Click link below to watch video.
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Everett Displaying Versatility in Rams' Offense
Myles Simmons

Orange County Register

In the third quarter of last week’s 51-17 victory over the Giants, the Rams began their drive after Cory Littleton’s blocked punt at New York’s 18-yard line. It wouldn’t take the visitors long to score another touchdown, which would give them a 48-10 lead.

But before running back Todd Gurley’s second rushing TD, L.A. began the series in ‘13’ personnel — one running back, three tight ends, one wide receiver. Of the tight ends group, Tyler Higbee was lined up on the left, while Derek Carrier and Gerald Everett were lined up on the right.

Everett, however, would come in motion across the formation. And just after quarterback Jared Goff fielded the snap from under center, he turned around and gave the ball to Everett on a jet sweep.

That’s right — a tight end jet sweep. And it went 13 yards for a signfiicant first down.

“Coach McVay is a genius,” Everett said this week.

He means head coach Sean McVay, who has taken a team that finished No. 32 in scoring last year and transformed it into one that now leads the league averaging 32.9 points per game.

And while running back Todd Gurley is undoubtedly the offense’s headliner, McVay has been particularly creative in utilizing Evertt’s considerable skillset. The tight end has lined up all over the place for L.A. — in line, split out wide, and sometimes even in the backfield. Everett has run short routes, deep routes, taken shovel passes inside, and that one jet sweep.

“I love it,” Everett said of his role as basically the Swiss Army knife of the Rams’ offense. “But just being there for the team and playing my part and doing my role, trying to get to 7-2 — I’ll do whatever it is. Even if that wasn’t my role, I would just try to be the best I can for my teammates.”

In last Sunday’s game alone, Everett’s two plays displayed how unique he is for a tight end listed at 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds. Aside form the jet sweep, on Everett caught a 44-yard deep ball from Goff on third down in the first quarter, setting up a field goal.

“He’s a great athlete,” McVay said earlier this week. “He makes a big play on the third down [last Sunday], runs the jet sweep. You look at what he did in Jacksonville a couple weeks ago on the shovel pass. So, he’s a guy that we’ll continue to try to move around and find ways to get the ball in his hands.”

As unique as the tight end jet sweep appeared, Everett said it actually wasn’t the first time he’s run a play like that.

“My junior and senior year in college, probably the first time I took a jet sweep,” Everett said. “You know, on 3rd-and-short, red zone stuff — same thing we’re doing here.”

Having run it before, Everett said he felt comfortable getting back to the jet sweep in the pros.

“Just getting to this point, it’s kind of a sense of relief — finally, I can translate that from college to the league,” Everett said. “And coach McVay has that confidence in me and the rest of the offense that we can get something like that done.

“When I saw him put the jet sweep in, I was like, ‘OK, now we’re talking,’” Everett added. “And then when he finally called it, I knew they were going to secure the blocks, and I was just trying to get as many yards as I could.”

Offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur credited Los Angeles’ personnel staff for finding a player with Everett’s versatility.

“I think it goes back to just like our scouting department did a great job evaluating him coming out and we liked what we saw,” LaFleur said. “We worked him out and we saw a versatile guy that can makes plays with the ball in his hands. He’s got great athleticism and that gives us the versatility to kind of move him around and put him in spots where we think can be successful.”

“He’s also going to continue to grow as a tight end,” McVay said. “Playing in-line, contributing in the run game, whether that be a movable piece kind of as a lead blocker, as that H-back or even just playing in-line. But, he’s got a bright future. He’s a joy to be around and it was good for Gerald to be able to make some of those big plays [last Sunday].”

And so as the season continues, Everett expects McVay to continue to utilize him creatively in Los Angeles’ scheme.

“He’s drawing up things constantly for us, whether they’re new concepts or old concepts,” Everett said. “And I’m glad that I can take a jet sweep in the NFL now.”

Will Sean McVay win Coach of the Year? –Video

The Good Morning Football crew debate whether Sean McVay will be the NFL Coach of the Year.

Watch McVay Discussion

Bummer. I was hoping Bruce would be able to hold onto #4 for longer because besides Larry there isn't anyone close who's still active. Even at his age (34) i thought Fitz would have another good year, but he's actually having another great year.

Fitzgerald is 142 yards away from putting Bruce into 5th place.
+ denotes Hall of famer

ITUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast...s-adam-rank/id1233567831?i=1000394639253&mt=2

SPREAKER: http://bit.ly/2maNwtQ

So I picked up my new(er) truck today. Now I have been into the dealership 3-4 times over the last week, and every time I went in, there was one guy who was busting my ass about my Rams cap. Today I went in to sign the papers with the finance guy, and here comes knucklehead. I wasnt wearing my cap today. He says to me" well at least you arent wearing that stupid hat today !

Finance guy Blake says, what hat was he wearing. Knucklehead says " he had this hat on that made it look like he was sitting on a park bench and got hit in the head with a football, and decided to become a Rams fan.

So I looked at knucklehead, and said " Patriots fan?"

of course he said So I told him I would ask him 3 questions about the Patriots, if he got 2/3 correct he could harrass me all he wants, if not then I didnt want to see his face again.

Question 1 " Who did Brady replace at QB?..he got it right

Question 2 Where was Belichek a head coach before New England? duh couldnt answer

Question 3 Who was the player that knocked Bledsoe out of the game, and what team did he play for?

Knucklehead says, who the heck remembers that, like it means anything anyway.

Me- Rodney Harrison of the Chargers knocked Trent Green out of a preseason game against the Rams which allowed Kurt Warner to step in as QB and lead the Rams to 2 SuperBowls, winning 1 of them. Mo Lewis from the Jets knocked out Bledsoe with shot to the chest allowing Brady to come in as QB.

Knucklehead "whatever, Brady has won,what 7 rings now,screw your questions."

Me: Get out of my face please, I have things to do.


The whole place was laughing

Haven't seen this posted and wanted to make sure I got mine in.

RAMS 55
Texans 6

And no I do not have enough ROD cash to do the payout see @RhodyRams for that. HAHA

So as always one of the biggest metrics of a season in terms of predicting legitimate contenders is scoring defense. Those teams that give up more than 19ppg generally aren't "for real" and those who buck that trend are extremely high powered offenses. Last season's example of this was the Falcons, who eventually did have their smoke and mirror defense get exposed in the big dance.

The Rams' defensive play since the second half of the Dallas game has been among the best in the league. And as a result what was a terrible scoring defense is now a respectable 19.4 ppg. Whether this continues, and to what extent they can drop that metric, is going to be very important for not only their win/loss record the rest of the way through a tougher schedule, but also important for predicting how they'll fare in their first playoff appearance for most of the players on their roster.

Here's how the top ten looks right now. And yes I realize offense matters too, and has to be taken into account in using points against to predict contenders, it's just that defense is absolutely crucial come the playoffs IMO. Also of note is that being sub-15ppg tends to be a great indicator of going deep in the playoffs.:

1. Jax 14.6ppg (8th scoring 25.8ppg)
2. Pittsburgh 16.4ppg (20th scoring 20.9ppg)
3. Minnesota 16.9ppg (13th scoring 22.4ppg)
4. Carolina 17.7ppg (24th scoring 18.7ppg)
5. Sheattle 18.3ppg (10th scoring 23.4ppg)
6. Buffalo 18.6ppg (16th scoring 21.8ppg)
7. Baltimore 19ppg (19th scoring 21.1ppg)
7. LAC 19ppg (22nd scoring 18.8ppg)
9. LAR 19.4ppg (1st scoring 32.9ppg)
9. New Orleans 19.4ppg (6th scoring 27.6ppg)

Now it's still real early with a lot of football to be played not to mention matchups between the teams who are positioned right now as playoff contenders, but still the above shows us some things. Some notes:

Right now the overall balance for some teams shows their flaws, and if that continues the Steelers, Panthers, Bills, Ravens, and Clippers er Chargers will most likely be eliminated in the playoffs. Vikes and Shehawks are a bit low in their offensive potency being under 25ppg so IMO if things continue they'll be a notch below teams like the Eagles, Saints, and Rams in the NFC.

Philly comes in at 19.9ppg fwiw, so like the Rams they're a team that is near where you want to be but also comes with explosive offense. Both are legitimate contenders.

Matchups matter too of course. So again this is very general but I tend to look at this stuff around midseason since we're reaching that point where there's enough of a trend to see what's coming. And again for the Rams this is why those three games vs the Eagles, Vikes, and Shehawks loom so large.

I expect the Rams' scoring offense to dip a bit over the remaining sched. That said, I also expect their scoring defense to continue to drop. I don't think this is an elite defense. So they're not going to finish in that 15ppg range or lower. But I do think a sound 17ppg defense is where they end up.

Not going to go into trends we might be seeing around the league, like with Sherman's loss in Seattle for example. But no matter how you slice it the Rams are sitting very, very nice right now and trending very much in the direction of a true contender.

How stupid must "Mad Mike" feel right about now.????


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2743420-the-mad-scientist-of-the-nfl

THE MAD SCIENTIST OF THE NFL
He's the coach of the year, but he's got something to prove. He's a quarterback fixer, but they're growing up together. Rams head coach Sean McVay is a perfectionist in pursuit—and there's no stopping him now.

Here, what we believe in is: You either get better or you get worse. You never stay the same.”

Sean McVay, the 31-year-old coach of the Los Angeles Rams, the youngest head coach in modern NFL history, is standing outside the offices of the team’s training complex in Thousand Oaks, California. He speaks with the conviction of a man who cannot, will not, stomach complacency. And he isn’t just talking about his players; he’s talking about himself.

Every second is monumental for the first-year head coach. Five minutes later, he dashes off to a meeting, where he will labor over formations and movements and should-have-beens and better-bes. “He’s like a mad scientist,” says Chris Ashkouti, a close friend since seventh grade.

McVay has transformed the Rams from a punchline to a contender, from a 4-12 nightmare to a 6-2 first-place standing in the NFC West. He’s revitalized one of the NFL’s worst attacks into the second-highest-scoring offense. And he’s doctored Jared Goff—last year’s No. 1 overall pick, who went 0-7 as a rookie starter—into a quarterback on the rise.

But the mad scientist doesn’t want to hear any of that. Not with eight games left in the regular season.

McVay may be young: born in 1986, three years before the Rams’ last winning season in L.A.; younger than current Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth, 35, and center John Sullivan, 32; so young that Wade Phillips, his 70-year-old defensive coordinator, tweeted that the Rams have “the only staff with DC on Medicare and HC in Daycare.”




McVay became the youngest head coach in the NFL at 30 when he was hired by the Los Angeles Rams in January.(Getty Images)
But make no mistake: McVay is as old-school as a Green Bay power sweep; he’s all about the grind.

While a senior quarterback for Marist School in suburban Atlanta, McVay led his team to the state championship despite a broken bone in his foot. Only after the title game did he finally allow himself to be seen limping across the field.

He never missed a workout while playing receiver for Miami of Ohio, whether it was in-season or out-of-season, mandatory or optional. “He was always trying to find that little extra edge, any advantage he could get,” says Tom Crabtree, a former college teammate and Green Bay tight end.

When McVay, the grandson of former 49ers GM John McVay, got his NFL start working for the Bucs in 2008, the 22-year-old furiously pedaled his bike at 3:30 a.m. from his apartment to the Tampa Bay complex in hopes of beating then-head coach Jon Gruden to work.


Diagramming plays, Gruden would tell his prodigy: Your circles are worse than mine. Go practice your circles. “He came back, and four or five days later he drew perfect circles,” says Gruden, now an ESPN Monday Night Football analyst. McVay didn’t have time for hobbies outside of football. “He was just young and hungry,” says Keith Heinrich, who played tight end for McVay on the Bucs and the United Football League’s Florida Tuskers. “You want to play hard for him.”




“He’s like a mad scientist,” says Chris Ashkouti, a close friend of McVay's.(AP Images)
“He’s like a mad scientist,” says Chris Ashkouti, a close friend of McVay's.(AP Images)
McVay has never been intimidated by coaching players older than himself, most recently transforming Washington’s offense as coordinator into one of the league’s best and mentoring fourth-rounder Kirk Cousins into an elite quarterback.

Of course, while climbing the ranks of Washington’s offensive staff, mostly as tight ends coach, McVay frequently popped into the office of defensive backs coach Bob Slowik, with questions about the defense. “That’s not a normal characteristic in this day and age in the coaching world,” Slowik says.

It should come as no surprise that during a Rams game against the 49ers on September 21 of this year, with his team on defense, McVay was otherwise occupied, sitting on top of a water cooler, tap-tap-tapping his tablet for offensive stats and schemes. He is a perfectionist constantly in pursuit.

Could he be the one to end the Rams’ 12-year playoff drought?

It’s raining in the second quarter against the Giants on a Sunday. Goff gets under center and surveys the defense. He takes a couple of steps back and turns to his left to face receiver Sammy Watkins. Goff rubs his left arm with his right hand and goes back under center.


The play starts. Goff retreats, executes a play-action fake to the back and throws a perfect pass—60 yards in the air—to Watkins sprinting up the center of the field for a 67-yard touchdown.

Goff had a career-high 311 passing yards and four touchdowns in the Rams’ 51-17 rout.

But coming into this season? Critics wrote him off: He’s a bust. He’s not tough enough. Now he’s completing 60 percent of his passes, 13 for touchdowns, with four interceptions. Last year he was sacked 26 times; this year 10. He even faked a handoff and ran nine yards for a touchdown in the Rams’ 33-0 win over the Cardinals.

Like his coach, Goff, who went just 11-of-21 in the Rams’ 27-17 win over Jacksonville on October 15, is still evolving.




Under McVay, Goff has completed 60 percent of his passes, 13 for touchdowns, with only four interceptions.(Getty Images)
Under McVay, Goff has completed 60 percent of his passes, 13 for touchdowns, with only four interceptions.(Getty Images)
“As a young quarterback, as a young coach, we’re going through a lot of things for the first time together,” says McVay, who served as Washington’s offensive coordinator from 2014-16. “We’ll experience the good together and then we’ll also consistently stay together when we go through some adversity and stay connected. I think that’s important to have that support and know that we believe in each other, and we’re going to work through it—both good and bad.”

Running back Todd Gurley has also flourished under McVay, scoring 10 touchdowns, rushing for 100 yards or more four times and ranking second on the Rams with 29 receptions.

There’s a new energy buzzing around the locker room. “[McVay] gives the whole team confidence,” Goff says. “No matter what the situation is—you’re up three touchdowns or down three touchdowns, you feel good about the play, and that’s rare for that feeling to happen on every play.”


Early in his time in Washington, when he had just been promoted to tight ends coach, McVay was suddenly in charge of veterans such as two-time Pro Bowler Chris Cooley and former second-rounder Fred Davis. McVay handed the tight ends pregame notes—typical for any NFL team—with final points of emphasis or minor tweaks to plays.

But these weren’t ordinary notes. McVay turned the document into a test and required players to turn it back into him before the game. He needed them to know: No matter how young he was, he was taking his job seriously and they would have to as well.

“The guys were taken aback at first,” says former Washington receiver Anthony Armstrong.




McVay was Washington's offensive coordinator from 2014-16.(Getty Images)
McVay was Washington's offensive coordinator from 2014-16.(Getty Images)
Until they began to respect their coach. “He was confident in how prepared he was for the game, but it never came off as arrogant,” Armstrong says. “He would treat a London Fletcher with the utmost respect. Then he’d treat a rookie with the utmost respect and a practice squad guy with the same level of respect.

“That’s why I think he’s so successful in L.A.,” Armstrong says. “He’s able to relate to everybody.”

To be sure, McVay is a player’s coach. He doesn’t walk into the Rams locker room like he knows all the answers. He often asks players for their input: What did you see? What do you think would be good off this formation?

That’s been more or less his approach with Goff. “I’ve always told him, with a certain play, even if I might like it, I’m not the one executing it,” McVay says. “And if you don’t like it or don’t feel comfortable with it, then maybe I’ll try to explain why. And he’ll say, ‘OK, I like it.’ Or if it’s not something that he feels comfortable with, then we don’t do it.”


“It’s about continuing to develop a rapport and a relationship where it’s not just, ‘What can I do for him?’ but what can I do to make him feel comfortable with the things that we’re asking him to do,” McVay says. “That’s a two-way street where communication goes back and forth.”

Dan Perez, Marist’s assistant head coach and offensive line coach, remembers eating lunch with McVay in the summer of 2016, in Atlanta. While eating cheeseburgers and fries at Jo’s Grille, Perez asked McVay about his offseason projects. McVay let loose like a kid bopping to his favorite lyrics, the words spilling out of him quickly. You’d think he was delivering a pregame sermon right then and there.

McVay explained he was examining substitution patterns for every NFL team, a maddening pursuit of the exact moment in the play clock when, after he puts in new offensive personnel, the opponent responds by putting in new defensive personnel.

“Are you serious?” Perez says.

“Coach,” McVay says. “I’m dead serious.”

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Perez says. “I never would have thought of something like that.”

McVay’s mind moves many miles a minute. He’s spent hours picking the brains of Jon and Jay Gruden, Bill Callahan, the assistant head coach and offensive line coach for Washington, and now Phillips, and breaking down film with his grandfather and his father, Tim McVay, who played for Indiana. As a young boy, Sean McVay would cross paths with 49ers legends such as Jerry Rice and Steve Young, asking for any advice he could get.




“He was always trying to find that little extra edge, any advantage he could get,” says Tom Crabtree, a former college teammate and Green Bay tight end.(Getty Images)

Naturally curious, McVay operates almost like a journalist. He digs and digs, as a reporter would, for anything and everything that could inch his team a little closer to a breakthrough. He is obsessively in love with the process: the day-to-day drag of clawing for details, mining for advantages.

“Every day he challenges you and himself to get better,” says NFL vet Jermaine Wiggins, who played for McVay on the UFL’s Tuskers. “He brings an excitement to the field, like, ‘Every day, we’re going to have a positive day. Every day we’re going to make plays.’ As a player, that really motivates you, when your coach has just as much energy as you.”

McVay communicates the intricacies of plays with the composure and cadence of a professor, making eye contact from the left to the middle to the right side of the room to ensure every player feels like he is speaking directly to him.

“A lot of guys can do the preparation. They can sit in a dark room and prepare like crazy, but they can’t present on installation day or go into an individual period and really present the techniques and the fundamentals you are trying to get across,” Jon Gruden says. “Sean can prepare with the best of them. We burned the candles out at night preparing for games. Sean can do that and he can present.”

McVay always had the confidence to speak up among his superiors.

When Marist trailed with less than a minute left in a third-round playoff game against No. 1 seed Shaw High, the most physical team in the state, McVay had the gall to suggest to his coaches in a timeout that they let him run a naked bootleg (Marist had the ball inside the 5-yard line).


“I’m just telling you; the naked boot’s there,” McVay said to head coach Alan Chadwick, the second-winningest coach in the state. The coaches hesitated. It was a risky move. “Coach, I’m telling you; it’s there,” McVay insisted. “You better be right,” Chadwick said. “Coach, I know I’m right.”

Sure enough, McVay pulled off the play and Marist won. “That was a gutsy call,” Chadwick says. “He basically won that game for us because that was his call.”




“He was just young and hungry,” says Keith Heinrich, who played tight end for McVay on the Bucs and the United Football League’s Tuskers. “You want to play hard for him.”(AP
“He was just young and hungry,” says Keith Heinrich, who played tight end for McVay on the Bucs and the United Football League’s Tuskers. “You want to play hard for him.”(AP Images)
McVay continued to make his voice heard in college, especially among older receivers. Once a play broke down in the middle of a game. Ryne Robinson, two years McVay’s senior, tucked his head down, visibly disappointed. McVay smiled, quietly asking Robinson: “Hey, what can we learn from that?”

“He was always trying to find the positive,” Robinson says. McVay was just as vocal when he was sidelined with injuries. “He was a tough dude,” says Mike Bath, former Miami of Ohio coach, now Wyoming’s running backs coach.

McVay wouldn’t even slow down during spring break, according to David Shula, who became head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals when he was 32 years old and who has known McVay since college. (Shula’s son, Chris, played with McVay in college and is now the Rams assistant linebackers coach).

McVay, Chris and a few other teammates would go to the former NFL coach’s house in Fort Lauderdale. The other boys would stay up late, clowning around, in one room. McVay politely asked for an air mattress to sleep in a separate room, the family’s study, to ensure a good night’s sleep so he’d be alert and organized for the next day.


“He was with the guys but always a little bit apart, in a good way,” David Shula says. “You could tell he was a little more mature than the other guys at that point.”

The Rams cruised to victory against the Cardinals, 33-0, back in October. The defense was dominant. Gurley was magnificent, rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown. L.A. improved to 5-2 for the first time since 2003.

You’d think they were 2-5 the way McVay downplayed any playoff predictions, any Cinderella narratives. “We haven’t arrived by any stretch,” he said after the game.

A strong candidate for Coach of the Year, McVay still moves like a player, like someone with something to prove.

“He is who he is because of a chip-on-his-shoulder mentality. He’ll never lose that. … Expectations were always extremely high for him,” says Chris Ashkouti, nodding to McVay’s being born into football royalty. “He’s always fighting to live up to those expectations.”

He demands a lot out of his players but expects just as much, if not more, out of himself.




“As a young quarterback, as a young coach, we’re going through a lot of things for the first time together,” says McVay of Goff.(AP Images)
“Watching him react after a loss was probably the thing I appreciated the most,” says Washington team president Bruce Allen. “He refocused his efforts to look for an opportunity to get better. He has a great resolve about him: ‘Let’s not make the same mistake twice.’”

The Rams lost, 27-20, to Washington in September, as linebacker Mason Foster intercepted Goff’s pass on the first play of their final drive; afterward McVay said he should have called a better play. The Rams committed multiple penalties in the fourth quarter. McVay says he could have prepared his team better: “That was something that I was disappointed in myself with.”

Four days later, the Rams bounced back to beat the 49ers, 41-39, as both teams combined for the highest-scoring game in Thursday Night Footballhistory.

When he burned all of his first-half timeouts by early in the second quarter against the Cardinals, which prevented him from possibly challenging an official’s call on a play, McVay didn’t shy away from admitting he needed to manage timeouts better.

“More than anybody he’s willing to take accountability for things,” Goff says. “And when you see that from your head coach? You kind of take the identity of him. … I go, Man, I need to start taking accountability, and so does the other leaders and other players on the team.”




“[McVay] gives the whole team confidence,” quarterback Jared Goff says. “No matter what the situation is—you’re up three touchdowns or down three touchdowns, you feel good about the play, and that’s rare for that feeling to happen on every play.”(Getty Images)
Back in high school, when Marist would lose, McVay would apologize in front of the whole squad, as if every mistake belonged to him. The following Monday at practice, he’d spend a few minutes with as many guys as he could, helping them with aspects they struggled with in the loss. They respected him for that. “Those guys would have followed him jumping off a bridge if he asked them to,” Perez says.

During film sessions with Washington, if a tight end would get chewed out for a mistake, for something McVay told him to do in practice earlier that day, McVay wouldn’t keep quiet, like some youngsters determined to climb the coaching ladder would. He’d interrupt his bosses and confess: “That’s on me. That’s my fault. I told him wrong,” Armstrong recalls. “He wasn’t afraid to do that.”

Before L.A. cut the heart out of the Giants on Sunday, the last time the Rams had beaten the Giants was October 14, 2001.

McVay was a high school sophomore.

And now? He’s guided the Rams to more touchdowns and more points than all of last season.

But stop right there. Don’t even think about saying the word “playoffs” around McVay. There’s the rest of November. There’s all of December.

There are more circles to diagram.

“We’re focused on daily improvement and daily excellence,” McVay says. “If you’re going to ask your players to do that, I think it’s important for you to personify those core beliefs. And if you’re not really living those things? I think people can feel that.”

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/11/10/lions-waive-injured-t-greg-robinson/

But, but, but....he needed coaching!

Dudes a bum.

For those that haven't seen yet get ready to set your DVR's. NFLN at 4 AM on Sunday morning the NFL Gameday Morning show will have a segment on Goff and Kupp and their friendship and teamwork.

Bonsignore: Rams are all right with right side of the offensive line stabilized


Rams tackle Andrew Whitworth (77) greets running back Todd Gurley during a June workout at the team’s practice facility at California Lutheran University. (SCNG staff photo)

By VINCENT BONSIGNORE | vbonsignore@scng.com | Daily News
PUBLISHED: November 9, 2017 at 3:30 pm | UPDATED: November 9, 2017 at 4:51 pm

Inside the Rams locker room at their practice facility in Thousand Oaks, players are sectioned off by position group. Defensive linemen are an especially loud group. Wide receivers can bring the noise as well.

By sheer numbers, the quietest section belongs the quarterbacks.

But the offensive lineman are easily the most low-key group. Maybe it’s just the thankless, almost tedious and methodical nature of their job. And the anonymity that comes with it.

Last year, the reserved atmosphere for the offensive line seemed appropriate considering the major liability the group became during a disastrous 4-12 season. Yet nobody has more of a right to demand a share of the 2017 spotlight than Andrew Whitworth, Rodger Saffold, John Sullivan, Jamon Brown and Rob Havenstein.

The Rams are averaging a league-high 32.9 points per game – up from 14 last year. Running back Todd Gurley has regained his status as an elite running back with 986 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. And second-year quarterback Jared Goff has silenced his critics by emerging as one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL while throwing for 2,030 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Without Whitworth, Saffold, Sullivan, Brown and Havenstein, none of that happens.

“We’re in a good spot right now but the work continues. And we feel we can play better,” is about as far as Sullivan will go.

And good luck getting any self congratulation for a job well done thus far.

"I will at the end of the season, depending on what happens,” Havenstein said. “But even at that, it’s not going to be a ‘me’ thing or an ‘offensive line’ thing. It’s going to be a ‘team’ thing and an ‘offensive’ thing and an offensive thing within the scheme of a team-wide thing.”

“So far this year it’s been good. But obviously there’s a lot of football left to be played. No one knows what’s going to happen.”

As bad as the Rams offensive line was last year, with left tackle Greg Robinson solidifying his bust status and Saffold having to move to fill gaping position holes and injury and ineffectiveness sabotaging center and right guard, they went into training camp confident that the left side of their line would be dramatically better with Whitworth, a perennial Pro Bowler, replacing Robinson and Saffold being permanently slotted at left guard.

That, coupled with Sullivan locking down center, gave the Rams peace of mind on the left side.

Things were much less certain on the right side – or, as Sullivan and others refer to it, the “young side.”

While Havenstein and Brown have solidified their position with effective, consistent play, it wasn’t so long ago the pair was considered among the biggest question marks on offense.

Havenstein was coming off an injury-riddled season and, for a time anyway, was moved to right guard when Robinson was given one-last shot at right tackle. But that plan was scrapped in OTA’s, with Havenstein moving back to tackle and Brown getting the nod – albeit tenuously – at right guard.

Rams coaches continually referred to the right side as a work in progress. Brown and Havenstein understood the situation.

“It’s the NFL. There’s always anxiety,” Havenstein said. “You’ve got to play football to stick around. But I think everyone who’s here right now had a great mentality about it. No one was scared about the competition.”

Brown and Havenstein were drafted together in 2015 and the Rams envisioned them being long-time anchors. As did the two young teammates, perhaps even side by side. But circumstances always got in the way.

Brown battled injuries, including a broken leg that limited him to nine games in 2015 and a broken hand that cost him five games last year. When he was healthy, Rams coaches couldn’t figure out a position for him. In fact, last year he played every line position but center.

Meanwhile, Havenstein missed all of training camp and preseason last year.

“So we never really were able to stick together,” Brown said. “This is the first time we’ve gotten a chance to settle in over a long period, get in sync and develop a chemistry.”

And it shows in their play — Goff has been sacked just 10 times on 244 pass attempts after going down 26 times on 205 attempts last year.

Eight games into the season, whatever anxiety that existed about the right side of the Rams line has vanished.

“Very pleased with those guys,” said Rams head coach Sean McVay. “Certainly there’s always things that we can clean up, but I think you watch their progression, the way that they continue to mature – they’re playing really good football right now. I think they’re getting comfortable, they’re getting a rapport with each other.”

There are more factors in play.

Getting consistent snaps alongside each other has been huge for Havenstein and Brown’s working relationship. The addition of McVay and offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur has meant a better utilization of individual skills and strength. And new offensive line coach Aaron Kromer has added a thorough, thoughtful voice that provides an element of high-level teaching with encouragement and allowance for input and feedback.

“Everybody is super detail oriented,” Sullivan said. “And just the dynamic of the room, the way Krom coaches, the amount of input that we’re able to give in terms of what we’re seeing and what we’re feeling. And then he’s able to take that and talk with Sean and make a final decision.”

Brown and Havenstein continually keep a close eye on their veteran teammates for tips. Especially Whitworth and Saffold their left-side tackle and guard counterparts.

“I’ve been very pleased with those guys and want to continue to seem them grow and develop,” McVay said of Brown and Havenstein. “But, just looking at where they are in their career and just kind of projecting moving forward, I feel very good about those two.”

[www.ocregister.com]

sorry no link just saw on NFL network.

Ruptured Achilles.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...7cd204-c57b-11e7-afe9-4f60b5a6c4a0_story.html


Ann McKee, Director of the Boston University CTE Center, and neuropathologist Victor Alvarez conduct the post-mortem study of the brain of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez. (Boston University School of Medicine/Boston University School of Medicine)
By Adam Kilgore November 9 at 3:50 PM

BOSTON — Aaron Hernandez suffered the most severe case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy ever discovered in a person his age, damage that would have significantly affected his decision-making, judgment and cognition, researchers at Boston University revealed at a medical conference Thursday.

Ann McKee, the head of BU’s CTE Center, which has studied the disease caused by repetitive brain trauma for more than a decade, called Hernandez’s brain “one of the most significant contributions to our work” because of the brain’s pristine condition and the rare opportunity to study the disease in a 27-year-old.

Hernandez, a former New England Patriots tight end, hanged himself with a bedsheet in April in a Massachusetts prison while serving a life sentence for the murder of Odin Lloyd in 2013.

In a diagnosis that linked one of football’s most notorious figures with the sport’s most significant health risk, doctors found Hernandez had Stage 3 CTE, which researchers had never seen in a brain younger than 46 years old, McKee said. The extent of that damage represents another signpost in football’s ongoing concussion crisis, which has seen professional players weigh early retirements and parents grapple with whether to allow their young sons to take up the sport. The findings released Thursday will only heighten those concerns.

Because the center has received few brains from people Hernandez’s age, McKee could not say whether his brain was representative of a 27-year-old who had played as much football. But she found the advanced stage of CTE alarming.

Play Video 2:00
What is CTE?


CTE, a brain degeneration disease, has been found in the brains of deceased NFL Hall of Famers. Here's what you need to know about it. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)
[The NFL studied every concussion over two seasons. What happens next may be up to manufacturers.]

“In this age group, he’s clearly at the severe end of the spectrum,” McKee said. “There is a concern that we’re seeing accelerated disease in young athletes. Whether or not that’s because they’re playing more aggressively or if they’re starting at younger ages, we don’t know. But we are seeing ravages of this disease, in this specific example, of a young person.”

At Thursday’s conference, McKee flipped through slides comparing sections of Hernandez’s brain with a sample without CTE. Hernandez’s brain had dark spots associated with tau protein and shrunken, withered areas, compared to immaculate white of the sample. His brain had significant damage to the frontal lobe, which impacts a person’s ability to make decisions and moderate behavior. As some new slides appeared on the projectors, some physicians and conference attendees gasped.

“We can’t take the pathology and explain the behavior,” McKee said. “But we can say collectively, in our collective experience, that individuals with CTE, and CTE of this severity, have difficulty with impulse control, decision-making, inhibition of impulses for aggression, emotional volatility, rage behaviors. We know that collectively.”

McKee said Hernandez had a genetic marker that makes people vulnerable to certain brain diseases and could have contributed to how aggressively he developed CTE.

“We know that that’s a risk factor for neurogenerative disease,” McKee said. “Whether or not that contributed in this case is speculative. It may explain some of his susceptibility to this disease.”

The condition of Hernandez’s brain, pristine because of his age and the adept handling of medical examiners, could lead to future breakthroughs and better understanding of CTE. For example, researchers could better study the interaction of inflammation and tau pathology through the use of fluorescent stains. It gave researchers their best view yet of a marker associated with CTE.

Normal 27-year-old's brain and Aaron Hernandez's brain. (Boston University School of Medicine/Boston University School of Medicine)
“We are able to understand this disease at the scientific level in a way that’s very rarely presented,” McKee said. “We’re very grateful to the family for making this donation. We’re hoping this will advance medical science in a very significant way. . . . This will really accelerate and advance our research going forward.”

BU researchers say they have discovered CTE in more than 100 former NFL players, a handful of whom have committed suicide. Medical examiners delivered Hernandez’s brain, weighing 1,573 grams, to BU’s labs in April. From the outside, it looked like a typical brain — no lesions, no bruises, no abnormalities. When researches sliced the brain into sections, they discovered startling damage.

Ventricles were dilated, in response to the brain shrinking. Researchers determined Hernandez had lost brain tissue. Membranes that were supposed to be firm had grown “thin and gelatinous,” McKee said. There were abnormal, large holes in parts of Hernandez’s brain.

The hippocampus, which plays a key role in memory, had shrunk.

The fornix, which also contributes to memory function, had atrophied.

The frontal lobe, which is responsible for problem-solving, judgment, impulse control and social behavior, had been pockmarked with tau protein.

The amygdala, which produces emotional regulation, emotional behavior, fear and anxiety, had been severely affected.

The temporal lobes, which process sights and sounds, showed significant damage.

Together, they were “very unusual findings in an individual of this age,” McKee said. “We’ve never seen this in our 468 brains, except in individuals some 20 years older.”

The physical damage inside Hernandez’s brain provides another layer to the catastrophic and tragic downfall of Hernandez, a gifted player who caught a touchdown pass from Tom Brady in the 2012 Super Bowl.

Hernandez grew up a football star in Connecticut and fell in with a rough crowd at age 15, after his father died unexpectedly during a routine operation. He starred at the University of Florida even as off-field trouble, in the form of drugs and violence, dogged him. The problems caused some teams to remove him from consideration in the NFL draft, and he lasted until the Patriots plucked him in the fourth round.

Hernandez formed a dominating tandem with fellow 2010 draftee Rob Gronkowski and convinced the Patriots he had straightened out his life. The Patriots signed him to a seven-year, $40 million contract after the 2012 season. Months later, in the summer of 2013, Lloyd was murdered, his body found in a gravelly field a mile away from Hernandez’s mansion in North Attleboro.

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Hernandez’s estate filed a federal lawsuit against the Patriots in September, alleging the Patriots knew hits to the head could lead to brain damage and failed to protect him.

A jury convicted Hernandez of the killing in 2015. Hernandez hanged himself in his cell just four days after a jury had acquitted him of the murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, two strangers whom the state argued Hernandez killed in 2012 after an altercation at a Boston club.

Thursday’s news conference coincided with the release of an NFL study consisting of video reviews of the 459 known concussions that occurred over the 2015 and 2016 seasons, from preseason games through the playoffs.

The NFL has attempted to make the sport safer for its players through rule changes, policies designed to remove concussed players and technological advances. But brain trauma occurs when a football player’s brain accelerates or decelerates after it hits another player or the turf, bashing the sides of the head, an action no helmet can prevent.

“It happens inside the skull,” McKee said. “It’s an intrinsic component of football.”

Go Cardinals, I guess. Actually - screw that - let's see a tie!!

playoffpredictors.com

What? Too early?

I had a bit of time during lunch and thought I’d play. Usually I wait until after Thanksgiving when the Rams are barely Mathematically alive. Then I contort all kinds of scenarios that are inconceivable until the next week when we get eliminated.

But not this year!

I played out the rest of the season. A few notable results:

• My TOTALLY realistic projections had the Cowgirls falling short of the playoffs, without Zeke.
• The Rams (shockingly) finish 14-2 and host the 13-3 Philly team in the NFC championship game.
• The Steelers beat the Cheatriots setting up a revenge bowl for the good guys either way.
• After beating the Iggles, the Rams go into Super Bowl 52 and spank Big Ben and company for our second SB title! :yay:

So. What do you got?

https://sports.yahoo.com/whole-jared-goff-numbers-220024662.html



Rams quarterback Jared Goff’s improvement from his first year in the league to his second season has been quite remarkable. He’s 21st in pass attempts with 244, yet he ranks 10thin passing yards with 2,030, almost double what he had in his seven starts in 2016. He and the Rams offense are averaging almost 19 more points per game than they were in 2016, which would be the largest increase since 1970. The team they are currently ahead of on that list is none other than the 1999 “Greatest Show on Turf” St. Louis Rams, who averaged 15.1 more points than the prior year’s Rams team. According to Elias Sports Bureau, only one team in NFL history has ever led the league in scoring the year after finishing last: the 1965 49ers. The Rams currently hold that lead at 32.9 with the Eagles behind them at 31.4. Here are some of the numbers that show how different Goff’s 2017 season really is.

35
Goff currently has 35 more completions than he did in his seven games in 2016, yet he has an astonishing 941 more yards and eight more touchdown passes, along with three less interceptions. This means that in those extra 35 completions he has averaged 26.9 yards per catch and a touchdown on 22.9 percent of throws. The sheer efficiency of his throws has helped lead a huge turnaround in offensive production, also opening up room for running back Todd Gurley to maneuver, which is also a breath of fresh air after his poor season in 2016. Goff’s yards per attempt has gone up a whole three yards over the course of the year from 5.3 to 8.3. On top that his last game against the New York Giants saw him go for 14.1 yards per attempt, 3.2 yards more than the next closest quarterback and something he never even did in college at the University of California.

97.9
After finishing the 2016 NFL season at the bottom of the league in quarterback passer rating with 63.6, Goff currently sits tied for eighth with fellow sophomore Dak Prescott at 97.9. Goff’s 2016 season saw him have just one game with a passer rating above 100.0, at 100.3. In 2017 Goff already has three games with a passer rating above 100.0, with two of them being above 145.0. Those two games were remarkable performances against San Francisco and New York. There are only 17 quarterbacks above the league average in passer rating, which sits at 88.3, and Goff is one of them.

49.1
So far in the 2017 season, the Rams have had 110 third down situations, converting 54 of them for first downs. Their 49.1 percent third down conversion rate ranks first in the entire league and has not only helped the offense sustain drives, but has also kept the defense on the sidelines and rested. This 2017 Rams offense has only 13 less third down conversions than the 2016 team, despite having almost twice as many third down situations in 2016. 38 of those 54 conversions have come via the passing game, while they have passed on 78 of their 110 total third downs. Goff’s third down passing success rate of 48.7 percent ranks third in the league, behind only Tom Brady and Carson Wentz.

Outlook
It’s hard to forget that Jared Goff just recently turned 23 years old and is one of the youngest current starters in the NFL, yet he has still made as big a jump as he did. A lot of his success is to be credited to his new head coach Sean McVay, but Goff has the talent to suggest he’s just scratching the surface of what he can do. With a 6-2 record, the Rams are looking at their best start since the 2001 St. Louis Rams, who went to the super bowl. One thing is for certain, Goff has his team three wins away from giving Rams fans their first true winning season (not 8-8) since 2003, when they went 10-6.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/11/09/pfts-week-10-picks-5/

PFT’s Week 10 picks
Posted by Mike Florio

Texans at Rams

MDS’s take: If Deshaun Watson were playing, this would be a matchup of the NFL’s two most exciting offenses. With Tom Savage playing, it’s a Rams blowout.

MDS’s pick: Rams 31, Texans 10.

Florio’s take: Deshaun Watson vs. Jared Goff would have been a great game.

Florio’s pick: Rams 30, Texans 17.
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Seahawks at Cardinals

MDS’s take: The Cardinals played better than I was expecting without Carson Palmer on Sunday, in large part because Adrian Peterson has been rejuvenated in Arizona. But I think the Seahawks’ defense should shut the Cardinals’ offense down.

MDS’s pick: Seahawks 20, Cardinals 7.

Florio’s take: Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman has called short-week football a “poop fest.” If Seattle loses again, its season quickly could become a sh-t show.

Florio’s pick: Seahawks 20, Cardinals 17.
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Packers at Bears

MDS’s take: It sounds crazy to pick the Bears against the Packers, but that’s only because we’re still not really accustomed to how bad the Packers are without Aaron Rodgers. Maybe we’ll be accustomed to it once the Bears win on Sunday.

MDS’s pick: Bears 24, Packers 17.

Florio’s take: Packers coach Mike McCarthy says there’s more than one way to win a game. Without one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game, the Packers consistently have been finding the best way to lose — by allowing more points than they score.

Florio’s pick: Bears 17, Packers 14.
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Browns at Lions

MDS’s take: I could see the Lions letting down a little bit on a short work week, but not quite enough to hand the Browns their first win.

MDS’s pick: Lions 20, Browns 16.

Florio’s take: Eleven days before Thanksgiving, the Lions feast on the NFL’s biggest turkey.

Florio’s pick: Lions 34, Browns 13.
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Steelers at Colts

MDS’s take: The Colts have found ways to pull out wins, but they are not a good football team. They’d probably be better off losing and getting a higher draft pick, so maybe Colts fans will enjoy watching them lose big on Sunday.

MDS’s pick: Steelers 30, Colts 13.

Florio’s take: The Steelers have a tendency to step in a pothole when everything is going well, losing to a team they should beat. Emerging from a bye week, however, it would be a surprise if a Colts team that somehow has won three games would prevail for a fourth.

Florio’s pick: Steelers 24, Colts 10.
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Chargers at Jaguars

MDS’s take: The Jaguars’ defense is cruising and should give Philip Rivers fits on Sunday. Pencil in league leader Calais Campbell for a couple more sacks.

MDS’s pick: Jaguars 21, Chargers 10.

Florio’s take: The Jags have a chance to move to 6-3, but it won’t be easy against a better than expected Chargers team, which will be bringing former Jags coach Gus Bradley back to town. Bradley knows the personnel well, and the Chargers surely have spent the last two weeks planning for a win that would provide a much-needed spark to start the second half of the season.

Florio’s pick: Chargers 24, Jaguars 21.
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Saints at Bills

MDS’s take: The improvement of the Saints’ pass defense this season has been nothing short of remarkable. I think they’ll keep it going and New Orleans will win a defensive struggle.

MDS’s pick: Saints 17, Bills 14.

Florio’s take: The schedule gets tougher for the 6-2 Saints, and the 5-3 Bills can’t afford too many more losses. The extra time makes the difference for the Bills, whose head coach knows a thing or two about the Saints from his time in Carolina.

Florio’s pick: Bills 23, Saints 20.
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Jets at Buccaneers

MDS’s take: It’s crazy to say it, but the Jets team that some saw going 0-16 is poised to be 5-5 through 10 games. I think they’ll win in Tampa on Sunday.

MDS’s pick: Jets 20, Buccaneers 17.

Florio’s take: The Jets have a 10-1 record all-time against the Buccaneers, who will be missing Jameis Winston (shoulder) and Mike Evans (suspension). The Bucs will have to wait four more years to eat another W in this series.

Florio’s pick: Jets 24, Buccaneers 17.
--------------
Vikings at Redskins

MDS’s take: If both teams were at full strength I’d take the Redskins in this one, but I see the Vikings’ defensive front making life rough for Kirk Cousins behind a banged-up offensive line.

MDS’s pick: Vikings 21, Redskins 16.

Florio’s take: The Redskins are better than 4-4, and the Vikings are worse than 6-2. It’s a correction Sunday in Maryland, and a loss by the visiting team moves Teddy Bridgewater another step toward returning.

Florio’s pick: Redskins 23, Vikings 16.
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Bengals at Titans

MDS’s take: I don’t think the Titans are as good as their 5-3 record looks, but they have a favorable schedule and a good chance of getting to the playoffs. Another win should be coming on Sunday.

MDS’s pick: Titans 24, Bengals 20.

Florio’s take: The Titans keep quietly surging toward a playoff berth, with defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau getting a crack at the team he once coached, four days before playing the team whose defense he expertly coordinated.

Florio’s pick: Titans 23, Bengals 13.
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Cowboys at Falcons

MDS’s take: The Falcons have been a major disappointment, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier. The Cowboys will be a tough matchup for them.

MDS’s pick: Cowboys 28, Falcons 20.

Florio’s take: If the Cowboys have Ezekiel Elliott, they’ll build a lead and hold it. If the Cowboys don’t have Ezekiel Elliott, the Falcons will build a lead and blow it.

Florio’s pick: Cowboys 24, Falcons 20.
-------------
Giants at 49ers

MDS’s take: This looks like one of the worst games of the year in the NFL. It’s interesting only for its implications on the top of next year’s draft. I see the 49ers winning, which is really losing in the draft order sweepstakes.

MDS’s pick: 49ers 15, Giants 12.

Florio’s take: The mighty have fallen, and they can’t get up. I’m tempted to pick a tie.

Florio’s pick: Giants 13, 49ers 10.
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Patriots at Broncos

MDS’s take: I think the Broncos will play a lot better than they did in last week’s loss to the Eagles. Just not well enough to beat the Patriots.

MDS’s pick: Patriots 28, Broncos 24.

Florio’s take: Yes, the Patriots usually struggle in Denver. But that’s typically because the Broncos are pretty good. While their defense still is (but for the 51 points allowed at Philly), the offense is not.

Florio’s pick: Patriots 27, Broncos 17.
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Dolphins at Panthers

MDS’s take: The Dolphins’ offense is struggling and the Panthers’ defense is playing well. Tough to see Miami winning on the road here.

MDS’s pick: Panthers 20, Dolphins 17.

Florio’s take: The Dolphins have entered the teeth of their schedule, and they’re going to get chewed up.

Florio’s pick: Panthers 30, Dolphins 20.