zn wrote:

Ian Rapoport@RapSheet With the #Texans making the playoffs, they join the #Browns, #Lions, and #Rams as teams that qualified for the playoffs after failing to make it the year before. It’s the 34th consecutive season with at least four teams making this turnaround. Good news for those teams watching this year

So that’s 4/14, or a little fewer than 1/3 of the teams new to this year’s playoffs.

In MLB {just for comparison}, 12 teams make the playoffs. In 2023, half of them (6/12) were new to the playoffs.

In the NBA, 20 teams make the playoffs. In 2023, there were 2 teams that were new to the playoffs over 2022. 2/20

In the NHL, 5/16 were new.

So baseball has the greatest diversity of teams by far, and the NBA by far the least.

Beat the Lions or Cowboys, beat the 49ers, beat whomever, and beat whomever.

That’s it.

At this point, that’s what I’m hoping for.

Seems like he’s still getting high ratings from PFF, in spite of getting double-teamed and held all the time.

Here is the link to the source.

Reggie White didn’t make it his first season. He made it 13 straight times beginning his 2nd season.

From the Pro Football Hall of Fame site:

White, who spent two seasons in the ill-fated United States Football League, made a memorable debut in the National Football League with the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4 of the 1985 season. He collected 2.5 sacks, and deflected a pass that was intercepted and returned for touchdown. Despite the fact he played in only 13 games that season, White tied for the team lead with 13 sacks and was named the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year. The following season, White picked up 18 more sacks to earn his first of an astounding 13 straight Pro Bowl trips.

Bruce Smith was drafted in 1985. He went to the Pro Bowl every season from 1987-1998, with the exception of 1991 when he played only 5 games due to injuries.

So Aaron Donald is behind only Merlin Olsen, and owns Smith and White.

The Cowboys have lost 2 of their last 3. Lost to Buffalo and Miami, and squeaked by Detroit.

The Eagles have lost 4 of their last 5. They lost to SF, Dallas, Seattle, and Arifuckingzona. They beat the Giants.

The Lions, since they got embarrassed on Thanksgiving by GB, have beaten the Saints, Broncos, and Vikings, while losing to Chicago and Dallas.

The Rams have won 6 of their last 7, the only loss being in OT on the road in Baltimore.

And the 9ers have won 7 of their last 8.

Could it be that the 49ers and the Rams are the best teams in the NFC right now?

joemad wrote:

Carson Wentz vs Sam Darnold won’t be bad to watch… I don’t see the Rams starting Stafford or Kupp or AD… do you? I don’t see the 49ers starting Purdy, Kittle or Deebo. Ben Skowronek, Tutu, Austin Trammel, Royce Freeman, Ronnie Rivers…. this is your chance to shine. …. that’s too bad, i wanted to see Kyren’s mom get to snatch another ball from an opposing fan in the stands….. She rightfully snaked that ball away from Saquon Barkley fan last Sunday in East Rutherford….. A 10-7 record would be nice to see.

I think the Rams play Stafford the opening drive. I’ll bet he would like to be the QB who throws Nacua into the record books. 4 catches/29 yards, doable.

The 9ers will rest Trent Williams, and resting him means resting Purdy. Is my guess.

zn wrote:

Blaine Grisak @bgrisakTST

In 2017, the Rams were 4-1 down the stretch and rested starters against the 49ers in Week 17. In the playoff game against the Falcons, Rams fell down 13-0 and didn’t score their first points until 2:30 left in the 2nd quarter. First four drives ended in four plays or less.

Okay, but teams coming off a bye win more often than not.

Nacua is going to get the records. 4 catches and 29 yards is one drive. They are not going to rest him when he is that close to the records. After he puts his name on the top of those lists, maybe.

It will be interesting to see what McVay does.

If the Rams had managed to choke away the game to the Giants, they would have something to play for, and the 9ers would have some motivation to knock them out. But with little on the line, health is more important than whether the Rams play Detroit or Dallas, and San Francisco has nothing to gain or lose, except health.

zn wrote:

You guys don’t know the first thing about tanking. If you want to tank, you play the starters so they all get injured. That way you end up with higher draft picks in 2024. Which would then give them a chance to build a team capable of going to the playoffs.

LOL

I tell y’all what.

I’m fine with the Rams losing their first game in the playoffs. I will allow myself about 60 seconds to have a good cry about it, then I’m going to celebrate one of the most interesting and hopeful seasons I’ve experienced as a Rams fan.

Seriously, there was a LOT of talk – an Expectation, really – that the Rams were headed for Caleb Williams.

Now I never believed that. I said from the beginning I thought they were ~.500 team, but they are better than that when they have KW and MS healthy. And the defense, though weak in the secondary, is much, much better than I expected. ST is worse, but there ya go.

wv wrote:

Enh. I’ve seen all this too many times now. Somebody doing really well on a line with Aaron Donald. I dunno how good Turner really is. He’s certainly played well, and he’s ‘solid’ and he was a great draft pick. But more than that, I dunno. w v

Yeah, that’s my question, too.

However, it is clear to me that he should win DROY because.

wv wrote:

And what a weird F’ing situation in the last week of the regular season.  49ers dont need it.  Rams dont need it.    What will they do?

That’s actually a good point/question.

The Rams might find more value in resting some guys before the playoff game than in going all out for the 6 seed. Maybe get Nacua the rookie records, and then put in the JV team.

So… the Rams have locked up the 6th seed? Is that so?

joemad wrote:

Zooey wrote:

I can’t believe that with 8 billion people on this planet, there aren’t 32 of them who can kick a damn ball through the uprights. That is all.

indeed. a planet that’s filled with soccer players at every corner of the world. There’s got to be someone much more capable than freaking Haver-sick

Well, it’s interesting, isn’t it?

Kickers matter.

And there are, like, 2,000 college football teams, all with a placekicker. Plus all the soccer players who can kick the hell out of a ball, but can’t play soccer for whatever reason.

What the hell?

Gotta be a bartender somewhere who can kick the bloody ball. Right?

wv wrote:

The marriage of McVay and Stafford is so effective. I dont think it can ever by over-stated just how great it must be for McVay to have a veteran with as much mental-power and experience as Matthew Stafford. Now that Brady has retired, who is the top QB-brain active on the grid-iron? If it aint Stafford, I dunno who it would be. w v

I am stunned by how good Matthew Stafford is. More so this season than the SB season. He was good that year, but good lord almighty.

That “No Look” throw in the Super Bowl was Something Else. It was not just a “cool throw.” There is a good chance that that pass would not have been completed, if it weren’t for the fact that it was a No Look pass. That LB was right there. He was smack in the sweet spot of that passing lane. And Stafford’s “misdirection gaze” made that dude lean slightly to his left, and by the time he saw where the ball was going, he just couldn’t quite reverse his momentum enough to get his fingertips on that pass, and that was a HUGE play.

But now it seems like I see that freakshit from Stafford every single fucking game. The stakes aren’t as high, so maybe if we are judging passes like a Diving judge, and taking context into account, the Super Bowl pass was the highwater mark. But this year, it’s like he is making those throws without anybody paying much attention to it. He is doing it all the time. Roll to the left, throw cross-body to the right, splitting the legs of a LB, and darting the ball between 2 guys in the secondary who stretch out within 6 inches of the ball, right into the hands of some goddamn receiver nobody heard of before this year. With broken bones and probably a collapsed lung. It’s ridiculous. I am beginning to realize that I am deeply in love with Matthew Stafford.

I’m going to say it right now: I think he’s better than Pat Haden was.

zn wrote:

Los Angeles Rams PR@TheLARamsPR According to @PFF, the Rams have four receivers in the top 25 (for receivers with at least 20% of snaps played) in run blocking grades. -Nacua is t-5th (72.4) – Kupp is 12th (67.3) – Robinson is 18th (65.1) – Atwell is 25th (62.7)

That is astonishing.

4 of the top 25.

The other 31 teams split the remaining 21 guys, and that means at least ten teams have nobody in the top 25.

That’s coaching. That’s culture. That’s winning football.

I do not look forward to Sean McVay’s inevitable move to the showbiz side of the game.