I used one of those online templates where you pick the winners of every game on the sched from week 1 thru week 18 and playoffs. Took me about 30 min. These can be tedious but if anyone else gives it a shot post what you came up with. Cheers.
https://playoffpredictors.com/footb...4A0F-A1AD-FC5F5D1C1D64?L=Aw18ZXTt-DFOS1b0cyIA


Here's what i got.
* = playoffs


AFC

East
*Bills 14-3
*Pats 10-7
Dolphins 9-8
Jets 6-11

West
*Chiefs 13-4
*Chargers 12-5
Raiders 9-8
Broncos 6-10

North
*Ravens 13-4
*Browns 10-7
Steelers 8-9
Bengals 2-15

South
*Titans 11-6
Colts 8-9
Jaguars 3-14
Texans 2-15


NFC

North
*Packers 13-4
Bears 8-9
Vikings 7-10
Lions 3-14

South
*Buccaneers 14-3
*Saints 9-8
Panthers 8-9
Falcons 2-15

East
*Cowboys 9-8
WFT 8-9
Giants 7-10
Eagles 6-11

West
*Rams 13-4
*Seahawks 12-5
*Niners 10-7
Cardinals 7-10


Final four:
Chiefs @ Bills
Rams @ Bucs

SB LVI
Rams over Bills in the big game. Celebrate.

This is from a article with NFL execs ranking the top teams in the NFC. The article has the Rams ranked third
in the conference and that just did not sit well with this 9er fan.


His response to the article:

Lol at ranking the Seahwaks and Rams over a healthy Niners team. Rams haven't beaten the Niners in two years, even when playing against their backups. Seahawks are team dying on the vine.

I mean what exec thinks this? "The voter ranking San Francisco 10th thought the pass rush was overrated beyond Bosa and Arik Armstead."

Niners have one of the deepest d-lines in the league. And the other guy saying they have average talent lol. They have one of the most talented rosters in the league on both sides of the ball. Are these "Executives" of stadium sanitation or something? The amount of ignorance sprinkled throughout this is astounding. What a joke. Do better Athletic.


My response to his comment without giving away my Ram fandom.

2m ago
Greg H. I think it might have something to do with the fact that Shanahan
has only had 1 winning season in the four years he has been HC of the 49er's
Just for context sake
The Cardinals have won 24 regular season games during that period while
the 49er's have won 29. While the 9er's are talented , they are being lead by a losing HC.

2021 NFL Season Kick-off: Are You Ready For More Football?​

The ongoing tech revolution is impacting the NFL in the form of wearable tracking technology that delivers scads of practice-day data to NFL coaching staffs. Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, for instance, says he meets every day with strength and conditioning coaches and athletic trainers to parse this data, trying to assess who might have had too much time on his legs and who needs a nudge to jack up his effort.

“We talk about loads and intensity, speeds, distance over a given period of time,” Flores says. “We can gauge and forecast where there may be some problem areas. We use that data.

“As a staff, you have to use your eyes, too — what you are seeing on a day-to-day basis. Coaching instinct, call it.”

Tech and that coaching instinct will become even more vital to teams in 2021 as coaches and front offices wrestle with a new question: What does load management look like with an extra game on the schedule? Will a player like Saquon Barkley, coming back from a torn ACL, see his touches affected?

The NFL, which hadn’t changed its schedule since 1978 when it went from 14 to 16 games, will play 17 regular-season games this year for the first time ever. It’s a big deal to the league — commissioner Roger Goodell called it “a monumental moment in NFL history” when the change was announced.

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Now come the challenges, including the demands of an extra week of game speed and all its potential reverberations of risk. Will teams seek to save snaps to rest key players with a Week 18 looming? With expanded playoffs already in play thanks to 2020’s extra wild card, more teams could be in the hunt later in the season, adding urgency. And adding chances for teams to outthink each other.

The ones that figure out how to best handle it all just might enhance their chances of reaching SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the site of Super Bowl LVI. Which, thanks to the added game, has been pushed back to Feb. 13, 2022, making it the latest Super Bowl in history.

“Are we going to get like the NBA?” wonders Brian Billick, the NFL Network analyst who won Super Bowl XXXV as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. “We already have teams sitting players if they’ve clinched. You’ve now extended the number of games you have to think about that.”

Coaches may try to save snaps here or there, but it seems unlikely that a superstar such as Tom Brady would sit out a game to rest. Brady’s own QB guru, the former MLB pitcher Tom House, who has a company — 3DQB — that trains quarterbacks, says one extra game “will not make a significant difference for quarterbacks.”

In most instances, Flores says, “The quarterback plays every snap, the O-line every snap, all things equal and going well. All others really manage themselves — the running backs, wide receivers and tight ends are in and out of the game and most of the defense, too, other than one safety or one linebacker. So that can manage itself, especially early in the year when no one’s really ready to play 80 snaps. We try to break it up, and we have that in mind, but at the end of the day, you need to put your best players on the field.”

Billick calls running back “the most demanding position in the NFL, for my money, because of the beating you take.” So teams may face juggling at that position. “Is it Week 15-16-17 where you have to walk that balance?” Billick says. “If you have a 250-plus-carry guy, how do you manage the last few games? You don’t want to be protective and miss the playoffs or a seeding, but you can’t wear a guy out so he’s not as ready for the playoffs as you would like.

“One more game, face value, how much difference does it make? Well, it really does.”

“To some, it’s one more exposure to risk,” adds Scott Pioli, the longtime NFL executive who won three Super Bowls as director of player personnel for the New England Patriots and is now an analyst for the NFL Network. “To others, it’s one more shot at opportunity.”

Owners and the NFL Players Association have talked about expanding the schedule since at least 2010, and an 18-game slate was even discussed in previous Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. This year’s schedule, following new media deals for the league that are reportedly worth more than $100 billion, reduces the preseason to three games (there were none last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

There will be two weeks between the end of the preseason and the start of the regular season, which is slated to begin Sept. 9 and end Jan. 9, 2022. Teams will still get one bye week, which means the 17-game regular season will be played over 18 weeks.

Players, of course, are concerned about additional injury risk, and some even grumbled on social media when the 17th game was announced, including New Orleans Saints star running back Alvin Kamara. But the change was part of the 10-year extension of the CBA negotiated last March between the NFL owners and the NFLPA, and the players passed it by a narrow margin as part of a tradeoff to share in the league’s new media deals.

The NFL points to injury data that says a preseason game is the football activity that has the highest rates of injury and concussions; in fact, a preseason game has a 27 percent higher rate for missed-time injuries and a 15 percent higher rate for concussions than a regular-season game. Does that mean there’s no meaningful difference in injury risk from swapping out a preseason game for a 17th game? That, of course, remains to be seen.

Still, limiting plays is on the league’s mind. Here’s an example: While examining options to possibly tweak overtime rules, the league is wary of adding too many additional snaps to what will already have been an exhausting Sunday for players. So a potential OT option — the college-style shootout — is considered unattractive since it would pile too many plays onto players who are already playing more games than ever.

And there have been adjustments to training camp in recent years, including an acclimation period before padded practices begin and a reduction in padded practices overall, from 28 to 16. Coaches also build in days off for certain players. Bruce Arians, head coach of the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, enjoyed success doing that last year with veterans such as Rob Gronkowski.

And with wearable tech, “coaches are now able to quantify the demands of their practice,” says Leigh Weiss, director of Rehabilitation/Physical Therapist for the New York Giants, who chairs the NFL/NFLPA Lower Extremity Soft Tissue Injury Task Force. “Maybe they thought a practice was moderate, but the data shows something else. … Maybe their wide receivers ran a whole bunch, and it might tell the coach to back off or when to step on the gas. We couldn’t do it five years ago; now it’s common practice.”

While some coaches famously want all the reps they can get, Arians says he prefers three preseason games. “The fourth one was usually all guys trying to make that final cut, and you weren’t playing anybody that was an injury risk for playing in your first two ballgames,” he says.

The two-week buffer between the end of preseason and the regular season will pose another wrinkle. Sitting starters after two preseason games means they’d have three weeks without a game until the opener. “That’s a long time to have no action,” Flores says. “I would say it’s going to be a feel thing for each coach.”

A team’s bye week will help determine how it approaches in-season work, Arians says: “If you have an early open date in a 17-game sked, that’s going to be a grind in December. Last year, I didn’t like having a Week 13 (bye), but I’d probably rather have a Week 10 to 13 open date with a 17-game schedule. Once you get to Thanksgiving, you start limiting the number of snaps in practice as far as full speed versus walk-through. You should be ready to go by then and not have to physically do as much.”

Beyond load management, the NFL sees the 17th game as a way to help grow the sport overseas — each of the 32 teams will play an international game at least once every eight years.

The 17th game adds quirks, too; no team can finish .500 now because the slate is uneven. And given today’s laser-accurate QBs, four more quarters could put the NFL record book under siege, especially for counting stats such as passing yards. FYI: Peyton Manning set the single-season record (5,477) in 2013.

On the question of how to handle this first season of 17 games, no one has all the answers yet. They’re looking for them, though.

“I know the technology side will help us prepare the athletes,” Weiss says. “Ultimately, you want to have them peak at the right time. We’re going to learn a ton this year.”

Coaches included. Flores knows just how to approach it. “Fluid is the right word, and that’s the game of football,” the Dolphins head coach says. “We all have to adjust. In this case, it’s a 17th game. We’re built to be flexible.”

Rams’ Jordan Fuller goes from late draft pick to team leader​

By the time the Rams picked Jordan Fuller in the 2020 NFL draft, most people had stopped watching.

Jordan Fuller, especially, had stopped watching.

It was the draft’s third and last day. Fuller had been pleased to see a half-dozen of his Ohio State teammates selected, but not so happy to see defensive backs he considered no more than his equal already chosen. In Florida, separated from family by COVID-19 travel restrictions, he welcomed encouragement in FaceTime chats and distraction in an Uno game with a friend.

“To have those days go by, I was definitely getting frustrated toward the end,” Fuller said. “Probably around the time I got picked.”

Late on the Saturday afternoon, the phone lit up with news from the Rams that the New Jersey native was going to Los Angeles.

One season later, Fuller has risen from sixth-round pick to starting safety, and from an idle game of Uno to the more complex and consequential challenge of calling defensive signals for the Rams when they open the 2021 season against the Chicago Bears in a Sunday night game on Sept. 12 at SoFi Stadium.

The defensive signal-caller is sometimes called the quarterback of the defense. Given the importance of keeping the defense at or near its 2020 heights, Fuller could be as vital to the Rams’ Super Bowl hopes as Matthew Stafford, the new quarterback of the offense.

As a sign of respect, Rams players named Fuller, 23, the youngest of their eight team captains Wednesday.

“We’ve seen his growth since he stepped on the field here. It’s been special to see,” said All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey, also a captain. “I was super proud of him.”

“That is extremely special and extremely rare,” Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said of Fuller’s quick rise to team leadership. “It says it all about the young man.”

‘ULTIMATE CONFIDENCE’​

Like John Johnson, the safety who called the Rams’ defensive signals before signing with the Cleveland Browns in March, Fuller appears easy-going with an ever-ready smile and bright personality.

He might have been born with that presence. His mother is Cindy Mizelle, a singer who has performed with, among others, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and Luther Vandross. His uncle, by marriage on his father’s side, is Sinbad, the comedian. (His older brother, Devin Fuller, played wide receiver for UCLA and the Atlanta Falcons.)

To Morris, Fuller has a personality just made for the player wearing the green-dot sticker on his helmet, signifying he’s the defensive player with the tiny two-way radio in his headgear for receiving alignments from a coach and then shouting out orders.

“The guy’s just even, calm. Nothing’s going to bother him,” Morris said. “He plays with ultimate confidence. He’s an easy guy to coach and talk to in all of the fiery moments.”

The 199th player drafted caught a break early in his Rams career and ran with it. Taylor Rapp, expected to start alongside Johnson, missed the first three weeks of 2020 training camp with a knee injury. Fuller got a chance to prove himself in practice with the first unit, and ended up starting the season-opening victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

If fans at SoFi Stadium didn’t know who he was yet, Fuller made himself known with a game-saving play in the fourth quarter of that prime-time game, tackling CeeDee Lamb a yard short of a first down after a pass from Dak Prescott on fourth-and-3 at the Rams’ 11.

Fuller’s inherited ease in the spotlight showed again in his second game back from a shoulder/neck injury that cost him parts of October and November. In a Monday night game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he intercepted two passes by Tom Brady in the second half of the Rams’ three-point win.

The weird connection: Brady, too, was a 199th overall draft pick.

When Rapp went on injured reserve with another knee injury in November, Fuller became the top-ranked defense’s only rookie starter for the rest of the regular season and the Rams’ two playoff games.

“It’s not about what round you’re picked in,” Fuller said in an interview after practice Wednesday at the Rams’ facility in Thousand Oaks. “It’s really your situation, on a case-by-case basis. I’m blessed enough to be able to come here and contribute right away.”

UNDERESTIMATED​

Rams general manager Les Snead was asked if he envisioned Fuller replacing Johnson when he picked the 6-foot-2, 203-pound All-Big Ten safety.

“If I sat here and (said) ‘yes,’ you should say, ‘Then why the hell did you wait ’til the sixth round?’” Snead said.

Fuller wasn’t even the first safety the Rams drafted in 2020. That was Utah’s Terrell Burgess, whom they took in the third round. Snead said Burgess checked the box on a more pressing need, the versatility to step up into nickel-cornerback coverage.

“Then, somewhere along the way, you’re like, ‘Wait a minute, Jordan Fuller is still there,’” Snead said.

Although Fuller was rated as high as a third-round choice in draft projections, he was forecast to go in the seventh and final round by NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein.

“Lacks desired range and long speed,” Zierlein wrote, saying Fuller “could compete for a backup role as a split-safety with the potential to match up with tight ends.”

Most teams probably saw Fuller that way. But the Rams, Snead said, saw him fitting in better in their defense, which would allow him to use his vision of the field to make plays on receivers in front of him.

“You shouldn’t wait ’til the sixth round for someone like Jordan Fuller,” Snead said. “He’s only played his rookie year, so he’s got to continue doing it. But I’m not surprised (by his success so far).

“Usually those guys that can absorb a lot of football and spit it out quickly, they’re going to play well wherever they play. But safety is one of those where you really want that.”

Fuller’s quick mind failed him when he was asked how it feels to be where he’ll be next Sunday, helping to run the Rams’ defense, after having the Uno cards stacked against him a year ago.

First, he praised God, and then said: “I can’t really put it into words. I’m really grateful. I try to give this team everything I’ve got.”

But Morris, the defensive coordinator, had no trouble summing up the Rams’ fortune.

“You don’t luck into those kinds of kids,” Morris said, crediting Snead and the team’s scouts for spotting the potential in players like Fuller. “(They) really dive in deep into them and finding out who they were as people.”

The result, Morris said, is: “We hit the jackpot.”

I'm trying to find some to watch.

One I watched over the last year that really stuck out for me was Winchester.

1. Will it take Stafford 3 or 4 games before he has command of McVay's offense and shows why they traded for him?

2. Are the Rams as thin with their depth/backups as the NFL media and talking heads believe?

3. Will the the losses of Safety John Johnson, CB Troy Hill, DL Morgan Fox, DT Michael Brockers and OLB Samson Ebukam have a negative impact the 2021 defense?

4. Is center Brian Allen going to be as good as McVay and his offensive staff believes he is?

5. Is Rams new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris capable of keeping the Rams defense ranked in the top 5?

6. Was Tutu Atwell really the best available player on the Rams draft board? If he was, will he prove it during the coarse of the 2021 season?

7. Will the Rams offensive line group be close to as good as it was in 2020?

8. Will the loss of Cam Akers not be as much of a blow in 2021 because of Henderson, Sony Michel and Funk's skill set?

9. After Higbee, are there any other Rams TE's talented enough to start and make in impact 2021

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When asked about TB's primary competition in the NFC.

Bryce Perkins was one of NFL's fastest players in preseason Week 3, topping 20 mph twice​

Cameron DaSilva

September 3, 2021 5:19 am PT


The Rams didn’t plan to keep three quarterbacks when camp and the preseason began. They expected to only carry Matthew Stafford and John Wolford on the 53-man roster.
Bryce Perkins changed their mind with some really impressive play in the team’s three preseason games. Not only did he show poise and accuracy throwing the ball, but he turned on the jets a few times and picked up yards with his legs.

Next Gen Stats tracks the speeds of ball carriers and in the third week of the preseason, Perkins was one of the fastest. He had two of the three fastest speeds of any player that week, behind only Tyreek Hill. Not bad company to keep.

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Perkins’ athleticism and mobility are certainly his best asset and could potentially be something the Rams use if he sticks around on the 53-man roster, but even if he doesn’t suit up for a game this year, keeping him on the team as a developmental quarterback is critical.
If he can keep growing as a passer, Perkins could have a future in the NFL as a real dual-threat quarterback.

​

The article about Heecker on the official site. For those that may not know it, he is currently the longest tendered Ram.

---

Johnny Hekker: "Humbled for the opportunity to come back"​

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The final week of the 2021 preseason marked a difficult time for Rams punter Johnny Hekker.

Already dealing with what he viewed as competition at his position and uncertainty with the direction the Rams would go with it, being placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list the morning of its Week 2 preseason game against the Raiders would eventually force him to watch the Rams preseason finale against the Broncos a week later from home while his competitor – Corey Bojorquez, who was activated off the list three days after he and Hekker were placed on it – handled every snap in Denver.

Hekker said Thursday that he had "some conflicted feelings" while watching the game. On the one hand, he was happy for Bojorquez's success; on the other, "I saw, you know, a little bit of writing on the wall that could be the team might go with this guy, and I could be having to find a new home here pretty soon."

Those worries went away Tuesday after the Rams traded Bjorquez to the Packers on Tuesday, keeping Hekker as their punter.

During that time of uncertainty, Hekker said he leaned on his wife, a close friend and a feel-good streaming series to ease his mind.

"I talked to my wife for a good amount, she was there kind of watching the game with me," Hekker said. "I may have turned it off a little early, not going to lie. Watched some Ted Lasso to get my emotions back in check, it's a feel-good show. But then I called a mentor that actually married my wife and I – Chris Herb, a really good friend of mine from Corvallis (Oregon). And we were just able to kind of talk about things, pray with each other and come to a better head space, which meant a lot."

A four-time Associated Press First Team All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowl selection, Hekker's solidified situation also maintains his status as the longest-tenured Ram on the roster.

He has played in all 144 possible regular season games through nine seasons since signing with the team as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon State in 2012. He was also voted a team captain for the eighth time in his career on Wednesday.

Entering his 10th season this fall, Hekker will be working with a somewhat new-look special teams unit, with new leadership in special teams coordinator in Joe DeCamillis and assistant special teams coach Dwayne Stukes and working with a new long snapper in Matthew Orzech.

"(DeCamillis and Stukes) are guys that are really going to raise the level and expectations of special teams play this season," Hekker said.

Echoing Bojorquez's comments after the Broncos game, Hekker said he enjoyed working with him and having the opportunity to compete against him. Hekker also said he was praying that he and Bojorquez would have good preseasons, and that they would position themselves to be able to help the Rams and help themselves moving forward.

Ultimately, things worked out that way.

"It's something that I'm definitely very thankful for," Hekker said. "Looking back, I'm humbled for the opportunity to come back, to feel appreciated and wanted back here. It means a lot. Especially with a talented guy like Corey, being able to get him traded to a place where he's going to have a great impact in Green Bay, I wish him nothing but the best. But to be able to come back and be in this locker room with all the guys I've cultivated those friendships with, relationships, it means so much and it's something that I'm not going to take for granted. Every time I come out here on the practice field, I'm just coming out with a renewed sense of purpose to be a good leader, be a good punter and just have a ton of fun doing it."

Likewise, the Rams are glad to have him back.

"I think what Johnny's done here, as I've mentioned long before I got here, is something that doesn't go lost on me, doesn't go lost on us," Rams head coach Sean McVay said after Tuesday's practice. "And I am confident that he's going to be the productive player that he's been throughout the course of his career. I know he's motivated in the right way. And we're excited about him leading the way for us."

Why the Vic Fangio scheme is sweeping the NFL​

There’s a hot not-so-new scheme circulating on the defensive side of the ball in the NFL. That scheme stems from Vic Fangio. Fangio had great success in his time with the Bears which led him to being hired as the head coach for the Denver Broncos. That eventually spawned Brandon Staley, who worked as a linebackers coach with Fangio in both Chicago and Denver. He then joined Sean McVay in Los Angeles as the Rams’ defensive coordinator and is now the Chargers’ head coach. The Fangio and Staley influence doesn’t stop there. The Green Bay Packers hired Joe Barry who was the linebackers coach with the Rams under Staley and the Bears have promoted Sean Desai who spent four seasons with Fangio before he left for Denver.

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A lot of the success and proliferation started with Fangio’s time with the 49ers and Bears. Vic Fangio has been running a variation of his defense for his 24-year career in the NFL. Brandon Staley brought the scheme back to the main stage with the Rams in 2020 where he had the number one defense in the NFL by weighted DVOA.

Fangio’s defense doesn’t blitz much – nor does Staley or any of the Fangio disciples. He operates predominantly out of a two-safety shell. However, he uses that template to roll into different coverages and disguise what he’s doing in the secondary. With two deep safeties, though, that takes a player out of the box and can stress the run game. That’s why his fronts and the safety position is a critical piece in Fangio’s and Staley’s defenses. Those safeties have run responsibility and tend to play closer to the line of scrimmage than safeties normally do in the NFL. That allows them to more immediately contribute, but they also have to be athletic enough to recover from run reads and still be able to cover deep.

Fronts

Up front, Vic Fangio and Brandon Staley tailor things to fit their personnel. Staley has used a lot of tite fronts to help free guys up for one-on-ones outside or in the middle. Using those odd fronts or 4-3 under fronts allows him to kick normal defensive ends inside to work on guards instead of tackles.

Here, Fangio is using 3-4 personnel and creating a 4-3 under. While Fangio is showing five players at the line of scrimmage, outside linebacker Bradley Chubb is actually dropping as a zone defender.


Vic Fangio’s 4-3 under look

Chubb is the strong outside linebacker and is jamming the tight end before dropping back into coverage. The weakside outside linebacker is the rush end and is getting a one-on-one with the tackle on the other side. With the nose shaded to the right and an end outside the tackle, the Titans are forced to commit four linemen to those two players. That creates two separate one-on-ones for the Broncos with their 3-tech and weak outside linebacker. Those one-on-ones are created by the front despite the Broncos only rushing four against the Titans who are keeping seven in pass protection.




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Those kinds of fronts are a staple of what Fangio and Staley do on defense. You can see how similar the set-up is here for the Rams against the 49ers. They also have a nose shade with two defensive tackles inside leverage of the offensive tackles and a strong outside linebacker on the right to the tight end.

On this play, you can see the safety and their run fit responsibility. They’re coming from depth but filling off of the defensive tackle to the right. When he gets hooked and controls the backside C-gap, the safety is responsible to fill inside in the B-gap with the nose occupying two blockers in the A. Aaron Donald has a one-on-one to the play-side and forces the running back inside to the filling safety. The front has created advantageous matchups while still maintaining two deep defenders to protect against the pass.


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Staley especially used a lot of varied personnel when giving similar tite or 4-3 under looks. He’d walk down linebackers over the center or in the B-gaps to show heavy pressure and then have those linebackers bail into zone overage. He’d also use a variety of twists and stunts off of those looks.


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Coverage Shells

Behind those fronts, as mentioned, both Fangio and Staley run a lot of two-safety shells. That doesn’t mean they’re always running Cover 2, Cover 4 though. They often use that shell to disguise and move secondary players around to give varied looks post-snap. Here, Staley is ultimately getting to a Tampa 2 look, but doing it in a very unique way. He is rotating one safety to cover for a cat blitz from the corner, bumping the other safety over, and then backing up the trips-side nickel. That disguise is then matched with what the Rams are doing at the line of scrimmage. Linebackers are bailing and there is a corner blitz to cause confusion, but ultimately only four defenders are rushing the passer.




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While he does it less, Fangio also likes to do similar things with his safeties and bump them around the field to be able to rob the middle, give coverage illusions, and double players on the opposing offense.


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Final Thoughts

Vic Fangio is huge on zone coverage and moving players around and that allows the secondary to make plays on the ball. He likes his safeties to be interchangeable and flexible so he can be more unpredictable. His scheme implements some man-coverage principles and creates a lot of versatility in his defensive calls. Both Staley and Fangio need dynamic players to really make the scheme work, but when the horses are there, it’s a difficult defense to prepare for. The versatility of the fronts and coverage behind it make it difficult for offenses to game plan. From similar pre-snap looks they can change what they focus on taking away from week-to-week. If Joe Barry and Sean Desai put together good units, the Fangio tree will only have just begun to grow its branches.

Alec Ogletree might be best NFL story of 2021 preseason​

If you’re contemplating the best story of the Bears’ 2021 training camp it has to be inside linebacker Alec Ogletree.

Thursday I asked him to capsulize the emotional and physical roller coaster ride he’s taken over the last four weeks.

“It’s been a journey, for sure,” he said. “I’ve been blessed and it hasn’t all been smooth, for sure, but I am here now, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to be here and get a chance to play. I had been training to be ready to play and hopefully get a call, but when the call came, it definitely came out of the blue.

“I didn’t think anything of it when I was up here visiting (Robert Quinn). They (Bears) called my agent, he asked me where I was at, and he was like, ‘Well, don’t leave. They want to sign you.’

“I just try to cherish the opportunity to be in this league because I was on the outside looking in, and you see a lot of guys that struggle on the outside. To come back into this league and play and do what I love to do, I just try to take it day by day and enjoy the moment of being here with the guys.”

[ Related: Bears LB Alec Ogletree is out to prove he’s like a fine wine, ‘better with age’ ]

This is a winding tale involving a number of Bears players and coincidences.

Two years after drafting Quinn in the first round, the Rams used their first rounder on Ogletree, beginning a close friendship between the two and a sterling NFL career for both.

Halfway through the final year of his rookie deal, the Rams gave Ogletree a $42.75 million extension including $21.3 million guaranteed.

Then shockingly, the Rams, facing a salary cap squeeze, dealt Ogletree to the Giants six months later.

The signature moment of his 2018 season came Week 13 with two interceptions, including a pick-six off Chase Daniel in an overtime upset of the Bears.

After the 2019 campaign, the second in a row in which he played just 13 games, the Giants, facing a complete rebuild, released Ogletree.

On the street as the pandemic roared across the country, he was unable to find work, but the Rams, unable to adequately replace Ogletree after he was dealt, signed Bears free agent linebacker Leonard Floyd.

Ogletree had a cup of coffee with the Jets to start 2020, but by Oct. 10 he was out of the league. It seemed possible, if not likely, his career was over.

Then came that shocking call at Quinn’s house.

What nobody saw coming next was Ogletree picking off six passes in his first four Bears practices. How did he do it after almost a year away from the game?

“I’m wiser,” Ogletree said. “I’ve seen a lot of coverages, a lot of defenses, played in pretty much anything. So I kind of know how things work and stuff like that.”

That feels like a bit of an understatement now, doesn’t it?

Still, Ogletree was left on pins and needles just like the lowest of undrafted rookie free agents right up until Tuesday’s 53-man roster deadline.

Surprisingly he told me had no idea what was next when the team sat him in the final exhibition last Saturday evening. He wasn’t sure if he would make the roster right up until Tuesday’s deadline.

“I didn’t want to assume anything or feel like I’m owed this, no matter what I’ve done,” Ogletree said. “So you just try to, like I said, just enjoy the moment, just be in the moment and live every day as well as you can.”

Has all of this left him something of a philosopher?

“You’re not always going to have the right opportunity to do something, even though you think you should, but when you do have the opportunity, it’s what you do with that opportunity while you’re there,” Ogletree said. “I just tried to take it day by day, didn’t want to hold anything back. Just tried to come out and be me and capitalize on the opportunity that the Bears gave me.”

Happy endings are always nice, and while no one is happy Danny Trevathan landed on injured reserve, Ogletree will now be starting for the Bears on Sunday Night Football in less than two weeks.

Talk about a road well traveled.

Rams TE Johnny Mundt hopes toiling in the trenches pays off​

THOUSAND OAKS — For the Rams the past four years, Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett played most of the downs and caught almost all of the passes thrown to tight ends, while Johnny Mundt was limited to a backup role that emphasized his skill as a blocker.

Mundt’s work was grunt work.

But that might be about to change, to the evident satisfaction of Mundt, an undrafted free-agent signing from Oregon who labored through a succession of one-year contracts and practice-squad spells to earn his shot at glamor.

“I’m feeling great about it,” he said Thursday after practice. “I’m confident in myself. I’ll try to go make some plays.”

How many plays Mundt, 26, can make as a pass receiver will help to determine the prominence of tight ends in the Rams offense in its first season with Matthew Stafford at quarterback and DeSean Jackson going long.

When the Rams lost Everett, who signed with the Seahawks as a free agent in March, first in line to replace him as No. 2 tight end was Mundt, who had re-signed for one year three days earlier.

One problem: Everett had caught 127 passes in four years, second to Higbee’s 173 among Rams tight ends. Mundt had caught nine.

Mundt had his moments. The biggest came in October. With Higbee sidelined by a bruised hand, Mundt started along with Everett and pulled in three passes from Jared Goff for 48 yards – 41 of them coming after breaking tackles, 34 on one catch-and-run – in a 24-10 victory over the Bears.

“I hoped to build some confidence in the coaches that I could do it that game setting,” Mundt said.

He didn’t catch a pass the rest of the season.

But it wasn’t lost on Rams coaches that Mundt had good hands, having caught 23 from Justin Herbert for 334 yards and four touchdowns as an Oregon senior.

Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell said Wednesday that he and Stafford had just been talking about Mundt and “how much of a vertical threat he can be.”

“We all saw last year against Chicago, really in a week where we needed him, his play-making ability with the ball in his hands, yards after catch, different ways we can activate him in our offense,” O’Connell said.

A healthier Higbee will remain the Rams’ No. 1 tight end, a security-blanket receiver for Stafford.

At No. 2, Mundt is “ready to take on a bigger role,” Rams coach Sean McVay said this week.

The other two tight ends, Brycen Hopkins, in his second year, and Jacob Harris, drafted in the fourth round from Central Florida with the idea of moving him from wide receiver to tight end, are “working to establish themselves,” McVay said.

Mundt has been there.

“Every year you try to progress, and I believe that year to year, even week to week, I’ve always improved,” Mundt said of his four-year wait. “It hasn’t been completely linear.

“But I’m really happy with where I am right now.”

We are approaching the end of summer, Thank God, and a seasonal song will come across my YouTube mentions: "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," by Gordon Lightfoot. The well told/sung story of this famous sinking on Lake Superior in November has always haunted me. One of the biggest iron ore ships in the Great Lakes, the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a serious storm only 15 miles from Whitefish bay, all 29 sailors sank with her. There were other ships with many more victims lost than this one, but they were not memorialized by song. Also, I always thought of the crew of this ship doing a blue collar job that was a little bit dangerous, but they fully expected to make it home if they did their jobs correctly. By all accounts, they did it well, being an experienced crew. The job was by no means a glamorous one, like being on the Titanic on its maiden voyage. Their families expected them to make it back, because that's what hard working blue collar types do.....but not this time. In any case, the song haunts me every time I hear it.

There's another song by Phil Collins called "In the Air Tonight." I don't know what's the truth about the meaning of the song, but the urban legend says that Collins witnessed another man drowning (or witnessed another watching another person drowning). Collins denies the legend, and says he doesn't really know what the song is about since he was enduring a divorce at the time.

Some might say "Hotel California" by the Eagles is haunting to them. Give me some of the songs that hit you where you live, and why.

SOURCE SPORTS: RAMS’ AARON DONALD SEEN CRYING AFTER PLAYOFF LOSS TO PACKERS

JANUARY 17, 2021

By Jason Cordner


There is no crying in football but don’t tell Aaron Donald that in his face.




Donald’s Rams fell behind early and lost 32-18 in the Divisional Round playoff game.

Donald was at limited strength and ability due to a ribs injury he suffered the previous week while tackling Russell Wilson.

Donald’s inability to play at his best likely weighed on his emotions as the team’s season came to an end.

Donald is a warrior who was playing with a rib injury he sustained last week during the Rams playoff victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

Donald is the Rams defensive anchor.

As he goes, so does the Rams defense and that was evidently clear on Saturday night.

It was yet another tremendous season from the Rams’ All-Pro, which unfortunately ended without a Super Bowl ring once again.

__________________________________________________

You don't have to be a Rams fan to see how bad this future first ballot HOF wants to win a Super Bowl.

AD is still in his prime, but he realizes the opportunity to hoist the Lombardi becomes less likely the older he gets.

Honestly, it just gets worse the more you hear about it. The heads of the fake school were con-artists to the extreme (they bounced checks for hotels, didn't have proper equipment, one of the coaches had an active arrest warrant for domestic violence, assault, and disorderly conduct, etc., etc., and so forth), and kids are getting hurt because of it (including the quarterback of Bishop Sycamore in the game ESPN showed against IMG Academy). Makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.

ESPN needs to get raked over the coals for allowing this to happen because they didn't verify whether or not B.S. (fitting initials) was an accredited school (for clarification, they weren't; they were a former football camp that lied about damn near everything and sometimes had kids who were in JUCO). IMG Academy needs to seriously re-evaluate their priorities for playing B.S. again after a year, knowing that they weren't an accredited school. The people who made the fake school need to be in prison for a long time.

But most of all, I feel horrible for the players. They suffered a ton from this scandal, and it makes me absolutely sick and furious that this charade was allowed to go on.

Things may not be perfect now, but sometimes is good to remember when things were REALLY bad.

Here is a flashback of a couple of "interviews" by "BernieM" of our esteemed HC, "Scott Linehan," circa 2007-08 (originally posted on another site).

Enjoy!


October 2007

Welcome, Coach.

Thanks for having me.

Let's get down to business. 0-4. Not what you expected, huh?

Things are going well. I see improvement in many aspects of the game. I'm encouraged.

You're encouraged? You've lost the last two games by a combined score of 59-10. The only TD the team has scored in the last 11 quarters was on a punt return. What's encouraging?

Well, you for one. You keep telling me my job is safe for another year.

Touche! But you know I'm just blowing smoke, right? You know the front office doesn't really tell me anything, right?

You and me both, big man!

Okay, you got me on that one! So how is Marc Bulger doing?

Well, of course, he's not quite 100%. But we've got a lot invested in Gus Frerrotte, so I don't want to subject him to an injury.

Don't you have more invested in Bulger?

Yes, but he's already injured.

Not sure I follow your logic on this one...

Yeah, me neither.

What about the Steven Jackson issue. You sat him out for the entire preseason, and he proceeded to have a very slow start, marred by fumbling problems, and then got hurt. Any regrets.

Absolutely. I wish I hadn't taken him first on my fantasy team.

You play fantasy football?

Of course. I'm in a league with Don Imus, L.L. Cool J, Matt Damon, Al Roker and Jeff Goldbloom.

Really? So who's in first?

Well, that Roker guy wins every year, but I've got him this year. He took Bulger, Bennett and McMichael, and you can see what I've done to make sure he doesn't get too many points.

Oh, so that explains the playcalling.

You catch on fast.

So, what do you see as the bright points of this team right now?

Well, certainly the defense has improved a bit. In fact, if we could just hold on to the ball and score points, the defense might actually look pretty good.

Of course, Coach Haslett has more to do with that than anyone.

I think I've left my mark there too.

How so?

I like to stay involved. I'll walk by during practice and say "nice job, guys," or something like that. I think that is a big help.

No doubt. What would you say to those fans out there who are losing faith in you and your staff?

There are fans out there who don't like me?

Um... yeah. Some have even come up with acronyms for fake organizations opposing you as the coach.

Well, that's just mean. I--I--

Coach?

Y--Yeah?

Are you crying?

N--No...

Don't worry, Coach. Things will get better.

Y--you really think so?

Uh.... yeah... sure. Sure they will.

I feel much better.



January 2008

Welcome, coach. Thanks for meeting with me.

No problem. Its not like I have anything else to do this time of year.

Really? Aren't you getting ready for free agency, the draft...

Nah. I think we're fine as is.

You do?

Well, clearly our record should have been better, but I didn't get fired, so I guess that means everything is okay.

Don't you want to win more games?

Well, sure I do, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I mean, I don't play the game.

True, but you do set the gameplan, call the plays, etc...

That's true, but that stuff doesn't really matter.

Your players seem to disagree. Torry Holt, for one.

What about him?

Well, he was pretty mad at you a couple of weeks ago, wasn't he?

I don't remember that.

Well, here's the tape <shows video clip of outburst>

Oh, that? He wasn't mad at me.

He wasn't? What was he saying.

He was saying "coach, I'm so frustrated about how fans have been coming down so hard on you when its all been about injuries and poor execution by us!"

Do you expect me to buy that?

Well, I didn't get fired, did I?

That's true, but I would suggest that Ms. Frontiere's health has put the team in limbo, and that's why you still have a job.

Are you accusing me of trying to kill the owner?

WHAT!?!!? NO!?!?!

Sure sounded like it.

Man, you are more paranoid than Mike Martz.

What about Mike Martz?!?!

Nothing. I was just saying...

He can't come back! I won't let him! No no no no no no no no!

I don't think anyone thinks he's coming back.

I'm in charge! He can't take away my power! No no no no no no!

Calm down, coach. I never said he was coming back. Now, what do you see as the Rams priorities in the upcoming draft?

Tight end.

What?

Tight end. That is the most important position on the team.

You're not serious, are you?

Don't I look serious?

But what about the pass rush? The offensive line? Strong safety?

A good tight end will make up for the problems at all those positions.

I don't see how, but are you saing that Randy McMichael is not good enough?

No, he's great. He used to play for me in Miami, you know? But we need more. More tight ends. More, I tell you. Bwahahaha!

Okay, well, anything you'd like to say about the 2007 season?

Yes. We accomplished all of our goals except one.

Which is?

Winning games.

1. And now, this shit gets real!

2. I'd say that there were fewer final cut surprises for me than in previous years. The only cut I didn't see coming (at least back in July) was Micah Kiser. While he's on the practice squad now, I wonder if he might be poached by some other team in need of a 2 down ILB before long.

3. Glad Johnny Hekker is still a Ram. Is that a comment based upon sentiment or logic? Time will tell.

4. I can't overemphasize how much better I feel about the RB spot having Sony Michel on the roster. If both he and Henderson can stay healthy, I actually think we have a better than average RB tandem.

5. One subtle but, in my opinion, very important observation from the preseason: Tutu Atwell, despite having limited experience doing so, looked very natural fielding punts. That's not a given. There are guys in the NFL who could do great things with the ball in their hands, but are never tried at the PR spot due to their inability to gauge and catch 50 yard bombs. I'm betting he'll break a few long returns (hopefully with no yellow flags) this year, and I also think having this role will help keep him engaged as he climbs the depth chart.

6. Chris Garrett may have found himself on the perfect team. Where else would he have the ability to play behind a DT who commands double and triple teams, and a bookend edge rusher who had 10 sacks last year? I think its safe to say that Garrett will never see a double team this season.

7. Did I just skip over Terrell Lewis and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo? Yes, I did. They are both players who have talent, but I just can't allow myself to have hope for players who just can't stay healthy.

8. Jordan Fuller is the poster child for why we should pay attention to Day 3 draft picks.

9. It feels like Matthew Stafford has been a Ram for a while now because, in a way, he has been. Its 8 months since the trade was made! Now, we'll finally get to see him on the field in McVay's offense. Confidence is high.

10. I have been watching the extended highlight films of several of the Rams games last year. It seemed like there were a lot of games in which the offense was humming early and it looked like we'd win going away. Then, something would happen... an untimely turnover or sack allowed (or two) and we'd end up with a game that was still in doubt in the 4th quarter. I'm hoping that, with Stafford in place, we'll see some bigger leads and games that are decided in 3 quarters.

11. This could be the year when we really see how good (or bad) the 2019 draft was: Taylor Rapp, Darrell Henderson and David Edwards are starters. Greg Gaines and David Long are key rotation guys. Bobby Evans and Nick Scott could also see some playing time. If we can win with these players in these roles, 2019's draft can be regarded as a success.

12. There is no starter who is a bigger question mark than Brian Allen. I hope he makes all of us doubters look very foolish.

13. The Rams have never been known for their TEs, and with good reason. Tyler Higbee is 251 yards from becoming the Rams' all-time receiving yards leader at the position (passing Billy Truax). Let that one sink in.

14. The Bears are a perfect first opponent. By that, I mean a team we should absolutely beat. Sure, they have a quality front 7 - one that will give our OL a good first test, but overall we have a big advantage in talent and matchups.

15. I'll make my first score prediction of the year: Rams 34, Bears 17. For fun, I'll add that the Bears' final TD will be a run by Justin Fields, who will be put in after Andy Dalton is beat up for 3 quarters.

16. Stafford, by the way, had 698 yards passing in two games against the Bears last year.

17. Is Jake Funk our kick returner?

18. Am I overlooking Van Jefferson as a potential major contributor?

19. A word about collie molesters... Some of you may have noticed that I dismiss talking heads who downgrade the Rams by saying that they "molest collies." It has occurred to me that some of you may be young enough that you don't get the reference and may, as a result, think I'm a particularly odd person. If so, please watch Caddyshack.

20. Lets do this thing!!!!!!

Rams GM Les Snead hopes offseason moves turn out super​

THOUSAND OAKS — The Rams’ 53-man class of 2021 was on the practice field by itself for the first time Wednesday, marking the end of an eventful offseason.

On offense, General Manager Les Snead had offseason successes to celebrate in the trade for quarterback Matthew Stafford, the signing of deep threat receiver DeSean Jackson and the low-cost acquisition of running back Sony Michel last week to try to offset the injury to Cam Akers.

On defense, where results were mixed, Snead could take credit for planning ahead and drafting safety Jordan Fuller in 2020 in anticipation of signal-caller John Johnson’s free-agent departure.

But Snead wasn’t ready to give himself an A, B, C – or any grade – calling the past seven months a “rough draft” for the season.

“It’s tough for me to give a rough-graft grade,” Snead said. “But here’s what I’d say, we’re definitely ready to turn in the essay.”

With Super Bowl LVI to be played at SoFi Stadium next February, Snead stopped short of saying the 53-man roster completed Tuesday is championship-caliber.

“We definitely are confident and believe we can contend for our division (title), and if we accomplish that we might have a chance to have a few home playoff games,” Snead said. “And at that point in time it’s heavyweight fights, and we’re confident we’d be ready to climb in the ring and play those four quarters.”

Snead explained his reasoning for three moves on roster cutdown day Tuesday:

• Keeping veteran punter Johnny Hekker and trading young punter Corey Bojorquez to the Green Bay Packers was made more attractive by Hekker’s agreement to a restructured contract, but Snead claimed Hekker’s history of success with fake punts was a factor.

“If you do run one to two to three to four (fake punts a season), there is that threat,” Snead said. “Teams defending your punt team are going to do it differently.”

Hekker completed passes for 13 first downs in 2012-19, but he didn’t try one in 2020.

• Snead said the Rams kept Bryce Perkins – a rare case of a third quarterback on the active roster – because they liked his progress since joining the practice squad in 2020 and wanted to avoid another team claiming him.

“If they do get claimed, a lot of training that goes into it is gone in a heartbeat,” Snead said.

• The Rams kept 10 offensive linemen again partly to prepare for the 2022 free agency of guard Austin Corbett, center Brian Allen and key backup Joe Noteboom, and the possibility of 39-year-old tackle Andrew Whitworth retiring.

“It’s been nice (in case of) injuries to keep that many,” Snead said, “but you’re always grooming, knowing that there are decisions to make at the end of the year.”

MORE MOVES

After cutting 25 players Monday and Tuesday, the Rams signed 14 of them to their practice squad on Wednesday.

The practice squad signings included Micah Kiser, the linebacker who was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week after making 15 tackles against the Philadelphia Eagles last September, before going on injured reserve for the second straight year.

Kiser cleared waivers after Rams coach Sean McVay said Tuesday he expected another team to claim him.

“What a stud of a human being, an incredible person. You talk about a guy that’s consistently overcome adversity, responded to it the right way,” McVay said of Kiser, who was a fifth-round draft pick in 2018 after winning the so-called Academic Heisman as a Virginia senior. “You’re not betting against him figuring it out, whether it ends up being with us or whether it’s somewhere else, you’re going to bet on him to be successful.”

Others signed to the practice squad: running back Otis Anderson; wide receivers Landen Akers and J.J. Koski; tight end Kendall Blanton; offensive linemen Chandler Brewer, Jeremiah Kolone, Max Pircher and Jared Hocker (waived by the Seahawks); defensive linemen Earnest Brown IV and Marquise Copeland; linebacker Justin Lawler, and defensive backs Dont’e Deayon, Kareem Orr and Tyler Hall.

Linebacker Christian Rozeboom opted to join the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad, defensive lineman Eric Banks was claimed by the Chargers and defensive back Troy Warner was claimed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Have at it boys, Sports book is up and going! Happy 2021 Season boys! FUCK COVID!!

Nick Wright in (THIS) thread posted by @Florida_Ram just commented on how all the (proven) young QB’s are in the AFC.

AFC
Mahomes
Allen
Mayfield
Herbert
Lamar Jackson

NFC
Kyler Murray?
Goff?

And…?

The deck sure is stacked AFC. Add in the potential of Burrow, Lawrence, Jones, Wilson… Wow!

Thought that was a topic worthy point he made.

The AFC is LOADED at QB. Young ones.

September is National suicide prevention month something that is near and dear to my heart. Never be afraid to ask for help if you need it. I’ll be making a donation to an organization I have a great deal of respect for https://stopsoldiersuicide.org/


Mods feel free to move this thread to off topic. Just wanted to make sure anyone that might need to see this does.

Things in Phoenix got turned upside down in a hurry on cut day, LOL.

The developments are shocking, but they only feel swift. Truth is, Butler has been gone from the team for over a week. His retirement is just another unexpected development on a defense full of preseason weirdness. To wit:

General manager Steve Keim told returning captain Jordan Hicks he could not compete for a starting job, instead awarding it to rookie Zaven Collins. Can you imagine how many eyes will roll inside the locker room when Hicks is asked to play a huge role in 2021?

Isaiah Simmons continued to struggle mightily at inside linebacker only to be working with the safeties during a recent practice. Chandler Jones requested a trade, returned to camp, was injured during practice and has yet to return. J.J. Watt seemed to scoff at the bubble wrap treatment surrounding his hamstring injury, but the Valley has yet to see him play a snap of competitive football with the Cardinals.


As for the depleted cornerback room? Surely, additional players will be arriving in Arizona. They will hail from a giant pile of leftovers, players who were recently cut by their previous teams. None will be capable of playing shutdown cornerback in the NFL.

That leaves Byron Murphy Jr., one of the most improved players on the team. But can he really defend elite NFL receivers?

Fourth-round pick Marco Wilson has shined in two preseason games, and is playing a position made for instant impact, where a young buck can be assigned to cover a certain wide receiver, taking all mental calculus out of the equation. But can you really trust the limited snaps Wilson has played in the preseason? Can he hold up for the duration of a real NFL game?

Meanwhile, Robert Alford’s next regular season will be his first in three seasons with the Cardinals while Tay Gowan seemed relieved just to make the roster.

Butler’s retirement is the first groundswell of real adversity in Arizona. There will be plenty more. The defense might feature a rookie middle linebacker, a rookie cornerback and a former No. 8 overall pick who played in only 34% of the defensive snaps in 2020.

They will face four elite wide receivers and two top-shelf running backs in the first two weeks of the regular season. Against the Titans and Vikings, they will encounter Derrick Henry, Julio Jones, A.J. Brown, Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, in a year when non-divisional wins are paramount.


What could possibly go wrong?