Great stuff: @KadeWarner, the son of @NFL Hall of Fame QB @kurt13warner, hauls in his first career catch.

The @HuskerFBNation WR liked it so much, he added another on the next play. pic.twitter.com/eOSTZ4mO2s

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 29, 2018

Suh was extremely disruptive in this one too. Notched a sack in back-to-back weeks from the wide-9 alignment: pic.twitter.com/6kVFmfDoTi

— Brandon Thorn (@VeteranScout) September 29, 2018

The Andrew Whitworth 2-for-1 from the back angle is great. Throws one DB into the legs of another: pic.twitter.com/53VRDTwY4L

— Brandon Thorn (@VeteranScout) September 29, 2018

They go nutz.

…

Rams observations: The perfect play, Jared Goff’s signature game

Vincent Bonsignore

https://theathletic.com/554222/2018/09/28/rams-observations-the-perfect-play-jared-goffs-signature-game-defenses-bad-and-good/

LOS​ ANGELES — It​ was one of​ those​ rare occasions​ where​ the whole​ play​ worked​ out​ exactly as planned.
Although​ the way​​ Jared Goff and the Rams offense is rolling right now, the rare occasion is pretty much becoming the norm.
Still, the play was pretty remarkable in the way everything unfolded just as the Rams expected. And given how they tweaked and re-worked it during a short week of practice in order to help ensure they would get the precise defensive look they wanted and the exact match up to exploit, it was a perfect example of how well things are going for the NFL’s best and most exciting team after the Rams moved to 4-0 with a 38-31 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night.
It also explained the celebratory chest bump Goff invited head coach Sean McVay to share by pointing to the sky as he sprinted to the sideline. Only to nearly take out the 32-year-old McVay.
“He drilled me,” McVay said.
But more on that in a bit.
The perfect play started with Cooper Kupp lining up in the slot to the left of Goff at the Rams’ 30-yard line. In front of him, just off to his left, stood a Vikings cornerback. Kupp paid him little attention if any. Out of the corner of his eye he was looking to his right at Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr who, as the world would soon find out, was about to get a triple whammy of McVay play designing, Kupp’s route running and Goff’s throwing touch.
At the snap of the ball, Kupp took a few steps to his right, almost like he was going to help Rams tackle Andrew Whitworth block a Vikings pass rusher. Behind them, Goff play-faked to Todd Gurley and immediately looked upfield to his left. That was when the cornerback initially shading Kupp turned and ran backwards, essentially taking himself out of the play.
At that very moment, Barr was oblivious to what was about to happen. In fact as Barr eyed Goff while protecting the real estate directly in front and in back of him, he wasn’t aware of Kupp. That is, until Kupp took off running to his right, across Barr’s face, and then turned up the field on a wheel route.
Barr, realizing it was his job to pick up Kupp, was a full two steps behind the Rams receiver as Goff lofted a perfect throw that hit Kupp in stride at the Vikings’ 40-yard line. As Barr futilely trailed behind, Kupp easily ran to the end zone for a 70-yard touchdown.

A 70-YARD TOUCHDOWN‼️@JaredGoff16 finds @CooperKupp for six! pic.twitter.com/r8792ClZSi

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) September 28, 2018

As happy as Goff was for Kupp and himself, he was even more happy for McVay, his offensive-minded mad scientist of a head coach who cooked the whole thing up sometime after the Rams’ win over the Chargers on Sunday and then installed it during their two days of practice this week.
The process of scheming and installing and working the play to perfection was something to behold.
“I was fired up about that one because that’s one we kind of tweaked with during the week,” Goff said. “And it came out, kind of just how we pictured it and wanted it to. So I was fired up for (McVay) as far as getting that thing off.”
He would soon show his excitement with a chest bump that almost landed McVay on the injured reserve list.
“I told him afterward, ‘I didn’t mean to knock you over,’ ” Goff said. “I was fired up a little bit.”
McVay didn’t mind one bit.
“We were both excited,” he said. “We had talked about that play and when things work out the way you hope, that’s always a fun exciting moment for players and coaches.”
It’s been that kind of month for the Rams, who capped it off by winning two games over two quality opponents over the last four days to solidify their claim as the best team in the NFL through the first quarter of the season.
They did it with a young quarterback growing up before our very eyes, one of the best wide receiver groups in the NFL and the ability to overcome some untimely defensive injuries.
Here are more observations from the Coliseum about the Rams.
Jared Goff is really good and getting better
If last year proved Goff was an emerging young quarterback worthy of being the top pick in the 2016 draft, this year is showing he is capable of putting a team on his shoulders by doing things only a select few players are capable.
With a signature performance in what’s shaping up as an MVP-caliber season, Goff completed 26 of 33 passes for 465 yards and five touchdowns to finish with a career-high 158.3 passer rating. His five TD passes is a career high and tied a franchise record for the most passing touchdowns by a quarterback in a single game. The 465 yards passing was his most ever by nearly 100 yards and the third-most in a single game in franchise history.
And it came just four days after he threw for 354 yards and three touchdowns against the Chargers.
Every week, it seems, Goff is soaring to new heights.
“He’s got such a great command right now,” McVay said. “He’s intentional about getting better. (Quarterback coach) Zac Taylor has done a great job with him, really just making sure that he has an ownership of the game plan and understands what we’re trying to get done. That constant dialogue and communication and, as we always talk about, being on the same page. At the end of the day, I think he’s just throwing the ball extremely well.”
Said Kupp: “Throughout the game, there’s just a calm – which he’s always had – but, I think the willingness and confidence to make some of the throws he has, I think has just come from reps and being more comfortable in this offense, the more time he has gotten to play under Coach McVay and understand exactly what Coach McVay expects and wants out of each play. His confidence to know that he’s a playmaker.
“Jared is an absolute playmaker with how he’s able to place the ball, how he’s able to slide in the pocket and make some of these throws. He’s just being Jared.”
Simply put, Goff isn’t just completing passes few quarterbacks have the arm or vision or touch or velocity to complete. He is attempting passes most other quarterbacks wouldn’t dare think of, let alone try.
And that speaks to the confidence Goff has in himself and the conviction and faith he has in the receivers he’s throwing to. And while the football world is getting a glimpse of everything Goff brings , his growth as a quarterback has been known inside the Rams building for a while now.
“To be honest, since we started back in OTAs,” left tackle Andrew Whitworth said.
From the way Goff carried himself to the command he showed of the offense to the elite-level passes he was throwing, Whitworth could sense Goff was taking his game to another level.
“And in camp, I continued to say, just watching the film and watching him in OTAs and in camp, man, there’s just something special about the way he’s delivering the football and his confidence level,” Whitworth said. “You just want to do everything you can not to mess it up.”
On a night of big plays, Goff outdid himself on the 19-yard touchdown pass he threw to Kupp in the second quarter. He rolled to his right to give Kupp time to cut across the field and toward the end zone. Even though Kupp was being defended by two Vikings, Goff still had the nerve to loft the ball to the back of the end zone, over the two defenders’ hands and into the waiting arms of Kupp .

.@JaredGoff16 droppin' DIMES.

Kupp-le of touchdowns for @CooperKupp 🙌 pic.twitter.com/FGUSZoQsUI

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) September 28, 2018

“The one throw to Kupp in the back of the end zone was unbelievable,” McVay said. “It’s almost like you’re throwing it away. Cooper did a great job saving him the little bit of room and Jared put it in about a six-inch box that he could only fit it into.”
Said Kupp: “Jared just kept running to the sideline trying to keep it alive a little bit. I thought I’d try to get to that back corner. I thought he was just throwing it away but, where he put that, it couldn’t have been thrown any better than it was. Incredible throw by Jared.”
Goff knew it was a risky throw. The fact he threw it anyway is a testament to his growing confidence.
“Got away with it,” he said. “That’s what happens when you have great players. I trust Cooper and he ran right through it.”
Along with Kupp (nine receptions for 162 yards), the Rams had two other receivers enjoy 100-yard games: Brandin Cooks (seven catches for 116) and Robert Woods (five for 101).

InvaderRam wrote:

can i just say that the both of you do a tremendous job on this board?

i salute you both.

Well thank you IR. Kind words.

Aaron Donald sack No. 1. Don’t blink or you might miss it. pic.twitter.com/7i0u79hyuc

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) September 29, 2018

nittany ram wrote:

zn wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

Eternal Ramnation wrote:

wv wrote:

of pleasing appearance; handsome.

Thanks wv I feel like I know myself now.

Bragging is unseemly.

Calling someone unseemly is neither seemly nor unseemly. It’s aseemly.

To be fair, btw, so is calling someone aseemly.

…

You are displaying classic symptoms of dyseemlia…the inability to identify and use the correct derivation of ‘seemly’ in a sentence.

It’s one of our most prevelant tick-borne illnesses, second only to Lyme disease.

Disease attacks are not seemly.

A person can’t help it if they have tick-borne illnesses.

It’s not like being a red-head, which is a lifestyle choice and therefore indefensible.

Zooey wrote:

I couldn’t find anything to dislike in Eisen’s comments.

Goff isn’t throwing the ball up and letting the WR run under it. He has already this year made a bunch of throws that are on a rope and within…like…a 3″ window. He has been ridiculous in his accuracy. He makes every throw. This is a spectacle.

Agree with part 2.

Part 1…on Eisen? What does that refer to?

McVay, 9/29

(On if anything else stood out while re-watching QB Jared Goff’s performance)

“I think the thing that you can really appreciate is just the ability to understand what we’re trying to get done. The way that he’s manipulating defenders with his eyes, the way that he’s able to throw within the timing and the rhythm of the play if it’s there, but then also create off-schedule. I think you just continue to gain even more of an appreciation for some of the tight throws, especially some of those where you’re changing the launch point. You look at the second touchdown he throws to (WR Cooper) Kupp, I honestly thought he was throwing it away in live action. That was an incredible throw. I can’t tell you how many texts I’ve gotten from just coaches and people around the league that they’re involved with football that say, ‘That might be one of the best throws I’ve seen in a while,’ and I say, ‘You’re damn right it was.’

Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
Sean McVay says that Aqib Talib’s surgery went as well as they could have hoped. There’s optimism that Talib will get the designated to return tag after 8 weeks.

Crazy pic.twitter.com/7BPAnLOJZp

— Justis Mosqueda (@JuMosq) September 28, 2018

A lot to like about Jared Goff’s progression

Sam Farmer

http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-rams-vikings-farmer-20180927-story.html#

To borrow a line from roughed-up Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins, the Jared Goff-led Rams posed a question Thursday night to Los Angeles:
You like that?
These undefeated Rams, who two years ago were unquestionably the NFL’s most boring team, are now the most explosive. On Thursday, they beat Cousins and the Vikings 38-31, bumping their astronomical scoring average to 35 points.
Imagine, all that hand-wringing about the franchise spending so many picks on Goff that the receiver cupboard would be bare for a generation. Well, Goff threw for 465 yards and five touchdowns against a good Vikings defense, with Cooper Kupp (162), Brandin Cooks (116) and Robert Woods (101) each reeling in more than 100 yards in catches.
Todd Gurley is a centerpiece of this offense, yes, but the passing game is not predicated on any particular player. It’s Goff throwing to the open man, the way Tom Brady has done to historic results in New England for so many years, never flinching at the rotating cast of receivers.
The NFL doesn’t like having teams cross two time zones for a Thursday night game, reasoning that’s too far to travel on such a short week. But this was a special occasion, the debut of Fox’s “Thursday Night Football” package, and it begged for a marquee matchup. The Vikings manhandled the Rams 24-7 in Minnesota last season, so this promised to be an excellent rematch.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was at the game, and said afterward it was just the type of event the league had hoped for when it approved the Rams’ return three years ago. “When we get to the new stadium,” he said, “it will be a whole new level.”
That $3-billion venue won’t be until 2020, but it seems these Rams are running an offense that’s ahead of its time. Just as the Vikings passed through two time zones, so did Goff, who averaged a staggering 14.1 yards per completion.
He looks increasingly at ease in this offense, throwing for four touchdowns in the first half. Goff’s four touchdown passes were the most in a first half by a Rams quarterback since Kurt Warner did it in 1999.
“That’s been the consistent evolution of Jared from Pop Warner through high school through college and now in the NFL,” said his father, Jerry, before the game. “He comes in and figures it out.”
Sean McVay is more than last season’s NFL coach of the year, he’s the quintessential Goffensive coordinator, drawing up plays that allow his third-year quarterback to pick apart opponents with surgical precision. It’s as if Goff sees the game unfolding from a press-box angle, comfortably dropping back and finding the open receiver most every time.

Couple Goff’s accuracy and McVay’s schemes, and the Vikings were downright befuddled sometimes. Like when linebacker Anthony Barr found himself matched up with Kupp, who ran under a Goff rainbow and never broke stride on a 70-yard touchdown play. Or when the Rams put three tight ends on the field, and Goff threaded a 31-yard scoring pass to Woods, who was covered by a linebacker.
“Everything we put into the week, I think it shows when we come to play,” Woods said. “We find ways to get an edge on our opponent and run away from them.”
It was reminiscent of those “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams that dazzled St. Louis almost 20 years ago.
“How could it not be reminiscent?” said Warner, the Hall of Fame quarterback who directed that offense and was working Thursday’s game as an NFL Network analyst. “It was so much fun. The beautiful thing is how they play, the way they attack down the field, which is so much different than what you see from other teams.”
One of the cruel ironies of the Rams leaving Southern California in 1995 is they became a true L.A. team only when they moved to St. Louis. That’s when they were the NFL’s answer to the Showtime Lakers.
Well, that’s what they are now, at least through the first quarter of the season.
“I wasn’t alive [for those Lakers teams],” said a smiling Goff, born in 1994. “But it feels good. The crowd was amazing tonight. For myself, seeing that grow from that first year until now, seeing a Thursday night when there’s so much traffic and everyone’s here, waving those towels. It’s a true home-field advantage. Feels good.”
He likes that.