iamme33 said:

I agree barron back is huge. this is the one game I wish we had quinn back also. because Wilson likes to scramble out the back door and that would have been right into quinns wide rush.

Click to expand...

Meh Im thinking we are going to start getting pressure on the outside these next few games. Hopefully Obo comes back and we have a pass rushing specialist very soon to help with that Quinn role.

RamFan503 said:

This week is a game that SHOULDN'T come down to a field goal. My thought is to stand pat and bring The Leg back when healthy.

Click to expand...

That goes for the following week as well. So realistically he wouldn't have to come back until the 49ers game. And that wouldn't be a FG win either. That's going to be a very fun game to watch. I'm truly hoping for an all around dominant performance by the Rams ala the SEA game last year. I'd find that particularly satisfying.

NJRamsFan said:

Les! I’ve missed ya buddy. Can’t comolain really...busy as hell but it keeps the bills paid. How have you been? Much happier on Sunday’s I assume

Click to expand...

I never let the losses ruin my day, life's too short and it's hard to be unhappy living in paradise.

Things are better here when you are posting.

SteveBrown said:

Exactly! People think the Rams are going to the super bowl with "this" defense. No way....but, that is how fans are when they see Goff do what he did.....even Kurt Warner couldn't sustain that (see Giants and Bucs 2001 games, e.g.). However, I expect the edge rusher situation to change (a bit) for the Rams, and Shields will get better, and #22 will get a lot better. But, I ams shocked at how Suh and Donald mostly dominate, but we are easily eaten alive in run defense.....teams will play like the Vikings and forego the run---thankfully. Well, we have the horses to scare teams, so we will have to expect double barrel barrage of passing against us.

I expect Rams to have a top 14 defense in yards (at best). Like in 2001 teams that historically run on 2nd and 1 will be throwing deep passes against the Rams (see Eagles Wk 1 vs Rams.....3 attempts on 4th down to convert, because they knew they had no chance otherwise---or was it the NFCC, lol?)....same thing goes for the Chiefs and Saints.....the NFL is changing...a lot of 40+ games are coming all season long.

Click to expand...

Even after the shootout, the Rams are 5th overall in scoring defense averaging less than 17ppg.

I’m not worried about this D. I’ll become concerned if Seattle turns our game into a shootout, but at this time I’m not concerned

I was for Goff over Wentz. It was his footwork. He looked smooth even taking a few step back from the short shotgun. He also looked smooth moving around too. His good footwork lead to better passing accuracy over Wentz. Goff had the better long ball by a lot. I get to watch both which is fun. Wentz has gotten better with accuracy. He adds the running dimension and is hard to bring down. He also gets hurt. Goff has become a sharpshooter that makes throws most QB can't make. Both are very good but a little different. Glad the Rams made the right choice.

Mackeyser said:

Also, McVay gets all this production while protecting the QB. Martz got all that production by exposing his QB with 7 step drops and expecting his QB to stand in and take big hit after big hit.

Click to expand...

This^^^^. All day every day. Martz got his QBs killed on a regular basis. How good and long would Warner have been playing under McVay?

Look for another shoot-out here.

LesBaker said:

The Lakers have been to the posteseason more times as a percentage of their being than the Yankees.

And the NBA has had a cap for a lot of years.

Go look and you will see that they only missed the postseason a few times before this slump in the last 5 years.

The Lakers in the playoffs was a given more than anything in pro sports.



The Celtics have spent at least three times as many year being irrelevant though. As in not in the playoffs and lottery pickers.

If you are going to include titles from the 50's, which you are, then titles from the 40's count too.

Hall of Fame players? Hmmmmmm..........kinda the same right?

The Lakers have appeared in 10 more finals than the Celtics, many more post seasons, and don't disappear for years at a time like the Celtics. They are always in the mix.

If you compare the postseason appearances of the Yankees, and finals appearances you will see what I mean.

The Lakers are, and will always be, in the conversation for pro sports royalty.

Click to expand...

You're right, they'll always be in the conversation.

We could go back and forth with qualifiers all day long. That the Celtics have the advantage head to head in the Finals is more meaningful than anything else IMO. And as far as relevancy goes in the NBA, if you're a big fan like I suspect you are, then you know that there are only 3-5 truly relevant teams each season. Even now the Lakers aren't a contender despite having LeBron. The NBA may have a salary cap but it's still easier to win in the NBA than any other sport. The Warriors have had what, a 50/60% chance to win the title the last three years heading into the season? In the NFL the highest was around 10%.

The Lakers got Shaq primarily because they are based in LA. The Lakers got LeBron because they are in LA. The Warriors got KD because they're near Silicon Valley. If I were a Lakers fan I would probably feel the same as you - but becoming royalty primarily because of where they are located isn't some great achievement IMO. The Steelers, Cowboys, Patriots and 49ers are all more sports royalty than the Lakers or Celtics or even Yankees IMO - winning super bowls is MUCH harder than winning championships in other sports.

Dan Orlovsky does a great job breaking down plays on his twitter feed.

Login to view embedded media

CGI_Ram said:

I wonder if we should start w/Ficken and only use GZ if things are close?

I know that’s probably impossible... but it would be nice to get GZ an extra week.

Click to expand...

If The Leg can go, this first week let Ficken do the kick offs and the extra points, and let Greg kick field goals.

jrry32 said:

But you don't trade a guy with Goff's potential at the most important position in football.

Click to expand...

Right!?!
How can a person who wants their football opinions to be taken seriously even put that out there???

Hey, its great to post.

I just don't think that we see a kicker change. Might bring a few in for try outs but the Staff knows Ficken.

I predict the Rams stay with him until the Leg returns.

I do not see an unemployed OLB brought in, nor do I see a trade for a need.

This GM seems to save trades for massive upgrades and there aren't any massive, available upgrades that I'm seeing.

Kahlil Mack is not on the market again.

Not sexy, I know.

I save that for the Booty thread.

Holy Crap!!!

I literally almost passed out at one point...

That last tweet was it for me. just...wow...

Zodi said:

Idk, that second sack from Donald would give the average human whiplash.

Click to expand...

My neck hurt just watching it...

Lets hope the 9 days between games dont bring on rust. I want a 50 burger in seattle, with a side of shutout. The Rams have a little catching up to top the '99 Rams in points scored, but they should be able to do it.

Another thing that keeps getting overlooked is that good coaches spend a great deal of time in the off season looking at players and tape. It’s just what they do as part of their job. Coaches spend countless hours in the off season doing far more than play design and looking at last year’s tape on their own players. The notion that they are simply saying to their GMs that they want a guy who runs a 4.3 40 and can get open is just belittling the amount of work a coach puts in during the off season.

Most of this information comes from reading interviews and talking to a former NFL coach who knows a great number of current nfl coaches, GMs, and scouts. I doubt he’s just saying this. He’s friends with Elway, Dick Vermeil, Wade, and several others. I tend to trust what he says on stuff like this because he’s been there.

The start is nice but I'm more interested in seeing how this team fares in the last quarter of the season. Hoping we don't sleep on the Seahawks just cause they're not as good as they used to be. Divisional games tend to throw Vegas odds out of the window

by Stephen Igoe

The Sunday action from Week 4 of the NFL season is in the books. Following another compelling round of games, teams around the league now have a legitimate idea of what their biggest strengths and weaknesses are four contests into the season. Front offices have already started to make big decisions to improve their 53-man rosters.

Two of the biggest free agents left standing were scooped up last week when Green Bay signed Bashaud Breeland and the Panthers inked Eric Reid to a free agent contract. Former all-pro receiver Dez Bryant still remains a free agent, as do some other notable names.

Here's a look at where all 32 teams in the league stand in regards to cap space after four weeks of action (all numbers are courtesy of Spotrac.com).
https://247sports.com/LongFormArtic...L-teams-through-Week-4-122423573/#122423573_1

19. Los Angeles Rams: $6.319 million

(Photo: John McCoy, Getty)
Total Cap: $175.2 million

Active Cap: $147.0 million

Dead Cap: $12.8 million

Adjustments: $4.3 million

I don't have much problem with the rankings, except with how he "folded" McVay's excellence in play calling into Coach of the Year consideration, which diluted his greatness, inmo. McVay is simply the best playcaller in the NFL through 4 games. The Rams have scored the most through 4 weeks with 31 teams, which may fall tonight with Mahomes and the Chiefs on MNF. Even so, the creativity of his play calling is now being copied already with the jet sweep right in front of the QB, 3ft from the Center's butt (Titans? I can't remember who exactly thanks to Red Zone).

Mahomes is the MVP just because without him the Chefs would be total @ss. The dude is undeniably talented, although I wouldn't trade Goff for him.

Pat Kirwan has what I believe to be a very good scheduling model for the NFL. There would be two preseason games followed by a seventeen game regular season with two bye weeks. One of the bye weeks would be BEFORE a Thursday night game, giving a team ten days before the Thursday game and ten days after. This would put some teams with very early or very late bye weeks, but only to accommodate a Thursday night match-up. The loss of preseason games could be made up with either a developmental league, as mentioned earlier, or a couple of joint practices with other teams that would include live scrimmages. Imagine some of these Thursday night match-ups with well rested teams. In the words of that great American, Butthead, "That would be cool!"

Zodi said:

I can overlook teams because I'm a fan that doesn't have to actually prepare for the games. Nothing I feel, say or do has any impact on the games themselves. McVay will have our guys ready to play, regardless of the opponent.

Click to expand...

Of course we can say whatever we want... but when the fans are overlooking teams - it often means the players might be doing the same thing

Also players read media/social media posts - so they know when they are supposed to be the big dog or underdog. The Eagles used the media/fan sentiment as fuel all the way to a super bowl championship.

so saying that what the fans say or feel has no impact at all on the game isn't true.

Especially not in the social media age, gambling, point spreads ect.

Old adage from 1 million years ago "Don't read your press clippings"

Akrasian said:

And he's posted at least 3 YouTube videos, but here is EDP445. nsfw

Login to view embedded media

Click to expand...

Was he just driving down the highway and suddenly thought "I need to pull off the road to film a 40 second rant on the Eagels right. NOW." ?

This has already made its rounds here