How many more years does Aaron Donald need before HOF chatter?

3 more?

Snead has ONE job at the end of 16 games: Pay that man $110 million dollars and lock him up at season's end!

Take a look at Case's numbers while under pressure. And yep, I snuck another Goff vs. Keenum post in here...You see my ROD$$$$ numbers

https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-how-is-it-that-the-rams-still-arent-starting-jared-goff-at-qb/

HOW IS IT THAT THE RAMS STILL AREN’T STARTING JARED GOFF AT QB?
Rams starting QB Case Keenum has been awful versus pressure this season. How can the No. 1 overall pick Goff not yet be ready to replace him?

BY :SAM MONSON

It’s time we started asking a different question about the Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback situation: Namely, how bad could Jared Goff be?

Three wins in a row after an ugly beatdown on opening weekend bought Rams head coach Jeff Fisher and the team some breathing room and an acceptance of the party line that Case Keenum was the best option for the team under center, given that Goff, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 draft, needed more time to be ready. But those wins have now been exceeded by four losses in a row, three of which have come at home.

The team has only avoided a turnover once this season on offense, and has had five in the past two games — a run during which Keenum has been near-disastrous.

On HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series this preseason, Fisher made a point of not wanting to be a 7-9 team, and the Rams right now are not on course to be — they’re going to fall short. At the halfway point of their season they are on track for a 6-10 record, and the No.1 overall pick of the draft has still yet to step foot on the field.

Over the past two weeks, Keenum has had PFF grades of 40.7 and 41.1 — which are terrible marks. The obvious counter would be that a rookie would be even worse, but looking at every game played by a rookie QB this season, there have only been two games graded below 40. Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz and Dallas’ Dak Prescott have each had poor performances in recent weeks when they went up against an elite defensive front that put them under all kinds of pressure.

The Rams don’t have a good offensive line, but 16 QBs have been pressured on a greater percentage of their dropbacks this season than Keenum, including Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, who leads the league in passing yards, touchdown passes and is second in passer rating and PFF grade.

Against the Giants, Keenum’s passer rating under pressure was 10. This week it was 27.6. For the season, his passer rating when kept clean is actually 95.8. If the Rams could guarantee him a perfect pocket to throw from each week they would be fine with him at the helm, but the wheels fall off when the heat is applied like few other QBs in the league. Over the entire season he has a passer rating of 31.2 when pressured and has completed under 40 percent of his passes on those throws, tossing five interceptions compared with just one touchdown pass.

Keenum’s drop in passer rating from a clean pocket to being under pressure is the third-steepest in the league in 2016, trailing only Miami’s Ryan Tannehill and Jacksonville’s Blake Bortles, both of whom are having poor seasons.

Every rookie with meaningful snaps has a better relative drop in passer rating than Keenum this season. Cleveland’s Cody Kessler – a third-round pick – drops just 14.8 points when pressured and still has a passer rating of 87.2 when the heat is applied, which is very close to the league average on all throws overall.

So again, the question must be asked: Just how not ready can Jared Goff be?

Over his final two college seasons Goff was under pressure plenty — 29.7 percent of dropbacks in 2015 and 31.6 percent the year before that — and while playing college defenses certainly help with this, his passer rating those two seasons on those plays was 87.1 and 90.6.



Goff showed the ability to stand in the pocket and deliver the ball under pressure and with rushers in his face, and while he undoubtedly needed time to learn an NFL playbook and looked anything but ready to go during the preseason, we are now halfway through the year, and he has had another two months to absorb the playbook.

In the preseason, Goff’s performance was ugly, but so was Kessler’s, and Kessler has stepped up in a significant way once the lights came on in the regular season, and done so with a comparably weak supporting cast.

At this point the Rams season is likely over from any practical standpoint. This team isn’t good enough to challenge for the playoffs, even with some standout performances on defense, so there isn’t any great need to play Goff. If he sits on the bench for the entirety of his rookie season, they will be no worse off in 2017 if he is finally ready to take the field and is the player they believed him to be when they drafted him.

But at this point with the success of so many rookie QBs that were deemed worse pro prospects than Goff just months ago, and a QB ahead of him who is playing his way desperately to the bench, each week the Rams dig their heels in and keep Goff on the bench only makes them look worse.

Keenum has been poor over the past two games, and average at best this season despite a situation surrounding him that is not prohibitively poor. Unless putting Goff out there would irreparably harm his future development, it’s time for Goff to take the field. And if throwing him out there would do that harm to his future career, you have to raise serious questions about just what kind of QB he can ever become at this level.

I know the offense isn't going to come out running the 4 minute offense the whole game but it sure would be a nice change to see that at the beginning of the game next week. It seems like they do that part of the offense a lot better than their regular pound it out kind of drive. Maybe its the defense maybe its just that they get momentum. Whatever it is, it would at least change things up.

I'm just wondering if Goodell made (or will make) a call to Kroenke to "recommend" certain changes. I doubt it, yes, but it makes one wonder a bit. As big as the Rams' relocation was, does the league want to already be seeing so much apathy after only three games in Los Angeles?

Or will the NFL wait to see an obvious decline in LA-area ratings and how many Coliseum no-shows there are for the Miami game? While the tickets are already sold out for the season and the actual attendance numbers are withheld, the NFL knows what those numbers will be. And there are a lot more dollars to go around than just the price of those tickets....dollars the team/league won't be getting if people already start turning away in that town. The negativity surrounding the Rams offense and their head coach right now is on a national spotlight. Kroenke might not care, based on the winning percentage of all the teams in his financial portfolio, but I think the league does care about this team...especially at this time.

Todd Gurley ran for just 48 yards Sunday against the Panthers, the 15th time in 16 games he's been held under 100 rushing yards. Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports



Rams RB Todd Gurley struggles again, sees fewer carries

Alden Gonzalez
ESPN Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES -- Another week, another struggle for Todd Gurley.

The Los Angeles Rams' running back was held to 48 rushing yards in Sunday's 13-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers, marking the 15th time in the last 16 games he has been held below 100 yards.

Once again, he also didn't get the workload.

Gurley received only 12 carries in what was a close game throughout, two weeks after getting only 15 carries in a loss to the New York Giants and three weeks after getting only 14 carries in a loss to the Detroit Lions. Facing a Panthers defense that had allowed the NFL's fewest rushing yards per carry, Gurley got the ball on back-to-back snaps only once -- on the Rams' first drive of the game.

Down the stretch, as the Rams put together their only touchdown in the final seconds, Gurley remained on the sideline because, as Rams coach Jeff Fisher said, "Benny [Cunningham] is our two-minute back."

"I don’t control the play-calling," said Gurley, who also was targeted five times as a receiver, hauling in four catches for 26 yards. "Obviously everybody wants the ball in their hands, but it’s a team game. I trust in my guys, just like they trust in me.”

Gurley, drafted 10th overall out of Georgia, burst onto the scene as a rookie, averaging a record 142 rushing yards per game in his first four starts. Since then, he's averaging 61 yards per game. This year, he's on pace for a total of 902, well below the 1,106 yards he gained in only 13 games in 2015. It's an even bigger issue than the Rams' quarterback situation, though it's probably also tied in.

"We need to find a way to get that together, or else it's going to be a long season," Rams left guard Rodger Saffold said of the running game.

"They're taking the run away with respect to the fronts and the stunting, so we pick it up and throw it," Fisher added. "It's not a Todd thing; it's not a personal thing from Todd. You can see how explosive he is when he gets the ball in his hands."

He may need it more often.

[www.espn.com]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...en-rams-must-go-goff-raiders-on-a-roll/page/2

Case Keenum's blooper reel is turning into an entire half-hour episode of NFL Follies.

Keenum had the ball poked right out of his hands and into the air by Thomas Davis during a sack in Sunday's 13-10 Rams loss to the Panthers. Luckily, Benny Cunningham caught the fumble to prevent a disaster.

Keenum threw a simple rollout pass in the second quarter that was so far off-target that boos rained down from the Los Angeles Coliseum crowd. "Tyler Higbee was within the hemisphere," announcer Kevin Burkhardt quipped, trying to identify the intended receiver.

Keenum wound up to throw a pass in the fourth quarter, changed his mind for some reason, switched hands and shot-putted a left-handed throw to Benny-on-the-Spot Cunningham.

Maybe Keenum heard the crowd calling for Tim Tebow and wanted to give them a southpaw thrill. What he could not give them was a win. On a day when the Rams defense so dominated the Panthers that any competent quarterback would have engineered a win, the Rams lost.

How much more of Keenum are Rams fans, football lovers and sane human beings expected to take?

Now is not the time to start Goff. Last month was the time to start Goff. After the four-interception London catastrophe and bye week was the time to start Goff. Now is long, long past the time to start Goff.

There is no good football reason to keep Goff on the bench. Oh, there are plenty of plausible-sounding-but-bad football reasons. Emily Kaplan itemized them in a recent MMQB feature: He's learning footwork and terminology, learning how to read defenses, adjusting from an Air Raid college offense with fewer adjustments and variables than the offense the Rams hypothetically run, and so forth.

Piffle, poppycock and balderdash. These are the same things every rookie quarterback must learn. None of them are left moldering on the bench while a third-string-caliber veteran pretends to be a switch-pitcher.

Either Goff is spectacularly unready, even by the standards of rookie quarterbacks, or the Rams have no idea how to properly develop him. Goff did not look spectacularly unready leaving Cal, no one on the Rams coaching staff has developed a quarterback in this millennium, and Kaplan quotes Rams coaches stating that they won't change their offensive scheme (masterpiece that it is) to acclimate the rookie. So this mystery of whether Goff or Jeff Fisher's staff is the problem doesn't seem all that hard to solve.

The Rams need to start Goff immediately. If he really cannot outperform Keenum, then it's an indictment of the brain trust that traded up to acquire him, one that should cost all of them their jobs. That may be precisely why Goff isn't playing. Better to bury the kid on the bench and be thought a fool for one more year than stick him in the lineup and remove all doubt.

That's the kind of reasoning that has kept the Fisher Rams under .500 for years. The only thing funny about it is Keenum's highlight reel.

It's mind numbing to see 15+ years of the Rams football all end the same. Fans talk and push and push.........they try so hard to make the Rams better and I wish the team would reward them because they deserve it.

But the only current fact is that they suck and have sucked for 15 years. I am at my usual place with the football season with the Rams = not watching any football, avoiding NFL Network, looking at College players coming up and hoping the team fires the coach and staff.......................15 years of this

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rams-734561-fisher-goff.html



LOS ANGELES – The Rams being back in Hollywood and all, it seems only appropriate to tie their current situation into the essential elements of script writing and movie making.

Specifically, Rule No. 1.

Every spoken line and scene must be written, constructed and acted in a way that moves the story forward.

Any line or scene that isn’t advancing the story, no matter how clever or entertaining or cinematically brilliant it might be, is a complete waste of time and needs to be immediately cut.

You’ve got 90 minutes and 110 pages to tell your story. So make everything count.

Which brings us back to Jeff Fisher and Case Keenum and Jared Goff and how the Rams are clinging to ego and false hope while letting another season circle the drain.

Even when an opportunity to cease wasting precious time and thrust this franchise forward is so close and obvious that most of the 86,109 paying customers at the Coliseum not only saw it Sunday, they loudly and emphatically pleaded with Fisher to reach out and seize it.

“We want Goff. We want Goff,” their chants echoed across the stadium, their frustrated voices urging Fisher to finally make the switch from Keenum to Goff at quarterback and salvage a lost season into something worthwhile and productive and meaningful.

You know, as in move the story forward by expediting the development of Goff to better set him and the Rams up for next season and beyond.

Only for the stubborn Fisher to say he didn’t hear the fans’ chants after the Rams dropped their fourth straight game Sunday, and along with it any legitimate hope of winning their division and making the playoffs.

Right.

Sure he didn’t.

Anyway, the hows and whys of Sunday’s loss were agonizingly predictable and by now almost laughingly pointless.

The Rams defense delivered another performance worthy of a victory and a game ball while holding Cam Newton and the powerful Carolina Panthers to one touchdown and 13 points.

The problem – recurring as it is – was Keenum and the offense stumbled about for much of the afternoon and scored only 10 points.

Spoiler alert: This isn’t an indictment on Keenum, a tough, hard-nosed kid who’s playing his guts out right now.

So, urging Fisher and the Rams to make the move from Keenum to Goff is in no way laying the blame for another frustrating season at the feet of Keenum.

A point Fisher continually misses when rationalizing the decision to stick with Keenum by insisting his play isn’t to blame for the Rams 3-5 record.

“Case is not the reason we lost this game today,” Fisher said.

On that, everyone actually agrees. And that makes it even more bloodcurdlingly baffling when Fisher continually references it when defending his reluctance to at least consider a quarterback change.

“I don’t think Case’s play today was indicative of raising that question,” Fisher said, missing the point as usual.

This isn’t about Keenum and how big a piece of the blame pie he deserves.

It’s about saving a season from complete failure before it’s too late.

Makimg the switch to Goff right now makes this season relevant and purposeful.

Maybe in an extraordinary way. But absolutely in a worthwhile way.

When the Rams made the move up from 15th in last April’s draft to No. 1, they made it clear they didn’t play their way into the top pick – i.e. lose their way – they strategically moved up from a position of strength.

The theory being, they were fairly strong across the roster and by improving the quarterback position they could elevate the team as a whole.

In Goff they saw such a quarterback.

And even if he wasn’t ready to take the field to start the season – and he wasn’t – they were comfortable Keenum could move the team forward as a game manager.

That was important with Fisher entering the final year of his contract and likely needing to move the Rams beyond the 7-9 teams they’ve continually been under him to keep his job.

The later hasn’t happened, obviously. The Rams are once again staring down the barrel of another mediocre season. Fisher’s future with the team could be in jeopardy as a result.

Nevertheless, if the Rams still believe in the team they’ve built around the quarterback, why stick with the guy who isn’t raising the bar when the quarterback taken first overall might?

Isn’t that reason enough to give Goff a chance, the possibility he might immediately play like a first overall pick and turn the Rams’ season around?

But even if Goff struggles as rookie quarterbacks inevitably do, there is future value in him playing and learning and developing in actual games.

Even if the Rams lose every game from here on out with Goff at the helm, he’d begin next season better off for the experience.

So too will the Rams.

It’s amazing that 86,000 fans can see that.

But the head coach either can’t or won’t.

The cool cat with shades has hit 161. Yes 161! The final count down to 165 is officially on. The momentum is unstoppable to get to 165 as a result of four consecutive almost won games.

You will be asked where were you and what part did you play when it happens? Will you able to speak up or look them in the eye years from now?

So lets join the watch as stache makes history and celebrate it the only way possible

These are excerpts from this article. To read the whole thing click the link below. If there was any mention of the Rams, I must have missed it.
*******************************************************************************
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/11/07/oakland-raiders-dallas-cowboys-super-bowl-nfl-houston-week-9

A Raiders-Cowboys Super Bowl? The NFL Can Dream
Three months before Super Bowl 51, an intriguing potential matchup presents itself in the form of Week 9’s two best teams. Plus the last-second Lions strike again, Luck does Lambeau, 10 Things and more
by Peter King

Photo: Getty Images (2)

Every week watching the NFL, we try to draw conclusions on what we’ve just seen. This is the Patriots’ bye week, so the best team in football is out of mind for the moment, and we wake up this morning with the most unthinkable thought we could have ever thought two months ago, at the dawn of the 2016 season:

Super Bowl 51, Feb. 6, 2017, in Houston: Dallas versus Oakland.

The Cowboys, off a 25-point road rout of the woebegone Browns, have won seven in a row, and please, look at their schedule. They don’t play a team better than 5-3 the rest of the way. The two best rookies in football, Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, have revolutionized their team. No offensive line can touch theirs.

The Raiders just dismantled the Super Bowl champions. Oakland 30, Denver 20, and it wasn’t that close. The hottest young quarterback in the game threw zero touchdown passes, and Derek Carr didn’t need any either. The Raiders outrushed Denver 218-33 and held the ball for 41 minutes, like an old Bill Parcells team. The defense is coming alive, finally.

They’re easy teams to fall for, with 25-year-old (Carr) and 23-year-old (Prescott) leaders who seem made for NFL stardom. They can take some adversity and unfriendly faces; combined, Dallas and Oakland are 9-0 on the road. There are eight weeks for reality to slap each team in the face, which undoubtedly will happen.

But this morning, when your thoughts are anxious with the most significant and potentially outlandish election day in the recent history of this country, think for a moment that the one matchup that probably should have happened sometime, some place in the previous 50 Super Bowls but never did actually has a prayer of coming true this year.

Cowboys-Raiders. Want a cure for the sinking-like-a-stone TV ratings? That Super Bowl just might be it.

A lot has to happen first. The NFC part of the equation isn’t so unlikely. Dallas has to be the NFC favorite right now; the road to Houston likely goes through Jerry World. But the AFC’s a different deal. New England (7-1 and rested and healthy) is football’s Everest, and the last time Oakland played a playoff game in Foxboro, funny things happened that have haunted the Raiders franchise ever since. The Chiefs (6-2) own a 16-point win over Oakland already this year; as my buddy Don Banks pointed out Sunday night, Kansas City has won an NFL-best 17 of its last 20.

But Roger Staubach and John Madden and Jim Otto and Gil Brandt can dream. At the season’s midpoint, there’s lots of time for that.

* * *


Photo: Adam Bettcher/Getty Images

My favorite scene of the weekend, though, came at a tense time in Minneapolis, and is a huge reason why the Lions passed Green Bay and moved to within a half-game of the slumping Vikings in the NFC North on Sunday. And there’s a very good chance you have no idea it even happened.

Two seconds. Jim Caldwell got two seconds added to the clock in the game’s 58th minute, and two seconds turned out to be an eternity for Detroit. Two seconds gave the Lions life at the end of the fourth quarter.

TV didn’t catch it. Nobody caught it. The key people in the game didn’t know about it, not even three-and-a-half hours after it was over.

“I had no idea,” Detroit wide receiver Andre Roberts, who made a game-prolonging 27-yard catch in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, said when the team arrived back in Michigan on Sunday night. “I wasn’t aware of that.”

The story of the amazing and ridiculous Detroit Lions season grows in legend weekly. The Lions are 5-4. In each of the five wins, Detroit trailed in the last 90 seconds. Truly, the Lions could be 0-9 right now. It’d be a heartbreaking 0-9, but it’d be an explainable 0-9.

They beat Minnesota because of a play offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter just installed last week, because Matthew Stafford likes playing when it is darkest, because Roberts executed a perfect in-cut at the perfect depth, because Matt Prater kicked a 58-yard field goal at the end of the fourth quarter, because Golden Tate has balance rivaling Simone Biles, and because Jim Caldwell made the kind of coaching decision and the kind of convincing argument with referee Ed Hochuli’s crew that affected the outcome of the game.

Start with Caldwell. Detroit led 13-9 with 1:17 left in the fourth. Minnesota had the ball at the Lions’ 11. Fourth and four. Detroit had one timeout left. If the Vikings converted but didn’t score on this play, Caldwell knew they had to burn the last timeout and hope that if the Vikings scored, they’d do so with enough time left that Stafford would have a play or two to get the Lions in long Prater range for the tie.

Stefon Diggs caught a pass from Sam Bradford and went down at the Detroit three-yard line with 1:14 left. Detroit called for a timeout. The clock stopped with 1:11 left. On the Lions sideline, they knew they should have a second or two, at least, added. Caldwell called for a conference. Officials blew their whistles, and Caldwell made his case. He was right, they determined. On TV, a few seconds before the next play was run, you heard the muffled sound asking for the timekeeper to add time to the game clock, and on the screen, in the little score box, the “1:11” changed to “1:13.”

It took the Vikings three plays to get in for the go-ahead touchdown, and the drive included a dubiously called Minnesota timeout with 27 seconds left, which ended up aiding Detroit tremendously. Trailing 16-13, Stafford took the ball at the Lions’ 25. After an eight-yard sideline pass to Tate, 17 seconds remained. The clock was stopped. And it was time to run Cooter’s new play.

“Most end-of-game defenses don’t let you get out of bounds,” Roberts said. “They’ll play their guys near the sidelines so you can’t out of bounds. So we had this play where our guys run in-cuts and get down right away. Then we run to the line and try to spike it so we can run another play or kick the field goal.”

Cooter’s theory was that the in-cuts, run by four receivers, would be open—at least one of them anyway—with the defenders cheating toward the sidelines. Before the huddle broke, Stafford said to his receivers: “Catch it! Get down! Then get back to the line!”

Roberts, starting from the right flank, was supposed to run 25 yards downfield. “I went 27,” he said. Then he pivoted left.

With 13 seconds left, Stafford threw a line drive.

With 11 seconds left, a sliding Roberts caught the pass at the Minnesota 40.

With 10 seconds left, Minnesota linebacker Emmanuel Lamur flopped onto Roberts, preventing him from getting up. “Just doing his job,” Roberts said. “That’s what defenders are supposed to do. We know it. We work on that a lot.”

With eight seconds left, Roberts wrestled free of Lamur and got up and ran to line up—anywhere. He ended up in the backfield.

With six seconds left, sprinting to the line with his linemen, Stafford made the clocking motion.

With three seconds left, the Lions, after sprinting 30 yards and getting set, motionless, so they wouldn’t get a game-ending flag for not being set at the snap of the ball, were 11 statues at the Minnesota 40.

With two seconds left, Stafford clocked the ball.

Deep breaths.

As the clock hit :00, Prater’s kick was long and high and straight down the middle, like an old Tiger Woods drive on a straight par 5.

Tie game.

When I told Roberts about the Caldwell timeout and the successful plea for two seconds, he said, “Hey, luckily we got those two seconds. If we didn’t, who knows? Maybe we run a different play at the end. I don’t know.”

Overtime. Deflated crowd. Lions won the toss. In six minutes, Stafford drove from his 13 to the Vikings’ 28. Tate lined up flanked left, by the numbers. Across from him: Xavier Rhodes, Minnesota’s best cover corner. Lurking nearby: Harrison Smith, one of the best safeties in football, to double Tate if Stafford chose him. Surely Stafford would look elsewhere. Right?

“That specific play,” said Tate, “I ran my route and just tried to get some space. Matthew threw a dart. He made some great throws today. That was one of them.”

Tate ran a simple out-route, to the Vikings’ 15. When he caught the ball, his feet were maybe eight inches from the white stripe of the sideline. Here came Rhodes, shoulder lowered. How did he miss? No idea. He was anticipating that Tate would lunge forward, but Tate stayed at the 15, readying himself for the hit from Smith, approaching on his blind side, from behind.

“Smith’s a great, phenomenal player,” Tate of his former Notre Dame teammate. “God took over. God pushed me off Harrison, and somehow I stayed in.”

Smith grabbed Tate with both arms around the 14. Tate, somehow, stopped his momentum with a man hanging on him, got free of Smith around the 10, ran toward the end zone, and pirouetted through the air in joy, diving into the end zone.

The 58-yard field goal and the long gain and the clocking just in time and then Tate staying in bounds. Week after week, it’s something with this team. If one thing goes wrong … just one thing …

“If its and buts were pots and pans, the whole world would be a kitchen,” Tate said.

Never heard that one before. Pretty good.

“We got incredible heart,” Tate continued. “We truly don’t believe it’s over ’tll there’s two zeroes on the clock. I don’t know how it happened. I don’t know how I stayed in. But we got an incredible quarterback, incredible athletes on the perimeter, and we don’t give up. This group, we love the game.”

So we see.

* * *


Photo: Dylan Buell/Getty Images

• Life for the Colts. Sunday’s 31-26 Indy victory at Lambeau Field was precisely the kind of game Andrew Luck has to win. It’s a cliché, but to whom much is given, much is expected, and when Indianapolis owner Jim Irsay made Luck the highest-paid player in football last June, it was with the expectation that he would carry the team to some wins when it was outmanned in a tough road place.

So far this season Luck hadn’t done that. On Sunday, numbers be damned (one touchdown, two picks, 74.2 rating), Luck led touchdown drives of 62, 91 and 66 yards, and was a commanding presence physically and mentally. Indy’s not out of the woods by any means, surrendering 28.4 points per game and needing every bit of Luck as a modern bombs-away Dan Fouts.

The Packers, meanwhile, continue to dig holes and not get out of them. They’ve lost three of four. They’re in third place in the NFC North. “I don’t understand it,” Aaron Rodgers said. “I mean, this is what we get paid to do, is to bring it every week … I mean, I love this game and I bring energy. I’m not a rah-rah guy, but I’m a focused, enthusiastic player, and I don’t know what the lack of juice was. You kind of felt it over the entire sideline.

We didn’t have the same kind of enthusiasm and encouragement that we had the previous two weeks. So we’ve got to look deep in the mirror there, because that’s just not acceptable.” Not good. See Stat of the Week, below, for more swell news.

In their past 20 games, Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are:

a. 9-11.
b. 4-5 at Lambeau Field.
c. Two wins worse than the Oakland Raiders.
d. Three wins worse than the Detroit Lions.
e. Owners of the same number of 300-yard passing games (three) as Cleveland.

• In appreciation of Eli Manning. On the heels of the 5-3 Giants’ 28-23 win over the Eagles on Sunday in New Jersey, noting Eli Manning:

—He’s the last quarterback to look like an iron man, but Manning, 35, hasn’t missed a football game in 12 years; his streak of 202 straight starts, including playoffs, is third all-time among QBs. It’s amazing. He never even winces in pain.

—His 257-yard day Sunday moved him into ninth place all-time on the passing yards list, with 46,428. No. 8 Fran Tarkenton is only three good Sundays away. Everyone ahead of Manning is either in Canton or a lock to be there.

—His four touchdown passes Sunday gave him 306, good for seventh all-time. Three-and-a-half more years at his pace, and Manning will be in range of Dan Marino, at 420. That’s a very big assumption at 35, but seeing quarterbacks play the way they do (Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning), being prolific in their late 30s is no surprise.

A quarterback cannot do it on his own. Manning has had zero running game, a leaky offensive line and some good to great receivers in the past two or three years. The fact that he’s ahead of draft-classmates Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers in the above numbers games and has won two Super Bowls says tons about Manning.

• The Raider road. As much as Oakland is a crowd favorite entering the second half of the season, and the Raiders should be, they’ll have a tough road to the top of the AFC West and to a home playoff game in the Black Hole. The Raiders have a bye this week, then a “home” game with Houston in Mexico City. Then Carolina and Buffalo come to Oakland on successive Sundays.

That leaves the final four weeks. Kind of a doozy: every division foe on the road. In order, Oakland is at Kansas City on a short-week Thursday, at San Diego 10 days later, hosting the Colts on Christmas Eve, then at Denver on the final Sunday of the regular season. Look on the bright side: Oakland’s won its first five road games of the year, so what’s a trip to Mexico City, and three division games in hostile venues?

• As a rivalry turns. Steelers-Ravens ain’t what it used to be … in many ways. Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh have been squaring off for nine seasons now, dating back to Harbaugh’s appointment as Ravens coach in 2008. Check out the dichotomy of the rivalry:

2008 to 2010: Eight games, including playoffs. Pittsburgh 6, Baltimore 2.

2011 to 2016: Twelve games, including playoffs. Baltimore 9, Pittsburgh 3.

Fifteen of the 20 meetings have been one-score games, including Ravens 21, Steelers 14 in Baltimore on Sunday.

* * *

The Award Section

OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Melvin Gordon, running back, San Diego. With 261 total yards against an oft-formidable Tennessee front, Gordon controlled the wild 43-35 win over the pesky Titans in San Diego in a crucial game for the long-term future of the franchise. With the Chargers’ stadium initiative needing a two-thirds approval vote Tuesday (not likely under even ideal circumstances), the Chargers just couldn’t lose a game to Tennessee in the final show-me event before the balloting.

Gordon took care of that. He led all NFL rushers with 196 yards on 32 carries (with one touchdown), and added 65 yards on four catches. This game was a good template for the Chargers down the stretch: play possession football (they held the ball for over 36 minutes) without turning it over. And it was Gordon who was most responsible for that Sunday.

DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Khalil Mack, outside linebacker, Oakland. Two more sacks (7.0 for the year), and also the biggest defensive play of the game for the oh-my-gosh-they’re-really-pretty-good Raiders. Midway through the fourth quarter, Denver down 10 and driving, Mack steamed into quarterback Trevor Siemian and punched the ball out while sacking him. Mack recovered the fumble at the Denver 39, and one minute later the Raiders ran in an insurance touchdown. It was over, and Oakland was the undisputed leader of the AFC West.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

An incredible day of special teams play. Four winners.

Jordan Todman, kick-returner/running back, Indianapolis. Talk about a serendipitous start to a game. Todman took the opening kickoff of a game the pressurized coaching staff and scouting staff had to have at Green Bay at the Colts’ one-yard line. He was never touched. Running through a tremendously well-blocked return unit, Todman didn’t stop until he was in the Green Bay end zone. After 12 seconds, the Colts were up 7-zip.

Kenyon Drake, kick-returner/running back, Miami. He’s not quite Darren Sproles in terms of burst and acceleration, but Drake was one of those guys before the draft last year who had the label of home-run hitter and not an every-down back. His home run beat the Jets on Sunday. With less than six minutes left in Miami, Drake took a Nick Folk kick at the four-yard line and sprinted through the Jets’ kick-coverage team, 96 yards for the game-clinching touchdown. An amazing turn of events.

Matt Prater, kicker, Detroit. Two seconds to go. Fourth quarter. Vikes 16, Lions 13. Lions line up for a 58-yard field goal. Need it to extend the game to overtime, obviously. The amazing thing about this kick? It would have been good from 66, and it was absolutely down the heart of the plate. The Lions lived to play overtime, won the toss and went down the field to score and keep hope alive at 5-3 in the NFC North.

Javorious Allen, running back, Baltimore. An assist is needed here, for Pittsburgh rookie safety Sean Davis, for an abominable matador block that allowed a juking Allen the freedom to rush in and cleanly block a Pittsburgh punt from the left end. Allen absolutely smothered the Jordan Berry punt, and rookie wideout Chris Moore picked it up off the turf and returned it for an insurance touchdown.

COACH OF THE WEEK

Dan Quinn, head coach, Atlanta. This is a nod to Quinn’s complete job over the first half of the season, as well as for the two wins in five days, over Green Bay and Tampa Bay, and for going on the road on a short week and throttling the Bucs on Thursday night. “We looked fresh, we looked fast,” Quinn said after the Falcons, without pass-rusher Dwight Freeney all game and top cover guy Desmond Trufant (shoulder) missing much of it, built a 40-14 lead in the first 50 minutes.

“I thought we had a real edge.” Atlanta’s 6-3, and this is a different team from the one that followed a 5-0 start in 2015 with a 3-8 finish. The Falcons play fast, the way Pete Carroll’s Seahawks always play, and the way Quinn polished his head-coaching profile as Carroll’s defensive coordinator in 2013 and ’14.

GOAT OF THE WEEK

Antonio Allen, safety, New York Jets. With the Jets nursing a three-point lead with less than six minutes left, Nick Folk lined up to kick off after the go-ahead touchdown. He kicked, and the Dolphins returned it to the Miami 22. But wait. Allen was a yard offside on the kick, meaning the Jets would now have to kick again, penalized five yards. This time Folk mooned one to the Miami four-yard line, and rookie Kenyon Drake returned it 96 yards for the winning touchdown. Allen’s offside put a dagger in any faint playoff pulse the Jets (3-6) had.

* * *

• Blandino on the spate of excessive celebration calls—and fines: “This is not a new issue. I agree that it does seem harmless, when you look at all the other things that we are concerned about in officiating. But it does come down to sportsmanship and consistency. This really came about probably 10 years ago with players really going above and beyond in celebrations and using the football as a prop and creating these choreographed demonstrations, and then they escalated into altercations later in the game.

It comes down to sportsmanship and trying to give our officials some consistent guidelines and not letting it just be in the eye of the beholder. You are trying to create as much black and white that you can, and sometimes it gets into a gray area, but the key with the ball as a prop is that you can’t use the football for anything other than a football.

We've always allowed them to spike or spin the football, but when you start shooting free throws or dunking the ball over the goal posts, that is using the football for something other than a football and that is a foul. You can look and say, that’s black and white to me.”

I wondered: Where is just a little, tiny room for fun?

Blandino said: “I’m a football fan, and I get that as well … I’ve always said, let’s have one week where anything goes. And then see after that week, is that really what we want? But I don’t think the committee will go for that. In passing I have mentioned it, half-facetiously, but that’s just something we joke about.”

* * *

Things I Think

1. I think these are my quick notes of analysis from Week 9:

a. I vastly underestimated Terrelle Pryor as a receiver. His gorgeous improvisational route and touchdown catch from Cody Kessler against Dallas is all you need to see to know he could play in a Pro Bowl someday soon.

b. It’s time to see Bryce Petty, Jets.

c. Those Tampa Bay uniform numbers, which are hideous, must go. The inventor of the “5,” for instance, must have been working with eyes shut when producing that digit. Have a look.

d. No idea what Dez Bryant was thinking, jogging downfield on a third-down play in the first quarter at Cleveland. Dak Prescott was looking for him, and Bryant is jogging, and that’s not going to look very good in the Dallas film room today.

e. Speaking of ugly film, there will be two awful snippets that Philadelphia cornerback Leodis McKelvin will have to endure after he gave up two first-quarter touchdowns to the Giants.

f. Blair Walsh is all kind of messed up right now. Against Detroit on Sunday, the Vikings kicker missed his third extra-point of the season and had a field goal blocked.

g. The scary thing about the Cowboys, for the rest of the NFC: They’re two games up on their closest competition for home-field playoff supremacy, and there’s a good chance their toughest game down the stretch is this Sunday at 4-4 Pittsburgh.

h. I really feel for Tony Romo, but a seven-game winning streak is a seven-game winning streak, and there’s no way Dak’s bench-bound now.

i. The Panthers aren’t perfect, and they’re still only 3-5, and they’ve got consecutive roadies with Oakland and Seattle coming up in three weeks, but they are absolutely not dead.

j. Don’t look now, but Ezekiel Elliott has an 84-yard lead in the NFL rushing race at the season’s midpoint.

2. I think the news last week that Kevin Turner had evidence of significant chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) when he died last March should have reverberating effects across football. According to Ann McKee, director of the Boston University CTE Center who studied Turner’s brain, never has she seen such evidence of CTE in any other athlete who died in his 40s.

Turner, who played 107 NFL games for New England and Philadelphia in the 1990s, was 46 when he died last March. Assigning specific blame to a single entity is almost useless here. But it is certainly striking that football, and the way Turner played it, was likely the cause of his death. Turner played from age 5 to 30, with 43 games at Alabama, about 45 in high school, and scores before then in youth programs. Ken Belson of The New York Timesreported that Kevin Turner’s father, Raymond, said his son was coached at a young age to lead with his head in playing football.

3. I think this is why it’s vital for the NFL and for all levels of football to be transparent in how they’re teaching and coaching the game—and, in my opinion, follow the lead of strong-voiced current players like Drew Brees and communities like Tega Cay, S.C., in banning tackle football in its youth programs. With all the evidence that cumulative head trauma is as dangerous as concussions to long-term brain health, and with evidence that formative brains are at higher risk, flag football or no football makes far more sense to me for young players—say, age 14 and younger.

Brees told me he’s bullish on flag football because he doesn’t think there are enough good youth coaches nationwide who can teach the physical part of the game exactly the right way. Cardinals safety Deone Bucannon, whose first two years of youth football were flag football growing up in San Diego, says it’s hard enough to teach young people all about the game without having them scared off by an intense hit at a young age.

4. I think this story will be with us for a long time if the Supreme Court hears the case. Whenever the $1 billion class-action settlement with the NFL is finalized (the Supreme Court is considering taking the case on behalf of some plaintiffs who object to the settlement as inadequate and rushed), the family of Turner will receive his cut: $5 million for a diagnosed case of ALS as a former player.

“We have 33 objectors out of 22,000 former players, and the most important thing toward getting the payments out to the affected players is to move on from the objectors,” said Christopher Seeger, a lawyer for the class waiting for the money to be parceled out. “Now if the Supreme Court wants to review the case, we’re delayed another couple of years, probably. I do these phone calls with the wives and kids and families who need the money for things like school and medical expenses, and these awards are very important.”

I’ve always felt the fact that virtually all of the former NFL players suffered some degree of head trauma before entering the league, and that makes it hard to quantify what the NFL should pay and what is someone else’s responsibility. If the case ever gets opened back up, it could take years to delineate for every player what level of football was responsible for what amount of damage to each player. It’s impossible to know.

5. I think I understand the rage of Jacksonville, regarding the Chris Ivory fumble call at the goal line in Kansas City. But I wouldn’t have overturned the fumble call either. The call on the field was a fumble and a Chiefs recovery. The replay showed the ball pop out after Ivory crossed the goal line, but it’s impossible to see if the ball was on its way out when Ivory’s hands cross the line.

And absent a shot that shows the ball in Ivory’s grip as he crossed the line, by rule the call can’t be overturned. “We can’t overturn because we can’t confirm whether he had control of it or not,” VP of officiating Dean Blandino said in a video review of the play the league released Sunday night.

6. I think Sunday night was the first time I watched the Raiders and thought, “Now that’s a defense that can win a playoff game if the offense sputters.”

7. I think the league is under tremendous pressure to get this alleged Ezekiel Elliott domestic violence story right. Which is why it could be several weeks, or months, before we get to the bottom of the story of whether the physical altercations between Elliott and a female friend earlier this year have merit. USA Todayunearthed a Florida police report in which the woman in question refused to press charges after an incident with Elliott, and the woman claims there were other incidents in July. The league is taking this seriously, which is wise.

8. I think Eli Apple might need to have a heart-to-heart conversation with his mother. Not to shut up Annie Apple; her first column critical of the Giants and CEO John Mara over the Josh Brown abuse story was fair game. Annie claimed in another SI.comcolumn that Eli has been pressured to get his mother to tone down her criticism—which she claims, and which he denies.

Whatever did or didn’t happen between the team and the cornerback, it’s become the kind of story that can materially affect her son’s career. So my advice to Annie: Write away. Write away passionately about the issues affecting you, including on domestic violence; the league has been inconsistent in its attention there. Write important things, as you often do. But leave your son out of those things. He’s under enough pressure as it is.

QB, next man up. Keenum was always a mirage. Put in Goff or Mannion, but do something. This year is likely done anyway. Keenum is a two, always will be, but I like his heart. Winning football is more than just about talent, it's about heart and good coaching. I am worried about the latter. Fisher should probably be relieved of his position. He is the issue as far as I can see. This is now a teaching year, it's time to mix things up.

Rams vs. Panthers Postgame Notes

-The Rams fell to the Panthers, 10-13.

-QB Case Keenum completed 27-of-46 passes for 296 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

-TE Lance Kendricks led the team in receiving yards (90) and receptions (7).

-Rookie TE Tyler Higbee hauled in a personal best 31-yard reception.

-DT Cam Thomas notched his first sack as a Ram, 7.5 for his career, on Panthers QB Cam Newton.

-DE Eugene Sims sacked Newton for a loss of eight yards. Sims now has 1.5 sacks this season and 11 career.

-DT Aaron Donald registered his fourth sack of the season on Newton.

-Donald’s second sack on Newton marked his second multi-touchdown game of the season. Donald continues to lead the team in sacks this season (5). Donald has 25 career sacks.

-With games still to be played this week, Donald is tied for fourth-most sacks among all defensive linemen this season and leads the league in sacks at the defensive tackle position.

-S/LB Mark Barron sacks Newton, his first sack of the season and 7thcareer.

-The Rams registered five sacks on Newton, which is the Rams highest total of the season.

-According to press box statistics, Barron and LB Alec Ogletree split the team lead in tackles with nine each.

-P Johnny Hekker punted five times for 243 yards for a 48.6-yard average and 44.6-yard net average. Hekker tallied his first touchback of the season and placed two punts inside the 20-yard line.

-Hekker’s recorded a career-long punt of 75 yards which is the third longest punt in the NFL this season.

-K Greg Zuerlein converted a 25-yard field goal.

Los Angeles Rams vs. Carolina Panthers Postgame Quotes – 11/6/16


Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher


(Opening remarks)

“Well, obviously it didn’t turn out the way we hoped it would turn out. As I just finished with the team, painting a realistic picture over the last two weeks, our defense has given up a touchdown to (Giants QB) Eli Manning and (Panthers QB) Cam Newton, and that’s it. That’s a winning effort. The problem is, we’ve only scored two touchdowns in the last two weeks and therein lies our problem. We have to continue to keep the defense playing at this rate, this effort, and with the production. We have to find a way to get some turnovers on defense, however, and we have to figure out a way to score some points. I’m very disappointed, but we’ll bounce back. Four consecutive in the loss column is not good, and the only way you can win four in the win column is you go out and win the next one, so that’s where we’re at. I think the team understands that. They understand where we’re at. We’re not getting the turnovers. Turnovers hurt us in London, and the one turnover today hurt us, but there were some outstanding efforts out there today and that was a good football team.”


(On QB Case Keenum’s current performance and whether or not it is elevating the team’s performance)

“We’re going to lick our wounds here, and it’s still fresh. I’m going to look at the tape. I would submit that (QB Case Keenum) Case was not the reason we lost this game today. We just didn’t make plays in all three phases. We’ll circle the wagons with the coaches and look at the tape, but I’m pleased with the way Case has fought. As I say consistently, repeatedly, week after week, I’m pleased with (QB Jared Goff) Jared’s progress.”


(On the success of the Rams’ run defense)

“You look at the tape going into this game, and this football team can run it. I thought (LB Alec Ogletree) Alec did a great job putting the defense in position to stunt, to stop, and audible from a defensive standpoint and stop the run. I thought we tackled well. We didn’t give up a lot of plays. Obviously, we have some frustration on the defensive side when you lose back to back. You hold your opponent to 17, but one was returned for a touchdown in London, and then 13 today. As we told our team, the defense has to keep doing what they’re doing and offense has to step it up. We have to score some points. We have to figure out a way to get back to where we were in Detroit when we scored 28.”


(On whether he will reevaluate his QB decision this week after being definitive in London that QB Case Keenum is the best choice)

“Yeah, because we had four interceptions by our quarterback, two of which were his responsibility and two of which were not, so I don’t think (QB Case Keenum) Case’s play today was indicative of raising the question.”


(On the potentially game-changing dropped ball by TE Lance Kendricks)

“Tough catch, ball surprised him. (TE Lance Kendricks) Lance had nine catches, tough catches, and we’re going to bring up the drop. That’s tough on Lance, but the ball was thrown in a good position. Windows are short. This is a good defense.”


(On RB Todd Gurley)

“We’re picking it up trying to spread the ball around. They’re taking the run away with respect to the fronts and the stunting, so we pick it up and throw it. It’s not a (RB Todd Gurley) Todd thing, it’s not a personal thing from Todd. You can see how explosive he is when we get the ball in his hands.”


(On reason for Gurley sitting out for final drive)

“(RB Benny Cunningham) Benny is our two-minute back.”


(On the development of WR Brian Quick)

“(WR Brian Quick) Brian started slow after we drafted him, and then two years ago got off to a really good start and suffered a near career-ending shoulder injury, then came back. I thought he started a little bit slow this week, but he’s getting open and making the plays. How much did you want that ball to be complete to him when we got behind it? That would’ve been a game-changing play, the way the game ended up, and (QB Case Keenum) Case just overthrew it a little bit.”


(On the fans booing the offense and chanting for QB Jared Goff)

“The fans expect production and execution and points. I totally get that. I’ve been through that before. I totally understand their position on that. I honestly didn’t hear them root for (QB Jared Goff) Jared.”


(On the decision to go for the field goal on the very first drive)

“I felt like we were going to need points, and (K Greg Zuerlein) Greg felt really comfortable there, he just miss-hit it. Unfortunately for Greg, he missed two today and they were both 55-yarders.”


Rams QB Case Keenum


(On the performance of himself and the team in today’s game)

“Not good enough. It wasn’t good enough. Again, a turnover cost us and not good enough on third down. There were couple plays there that I want back, but it wasn’t good enough. I have to go look at it on film, but it was not good enough.”


(On the touchdown in the fourth quarter and the possible momentum at the end of the game)

“Yeah, it was too little, too late. I think we got going with some on the ball stuff. We were able to complete some passes and get some guys open down field— even short passes to get some guys running and kind of getting on the ball, two-minute type style offense, and got a score, but it wasn’t enough.”


(On his reaction to the fans booing the offense)

“It’s frustrating. I’m frustrated. I’m glad they care, I do. I’m really glad the fans care. I care, too. I put a lot into this. I put a lot of hours, I put a lot of work into it and it’s something I’ve worked for my whole life. I’m glad they care because I care as well and when we aren’t scoring points and we aren’t moving the football, it’s frustrating. I can tell they’re frustrated, we’re frustrated, too, but we are doing our best and we are going to go back and look at it and see what we need to fix and come in Monday ready to go.”


(On if the interception fueled the rest of his game)

“Yeah, I played a bit angry today, at certain points, not because of any one thing, but it’s kind of how I’ve played my whole life— with a little chip on my shoulder. But, it was a bad decision, it was a poor decision. My feet, I didn’t get my feet set underneath me and (LB Thomas) Davis is a heck of a player, but I just need to check that down, (RB) Todd (Gurley) was wide open in the flat. That was a crucial mistake. I really want that one back, because we were moving on offense. I think we had a holding penalty, got second-and-long, but (WR) Tavon (Austin) made a good move and got open down field and we were able to hit him and we were kind of were rolling a bit, we had a good run. We just have to be smart with the football. That was my goal for this week coming in was being smart with the football and that wound up costing us big.”


(On the ‘We want (QB Jared) Goff’ chant from the fans)

“Yeah, they have a right to feel however they want to feel. I’m always the type of person that, I’m glad that the fans are there and the stadium is full. So, like I said earlier, in one ear and out the other, but we are frustrated, too, that we aren’t scoring points. We have to score more points, so I understand.”


(On the last drive and his switch to a left-handed throw)

“Yeah, I’ve never done that before. I don’t know what happened. (RB) Benny (Cunningham) ran a good route because they kind of gave us a different blitz than we expected, and I think I kind of clutched and then kind of had somebody on me, so I choked it left-handed. He did a great job of making an adjustment, but yeah, that was an interesting play.”


(On TE Lance Kendrick’s drop)

“Yeah, I’ve got complete faith in all my guys, including Lance. We all want plays back and you say that, and it’s frustrating that you sound like a broken record on certain things, but we have to score touchdowns. The two plays before, there were some guys that I missed. That’s not on one person or one guy, we have to score a touchdown in that situation.”


(On the small margin for error and the type of preparation and pressure it creates)

“Yeah, that’s why we do what we do. That’s why this game is not for everybody. That’s why this is the NFL and that’s why these games are put on TV and they are super slow motion and you see these catches these guys make. It’s just a game of inches and we know that and we know coming in, that we’ve got belief in ourselves and trust our preparation and technique, but when it comes down to it, instincts take over and you try to give guys a chance to make plays.”


(On what positives he can use from this game moving forward)

“You know, I don’t know. I have to go look at the film. I said it before, I’m pretty frustrated right now. It’s upsetting that we have been within a score multiple times and not coming away with a victory. I’m never going let it get me down. I’ve got tough skin and I’m going to keep fighting, keep battling—that’s what I do. I know we’ve got a good football team in that locker room. I know we’ve got a good offense. We may not have put it on the field today, for all four quarters, but we can move the ball, we can score points and we have to do it more consistently, we have to do it at the right time, we have to help our defense out. Our defense played so well today. They play well the last couple of weeks and we’ve got to score more points and that’s a whole offense deal—that’s all of us combined. Look for us to be better next week.


(On his confidence in remaining the starting quarterback for the Rams)

“That’s not something I think about. I get ready to play and that’s what I do. I’m getting ready to play the (New York) Jets. We have the 24-hour rule, for me, I have a shower rule. I take a shower, good or bad, I rinse all the crap off and I’m looking forward to next week.”


(On the defensive pressure from the Carolina Panthers)

“They brought pressure at different times. I thought we handled it pretty well at times. There were a couple of times where I didn’t move well enough in the pocket and it wasn’t even pressure, I didn’t have the pocket presence and didn’t have a clear view on a few third-downs to pull the trigger. So, something I need to look back and work on my mechanics and moving in the pocket. We just have to be better.”


(On the development of his shower rule)

“I don’t know, I’ve had it for a while. It’s kind of a metaphor to just to clean everything off, just let it all down the drain. {It doesn’t give you a lot of time after a game} Nope. Good quarterbacks have amnesia.”

Rams DE Robert Quinn


(On what the team is not getting done in order to get over the close losses)

“Well I play defense, so we’re not making enough plays to get the offense an opportunity or score on defense. I’ll speak for myself – we’re not doing enough, to me. I think we’re doing great, but, of course, we’d like to raise our bar. We’re not playing great enough to win. I think guys, we’re frustrated, but we’re not out of it. We have, what, nine games left – it’s crunch time – so hopefully guys are aware of our situation.”


(On how they were able to sack Panthers QB Cam Newton five times today)

“(Defensive Coordinator) Gregg (Williams), he called a great game, giving us opportunities to run. For the most part, the secondary had their guys locked down, giving us time. Once you’ve got the opportunity, you try to get him down, and our guys did a great job. Of course, we’d like to get the ball out and score on defense, but we rattled him in the pocket to give ourselves a chance. We just have to keep building from there.”


(On if operating with a narrow margin of error gets harder as the season goes on)

“Yes and no. when you start playing in close games like that all the time, you get a feel for them. Now, the thing is, we have to start winning them – that’s the big difference. At the end of the game, it could have turned so much faster – just whatever, one play here or there that we need to make to get that momentum going, we just haven’t done that. To lose close games like that, it’s tough and we just have to figure out (how) to make one or two plays so we can start being on the other side and getting Ws.”

Rams LB Alec Ogletree


(On if he feels like there is a lot of room for improvement on the defense)

“I don’t think there’s many major things. All the little things that you need to do to win the game, you have to prepare to do that each and every week. You can’t be lackadaisical in your technique or your mental awareness. Like I said, we hate you lose, but we’re not far off. We just have to find a way to win games.”


(On what it’s like operating with a thin margin for error week after week)

“No games are easy. I feel like, I’ve said all the time, our team is built to win close games. You can see, every game that we’ve kind of lost, we’ve been there close at the end. We just haven’t found a way to finish those games, but we’re built to play close games and we’re going to have to find a way to win those close games.”

Rams RB Todd Gurley


(On how he feels the team can pull itself out of the losing streak)

“Just have to come ready to work next week. Obviously, we have got to score points to win the game. It’s not the end of the world, you just have to win games.”


(On getting the ball on back-to-back plays)

“I don’t control the play calling – (offensive coordinator) Coach (Rob) Boras does a great job. It’s a team game, you can’t get the ball every time.”


(On if he wants the ball in his hands more)

“Like I said, obviously everybody wants the ball in their hands. But it’s a team game, I trust in my guys as much as they trust in me.”


(On what he would change about the recent games ending with such a close score)

“We just have got to score more points, no ifs, ands or buts about it, we have to get in the end zone, we have to execute.”

Rams G Rodger Saffold

(On the mental state of the team)

“Crushed. We’re just absolutely crushed. Enough is enough. We know we need to put more work in on offense and have to score touchdowns. I don’t blame anyone group. I don’t blame coaching. I don’t blame anything, but just collectively, we need figure it out. Our defense is out here putting up games. We need to be able to capitalize. Enough is enough. Enough with just sitting around and saying, ‘Let’s stick together.’ It’s time to just go power it in.”


(On if the ‘We Want Goff’ chant affected him mentally)

“That doesn’t matter to me. It’s the coaches’ decision. It’s not my decision who is going to be back there. My job is to protect whoever is out there, and to make sure we run the ball. We need to find a way to get that together or else it’s going to be a long season.”


(On if he hears the crowd booing the offense)

“Yeah, but once again, that doesn’t bother me at all. It could’ve been looking like ghost and saying ‘boo’ and I wouldn’t care. The true thing is, that we need to continue to work. All I know how to do is work. I’ll be in here tomorrow, 9:30 a.m. putting up weight, and trying to put my team in the best position to win.”


(On if it’s harder to swallow the loss because the team wants to make an impression on the fans of Los Angeles)

“Absolutely, but at the end of the day, we have to focus on what we have to focus on. If we put something out there that they can cheer for, good. But, all the booing and all the distractions that are going on, we have to ignore it because we have to continue to work.”


(On his biggest frustration of to what’s not happening out on the field)

“We’re not playing as one. Eleven have to play as one in order to make plays and to get big plays down the field, and be able to score touchdowns. It’s always one thing here, there, and that has to stop. We have to continue to play cohesive and we have to improve. Like I said, it’s just not one group. It’s not the quarterback, it’s not the [offensive] line, it’s not the wide receivers – it’s everybody collectively.”

Panthers Head Coach Ron Rivera


(On getting the win no matter what it took)

“This is a very tough team. We played a very physical team. You’ve got to give them credit. These guys played hard and it was about as physical of a game that I’ve been involved with. They played very tough up front. It was one of those games that the team that controlled the line of scrimmage was going to come out on top, and fortunately enough, for us, we were able to control it.”


(On his staff’s use of rotations throughout the game)

“That’s what we’ve done for the most part. We do a ton of rotation. We liked what we did. We thought the guys up front gave us the perfect push and surge we needed. Again, give them credit, though because they drove down to score late in the game and were able to keep our pressure off of the quarterback at that point.”


(On if his game plan was to take away the running game and let Rams QB Case Keenum throw)

“Most certainly. That’s one of the things we wanted to do. We wanted to take the running game away. (RB) Todd Gurley is a tremendous football player and we just didn’t want to give him a chance to get started. They did some good things. Again, you’ve got to give them credit. They played hard. It was a very, very physical game today.”


(On the Rams’ defensive line’s performance)
“They’re a physical bunch. They’re explosive off the ball. They can get into the creases and they penetrate. If you’re not opening creases immediately, they’re going to make the ball bounce, which is what they were able to do and they forced us to try to bounce the ball outside. We did a couple of things later in the game, especially in the third quarter that opened some things up for (Panther RB) Jonathan (Stewart), but again they played very well up front.”


(On the impact of not having Panthers C Ryan Kalil in the game)

“I don’t think it impacted us. I thought (Panthers C) Gino (Gradkowski) did a good job. There were a couple of things that obviously Ryan would have handled a little bit better, but we had an opportunity, we did some good things, and they were good enough to give ourselves a chance to win.”


(On if he is in a position to turn this season around after this win)
“Sure. Why not? We won today. We’ve got another game coming up. If we can win that, who knows what happens afterwards? Again, I feel pretty confident about who we are as a football team, but the truth of the matter is, we play them one at a time. We’ll take them one at a time. Hopefully next week we’ll get an opportunity and hopefully we can win the football game.”


(On the satisfaction of coming out on top in a physical game like this, after previously losing to Minnesota and Denver in similar games)

“It is very satisfying, especially in a game like this, to come out on top. We played a couple of real physical games - Denver being one of them, Minnesota being the other - and to come out on top in a game like this is huge. It speaks very well to our ability to be a tough football team, a physical football team, and hopefully it will pay dividends as we move forward.”


(On whether or not Panthers QB Cam Newton was off today even before the pressure started getting to him)

“He missed a couple of throws, yes, and I think there were some opportunities. We dropped a couple, as well. They were able to stymie the running game, so that’s a big part of it, too. It takes away the effectiveness of the play-action fake. It was a combination – he missed a couple throws, we dropped a couple, and you’ve got to give them credit because they did some good things.”


(On what he told Panthers Offensive Coordinator Mike Shula to do about the run game)
“I told Mike ‘Call your game. Don’t get out of your rhythm.’ We had a couple of drives in the third quarter, where we probably didn’t give ourselves a chance to kick some field goals, and obviously that’s what broke the difference for us.”


(On whether or not it is frustrating that his offense has not established a balance in the play-action pass)

“No. It’s not, because again, we won the game. At the end of the day, the frustration will come when we get a chance to sit down and watch the tape and see what happened, more so than anything else, and see as to why certain things happened. Again, I don’t want to take anything away from the Rams. This is a tough, physical football team and to me, that’s my kind of football. I really like the style that they’re playing and I give them credit. We had some opportunities that we missed. I’m anxious to watch it on tape and see exactly what happened, whether it’s something going on with the receivers, the tight ends, the offensive line, (or) the running backs. On the defensive side, we gave up a couple of plays that we probably shouldn’t. We had two fourth downs where we had chances to get stops and we didn’t do that. So, I’m interested in looking at the tape more so than anything else. But, it is kind of frustrating and I think more disappointing, as to not doing the things that we needed to do when we had opportunities.”

(On the officiating of Newton in the pocket)

“I’m going to watch the tape. Again, as I go through the game, I’m trying to watch for what’s happening. I’m for the most part satisfied. We’ll see what it looks like on tape, but I thought the officiating did a good job.”


(On how his offense handled DT Dominique Easley effectively)

“About as good as anybody can Dominique’s an explosive football player. He’s got some good guys around him, too. I thought the way they pressured the pocket was outstanding. They hit the quarterback a couple of times with their DBs and their linebackers, too. It’s a good combination, what they’re doing, and like I said, I think this football team is heading in the right direction. They’re going through some tough circumstances, here – having to play here and not necessarily having a home and all that kind of stuff, and for them to play as physical and tough as they are, I think that this team is building in the right direction.”


(On the field conditions after the USC game the previous afternoon)

“Oh, yeah. I thought the field was outstanding. I don’t think there was anything wrong with the field. I thought that the grounds crew did a nice job. It was the same turf that both teams played on.”


(On whether or not his secondary is better with Panthers CB James Bradberry in the game)

“I think that the secondary is better just because they’re coming together. They’re maturing as a group, and I think that James is a big part of what we’re trying to build as we go forward.”


(On Panthers LB Thomas Davis’ athleticism shown with his interception)

“As (Panthers LB) Luke (Kuechly) would like to say, he’s ‘O.L.D.’ Old.”


(On injuries during the game)
“So far, so good. We’ll see. The only one that, right now, I’m aware of is (Panthers S) Colin Jones. He’s in the protocol, so we’ll see what happens.”

(On what he saw on the onside kick)

“I thought we were in good position. They tried to sneak one on us – one up the middle, and ‘Teddy’ (Panthers WR Ted Ginn Jr.) handled it perfectly. Again, it’s one of those scary things. You never know what’s going to happen with the ball bouncing the way it does.”

(On if he believes that the Rams’ kicking team was trying to get the ball to bounce off of one of the players on the front line of his return team on the onside kick)

“Yes. I think that’s probably what that was, but again, I don’t want to speak to what their strategy was. I don’t know what they were trying to do.”


Panthers QB Cam Newton


(On the physicality and toughness of the game)

“Well, for us, the most important thing is to stop plays and get the football. That’s what we did. We’re not going to talk logistics or the stats or statistics – we just have to find ways. It’s not pretty, and in most cases throughout the year, all games are not going to be pretty, but I am just happy and proud. Everybody just kept pushing through, and just did their job.”


(On if he feels that their season can still be turned around)

“It’s turned around before our eyes. We aren’t going to think about what the final record can be. We’re just trying to take it one game at a time.”


(On if someone describes the game as being an “ugly game”)

“I’ve never heard of a pretty loss.”


(On how not having C Ryan Kalil impacted the running game)

“You just have to find ways. They’re very stingy up front, a very stout defense, and we knew that coming in. We can’t put ourselves in third and long, we have to have more production on first and second down. That what we trust in our running game to do something, me included. We just have to go back and watch the film, and make the proper adjustments.”


(On only if there was anything that the defensive line did to get more sacks today)

“It was a pretty good team. I don’t think they get enough credit for how great those guys are. But still, when we face a good team like that, we have to be able to be more efficient on the offensive side of the football.”


(On if he felt like he received better treatment from the officials this week compared to last week)

“I’m not worried about that. Just trying to find ways to win the football.”


(On the touchdown pass from TE Greg Olsen)

“It was just Greg being very decisive in his route-running. When he got a head-start release, it was pretty much good riddance after that. They did a pretty much good job at trying to contain Greg all game, and we just have to make the defense ply. When guys are flying wide open, you have to make sure to hit the guys and keep the ball moving forward.”


(On how difficult the defensive front made it on his team in terms of running the ball and getting into a rhythm)

“Well when you don’t get the production in one game, it puts a strain on your offense as a whole, but we just have to move forward and find ways – if we face a team like this in the future, we have to have more answers.”


(On if today was more of a clean game than last week’s game)

“I’m just happy we won the football game.”


(On if he had more fun playing tonight)

“It’s always fun to win.”

Panthers LB Luke Kuechly


(On how it feels to get another win)

“You got to understand that you have to take it one week at a time. These two wins were good, but moving forward they don’t mean anything. You got to come out each week with the mindset that you have to practice hard and give yourself a chance to win on Sunday.”


(On Thomas Davis’ interception)

“I was right there and (Panthers LB) Thomas (Davis) jumped up there and made a great play. I think he beat me this week, so he’s going to give me some grief on that. He’s got two (interceptions) already this year, so I’ve got some catching up to do.”


(On getting tough wins)

“It’s good for your team. You got to come out. There’s always a different kind of game in every week. That’s what makes the NFL great. Guys came out, played hard. I thought we played well in all three phases. It’s a really good defense they have. Our guys on offense fought. (Panthers QB) Cam (Newton) did a good job scoring when we needed to. (Panthers K) Graham (Gano) hit a big field goal, and you got to win like that sometimes. Not every game is going to be a blowout, and it feels good for us to go out there and get a win like that.”


(On the defense to stopping the Rams offense)

“Our guys up front have done an excellent job these last few weeks, and a lot of credit goes to those guys. A lot of the credit goes to the coaches for putting us in positions to be successful. Everybody tackles. I think (Panthers CB) James (Bradberry) had a really big tackle early on in the game and that’s good for those guys to step up and make those tackles. I thought James and (Panthers CB) Daryl (Worley) played very well today, and it’s fun to see those guys really growing.”


(On if this is a turning point for their season)

“We’ve got quite a few games left. You got to understand that it’s one game at a time. You can’t look too far ahead because every team you play is a good team. We’ve got to focus in and understand that nothing is given; you’ve got to work towards everything.”


(On what the defense strives for every game)

“We try to play as well as we can on defense and give our offense short fields, turnovers, and other possessions. We take a lot of pride on what we do on defense. Obviously, there are a lot of things we can tighten up and do better, but you know, we’re getting there.”


Panthers TE Greg Olsen


(On the feeling of today’s win)

“It was. Obviously, we’re in a position right now where every win is pretty big for us. We put ourselves in a little bit of a hole and the only way to really get ourselves out is to just climb out one at a time. We come out here [to the] West Coast against a team that we knew was pretty dynamic on defense, to come away with a win was big for us.”


(On if he felt he needed a bounce back game this week)

“No. I don’t get too wrapped up in stats and catches. Sometimes the games go particular ways that are out of your control. You just try to keep rolling and when the ball is thrown my way, catch it.”


(On QB Cam Newton’s performance doing enough offensively today despite the sacks)

“That was probably the story. That’s probably the best way to put it – we did enough. Obviously we’ve got to do a little bit better job of keeping him clean in the pocket, but that’s probably the best front we’ll play all year. So they’re obviously a pretty unique challenge with what they can do up front and they had all their guys back off the bye healthy and we were prepared for a battle and that’s what we got.”


(On the momentum of consecutive wins)

“You know you hope so. Obviously, we’ll take a two-win win streak here but we know three wins isn’t going to do too much. So we’ve got a lot of football left here. We’ve got the back half of the season coming, so just got to keep chipping them one at a time.”


Panthers LB Thomas Davis


(On the importance of shutting down the run game)

“It’s very important when you’re playing any team to make them one-dimensional, trying to take away their running game. When you do that, it allows the D-linemen to get after the quarterback. Our D-line the last two weeks have been phenomenal. They’ve done a really great job. I think that works hand-in-hand with the guys in the secondary. Connecting the receivers and giving them time to get there. Like I’ve talked about all season long, when we do that, it’s tough to beat this football team.”


(On if they can still save their season after winning consecutive games)

“We definitely feel like, as a football team, we still control our own destiny. You know, it’s a really good feeling. You don’t want to be at the mercy of anyone else. As long as we continue to string wins together and come away with the victory, that’s all that matters. At the end of the day, we still control what happens to this football team.”


(On if the team is starting to see momentum build)

“We’re just taking this thing one week at a time. We can’t get caught up and worried about momentum and worrying about streaks moving forward. We just got to take it one week at a time. It’s the mindset, and we aren’t going to let anyone get caught up looking ahead. It’s all about playing in this game and that’s the focus right now.”


(On the interception and what he saw)

“I saw something that our coaches showed us all week long. You drop back, you get setup, and you get your eyes back to the quarterback and he threw it in my direction. In my eyes, I’m like ‘hey, come down with this football by any means necessary.’”


(On winning a road game this far from home)

“It definitely feels better when you win the football game traveling this far, but at the end of the day, we focused in, we locked in as a football team, and we knew that it was a tough task. We knew what we had to do and we came here and got it done.”


Panthers WR Kelvin Benjamin


(On the Rams’ defense)

“Yeah, I mean they’re flying all over the field. They disguise very well. You know, like I said, we just got out and execute and catch, throw and catch.”


(On the good feeling of the first road win and then consecutive victories)

“I mean definitely, definitely. That’s what we really try to focus on. After the bye week, we kind of wanted to start the whole season over, so we’re 2-0 right now. And that’s how we want to finish out the second half of the season.”

Had to laugh though.

Login to view embedded media View: https://twitter.com/QBKlass/status/795511971496030208

Just think.....two short seasons ago, the Raiders began the season 0-10 and lost to the Rams 52-0. The Rams haven't scored 52 points in any two games this year.
And Fisher had a three-year "rebuilding" head start on Del Rio :rockon:

Well, looking back at the game, and the chaos on the carolina forums, the talks are on the missed helmet to helmet hits on Cam Newton that game, and it's cluttering the forum.

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/boards/forum/7-carolina-panthers-news-and-talk/

I'll effectively show some views that show some of those strong hits. What really irked everyone on the Panthers side is how everyone is considering these hits as legal.



Login to view embedded media View: https://twitter.com/chris6615/status/795403186370736132


That's the first hit the talking heads considered as a shoulder to shoulder hit. Of course, in real time it'd be hard for the refs to call in all honesty. But the way the media is talking it's an all around legal hit.

The second one, obvious helmet to helmet (Still was an amazing tackle though)

Head obviously bobbles back.

Now I know, most people who aren't fans of the Panthers would consider that Cam deserved those hits and blah blah, but I just want to know, if this was your QB being hit like that, would you consider these illegal hits? The first hit was subtle, so it's understandably uncalled, but the second one had Cam's head bobbling back hard.

Like what's really getting at me is how no one is talking about it, and how they consider these all legal.

Sorry to bring this drama to you guys, but I'm curious to know your point of view.

Derek Carr is an absolute blast to watch. The guy is the next elite QB in this league. The Raiders are going to be scary for a long time.

Broncos offense on the other hand...

Siemien looks like a stronger armed Keenum.

Re-sign :

CB - Tru Johnson
WR - Kenny Britt
RB - Benny Cunningham
SS - T.J. McDonald
WR - Quick = ?

CAP Cut :

Saffold


Free Agency signings :

LT - Matt Kalil (back starting in the Coliseum ?)
LG - Luke Joeckel (could be a bargain coming off IR)


Draft :

1) N/A
2) C/OG - Ethan Pocic, LSU or Pat Elflein, Oh.St
3) OG/OT - Zach Banner, USC
4) WR - Travin Dural, LSU
5) S - Jonathan Ford, Aub.
6) CB - Chidobe Awuzie, Co.


Offensive Line :

LT - Matt Kalil,
LG - Luke Joeckel, Banner, Wichmann
C - Ethan Pocic, Barnes
RG - GRob, Brown
RT - Havenstein, Banner

Gone :

Rhaney
Murphy
Keenum

Major roster fights between Donnal, Banner, Wichmann, Brown, Williams & Battle for reserve roles.

Chances only would have been 1 in 3 with a win....now they have less than a 1 in 10 chance. And FWIW....sure, Fisher is considered a "player's coach". Having said that, it'd be nice if the captains on this defense would go directly to Stan and demand change for the good of the team....not that Stan's reputation, nor his teams' track records, show that means anything.

Login to view embedded media View: https://twitter.com/nflnetwork/status/795430516715503616

Yeah, I know..Everyone wants an offensive minded HC for the team..one that can exploit Goff to the fullest. But I am talking interim HC..Williams has been pretty d@mn good creating a defense that is just missing a competent offence to get a playoff spot. I want to retain Williams at DC next year, and want an authentic offensive minded, QB whisperer as our HC....I am hoping that retaining Williams might be possible, because of the Bounty-Gate thing, and that it might prevent his ascending to HC somewhere else....

Honestly, good defensive game. Two strong fronts going against each other. Although few takeaways were recorded, so many sacks and pressures kept giving both QBs headaches

Cam faced maybe the best DT in football, and a strong front as it is. His passer rating last year dropped by a staggering 53 points under pressure, so that explains many of his inaccurate throws.

However, if Shula hadn't realized that short passes/slants/screens worked, then we'd be in even more trouble. There's a huge change in the offense, as there's less of those big, long developing plays that plagued us against pass rushing defenses. Shula adapted surprisingly, even amid all his horrid calls. That was a bright spot.

Of course, our OLine drastically missed Oher and Kalil as our backups got abused by your front. Your defense, when healthy, is formidable, and that can take you places, even with your 3-5 record.

Your offense has potential. Got some talented WRs and a once in a generation type of RB, but you need an O-Line. Even with how solid the Panthers front is, that OLine needs work.

I think Goff would help spark life in your offense, and he definitely should start as soon as next week.

Your season isn't exactly over. Cardinals aren't playing too hot lately, Seahawks have an OLine worse than yours and Russell isn't too healthy, and the 49ers suck. You could win it on defense alone, and there's a lot of potential there.

Anyhow good game. Got worried at the last second, but we pulled through somehow. Good classy fans, amid some of my trash talking. Good luck in all future games!

We've lost the last three games by a total of 13 points. We're supposed to be a ground and pound team and yet, Gurley has averaged 13 carries per game. Meanwhile, Keenum has averaged FORTY SIX attempts per game.

What is the plan here? Is Fisher trying to show off Keenums laser rocket arm to the rest of the league? I figured the bye week would give them time to get the run game figured out. Gurley had that nice run from the wild cat and they NEVER ran it again.

Absolutely mind boggling when it comes to coaching and game planning with this team.

What a difference a year makes.