December 01, 2024 - Week 13

Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints, 4:05 p.m. ET on Fox

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Game Day Thread

The GDT is a live thread tradition here at ROD.

While we all get fired up watching the game, please remember our core principles; we always show respect for our team and each other.

Despite the emotional highs and lows watching a game, we will moderate this thread with that in mind, however please refrain from name calling. This applies to players, the Rams organization, and each other.

This is the core rule of the GDT. Moderators are tasked to issue thread bans, at a minimum, to maintain this standard.

This is our team. Win or lose. Good days and bad. We are here for FUN, not to be dragged down.

A more loosely moderated atmosphere can be found in the chat room.

Go Rams!

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ROD Chat Room;

Game Day Room

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Sunday Night Football December 01, 2024

San Francisco 49ers at Buffalo Bills, 8:20 p.m. ET NBC and Peacock

RamsOnDemand Sportsbook


Weather Report

Week 13 Sunday December 01, 2024

*All times are listed as ET

THE LATE GAMES
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers, 4:05 p.m. on Fox
Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints, 4:05 p.m. on Fox
Philadelphia Eagles at Baltimore Ravens, 4:25 p.m. on CBS

THE EARLY GAMES
Los Angeles Chargers at Atlanta Falcons, 1 p.m. on CBS
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals, 1 p.m. on CBS
Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m. on Fox
Arizona Cardinals at Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m. on Fox
Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots, 1 p.m. on CBS
Seattle Seahawks at New York Jets, 1 p.m. on Fox
Tennessee Titans at Washington Commodes, 1 p.m. on CBS

SNF
San Francisco 49ers at Buffalo Bills, 8:20 p.m. NBC and Peacock

Monday December 02, 2024

MNF
Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos, 8:15 p.m. on ESPN

Week 13 Sunday December 01, 2024

*All times are listed as ET

THE EARLY GAMES
Los Angeles Chargers at Atlanta Falcons, 1 p.m. on CBS
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals, 1 p.m. on CBS
Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m. on Fox
Arizona Cardinals at Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m. on Fox
Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots, 1 p.m. on CBS
Seattle Seahawks at New York Jets, 1 p.m. on Fox
Tennessee Titans at Washington Commodes, 1 p.m. on CBS

THE LATE GAMES
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers, 4:05 p.m. on Fox
Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints, 4:05 p.m. on Fox
Philadelphia Eagles at Baltimore Ravens, 4:25 p.m. on CBS

SNF
San Francisco 49ers at Buffalo Bills, 8:20 p.m. NBC and Peacock

Monday December 02, 2024

MNF
Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos, 8:15 p.m. on ESPN

OSU had 60 minutes to fight but they choose after the game!

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Wife and I had a craving for Gumbo yesterday but neither of us were in the mood to make it. I found a box mix for jambalaya and made that instead.

As I was making it I realized that the two of us had a craving for Gumbo and the Rams play saints Sunday. I've made gumbo every time the Rams and Saints play since the infamous NFC championship game. I have a recipe I follow and it is so good. . . however. . . having just had jambalaya I don't think we'll be making gumbo this Sunday.

We discussed making catfish po boys - and still may do.

What's on your menu!?

So what do people think about him going forward? He's a free agent after next year and with the James Conner signing for 2/$19 million to me sounds like what we could pay for KW. I get the fumbles are an issue to a lot but what do you guys think about him going forward?

In the video below, Faulk explains why the RB position has been diminished since he played and it's opposite of what I believed. According to him, it's because RB's allowed it to happen by accepting a RB by committee approach. He wouldn't allow himself to be removed from a game and lived by the adage that availability was the most valuable commodity for a RB. It was when coaches saw that the back up RB could do the job as well The value of the "bell cow" diminished. Listen to him in his own words and comment how you feel about it. BTW: As good as Dickerson was, I think Marshall was the best dual threat RB in Rams history.

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Black Friday Football- Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs 2pm ET Prime

RamsOnDemand Sportsbook

Ahh the memories. Who can forget immortal plays like Sam to Daniel Fells? Sam to Danario Alexander?
"The franchise QB that almost was..." ~ @den-the-coach

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Thanksgiving Day - Thursday November 28, 2024

Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions 12:30pm ET CBS

New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys 4:30pm ET FOX

Miami Dolphins at Green Bay Packers 8:20pm ET NBC

RamsOnDemand Sportsbook:

Current Roster Free Agents:



I figure both Rozeboom and Johnson are cheap, and both should be affordable. If any of the green up arrows not named Jackson are pricey, they can be replaced quite easily with role players in FA. If Jackson is too pricey, tag him.

Incoming Free Agent Additions:

WR Tee Higgins. This is a huge need for the Rams and Higgins would be plugging directly into an offense he knows with two possession wideouts who would make defenses choose. Rams whiffed on Evans last year. It is still a need to add that dynamic size and athleticism package outside the hash. Bengals are likely going to let him test the market so they can focus on Chase. Rams need to be a top bidder on Higgins. Go get him.

RB James Conner. This is me wanting a physical back for facing certain fronts. McVay loves him some passcatchy type backs, the small and shifty little bastards are his huckleberry. But I'd balance them with a RB that I have thought is underrated for some time now. He would be a quality addition that rounds out our backfield nicely.

DL Calais Campbell. Dude is old and this has to be a short term contract. But like Conner this is a player I have appreciated for years. He can play 5T for us for a year, and add the vet leadership these young guns can benefit from as first DL off the bench or as a spot starter. Sign him on a two year deal. Still plan on going NT in the draft but this guy makes us better and the rotation is deeper.

Draft (using the 2025 PFF big board rankings for player value range matching where I take them):

Round 1 TE Tyler Warren. Not going to fuck around here so no trade down. People gonna say this is a reach, but this class is not deep and the Rams never find themselves sitting in a spot to get a TE of this quality. Trade down too much and dickhead teams like GREEN BAY will take the TE you want. Rams need to surround Stafford with targets and we have never really had an elite TE so this gets rectified big time. Now Stafford has Higgins > Nacua > Kupp > Higs > Warren as big and nasty redzone weapons. Offense will be a threat in 12 sets too.

Round 3 CB Mello Dotson. Was gonna go Zy here but he's probably gonna rise. Dotson has good size and a penchant for pick sixes, assuming he doesn't run too insane he should be in this range and juice our CB room.

Round 3 OT Blake Miller. Good size and raw tools, looks a bit lean so he should be able to grow and make for an excellent tackle project.

Round 4 CB Chandler Rivers. Adding some quality to the slot role here. Lots of options and slot can be had later but I like Rivers and getting the secondary finished by this point in the draft.

Round 6 NT CJ West. Stout meatplug for the middle.

Round 6 NT Cam Horsley. Another stout meatplug for the middle.

Round 6 QB Dillon Gabriel. I don't like short QBs but for round 6 he's worth a look and McVay can move him around. Not sure whether he'll beat Bennett out but either way we got a QB3 battle in camp and entertaining preseason games.

Round 6 SS Hunter Wohler. I think he has the frame to grow into and have a shot as an ILB at this level. He slots in behind Speights.

UDFAs the priority would be returners, ILBs, and DBs.

Depth Chart:

WR Higgins > Smith
WR Nacua > Johnson
WR Kupp > Whittington
TE Higbee > Warren > Allen > Parkinson
QB Stafford > Garoppolo > Gabriel
RB Williams > Corum > Conner
LT Jackson > Miller
LG Avila > Dedich
C Limmer/Jackson
RG Dotson > McMahon
RT Havenstein > McClendon

DE Fiske > Johnson
NT Davis > West > Horsley
DT Turner > Campbell > Gallimore
LOLB Young > Jackson
ROLB Verse > Hampton
LILB Speights > Wohler
RILB Rozeboom > UDFA
SS Curl/McCullough
FS Kinchens/Lake
LCB Williams >
RCB Durant > Dotson
NB Wallace > Rivers

I for one love cooking a good Thanksgiving meal but have been directed that we'll be eating at the buffet.

Ok, I can deal.

Apparently also hosting watching the night game at our house after dinner.

My father in law is . . . well. . . I don't know.

Anyways.

I thought I would ask if anyone has a special recipe they want to share? Or special plans for a meal?

Last year I smoked a Ham with a Dr. Pepper rub and it was so good.

Lol, why does god hate us?
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I guess the good news is look at the Saints.

So far this year, we have only even attempted 8 WR running plays, for 59 total yards of offense. We are averaging 7.37 yards per carry, and for some reason we don't call those plays?
Xavier Smith has 30 of those yards on only two runs. I'm screaming at my TV every time we just keep running it up the middle for a one yard gain. This is one of the things people are complaining about when it comes to play calling, and for good reason. Gotta keep the defense off balance and guessing, yet we are so predictable. With Kupp and Nacua now both healthy and blocking on the outside, we could be even more successful on plays like this. Someone forward this post to McVay please, haha.

Finally watching 'The Dynasty' on AppleTV and just finished the Spygate episode.

If you live under a rock and haven't seen it, understand that you don't hate the Patriots nearly enough. Karma bit 'em on the dick at precisely the perfect moment and it was glorious....

I’ve seen multiple times in the last year how a guy will go out of bounds, while not being driven back or fumbling or anything and the clock still runs.

I thought going out of bounds automatically in every instance where forward momentum is not impeded or possession of the ball remains that stopped the clock. Clearly I’m wrong, so what am I missing?

I’ve seen guys catch a pass and go out inside the five. Clock still runs.

Huh???

Name it and what age you were at the time.

Me? I was a 15yr paper boy that delivered the Sacramento Union newspaper when I found an unopened bottle of Michelob in an otherwise empty six pack on a curb. I was back in my garage after the route, downing the bottle as fast as I could when my Dad walked in at 6am. I hid the empty bottle and tried to play it off, but I'm sure Dad smelled it on me....lol. He never said anything.

Michigan football was able to land its quarterback of the future with a little bit of help from a quarterback from the Wolverines’ past — and not just any quarterback.

Bryce Underwood, the Belleville star and the No. 1 player in the 2025 recruiting class, was the dominant story in the college football world Thursday night when he flipped his commitment from LSU to Michigan, giving coach Sherrone Moore perhaps the first major victory of his tenure as the Wolverines’ full-time head coach.

Underwood was the subject of intense interest from Michigan and its fans during what has been an underwhelming 2024 season for the Wolverines. That impassioned push reportedly got a crucial late assist from none other than Tom Brady.


The former Michigan quarterback and seven-time Super Bowl champion, widely regarded as the greatest quarterback in NFL history, struck up a relationship with Underwood over the past several weeks, beginning with a FaceTime call, according to a report from CBS Sports.


Over multiple conversations, Brady stressed to Underwood that he’d be a resource for the young quarterback, a potential mentorship arrangement that “became one of many factors” in Underwood’s decision to commit to the Wolverines, according to CBS.

The full-court recruiting press is certainly worth it.

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Smh

Monday Night Football November 25, 2025

Baltimore Ravens at Los Angeles Chargers, 8:15 p.m. on ESPN

RamsOnDemand Sportsbook

A number of people have been pointing out that our pass blocking needs to improve to see any offensive improvement. Someone mentioned that PFF has our pass pro ranked from 27th to 30th all season. Currently, we are ranked 30th in pass protection.

We ended last season ranked 20th.

Some of our better run blocking OL do not excel in pass pro. Here are the pass pro ratings of our starting OL:

Alaric Jackson - 78.6
Havenstein - 67.1
Keven Dotson - 63.0
Beaux Limmer - 49.2
Steve Avila - 48.7 (67.2 in 2023)

How are we going to get better in pass pro when the only one who is above average is a pending free agent? Havenstein and Dotson are average. Avila and Limmer are well below average, although Avila may still be knocking rust off and could return to his 2023 average rating.

Drafting an LT high may help but that does nothing to upgrade the other four positions on the line.