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Dec 7th, 1941. "A date which will live in infamy."

Franklin Roosevelt uttered those words 82 years ago. When I was young, the anniversary of that day still packed a punch in our society. The men who fought in WW2 were probably younger in the 70's than @den-the-coach is today. The sneak attack by the Empire of Japan on our Naval Base in Hawaii (and elsewhere in the Pacific) was shocking and was the catalyst for changing the mood of the public from neutrality to a war footing.

What's ironic is the date which FDR said would not be forgotten, pretty much has been.

I am now fixing the NFL officiating problem

Enough is enough. I have read and crafted countless posts about how NFL games are consistently tarnished by poor officiating. I am now the Judge and jury and will decide where to go from here.

PRELIMINARY RULING:
1) Stop the nonsense that we need better training, and/or we need to hire them full-time. This isn't the problem. Let's just agree that it is not difficult, it IS IMPOSSIBLE, to accurately call an NFL game. Statistically speaking, there will be countless KEY plays that are decided by poor calls, since there are so many opportunities. Even youth leagues are difficult to call. HS? College? NFL? Puh-lease. Errors WILL happen.

2) Stop the blaming of all of this on wagering. Although the massive conspiracy of manipulating games for Vegas or merely entertainment purposes may be true, it is impossible to prove. The league can stick to its MO and metaphorically burn the video evidence. Besides, this really is insulting to officials, who for the most part are trying to do their jobs well, and my ruling below will make this a moot point.

3) Just admit the goal isn't to get it right with just the field crew. Just get the call right, by whatever means available.

SIMPLE OBJECTIVES
1) Improve the NFL experience by removing the ability of officials to impact result of a game
2) Do not substantially increase the time required to play a game

FINAL RULING:
1) No more losing a Timeout when throwing a red challenge flag. Far too many stupid ass side effects from this restriction.
2) Total number of challenges is 5 (the entire game).
3) Implement eye-in-the-sky oversight similar to college/USFL/XFL and any other league that "gets it". Sky Judge has access to all views.
4) Any play WHERE THERE IS OBVIOUS ERROR (I ain't talking blades of grass for out of bounds), Sky Judge can buzz the field and correct the call.
5) On any play (this should be rare given the Sky Judge), the coach can throw a challenge flag. Like other leagues, Sky Judge must render verdict with 20 seconds. If the ruling STANDS, or is CONFIRMED, the team is penalized 15 yards for delay of game.

You may argue this will introduce other issues. You would be wrong. Some may complain (human nature), but this will eventually be like the unsolvable "What is an actual catch?" that cursed us for so long, but is never questioned anymore.

Court dismissed.

2023 Defense through 12 Games vs 2022 first 12 games

And have seen comments online like this: "Many people ... have given Morris plenty of credit this year. He is coaching like a different coach this year."
and there are more. I think Morris critics feel similarly, saying "It's about results and Morris is getting great results" that is now apart from many insults I have see like Morris is scared and Morris is stupid. That excludes names he was called.
Donald hurt in Week 11 ---defense DID fall apart last 6

So, Aaron or so games. It is a separate debate as to what happened after that and if it was Morris's fault.

Rams have played 12 games this year.
Here are 2 questions
(1) Where do they rank vs last year?
And
(2) is there enough of a difference that people wanted Morris fired? Not fair criticism but FIRED

Points per game ---2022 = 22.3 2023 = 21.1 (not counting TDs by defenses and ST) 1 PPG different
Yards per game ---2022 = 2022 = 16th, 2023 = 16th -- the same
Yards per play ---2022 = 19th, 2023 = 14th -- 5 lower in 2022, both middle of the pack
Rushing yards ---2022 = 16th, 2023 = 16th -----the same
Rushing yards per play ---2022 = 7th; 2023 = 15th---better in 2022
Passing yards per play ---2022 = 15th, 2023 = 1th --- the same
passing yards per play---2022 = 10th ; 2023 = 14th ----better in 2022
Sack percentage----2022 = 17th 2023 = 25th----better in 2022
INT percentage-----2022 = 28th 2023 = 28th ----same
1st downs/game---2022 = 19th 2023 = 19th ----same
3rd Down % ---2022 = 21st 2023 = 19th (t) ----same both 40%
4th Down % --- 2022 = 27th 2023 = 25th (t) ----both 61% essentially same
PFR does not have red zone or goalline --- but if memory serves last year Rams were decent in both

Now I know what people say--who was on D, but also remember how bad offense was
so no comparison is perfect--but the key is why the hate last year and some respect this year?

Answer--how off cov. looks, IMO


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2023-12-05_10-44-28.jpg

Are we giving Rams coaches sufficient credit for the rapid development of so many youngsters?

I wonder.

Not to take anything away from the fabulous job done by Les Snead and his scouts these past two years in acquiring talent. But it does occur to me that superior coaching has turbocharged the development of many already talented Ram youngsters.

Kyren Williams
Alaric Jackson
Steve Avila
Kevin Dotson (not a rookie or 2nd year player, but damn, he’s having a career year)
Puka Nacua
Byron Young
Kobie Turner
Ernest Jones
Ahkello Witherspoon (career year)
Quentin Lake
Jordan Fuller (another career year)

Other youngsters have had their own flashes and may well soon be strong contributors.

I’m just saying that it seems improbable that so many of these guys would simultaneously become rookie studs or young vets have their career years. I think that McVay is too modest to have too much attention go to himself and his assistants but I feel pretty strongly that all this rapid development didn’t occur in a vacuum.

I think McVay had a HR offseason with his asst coaching hires.

Thoughts?

PlayStation Network issue

There’s apparently a huge issue with people being permanently suspended from PlayStation Network.

I was just watching YouTube and was suspended from PSN so the PS5 is essentially a brick until this gets resolved

If anyone has this issue, take heart, you’re not alone.

Reddit has a pretty long deal on it and I’m sure we’ll hear something soon… crosses fingers

Donald & Turner

Ask any QB what is the kind of pressure they hate the most. The answer will be interior pressure coming right at them. People decry the lack of edge pressure the Rams get. But they have two of the best IDL in Donald and Turner. They are good enough to beat any three center and OGs. They proved that on Sunday. Young and Hoecht just need to play contain first, pressure second.

Yeah the Rams lack a second edge but they have something better. Most teams focus on spending money on OTs. IOL is one of the most overlooked units on most teams. That is the strength of the Rams pass rush. Sprinkle in an occasional blitz by Jones and the Rams can get to most QBs in the way they hate the most.

Looking at these two guys it's clear Donald is preparing to pass the mantle to the conductor. Until that happens, the Rams will have a fearsome interior DL pass rush as good as any two edges. Now throw in Young and the Rams have 3 legit pass rushers.

IMO Morris is wasting his DL by playing two gap with them. Even Brown showed he can be a factor if allowed to single gap. If Morris will simply shift to a one gap front we would see dramatic improvement. With these two the pocket can become the "danger zone" (cue in the music).

Morris has become predictable. All OCs know Morris will almost always play two gap mixed DL front on first downs. That's why so many pass on that down because the QB isn't going to get a lot of pressure. Morris is conceding a minimum of 2-3 yards with that scheme. How many times has it kept offenses behind the chains? Look at how many third and shorts the Ram D faces. They seem to face more than most. IMO that isn't a good way to stop an offense. If the offense doesn't make a mistake they will simply roll over the defense no matter who you have.

IMO Morris should be playing to keep the offense off schedule. That's how IMO you force turnovers and punts.

With Donald and Turner they have the IDL to make offenses be off schedule as these two are OL beaters.

Playoff Race Update and Week 14 Projection

IMG_4415.jpeg

Going into Week 14, here is an update on the race for the final two playoff spots (presuming PHI, SF, DAL and DET make it, along with the NFC South champ – ATL currently out front).

Vikings 6-6
Packers 6-6

Rams 6-6
Seahawks 6-6
Buccaneers 5-7
Saints 5-7

Here are the Week 14 matchups for the pertinent teams:

Rams @ Ravens
Buccaneers @ Falcons
Panthers @ Saints
Vikings
@ Raiders
Seahawks @ 49ers
Packers @ Giants

Not a very favorable schedule for the Rams to jump into a playoff spot, but if they can beat the Ravens, it certainly is possible that the Vikings or Packers might falter on the road.

I’m going to go with an optimistic prediction and go with the Rams to upset Baltimore, the Falcons to push the Bucs out of the race, the Saints to keep pace with a win, the Vikings and Seahawks to lose, and the Packers to win.

That would put the Rams in the #7 spot, a tiebreaker behind the Packers.
Here’s hoping!

Something that annoys the hell outta me and for which there’s no fair explanation…

It’s been said so many times but the evidence was absolutely in-your-face obvious in that Browns game.

AD is being held and sometimes choked, often blatantly, on almost every play. Ray Charles could see these fouls yet rarely is a flag thrown.

Meanwhile, refs are throwing flags on ticky tack and sometimes phantom fouls right and left.

Where is the balance? The fairness?

I sometimes wonder how AD keeps bringing it in the face of such an obvious double standard.

This has GOTTA be coming down from the league office because they don’t want to slow down the game.

It was making me crazy while the game was still close, which it was for about 56 minutes. Sigh…

Rams PFF Grades vs Browns ...





PFF Grades: Alaric Jackson played pivotal role in LA’s third-straight win

Rookie Puka Nacua earned an “elite” grade for his performance versus Browns
By JB Scott Dec 4, 2023, 12:26pm CST


Los Angeles Rams v Arizona Cardinals
Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images

The Los Angeles Rams are roaring back into the NFC playoff picture after blowing out the Cleveland Browns and moving back to .500. LA has now won three-straight games.
Who contributed the most on an individual level to keep the winning streak alive? Let’s take a look at the grades from Pro Football Focus (PFF):

Top five grades on offense:

1 - Puka Nacua, WR: 90.2

The rookie phenom broke the 1,000-yard mark on the season with an impressive 70-yard TD catch and run in the first quarter. He finished with four catches for 105 yards and added another 34 yards on the ground. It was yet another productive outing for Nacua, who now turns his sights to the NFL rookie receiving yardage record.

2 - Matthew Stafford, QB: 73.6

In his past two games, Stafford’s average depth of target (ADOT) had dipped down to around six yards. It was unclear whether this was a plan by the Rams to manage Stafford’s thumb injury or if this was a schematic pivot, but his ADOT ticked back upwards to 7.4 yards in this game. That again had an inverse and adverse impact on Stafford’s adjusted completion rate, which dropped to 70.6%. It’s worth keeping an eye on this mix moving forward, as it may be game plan specific.
All in all it was a positive outing for Stafford who finished with his most big-time throws in some time (3) and only had one turnover-worthy play. He completed 22 of 37 passes (60%) for 279 yards and three touchdown scores.

3 - Demarcus Robinson, WR: 73.2

Robinson has been more involved in the offense over the last two weeks, which seems to be coming at the expense of Tutu Atwell. LA has had the benefit of of salting away a fourth quarter lead, and it seems the plan is to substitute Robinson in for Atwell to give a bit more physicality in the run game. Robinson caught a touchdown pass at a critical moment in the game and finished with four receptions for 55 yards.

4 - Alaric Jackson, LT: 70.4

Jackson drew a difficult matchup in Myles Garrett no matter how limited Garrett may have been physical—he was rehabbing a shoulder injury leading up to the game. Jackson allowed only two pressures in pass protection. Rob Havenstein allowed a team-leading four for comparison.

5 - Cooper Kupp, WR: 65.8

While Kupp was largely ineffective in the passing game (he caught six passes for 39 yards and a score), he earned an impressive 77.7 run blocking grade. Even if Kupp is not producing at the level we expect from him through the air, it’s good that he’s still finding ways to contribute overall.

Other notes on offense:

One of the mainstays in terms of top five PFF grades on offensive is RG Kevin Dotson, but he had a rough outing in this game and finished with a 49.1 overall grade. He allowed two pressures in pass blocking but the struggles were mostly in run blocking. Rookie Steve Avila also had a disappointing game and had a 51.9 grade.

Top five grades on defense:

1 - Aaron Donald, DE: 84.8

Donald finished with a whopping eight pressures, tied for his most in a single game so far this season. He accomplished the same feat earlier this year against the Indianapolis Colts. Donald was consistently in the backfield and was the main disruptor of Joe Flacco while it was a relatively quiet pass rushing day for everyone else.

2 - Ernest Jones, MLB: 79.5

Jones had a very active date on defense and finished with a team-leading 15 total tackles according to the box score. PFF credited the linebacker with eight tackles and three assists. He forced four pressures on Flacco.

3 - John Johnson, DB: 72.6

The Browns targeted Johnson in coverage only a single time, and the veteran safety picked off Flacco and returned the ball deep into Cleveland territory to set up a game-clinching touchdown. It was sweet revenge against his former team that cut him two years into his big free agent contract, and Johnson has been coming on strong of late for LA.

4 - Kobie Turner, DT: 68.1

With four pressures, including two sacks (PFF does not credit “half sacks), Turner now has back-to-back games with multiple quarterback takedowns. The defensive tackle is now pushing to break Donald’s rookie sack record, which only signals that good things are in store for this promising individual.

5 - Keir Thomas, OLB: 67.0

Thomas played 15 snaps at outside linebacker. His playing time didn’t seem to come at the expense of Byron Young or Michael Hoecht, wo each played a similar number of reps—64 and 63, respectively.

Other notes on defense:

Russ Yeast had been a regular contributor on defense leading up to this game; however, veteran John Johnson has been emerging of late. Yeast played on 32 defensive snaps while Jordan Fuller and Johnson were on the field for every play (71 reps). Was this a game-specific plan or is Yeast potentially falling out of favor with respect to Johnson?

It is my hope that this amazing draft is not a complete outlier…

I know we’re not gonna have 14 picks every year and certainly not 5 new starters alone plus a handful of quality contributors every year.

But I am hoping that Snead/McVay have tweaked their player draft requirements in such a way as to better select candidates that are true football players rather than athletic freaks or players with injury histories or attitudinal issues.

Such a slight perspective change might better reveal more players such as the likes of these kids:

KW
Avila
Puka
Young
Turner
Lake
Ethan Evans

And continuing the trend of brilliant trades and FA signings like these wouldn’t hurt, either:

Wentz (better late than never)
Dotson
Demarcus Robinson
Witherspoon
JJ
Ward

I would be remiss here if I didn’t include McVay’s brilliant offseason assistant coach hires one after another. Perhaps the most unsung positive moves of this very productive offseason.

Now, we can believe that perhaps Rams brain trust got unbelievably lucky this one year OR that perhaps Rams brain trust has evolved to the point that they are now tending to make better and better long term decisions. I believe both are true but I also believe that Rams are trending more toward the latter.

My sons Hudl highlights for his Jr year

He’s my little AD. They played Wyomissing in the State Quarterfinal. Lincoln was lined up on Caleb Brewer the entire game. Brewer is listed as 6’-4” 275 lbs. Penn State Oline commit. Lincoln had nine tackles as a DLineman in that game. He had 3 in one drive to force a punt. In the second half Wyomissing started running the ball to the other side of the line.

Holidaysburg had two D1 Oline recruits. They are a much bigger school than ours. After the game the coach went over to Lincoln and said that he ruined their entire game plan on offense.

After the Berwick game, their offensive tackle told him that they spent the entire week trying to figure out how to stop him, and it didn’t help at all.

Lincoln is 5’-8” 200lbs. I don’t know if he will get any small college offers at his size. I hope he does. I’m going to miss this when it’s all over.

Login to view embedded media View: http://www.hudl.com/v/2Me9mv

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