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ZooeyModeratorI like Chris Simms.
It’s embarrassing to say so, for some reason, but I think he’s a better analyst than he was a football player. He’s just quiet and considerate and thoughtful, and I like listening to what he has to say.
Florio is good, too.
ZooeyModeratorThe best thing for me is the timing of this game.
My wife is not fine with sports happening on holidays and birthdays. Last year, the Rams played on Christmas, and fortunately I avoided conflict because the game mattered about as little as any game could, outside of preseason.
Sunday is Christmas Eve, and Monday, obviously….
Would not have been good domestically for the Rams to play this game on one of those days.
ZooeyModeratorRams lead all-time series 43-35.
I was surprised the margin isn’t wider. The Rams owned the Saints for a couple of decades, winning 14 of the first 17 matchups.
Since 1977, the Saints have the upper hand.
Fun fact: tonight’s game is the only one that matters right now.
December 21, 2023 at 9:23 am in reply to: as Rams emerge, praise for Snead…+ Snead interview #147713ZooeyModeratorRams Brothers@RamsBrothersit feels like there are two VERY important moves that Les Snead made that are rather… unorthodox?He released Van Jefferson & Cam Akers in the last year of their deals. The Rams took on more dead cap, but it made room for Kyren to excel in the new scheme, and allowed Demarcus Robinson and Tutu Atwell own the “X”. It has made all the difference offensively.…Me@moiThough to be fair, it’s not clear how much of that is Snead and how much of that is Snead and McV collaborating and thinking it through together.I don’t see it quite that way. Akers has been in the process of Unwelcoming himself on the team for quite a while, and became worthless to them in a “remodel” year anyway. His departure opened up the backfield. Not sure that was wizard work.
Tutu outperformed VJ who just didn’t show up this season. VJ worked himself into expendability.
And Demarcus took advantage of Tutu’s concussion.
ZooeyModeratorrams thursday night football
this is impossible pic.twitter.com/UGYKJoveWc— roberto clemente (@rclemente2121) December 21, 2023
ZooeyModeratorI reformatted this article in hopes this will post. It may be easier to read if you go to the site linked.
Rams playoff rooting guide for the final 3-game stretch
Here’s how the Rams can get to the playoffs based on how the next 3 weeks play outBy Jake Ellenbogen
The Los Angeles Rams are 7-7 following their win over the Commanders at home. The team is 4-1 since the bye and are now all of a sudden the seventh-seed in the playoffs and one of the league’s scariest teams in December.
The Rams have turned their season around from 3-6 to 7-7 but they only have three games left and have plenty of teams breathing down their neck.
According to the NY Times interaction playoff simulation, the Rams currently have a now 49-percent chance of making the playoffs following what transpired on Sunday. Keep in mind, this is a predictive model that simulates games based on the model itself. It’s worth mentioning a few weeks ago it was sitting at 17 percent.
Here are several scenarios in which the L.A. Rams can complete a 3-6 turnaround into a playoff berth (playoff odds in parentheses):
10-7 (Run the table)
Win vs. Saints (73%)
Win vs. Giants (95%)
Win vs. 49ers (100%)
9-8 (2-1 the rest of the way – Loss vs. 49ers)
Win vs. Saints (73%)
Win vs. Giants (95%)
Loss vs. 49ers (92%)
9-8 (2-1 the rest of the way – Loss vs. Saints)
Loss vs. Saints (11%)
Win vs. Giants (14%)
Win vs. 49ers (75%)
9-8 (2-1 the rest of the way – Loss vs. Giants)
Win vs. Saints (73%)
Loss vs. Giants (25%)
Win vs. 49ers (92%)
8-9 (1-2 the rest of the way – Loss vs. Saints & 49ers)
Loss vs. Saints (11%)
Win vs. Giants (17%)
Loss vs. 49ers (5%)
8-9 (1-2 the rest of the way – Loss vs. Giants & 49ers)
Win vs. Saints (73%)
Loss vs. Giants (25%)
Loss vs. 49ers (14%)
8-9 (1-2 the rest of the way – Loss vs. Giants & Saints)
Loss vs. Saints (11%)
Loss vs. Giants (1%)
Win vs. 49ers (6%)
ESPN Analytics Matchup Predictor:
Rams have a 60.1% chance of beating the Saints
Rams have a 81.9% chance of beating the Giants
49ers have a 74.4% chance of beating the Rams
Here’s your weekly rooting guide if you want the Rams to get into the playoffs. This is of course the perfect scenario for each game the rest of the way. The percentages only reflect the odds if the Rams win their game. The games are ranked based on importance and impact for the Rams odds.
Week 16: 49% chance going into the week
Rams victory over Saints (73%)
Titans victory over Seahawks (79%)
Panthers victory over Packers (79%)
Lions victory over Vikings (76%)
Cardinals victory over Bears (76%)
Colts victory over Falcons (74%)
Eagles victory over Giants (74%)
Week 17: 73% chance going into the week
Rams victory over Giants (93%)
Steelers victory over Seahawks (99%)
Vikings victory over Packers (94%)
Week 18: 93% chance going into the week
Rams victory over 49ers (100%)
IF the Rams lose (92%):
Cardinals victory over Seahawks (98%)
Bears victory over Packers (95%)
Lions victory over Vikings (94%)
The Rams are in a great position right now after a dream of a scenario unfolding in week 15. Sure, the Eagles winning would have made things way better for the Rams and set up a easier clinching scenario in week 17. However, the Rams still always knew the assignment and the mission ahead. They were to win the next two games for sure and if they win out they are in. So, the Rams cannot make the playoffs at 7-10 but that’s not news to anyone. They can make it at 8-9 but you would need a lot of help and 8-9 would entail the Rams to lose three of their last five games of the year which is hard to imagine.
In case you really don’t have any faith in the Rams winning week 18 like I do against the 49ers. Here are the scenarios left on the table for the Rams to clinch a playoff berth before week 18:
1st Scenario
2-0 vs. Saints and Giants
Lions win in week 16 over the Vikings
Seahawks lose either of the Titans or Steelers games
2nd Scenario
2-0 vs. Saints and Giants
Lions win in week 16 over the Vikings
Panthers win in week 16 over the Packers
Packers win in week 17 over the Vikings
ZooeyModeratorYeah, everybody knows that. We all know that.
Oh… wait.
You… you didn’t know that… did you?
Oh, okay.
{psst. He’s not in the Circle}
ZooeyModeratorMcVay has already said that Havenstein, Tutu, and Witherspoon will play against the Saints.
He didn’t say anything to me about it.
ZooeyModeratorThis isn’t great.
ZooeyModeratorBiggest game since the super bowl, i guess. Lets hope the refs dont make any mistakes that cost the saints the game 🙂 w v
ZooeyModeratorZooeyModeratorHow horrible will it be if it’s a Dallas/SF game for the championship?
If that happens, then for one 3.5 hour period, I will be the biggest Dallas fan that ever lived. How bout’ dem’ Cowboys…
Well, I’ll be watching it with the sound off, and my eyes closed, wondering what I did to piss off … who’s the Greek god of football again? Hermes?
ZooeyModerator
ZooeyModeratorVikings, Packers, and Falcons all lost. The table’s set for the Rams. Why does that make me nervous?
Yeah, 2 weeks ago, looking at the remaining schedule, WA, the Saints, and Giants all looked easy.
Now it’s starting to look like a murderers’ row.
And what about those 9ers? They have looked like the best team in football for 4 months now. I hate that. How horrible will it be if it’s a Dallas/SF game for the championship?
Once the Rams get their Exit Ticket, I will be all in with the Ravens, I guess.
You know…IF the Rams get screwed out of their destiny, I mean.
ZooeyModeratorNot good enough to win a beauty contest, but good enough to move up the playoff rankings.
Washington played well in the RZ.
So did the Rams. That was quite a job keeping them out of the end zone near the end. Dunno what Rivera was thinking on his use of TOs, but I don’t care.
The Rams would good enough to keep Stafford clean, and good enough to keep DC from capitalizing on their errors, so…
Saints have to travel. Rams don’t.
Let’s go.
ZooeyModeratorYep. (My snark about Mullens and Browning was not aimed at your comment, it was just a snide reference to the unbelievable level of qb injuries this year. Sry, that wasn’t clear.
It was clear. I got it. It was funny.
ZooeyModeratorWell done, Cincinnati.
So Jake Browning out duels Nick Mullens for the 27-24 win. As was written in the prophecies.
The key thing here is that both Green Bay and Minnesota have 1-game losing streaks, and are trending in the right direction.
ZooeyModeratorWell done, Cincinnati.
ZooeyModeratorIf somehow Dallas and Philly each lose the next three games, and the 9ers go 3-0, that game against us, will not mean a thing. Because the 9ers would have home field throughout the NFC. It makes me think, they will sit their main guys, after the first Quarter.
Yes, but if the 9ers also somehow lose the next three games, the Rams could play them for the divisional title.
ZooeyModeratorMan, we are getting so close to the good stuff!
December 15, 2023 at 1:54 pm in reply to: Rams on the radar this year who weren’t before the season #147546ZooeyModeratorHe has the 21st-best PFF grade among all defensive tackles
I don’t think that Pro Bowls feature 21 DTs.
I am very happy with Turner, especially considering that he is a rookie, but if I’d written that article, he wouldn’t have made the list.
December 15, 2023 at 1:46 pm in reply to: praise for Stafford after TNF (definitive article posted 1/9) #147545ZooeyModerator‘Gosh dang, I can’t believe that you made this throw,’” Kupp said.
Wow, I had no idea that Kupp has such a potty mouth.
ZooeyModeratorZooeyModeratorFound this bit interesting from an article at CBS ranking the chances of teams now with losing records making the playoffs.
The #32 defense in the league shouldn’t be able to outperform the Browns or Ravens defenses. The Rams should put up over 30 points, and the Redskins shouldn’t score over 20. But, you know, football.
ZooeyModeratorDetermining something is AI, and proving it, are different things. AI-generated text sounds perfunctory, it’s “soulless,” it has no “voice” to it. Human writing is like a fingerprint. Everybody is different. I can tell immediately if a student is suddenly using compound/complex sentences when, in the past, they used only simple sentences in the passive voice. (I recall an incident in our board history, now that I think about it, when a poster was accused of posting under two different identities, denied it, and then I undressed him by an analysis of how he used stylistic devices and punctuation {garlic in the shadows? What was his name}.
What I’m saying is…I can tell. I can’t always prove it to people who don’t understand writing well, and that’s a problem. The entire issue is one that academia is working with right now. Some places already have policies. Some places are wondering if Composition needs to be taught any longer. Some are working to find a framework to deal with it, since it won’t go away.
I don’t know what zn means by “invariably AI writing is going to do things I openly and clearly and very specifically don’t allow.” I try to write prompts that require synthesizing material that isn’t (likely to be) available to AI. If that’s what he means, then we are approaching the problem the same way.
There is a program called turnitin which schools can subscribe to which searches its databases for duplicate material, and flags it. That takes care of a lot of plagiarism. It has an AI detection feature that was pretty good for a while, but it seems to me it has been dialed back a lot in the past 2-3 months, possibly out of concern for litigation. That is…it is showing AI likelihood at much lower rates generally than it used to.
This term, for the final essay (and this isn’t new, but I haven’t done it in a few years), the students will be required to handwrite an essay in a timed-writing setting, without the use of laptops or phones.
It’s an interesting and challenging issue. But I am developing a growing resentment at the fact that I am being strained at having to police students – to whom I am only too happy to teach knowledge and skills that will benefit them for their entire lives – but who don’t care about that knowledge, or those skills, and only want a “grade” that will usher them into the land of plenty with less effort.
ZooeyModeratorSo everybody agrees that the Rams should win this game handily, but nobody actually knows the outcome for certain.
Sounds about right.
ZooeyModeratorRams Brothers@RamsBrothers Byron Young (3rd round pick): 26 pressures, 6 sacks, 5 TFL, 2 FF —> 4-years, $5.5MM Kobie Turner (3rd round pick): 12 pressures, 5.5 sacks, 5 TFL —> 4-years, $5.39MM Jalen Carter (1st round pick): 16 pressures, 4 sacks, 6 TFL, 2 FF (1 TD) —> 4-years, $21.8MM Nolan Smith (1st round pick): 2 pressures, 1 sack, 1 TFL —> 4-years, $11.9MM Credit to the Rams’ entire staff for getting this kind of value/productivity out of the rooks. And Aaron Donald.
Byron Young and Kobie Turner play next to Aaron Donald, and Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith don’t. It may be that Carter and Smith play next to HOF DL on their respective teams. I don’t know other teams’ personnel well. But I do wonder how much of the credit goes to Donald for Young’s and Turner’s success.
How has it gone for Brockers, Gaines, Sebastian J-D, A’Shawn Robinson, et al. since they parted ways?
ZooeyModeratorMcVay opted not to bring back John Fassel following the 2019 season
Is this accurate? I thought Fassel just took a better offer elsewhere. I do recall some conversation about McVay early on, though, something about getting all the coaches/staff on the same page in terms of culture, but I don’t trust my memory of any of that.
ZooeyModerator
ZooeyModeratorI started off just wanting a dignified loss.
But after the first half, I wanted them to win.
I hate the way this finished, but…
the Rams proved today that they can go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the league.
Legitimately. This team is real. And I can’t wait for next year.
This is a good football team.
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