Tee it up at home! 💪🏽#LetsGoooo #Gameday @RamsNFL pic.twitter.com/iNQdJMVwDk

— 𝒥𝒾𝓂 𝐸𝓋𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓉 (@Jim_Everett) December 10, 2020

Looked to me like Bellichek’s plan was to dare the Rams to run, and McVay did. And Akers did.

Meanwhile, the Pats got 3 points.

So THAT was fun. I didn’t love every play, and I know the Pats are down, but that was still hugely satisfying. Felt like a good game.

The Rams still need a deep ball. And some special teams.

But I feel like this team is improving as the season rolls on, and I am starting to believe they have a shot against the Jets.

I will just add that I cannot conceive of a scenario in which Seattle beats the Jets this weekend in Seattle.

The Jets are due for a victory, and Seattle has had trouble this season with teams based just outside of New York.

(It’s interesting, btw, how NittanyRam has disappeared from the board now that his beloved Seahawks have fallen out of first place).

Yep, he is an enigma, our boy Jared.

He makes WTF Throws on both ends of the spectrum.

I like his mindset. But sometimes it’s like one of his cylinders isn’t firing. I dunno.

I am increasingly pessimistic about Thursday, btw. I just don’t see enough in Goff, or enough in McVay, that gives me confidence going up against the Death Star which always peaks in December.

zn wrote:

Looking at the playoffs the Rams do have some guys who can give us better play than we’ve seen. In other words we can gain explosiveness with better backfield play (both Akers and Hendy) and at WR3 (Jefferson). And our OL has actually been solid so it’s not out of the realm of reason to think that our two young RBs who have good explosiveness can boost this offense IF we get more consistency out of them

There is a drop-off at RB from a healthy Gurley. There just is. Gurley would have been a HOFer if he had knees. I think they can get good production, and good ENOUGH production from Akers/Henderson, but there is a drop-off. Don’t know if it’s from 3 to 17, but there is a drop-off.

At WR, I think they miss Cooks’ ability to go deep, but again…not a steep drop-off there. It’s not like the Rams receivers are slow. They could do it once in a while.

I cannot name one player on NE apart from Cam Newton.

Patriots 13 Rams 3.

zn wrote:

sosa K@QBsMVP
Random: Troy Reeder played a very solid game. He’s completely closed the gap between himself and Micah Kiser, and I think there’s a discussion to be had that he might be better than Kiser.

That comment caught me by surprise.

(Thanks for compiling these tweets, zn. I always appreciate it)

InvaderRam wrote:

i’ll continue to maintain that he’s a 10-15 qb. that’s still very hard to replace. my inclination would be to keep him. you can win a superbowl with him.

get rid of him. and you get the rams from 2007-2015.

I agree with that, and I agree they miss Cooks’ deep threat.

Kurt Warner agrees with me. Surprised he hasn’t retweeted me yet.

American taxpayers spend $107,575,000,000 more on police than public housing.

Pass it on.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) December 2, 2020

wv wrote:

Kurt Warner was on NFL Network today and was asked about Goff and his struggles…..he said Goff is a very solid starter in the NFL who has already proven he can be very good, but people got to stop trying to compare him to other QB’s who could carry a team to a Super Bowl….he said there is only a handful of them that could do that throughout the history of the NFL

=====

I think thats about right.

But I also think he’s been making too many bonehead plays lately.

w
v

Funny the way a Ring changes everyone’s perception, though. If Goff wins a Super Bowl, everything will change in the way people talk about him.

For that reason, I vote Goff gets a ring this year.

joemad wrote:

you didn’t see that vs KC, or in NO or with a 6-3 record vs Russel Wilson? Time consuming drives to seal games are also important in games where he hasn’t been in position to come-from-behind…. Goff is a decent closer.

Grit, = getting back up when you’re knocked down to your knees….

Goff has gotten back up every time. I mean I’m not sure many QBs would have a 43-29 WL record after getting his ass pounded with an 0-7 start under a Fisher regime, including getting a violent concussion from Richard Sherman in Goff’s first start in Seattle as a rookie.

I’ve never seen Goff quit.

Sure, it’s been frustrating to see the RAMS lose to SF, 4 straight, but those 4 losses should not be pinned on Goff.

Quick note on Everett, and I liked him alot… but there’s a reason why that NFC Championship game in 89 was played in SF… he didn’t have the grit to win in the entire month of November, behind the best offense line that the Rams ever had….

I would never call Goff a quitter.

Absolutely not.

You know, when my first impression of Goff is that he is a lot like his idol, Joe Montana. He doesn’t get High; he doesn’t get Low. Even keel, all the time. Something almost…vacant…about his personality.

Montana had the luxury of playing with Blue Chip players on offense all around, a Blue Chip defense, and coaches who went to the HOF on the first available date. Montana was lucky, seems to me. I mean…he was Good. But Montana is not the reason for those dynasties. IMO. This is actually interesting, now that we arrived at this spot. Because I will bet that Montana and Goff have a similar YPA.

++++ Okay…I just looked it up.

Career YPA Montana (tied for 30th all time) 7.5/yds.
Career YPA Goff (tied for 24th all time) 7.6/yds.

Here’s some perspective on that:

As for Everett, seems to me…as best as I can recall… that the Rams’ defense in those years was smoke and mirrors. They had, like, 1 or 2 blue chip players, 3 red chips, and a bunch of whatever. As I recall, they won with schemes. Like the famous playoff game against Philly. Everett played with Greg Bell, and Gaston Green, and Cleveland Gary. He and Dickerson overlapped about 7 or 8 games. Without Everett…with ANY of the Rams QBs from James Harris on…I don’t think the Rams make that playoff game against the 49ers in the first place. But those teams were Jim Everett, Henry Ellard, a stout OL, Kevin Greene, and nobody. Leroy Irvin, maybe. I might be forgetting a player or two.

I guess I just see Everett and Goff as a tossup at this point.

I will say this:

Goff is pretty accurate – with occasional WTF throws (1-2 per game).

Goff is steady. He is not impervious to pressure – it affects him – but he does not fold under it, either.

Goff is resilient.

He rolls out well, and throws well doing so, but is not a scrambler.

He is mobile (not a statue), but he won’t punish a team for leaving a lane open.

His deep ball is okay, but not a threat. He does not have a cannon for an arm.

His pocket awareness is so-so. He does not get happy feet, or take phantom sacks, but he does not have a 6th sense, either, and will get strip sacked more than one would want.

His clock awareness is ordinary.

His improv skills are unremarkable.

Don’t know about his audible skills, or even if that is a thing in the current offense.

I mean…that’s how I see Goff right now.

You rate him higher. Why?

Our buddy Mackeyser tweeted back at Deebo that the Rams would be sure to send him a postcard from the playoffs.

Can’t find the tweet, though. Finding stuff on Tweeter is hard to do.

Neera Tanden not only incited serious threats to many on the left w/a megaphone but she straight up pitched false hit/smear pieces on them, got them published & then had her organized Reddit/twittee/MSNBC army amplify to attempt to cancel those voices. History won’t reflect well

— Nomiki Konst (@NomikiKonst) November 30, 2020

zn wrote:

McVay is a great coach but when someone has his number, he’s not good at having an effective countermove.

This hit me when the Bears shut the Rams down the same way the Patriots did in the Super Bowl. I couldn’t believe McVay hadn’t found an answer to that. And Miami did something similar this season, didn’t they?