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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/11/27/the-rams-are-for-real-and-other-week-12-thoughts/
The Rams are for real
Posted by Michael David Smith on November 27, 2017
Los Angeles has one hell of a football team on its hands.
The Ram beat the Saints on Sunday to improve to 8-3 on the season — and to establish themselves as legitimate Super Bowl contenders. Yes, I just said “Rams” and “Super Bowl” in the same sentence. Los Angeles absolutely has that kind of team. These aren’t Jeff Fisher’s Rams.
It starts with quarterback Jared Goff, last year’s first overall draft pick who was absolutely awful as a rookie. This year, playing for new coach Sean McVay in a much better offensive system, Goff looks great.
His 354 yards yesterday against a very good Saints pass defense represented maybe his best game to date. Over his last four games, Goff has 1,245 passing yards, nine touchdowns and one interception. This kid is good.
It helps that the Rams have three talented receivers in Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Sammy Watkins, although yesterday against the Saints the Rams were playing without Woods, their No. 1 receiver, and they didn’t miss a beat.
It also helps that the Rams have one of the NFL’s most talented running backs in Todd Gurley. And it helps that the Rams signed left tackle Andrew Whitworth this offseason, one of the most important free agent signings in the NFL this year.
But the Rams may actually be better on defense and special teams than they are on offense. McVay made a great move when he hired Wade Phillips as his defensive coordinator, and Phillips has done a superb job with the Rams’ defense this year.
That defense is led by Aaron Donald, a defensive player of the year candidate. And the Rams’ special teams is led by one of the best kickoff returners in the league in Pharoh Cooper, one of the best kickers in the league in Greg Zuerlein, and one of the best punters in the league in Johnny Hekker.
So Los Angeles has one of the best teams in the league. The big question facing the NFL in its Los Angeles experiment is whether they can get SoCal to care. Last year, when the Rams first announced they would move from St. Louis, ticket sales were strong.
But that interest faded because the Jeff Fisher Rams were a bad team with a boring offense. Now the Sean McVay Rams are a good team with a thrilling offense, but the fans aren’t back. It would be a shame if these Rams didn’t get the appreciation they deserve.
View: https://twitter.com/nflnetwork/status/935023989877018624
The Rams are for real
Posted by Michael David Smith on November 27, 2017
Los Angeles has one hell of a football team on its hands.
The Ram beat the Saints on Sunday to improve to 8-3 on the season — and to establish themselves as legitimate Super Bowl contenders. Yes, I just said “Rams” and “Super Bowl” in the same sentence. Los Angeles absolutely has that kind of team. These aren’t Jeff Fisher’s Rams.
It starts with quarterback Jared Goff, last year’s first overall draft pick who was absolutely awful as a rookie. This year, playing for new coach Sean McVay in a much better offensive system, Goff looks great.
His 354 yards yesterday against a very good Saints pass defense represented maybe his best game to date. Over his last four games, Goff has 1,245 passing yards, nine touchdowns and one interception. This kid is good.
It helps that the Rams have three talented receivers in Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Sammy Watkins, although yesterday against the Saints the Rams were playing without Woods, their No. 1 receiver, and they didn’t miss a beat.
It also helps that the Rams have one of the NFL’s most talented running backs in Todd Gurley. And it helps that the Rams signed left tackle Andrew Whitworth this offseason, one of the most important free agent signings in the NFL this year.
But the Rams may actually be better on defense and special teams than they are on offense. McVay made a great move when he hired Wade Phillips as his defensive coordinator, and Phillips has done a superb job with the Rams’ defense this year.
That defense is led by Aaron Donald, a defensive player of the year candidate. And the Rams’ special teams is led by one of the best kickoff returners in the league in Pharoh Cooper, one of the best kickers in the league in Greg Zuerlein, and one of the best punters in the league in Johnny Hekker.
So Los Angeles has one of the best teams in the league. The big question facing the NFL in its Los Angeles experiment is whether they can get SoCal to care. Last year, when the Rams first announced they would move from St. Louis, ticket sales were strong.
But that interest faded because the Jeff Fisher Rams were a bad team with a boring offense. Now the Sean McVay Rams are a good team with a thrilling offense, but the fans aren’t back. It would be a shame if these Rams didn’t get the appreciation they deserve.
View: https://twitter.com/nflnetwork/status/935023989877018624