He can afford to take the week off.

I think the 9ers without their QB and RB, and on a short week, shouldn’t pose too much of a problem – and if they do – it wouldn’t be because of the absence of Kupp.

Herzog wrote:

I wouldn’t take anyone over Goff right now. Love the way he throws…. no wobble…. gets to the perfect spot and the footbal is so easy to catch. That kind of pinpoint Accuracy is hard to find.

Yeah, he’s been better than I expected. I was hoping to see improvement this year, you know. Growth. Some people warned of a slip backwards.

He has been pretty close to flawless.

He doesn’t have the strongest arm in the league, but he can heave it 60 yards accurately. I mean…that’s good enough, right?

Two things (if I may).

1. Marcus Peters was beat by a lot more than a strained leg on those TD passes. That was not the injury alone. He blew it. Dunno more than that, but I do know that much.

2. Jared Goff is a very good QB.

Of course there are going to be tough games. They WON, though. They could have lost that game, and it really would not have been a big shame, and it really wouldn’t have hurt them that much. And tough games are important, too. The Rams need the experience and confidence that comes with these kinds of games because the playoffs are going to be tough as always. They need some gut checks along the way. To stay hungry. I’m good with it.

snowman wrote:

Cooks and Kupp both got concussed. Were the hits dirty?

Kupp was just a head-hitting-the-turf thing.

Cooks hit was marginal, but Cooks lowered his head right before impact, so I’m not sure it was a penalty. Close…but not flagrant, imo.

Robert Quinn the top rusher. It’s too bad the Rams couldn’t hang onto him.

nittany ram wrote:

When things are going poorly, hope is all that you have, so I love it when opposing fans still have hope prior to the game.

Because as the game unfolds I know that hope is draining away.

Then they have nothing.

And I laugh.

I never get enough of crowd shots. Nothing quite like seeing a couple of people who spent an hour putting on paint and strange costumes sitting with slumped shoulders, looking like they got caught for an hour in a downpour.

I’ll just add this.

According to Football Outsiders, the Rams have a much greater chance of getting a BYE week in the playoffs than any other team has of even making the playoffs.

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/playoffodds

And CBS didn’t move them up the rankings, either. They still have the Rams only one notch above the 2nd ranked team which is ridiculous.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-week-5-power-rankings-rams-hold-top-spot-surprising-team-jumps-up-to-no-3/

Barron, Zuerlein, Natson.

I have no complaints about Ficken, btw. He hasn’t cost the Rams a game, or anything, and I appreciate his effort. He isn’t as good as Zuerlein, but…duh.

https://www.therams.com/news/barron-zuerlein-natson-all-may-return-in-week-5

While head coach Sean McVay shared disappointing injury news on Monday with outside linebacker Dominique Easley undergoing knee surgery, he also had good news to report on a few players.

McVay noted that inside linebacker Mark Barron, kicker Greg Zuerlein, and returner JoJo Natson all have a chance to play against the Seahawks this week.

While Barron participated in Los Angeles’ walk-thru sessions throughout training camp, he was unable to participate in the vast majority of the club’s practices in the first quarter of the regular season. Barron was listed as a limited participant in the final season of Week 4. And now it looks as if he may be able to play against Seattle.

“We’re encouraged. We’re looking forward to seeing how he progresses this week. And there’s a possibility he could be ready to go. That’s something that we’re going to evaluate as the week progresses,” McVay said. “But this was kind of always a target date that we had set to really get a chance to truly evaluate him, knowing that we had those four games in, really, a short time span. So this week provides an opportunity to evaluate him. And if we can get Mark back on the field, we’ll feel good about that.”

Barron was on the field for Monday’s practice during the portion open to the media.

Returner JoJo Natson was practicing as well. He’s recovering from hand surgery, but McVay said he has a chance to suit up against Seattle.

“There’s a possibility,” McVay said. “He had a good surgery. It is on that left hand, so his dominant hand of how he holds the football is with that right [hand]. But we’ll see as the week goes with him as well.”

Zuerlein, however, was not spotted on the field for Monday’s practice. But the head coach said Zuerlein was able successfully complete a recent workout.

“I think there’s a chance, also, that Greg could be ready to go this week. So that’s something that’s very encouraging,” McVay said. “He had a workout yesterday, did a great job. Like anything else, got a little bit fatigued towards the end. But there is a possibility that Greg could be ready to go.”

“Until you really get a little bit further into the week with Greg, with Mark — those are things that will be evaluated and will certainly affect how we go about our 46 and who’s going to be active on gamdday.”

There is some urgency in particular for the club’s kicking position. During his conference call last Friday, McVay said the club would have to evaluate that spot. Through two games in Zuerlein’s stead, Sam Ficken has missed a pair of field goals — one from 46 yards against the Chargers, and another from just 28-yards out against the Vikings last Thursday.

“Certainly we’ve got to be better in that area when we get a chance to go up 13 in a game that’s been back and forth. Those are plays that we have to be able to make and make them consistently,” McVay said on Friday. “Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case the last couple weeks, but every decision we make is something that we discuss as a staff.”

Ficken has, however, connected on a 34-yard field goal and all 10 of his extra-point attempts.

Zuerlein converted 4-of-5 field goals and three extra points in Week 1 at Oakland — including a 55-yard field goal off the Oakland Coliseum infield dirt. His 158 points scored led the league in 2017, with 38 field goals and 44 extra points.

I watched Act I live, but I had tickets to another event Thursday, and didn’t get to see the second Act until last night. I took the pleasure of rewatching Act I while I was at it.

So…Goff…of whom I already had a high opinion, and expected to enjoy watching get even better…that was absurd. That was ridiculous. We have ourselves a QB. I wanted to rate him Top Ten at the beginning of the year, but in reviewing a list of all QBs in the league, I think I couldn’t honestly put him above 12 or 13 IIRC. I don’t watch a lot of other games, so I really can’t make informed comparisons to other guys (apart from SFO which I am forced to see portions of throughout the year). But I’ve seen a lot of games over the years, and a lot of Rams games. And Goff is a Real QB. Very real. His accuracy and velocity are just nonsense.

Two TD throws stood out in particular to me. The first TD pass to Gurley…I’ve watched that several times now, and I still don’t know how he got it in there. Gurley had a clear step, but Barr was in the way. I just can’t see a straight line from Goff to Gurley no matter how many times I see that. It must have been a curveball. The other throw was to Kupp in the corner of the end zone in double coverage. A dart thrown about 30 yards while he was on the run into a tight window. Both live and last night I was struck by Aikman calling it a great catch. That ball was right THERE. The catch was routine. The pass was incredible.

On defense, well…that was less impressive. Peters seemed to get burned several times. Probably more times in this game than he has all season up to now. Combination of a good offense and calf injury, I suppose, but I hope it was the calf, and he will be better next week. I think we are all hoping to see more sacks in the future. The LBs are still pretty green, and I hope their play improves each week because they are mediocre at best, seems to me.

Anyway. Any victory is a good victory, especially over the Vikings.