Thanks Mike!

I liked this:

the Rams have blessed themselves with a ton of defensive line talent and they all can’t play here. The decision in the next couple of weeks is less “can he play” than it will be “who do we want to see on another team the least”.

InvaderRam wrote:

i think there’s something to jimitroutboy’s comments about the wide 9 being a horrible scheme. there were just huge lanes for these running backs to run through yesterday. and even week 1.

or maybe laurinaitis and brockers are just that valuable. we’ll see. a little early. if the rams could upgrade laurinaitis, i’d be all for it. but i also understand what he brings to the table. still would like an intimidator there. rams seem to lack a lot of physicality at the linebacker position. but at this point it might be a lot of nitpicking.

The wide 9 doesn’t work unless the LBs and safeties know what they’re doing, and do it.

PA Ram wrote:

Have to watch the second half.

Save yourself while you still can.

By the time they are into the 4th quarter it is the worst Rams football I have ever seen, and think how much we have seen.

Mentally it led me to revise the famous John McKay quip.

“What do you think of your team’s execution.”
“Already ordered, done, and over with.”

Well, I am more optimistic than you, but I don’t begrudge you your view. I get where you’re coming from.

However, I do have one small disagreement and it’s more historical than philosophical. I doubt it will make any difference in your view. In fact it verges on pedantry.

YOU: True. Our run D did come back in the 2nd half. After we had fallen out of any sense of meaningful competition. After another lost year had been confirmed.

Actually, the run defense improved in the first half of the season. Up and down, but improved. Once it did get set, it wasn’t just that it was better…it was probably the best run defense in the league.

The first 4 games were decidedly awful, with especially bad outings against Dallas and SF.

They picked it up against Jacksonville, lapsed against Houston, got it back together against Carolina, and then smothered Seattle (25 carries for 44 yards).

From the IND game on, they allowed 519 yards on 181 carries. 74 yards a game and 2.87 a carry across 16 games would have ranked them 1st in the league in yards per game and 1st in the league in yards per attempt (and by significant margins in both cases). And that included a game each against SF (30 for 83) and Seattle (36 for 111).

So it’s not just that they improved–they suddenly became the best rushing defense in the game.

Yet that was the same group that looked just bloody awful against Dallas.

Plus of course I don’t think they would have gone 7-9 last year if Bradford had played the whole season. So I don’t attribute the record to the run D alone.

It really is both things, this bunch. In the final stretch last year they weren’t just good, they were superlative. Yet they are (mostly) the same guys who looked lost against Dallas last year and Green Bay yesterday.

So, there’s something to both views, optimistic and critical.

It shouldn’t be this schizophrenic and it’s hard to say why they are (though I have some ideas on that). I mean, what changed to suddenly make them not just good last year, but the BEST? Again I have some ideas on that but it is a strange thing.

Lots to think about.

Howdy NR. I fixed the image, which I assume is what you intended.

Here’s how to do images.

First with the image in question, right click it and choose “image info.”

That takes you to a page where you can then copy the image url.

Like so:

What you copy is the blued out part.

Anyway then you come to the post box here, and click “img.” You paste the url in that, and then before posting it will ask you a couple of stupid questions. Check the box, type in any name (I chose “a”) and then post.

Hey. I moved a couple of your posts to the Green Bay Game Reactions thread. I think Bradford in that game, ie. this post, merits it’s own discussion thread though.

I agree with you that Bradford has looked good so far. As good as he has looked in his best games over the last couple of years.

To me it’s as if he time travelled straight from the Carolina game, just before the injury.

Here btw is a vid of Bradford’s 2nd drive, the entire thing: http://theramshuddle.com/topic/vid-rams-2nd-drive-v-gb-816/

rfl wrote:

ESPN’s Jane McManus reports that the NFL is expected to toughen its standards on domestic violence.

Hmmm. Hard to feel much conviction that they’ll actually do much, but they damn well should.

I can see disciplining performance enhancing drugs, but recreational drugs should be a non-issue for the league unless there are prosecutions and/or convictions.

Meanwhile, they should come down very hard on DUI and domestic violence. The football culture teaches guys to think of women as conveniences, and the league should try to be in the lead in changing that.

A player who beats his wife or girlfriend should be out for half a season at least. Make him feel some sense of consequences.

There;s more on that in the most recent post in this thread.

http://theramshuddle.com/topic/ray-rice-2-games/page/2/#post-4032

From “The Takeaway: Green Bay Packers vs. Tennessee Titans”

http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2014/8/10/5987723/the-takeaway-green-bay-packers-vs-tennessee-titans

Strong first showing for new look offensive line

Mike McCarthy’s proclamation that the 2014 offensive line could be the best of his Green Bay tenure is looking good so far.

The Packers already knew what to expect from the guard tandem of Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang, and after starting 16 games as a rookie David Bakhtiari appears primed to take a jump in performance as well. The only question marks hovered over oft-injured right tackle Bryan Bulaga and new starting center JC Tretter.

Saturday’s game marked Bulaga’s first non-intrasquad game since November 4, 2012. In the roughly 21 months since, the offensive lineman has endured a significant hip injury as well as a torn ACL. Other than the bulky brace on his left knee, Bulaga looked like the same player who dominated at right tackle in 2011 and ’12. In the three runs to Bulaga’s side, the Packers accrued 18 yards.

JC Tretter, the offensive line’s newest addition, also had a strong 2014 debut. Like Bulaga, Tretter’s last true live snaps came back in November 2012. However, Tretter’s appearance Saturday was his first at center, a position he hadn’t played until coming off the physically unable to perform list midway through last season. Tretter seemed to create a push on nearly every snap with the starting unit. He also landed one of the key second-level blocks on James Starks’ 20-yard touchdown gallop that put the Packers ahead 7-0.

It’s worth noting that the Titans are in the midst of a transition to a 3-4 defense and are experience growing pains because of it. It’s also true that the Packers’ offense only attempted one pass before pulling most of the starters, making it impossible to evaluate the pass protection. That said, Green Bay has to be encouraged by the early returns from its new look offensive line. If the group follows the Tennessee game with another strong performance, they’re going to make their head coach look very smart.

The offensive backfield is already looking crowded

Eddie Lacy spent Saturday night on the sidelines and James Starks was pulled after the opening series, but the Packers have to like what they saw out of their running back depth. DuJuan Harris opened the game with a 40-yard kickoff return. Add in a nifty 11-yard run behind the No. 2 offensive line, and it appears Harris has reclaimed the form that earned him so much praise following the 2012 season. Rajion Neal came into the game with considerably less fanfare, but the undrafted rookie amassed 39 yards on only five carries including a 12-yard touchdown run. Though he left the game with an undisclosed injury, the 5-11 220 lbs. Neal fits the mold of a Packers ball carrier.

Counting fullback, the Packers may retain as few as four backs during the final cut down. With John Kuhn and the aforementioned Lacy and Starks taking up three of those jobs, Harris and Neal find themselves in a heated competition for a roster spot.

==============

Rodgers didn’t play last week but they could run:

Hram wrote:

I sat on the Egyptian/Israeli border, half the time on a base camp and half the time on two different outposts, for 6 months in 1988 waiting for the stars and stripes edition that provided 3-4 lines of print about each game so I could feed, even that tiniest bit, my craving for Rams information.

And we have a winner.

Where are you stationed now? Or can you say?

.