McVay Continues Self-Criticism Over Play Calls
Myles Simmons
https://www.therams.com/news/mcvay-continues-self-criticism-over-play-calls

• This reply was modified 7 years, 10 months ago by zn.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 10 months ago by zn.

Todd Gurley was dressed for cold weather after a career-best performance in which he simply ran right through it. https://t.co/rO4IGZxtpj

— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) October 15, 2018

Rams’ defense stifles Denver run game, but questions remain in secondary https://t.co/DYxPoB08yk

— RamsNewsNow (@RamsNewsNow) October 15, 2018

Myles Simmons@MylesASimmons
Fourth-quarter touchdownless streak is over. Keenum to Thomas in the back of the end zone gets six

Rams allowed 60 yards rushing on 17 attempts, good for just 3.5 yards per carry. DEN entered today’s game No. 1 averaging 5.6 YPC.

J.B. Long @JB_Long
I’d like to believe that if the season ended today, @robertwoods would be a surefire Pro Bowler. He was a monster again today. #LARams

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
Cooper Kupp said Rams held him out in second half for precaution. He will get more tests tomorrow. McVay didn’t give much of an update on Saffold, who likely will get more tests on his knee tomorrow.

Julia Faron@JFaron
DT Aaron Donald sacked Denver’s Case Keenum for a loss of 14 yards. Donald has 4.0 sacks this season and 43.0 career.

Sam Farmer@LATimesfarmer
real MVP for Rams, apparently, is Mr. Miagi, who slapped his hands together and rubbed Cooper Kupp’s knee.

Studs and duds from the Rams' 23-20 win over Denver on Sunday: https://t.co/9a2aqaO7wM

Also, sick pic alert 🚨 pic.twitter.com/I1pO8HMGk6

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) October 15, 2018

SOME MORE

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> The Rams have a lot of key players injured on both sides of the ball. They only just edged past the Seahawks (who we have already beaten). Broncos to win easily 34-16.

> Love your optimism. In what fashion does Denver score 34 points?

> 3 rows back from the field i will be and i can’t wait to at least see the best in the nfl. i will still be rooting for the broncos the whole game.

> Potentially a snow game. I hope that the weather finally forces us to stick to the run. The run game has been dominant, yet the coaching staff refuses to have it be the focal point. Get Freeman and Lindsey more touches and make sure Booker is waiting on the bench to greet them with hot chocolate after Touchdown runs. That is the only way to win.

> Snow would be amazing, we might actually have a chance if it snows .

> Rams are going to hang 70 points on this Team while Case throws 4 ints!!

> I doubt any game could be any worse than the Jets game, but at this point nothing negative about this team surprises me either. Those of you who are consistently shocked at how badly we lose haven’t been paying attention.

> Onward and downward.

> If there is a weakness in this solid Rams team it’s at linebacker and their run defense. We have to run run run to have any chance to win.

> Prediction: Keenum throws 3 touchdown passes: 2 for the Rams, 1 for the Broncos.

> Prediction, Case passes for 400 yds all between the 20’s. We get 100 yds rushing in the 4th qtr, lose handily.

> I see this as either a blowout loss that finally causes heads to roll (41-10 ish) or a hard fought win where we get some strange breaks and win 27-24 causing people to say “but we beat the Rams!” As a reason to keep the staff together during the implosion that seems to be inevitable.

> 35 degrees and snow is the Broncos only advantage. Hopefully they keep it 1 score game and then get lucky bounces.

> Not much of an advantage, Keenum doesn’t play well in the snow or anything non-domed. Knowing Musgrave there are going to be over 40 pass plays the second were behind by a single point.

> You seem to forget the Rams have Todd Gurley as their feature. He’s nearly as good as our top two RBs are combined.

> aaaand Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp are expected to play for the rams….

> We are truly nothing .

> I kind of like the fact that we’re a home dog though, for the second straight home game. No pressure that way.

Even as the Rams seek balance, Todd Gurley will keep doing it all

http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/39097/even-as-the-rams-seek-balance-todd-gurley-will-keep-doing-it-all

Marcus Peters is not afraid – of success or occasionally getting burned in pursuit of it. Look for a big bounce-back game from the #Rams CB Sunday. Here is what else to watch for when the Rams play the #Broncos in my story for ⁦@TheAthleticLA⁩ 👇👇 https://t.co/ifGFRrnIcT

— Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) October 13, 2018

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What to watch for in Rams vs. Broncos: Can Marcus Peters bounce back?

Vincent Bonsignore

https://theathletic.com/587455/2018/10/13/what-to-watch-for-in-rams-vs-broncos-can-marcus-peters-bounce-back/

DENVER​ — To locate​ the space Marcus​ Peters​ occupies inside​ the​ Los Angeles​ Rams​ locker​ room,​ one only needs​ to listen​​ for the voice.
It is distinctive, sharp and filled with pride and bravado. It’s pretty much omnipresent. Peters, after all, likes to engage with teammates, and if you’re anywhere near his middle locker alongside fellow defensive backs and linebackers, you’re going to get an earful.
About anything and everything.
Like the day he told everyone — loudly — that if he was constructing a football team made up of NBA players, Russell Westbrook would be one of his defensive backs. A short while later, he explained how he could be a productive NBA player averaging 12-13 points a game. Not due to some great scoring prowess, but because he’d willingly do all the dirty work.
“I’m gonna play defense, so I’ll get playing time,” Peters declared. “I’ll rebound. Set picks. I’ll do all that stuff. The points will come.”
Everyone howled, mostly in complete disagreement of Peters’ claim. Others voiced their support.
The point is, everyone in the Rams locker room was connected. And it was Peters keeping everyone together, on this occasion, by loudly and confidently putting himself out there far enough to invite a reaction.
The fact that most of it was laughter, rolled eyes and pointed rebuttals didn’t matter. Peters is pretty fearless in that regard.
That fearlessness is often times expressed in his play. He can be a bit of a gambler. He is aggressive, and, coupled with an uncanny ability to dissect plays and concepts — or just sense things other cornerbacks can’t — Peters is going to act on it.
That’s one of the reasons why Peters is someone to watch when the Rams play the Broncos in Denver on Sunday (1:05 p.m. PT, FOX). After struggling against the Seattle Seahawks last week, Peters needs to bounce back to show he is completely healthy from the calf strain he suffered in Week 3 against the Chargers.
While his extreme confidence and risk taking has served him well for most of his young career — his 20 interceptions over his first four-plus seasons are the most in the NFL over that stretch as are his three pick-six touchdown returns — it’s also put him in position to get beat. That was the case in Seattle when he got caught peeking at Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and yielded two touchdown passes.
“I got beat,” Peters said owning the mistakes. “I gotta keep my eyes on there, you feel me?”
It’s worth noting Peters rebounded from those negative plays. His coverage helped the Rams defense force the Seahawks off the field on two critical fourth-quarter possessions, giving the Rams offense the necessary time to take the lead and eventually run out the clock.
The key was not to dwell on the bad plays. Peter has had the ability to quickly brush off negatives since childhood.
“(I’ve) had the ‘fuck it’ syndrome for a long time,” Peters explained. “Ever since I was a little kid. My mom was like, ‘Yeah, he’s just gonna, that’s just him. When he says fuck it, it’s fuck it.’ But it’s part of the game, man. I learned that trait early in my career. Shit like that don’t bother me. I go out there and just try to get some shit done.”
“That’s something that you even notice when you watch the tape that you like so much,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “I think, especially when you really look at it, the quarterback and the cornerback positions — if you’re going to be a really good player over the course of time in this league, you better be able to handle bad plays because they’re inevitable. You show me anybody that’s been a great player in this league, [and] I’ll show you somebody that’s responded from some form of adversity, been able to make plays after things that didn’t always go their way.
“But also, the thing that says as much about anything is the ownership he displays,” McVay added. “Being able to say, ‘That’s my bad. I’ll get that fixed.’ Taking that extreme ownership that we talk about, demonstrating that accountability, and he’s a fearless competitor. You always want guys that never fear failure.”
It’ll be interesting to see how Peters approaches Sunday’s game against the Broncos, both from a health perspective and the balancing of instinctual playmaking with his assignment in the coverage call.
“Well, he’s one of those guys that’s special in that he sees so many things and he can diagnose routes and those kinds of things. You don’t want to take that away from him,” Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said. “But you also don’t want him peeking too much in certain situations. That’s why I say that’s partly me. We’ve got to get him, system-wise, into how we want things done.”
As the Rams look to go 6-0, here are some other things to keep an eye on.

Todd Gurley vs. Broncos defense

It’s hard not to notice the 323 yards rushing the Broncos surrendered to the New York Jets last week. Or wonder how much Todd Gurley is licking his chops in anticipation of going to work against the Denver run defense.
“Yeah, definitely aware,” Gurley said.
The reigning Offensive Player of the Year has 415 rushing yards and seven running touchdowns through five games. He has eclipsed the 100-yard mark twice and is averaging 4.1 yards per carry. He also has 19 receptions for 230 yards and another two scores.
Is this the week he goes off? The stats suggest so, as the Broncos are giving up 139.9 yards per game on the ground — third-worst in the NFL — and are about to confront the league’s best offensive line and arguably its best running back.
Or do those two factors raise such a red flag for the Broncos that they put all their resources into stopping Gurley and take their chances against Jared Goff and the passing game?
“They have a great head coach themselves. I’m pretty sure that’s his objective to get that run defense a little better,” Gurley said of the Broncos’ Vance Joseph. “Obviously, they know we’re going to run the ball. So you definitely get excited, but you don’t get too excited because a team can look like that one week and then the next week can shut a guy down for 50 yards. But that’s why we play this game. We practice and go out there and hopefully execute.”

The health of Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp

Last week in Seattle, the Rams lost two of their best receivers in the first half to concussions. While Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp checked off all the concussion protocol boxes this week and are on target to play against the Broncos, at what level will they play?
McVay said it will be full steam ahead with both players after getting final clearance from the Rams medical staff.
“If it’s something where there’s anything that doesn’t check up or make it feel like, ‘Hey, they’re going to be fully acclimated, they’re ready to go and there are no restrictions,’ it wouldn’t be something where these guys would go,” McVay said. “Unfortunately, this game does involve a bunch of different potential collisions like that, but I think those guys are great competitors and I don’t think there’s any sort of fear.
“You always want to put them in smart spots, too,” McVay added. “It’s not like we’re going to try to ask them to do a bunch of different things that leave them susceptible to injury. But I don’t think you can also be cautious with it because then I think that’s when you almost leave yourself potentially getting injured as is anyway.”

The weather conditions at Mile High

The middle of October in Denver is unlike anywhere else. You can probably say that about any month in this part of Colorado. But this time of year, in particular, can be a bit erratic. Like the snow that’s expected on Sunday to go along with an expected high of 27 degrees and lows of 21.
In other words, the Rams’ first road trip outside the West Coast should be a doozy.
“If it is going to be cold, [you] try to stay warm and do your best,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “I know that equipment will get us ready with a lot of stuff. Can’t really replicate that weather [in Los Angeles] too well. Right now, it’s pretty nice. So if it is cold, we’ll play in it and if it’s not we’ll play in it and adjust accordingly.”
It’s understandable to think the Rams might play a bit more conservatively to compensate for the conditions — which might mean a bit more run emphasis. But keep in mind Cooks played last year in blustery New England, Kupp played collegiately in Eastern Washington, which can get frosty late in the year, and Robert Woods played three seasons in Buffalo. All three Rams wide receivers have experience playing and performing in the cold.
And does anyone really think McVay, one of the most aggressive and creative play callers in the game, is going to be intimidated by some cold weather?
Me neither.

Rams opposition research: Breaking down the Broncos https://t.co/QvVBMYQOIr

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) October 13, 2018

Nick Kendell@NickKendellMHH
The #Broncos have a top 3 run blocking OL based on yards before contact & a top 10 pass blocking OL based on snaps under pressure percentage.

It’s not that the line couldn’t improve, it could, but blaming the OL for this team is so 2016.

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
Crowdsourcing question: Does anyone remember the last time they saw the Rams play in snow? I cannot find one on game sheets, going back through the 80s.

J.B. Long@JB_Long
Greg Zuerlein the only member of #LARams ruled out for Sunday in Denver.

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The NFL's highest graded quarterbacks through five weeks. pic.twitter.com/8A4zZ7BpzF

— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) October 12, 2018