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znModeratorfrom a disgruntled former Clinton staffer
who is not dead. So so much for THAT charade (ie. the murdered leaker myth thing).
I am interested in the Russian story nonetheless and it doesn’t all boil down to wikileaks or hacked emails.
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znModeratorWhen the facts are on your side funding isn’t necessary.
Agreed. That explains the international, multi-field consensus. That;s not all “funding.”
But you don’t directly respond to the fact that deniers ARE well funded, and it’s from sources including big energy that ALSO accounted for global warming as a real thing in their own internal policies.
znModeratorHow is the ewe doing? Is she still infatuated with the Jews?
The Bernie supporters that voted for Trump obviously had no clue what Bernie stood for. Apparently they just liked the fact that he was an outsider. When he lost, well any ol’ outsider would do…
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No, I am now the one infatuated with the Jews.Probly true what you say about the bernie voters who voted Trump.
Thing is though, if zn’s figure below is right and twelve percent voted for Trump, that is a LOT of votes, i would think. Coulda made the difference in swing states, maybe.
w
vI have 2 figures (so far). One is 12%, one is 7%.
The big exception was west virginia, where the numbers were higher.
So ewe could be thinking of west virginia.
That wasn’t national though.
znModeratorWatch the issue whither away in direct proportion to federal funding withheld.
It;s international.
American federal funding is just simply not the only thing supporting research which has led to robust, continuing international and multi-field consensus on the issue.
znModeratorFassel is my favorite Rams interim coach.
I like him better than Vitt (2005) and way better than Haslett (2008).
At the time I spoke more favorably of Haslett but I have now come to see him as a greasy politician.
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znModeratorWhat if you’re NOT a dem, not a Hillary lover, and you know full well about American intervention in foreign elections, and you STILL think there’s something to the Russia story?
See that’s my problem with editorials that frame things according to standard issue myths of who is saying what.
It’s not just Hillary people who are interested in the Russia story, and it’s not just people who are naive about american interventions abroad.
Addressing it that way tells me nothing informative either way.
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znModeratorReason i ask is the wv-ewe told me a shitload of Bernie voters voted for Trump. I had not heard that.
There is no basis for that claim. I saw a 12% figure. Is that a “shitload”? More than 4 times that number of Sanders people intended (at the time of the poll) to vote for Clinton.
Thus far, among Sanders’ supporters, only 55% are planning to vote for Clinton in November. Nearly 12% plan to vote for Trump.
Here’s another one. It’s lower than 12%…7%.
In an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey conducted by Hart Research Associates this month, 7% of Sanders voters said they could see themselves supporting Trump. Some 66% said the same for Clinton.
znModeratorJust a General article on cognitive dissonance in humans:
I was about to post that same article!
So I just will.
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How to Convince Someone When Facts Fail
Why worldview threats undermine evidenceBy Michael Shermer
Have you ever noticed that when you present people with facts that are contrary to their deepest held beliefs they always change their minds? Me neither. In fact, people seem to double down on their beliefs in the teeth of overwhelming evidence against them. The reason is related to the worldview perceived to be under threat by the conflicting data.
Creationists, for example, dispute the evidence for evolution in fossils and DNA because they are concerned about secular forces encroaching on religious faith. Anti-vaxxers distrust big pharma and think that money corrupts medicine, which leads them to believe that vaccines cause autism despite the inconvenient truth that the one and only study claiming such a link was retracted and its lead author accused of fraud. The 9/11 truthers focus on minutiae like the melting point of steel in the World Trade Center buildings that caused their collapse because they think the government lies and conducts “false flag” operations to create a New World Order. Climate deniers study tree rings, ice cores and the ppm of greenhouse gases because they are passionate about freedom, especially that of markets and industries to operate unencumbered by restrictive government regulations. Obama birthers desperately dissected the president’s long-form birth certificate in search of fraud because they believe that the nation’s first African-American president is a socialist bent on destroying the country.
In these examples, proponents’ deepest held worldviews were perceived to be threatened by skeptics, making facts the enemy to be slayed. This power of belief over evidence is the result of two factors: cognitive dissonance and the backfire effect. In the classic 1956 book When Prophecy Fails, psychologist Leon Festinger and his co-authors described what happened to a UFO cult when the mother ship failed to arrive at the appointed time. Instead of admitting error, “members of the group sought frantically to convince the world of their beliefs,” and they made “a series of desperate attempts to erase their rankling dissonance by making prediction after prediction in the hope that one would come true.” Festinger called this cognitive dissonance, or the uncomfortable tension that comes from holding two conflicting thoughts simultaneously.
Two social psychologists, Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson (a former student of Festinger), in their 2007 book Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) document thousands of experiments demonstrating how people spin-doctor facts to fit preconceived beliefs to reduce dissonance. Their metaphor of the “pyramid of choice” places two individuals side by side at the apex of the pyramid and shows how quickly they diverge and end up at the bottom opposite corners of the base as they each stake out a position to defend.
In a series of experiments by Dartmouth College professor Brendan Nyhan and University of Exeter professor Jason Reifler, the researchers identify a related factor they call the backfire effect “in which corrections actually increase misperceptions among the group in question.” Why? “Because it threatens their worldview or self-concept.” For example, subjects were given fake newspaper articles that confirmed widespread misconceptions, such as that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. When subjects were then given a corrective article that WMD were never found, liberals who opposed the war accepted the new article and rejected the old, whereas conservatives who supported the war did the opposite … and more: they reported being even more convinced there were WMD after the correction, arguing that this only proved that Saddam Hussein hid or destroyed them. In fact, Nyhan and Reifler note, among many conservatives “the belief that Iraq possessed WMD immediately before the U.S. invasion persisted long after the Bush administration itself concluded otherwise.”
If corrective facts only make matters worse, what can we do to convince people of the error of their beliefs? From my experience, 1. keep emotions out of the exchange, 2. discuss, don’t attack (no ad hominem and no ad Hitlerum), 3. listen carefully and try to articulate the other position accurately, 4. show respect, 5. acknowledge that you understand why someone might hold that opinion, and 6. try to show how changing facts does not necessarily mean changing worldviews. These strategies may not always work to change people’s minds, but now that the nation has just been put through a political fact-check wringer, they may help reduce unnecessary divisiveness.znModeratorThe Washington Free Beacon?
From the wiki:
The Washington Free Beacon is an American politically conservative political journalism Web site that publishes news and opinion commentary.
That’s an easily searched topic. There were polls.
Since August, Sanders supporters voting HRC has decreased 6% while Sanders supporters voting Trump has increased 10% pic.twitter.com/IbUzf6TPjt
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) September 15, 2016
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Hillary Clinton lost the November election because she blew off Sanders activists and voters
znModeratorWell fantasy is what it is until it happens. If wv says he was antagonized by my use of the word fantasy then I’d like him to say so.
This is IT on arguing. This is the way it works here: a mod jumps in and that is the end of it. No public bickering no matter how “right” you think you are.
What WV thinks of the language is completely irrelevant. It’s a mod determination. Period.
I’ve deleted posts and closed threads now to get you to get one thing: like it or not, accept it or not, the rules say when a mod says move on, you do. We are not here to endlessly argue with every complaint.
Next step is banning. You keep arguing and I take that step.
Go back to actual real posting and things are fine. Lock horns again over mod issues in public and they’re not.
link to rules: http://theramshuddle.com/topic/board-rules-policies/
Originally written June 30, 2014
The mods take it that the very act of posting here means implicit agreement with these rules.
znModeratorThat is your fantasy but reality is different.
Exclude anatonistic phrases like that if you want to keep posting here. There are plenty of political boards where people just antagonize, namecall, and so on. This is not supposed to be one of those. Better to say things like “from my point of view that’s not realistic” or something less board war-ish.
The rest of the post is fine…it’s just an ordinary opinion based on the trickle down theory, which you are free to advocate of course.
I am not debating this btw. Just informing.
December 27, 2016 at 10:18 am in reply to: What was the explanation for the defensive collapse? #61879znModeratorI take what happened to the defense recently as an accumulation of things.
1. Losing Jenkins hurt because his replacements have been up and down, in and out, hurt and demoted and etc.
2. There have been additional injuries depleting the secondary, like Davis in for Alexander, and in the SF game, Joyner being out (the Rams are different on defense without Joyner).
3. Losing Quinn hurts. This is put well by the poster Blue n Gold on another board so I will just paste in what he said: “This year, no edge pressure…Hayes in not a starting LDE, he’s a backup who plays well as a DT in nickel. He does a good job on run downs at end, but needed a DPR to play LDE and we did not have it. Longacre and Fox are not answers. need DE with top pick, 2nd rounder…if there is a good one.”
4. In the SF game, the D was just worn the hell out by the time the final minutes came around. The offense needed a first down in the last 4-5 minutes to keep the defense off the field. This is the BIGGEST problem for the entire team all year. Scoring and first downs drop badly after the 1st quarter. This is a theory of course but to me that says Boras, 1st time coordinator, never figured out how to adjust effectively to defensive adjustments. I am not saying the time-honored message board myth that “he DIDN’T adjust”–that’s nonsense, all teams adjust. But Boras it seems to me does not adjust EFFECTIVELY to defensive adjustments. So the offense is always fine in the first quarter but not after that.
znModeratorThis is not about posters.
From the rules:
link http://theramshuddle.com/topic/board-rules-policies/——-
… avoid, in tone and language, being antagonistic, confrontational, or argumentative.
Do not make individual posters the object of derision or antagonism, even absent posters from other boards. Posts are fair game, not posters.
If a poster crosses the line and becomes insulting or antagonistic, do not respond in kind–politely remind that poster of the rules and let mods handle it. Mods quell conflict, they do not judge who is “right” or “who started it.” If a mod asks posters to move on from a volatile exchange, please do so without comment. (Note added by me today: EVEN if you think you’re right. The point is to diminish conflict in general, NOT to prevail in a contest over who is “right.”)
The same rules apply to The Public House board. Controversial topics are welcome on that board, but avoid name-calling, insults, and derisive language. (Note added by me today: and the mods have considerable leeway in determining what is “derisive language”…and that will not change. That’s because the point is to lessen conflict, not to get into wars about who is “right.” If you’ve been asked to move on, take the hit and just do it. Arguing about it will not change anything.) Act like a respected debate partner, not like an argumentative board warrior.
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December 26, 2016 at 10:59 pm in reply to: the esteemed profession of sports writers previews the ARIZONA game #61863znModeratorif you’re wrong, the Rams are in for a long haul rebuild.
Well. I like the idea of a long rebuild.
December 26, 2016 at 8:03 pm in reply to: the esteemed profession of sports writers previews the ARIZONA game #61853znModeratori hope a lot of these players are gone next year.
You’re not willing to entertain the idea that a lot of them will be better under better conditions?
I;m leaning that way myself.
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December 26, 2016 at 6:56 pm in reply to: Fake news site causes Pakistan minister to issue nuclear warning to Israel #61851znModeratorFake news site causes Pakistan minister to issue nuclear warning to Israel
Oh that’s nothin.
In the USA fake news caused the country to invade Iraq.
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December 26, 2016 at 8:40 am in reply to: 350 lb. Dontari Poe in as fullback, fakes run, throws TD pass #61812znModeratorIt was 27 to 10 and they pull that crap? Why?
w
vAh. I see. Denver fan.
Anyway, it just seems to me obvious that the Chiefs were just making sure they won both the popular and the electoral score.
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znModeratorthe Rams (4-11) are averaging 272.6 yards per game
Well, if it’s any consolation…
…since 2003, teams have had a lower avg. yards per game than that a total of 22 times.
That’s of course not 22 teams…some teams managed to be at the bottom during that span more than once.
But 22 times, since 2003, teams have ranked lower that 272.6 yards a game.
In fact one year, 6 teams managed to rank lower. It was 2005.
znModerator, Dirac combined Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, electromagnetic interactions or photons or light.
Dirac’s equation had a startling side effect. It turns out it always produced 2 solutions, one positive and one negative. Dirac realized this meant something.
So, read on:
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http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/cern/ideas/antimatter.html
In 1928, British physicist Paul Dirac set out to solve a problem: how to reconcile the laws of quantum theory with Einstein’s special theory of relativity. Through complex mathematical calculations, Dirac managed to integrate these disparate theories. He explained how things both very small and very fast — in this case, electrons near the speed of light — behave. This was a remarkable achievement in its own right, but Dirac didn’t stop there.
The equation posed a problem: just as the equation x2=4 can have two possible solutions (x=2 or x=-2), so Dirac’s equation could have two solutions, one for an electron with positive energy, and one for an electron with negative energy — an unanticipated result. But classical physics (and common sense) dictated that the energy of a particle must always be a positive number.
Dirac interpreted the equation to mean that for every particle there exists a corresponding antiparticle, exactly matching the particle but with opposite charge. For the electron there should be an “antielectron” identical in every way but with a positive electric charge
Dirac argued that this anomaly was in fact the electron’s “antiparticle,” the subatomic equivalent of the “evil twin.” In fact, he asserted, every particle has an “antiparticle” with nearly identical properties, except for an opposite electric charge. And just as protons, neutrons, and electrons combine to form atoms and matter, antiprotons, antineutrons, and antielectrons (called positrons) combine to form antiatoms and antimatter.
Dirac’s equations marked the first time something never before seen in nature was “predicted” — that is, assumed to exist based on theoretical rather than empirical evidence — solely on the basis of theory guided by the human imagination. His prediction would be confirmed in experiments by Carl Anderson in 1932. Both men won Nobel prizes for their efforts.
When the existence of antimatter was confirmed, Dirac is reported to have said “my equation was smarter than I was.”
znModerator49ers Stage 4th-Quarter Comeback, Defeat Rams 22-21
Myles Simmons
LOS ANGELES — Though they took a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Rams allowed a 15-point comeback to fall to the 49ers, 22-21, on Christmas Eve at the Coliseum.
Quarterback Jared Goff connected with tight end Tyler Higbee for a two-yard touchdown pass with 1:32 left in the fourth quarter, giving the Rams a 21-7 lead.
But after that, it was all 49ers. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick ran in a 13-yard touchdown, passed for a 10-yard touchdown, then ran in a two-point conversion to lift the Niners to their second victory of the season — both of which have come at the Rams’ expense.
“Clearly a tough loss,” Rams interim head coach John Fassel said. “It’s sure tough to know what to say because it seems like it’s kind of the same thing that’s happening.”
The way this loss occurred had Fassel referring back to the Rams’ Week 11 matchup with the Dolphins, which also ended with an opponent’s fourth-quarter comeback.
“Kind of a replica of the Miami game where we just couldn’t convert third downs into first downs on offense, and just couldn’t get off the field in critical situations on defense,” Fassel said.
With the Rams ranked No. 32 in offense and the 49ers No. 32 in defense, this game appeared to be an opportunity for L.A. to establish a rhythm on that side of the ball. San Francisco’s defense got the better of the matchup, however, with the Rams recording just 177 total yards.
Running back Todd Gurley rushed 23 times for 67 yards with a touchdown. And quarterback Jared Goff had a forgettable day, completing just 11 of 24 passes for 90 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
“I thought there were some good things we did, I thought there were some, obviously, bad things I did,” Goff said. “We need to be better. I need to be better — I need to be better for us to win.”
“You look at San Francisco and they’ve been struggling on defense. We’ve been struggling on offense. So, a struggling defense was better than a struggling offense today,” Fassel said. “I’ll also look at the tape to know exactly why, but Todd made a big emphasis on running the football and I think he averaged 2.9 [yards] a carry. Just not good enough.”
As Fassel put it, Los Angeles’ inability to sustain drives late in the game gave San Francisco its opportunities to come back.
“We couldn’t get enough first downs on offense in the third quarter, and then we got the ball with a one-score lead with four minutes left in the game, and we go three-and-out,” Fassel said. “So we just can’t get enough first downs on offense, and I think that catches up to your defense in the last six minutes of the game.”
“I’ll say this — to all the fans and everybody that came out today, we’re appreciative and understand where we are,” Goff said. “We know that they understand where we are. It’s just hard, I know they see it — it’s hard in the locker room, it’s hard for all of us. But I promise you guys it will get fixed — [I’ll give] everything in my heart and soul to get it all fixed.”
Defensively, the Rams held Carlos Hyde in check with the running back tallying just 38 yards on 13 carries — albeit he exited the game after sustaining a hit to his leg on a pass play in the fourth quarter. Kaepernick finished 28-of-38 passing for 257 yard with two touchdowns, an interception, and six carries for 15 yards and a rushing TD. His elusiveness proved particularly tough for the Rams to deal with in the fourth quarter with his touchdown run and two-point conversion coming on scrambles.
“He’s tough, especially when he’s running in space and he’s pumping the football,” Fassel said. “You don’t know whether to jump and deflect it or run through and tackle, or maybe you have to leave coverage to go tackle him and then he throws the pass to an open guy — so he’s tough.”
San Francisco opened the scoring in the first quarter, capitalizing on a Los Angeles turnover to take over possession with good field position.
Goff threw an interception to cornerback Tramaine Brock on a pass intended for wideout Kenny Britt. Brock returned the pick 39 yards to the Los Angeles 17, and two plays later quarterback Kaepernick hit Hyde over the middle for a 19-yard touchdown.
But L.A. responded well with 14 quick points to take the lead. Wide receiver Pharoh Cooper took the ensuing kickoff 51 yards to Los Angeles’ 48. Then on 4th-and-2 from the San Francisco 30, Goff connected with tight end Lance Kendricks with a short pass in the flat off play action, and the tight end rumbled 24 yards to the visitors’ six.
Running back Todd Gurley did the rest, punching it in on a one-yard run to tie the game at seven.
It didn’t take long for the Rams to take the lead, capitalizing on a takeaway. Safety Cody Davis — starting in place of injured safety Maurice Alexander — picked off an overthrown Kaepernick pass toward the middle of the field and returned it to San Francisco’s 30.
Wide receiver Tavon Austin put points on the board on the next play, taking a jet sweep to the left 30 yards to pay dirt, giving the Rams a 14-7 advantage.
“It felt good to finally score my first one at home,” Austin said. “I had some great blocks. It was a great play at the right time. I saw the lane and just used it.”
That score would hold until the early fourth quarter, when another Rams takeaway gave L.A. a short field. On 1st-and-10 from the San Francisco 34, Kaepernick completed a pass to Hyde in the flat on the left. Cornerback E.J. Gaines put a low hit on Hyde, causing the running back to drop the ball. While the play was initially ruled incomplete, it was changed to a fumble after Fassel’s challenge. Defensive lineman Morgan Fox recovered the loose ball on San Francisco’s 25-yard line.
Starting at that spot, the Rams extended their lead with a short, four-play drive. Goff finished it off with a short, quick pass to tight end Tyler Higbee in the end zone for his fifth touchdown pass of the season.
Two Rams reached significant milestones during the contest. Wide receiver Kenny Britt caught a pass for 15 yards, making him the first Rams wideout since 2007 to have 1,000 yards receiving in a single season. And punter Johnny Hekker set a single-season record for punts downed inside the 20, breaking it with his first, and recording three more on Saturday afternoon to give him 50 in 2016.
“Johnny’s had a historic season punting the football with his inside-the-20 numbers, his net average, which is a reflection of his punt-cover team,” Fassel said. “I’m proud of JOhnny. He comes every day, he’s a leader, he’s tough, he’s good, and the guys respect him. I love him and I”m proud of him.”
The Rams also elected to deactivate left tackle Greg Robinson once again, placing Rodger Saffold at left tackle and Jamon Brown at left guard.
“We talked on Monday about making a little bit of a change to our offensive line juts to try to get something going in the run game and to shore up some protection,” Fassel said. “We weren’t using Greg as a scapegoat for any of the problems on the offensive line, but we felt getting Jamon Brown into the game. We know we could bump Saffold to tackle.”
With the loss, L.A. is now 4-11 on the season. The Rams will face the Cardinals in the 2016 season finale next Sunday at home.
“I’m not going to let my last week as an interim head coach just kind of fizzle and die out, be done in a week and call it an offseason,” Fassel said. “I’m going to do my best to get this team a win and say, ‘One day, I won a game as a head coach in the Coliseum.’”
znModeratorRams’ offense can’t produce against NFL-worst 49ers defense
Alden Gonzalez
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Rams had just lost for the 10th time in a span of 11 games, suffering a heartbreaking 22-21 defeat to a San Francisco 49ers team that hasn’t been able to beat anybody else all season. They lost because their defense gave up two late touchdowns, not to mention a two-point conversion with 31 seconds remaining. But really, they lost because their offense once again couldn’t do much of anything.
When it was over, Jared Goff, the rookie quarterback and No. 1 overall pick, addressed the fans.
“We’re appreciative,” Goff said, “and we understand where we are. And we know they understand where we are. It’s just hard. It’s hard for all of them; it’s hard for all of us. But I promise you guys, it will get fixed. Everything in my heart and soul to get it all fixed.”
The most disheartening aspect of this game wasn’t that the Rams lost for the sixth straight time. It wasn’t that they lost at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a place that has not seen a victory by its NFL team since Sept. 18. It wasn’t that they lost a second game to a 49ers team that is 0-13 against the rest of the NFL this season. And it wasn’t even that they lost by giving up a 14-point lead with 10 minutes remaining.
It’s that their offense couldn’t even function against that defense.
Jared Goff took four sacks on a day the Rams managed just 177 total yards and 13 first downs against a 49ers defense that’s been one of the NFL’s worst all season. Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports
The 49ers came in allowing 424.9 yards per game, at least 24 more than anybody else. Teams were averaging 31 points against them, also the highest mark in the NFL. But the Rams — last in the NFL in first downs, third-down conversions, yards and points — managed only 177 yards from scrimmage. They scored three touchdowns, but two of them came in the very first quarter, and the third occurred because the Rams’ defense caused a fumble that put the ball at the Niners’ 25-yard line.“They’ve been struggling on defense, we’ve been struggling on offense,” Rams interim coach John Fassel said. “So a struggling defense was better than a struggling offense today.”
The Rams (4-11) entered with an emphasis on running the football, which makes sense against a team that had allowed an NFL-worst 176.3 rushing yards per game this season. But Todd Gurley, who has now failed to reach 100 rushing yards in 22 of his past 23 games, ran for only 67 yards on 23 attempts. Goff, meanwhile, went 11-of-24 for 90 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions — including the one that clinched the loss — against a team that had allowed the fourth-highest opponents’ Total QBR this season.
The Rams did their best to tinker. They benched their former No. 2 overall pick, Greg Robinson, for the second time in four games, moving Rodger Saffold to left tackle and inserting Jamon Brown in at left guard. They ran Wildcat with Tavon Austin. And when Kenny Britt exited with a shoulder injury — shortly after becoming the first Rams player to reach 1,000 receiving yards since Torry Holt in 2007 — they gave most of his snaps to Paul McRoberts, an undrafted rookie who was promoted from the practice squad earlier in the week.
None of it worked.
The new coach, whoever it is, will have his hands full trying to fix this offense.
“We’re obviously going to have some sort of a change this offseason,” Goff said. “That’s kind of inevitable. Hopefully with that brings a lot of different stuff that can help change and can fix the issues we have. I don’t think we have bad players. I don’t think we have bad coaches. I think we just need to put it all together. Ultimately, it’s on us.
“And it’s on me. It comes back to the quarterback every time. It’s on me. I need to be better. Every day in practice, I need to be better. Every day on Sundays I need to be better. I promise everyone out there, all Rams fans, I’m going to do everything I can, everything in me, to make that happen and get this thing fixed.”
znModeratorBonsignore: Rams’ biggest issues are lack of running game, spotty play from Goff
By Vincent Bonsignore
Even when the Rams took a 14-point lead Saturday against the San Francisco 49ers with just over 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, something didn’t feel right.
The Rams had their biggest lead of the season, a remarkable reminder of just how inept their offense has been all year, but on this day a sled filled with gifts from above.
And a defense that had bottled up Colin Kaepernick for more than three quarters appeared poised to finish him off and deliver the Rams their fifth win of the season.
Still, there was an eerie worry hanging in the air at the Coliseum.
Maybe it was the Rams’ season-long inability to run the ball, which renders them vulnerable in close-out situations that require draining the clock by moving the chains on the ground.
Maybe it was a defense that, for all its ruggedness and stinginess this season, has shown a nasty habit of falling apart at inopportune times.
Whatever it was, even against the one-win 49ers a 14-point fourth-quarter lead seemed ominously frail.
“You’ve just got to finish games,” Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald would say later in a disappointed Rams locker room after, predictably enough, the 49ers came roaring back with 16 points over the final 5:06 to win 22-21.
The Rams, as we’ve all learned over this grim season, can’t finish games.
“We know nothing is ever over until it says ‘0:00,’ ” said running back Todd Gurley.
Ain’t that the truth.
And so it goes for the Rams, who fell for the 10th time over their last 11 games and couldn’t even deliver their frustrated fans a small Christmas token against their bitter rivals from San Francisco.
“Basically, just making dumb mistakes like we’ve been doing previously,” said wide receiver Tavon Austin. “Not making the big play when we need to. Basically, just losing focus. I think we probably gave it up, and thought the game was over. But, it wasn’t.”
It’s the story of the Rams’ season.
Here are some observations from another loss in a nightmare season:
LACKING OF RUNNING GAME KILLS THE RAMS
It’s not like the 49ers’ defense is the second coming of the Steel Curtain, but the Rams were unable to create a push against San Francisco to provide Gurley running room. In keeping with a season-long theme of running-game woes, Gurley finished with 67 yards on 23 caries for a paltry 2.9 yards per carry.
And that ineptness was on display after the 49ers cut the Rams’ lead to 21-14 with 5:06 remaining.
In need of a couple of first downs to run clock, the Rams did the complete opposite.
First, Gurley plunged into the line for one yard on first down.
Then he was stopped after gaining four yards on second down.
Then, facing a third-and-five and with virtually no hope of converting the first down on the ground, Jared Goff dropped back to pass and was immediately sacked to force fourth down.
Onto the field ran the punt team to surrender the ball back to the 49ers with 3:15 left on the clock. It turned out to be just enough time for Kaepernick to drive San Francisco to a touchdown and then convert a two-point conversion for the win.
“We just can’t get enough first downs on offense, and I think that catches up to your defense in the last six minutes of the game,” said Rams interim head coach John Fassel.
And that goes directly to the run game, which was supposed to be the anchor to the Rams’ offense but has deteriorated into a liability.
Until the Rams get that fixed, they will continue to be vulnerable to situations that unfolded Saturday against the 49ers.
WHICH LEADS US TO THAT LEFT TACKLE PROBLEM
Greg Robinson isn’t solely to blame for the Rams’ running game woes, but he is absolutely the face of the offensive line issues the Rams have dealt with all season.
The second overall pick from the 2014 draft, Robinson was supposed to have developed into a cornerstone piece of the Rams’ offense by now and become a left tackle they could rely on for the next decade.
Instead, he’s been a colossal bust, as evidenced by the fact he was a healthy scratch on Saturday for the second time this season. The Rams simply can’t count on Robinson anymore, at least not at left tackle and possibly not at any position on the offensive line.
Their choices are limited: Cut him. Trade him. Or maybe try to salvage something from him by moving him to guard.
The hole that creates at left tackle is monumental. There is no one on the current roster the Rams can trust to protect Goff’s back side over the course of a full season, and there aren’t any easily acquirable replacements on the trade or free agency front.
That leaves the draft, although the Rams’ highest pick next April arrives in the second round so, barring the uncovering of a hidden gem, it’s hard to imagine them finding an immediate long-range answer via the draft.
It’s a perplexing situation with no easy solutions. And until it gets solved, the Rams will be vulnerable along the offensive line.
THE GOFF ISSUE
Considering the lack of talent Jared Goff is playing alongside — and that includes an inept offensive line and nary a perimeter playmaker that strikes fear in opposing defenses — it’s impossible and unfair to judge what the Rams have in their rookie quarterback.
What’s concerning, though, is Goff hasn’t provided much more than a glimpse here and there of the elite skill level the Rams fell in love with in when they made him the first overall pick in last April’s draft.
The hope is that Goff will emerge under a new head coach and new offensive system and alongside any improvements the Rams make on offense over the years.
But until then, it’s valid to have questions and concerns.
In six games so far he’s completed 53.5 percent of the 185 passes he’s attempted and thrown five touchdowns against seven interceptions. His quarterback rating is 61.7.
And for the first time all year, he seemed a bit shaken afterward while trying to pledge to fans he’ll do what it takes to get himself — and the Rams — pointed in the right direction.
“I’ll say this, to all the fans and everybody that came out today, we’re appreciative and understand where we are,” he said. “We know that they understand where we are. It’s just hard, I know they see it — it’s hard in the locker room, it’s hard for all of us. But I promise you guys it will get fixed — everything in my heart and soul to get it all fixed.”
That is an objective for another day.
And based on what we’ve seen so far from Goff and the Rams’ offense, it doesn’t appear to be a quick fix.
znModeratorI am just by nature going to be posting optimistic takes on this.
If you (a general “you”) don’t agree and see critical posts that cast doubt on Goff, add them to the thread. I can’t read them with any sort of objectivity, myself. To me they look too much like post-trauma hyperbole. I can’t help that. That’s just what I see. So in this thread anyway I am not going to be striving to be “balanced.” It will take the group to do that.
znModeratorpayton is gonna require a trade. not ok with that.
Yeah no trade please.
That’s my vote.
znModeratorAnd you did a big time 180 considering Hildabeast was a well known commodity.
This is not about posters. You keep making it about posters and you will REALLY push my patience, which you do not want to do. This is not a place where anyone who wants to can launch a personalized inquisition. That’s beyond debate.
Any reply to this will be deleted. Just take the warning as issued and go about your business.
(If you want a real conversation with Mack about his own actions and beliefs, don’t be antagonistic or inquisitional, just ask questions and discuss in friendly ways. Anything that strays from that violates our rules here. )
znModeratorI posted the truth. Your conspiracy theory smells like sour grapes.
I know ticky/tacky board wars happen, but please upgrade your game. It’s basically “I know you are but what am I” level stuff.
And I am out. I don’t come here to deal with bad PD board flame posts. A real debate might be interesting.
znModeratorJust to be clear I didn’t say that. bnw did.
I know. That was just a “quotation form” screw up. I changed it via edit.
znModeratorRemove illegals, the voting dead and the democrats busing voters to vote in multiple states from the vote total Trump wins the popular vote.
Oh well, post-truth era.
…
No thats in order, motor voter, Chicago and spearheaded by a guy who met with the president in the White House many many times.
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You can repeat conspiracy theories all you want. It’s a partisan thing to do. I pretty much don’t pay any attention to them. Getting into a ticky/tacky board war about it won’t change that.
znModeratorRemove illegals, the voting dead and the democrats busing voters to vote in multiple states from the vote total Trump wins the popular vote.
Oh well, post-truth era.
…
znModeratorEric Dickerson @EricDickerson
Accountability and leadership. Two great qualities in an @NFL QB. We’re with you @JaredGoff16
#ED2105 #HornsUp -
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