#LARams Tight Ends Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett have been as reliable as anybody could ask for in the passing game this season

Among TEs with at least 40 targets, Higbee (T-1st) and Everett (5th) both rank in the Top 5 of TEs in terms of lowest Drop Rates in 2019 pic.twitter.com/cr9uWLww1g

— PFF LA Rams (@PFF_Rams) December 6, 2019

FredsDryer

I firmly believe that the Rams will win this game but it will not be determined until the final drive, MAYBE the drive before. If recent history has any bearing, the last 3 games each team averaged 31 points and the point difference for the 3 games total was 7. Insane.

Pretty sure that AD is the one player Wilson is truly scared of.

—

zn

My editorial addition to that (in reference to AD scaring RW):

King Willie : There’s no stopping what can’t be stopped, no killing what can’t be killed. You can’t see the eyes of the demon, until him come callin’.

ProFootballTalk@ProFootballTalk
Cowboys will now yell, scream, pout, etc. and Jerry Jones will talk about how they can still win the Super Bowl and then they will lose to the Rams next week.

"We know the team, they know us and we are going to go out there and do our job." – @AaronDonald97 pic.twitter.com/87dR7zIZYs

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 6, 2019

Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
“He said it, I didn’t,” – Todd Gurley, on Sean McVay’s comments yesterday that he’s stopped being an idiot and has increased Gurley’s workload.

How Rams coach Sean McVay is handling his biggest challenge yet

Lindsey Thiry

https://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/41094/how-rams-coach-sean-mcvays-handling-his-biggest-challenge-yet

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — “Hold up!” a loud voice echoed inside the Los Angeles Rams locker room, after a celebratory postgame cheer.

John Fassel, the Rams’ special teams coordinator, stepped to the middle of the room.

“When you talk about adversity, we’ve got a great leader, who always carries us through the highs and the lows,” Fassel hollered in Rams coach Sean McVay’s direction. “When it’s time to work, he keeps focused on the mission.”

Fassel handed McVay a game ball. “For everything you do,” he said.

Ten months after McVay took the Rams to Super Bowl LIII, was hailed as an offensive genius and sent teams with coaching vacancies scrambling and reaching to hire anyone remotely connected to him, the Rams’ 33-year-old coach has drifted back to reality.

The Rams are 7-5, and after winning back-to-back division titles are hoping, at best, for a wild-card playoff berth. As they prepare for a Sunday Night Football matchup against the 10-2 Seattle Seahawks (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC), the Rams have a 17.7% chance of making the postseason, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index.

From the outside, it’s easy to ask what has gone wrong, as McVay’s signature offense has unexpectedly and repeatedly stalled. Last season, the Rams’ offense was among the highest-scoring units in the NFL, averaging 26.5 points, but this season it has dropped to 17th, averaging 21.2. The defense, while often stout behind two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald, showed gaping holes in losses to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baltimore Ravens.

“I would be lying to say that this [season] hasn’t been more challenging,” McVay said. “But that’s also why there’s a motivation to make sure to do right and to use this as an opportunity to try to respond in the way that you challenge your players and everybody else to.”

McVay received a game ball after earning his first win as coach in 2017. He received a second game ball last season, after leading the Rams to their first playoff victory in 13 years.

But when Fassel stopped the celebration to acknowledge McVay, it wasn’t a historic milestone — it was merely Week 11 of the regular season, moments after the Rams delivered a gritty, much-needed win over the Chicago Bears.

That night, in front of a prime-time audience and coming off an inexplicable loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, McVay started an offensive line held together by threads, he lost receiver Robert Woods, who three hours before kickoff notified the team he would miss the game, and McVay utilized a game plan that departed from anything he’d previously shown, as they committed heavily to the run.

“The team basically gave him a game ball because he keeps pointing them in the right direction,” defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said. “He’s done a great job with that.”

Through the ups and downs, which for the first time in McVay’s career have included a plethora of injuries and personal issues that have affected the team, Rams assistants and players continue to point to what McVay is doing right.

The culture he established that helped turn around a team entrenched in mediocrity practically overnight remains intact, several players said.

“The foundation is still set,” cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman said. “Our chemistry is still on point.”

Players continue to dash from the locker room to team meetings, fearing arriving even a second late could result in a fine. And attitudes throughout the locker room remain upbeat, despite sitting at five losses — tied for the most in a single season since McVay’s arrival — with four games remaining.

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McVay often has appeared as his energetic, upbeat self. For better or worse, he has kept to his way of shouldering blame for the Rams’ shortcomings, especially on offense.

“You go through those first two years with all the success in the regular season and then, you kind of think, ‘Man, what’s it going to be like if we are not riding high at all times?'” said quarterback Jared Goff, who has passed for 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. “Now, we’re not exactly doing that, but he’s been the same guy.”

“Your normal self’s a lot easier when you’re winning every game and everyone’s telling you you’re a genius,” said offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, when asked how McVay has handled the uneven season. “He’s just as much of a genius, or just as good as a football mind this year.”

In McVay’s third season, though, he has shown a vulnerability off the field that’s a reminder that despite the overwhelming success early in his career, he’s still a first-time head coach with plenty to learn.

Days after a stunning Week 4 loss to the flailing Tampa Bay Buccaneers, McVay spoke about his stress in a way he never had before. “I’m stressed because I’m always stressed out,” he said. Days before a Week 10 loss to the Steelers, McVay appeared out of character, as his voice sounded hoarse and his eyes appeared wide. “It’s been an exciting week,” McVay said. “A lot of yelling.”

Perhaps, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when the Steelers upset the Rams 17-12 two days later.

What did come as a shock was the 45-6 shellacking delivered by the Ravens on Monday Night Football. It was the worst loss of McVay’s career. “There’s not anything good to take away from this,” McVay said. “Other than the fact that I did feel that our team continued to battle.”

Six days later and amid the chaos of a short Thanksgiving week, the Rams bounced back to deliver a drubbing of their own in a 34-7 win over the Arizona Cardinals (3-8-1).

“It’s been pretty much the same approach,” running back Todd Gurley said about McVay’s demeanor throughout the year. “Just trying to stay positive and just keep taking it game by game.”

The Rams probably need to win their next four to advance to the playoffs for a third consecutive season. It won’t be easy with games against the Seahawks, at the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers before finishing at home with the Cardinals. With McVay leading the way, there’s confidence it can be done.

“That dude is steady,” Goff said. “We feed off him.”

Goff looks, sounds like a leader. Now he has to play like one.

https://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/story/2019-12-04/dylan-hernandez-analyzes-play-of-rams-quarterback-jared-goff

It’s on him.

He’s the quarterback. He’s the player with the $134-million contract.

Jared Goff nodded.

“That’s part of the job, man,” he said. “That’s part of the job.”

Less than a year removed from playing in the Super Bowl, the Rams are in danger of missing the postseason entirely.

The Minnesota Vikings are a game ahead of them for the final wild-card spot. Overtaking them could require the Rams to win their four remaining games, beginning Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.

If Goff’s reputation was damaged by many of the previous 12 games, this final stretch offers a chance for redemption, an opportunity to justify the faith the organization placed in the former No. 1 overall pick by signing him to a nine-figure extension before the season.

With running back Todd Gurley yet to have a 100-yard game and their offensive line in shambles, the Rams desperately need Goff to perform like a franchise quarterback they are paying him to be.

While Goff still has to prove he can play the role, he has demonstrated he can at least act the part.

From the time he was drafted, Goff has always said the right things. What’s changed isn’t so much what he says, but how he says it. There’s a calmness about him that inspires confidence.

“When you’re drafted high like I was, it’s already kind of in your head you are that guy, you are the face of the franchise,” he said. “You have to carry yourself that way. Over the last four years, it’s been a maturation process and I feel like I’m getting to the point where I’m feeling really, really comfortable as that, and have been for a few years, at this point.”

Speaking at his team’s practice facility Wednesday, Goff acknowledged the obvious: He’s been inconsistent.

The NFL’s No. 8 passer last year, his rating of 84.1 this year ranks 25th in the league, right behind Mitch Trubisky of the Chicago Bears. Philip Rivers of the Chargers, whose down season has resulted in speculation that he could be benched, is two places ahead of Goff.

Goff has passed for only 13 touchdowns. He finished with 32 last season and 28 the season before that.

His numbers are down across the board. The exception: He’s already matched his 12 interceptions from last season.

“It’s just always about how you respond,” Goff said. “It’s never going to be perfect. It’s never going to be exactly how you like it. Sometimes, it’s going to be really, really good and you want to always try to be on that side of it as much as possible. But there’s times where it’s not going to go your way and that’s in football, in life, in everything, and it’s always going to be about how you respond. That’s how you’re truly judged.”

Goff enjoyed his best game of the season last week, albeit against the last-place Arizona Cardinals, who have the league’s worst pass defense. The 424-yard, two-touchdown performance ended a three-game stretch in which he didn’t pass for a single score.

The Rams’ next three games are against playoff-bound teams: at home against the Seahawks (10-2), on the road against the San Francisco 49ers (10-2) and Dallas Cowboys (6-6).

Some of Goff’s problems are byproducts of factors outside of his control. He’s had an average of 2.76 seconds to throw per pass attempt this year, compared with 2.95 in 2018 and 2.93 in 2017, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

But if the team around Goff isn’t operating as well as it has in the past, how much of it is his responsibility to make up for that?

“I would never say that it’s just on him,” coach Sean McVay said. “I think it’s always on the unit.”

Whatever is happening, Goff said he is the same.

“You try to stay within yourself,” he said. “There’s been obviously shuffling up front, but that’s no excuse, ever. We just have done a good job figuring it out in the last couple weeks, I think. We feel good. I don’t think there’s anything to look back on at this point. I think we’re moving forward and want to go beat Seattle.”

When the Rams played in Seattle in October, in Week 5, Goff moved them from their own seven-yard line to the Seahawks’ 26. Greg Zuerlein missed a 44-yard field-goal attempt with 15 seconds remaining and the Rams lost 30-29.

Reflecting on that defeat, Goff held himself accountable.

“We were able to move the ball there, but left a little bit more meat on that than we wanted to,” he said. “I think we could have got maybe a few more yards there for Greg.”

Standing at the lectern in the Rams media room, Goff looked like a leader. He sounded like a leader.

Sunday, he will have to play like one

Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
Rams DC Wade Phillips says Russell Wilson is the best off-schedule passer in the NFL.

Rams QB Jared Goff was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his Week 13 performance. Goff completed 32 of 43 passes for 424 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-7 win over the Cardinals. The last time Goff was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week was in Week 4 of 2018, when he posted a perfect passer rating in a win over the Vikings.

Sean McVay was asked today if there will be any hesitation to put Havenstein back at RT when he's healthy. It sure sounds like Bobby Evans has a good chance to stay put https://t.co/50zeWkTdMn

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) December 5, 2019

wv wrote:

Sigh. I will never quite come to terms with this BS about Gurley. He’s got a knee problem. Just say it. What is the point of all this lying.

w
v

My guess? Gurley has made it clear he does not want it talked about. No matter where it takes them they will just respect that.

.

PFF: https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-pff-stats-to-know-week-14-2019

ROBERT WOODS HAS EMERGED AS JARED GOFF’S FAVORITE TARGET OF LATE
Through the first nine weeks of the 2019 NFL season, Cooper Kupp racked 84 targets — 27 more than counterpart Robert Woods. But in the four weeks since, it’s been Woods who has seen the lion’s share of passes thrown his way. Goff has targeted Woods 34 times in that span compared to just 24 for Kupp.

ROOKIE SAFETIES SHOWED UP IN WEEK 13
Juan Thornhill, Taylor Rapp, Julian Love, Darnell Savage and Sheldrick Redwine all made their mark this past week, posting overall grades of 75.0 or higher. Thornhill notched an interception and allowed just 23 yards in coverage; Rapp had a pick and a pass breakup; Love had a stop and a forced fumble; Savage faced just one target and had one interception and Redwine had three run stops.

Rams vs. Seahawks: 4 key matchups to watch in Week 14 https://t.co/hJ4J9WBYyx

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) December 5, 2019

Rams coach Sean McVay ‘not being an idiot,’ using running back Todd Gurley more

Lindsey Thiry

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28227575/rams-coach-sean-mcvay-not-being-idiot-using-running-back-todd-gurley-more

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Todd Gurley’s role in the Los Angeles Rams’ offense has recently increased.

The reason, according to Rams coach Sean McVay, is quite simple.

“Me not being an idiot,” McVay said Wednesday.

The Rams have sputtered through a 7-5 season as McVay has been hesitant to commit to the run and eager to rely on the passing game. Gurley, once the focal point of McVay’s offense, has been relegated to a role player, sharing a portion of his workload with backups Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson Jr.

Until recently, that is.

Last Sunday, in a 34-7 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Gurley rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown in 19 carries. Two weeks earlier, Gurley tied a season high as he rushed for 97 yards in a season-best 25 carries in a 17-7 win over the Chicago Bears.

Gurley had at least 100 scrimmage yards in two of his past three games. The only other game he accumulated more than 100 scrimmage yards this season was in a Week 1 win over the Carolina Panthers.

“He’s done a nice job handling a bigger workload,” McVay said.

That should come as no surprise given Gurley is a two-time All Pro and three-time Pro Bowl selection, whom the Rams awarded a record-breaking four-year, $60 million extension, with $45 million in guarantees, before last season.

Quarterback Jared Goff chuckled when told that McVay called himself an idiot in regard to Gurley’s usage.

“He’s being hard on himself,” Goff said about McVay. “We all want to get Todd involved as much as possible. I think these last couple of weeks we’ve seen that, and good things tend to happen.”

McVay pointed to the Rams’ Week 10 loss to the Steelers as a wake-up call when it comes to Gurley, who was averaging 6.1 yards per carry but was kept on the sideline early in the fourth quarter, despite the Rams trailing 14-10. By the time Gurley was inserted late in the game, it was too late to utilize the run and the Rams lost 17-12.

“The Steelers game stands out in terms of where we were running the football well and you didn’t really give him a chance to get back going based on how that thing played out,” McVay said. “You always try to learn from your previous experiences.”

McVay denied Wednesday, as he has throughout the season, that Gurley has been on any sort of load management program.

“It has nothing to do with that,” McVay said. “It was really just, you’re just kind of working through the 2019 season — the best way to utilize all of our players and figuring out what our identity is.”

In 11 games, Gurley has averaged 58 yards in 14 carries, down from the 89 yards in 18 carries that he averaged in 2018, when he rushed for 1,251 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Gurley has rushed for 642 yards and 8 touchdowns and has caught 22 passes for 134 yards and a touchdown. He has yet to rush for more than 100 yards in a single game, something he accomplished six times in 2018.