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Longest-tenured Ram Rodger Saffold grateful for first-career playoff win
Five Takeaways: Where the Rams improved on defense to defeat Cowboys
https://www.therams.com/news/five-takeaways-where-the-rams-improved-on-defense-to-defeat-cowboys
Rams succeeding with clever offense and major toughness
https://www.apnews.com/bc797a1eab544faf99378e3264757708
Rams knock the ‘D’ out of Dallas with their offensive line
https://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-rams-cowboys-farmer-20190112-story.html
Seven Stats: Rams run wild against Cowboys, move on to NFC title game
https://www.therams.com/news/seven-stats-rams-run-wild-against-cowboys-move-on-to-nfc-title-game
znModeratorRams’ predictions of Saints rematch come true, but here is what’s changed
Vincent Bonsignore
To the degree inevitability exists in the NFL, it was a pretty good bet the Rams were saying so long rather than goodbye to New Orleans after losing to the Saints in early November.
With all due respect to rest of the NFC, the Rams and Saints made a convincing case as the two best teams in the conference during their rollicking 45-35 rollercoaster ride won by New Orleans in Week 9. Their performances suggested that, one way or another, the teams’ paths to the Super Bowl would likely intersect at some point.
That they eventually circled back to each another as NFC Championship Game opponents feels more like the natural order of things than anything else. And the way the Rams talked and carried themselves in the aftermath of that Nov. 4 loss, you got the feeling they knew it wouldn’t be the last time they’d be seeing the Saints.
Even in defeat, the game served as affirmation for the Rams, who seemed neither intimidated nor phased by the possibility of a return trip to the Big Easy after pushing New Orleans to the brink by climbing out of a 21-point hole.
Yes, they gave a respectful tip of the cap to the Saints for eventually surviving the Rams’ second-half onslaught. But as they packed up their belongings at the Superdome before heading back to Los Angeles, the Rams felt strongly about a possible rematch and their ability to force a different outcome.
“Oh yeah, we’re seeing them again,” defensive tackle Michael Brockers said at the time. “It doesn’t matter if it’s here or there.”
“I believe so,” said Ndamukong Suh, when he was asked if the Rams would see the Saints again at some point. “I hope so.”
The Rams did their part to make that happen by beating the Dallas Cowboys 30-22 in an NFC divisional round playoff game on Saturday at the Coliseum. The Saints, subsequently, rallied to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 20-14 on Sunday to ensure the rematch.
What seemed like a foregone conclusion two months ago is now official. Only this time, a trip to the Super Bowl will be at stake this Sunday.
“I think it’s going to be a great challenge,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said, “Obviously, the Saints are a great football team. I think they’re playing really well on all three phases right now. You know how explosive their offense is and then I think their defense is really hitting their stride. They play fast, they all play together, they’re really sound.
“It’s going to be a great challenge, especially just having to deal with that atmosphere and that environment with those fans going crazy. But we’re certainly excited about another opportunity to go back there and see if we can come away with a win.”
Said left guard Rodger Saffold: “At the end of the day, I think we’ll have a better plan against them the second go around. You’ve got to be excited to be able to go back there and get another chance at those guys again.”The Rams are a different team now. Aqib Talib was still fighting his way back from an ankle injury, and as he’s shown since returning in Week 13 against the Lions, the Rams defense is a different bunch with him lining up at cornerback opposite Marcus Peters.
What exactly will Talib provide?
“I think just having him out there, his veteran presence,” McVay said. “We’ve talked about a lot his ability to communicate, his ownership and his study throughout the course of the week — in terms of just his situational awareness, concept recognition and then most importantly, his ability to communicate. So when you get your two guys out there on the edges, I think that will enable us to do some different things coverage-wise.”
Dante Fowler Jr. had just been acquired via trade before the first Saints game and was still getting himself acclimated at outside linebacker. In the weeks since, the 2015 No. 3 overall pick has given the Rams the much-needed dimension of explosiveness and physicality off the edge.
And of course, running back C.J. Anderson came aboard in mid-December to spell an injured Todd Gurley over the last two games of the regular season. He played so well that he and Gurley split time against the Cowboys. The result was the Rams going off for 273 rushing yards with both players exceeding 100 yards on the ground.
A recommitment to the run game over the last three weeks — along with the defense’s improvement against it – is a formula that typically travels well in the playoffs. And it’s one the Rams felt not enough people were giving them credit for before playing the Cowboys, who ran for just 50 yards Saturday despite having Ezekiel Elliott in the backfield.
“We just wanted to go out and show you guys that. We felt like we were kind of getting disrespected throughout the whole week,” Fowler said. “People were saying (Elliott) was gonna get 200 yards and stuff and just talking about the yards per carry that we (gave up) during the season. But I think people haven’t been looking at the past six weeks. We’ve been really stopping the run and doing really good on defense. So we just want to keep that going.”
“It was a big point of emphasis for us like we said after the game,” McVay said. “(Defensive coordinator) Wade (Phillips) and our defensive staff did a great job getting a good game plan together and then ultimately the players executed.
“I thought we hit blocks up front really well,” McVay added. “Guys won individual matchups, we pursued to the football. I thought we tackled well also because when you really look at it, Zeke is such a strong runner. He’s so hard to bring down and I thought we arrived and you could feel our guys at the point of contact taking people down immediately. We were getting 11 hats to the football and that’s exactly what we wanted.”
The trick now is doing it against the Saints’ two-headed running back monster of Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram. If not, Drew Brees will have a strong run game to lean on and Saints head coach Sean Payton can blow open his play menu and attack the Rams in a variety of different ways.
“(Payton) is one of the best and I have so much respect for him,” McVay said. “You know he’s going to get a great game plan. They can beat you in both ways, they can run it or they can throw it. That’s what really presents such a great challenge because they’ve got a Hall of Fame quarterback and they got an elite running back, and they’ve got a great system.”
The Rams will take Monday and Tuesday off. They will return on Wednesday to dig deeper into their preparation for the Saints.
This is the matchup they expected. And probably the one they wanted all along.
A lot has changed since the last time the teams met. But one thing remains the same: The Rams left the Superdome believing they could return there at some point and beat the Saints. You don’t get the feeling anything has changed on that front.znModeratorPeter King
The Award Section
Offensive Players of the Week
C.J. Anderson, running back, Los Angeles Rams. “Your dreams don’t die till you give up on them,” Anderson said after his third eye-opening performance (out of three games) as a Ram. Cut by the Broncos in April, cut by the Panthers in November, cut by the Raiders in December, Anderson has the last laugh: He’ll be playing in the NFC Championship Game. Fairly amazing. In nine months, three teams that went 6-10, 7-9 and 4-12, respectively, fired Anderson, and he was on the street till the Rams signed him as Todd Gurley insurance 27 days ago.
Now Anderson is one of the redemptive stories of the NFL. Subbing for an injured Todd Gurley in the last two games of the season, Anderson had 167 and 132 yards, and then, in his first playoff game with his new team, rushed 23 times for 123 yards. Three games, three 120-yard-plus performances, 422 rushing yards in all, 6.4 yards per carry. “I guess it was a good thing I got hurt,” Gurley said.
Coach of the Week
Aaron Kromer, run game coordinator, Los Angeles Rams. After the Cowboys stuffed Seattle’s league-best rushing offense (24 rushes, 73 yards) in the wild-card win last week, it was logical to expect the Rams to struggle running the ball. And with the occasional struggles of Jared Goff over the last month or so, L.A. would need to run to win. Kromer trusted his veteran line, knowing that he could call power runs over the left side of the line with vets Andrew Whitworth and Rodger Saffold.
You could see how much coach Sean McVay trusted the game-planning of Kromer, because he kept going to the well with both Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson, often to the left side. McVay trusted the line on the biggest call of the night, fourth-and-goal midway through the fourth quarter, when he eschewed a field goal that would have put the Rams up two scores in favor of a try for the end zone. Excellent plan by Kromer, excellent execution by the line.
“Actually, McVay’s barista at Starbucks has had three head-coaching interviews.”
—Joe Buck, on FOX’s Rams-Cowboys game Saturday night, on how those with connections to Rams coach Sean McVay are such attractive head-coaching prospects.
How amazing is this: The Ram running back job might be turning into a job share, just 27 days after C.J. Anderson was signed as injury insurance for Todd Gurley. Gurley played 45 snaps Saturday night, Anderson 34. Gurley: 18 touches. Anderson: 23.
Might not have been a better stop by seven Rams on Ezekiel Elliott, fourth-and-one, Rams’ 35-yard-line, Rams holding on to a 23-15 lead. Elliott got swarmed. Play of the day for the L.A. defense.
I think I didn’t like the bold call by Sean McVay, even though it ultimately worked. The situation: Rams up 23-15, fourth-and-goal at the Dallas 1-yard line, 7:20 left in the game. No matter what the Rams do here, odds were better than 50-50 that the Cowboys would have one possession the rest of the game. I say that because of the very small chance of recovering an onside kick. If Dallas got the ball after this possession and scored, the Cowboys would either kick it deep, giving the potent Rams the ball in the final couple of minutes, or try an onside kick.
.
My point: If McVay kicks the field goal to go up 11, Dallas has to score a touchdown and one more score to have a chance to win. If the Rams go for it (previous three Ram runs: 0, 5, 0 yards) and get stopped, the Cowboys are 99 yards away from tying the game or going ahead, and with all three timeouts left. McVay said afterward, “We wanted to come out and play fearless tonight.” Then why not go for it on every fourth down?I get the mentality part of it. But the Rams would have had, I’d wager, a 98-percent chance to win the game if they went up 11 with 7:15 left. Struggling to understand why the run was right call there, though it worked
znModeratorWarren Sharp@SharpFootball
Final ranking in Early Down Success Rate on Offense, 1-32:1. Saints
2. Rams
3. Chiefs
4. PatriotsThese are the last 4 teams standing. Their ranks defensively on early downs?
11. Rams
12. Saints
13. Patriots
28. ChiefsJanuary 15, 2019 at 12:03 am in reply to: highlights & game stats & play break downs, Dallas game #96719znModeratorHole-y hell, Dallas. The post-snap candy of the fake reverse appears to hold Heath (38) & prevents him from filling the gap. Heath was a total liability on any play fake. pic.twitter.com/1TV1Yiw7iy
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 15, 2019
January 15, 2019 at 12:00 am in reply to: highlights & game stats & play break downs, Dallas game #96718znModeratorThe #Rams OL put on a masterclass in run-blocking against the Cowboys. Their zone scheme and combo blocks both front & backside were phenomenal. How anyone could call them a liability who watched their film this year is beyond me. Thank you for the teach tape 🔥👌 pic.twitter.com/id8Dw9VlOT
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) January 14, 2019
January 14, 2019 at 11:57 pm in reply to: highlights & game stats & play break downs, Dallas game #96717znModeratorRun game too 💪
All-22: Breaking down the one-two punch of Gurley + Anderson in Saturday's win. pic.twitter.com/iSlGFSK2WQ
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) January 15, 2019
znModeratorsaints_alive
What’s up with the Saints OL?
Our entire OL (except Unger) was on the injury report and this past game was the first time they all started since like Week 11. Its the playoffs so everyone tightened up but its not the same line that was handling people earlier in the year.
LT Armstead is playing with a torn pec. He made it through the game yesterday which was important but he’s not 100%,
LG Andrus Peat broke his hand in Week 17. He had surgery during the bye week and played yesterday. He struggled – 4 penalties and generally got pushed back. We have a tough choice there – our backup Gs are just OK but if he’s going to be a liability, might give someone else a try.
RG Warford has a knee injury.
RT Ramczyk has a shoulder injury.
Everyone has injuries, etc, but we are dealing with a lot there[
znModeratorPro Football Focus
Game Recap: Cowboys vs. Rams | PFF==
Ram_Ruler
PFF podcast dropped some great gems
They reviewed every game this weekend and they gave some great insight on the Rams game. I’ll list them the best I can from memory:
1. Defenses have been daring us to run and this was the first time that Mcvay committed to calling their bluff. It resulted in us dominating the game, leading to…
2. The highest graded cowboy defender was DeMarcus Lawrence with a 65?! Goes to show just how much we dominated despite the late score.
3. Talib gave up 2 catches for 14 yards. He was targeted 5 times.
4. The Rams offensive line has only struggled against the leagues best defensive fronts (eagles and bears in back to back weeks). Other than that, the offensive line issues are overblown, calling out booger specifically.
5. The Rams are their best graded PFF team.
6. If the Rams wanted to stop the run, they’d stack the box and commit to it. But you don’t necessarily need to sell out against the run to win. That’s why the Rams play the run the way they do.znModeratorIn fairness to Joyner, he was huge on the 4th and 1 stop, and Peters was supposed to be back there on the Gallup catch but abandoned the area. Also he gets stupid penalties. Joyner us not having a good year. But Peters has been a bust.
On that one TD Joyner was desperately trying to make up for Peters abandoning the guy and trying to jump a short route.
znModeratorJonathan Khamis@JonathanKhamis
“I guess it was a good thing I got hurt.” Todd Gurley on C.J. Anderson breaking throughRyan Kartje@Ryan_Kartje
I asked C.J. Anderson if he feels he’s proven something to the teams who cut him: “I’m the backup running back to All-Star Todd Gurley. I haven’t proved nothing.”Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
Defense wins championships? Nah. The top 4 scoring teams in the NFL this season reached the Conference Championship round, per @ESPNStatsInfo.Chiefs 35.3 ppg
Rams 32.9 ppg
Saints 31.5 ppg
Patriots 27.3 ppgznModeratorThe MMQB@theMMQB
C.J. Anderson was packing up his house in Charlotte when the Rams called in December looking for a Todd Gurley fill-in. Since then he’s rushed for 422 yards and four TDs in three games.Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
Wondering what the difference between the Rams’ and Cowboys’ run defenses were on Saturday? Look how often each loaded the box with 8+ defenders (via Next Gen Stats)Ezekiel Elliott: 40%
CJ Anderson: 17.39%
Todd Gurley: 6.25%Jeff Darlington@JeffDarlington
Patriots. Chiefs. Rams. Saints.Exactly as it should be.
The MMQB@theMMQB
If every team wants the next Sean McVay, we now get to see him against one of the NFL’s best minds in Sean PaytonVincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore
It would be easy to chalk up the last two regular-season wins to it being the #Cardinals and #49ers, but the #Rams could have beaten both no matter what offensive mentality they had. It’s the way they went about beating them that was important, and it carried over to tonightthe #Rams and Sean McVay, after the loss to the Philly, made it a point, moving forward, to playing bigger and more physical football. Last three games they’ve been beating down opponents
Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
Sean McVay’s 33rd birthday is 4 days after the NFC championship game. They grow up so fast.Michael Mulvihill@mulvihill79
Cowboys-Rams is the most-watched Saturday night program in the history of the Fox network.==
Sean McVay receives a well-deserved game ball after his Rams knocked off the Cowboys in the Divisional Round.pic.twitter.com/f4VAOQU96j
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) January 14, 2019
znModeratorThe 10 BEST plays from the Divisional Round!
And the best play goes to… #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/UYG10jFaKx
— NFL (@NFL) January 14, 2019
znModeratorIndulge me for a sec amigos. I can’t help but tell this story. That first pic above is during the crisis. He panicked at first when his back legs were suddenly paralyzed. I came home from errands after an emergency call from my wife and daughter. The poor thing tried to crawl to me as I came in. We settled him and soothed him and covered him, and then I phoned the vet, knowing this was it. But in the middle of all this, he was so glad to be around all of his people (all 3 of us there which is usually not the case) that for a long spell he was just happy. My daughter took that pic to memorialize the moment. I am glad she did. There he is, skin and bones, broken, and yet glowing and happy because he is with his people.
That’s who he was. That’s just Bondi.
Thanks for all the kind words my friends…I know everyone knows what this is like.
znModeratorHow the Cowboys Defense Tipped Its Hand and Let the Rams Run All Over Them
From that:
“They’re a defensive line that really likes to move a lot,” right guard Austin Blythe told The Ringer. “We had a pretty good tell when they were going to do that.”
The Cowboys don’t blitz often under defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli, so they rely on stunts with their four defensive linemen to disrupt the backfield. …. But stunts depend on the element of surprise, and during Los Angeles’s film study in the week leading up to their game against Dallas, the Rams discovered that the Cowboys defensive line was tipping whether they were going to stunt based on how they aligned before the snap.
znModeratorMcVay on Suh in the Dallas game:
I thought he pursued the football outstanding. I thought he was able to get (inaudible) all night. I thought that affected some of the different things that they were talking about, so I thought he was outstanding in those early downs. When he’s able to do that, it makes a huge difference. I thought he really came with a great focus and concentration this week and I think it showed up with the way that he was able to play.
In other words.
He decided to play this week.
znModeratorI don’t see the Rams matching up with the Saints in New Orleans. Against Dallas, they said we will take out Elliott and dare Prescott to beat us. That ain;t gonna work this time.
znModeratorSince McCutcheon and Cappelletti.
That was fun to watch!
Any way we can afford to keep C.J. around for next season!
Depends on his asking price I suppose but just off the top of my head, yes.
znModeratoralyoshamucci
Divisional round Cowboys
What a satisfying game!! Had enough defense and some wrinkles and a gameplan that I don’t know if any could have expected.
The Great
1) Offensive line … *bows in gratitude*
2) CJ and Gurley … goodness gracious.
3) Game plan … it’s like he decided we were a different team for the first quarter and stayed with what elements worked …
4) Going for it on 4th and goal … while my poor brother was having a nervous breakdown.
5) I called the 3rd and 7 game sealer … so this one is for me. lol
6) Suh saving his best for the playoffs.
The Good
7) Littleton … maybe this should be in great, but I try to save that for standing out. He just moved well and played good coverage.
8) Ebukam on the screen.
9) Run defense against a supposedly great Run O line.
10) JJ3 tackling …
11) Stopping them on 4th down.
The Bad
12) Challenging Gallup’s catch.
13) Not having better red zone plays drawn up.
14) Goff’s every 3rd pass … missing why? Late why?
15) Had a few drops.
16) Couldn’t get the ball to Everett?
The Ugly
17) Joyner doesn’t need to pack, we can do it for him. He had to have lost 10 million dollars in just that game.
18) Talib’s PI. Dude … under what circumstances is pushing a guy out of the back of the end zone ever the “go to” for your mind? And what were you saying to everyone on the sidelines “I was possessed by demons, man!” … “I thought we were playing hockey!” … “I really needed to go home and watch Birdbox!” … I don’t know that I have seen anything like that… much less on a on a 4th down play.
znModeratorPeter Schrager@PSchrags
Let’s put the Sean McVay “quarterback whisperer” label to bed. That was as thorough a coaching job you will see. Ground game. Defense. 4th downs. Clock management. Complete coaching clinic last night in LA.Steve Wyche@wyche89
This. This. This. Truth to the bone—
Andrew Siciliano@AndrewSiciliano
In their last two postseason games again the Cowboys, separated by 33 years, the @RamsNFL have rushed for 542 yards.January 13, 2019 at 12:35 pm in reply to: highlights & game stats & play break downs, Dallas game #96583znModeratorGreat push by Suh up the middle on fourth down. He’s earning his money tonight. pic.twitter.com/E3oxl2TL01
— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) January 13, 2019
znModeratorSomeone explain who the Rams are — they had the wild shootouts with the Saints and Chiefs,
and now they look like the Tim Tebow broncos er somethin.Someone x-plain it to me.
Have they always been both?
They always had the capacity to be both. You can see though that after the Chi & Eagles games Kromer was talking about getting back to basics and fundamentals. To me the Chi & Eagles games were always about the OL, and how it had unravelled a bit. A lot of people put all on that on Goff but my feeling was that no qb looks good when OLs crack like that and a young one will especially not look good. (Stats show Goff was under an unusual amount of pressure in those games, double the amount from previous games.)
So what I think happened is, they took a veteran OL and focused on technique and reconfigured them a bit.
They could always run, they could always pass, but what has shifted is the emphasis.
I think also discovering what they had in CJ motivated a lot of that.
On defense, I also think they just got back to basics (eg. gap discipline) and changed a few things and just said, we have to defend the run it’s now or never for 2018 to do that.
January 13, 2019 at 9:07 am in reply to: highlights & game stats & play break downs, Dallas game #96566znModeratorznModeratorZero sacks
273 yards rushing
All against the most dangerous front 7a in the league last few weeks.
Raise a glass to the @RamsNFL offensive line.— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) January 13, 2019
znModeratorVID: Rod Woodson EXPLAINS why Cowboys FALL TO Rams 30-22; Dak: 20-32, 266 YDS | NFL Total Access
znModeratorznModeratorThe Rams Heard the Comments, the Trash Talk, the Insults Ahead of Cowboys Matchup
ROBERT KLEMKO
https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/13/rams-offensive-line-colts-nfl-playoffs-divisional-round
When a team sits on the shelf for two weeks with a first-round playoff bye, as the Rams did this month, the players might start searching for a pick-me-up. Typically innocuous comments made by the opposing team become bulletin board material, so Los Angeles was watching, and waiting. Then the Twitter alerts popped up on the smartphones of Rams offensive linemen as they were leaving meetings and heading to walkthroughs on Friday morning.
“He is a quarterback. I don’t like quarterbacks,” Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence told reporters in Texas that day. “I go in every week wanting to take a quarterback’s soul.”
Rams fans went about the very necessary work of tagging the social media accounts of the Los Angeles offensive linemen to alert them of Lawrence’s comment, and they noticed. “We’re like, ‘They’re talking about snatching souls? OK!” left guard Rodger Saffold said.
Two days later—after Los Angeles’s 30–22 victory over Dallas, sending them to the NFC Championship Game next week—Rams cornerback Aqib Talib interrupted teammate Jared Goff’s postgame network TV interview to respond to Lawrence with an uncensored bomb: “He ain’t taking no f****** soul!”
Earlier in the week Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper told reporters he was familiar with both Peters and Talib, having played for the Raiders in the AFC West, the former divisional home of the two mercurial cornerbacks. “I’ve played against those guys twice a year, both of them. I know them in and out. … I know how they play, and I’m able to tell my teammates [and] the quarterback their tendencies.”
During the game, Rams cornerback Marcus Peters scrapped and jawed on multiple occasions with the Cowboys’ wide receiver, who hauled in six catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. Before he even reached the locker room, Peters couldn’t contain himself. “These scary-ass n***** was talkin’ sh**!” he screamed in the direction of Cowboys players as he sauntered through a Coliseum tunnel. “What now?”
Fairly harmless? Peters didn’t think so. “That was for Amari Cooper,” Peters said in the postgame locker room. “He got strapped today. He said he knew us. Looks like he don’t know us too well cuz y’all just lost.”
To say the media interviews coming out of Dallas motivated these No. 2-seeded Rams would be an understatement. The winning locker room was abuzz with recollections of perceived insults from the other sideline and the media. “When I see Stephen A. Smith I’m gonna smack him upside his head!” exclaimed one defensive player.
The Los Angeles offensive line was feeling particularly triumphant, what with a week-long media focus on Dallas’ dominant defensive front, which ranked fifth in yards allowed and yards per carry in 2018. The Rams logged 273 yards rushing Saturday night with three touchdowns (5.7 yards per carry). C.J. Anderson, on his fourth team since April, was interchangeable with Todd Gurley, sledgehammering his way to a team-high 123 yards and two scores.
“The big boys did it,” Anderson said. “All week they was hearing about how the Cowboys defensive line was all this and how they stopped Seattle’s run game.”
The offensive linemen took the Lawrence comment to heart. Ditto for a press conference in which Cowboys coach Jason Garrett rattled off the merits of the Los Angeles offense and did not mention the o-line. Said Rams offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth: “He didn’t mention the offensive line, just talked about the skill guys. Last time I checked, we’re the only offensive line in the league in the top-five in passing and rushing, so we’ve got to be pretty daggum good. If we’ve gotta go earn the respect we will.”
As for Lawrence’s soul-snatching comment? “We heard it,” Whitworth said. “He didn’t get crap all night and they got buried. I think we’ve said all we need to say.”
What now? What if the winner of Saints-Eagles on Sunday keeps their mouths shut? Where will these Rams possibly find motivation? Whitworth thinks Rams coach Sean McVay may have already provided it. Up 23–15 with 7:20 left to play, the Rams faced fourth-and-goal from a yard out. Conventional wisdom said kick the field goal to go up two scores, right? McVay elected to send Anderson off the left guard. Whitworth impolitely moved Lawrence out of the way, Saffold knocked Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith off course and Anderson plunged in for the score. Game, blouses.
“Coach felt a lot of confidence in us all year in those situations and he felt it there and we went for it,” Whitworth said. “I think he might have felt we needed the touchdown, and really just the message it sent to us. Sometimes thats the biggest confidence booster you can get.”
Said Peters: “That’s where we’re going to win the game in the postseason, with that offensive line, in the trenches.”
znModeratorYaya Dubin@JADubin5
I think it’s extremely fitting that the play that essentially ended the Cowboys season involved Jason Garrett making his third consecutive correct decision to go for it on 4th and 1 but doing so in the absolute dumbest way by going jumbo and running up the middle at Aaron Donald.Michael Silver@MikeSilver
How @cjandersonb22 revitalized the @RamsNFL offense… and ‘Jared Vick’ made the biggest run of all to clinch a playoff win @JaredGoff16 @nflnetwork @AroundTheNFL—
This aged well. pic.twitter.com/N5mGp2FQuL
— Myles Simmons (@MylesASimmons) January 13, 2019
znModeratorGoff. Rams’ rushing attack overwhelms Cowboys – NFL.com
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001010162/article/goff-rams-rushing-attack-overwhelms-cowboys
Dallas Cowboys: 5 thoughts from Cowboys’ playoff exit in Los Angeles
NFL playoffs: Los Angeles Rams run past Dallas Cowboys – USA Today
NFL playoffs: Dallas Cowboys dealt reality check in loss to Rams
‘No Excuses’ After Rams RB Tandem Runs Wild – Dallas Cowboys
https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/no-excuses-after-rams-rb-tandem-runs-wild
znModeratorDeadpool
looking at some of these numbers
Third down conversions for Dallas: 1-10
one of the most important stats in the game. (undermined a little by Dallas’ 3-4 on 4th downs)Rushing yards:
LA – 273
Dal – 50Yards per carry:
LA – 5.7
Dal – 2.35.7 keeps you in front of the sticks all night. CJ was a hammer. Gurley was the homerun
36-24 time of poss. in favor or the Rams. That is dominating.
17 rushing 1st downs for the Rams – yikes.
48-28 – Rams run to pass or a 63% run ratio. That had to be fun for the OL tonight.
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