Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
People who want to put all of this on Goff are totally correct except for the drops, blown blocks, no run game and bad special teams.

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Rams DT Aaron Donald (7th straight) and CB Jalen Ramsey (4th straight) have been selected to the 2021 Pro Bowl.

Stu Jackson@StuJRams
Per @Sportradar research, Aaron Donald today became the 17th player in NFL history to be selected to 7 or more consecutive Pro Bowls to begin their NFL career.

ESPN Stats & Info@ESPNStatsInfo
Aaron Donald has now earned a Pro Bowl selection in all 7 seasons of his NFL career.

He’s just the 4th defensive player since the 1970 merger selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first 7 seasons, joining Lawrence Taylor, Derrick Thomas and Patrick Willis.

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Sean McVay says Micah Kiser and Taylor Rapp won’t come off IR this week either. And Rapp may not be back in the regular-season – team had originally been hopeful he could come back before the postseason.

Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
“It’s something we’ve got to get a hold on,” Sean McVay says when asked about consistency from game-to-game.

Kevin Greene was a sack king. pic.twitter.com/ONP542MruP

— DOWNTOWN RAMS [DTR] (@DowntownRams) December 21, 2020

I’m tempted to laugh and make fun — but this is just selfishness.
300,000 dead from COVID. People are hungry. Families not gathering together on holidays because they’re sacrificing for others.

And then there’s this… https://t.co/IWR3AWnLy9

— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) December 21, 2020

RIP Kevin Greene … a lot of great football memories … pic.twitter.com/b3SgKzWFmD

— Mike Sando (@SandoNFL) December 21, 2020

Pelosi is worth over $100 million https://t.co/qrlG51Rue7

— jordan (@JordanUhl) December 21, 2020

8 biggest plays that cost the Rams in their loss to the Jets

Cameron DaSilva

* https://theramswire.usatoday.com/lists/rams-jets-biggest-plays-week-15-loss-video/

When the Los Angeles Rams flip on the tape this week after their loss to the Jets, they won’t have to dive too deep in order to find out where things went wrong. Very clearly, this game came down to only a handful of plays.

They weren’t all preventable mistakes by the Rams, but there were plenty of self-inflicted wounds suffered by L.A. in this embarrassing 23-20 loss at home. Whether it was penalties, special teams mistakes or defensive blunders, the Rams shot themselves in the foot too many times on Sunday.

Looking back on the loss, these eight plays had the biggest impact on the outcome for the Rams, essentially costing themselves a win over the 0-13 Jets.

8 Blown coverage on Jets’ first TD

After the Rams went three-and-out on their opening possession, the Jets came right back and hit L.A. with a right hook, scoring a touchdown on their first drive to take a 7-0 lead.

It was a surprisingly impressive drive, spanning 74 yards in 13 plays and ending in this touchdown. Ty Johnson was left wide open due to a blown coverage as both Kenny Young and Troy Reeder went with the tight end across the field, failing to cover the running back.

It was only a 7-0 lead, but the Rams never recovered and even pulled back within a tie.

7 Jets’ blocked punt

It was believed that if the Jets were to win this game, it would take something crazy happening. And in the first quarter, they got an unexpected boost on special teams when J.T. Hassell blocked Johnny Hekker’s punt.

It set up the Jets with good field position, leading to a field goal and a 10-0 lead. Hekker had previously gone 120 straight punts without having one blocked, so this was certainly out of the ordinary.

Nick Scott was out due to COVID-19 protocols, and he’s typically Hekker’s protector up front. Without him on the field, the Rams had a gaffe – and it was a costly one.

6 Jared Goff’s interception to Bryce Hall

On the Rams’ next possession after Hekker’s blocked punt, Goff made a mistake of his own. Rolling to his right, he threw downfield for Robert Woods, who was almost wide open.

Except, there was one problem: He didn’t see Hall sitting underneath. Hall picked off Goff’s pass and gave the Jets excellent field position, once again leading to a field goal and a 13-0 lead.

The Rams could do nothing right on offense in the first half, and this was one example of that. It was just a bad throw by Goff, which he admitted after the game.

5 Frank Gore’s 1-yard TD run on fourth down

There are a couple of reasons this play was costly for the Rams. Not only did it give the Jets a 20-3 lead, but it also came after Sean McVay inexplicably burned a timeout – right after the Jets had called a timeout of their own.

A’Shawn Robinson was late to come on the field before the Jets’ fourth-down play, but he was still in position before McVay raced down the sideline to call a timeout. After regrouping and getting the exact play they wanted, the Rams still failed to keep Gore out of the end zone.

This was a back-breaker for L.A. If the defense had held on fourth down, it would’ve taken seven points off the board and maybe provided a spark when the Rams desperately needed one. But Gore pounded his way into the end zone and gave the Jets a 17-point lead.

4 Tyler Higbee’s block in the back penalty

Poor Cam Akers. He had 50 yards rushing called back due to penalties, including this infraction by Higbee. The tight end did a nice job getting on his man, Marcus Maye, but he couldn’t sustain the block long enough.

Once Maye shook loose, Higbee turned and blocked him in the back, preventing the safety from tackling Akers. Granted, Akers may have broken the tackle anyway, but Higbee’s shove was clearly a penalty.

It nullified a 22-yard run by Akers on the Rams’ final offensive possession. So instead of having a first down at the Jets’ 17-yard line, trailing by three points with 4:45 left in the game, the Rams were faced with second-and-10 from New York’s 43-yard line.

Obviously, they failed to convert on their next three plays and never got the ball back.

3 Fourth-down incompletion to Gerald Everett

Needing only 4 yards on fourth down with four minutes left in the game, Goff attempted his second pass of the game of at least 20 yards.

I repeat: The Rams needed just 4 yards and were trailing by three.

It was a good throw by the quarterback, but an even better play by Maye in coverage against Gerald Everett. The problem is, it was a low-percentage play to a tight end in the biggest moment of the game.

With the Rams turning it over on downs, the Jets took the ball back and were able to milk the clock by picking up two first downs and burning the Rams’ timeouts.

Equally costly was Goff’s incompletion to Akers deep down the left sideline one play earlier. Again, the Rams needed just 4 yards on third down, yet that was the moment Goff decided to attempt his first deep pass of the game.

It was an infuriating sequence by the Rams, who were having success on the ground but decided to air it out.

2 Gore’s 6-yard reception to seal the win

When the Jets needed a play most, they went to 37-year-old Gore, the ageless wonder. With the Rams out of timeouts and the Jets needing 6 yards on third down to ice the game, Gore came up big.

But it wasn’t necessarily a good play by Gore. It was once again a bust by the Rams. Troy Reeder and Jalen Ramsey both went with Jamison Crowder across the formation, leaving the middle of the field wide open. And no one picked up the tight end on the right side, either, as he was open for an even bigger gain.

The Rams played it to the sticks but simply couldn’t make the tackle quickly enough after Gore caught the pass. It was indicative of the way the game went for L.A.

After this play, the Jets kneeled it down three times and ran out the clock.

1 Austin Corbett’s touchdown-canceling penalty

This was the biggest play of the game and the costliest for the Rams. It looked like they’d finally take their first lead against the Jets on Akers’ 18-yard run up the middle, but a penalty nullified the rookie’s terrific scamper.

Corbett got on the linebacker at the second level, but his left hand got outside the defender’s pads as he tried to tackle Akers. Corbett took him to the ground and was called for holding, bringing back Akers’ long run.

It may not have looked like an obvious hold from that angle above, but if you take a look from the end zone view, it’s clear that Corbett grabbed hold of the defender’s jersey and prevented him from making a play.

The Rams would’ve gone up 24-23 (or at least tied it at 23, depending on the PAT) and would’ve continued to shift the momentum. Instead, they settled for a field goal to make it 23-20 and never scored again.

J.B. Long@JB_Long
the Rams have 4 straight winning seasons for the first time since the original Back to the Future hit theaters. I think we should all agree to reexamine what we mean by consistency.

2 final thoughts:

Rams couldn’t put first 3-game win streak of 2020 together today. Whether/not this year is memorable depends on whether/not they can from here on out.

Hoping we all look back on this as an early Christmas gift to the “don’t rest starters in Week 17” crowd.

Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
“We didn’t execute, I didn’t execute,” – Rams QB Jared Goff on loss to Jets

𝕋𝕠𝕞 – 𝕃𝔸 ℝ𝕒𝕞𝕤@TL_LARams
I’ve looked back over the third and fourth down plays. Hard to do properly without All-22 footage. But seemed Jets had good coverage, especially on the shorter, underneath routes.

Cant see the right side of the field on the third down. But they tried to spring Akers on a wheel with Reynolds running a comeback to act as a shield. But the Jets played it well and it ended up well covered.

It kind of seemed that Goff threw it away a bit to avoid a sack given the wheel didn’t end up open. Will want to see what happened on the right of the field to see if he could have progressed like McVay is apparently suggesting.

On fourth down, Kupp and Akers are running short routes but are just below the first down marker. Probably don’t want to throw short of the sticks on fourth down. Woods appears to be open, but not sure if it’s because defenders moved off because of throw to Everett

Throw to Everett was fine, because Everett should be a good matchup with Maye. But he never really went to get the ball and even though Maye was jumping backwards he still managed to knock it away. Cant tell but looked like it hit Everett’s hands.

Throw could have been a bit deeper and led Everett more. But it’s really there for the receiver to make a play and it just didn’t happen.

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
These were Cam Akers’ fourth-quarter rushing plays before the 3rd-and-4:

2 yards
7 yards
6 yards
18 yards (called back)
22 yards (called back)

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
The Rams feel like a depressing yo-yo, in that they are technically in control but somehow smack themselves in the face every third spin or so. If they want to get serious about the playoffs, they need to solve the only team in their way: The Rams.

𝒥𝒾𝓂 𝐸𝓋𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓉@Jim_Everett
More of the Rams beating themselves (no energy, just going through the motions, mental breakdowns, and self inflicted errors) than the Jets beating ya. But folks, that’s why we play the games!

Hopefully this Ram team has learned a lesson. No one lays down for ya in the @nfl!

InvaderRam wrote:

that’s just my opinion.

If I wanted your opinion, I would contribute to maintaining a unique message board where you are a valued regular.

So till that happens…

😎

Hram wrote:

It was Mr. Hyde’s week. The whole season has been this way.

Super bowl team one week, not even a playoff team the next week.

Except it’s not that way. It’s not 1 week this, another week that. I don’t count them as playing badly in the Bills game. So that’s 4 bad games of 14. That’s not 50/40, it’s 29/71.

So the one week one thing another week another thing idea doesn’t hold up. It’s something else.

I would say there are 3 games where the Rams as a team did not show up to play. 1st SF, Miami, Jets. In fact this game the announcers kept pointing out the Rams deficient energy level (which the offense fixed in the 2nd half).

So what it looks like to me–ie. my theory–is that at times the Rams don’t get up for what they perceive to be a weak opponent.

The week before the 1st SF game, SF lost to Miami 47-17. At that time Miami was considered a weak team.

The week before this game, the Jets–on top of going 0-13–lost to Seattle 40-3.

Now I wish I knew what causes them to come into games like this unprepared for an opponent who is up to play them. But I think that is something McVay has to fix, probably in himself first.

…

The Jets (0-13) defeat the Rams (9-4). pic.twitter.com/XBSbCLPQJq

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 21, 2020

the motion takes Reeder out of the middle of the field, Gore slips through and is wide open..uses strength to get 1st down

earlier in game there was pass to that motion man that burned rams so they had to cover, brilliant call

#RamsHouse #TakeFlight @RichCimini @LATimesfarmer pic.twitter.com/GXAquFDDTv

— 𝐏𝐫𝐨 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥🏈 (@NFL_Journal) December 20, 2020

Matt Gay from 53 with ease, in Bone & Sol. pic.twitter.com/0Bz5brBFaX

— J.B. Long (@JB_Long) December 20, 2020

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez@AOC
One major difference between GOP and Dems is that GOP leverage their right flank to gain policy concessions and generate enthusiasm, while Dems lock their left flank in the basement bc they think that will make Republicans be nicer to them

Rams to wear long-awaited new uniform combo vs. Jets https://t.co/YK39jWYduo

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) December 20, 2020

The Women Who Rode Miles on Horseback to Deliver Library Books @atlasobscura https://t.co/zokuNNKSrt

— Robbin Milne 🍀⏳🦺🌺 (@RobbinMilne) December 16, 2020