Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
ZooeyModerator
ZooeyModerator(Not a fan of the epilogue, but that’s a minor quibble for me)
Yeah, the epilogue was a cheap joke.
I will read Robinson’s review later. Thanks for the link.
I think a lot of the negative responses are from people who identify with elements in the movie that targeted.
I liked it overall, but think that the movie didn’t have as sharp of an edge as it could have. It was masterful when it was satire, but lost its grip when it strayed into parody. Which was pretty often. Such as the epilogue.
ZooeyModeratorLamar Jackson “has a chance” to play Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams and is officially listed as questionable for a third straight week.
But he’s not the only injury concern heading into a must-win game, as the Ravens might be without two of their top remaining defensive players.
Cornerback Anthony Averett has been ruled out after not practicing all week, meaning the Ravens are without their top three cornerbacks at the start of the year against a potent passing attack featuring Matthew Stafford and the NFL’s leading receiver Cooper Kupp.
Tavon Young, Chris Westry, Jimmy Smith and Kevon Seymour will likely see a lot of action, with others filling in the gaps.
The Ravens’ pass rush could also be diminished as rookie outside linebacker Odafe Oweh is doubtful after not practicing all week due to a foot injury.
Oweh’s five sacks are the second-most on the team. He would have been a key part of pressuring Stafford, who has struggled this season when under duress. Justin Houston, Tyus Bowser and others would have to pick up the slack. Rookie Daelin Hayes (knee) is questionable.
Four key offensive players are questionable to play: Jackson, wide receiver Marquise Brown (illness), wide receiver/returner Devin Duvernay (ankle) and fullback Patrick Ricard (knee).
Brown was sick Thursday and Friday and missed practice both days. He’s the team’s leading wide receiver and an absence would put more attention on other wideouts and tight end Mark Andrews. Duvernay made progress over the course of the week, as he didn’t practice Wednesday but was a full participant on Friday.
Ricard has missed the past three games and once again did not have a full day of practice this week. He was limited Thursday and Friday. Guard Ben Powers (foot) has been ruled out again, meaning another start for rookie Ben Cleveland.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said Friday. “The guys who are ready to play and can play will, and the guys who aren’t and can’t won’t.”
While the already injury ravaged Ravens continue to keep taking shots, the Rams have only four players who are questionable for Sunday’s game and most seem ready to play.
Starting safety Taylor Rapp (shoulder) returned to practice in full Friday. Starting nose tackle Greg Gaines (hand) got in one limited practice. Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd was added to Friday’s report with an ankle injury that limited him in practice. Running back Cam Akers, who has been sidelined by an Achilles injury all year, has practiced fully all week but reportedly is not expected to play.
The Rams have just one player, fourth string running back Raymond Calais, on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Baltimore is also down to just one player from the 53-man roster on its COVID list with tight end Josh Oliver.
BALTIMORE RAVENS
Table – Injury report
Player Injury Game statusAnthony Averett
Ribs/Chest OutDevin Duvernay
Ankle QuestionableLamar Jackson
Ankle QuestionableOdafe Oweh
Foot DoubtfulBen Powers
Foot OutPatrick Ricard
Knee QuestionableMarquise Brown
Illness QuestionableDaelin Hayes
Knee QuestionableZooeyModeratorKupp. Knew that was coming.
Stafford is next.
Ha!
You are the only person who fell for Ag’s April Fool’s joke!
ZooeyModeratorJeezus, is that Wolford guy still the back-up?
I thought we all liked the other guy. Forget his name.
I thought it had been explained to you. The NFL is not a democracy. Technically, it’s a republic, and your vote doesn’t really count.
ZooeyModeratorFor whatever this marriage of ESPN and PFF is worth, the Rams are clearly superior in the trenches to any other team in the league, and it is not close.
==========
Except when they actually play the 49ers. On the field.
And Green Bay. And Tennessee.
w
vOkay, but all three of those games came in November, when the planets and stars were aligned to create Opposite Day for the whole month.
I don’t see how a serious person can count those.
ZooeyModeratorSo I’m looking at this.
And I’m thinking about it the way our good buddy Waterfield would look at it (I think), if he was still a Rams fan.
The Trenches. Win the battle at the LOS.
These charts appear to be an alloy of ESPN Win Rates (however they calculate those), and PFF’s rankings (however they calculate those).
So perusing these charts, San Francisco and Philadelphia look like the 2nd and 3rd best teams in terms of contesting the LOS.
The Rams are clearly superior. I mean…look at this. The Rams, of all the teams in the NFL, are clearly the most dominant team at the LOS, both sides of the ball. They do not share this claim with any other team. No fan of another team can come in and say, “Well, the pass rush this, and the run blocking that…” or whatever.
For whatever this marriage of ESPN and PFF is worth, the Rams are clearly superior in the trenches to any other team in the league, and it is not close.
ZooeyModeratorYou people DO know whats gonna happen.
Stafford gets covid a day before the playoffs.
“Stafford has still never won a playoff game”
w
vWith future HOF John Wolford on the bench, I hardly think this is an issue.
Stafford will be back the following week. To lose to the Cowboys.
ZooeyModerator“The Rams truly have no excuses this week as the Ravens rank 32nd in pass yards…”
No Woods. No Kupp.
December 29, 2021 at 10:33 am in reply to: Stafford not playing at Super Bowl level (Article 12/27/21) #135048ZooeyModeratorThe Rams have shown they can beat quality teams, but Stafford has not. Thus the reason for the article
The Steve Sax comparison made me laugh. There’s some truth there.
Goff was the same way, though. And let’s not forget that Goff’s multiple turnover games was exactly what McVay cracked on Goff for when he finally called him out publicly. In fact, Goff and Stafford seem quite a bit alike to me. Uncanny accuracy blended with WTF throws, and ghastly turnovers that come in bunches. Both cool, calm and resilient. I defended Goff as long as he was around, and I always said (as did many other posters, fwiw), that I was still bullish on Goff long term. The way I see it, though, the Rams are built to win right now, not 2 or 3 years from now. Right now. And McVay believed that Goff wasn’t ready to win right now, and I would say that – whatever else Goff did in his career, and you’re right about 2018 – Goff lost his confidence last year, and just couldn’t command the ship.
Now there is a school of thought that places the blame for that on McVay rather than Goff, and that point of view has some decent evidence to support it. McVay lost his patience and failed to nurture Goff’s growth, and worse than that, piled on Goff with criticism that instilled a fear in Goff. That may be. Whatever the case, Goff played all of 2020 tentatively, and by the end of the year, it either Goff or McVay had to go, and here we are.
To my eyes, Stafford and Goff are a lot alike, as I said. I think Stafford has a stronger arm (though Goff’s is strong enough), and Stafford plays more boldly, with greater confidence. I think we will see Goff in playoff games down the road, and I think the Lions would be making a mistake to get rid of him, but there are several teams hungry for a QB, and they may find a buyer. Denver might be a good spot for him.
As for whether Stafford can win in the playoffs, well, we’re going to find out in 3 weeks.
ZooeyModeratorConsidering the way the Center position evolved in camp, I had low expectations of Shelton.
It was supposed to be Corbett, remember, and then Allen emerged after a few weeks as a starter, and everybody was skeptical about what that process really reflected. Turned out that Allen was solid. Better than solid. But there was a cloud of doubt over that position, and over the OL in general, with Whitworth’s age in question, and Havenstein not having a brilliant year last year.
All of that more than held up, but then in comes this Shelton guy, and I was afraid he would get abused.
I don’t know how they got all these guys, and I don’t know how it falls out with contracts etc. for next season, but for the remainder of this year, the OL appears to be a strength. So if Sony Michel can stay healthy, the Rams have a good chance of hanging in the story line another month, at least.
ZooeyModeratorI do think that the fact that the Rams have had an outbreak, and are over it, is probably a good thing. They may still get some Covid cases later, but other teams haven’t been hit as hard as the Rams, and if that happens to a team during the playoffs, it could be a difference-maker.
December 28, 2021 at 8:15 pm in reply to: Stafford not playing at Super Bowl level (Article 12/27/21) #135032ZooeyModeratorThe Rams do not look Super Bowl caliber to me. They haven’t shown that they can beat good teams. Of course, peaking at the right time is what it’s all about, and they are getting healthy, and the running game has improved. I’d like to see them beat Baltimore and San Francisco convincingly. Then…maybe.
But if they falter in these last two games, there is no reason to think they will win 4 games in a row against the better teams in the league. They survived the Vikings with 3 INTs. They won’t beat Dallas, GB, TB, SF, or anybody, really, if they blunder like that in the playoffs.
December 28, 2021 at 3:49 pm in reply to: Stafford not playing at Super Bowl level (Article 12/27/21) #135025ZooeyModeratorGoff was good enough to get the Rams to a Super Bowl.
Stafford > Goff.
And I wish Stafford was more consistent. I can accept a QB who makes an occasional bad decision, like the 1st INT to Jefferson. It was a good throw, but a bad choice.
I don’t know what to do with the throws that miss the receiver by several yards. And like Goff, Stafford makes those WTF throws a couple times a game.
ZooeyModeratorI want no part of playing the 9ers in consecutive weeks.
ZooeyModeratorI was watching a Vikings wrap-up show from a Minneapolis station last night. The two dudes on that show were both critical and grateful that McVay did not run the ball more often.
Michel carried it 27 times, and Funk and Henderson had a carry each. 29 carries is not ignoring the run game.
ZooeyModeratorWell, with Henderson out and Funk worth about 1 carry, seems like having Akers might be more than a luxury.
ZooeyModeratorZooeyModeratorxoxo
Hey, coming from a Canadian, that’s really nice. I don’t know if you guys celebrate Christmas up there, since Jesus was an American and all, but we won’t turn down the love.
ZooeyModeratorI will take the Win, and it puts the Rams in the driver’s seat for the division.
But this team has just been a bit rickety all season long, and today was more of the same. We are 15 games into the season, and the Rams have not put out a performance that makes one optimistic about surviving 3 straight playoff games. While the Rams had the upper hand most of the game, they did not put the Vikings away as early as they should have.
Offense: Gotta start with Stafford. That was a bad game from him, and while I expected there would be a learning curve throughout his first season with the Rams, I expected them to be errors of unfamiliarity, and that’s not what I’m seeing. He runs hot and cold like Goff did, and he makes bad throws. Bad Throws. Maybe he’s hurt, as wv the staffordsniffer likes to argue, but I’m inclined to think that’s just Stafford. I dunno. I’ve seen him play a total of 15 games in my life, so I’m no Stafford Expert, but from Game One, he has just made some bad, bad throws. Today he threw 3 INTs, and missed open receivers badly at least twice. That INT to Jefferson was a poor decision. He was double-covered, and well-covered, and that was not an open target. That was more wishful thinking than a read. I don’t blame QBs for tipped balls that go up in the air, so I let that one go, but the 3rd INT was also a terrible throw. And I don’t recall any of his passes that were brilliant like we have seen him throw in the past. Just not good from him.
What’s not to like about Sony Michel? He’s been everything I’ve hoped for in my most optimistic state when I read about the trade. I’m very glad the Rams have him. He never surrenders, he breaks tackles, he makes good reads of his blocks, he hits holes, he catches well, and he blocks. He reminds me a bit of CJ Anderson, the way he came in and filled in for Gurley. He’s better than Henderson, and even if Akers returns, I gotta think Michel is the guy.
The OL is impressive. With the injuries and Covid, they’ve had all the continuity of a game of 52-card pickup, and they have done a great job. They are giving Stafford time, and opening holes for Michel, and they did all that today against one of the better DLs in the business, all while playing musical chairs. I spent Boxing Day with my parents who live 100 miles away, so I have read no reports, or seen any commentary, but it appeared to me that Allen’s injury was not life-threatening, so when I think of Whitworth and Noteboom returning, and the quality play we’ve seen from the depth, I’m feeling as good about the OL as I am anybody else not named Donald, Ramsey, or Kupp.
As far as the receivers go, I’m not sure how Kupp manages to have good games even when he doesn’t have a particularly good game, but whatever. OBJ and Jefferson seem to be solid accessories to the Cooper Kupp Show, and it’s good to have Higbee back.
Defense: Hey, guess what? Aaron Donald wrecked the Vikings today, and the DL showed up again in spite of a rather modest sack total on the day. The defense is playing better, though I still hate Morris for calling so much zone when it seems clear to my amateur ass that the Rams are better playing man. But…whatever. It’s been working better as the season has ripened. The Vikings had two good drives all day, one of which ended in the only TD they really deserved, and the other in an INT due to a good breakup by Williams. While Cousins had a better game than Stafford, he couldn’t overcome the Rams’ secondary to convert 3rd downs, and apart from those 2 drives, the MN offense didn’t achieve anything.
I hated to see Jones leave on a cart. That’s not a good sign, and he has been doing his job out there. Reeder had himself quite a day, but the Rams don’t want Jones on the sideline.
ST: Welp, the Rams got more than 4 yards on a punt return this year, and Powell looks like he owns that role for the rest of the year. I thought that return was mostly a colossal failure of the Vikings coverage rather than a great run by Powell, but that was fun, and it balanced out the cheap ass TD the Vikes got after that deflected INT. Also, there seemed to be a Hekker siting today, and that Matt Gay guy they got from the Used Car lot last year seems to be running fine.
In the end, the Rams don’t have much time to seal the leaks, and there is really not a lot of reason to hope they will end the season hoisting the Lombardi, but they’ve at least got the ship headed the right direction after that brutal 3-game losing streak, and if they can put together convincing wins against Baltimore and San Francisco, I will let my hope soar right up to the sky. I still need to see them play well everywhere, instead of just in spots. Still…considering the brutal Covid stretch, a win in Seattle followed by a long trip to MN on Christmas with a super short work week, against a team good enough to cause every other team in the league problems, I’m going to sleep well tonight.
ZooeyModeratorAt the risk of killing your buzz you do know Whitworth and possibly Noteboom aren’t playing, right?
Enh. When have you ever seen my boy Stafford make a bad play under pressure?
ZooeyModerator
ZooeyModeratorI have been somewhat cheered up by the loss of Dalvin Cook for this game.
I think Rams by 3 sounds right.
ZooeyModeratorThe cat knows.
ACAB.
Wait for it 🔊 pic.twitter.com/ywbjrFQXrh
— Fight the war on the poor (@VivetVeritate) December 24, 2021
ZooeyModeratorI can see, though, why you are unable to understand things from a Rams fan’s perspective.
Hey! Watch that. I am a diehard longterm Rams fan. No one knows the Rams better than me. I glory in the exploits of our beloved Donald Erin, and Matt Stofford. And that Copper Coop guy, the greatest Rams tight end since Erik Dickerson.
So! Proceed, Rams.
You should just feel lucky that your sacred Titans won. Happy now?
.
Yeah..uh…it’s Kopper Coop. But nice try.
ZooeyModeratorNot clear who to root for in that one.
I have no love for the Titans. Jeff Fisher is an a-hole.
But…the Titans are of no concern to us Rams fans. Their W-L record means nothing to us.
And am never able to root for the 49ers unless they are playing a team that is a direct threat to the Rams.
I can see, though, why you are unable to understand things from a Rams fan’s perspective.
ZooeyModeratorThey have 3 weeks to activate him to play.
Or else…what?
ZooeyModeratorYay! NoCal gets the Rams straight up, two weeks in a row.
ZooeyModeratorErnest Jones vs. Dalvin Cook
Honestly…not worried about that matchup.
ZooeyModerator
-
AuthorPosts
