On Goff. I agree it was a bad marriage, and I am not the least bit surprised to see him faring well in Detroit.

I still think it was the right move because the Rams were ready to win immediately, and Stafford was ready to win immediately, and Goff wasn’t.

Whatever. He has 2 or 3 years left in the league, tops. He will be signing for the Vet Min at the end of the season, if at all. He was never more than a backup.

No offense. Ya know.

Billy_T wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

Am I the only one who thought the PI call against Kendrick in the EZ at the end of the first half was bogus? I haven’t rewatched it. I only saw what was shown during the original broadcast, but it looked like to me the the receiver initiated the contact and then fell down.

I agree. Thought so at the time. It looked more like offensive pass interference, or a no-call. As in, I thought it was bogus too.

Yeah, I only saw the play live, and the replays they showed live, but it appeared to me that the WR initiated contact, and that a play like that is usually a non-call, but…there ya go. In every game, there are blown calls (usually non-calls, like holding), and sometimes they matter.

It was strange the way this game paralleled the SF game, and I’ve seen others say the same thing. Take away those 7 points at the end of the 1st half in each of those games, and the 2nd half is a different ballgame. The Rams folded twice against the two best teams in the NFC in that situation, but that’s how close they are. A play here or there.

I’m still happier than I expected to be at this point. The Rams are definitely ahead of schedule in returning to competitiveness (aided by the best draft in years), and their growth may continue upward significantly through this season, as long as everyone stays healthy. So many young guys getting their first real experience in the NFL. I think the Rams have to be a contender for that one team that nobody really wants to draw in the playoffs, everyone hoping they don’t get in.

I haven’t had a chance to look at the game box score, stats, etc., but the Rams allowed long drives all day long. Philly made very few unforced errors. The Rams had no answer for their TE, seemed like. And Philly just ground them down. Philly is better.

But…hey…we’ve talked about Nacua, Turner, Young, Avila…how about that Ethan Evans? Good lord. That man can punt. What a job he did yesterday.

zn wrote:

Rams Brothers@RamsBrothers

Stafford vs. Hurts comparison –Stafford has the higher QBR, is doing more with less, and is 4-1 against the Eagles lifetime with 10 TD’s and 1 pick. And to re-iterate on the hip, it’s literally a bruise.

Unless it’s not.

There are bruises, and there are bruises. Could be something more serious, like a hip pointer, for example.

Yep. Among the greats.

RIP.

zn wrote:

PFF has him graded fairly high for the Colts game (78.2), while last year he was their second-worst ranked cornerback in the entire league. Plus of course other than the bonehead TD he gave up in Seattle, we can see he’s doing well. PLUS Witherspoon is a great signing on top of it–PFF has him ranked 5th among all CBs. The Rams secondary is one of the good surprises this year.

Some positions are easier to judge than others, and the secondary is hard. You see a DB only when he blows coverage, or when he makes a great play. Most of the time, you don’t see them at all because the ball doesn’t go their direction. So you don’t know why the ball didn’t go there. Was it because it was never intended to? Or because the DB was positioned so well that the QB went to the next read? It’s almost impossible to tell in real time, and difficult to tell with tape.

So I don’t know anything about Kendrick except he blew that one play against Seattle, and seems like there was a second one at one point, and I haven’t seen him since. I don’t know what that means.

All I know is that the secondary is performing better as a whole than I hoped for, and the Eagles suck. Basically, that’s all I know.

I think that Donald has a legit shot at the Hall of Fame if he can keep up this level of play for another 10 years.

nittany ram wrote:

A lot more than a “bit”, but you always did hate Todd Gurley so I’m not surprised you took a shot at him when the opportunity arose.

So sue me if I don’t think Gurley is an appropriate name for a football player.

Knute Rockne.

That’s a football name.

Lose me with the Gurl.

Wow. Just blew my own mind with that post.

zn wrote:

And we’re saying that–as in, we’re quite rightly saying that–after just 4 games.

Usually you can’t really judge a draft for a couple of years.

Yes. This is not Beginner’s Luck. What Nacua and Avila are doing is the real deal. They look every bit like future All-Pros. There are a couple of other guys that are showing “age-appropriate” promise. I mean…they look about like what you hope for from their draft position at this point. Meaning that they are on the road to being draft “hits” as opposed to draft “misses.”

I hope Young develops. It’s rare for an Edge to produce in his rookie year. He seems to be doing okay. But he isn’t an Impact player. Somebody else said it in a different thread: the Rams need an Edge to make them truly threatening. Increased pressure on the opposing QB is the one improvement in the Ram’s game that would make the biggest difference for this team, and if all this draft (combined with last year’s) fills out the roster with quality players everywhere, the Rams will pick up the missing piece(s) before next season.

McSnead’s team-building strategy looks like it is ahead of schedule to me, and that is good news in Ramsville.

colts fans are no doubt relieved that kupp will be sidelined this weekend after the game he hung on them at their house in 2021 – kupp caught 9 of 11 targets for 163 yards and 2 tds (the third most receiving yards he's posted in a game) – beat the colts! pic.twitter.com/oBWChiJQO6

— roberto clemente (@rclemente2121) September 28, 2023

canadaram wrote:

Of all the Rams teams that I had no expectations of, this might be my favourite ever. Love the young guys. Love Stafford. Great to see a 100 yard rusher again. Williams is a TD machine inside the ten. A fun, fun win.

That’s an interesting comment. If this team has a rival in this regard, it’s ’99. So it’s been a long, long time since I had a team exceed expectations as much as this team has. I thought they would be better than everyone was saying, but this team is giving glimpses of playoff potential. I was hoping for .500.

Like Nittany said, there’s a lot of talent. More than I hoped for with so many youngsters in the starting lineup. This is an all-time great draft, by the looks of it. Nacua and Avila are off the charts for rookies, and they’re getting help from Young, Turner, and some of the 2nd year guys.

They are ahead of schedule in their refurbishment, that is certain.

Today’s weakness seems to be penalties. I haven’t looked at the stats yet, but it sure seemed to be a problem.

Welp. This is going to be an exciting season, not just an interesting one, looks like.

Let’s catch Philly by surprise next week.