Me: this is a great vid & a must-watch

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Ram_Ruler

Great video analysis of the Rams defense.

Goes into detail about :

1. How the Rams like to line up
2. Why they don’t need elite linebackers.
3. How they force one on one matchups in the pass rushing department
4. How Jalen Ramsey allows the safteys to play other areas of the field and not just over the top.

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from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/11/18/rams-defense-nfl-history-second-half/?fbclid=IwAR2my3kk_SJXFrafTWPamYIziw3ngKgdadRuOqgIAIosHmkGr1MqUyPla60

Rams on pace to have one of the best 2nd-half defenses in NFL history

The fewest second-half points allowed in a 16-game season was the 1996 Panthers, who allowed just 56 points in the second half. At the Rams’ current rate of allowing only 4.0 second-half points per game, they’re on pace to allow just 64 second-half points this season. That would be the second-fewest total ever in a 16-game season, ahead of the historic 1985 Bears team that allowed 71 points in the second half of their games during a 15-1 season.

Head Coach Sean McVay and QB Jared Goff–November 25, 2020

Coach Sean McVay

(On injury updates)
“(LB) Micah (Kiser) is banged up right now. I would be very surprised if he was able to play this week. We didn’t really practice today, it was just an above-the-neck day. If we had practice – did not participate – (DL Aaron) Donald, Kiser, (TE Tyler) Higbee – Tyler banged up his elbow a little bit, we’ll see what that means for his status. Micah is out with his knee, would be surprised if he plays this week. Aaron got a rest day and then (OL) Brian Allen has had some issues with his knee and he’s limited.”

(On the 49ers winning three-straight games and any trends behind it)
“They’ve done a great job. You mentioned it. I mean, you go back to last year’s games, the first time that we played them, they were really rolling. I thought the defense competed well, but offensively, we weren’t really able to move the ball at all. It was a really tough day. Then later on in the season, on the Saturday night game, it was a great back-and-forth game that came down to the wire where they kick a field goal on the last second after getting a couple of third-and-long conversions. Then this year, they did a good job coming out from the jump and outplaying us. We’re very aware of what you just mentioned. This isn’t like this isn’t a great football team. They’re the reigning NFC Champions, a couple plays away from being Super Bowl Champions. I know too much about these guys and their coaches and their players to ever take anything for granted. We know what a great coaching staff, what great players they have. We know how on the screws we have to be to try to go get our eighth win this week.”

(On the 49ers defense and the challenges they present)
“They do a great job. I think (49ers Defensive Coordinator) Robert Saleh as good coordinator as there is, mixes it up well. Their coaching staff gets their guys ready to go. (DL Kerry) Hyder (Jr.) and (DL Arik) Armstead have played really well off their edges. I think (LB) Fred Warner is one of the best players in this league that doesn’t get talked about enough. I think same for (DB) Jimmie Ward. I don’t know exactly what their corner situation is if (CB Richard) Sherman will be back. (CB Jason Verrett) has played outstanding, as has (CB Emmanuel) Moseley. They’ve got guys that are competitive, (CB Jamar) Taylor is playing really well at the nickel spot. I don’t know, run, pass, I’m not as sure the stats. I know this is a really good defense when you flip on the film and they play well in all phases, in every situation.”

(On how QB Jared Goff handling situations over the few weeks from a self-scout and execution to correct things)
“It was really just as simple as, some of those all-out pressures that we talked about, (QB) Jared (Goff) did a great job handling it as did the other 10 (guys) around him. When they do that, there’s no safety in the middle of the field. Everybody is basically isolated on their coverage and that means they’re bringing more than you can protect. Usually that elicits a certain response from the offense. Jared did a nice job. They did a handful of those the other day. That was something that they had done last year when we played them. That’s kind of been a staple of a (Buccaneers Defensive Coordinator) Todd Bowles led defense, and they’re a great defense. There were some critical situations – you look at the end of the half where we hit (WR) Robert Woods, that gets us a field goal. Then the pass to (WR) Cooper (Kupp) was another situation that ended up being critical conversions for us that got us field goal in both those situations that ended up being the difference in winning and losing. I was really pleased with Jared and the rest of the offense for executing there.”

(On Goff’s play success rate increasing weekly since the Dolphins game and what that says about him and the offense)
“Yeah, it says that he’s doing a great job with his preparation. There was never a question of whether he was capable of handling it that way or not. I think he and (Offensive Coordinator) Kevin (O’Connel) have done an excellent job getting prepared, having ownership of the plan, and then ultimately when those situations and scenarios present themselves, let’s go make the play, lets execute. Let’s have great communication amongst your teammates. That’s exactly what he’s done really each of the last two weeks in those specific moments that you’re talking about. I think it’s been imperative for us to be able to be efficient offensively and very, very pleased with that. And now we’ve got to see it continue.”

(On a lack of holding calls called against Donald and if it’s a problem, does he make a case to league about)
“Here’s what I would say. You know, Aaron, Donald, there’s, there’s the letter of the law, there’s the exact way that it’s worded in terms of in the rule book and how it’s officiated. Aaron is one of those guys that if you really watched it closely, with how disruptive he is, you could probably get one on him every single play. I think he’s that special. It’s something that we do monitor. I think it’s my job to make sure that I’m making the officials aware. They’ve been great communicating with me really, all the crews that we’ve had have done a great job communicating with me throughout the course of games. But I look at it as that’s my role and responsibility to make sure that ahead of the games that you’re able to kind of point out and anticipate some of those things that might present themselves, specifically for a player like Aaron. And then we just continue to play. Then if there’s ever any gray, we send those into the league to get clarity on how things are being officiated, how they saw it. But we’ll never make excuses. We play the next snap and I know that’s exactly how Aaron’s wired and that’s why I love him so much.”

(On if he has sent any plays into the league)
“We do that every week if there’s certain ones dependent upon if we are looking for clarity on something that was called against us, maybe not called. There’s a bunch of different reasons why we do that, but it’s all about educational purposes and making sure that coaches and players are all on the same page.”

(On specific calls regarding Donald being submitted to the league)
“There has been some that the crews have mentioned that there were some missed calls and the League Office has done a great job being able to kind of give us clarity on some of those. I think it’s really difficult to officiate a game with all the moving parts. I think they’ve done a nice job and I appreciate the clarity when we do send those things in.”

(On if Kiser’s injury is a one-game injury and if LB Troy Reeder steps into that role)
“He (LB Troy Reeder) will. We’re figuring that out right now, whether it’s one week, whether it’s two weeks. I don’t know the extent of how long he’ll be out. I do think it would be surprising if he was available to go this week.”

(On how Reeder has evolved)
“I think the good thing is when you go back to last year, he got a lot of meaningful snaps. You look at our three inside backers, they’re youthful players, but now all of them have gotten really good experience with, with Micah, with Troy, with (LB) Kenny (Young) I do have a lot of confidence in Troy to step in and seamlessly handle the job. (He has) great athleticism and I think he’s really done a great job of preparing himself for when his opportunities do come up. He was ready to go against Washington. I thought last year, he definitely demonstrated as a rookie, it wasn’t too big for him where he started a handful of games at Mike linebacker and played a significant amount of snaps. Expect him to step in and do a great job for us this week as well.”

(On how he makes sure his team stays focused)
“We haven’t beat them. They’ve beat us three straight times. You flip on the film and I don’t care who’s playing, who’s not, they find a way to compete and do a great job. I think our team has a good focus resolve right now. We know what a great challenge it is and we know how well we have to play to be able to come away with a win. I’m not in the least bit concerned about our players focusing concentration. There’s too much respect for the opponent for us to have any sort of lapse.”

(On his favorite Thanksgiving dish)
“Whatever my mom puts in front of me, or Veronika, I’m pretty easy. My mom’s always made a good broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese. I’m pretty easy. I’m not too high maintenance when it comes to food.”

(On OLB Ogbonnia Okoronkwo returning)
“His 21-day clock starts now. I would be surprised if this week was a possibility. I think it’s good just to be able to get them out there and get them going, get some work, get his legs underneath him, get his wind back. He’s going to add a boost to us with the juice that he has coming off the edge. I know he’s anxiously awaited the opportunity to get back on the field. He’s done everything in his power to take care of himself and attack the rehab process. It’s good to be able to see him back out there. When he gets back, it’ll be somewhere between now and the next 21 days. I can guarantee that.”

***

QB Jared Goff

(On if he has a better grasp of the 49ers defense heading into the second matchup)
“Yeah, I think so. I think anytime you play a team once, you get a good look at them and have a good feeling. I mean, they’re going to probably do something a little bit different than they did the first week. Most teams tend to every week, just have a different plan for different teams. We’ll pull a little bit off of the experience from the first game. But we’ll be ready and be ready to go on Sunday.”

(On the 49ers secondary)
“Yeah, they’ve done a really good job, especially with (49ers CB Richard) Sherman’s absence for most of the season, stepping up and making plays. I think (CB Jason) Verrett’s having one of his best seasons ever. They’re all playing really well. They play in sync, they communicate well and you can tell that they are all on the same page and it’ll be a good challenge for us, for sure.”

(On if he’s surprised about how tough the division is)
“Am I surprised? No. I mean, we kind of came into the year, knowing every team got a little bit better and every team is going to be good and a tough game. These division ones are the ones you need. These guys have taken care of us three in a row now. Hopefully, we can buck that trend this game.”

(On what’s been working to be able to counter the blitz)
“I think the Miami game gave us some perspective in what we need to be better at, what I need to be better at. Was able to have that Bye Week to reflect on it and really figure out what, how I wanted to get better. I think likewise as a team, we were able to figure out offensively how we want to attack it differently. Since then, we’ve done a good job with it. It’s been a point of emphasis and usually with smart guys on offense, when we do that, we do a pretty good job and we emphasize stuff and it’s been great. We still have a lot of room to improve in it. I think there’s still some opportunities out there for us. When they do want to bring the zero blitz, is what we’ve been getting a lot of, but any blitz in general, there’s always a lot of opportunities. I think just continue to get better on them.”

(On the feeling it brings when he knows he can kill a blitz)
“Just like any other play, honestly, it’s what I expect to do and what we expect to do as an offense. It’s nothing usually that we haven’t seen and something we’ve practiced and something we’ve repped and something we’re ready for. When we do it, it’s just like how we would do it in practice and expect you to on game day.”

(On if he’s found any similarities with losing the last three games against San Francisco)
“All different, all different. I think that first one last year, it was a pretty good wake up call to what they were doing, obviously not what we were doing. I think since then, they’ve been both close games that could’ve been either way. They’ve gotten our number though for the last three times, like you mentioned, hopefully we can buck that trend this week.”

(On being undefeated at SoFi Stadium)
“It’s our home now. We feel very at home there. It’s a fun stadium to play in. It’s really cool. I can’t wait for fans to be in there and get that thing rocking. It’s a place we feel really comfortable, absolutely.”

(On RB Cam Akers scoring his first NFL touchdown Sunday)
“I mean, it was a play that we’ve repped and a play that he’s repped a whole bunch. We feel really confident with him. He has great hands, he can catch the ball in the backfield, he can make plays after the catch. That’s part of the reason that we like him. That play is a part of that, and he’s done a great job in practice with that play, just calling it in a game is no different. Then it played out, maybe a little bit easier than our practice reps have been honestly and he was able to make the catch.”

(On his personal experience playing against Sherman)
“I’ve played a bunch against him, two times a year it feels like for my whole career. I think he’s always where he’s supposed to be, he’s never making any schematic mistakes, he’s always around the ball, he’s always able to play the ball in the air and he’s a lot faster than people give him credit for even though he’s getting older. He’s a great corner, he’s going to be a Hall of Fame corner when it’s all said and done. If he does play this week, we’ll be ready.”

(On the win at Tampa Bay)
“Yeah, it was a big win. It was a road win, it’s against a good team in the NFC on Monday night. A game that’s been kind of on the calendar for everyone for a while. The implications of it, with a top team in the NFC, it could end up being important. We don’t know right now, but it’s a big win to keep our momentum and keep our confidence in the right direction. We felt great about it.”

(On what he had to do at the end personally to get the win).
“That’s part of my job, is to go down and put a drive together when we need it. If it wasn’t for a few mistakes, I probably wouldn’t have had to. With my own mistakes, probably wouldn’t have had to. I thought our defense made some great stops, even with us going down and kicking a field goal, our defense still had to stop Tom Brady from driving down the field and making a play and they did and it was a full team effort. It was a full team effort. Obviously, we feel good about that field goal being the winner. It was a full team effort the whole game.”

(On if he prefers, in one way or another, being in the spotlight or being the underdogs)
“Personally, I like to be the underdog, just because I think it’s a little bit more fun to shut people up. But no, I think as a team, our mentality, I don’t think we really care what people think about us or say about us.”

(On the rhythm that builds with WR Cooper Kupp and WR Robert Woods)
“Yeah, its great. I think we were a little bit more intentional about it this week, with the way (Head Coach) Sean (McVay) was calling the game and the way the ball was getting distributed there. That was great. Those are two of our playmakers and guys we want to get the ball to a little bit more often and we were able to and you see what happens. I mean, those guys look as good as they’ve looked all year and it’s exciting. It’s hopefully the beginning of an uphill trajectory at this point and they’re playing with the ball and we’re excited about it.”

Patrick Sullivan from Facebook

Biden has won in Michigan so many times he’s now required to call himself Ohio State.