zn wrote:

From what I saw, that whole unit is a problem, it’s not just Karty. On the missed FG there was both penetration from the outside and a leaping blocker at the line, and he tried and failed to kick around the interference, which of course was a doomed effort.

I would like to see someone explain why that unit is such a mess. And again it’s not just Karty.

I’m wondering why nobody is pointing the finger at the ST coach.

wv wrote:

Looking at the old Martz (2000-20005) drafts, makes me appreciate McSnead.

Their drafting was fantastically terrible.

The 1970s, though.

1971
1 Isiah Robertson
1 Jack Youngblood
3 Dave Elmendorf

1973
2 Cullen Bryant
2 Ron Jaworski
2 Jim Youngblood

1975
1 Mike Fanning
1 Dennis Harrah
1 Doug France
2 Monte Jackson
4 Rod Perry
7 Pat Haden

1976
1 Kevin McLain
2 Pat Thomas
3 Jackie Slater
5 Carl Ekern

1977
1 Bob Brudzinski
2 Nolan Cromwell
2 Billy Waddy
3 Ed Fulton
3 Wendell Tyler
4 Vince Ferragamo

Atlanta and San Francisco lost.

I’ll take it.

zn wrote:

Rodrigue basically said that Shula’s superpower is isolating then fixing problems. Rams have been poor tacklers for ages now, but evidently or obviously he addressed it this year.

This is one thing I’ve never understood about football, though. I understand that players might need to be taught how to react to certain motions and formations, and so on.

But why the hell does a coach have to emphasize tackling. Like…that’s your job. That’s the main thing. That’s what your paycheck is for. Get to the man with the ball, wrap him up, and throw him down.

And yet… it really appears that when a coach emphasizes tackling, teams improve in that area. It’s just that… how did you make your varsity team in high school if you can’t get after the ball carrier.

wv wrote:

Might as well skim the Rams remaining ten games. The 49er game in two weeks, is what-you-call a Must-Win, I’d say.

I’m assuming they will beat the Saints and be 6-2. That next stretch 49er-Seahawks-Bucs is inter esting.

Yeah, that’s a crucial stretch of games, but I think this entire stretch is uphill. The Saints are probably the only “pushover” game. Carolina has been better than expected, as has Atlanta. Those two teams, as well as the mystifying Cardinals, are teams that “on any given Sunday” could pull out a victory, but the Rams are gonna win most, if not all of those games. The other 5 seem like a FG decides it.

Not a good look.

wv wrote:

16 minute mark. A rams stat.

Sounds good to me.

wv wrote:

Now, does anyone really think the Dodgers or the Blue Jays would be in the World Series if they payrolls like the Chicago White Sox ( 78 million)

Do you think the Pirates would be in the playoffs if they spent $125 million more on salaries? Because they made $200m in profit last year. Where’s that money going? Don’t just look at the gross salary numbers. Look at the % of revenue that is going to salaries.

I’m conflicted on this. Money is a factor, and a lot of money is an advantage. One of them. And a salary cap might compress the top somewhat. But I don’t think it would “level” the field. It might make the playoffs a bit more likely for the teams in the second tier, but I think the Pirates’ business model is to keep salaries low, and keep the profits for themselves.

I really wasn’t sure if I was favoring anybody, but I turned on the game with about 6 minutes left, and I instinctively started rooting for the Falcons.

McCaffrey appears to be fine, btw.

I’ve thought it over.

A tie, with both Bijan Robinson and Christian McCaffrey suffering high ankle sprains. I think that’s a compromise I can make.

zn wrote:

The best outcome the Rams can hope for with the Atlanta/SF game is a tie.

I’ve given this conundrum ample consideration for the past 2 days, and my thorough, proprietary analysis came to the conclusion that the best thing would be a 9er victory that sees Christian McCaffrey go down with a high ankle sprain.

I did not consider the possibility of a tie, though, so I may have to rerun my analysis.

Matthew Stafford and a stingy run defense: 10 stats that tell the story of Rams’ season

By Nate Atkins
Oct. 15, 2025

BALTIMORE — The Los Angeles Rams are six games into the 2025 season and feeling like they’re mostly on track for the goals they want to accomplish.

They’re 4-2 and in a three-way tie for first place in the NFC West with the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. Their goal is to win the division, secure a home playoff game and start a push toward another trip to the Super Bowl in Matthew Stafford’s age-37 season.

Six games are a sufficient sample to see some key trends emerge. Here are 10 numbers that explain their season to date:

1,684
The yards Stafford has thrown for, the most of any quarterback. He has never finished first in passing yards across 17 seasons, so it speaks to the level he’s playing at.

In a world of two-high shells to take away the deep ball, the Rams are finding ways to create chunk gains consistently through the air thanks to the intermediate part of the field, where Stafford spams Puka Nacua and Davante Adams along the sideline and between the hashes.

His arm still flashes enough strength to scare defenses into those shells, and it’s giving him spots between the levels to use that strength to deliver the ball quickly before defenders can adjust.

106.2
Stafford’s passer rating, which is currently the best of his career. It edges out the 106.0 he posted in his second-to-last season with the Detroit Lions in 2019. The similarity between the two is their small sample size: he played just eight games in 2019 and six so far this season.

So, the likelihood is that the number will come down. However, he still has a chance to post his best full-season rating, which would mean topping the 102.9 from his first season with the Rams in 2021. That season, he threw 41 touchdown passes and led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory.

8
The receptions that Nacua has had in every game where he’s played at least 60 percent of the snaps. The exception was Sunday, when he suffered a sprained ankle in the second quarter and finished with two catches. Nacua has eight more catches than any other player in the NFL, and it’s the consistency that’s most impressive.

He isn’t racking up crazy numbers per catch or breaking away for long touchdowns. Still, he’s providing such a strong floor to the Rams’ offense and is a key reason Stafford looks so in control, as he’s able to get into a rhythm quickly by sending passes Nacua’s way.

The Rams will have to adjust if Nacua misses time with this injury. If Stafford has been the team’s MVP through six weeks, Nacua isn’t far off. His absence for stretches against the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans shows how hard it is for Los Angeles to adjust its game plan, which is built so much around Nacua, when he’s not on the field.

4
The blocked kicks the Rams have allowed this season. They’re currently on pace to have 11 blocks.

It’s become enough of a problem that coach Sean McVay opted to pass up a short field goal to potentially take a three-score lead in the fourth quarter against the Ravens to go for it on fourth down. Granted, the blocks were only part of the threat to that unit, as kicker Joshua Karty also missed a 26-yarder earlier in the game, and the Rams had a bad snap on another one of his field goal attempts.

However, so many playoff games come down to field goals, so the Rams will have to figure this out, as it’s arguably cost them both of their losses this season.

1
The number of 100-yard rushers the Rams have allowed this season. It happened on Sunday, when Derrick Henry ran for 122 yards on 24 carries, notably without linebacker Omar Speights on the field for Los Angeles.

However, to get to the sixth game before allowing a 100-yard rusher is impressive, considering the three running backs the Rams faced before Sunday were Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor and Christian McCaffrey. Los Angeles is allowing just 3.8 yards per carry, which ranks seventh in the league, and it’s the only defense that has yet to allow a run of 20 yards or more.

That’s a credit to the addition of linebacker Nate Landman, in particular. He just set the Rams’ single-game franchise record with 17 tackles on Sunday. It also says something about the addition of Poona Ford up front, the growth of Jared Verse as an edge setter and the sneaky value of Quentin Lake.

The Rams saw their 2024 season end when Barkley ran all over them in the divisional round of the playoffs, and it’s looking like they’ve shored up that weakness.

50
The percentage of red zone trips the Rams are cashing in for touchdowns, which ranks 25th in the NFL. For an offense that ranks in the top 10 nearly everywhere else, it’s one of the most significant areas of growth for this team to go from good to elite.

It’s due to a few factors: The field shrinks on the routes Nacua and Adams run, and defenses often double-team Nacua to force the ball elsewhere. The Rams don’t have a great pass-catching tight end, and this is usually the area of the field where they can shine in two-tight-end sets and with play action. Stafford doesn’t provide a run threat, so the number of blockers is difficult to manufacture in the run game when teams stack the box.

However, between Kyren Williams’ growth as a receiver and the talent of Terrance Ferguson and Tutu Atwell, there’s reason to believe this can improve. If it does, the Rams will have one of the best offenses across the board.

8
The consecutive regular-season games in which Byron Young has recorded at least half a sack. His 7.5 sacks this season trail only Denver Broncos star Nik Bonitto’s eight.

This helps explain the value of Verse as well, as offenses have shifted their protections to him after his NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year campaign last season. Verse is generating pressure on 18.3 percent of his rushes, and his power to collapse the pocket has paired beautifully with Young’s speed to chase down the quarterback to give the Rams one of the top edge duos in the NFL.

41
The percentage of defensive snaps the Rams are playing in Cover 3, according to Football Insights. The only teams running it more are the Atlanta Falcons and Las Vegas Raiders.

Cover 3 was in vogue about a decade ago, when the Seahawks rode that model with the “Legion of Boom” to build one of the best defenses ever. It’s faded some in favor of two-high shells to take away the deep passes. However, it has been a good coverage for teams that build around good safeties, as it allows cornerbacks to play in press and funnel routes inward.

That has fit the Rams in some ways this season. They have three strong coverage safeties in Lake, Kam Curl and Kamren Kinchens. However, they also lost their most physical outside cornerback in Ahkello Witherspoon to injured reserve.

If the Rams do make a cornerback addition to fill his absence, expect it to be a physical one.

120
The targets that Nacua and Adams have seen this season. Nacua ranks first in the NFL with 65, and Adams is seventh with 55. The next-most targeted player on the Rams is Williams, with just 23.

It’s a testament to a few things: how good these two receivers are, how much Stafford likes to throw to his top targets and how void of steady receivers the Rams are elsewhere with the personnel they’re choosing to play. Atwell and Ferguson are the most talented pass catchers outside of Nacua and Adams, yet they’ve struggled to find playing time.

41.0
The yards per reception Atwell is averaging thus far. He has just four catches on nine targets in the five games he’s played in. However, to turn four catches into 164 yards is impressive, and it speaks to how he’s either a forgotten or hidden weapon in this offense.

The Rams brought Atwell back on a one-year, $10 million deal in the offseason to serve as a late-game lever and an injury replacement for Nacua or Adams, since the passing game is built entirely around those two targets. When they are humming, the Rams prefer to play Jordan Whittington over Atwell because of his run-blocking.

However, whether Nacua is limited or out this Sunday, Atwell should see his first legitimate role in the game plan as an outside receiver, and his deep-speed skill set is obvious.

zn wrote:

Zooey wrote:

Stafford’s accuracy seems off this year.

Higbee was wide open on that all of 2 yards downfield, and he threw it behind him while under minimal pressure.

In the first half he was off. First half, he was 8 of 15 for 77 yards.

In the 2nd half he was 9 of 11 for 104 yards a 1 TD. 81.8%, 9.45 an attempt. I mean it was the Ravens D, but still, if prorated for the whole season that would be 1st in completion percentage and 2nd in ypa.

Rams are a 2nd half team. Stafford is a 2nd half qb.

Having said that, yes, slow starts are annoying and need to be fixed.

It’s just odd the way Stafford can nail a house fly from 40 yards away and miss somebody in the flat. That’s football, though.

I don’t know how he managed to get injured on that play. It looked like there was no contact, no awkward landing, nothing.

And he routinely gets piled up in car wrecks every week that make me shudder.

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