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znModerator47 articles (posted and/or linked)…and that’s just this thread (there are some solo articles on this game in their own threads).
So far.
That’s not counting the vids.
znModeratorAaron Donald focused on stopping run first, rushing Drew Brees second
Aaron Donald focused on stopping run first, rushing Drew Brees second
Jared Goff not worried about Superdome noise: ‘When it’s loud, we love it’
When Sean McVay’s Rams get a 2nd-half lead, they’re practically unbeatable
When Sean McVay's Rams get a 2nd-half lead, they're practically unbeatable
4 bold predictions for Rams vs. Saints
4 bold predictions for Rams vs. Saints
4 keys to NFC championship game for Rams against Saints
4 keys to NFC championship game for Rams against Saints
Todd Gurley, C.J. Anderson timeshare embodies ‘We Not Me’ motto of Rams
znModeratorTher’s before the bye Goff.
There’s slump Goff.
There’s since the slump Goff.
What will we see?
This thread has less traction than I was expecting.
Chip in here. Tell us what you think.
I don’t know…it could be anything. (Yeah I know, real helpful.) I don’t know if I expect pre-bye level Goff back until next year. If I;m the Saints I sell out against the run and dare Goff to win it.
znModeratorQuotes & Notes 1/18: Why have the Rams performed well on the road under McVay?
Mutual respect among Gurley, Anderson key to their budding partnership
https://www.therams.com/news/mutual-respect-among-gurley-anderson-key-to-their-budding-partnership
Goff seeks results in NFC title game
January 18, 2019 at 8:30 pm in reply to: Orlovolsky & Baldinger etc. on key Rams plays from the Dallas game #96877znModeratorBrian Baldinger@BaldyNFL
.@RamsNFL @cjandersonb22 bludgeoned the @dallascowboys and here are a few reasons why.If you like good old-fashioned dominant run blocking, this vid is for you.
January 18, 2019 at 8:20 pm in reply to: Orlovolsky & Baldinger etc. on key Rams plays from the Dallas game #96876znModerator.@RamsNFL @cjandersonb22 bludgeoned the @dallascowboys and here are a few reasons why. This is just good old fashioned run blocking. Flat backs , rolling their hips and moving bodies. @NFLFilmSessions #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/OI6ZhighCb
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) January 19, 2019
znModeratorNew column on the PATRIOTS MYTHS and why many of the stories you hear about the Patriots have varying degrees of truth https://t.co/gGLRJpqbPE
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) January 18, 2019
znModeratorIt will be a showdown in the secondary this Sunday where it's never easy to defend the @RamsNFL receivers, particularly @brandincooks.@GregCosell shows you a play from the last #LARvsNO game where the @Saints secondary got beaten in man coverage. #LARams #GoSaints pic.twitter.com/sOgtYdebdV
— NFL Matchup on ESPN (@NFLMatchup) January 18, 2019
znModeratorJoe Curley@vcsjoecurley
Brockers says he’s trying not to get too excited about playing in the NFC Championship game. “Really trying to act like we’ve been here before.”Rams safety John Johnson said it’s easy to get frustrated playing against a player the caliber of Michael Thomas. “We just have to think about the end goal, winning the game.”
Jared Goff on the Rams’ week of preparation ahead of the NFC Championship game. “We’ve been sharp”
Sean McVay says it’s been a routine week for the Rams, outside of increased media obligations. “You don’t need to do anything other than what we’ve done” Says team will “try to play at our highest level.”
OL Rodger Saffold, the classy locker room spokesman of the Rams 4-12 team just two years ago, on now being one win away from the Super Bowl: “There was a a lot of frustration in the past, but one thing I did hold onto was hope.”
Ian Rapoport@RapSheet
#Saints TE Ben Watson, battling appendicitis, has been in the hospital, source said. The hope is to avoid surgery and he’s done so, thus far. If that’s the case, he should be ready for the Super Bowl in what would be his final game — if NO advances.Steve Wyche@wyche89
This is a blow. Watson has been solid this season and had a strong game Week 9 vs. the RamsznModeratorThe @Chiefs "Empty" formation has been a money-maker for them all season & when they line up @cheetah & @traviskelce as the inside receivers they have clearly defined tendencies. @GregCosell shows what the @Patriots will have to deal with.#ChiefsKingdom #GoPats #NEvsKC pic.twitter.com/iAFrco4jCE
— NFL Matchup on ESPN (@NFLMatchup) January 18, 2019
znModeratorBate@NoPlanB_
Kind of a wild stat (imo), but if Todd Gurley rushes for 100 yards against the Saints on Sunday, he’ll join Arian Foster as the only RB’s in NFL history to rush for 100 yards in each of their first three playoff gamesJ.B. Long@JB_Long
The Saints allowed the 2nd-highest Total QBR on play-action passes this season (87), according to ESPN.As we know, the #LARams have constructed an offense predicated on play-action, and Goff used it on a career-high percentage of his throws last week vs DAL.
znModeratorAround The NFL@AroundTheNFL
BREAKING: Cowboys part ways with offensive coordinator Scott LinehanznModeratorAlvin Kamara working as a Trash Man today in New Orleans. Each Tuesday of the season, Alvin works a blue-collar trade job.
Credit: @larry_murrow pic.twitter.com/Q9wdEUXAsC
— L_George (@dynasty_idp) January 17, 2019
znModeratorThe Washington Post@washingtonpost
For all of their greatness, the Patriots haven’t won a road playoff game since 2007znModerator.@TomPelissero provides an in-depth look at the keys to Sean McVay's, Sean Payton's differing offensive methods https://t.co/DSH9D44e1h pic.twitter.com/d1ztT97xKs
— Lakisha Jackson (@LakishaJackson) January 18, 2019
January 18, 2019 at 10:47 am in reply to: "back to the trenches" … & more on the Rams OL, including a good 1 on Kromer #96858znModeratorHow Aaron Kromer has Rams offensive line surging at precisely the right time
His emphasis on communication has helped the unit pave the way to successRYAN KARTJE
Aaron Kromer was mid-flight, somewhere between New Orleans and San Francisco, when his best shot at an NFL head coaching job slipped away, unbeknownst to him.
It was January 2012, and the Saints were set to play the 49ers that Sunday in the divisional round. In his third season as the Saints offensive line coach, Kromer had built one of the NFL’s most stalwart fronts. His impressive work garnered the attention of teams around the league, none more so than the St. Louis Rams, who reached out to schedule an interview for their head coaching vacancy.
But the interview, set for the next day in San Francisco, was cancelled before Kromer’s plane landed. When Rams executives arrived, there were messages waiting from the coach they’d already offered the position. Jeff Fisher had accepted the job.
Through the tumultuous few years that came after that, Kromer continued on as offensive line coach, plugging away through the Bountygate chaos in New Orleans, through locker room unrest in Chicago and an off-the-field incident in Buffalo, until an opportunity finally arose to join the team for which he was meant to interview, four years before.
Now, as the Rams stand on the brink of a Super Bowl berth, no assistant is more crucial to the L.A. offense than Kromer, whose offensive line has been one of the best in the league again this season.
No team has graded better in run blocking than the Rams, according to Pro Football Focus, while only four teams have graded better in pass-blocking situations. With the Saints dominant defensive front on tap, no unit is arguably more vital to the Rams offensive success in Sunday’s NFC championship game than the line.
Never was that more apparent than last week’s playoff victory over the Cowboys. The Rams offensive line dominated the Cowboys’ ferocious front seven, steamrolling them for a season-high 273 rushing yards. It was a tour de force performance for the Rams line, which found a way to exploit every imaginable vulnerability in a Cowboys defensive line that hadn’t otherwise showed any all season.
“Coach Kromer was definitely the center point of all that happening,” left tackle Andrew Whitworth said.
The foundation for such a performance – and the masterful gameplan that preceded it – was forged two years before, when Kromer arrived in L.A. to inherit one of the league’s worst offensive lines. That offseason, the Rams signed veterans in Whitworth and center John Sullivan to fortify the front – two signings that would help change the entire culture of the team. But the most important shift up front was more subtle than that.
Kromer knew from experience that any unit that struggled to communicate was doomed to fail. During his final season in New Orleans, as the team tried to stay afloat amid suspensions to Sean Payton and other coaches stemming from Bountygate, Kromer was named interim coach for six games. The Saints lost their first four games under his watch, as Kromer scrambled to deal with a chaotic situation.
“The difficult part was the situation more than the job,” Kromer said. “The coach was suspended, and he was coming back, and (interim coach) Joe Vitt was coming back, too. I hadn’t coached the preseason. The continuity was not there.”
From the start, Kromer set a different tone in the Rams offensive line room. He encourages constant conversation, with different linemen constantly chiming in on what they see.
“I don’t preach,” Kromer said. “We talk. We communicate. I think that’s where you can gain more knowledge about a defense, when you’re openly talking about it. Somebody might see something and think it means something, and it doesn’t. If they verbalize and don’t have to be afraid of being wrong, you can be right a lot more often. That’s the number-one thing. Guys are afraid in a lot of rooms to make a mistake. We want people to talk.”
Not every room is so simpatico. But in the Rams offensive line room, the conversation is “especially easy,” Kromer says. Most often, it’s led by Whitworth or Sullivan, both of whom are encyclopedic in their football knowledge. But “everyone feels comfortable contributing,” Sullivan says. Together, for hours every week, they search for exploitable tendencies on tape – in scheme, in technique, in pre-snap movements and everything in between – each sharing their thoughts amongst the group
“It’s an open forum,” Sullivan continued. “And because of that, everyone feels an ownership over what they’re doing.”
When the room studies an opposing team’s film, Kromer often goes from position to position on defense to explain why the play unfolds as it does, rather than outlining how. This notion is central to Kromer’s approach. “I’d never watched the safety to figure out an alignment before,” says rookie tackle Joe Noteboom. But in the room, Kromer is deliberate in explaining the precise machinations of a defense’s choices.
“If they don’t know why, they can’t make the adjustments,” Kromer says. “Everything is about why. The beauty is all the millennials want to know why. It works out perfectly.”
Last week, in the locker room following their win over the Cowboys, one of those millennial linemen offered some insight into exactly why the Rams’ plans to dominate Dallas’ defensive front worked so well. Right guard Austin Blythe told reporters after the game that the Rams offensive line had figured out specific tells that told them what the Cowboys front would do before they did it. With that knowledge, the Rams were able to run all over them.
The rest of the Rams line was less forthcoming when asked about it. “That’s a big part of what we do every week in the NFL,” Whitworth said – and Blythe clammed up when asked to explain his post-game evaluation. But even a cursory watch of last Saturday’s victory would suggest that the Rams’ offensive line had the Cowboys figured out from the start.
Recreating that masterful game plan, with a Super Bowl bid on the line, will be no easy task against a Saints defense that ranked third in the league in rush defense DVOA. But in the offensive line room, that conversation has been ongoing all week.
Without Kromer, his linemen say, it may never have gotten started.
“I can’t say enough about the job that Kromer’s done,” Whitworth said. “Really, just how amazing of a coach he’s been all season long. It never ceases to really amaze me. Every single week, it’s like something happens, whether it’s a high or a low – how he handles it, how he, really, directs our group. He’s a tremendous football coach and somebody in this league that I think deserves a ton of respect for the job he does.”
Perhaps, in light of his line’s tremendous play this season, that respect will lead to another job interview in the near future. Though, he’s not so sure about that.
“Guys that are calling pass plays get head coaching jobs,” Kromer said. “So if it happens, it happens.”
But with the underappreciated Rams front playing its best football of the season, that certainly seems like a conversation worth having.
“This is a great job I have with Sean McVay,” Kromer said. “He makes sense. Football makes sense. We learn so much together every day, and this team we’ve all put together, win, lose or draw, just working with these guys, it’s an ideal situation.”
znModeratorznModeratorGet ready L.A., the Rams are headed to the Super Bowl
BILL PLASCHKE
https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-rams-saints-plaschke-20190117-story.html
Get ready L.A., the Rams are headed to the Super Bowl
You could see it last Saturday night at the Coliseum, where dozens of blue stars lay flattened on the muddy turf.
The Rams didn’t just beat the Dallas Cowboys. They ran them into the ground.
“I think we kind of feel like we were born for this moment,’’ tackle Andrew Whitworth said.
You could feel it this week in Thousand Oaks, where giants are moving about with sturdy assurance, speaking with quiet conviction, acting like they know they belong.
The Rams aren’t scared of their biggest game in many seasons. They’re embracing it.
“We’re getting back to getting hot and feeling good about ourselves,’’ Whitworth said.
You know how, at a Hollywood party, there’s always at least one person in the room that handles themself with such magnetic conviction, you just know their next project is going to be a hit?
That’s the Rams right now.
The New Orleans Saints feature a future hall of fame quarterback, the NFL’s best wide receiver and an unrelenting running game. Stopping the explosive Saints is objective number one for the Rams in Sunday’s NFC championship game.
The Rams are so ready for Sunday’s NFC championship game against the New Orleans Saints, they’re walking around smiling as if they know something we don’t.
Except we do.
They’re a better team than the one that lost to the Saints by 10 points almost three months ago.
They have better players. They have healthier players. They have players who literally have been through the fire and come out the other end.
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“I think this team is a lot more confident than that one,’’ Whitworth said. “l feel like right now, we’re our best version of ourselves.”This version wins this game. This version puts Los Angeles in the Super Bowl for the first time in 35 years.
It might be considered a jinx to predict a Rams victory, but this jazzed-up version of the Rams is more powerful than voodoo, as the folks in New Orleans will discover when the outsiders go marching in Sunday and knock the Saints more senseless than a frat boy on Bourbon Street.
The Rams will win, and here’s five reasons why they’re all dat.
(One reason for every New Orleans cliché in the previous two paragraphs)
These Rams have two Todd Gurleys
Back in November, the Saints held the Rams to 92 yards rushing, with Gurley gaining only 68 in 13 carries.
This time you can double that, with C.J. Anderson joining the Rams backfield to form a duo that crushed the Cowboys for 273 yards rushing. Anderson, who was on somebody’s bench most of the season, has run for 134 yards a game since joining the Rams three games ago. Now that Gurley is sound and unselfishly sharing, it’s hard to imagine even the formidable Saints defense slowing them down.
Said Anderson: “I’m the freshest running back in the league.’’
Said Gurley: “It doesn’t matter who’s making plays, as long as we win, honestly I could care less.”
The only thing this duo lacks is a nickname.
“I didn’t know you can have a nickname after one week together,’’ Gurley said.
Sure you can! “Ram Sandwich!’’
Or maybe not.
These Rams have one Aqib Talib
Their veteran cornerback and former Super Bowl champion sat out the first meeting because of an ankle injury, and his fellow cornerback Marcus Peters was owned by the Saints’ Michael Thomas.
That won’t happen again. Talib probably will cover Thomas, and that changes everything. Just ask Saints coach Sean Payton.
“Well, I think it’s significant,’’ Payton told reporters this week. “I think there’s a leadership element — a guy with a ton of playoff experience … he’s an extremely, extremely smart player.’’
With Talib off the field, Rams opponents’ passer rating is 108.6. When he plays, that rating drops to 69.0. He’s playing Sunday. Enough said.
These Rams are like, noise, what noise?
The Saints biggest home-field advantage at the Superdome lies in the overwhelming crowd that creates incredible pressure.
But the Rams have been there, heard that, felt that.
They’ve already played there twice this season, including the preseason, so they’re accustomed to the sound.
‘’We learned some good things — how to operate there and how to do some things in the noise,’’ said quarterback Jared Goff.
And considering what they’ve been through since that first game — including the tragic fires and shooting in the Thousand Oaks community — they’re used to the heat.
“I think those weeks where we were evacuated and had to deal with a lot of the tragedy that was going on … those two or three weeks right there were probably the glue that kind of brought us together, I guess,’’ Goff said.
Saints fans can shake the house for four hours, but here’s guessing the Rams are not going to rattle.
These Rams have that second half
Do you remember how, back in November, once the Rams calmed they outplayed the Saints in the final 30 minutes and nearly pulled off a memorable comeback?
The Rams haven’t forgotten.
They outscored the Saints 18-10. They outgained them 239-174. As usual, Rams coach Sean McVay made smart adjustments and midway through the fourth quarter the score was tied at 35-35.
But the comeback from a 21-point deficit required all of their steam, and after Thomas scored on a 72-yard pass over Peters, the Rams had nothing left.
“Just mimic the second half of that game,’’ said receiver Robert Woods when asked about a strategy for Sunday. “We were down 21, trailing, and I think that from that point, I think that’s the kind of football we have to play. Attack them, be ourselves.’’
They might fall behind again this time. But it won’t be as big, and it won’t be for long.
These Rams have Los Angeles
When they lost to the Saints on Nov. 4, it was their first blemish in nine games, and yet they immediately became part of this city’s sporting gloom.
On the same day, the Lakers lost for the sixth time in 10 games with LeBron James and the Kings fired then-coach John Stevens. A day earlier, the USC and UCLA football teams fell to combined 7-11. A week earlier, the Dodgers had just blown another World Series.
It was as if the Rams had fallen off the map like everyone else … until two weeks later, when they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs on a Monday night while honoring the victims of the recent tragedies.
Since then, they’ve slowly recaptured the buzz that has filled the airwaves with Rams chatter, filled their press room with Rams media and now even can be seen on the streets with that ultimate show of Los Angeles sports love — the car flag.
The city now is behind them. They saw it and felt it Saturday in a packed Coliseum, and now they’re carrying that fire with them into a game they should and will win.
“It doesn’t feel like, ‘Oh man, we’ve got to go get lucky or we’ve got to have something go our way,’’’ Whitworth said. “I think we feel like, ‘Hey, how can we go out this week, play the best game we can possibly play and see where it all stacks up when it’s over?’’’
He smiled the smile of someone who knows something you don’t.
“We’ll just go down swinging,’’ he said.
I’m calling it right now. A home run.
January 18, 2019 at 9:22 am in reply to: Ndamukong Suh finally makes his presence felt with the Rams #96854znModeratorNdamukong Suh finally looks like player who can help Rams tackle Saints
GARY KLEIN
https://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-saints-20190117-story.html
The Rams gave Ndamukong Suh a one-year, $14-million contract to add another dominant presence to their defensive line.
It appeared to be a solid, if unspectacular investment during the regular season. Suh stood out at times, but as part of a front that featured star Aaron Donald he was not a game-changer.
He looks like one now.
Suh goes into the NFC championship game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday coming off a starring role in the Rams’ divisional-round playoff victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
The New Orleans Saints feature a future hall of fame quarterback, the NFL’s best wide receiver and an unrelenting running game. Stopping the explosive Saints is objective number one for the Rams in Sunday’s NFC championship game.
The 6-foot-4, 305-pound Suh set the tone by stopping NFL rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott for no gain on the Cowboys’ first play. He also helped stuff Elliott on a key fourth-down play in the fourth quarter. Suh finished with four tackles, one for a loss, and two hits on quarterback Dak Prescott in the 30-22 victory.
It was Suh’s best game of the season, coach Sean McVay said.
“You could see, he had a look in his eyes where he was ready to go,” McVay said. “It showed up with the way that he played throughout the course of the night.”
Suh, a five-time Pro Bowl player in his ninth NFL season, said “playoff football” provided the impetus.
“It’s always a goal for me to prove that I’m an elite player,” he said. “It was a platform to do that.”
Suh also had a financial incentive.
According to overthecap.com, his contract includes a bonus of $500,000 for playing 65% of the snaps and making the playoffs, a figure that increased to $750,000 for winning a playoff game and could rise to as much as $1 million if the Rams win two playoff games.
The Rams would be thrilled to pay the maximum if they defeat the Saints and advance to the Feb. 3 Super Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“One of the ultimate goals and one of the reasons why I signed here was to have an opportunity to play in the postseason,” Suh said. “I felt this team had some of the right pieces and I would be a good addition to it.”
The Rams already had traded for cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib when the Miami Dolphins released Suh in March after the third year of six-year $114-million contract that guaranteed $60 million.
Suh, who played his first five seasons with the Detroit Lions, met with the Saints and coach Sean Payton as he shopped for his next team. But the Rams wooed Suh with the prospect of playing in Los Angeles, which offered diverse post-football opportunities and the chance to join an up-and-coming team.
The pairing of Suh with reigning NFL defensive player of the year Aaron Donald was regarded as, potentially, one of the most dominant inside defensive presences in NFL history.
But it took time for defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and defensive line coach Bill Johnson to meld Suh with Donald, defensive lineman Michael Brockers and other players.
“The whole defense, that’s what you do is try to get a feel for what they really do well, what their strengths are, and if they have some weakness, try not to put them in those situations,” Phillips said.
Donald, with 20½ sacks, is on his way to another defensive player of the year award. Suh had 4½ sacks.
The two linemen communicate well and played well together all season, Donald said. And Suh asserted himself against the Cowboys.
“It’s a big game, big stage and he made his plays when plays presented themselves,” Donald said. “That’s what you expect from your guys. That’s why he’s here, to make plays like that for us and win big games and he did that.”
Now the Rams have their biggest game since the franchise returned to Los Angeles in 2016, and it offers a chance to avenge a defeat at the Superdome.
On Nov. 4, the Rams suffered their first loss of the season. The Saints led 35-17 at halftime before the Rams rallied to tie the score at 35 in the fourth quarter. The Saints added a field goal and a long touchdown pass to win, 45-35.
But Rams players left the building feeling they would win a rematch.
“It’s a good template that we can look at,” Suh said of the first game. “Overall we need to be focused on starting a lot faster, tackling. … It’s the playoffs, I’m sure they’re going to have some things that we haven’t seen before up their sleeves so we’ll be ready.”
Suh appears primed for another big game after his performance against the Cowboys.
“We’re pleased with that,” Phillips said, “and we expect more from him.”
So does Suh, who said he was his “harshest critic,” despite McVay’s praise.
“Sean may of seen it as one of my best games,” he said, “but I got a lot more in the tank.”
Suh said he has dreamed about what it would be like to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time.
“I get chills thinking about it so I’m excited,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Etc.
The Rams have a giant temporary tent structure set up in the players’ parking lot, but the rain let up Thursday so they practiced on their grass field. Last week, with rain in the forecast, the Rams had considered traveling to a locale with an indoor facility but decided against it, McVay said. “When you start to explore the options, to actually think about having to go off-site and have the players leave their families and their kids — and the coaches as well — earlier, we felt like that wasn’t going to give us the reward,” he said. “We wanted to be able to keep our normal rhythm and routine, even if we did have to practice in the rain. The tent was a result of once we made that decision that we weren’t going to explore any of those other options. It would have to be so far that we would have to travel.”
znModeratorAFC Championship Game preview: Is it time for the Chiefs to take what has so often been the Patriots' crown? https://t.co/ltd7AnzYSs pic.twitter.com/oMasHXFOw7
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) January 18, 2019
znModeratorLamar Hunt called it “buzzard’s luck”—the kicking woes, miscues and injuries that fueled years of postseason failure in Kansas City. @GregBishopSI on the Chiefs’ playoff misery, and why it all feels different this year https://t.co/1tRql0kXlc
— The MMQB (@theMMQB) January 18, 2019
znModeratorThe Patriots did what no other team did this season: They kept the league’s fastest-starting offense from getting into the end zone in the first half.
How’d they do it? And what can they repeat in order to slow down Patrick Mahomes at Arrowhead? https://t.co/dKvKSG3qKx
— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) January 17, 2019
znModeratorPro Football Writers@PFWAwriters
Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who oversaw a Bears defense that led the NFL in takeaways and interceptions and included three PFWA All-NFL selections and one PFWA All-Rookie pick, was selected as the 2018 NFL Assistant Coach of the Year.znModeratorRobert Woods@robertwoods
Robert Woods Retweeted Los Angeles Rams
Let’s Gooo!!!Downtown Rams@DowntownRams
Jared Goff has been sacked 39 more times while in the shotgun than under center.Joe Curley@vcsjoecurley
Robert Woods says although the Saints gave the Rams their first loss of the season, that feels like last year. “They’re in our way.”Aqib Talib says “we’re all going to bring something different” to this meeting with the Saints –
Downtown Rams@DowntownRams
Oh don’t hit Jared Goff with that road narrative this week:Home: 12-8, 63 CMP%, 5,272 YDs, 33 TDs, 12 INTs, 97.2 RTG, 7.9 Y/A, 48 Sacks
Road: 13-6, 60 CMP%, 4,309 YDs, 32 TDs, 14 INTs, 91.8 RTG, 7.4 Y/A, 36 Sacks
Is he better at home? Sure. He’s not bad on the road. #Rams
==
No running back lined up in the slot more than Todd Gurley in 2018 pic.twitter.com/1NtrNM9EbB
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) January 18, 2019
znModeratorMcVay trusts preparation, gut feel when being aggressive in situational football
Quotes & Notes 1/17: Phillips, Rams defense turns attention to Brees
https://www.therams.com/news/quotes-notes-1-17-phillips-rams-defense-turns-attention-to-brees
Whitworth: “I think we kind of feel like we were born for this moment and this opportunity.”
Rams’ Jared Goff against Saints’ Drew Brees is full of superlatives
Ndamukong Suh makes his presence felt as Rams push for Super Bowl
‘We learn as we go’: Wade Phillips says how he put Marcus Peters in a bad spot against Michael Thomas
What Jared Goff learned from Drew Brees, and will it matter with a Super Bowl spot on the line?
Next challenge for Saints’ run defense: The Rams emergent 2-headed RB attack
==
A quarterback has never won a NFC championship at age 24 (or younger). You’re up, Jared Goff. https://t.co/Y5bocpUUNS
— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) January 18, 2019
znModeratorI think that if the Rams win it will not be because of an outstanding game by Goff it will because the defense and/or ST will have played well enough to get the Rams offense at least one extra possession. I see Goff as the same way as I saw Bulger. That’s not to say I think that they have the same physical traits or style. I think that, like Bulger, Goff is capable of putting up some good stats from time-to-time, but usually it’s going to be about him not doing anything stupid to give the game away. As long as Leonard Little or Aaron Donald gets a few sacks, or forces a turnover or two. Bulger/Goff can be depended on to throw a couple of beautiful passes to win help win. A nice onside kick by Wilkins, or a fake punt by Hekker might be needed to get an extra possession as well.
I have a much higher estimation of Goff than you do. I think he’s better in terms of raw pure talent than Bulger, and I liked Bulger. (In fact it also sounds like I might have a higher estimation of Bulger than you do.)
Now it may take the off-season for him to shake off whatever’s going on now and return to the high level we saw from him before the bye. But it’s not unusual for a third year qb to stumble.
…
znModeratorC) Since slump Goff
Okay. Do you personally think that’s good enough to win on the road against the Saints?
znModeratorRich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, on his son, Wes, who is Washington’s tight ends coach: “Wes is a young offensive coach who knows Sean McVay, if anyone is looking for a head coach.”Joe Curley@vcsjoecurley
Joking aside, Phillips said he was connected to McVay through his son Wes, who coached with McVay in Washington. “Wes told me all about him. All the great things about him, Wes had already said. He said he was going to be a great head coach and really had command of a room.”McVay says the Rams will try to practice outside today, despite the rain, but the tent is an option, if needed. Says the Rams won’t let the weather be an excuse this week.
Rams DC Wade Phillips says Drew Brees isn’t just one of the best of all-time, he’s having one of his best seasons. “You’ve got to be able to play your technique really well.”
Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
Rams coach Sean McVay, reminded that the last 10 conference championship games have been won by the home team: “Nice. So we shouldn’t show up then, probably.”znModeratorHow the Rams Win the Super Bowl
From that one:
Protect Jared Goff
Obvious, right? This actually goes hand in hand with the Rams sticking to the run. Establishing Gurley, Anderson and a ground game is Step 1 to taking pressure off Goff under the bright lights. The extension to that, however, is simply keeping Goff in a clean pocket. We’ve seen that a commitment to the run can help the Rams overcome Goff’s so-so outings (see: Cowboys playoff game) and even his worst ones (see: Broncos, Lions games), but at the end of the day, you still have to be ready to help your QB if the game comes down to him.
The numbers don’t showcase the need for protecting Goff quite as cleanly, because you’ll see that some of his finest performances of 2018 actually came when he endured multiple sacks. For example, his four-touchdown showing vs. the Chiefs in November’s famous 54-51 shootout included five sacks. But the eye test says otherwise. Anyone who witnessed the former No. 1 overall pick against the Bears or the Eagles late in the regular season saw a rattled leader, if not a skittish one. And the fact that Goff ranks second to last in the NFL in terms of total QB fumbles (13) doesn’t necessarily bode well for any postseason pressure he faces.
“Protecting” him, of course, goes beyond just the offensive line, which stood its ground against a formidable Dallas front to kick off the playoffs. It’s a responsibility that also lies in the hands of McVay, who’ll need to get spicy if he’s scheming against New Orleans’ overachieving front four — and especially Bill Belichick’s Pats defense.znModeratorOne lesson from a look at how the contenders were built: invest in the line.
11 of the top 15 cap numbers for the Rams, Saints and Chiefs are linemen. @AlbertBreer digs deep, in the Game Plan https://t.co/Wq1BNcdvbW pic.twitter.com/ZidMIM8Zjx
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 17, 2019
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