked the swagger he brought to the D, but over the years, the O just rotted under him.

I wonder what Fisher thinks when he watches Rams games. I wonder what Martz thinks too.

Yeah that’s why I don’t include 2016 in that. I say “the Rams did NOT have BOTH things 76.5% of the time from 2012-15.”

Keenum, however was not a starting caliber qb which is why they drafted one after 2015 when he was still on the roster. He’s playing now as a back-up who was inserted because of injury, but then he was signed by Minn as a back-up in spite of the fact that there were qb starved teams out there who could have pursued him if he were seen as a starter.

Goff was about as green as a rookie gets because that’s what the college Air Raid system produces–qbs who are behind the curve learning the pro system. With the exception now of Goff in his 2nd year, the Air Air system has not produced a single continuing NFL starting qb, going back to 1999 (ie. going back to Tim Couch.) This is so widely known about Air Raid qbs that entire articles about Patrictk Mahomes, the qb Kansas City took in the 1st round this draft, are built around the Air Raid being a problem theme. They say things like “Mahomes, when he takes over for Alex Smith as the Chiefs starter, seeks the success unknown to most of his predecessors who led an Air Raid offense.” And like “Quarterbacks coming from his college offense have not been good.” And like “the Air Raid, well, it’s not exactly a `pro-style’ offense.” (Yes that was 3 different articles. I just quoted the first 3 that came up in the search.) Maybe Mahomes is the next exception. They certainly didn’t draft hiim intending to start him as a rookie.

So Goff was just always going to be that green as a rookie.

This is all compounded by the fact that the Rams had no running game in 2016…something I attribute as much to Gurley as anything else (he fell way off last year). With no running game, the veteran Keenum had a harder road to travel, and the rookie Goff stood no chance.

And then of course no team, for decades, has been together enough to win the season after a cross state lines move.

So there are a lot of reasons 2016 crashed. More than I listed actually.

But I didnt’ say that 2016 was one of the years where the issue is both an injury compromised OL and a #2 caliber qb. When I talk about that I always restrict it to 2012-2015. As for 2016, it’s more complicated than that. It doesn’t reduce to that equation.

..

Zooey wrote:

Belichek, Payton, Carroll, Arians, Shanahan, Gruden, McCarthy, Rivera, Tomlin, Pederson, Zimmer, Pagano.

Dunno.

I think this is a tangent that isn’t helpful, however.

I would say Bellichick and Zimmer. Rams have talent but IMO they don’t have “7-2 in the first year of a new regime with ANY good coach” talent. I think McVay supplied that extra percentage.

…

These Quarterbacks are the highest-rated on 1st down this season!#ChiefsKingdom #RaiderNation #Bucs #GoPats #HTTR #GoSaints #FlyEaglesFly #Jaguars #Bengals50 #LARams pic.twitter.com/eDPEaT5srw

— NFL Matchup on ESPN (@NFLMatchup) November 13, 2017

Top-Rated Quarterbacks on 3RD DOWN this year!#FlyEaglesFly #GoPats #LARams #OnePride #Jets #ChiefsKingdom #GoSaints #Browns #KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/bbFMvItKvv

— NFL Matchup on ESPN (@NFLMatchup) November 13, 2017