zn wrote:

zn wrote:

Dallas defense last 3 games only.

Points per game allowed–23rd.
Pass D (yards per attempt)–27th.
Sack percentage–27th
Opponent completion percentage–22nd
Opponent passer rating–22nd
Yards per carry, run D–8th

And I hope they run a lot anyway.

Dallas wants to play a halfcourt game, while the Rams are looking for an uptempo, full court game (to borrow a sports metaphor from baseball). The first quarter of this game will tell us whose will is being imposed. It won’t tell us who will win, but it will tell us the tilt of the game.

If the first quarter is a low-scoring struggle, those conditions favor Dallas. I think the Rams can beat Dallas at that game, but it will be considerably more difficult.

If, however, the Rams move the ball in the first quarter, and especially if they put up 10 or 14, everybody can relax and just laugh at Dallas and their fans for the rest of the night.

I think it is lost on all the Experts that the Rams are trending in the right direction, and Dallas is trending in the wrong direction. It’s true the Rams played a couple of weak teams at the end of the season, but they got better. While Gurley rested. And I just think that when a team starts 8-0, there is nowhere to go but down in the estimation of Experts.

Talib makes a difference as has been pointed out. Dallas is not going to win through use of the Air Force. Their only hope is the infantry.

Casinos put the Rams at 7 point favorites for a reason. 7 points is a lot.

The Rams are better than Dallas. They have been better all season long. AND two of my idiot brothers are Cowboys fans. So…I’m counting on a Rams explosion.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2019/01/11/expert-predictions-cowboys-rams-just-one-panelist-picks-dallas-advance-nfc-title-game

All the Experts Love Dallas…

except the people in Dallas.

The Cowboys allowed 30+ points in one game all season, btw.

Hwæt!

This is the plan.

Throw every play to take advantage of the {relatively} weak Dallas secondary. Just go for the throat.

Get up by 2 scores, and then run. Take the Run away from Dallas by scoring early, and the Rams win.

I want to see a massive offensive explosion. I want the game decidedly in the Rams’ favor by the end of the first quarter. Just beat them, and demoralize them, and crush them.

I don’t like the Rams’ chances in a close game. If it is a tight battle going into the 4th quarter, I think Dallas wears LA down, and wins.

For the Rams to win, they have to strike early and often.

I think.

But…I will take any victory whatsoever. Obviously.

Yeah, ditto. I always feel incompetent at times like this because everything I can think to say sounds like a bromide, even though it’s sincere. I am sincerely sorry for your loss.

InvaderRam wrote:

like i’ve said before don’t really care who the rams play.

don’t care if the eagles win and, assuming the rams win their game, the home field advantage goes back to the rams.

although. yes. as petty as it may be. i don’t want the chargers to have any success. is that wrong?

Of course it’s not Wrong.

The scriptures says nothing about being petty. There are a lot of rules about all kinds of human behavior, but nowhere can you find a single text that cautions against rooting against a football team for some nebulous motivations involving bizarre geographical loyalties. So it’s not wrong. At least, not in a Classical sense.

The Path of Redemption would have been Chicago, New Orleans, Boston.

We are not on that path at the moment, but could still get 2/3 of it.

Rooting?

Nah. Don’t care.

They have to beat everybody in their path.

I do agree with Nittany, though, in that I don’t want the Chargers to have any success in Los Angeles. I want them out of town.

Rams 7-1 at home.
Dallas 3-5 away.

That’s encouraging.

It’s a good slate of games. There isn’t a thing that would surprise me this weekend.

Agree, yeah. I think the Rams would have handled the Bears. I am less certain about Dallas.

Dallas has a formidable OL, Prescott is good enough, and Cooper and Elliot give them the weapons.

Their run defense is very good, so Gurley isn’t going to carry them very far.

Looks like a tougher matchup to me.

zn wrote:

Those look like some good games.

Good playoff year looks like.

I don’t remember a year when there was less difference between the #1 and #6 seeds than this year.

There is not one team playing this weekend that I’d be amazed if they went to the Super Bowl. Maybe the Cowboys or Colts, but I haven’t actually seen them play this year, so I don’t know. But would anybody really drop dead with shock if the Chargers (#5) ended up against the Eagles (#6)?

Really…I don’t see any “Gimme” games in the entire bracket. I don’t remember a season like this before.

So Kupp had 3 of those, and he played half the season.

So…yeah.

wv wrote:

Beating the Bears would go a long way with me. Even if they lost
the next week.
Coz da Bears just humiliated them in Chicago. Bullied them.

It would be huge to turn that around.

w
v

Yeah, me too. That’s why I want the Bears. That is the Bar for me. The season started for me with expectations that the Rams would be in the hunt, in the Top Four teams with realistic Super Bowl contention. If they lose to the Bears twice, then the Rams do not belong there. They are a pretender, not a contender. And I want contention. That is my Bar. It will feel like a lost season to me if the Rams’ only improvement was to earn a bye in the playoffs. That isn’t enough. They have to win a playoff game this year, and it should be against the Bears. They already beat Seattle twice, and Dallas – although they are better than average – are not a contender. Dallas is probably not going to beat Seattle, and if they do, that’s the end for them no matter what, I think.

The Bears are real, and they handled the Rams, and for the sake of self-respect, the Rams need to handle them back.