Made some chili this week.

I plan to do some hot dogs with chili.

Hoecht has been the subject of a lot of conversation this year, quite a bit negative, including from myself. So, I'm not calling anyone out with this, just thought we might benefit from a reset.

Hoecht has 4.5 sacks and has caused a fumble. His play, overall, continues to improve. All this from a guy who had been an interior defensive lineman and switched to edge out of necessity in the middle of last season.

He took it seriously in the offseason and, obviously, lost quite a bit of weight. He's worked for it.

His PFF grade is a less-than-stellar 55... but that's not terrible, by any means.

I think having a guy who has a "I'll do whatever it takes to get on the field" is a tremendous value for an organization.

I also wanted to contrast a little Hoecht with Byron Young.

Young has received a ton of praise and the Rams have gotten big props for getting great value out of that pick, deservedly so on both counts.
But Young's numbers really aren't that different from Hoecht.

You may want to point out the fact that Young is a rookie.. but here's the thing.. he's been playing edge a lot longer than Hoecht.

Also.. Young was a 3rd round pick and Hoecht was a UDFA.

And.. on top of all that.. guess what? Hoecht is only 6 months older than Young.

I think the Rams will have an interesting decision to make with Hoecht this offseason when it comes to his contract. He's a RFA.. they could just tender him and have right of first refusal.. that would be a contract worth more than 2.7 million, based on last year's tender levels. But they risk having someone steal him or having to match a much higher price. The Second round tender will be closer to 5 million dollars.. but it guarantees he's around.

I've already said many times on here that the Rams MUST go out and try to get someone like Danielle Hunter this offseason. Even with that.. two quality edges isn't enough in this day and age. I'd think long and hard about doing what's necessary to keep Hoecht around.

Here is the lineup for Sunday.

Not a bad week to be in the early slot. KC vs Buffalo should be a fun game among the late games. As much as it sucks for the 49’ers to keep winning, it’s best they beat Seattle for us.

SNF will be a good one, too.

Sunday, December 10, 2023

THE EARLY GAMES
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons — 1:00 p.m., CBS
Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears — 1:00 p.m., Fox
Indianapolis Colts vs. Cincinnati Bengals — 1:00 p.m., CBS
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Cleveland Browns — 1:00 p.m., CBS
Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints — 1:00 p.m., Fox
Houston Texans vs. New York Jets — 1:00 p.m., CBS
Los Angeles Rams vs. Baltimore Ravens — 1:00 p.m., Fox

THE LATE GAMES
Minnesota Vikings vs. Las Vegas Raiders — 4:05 p.m., Fox
Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers — 4:05 p.m., Fox
Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs — 4:25 p.m., CBS
Denver Broncos vs. Los Angeles Chargers— 4:25 p.m., CBS

SNF
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys: 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock

Monday, December 11, 2023

Tennessee Titans vs. Miami Dolphins: 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN, WatchESPN
Green Bay Packers vs. New York Giants: 8:15 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+

———

Thursday, December 7
New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers — 8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video

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What an idiot lol

I wonder if him being 6-6 and on the hot seat had anything to do with this story finally leaking?

@PARAM


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Thursday Night Football - Patriots at Steelers, 8:15pm ET Amazon

RamsOnDemand Sportsbook:

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.

And remember the miracle that happened…when we thought there was only enough talent to stay in contention for one week, but the talent lasted all season!

Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate!

Can we get a TV map. ( way up in Humboldt) I have to work like 3 weeks straight. I can record the TV games. But can not record streamed.
How about after the fact online recordings ?
I have head about them, never had to use one.
Thanks in advance.

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Probably a wise move.

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.

When she first mentioned Gurley I chuckled. And yes a lot of Kyren’s success is scheme and execution, but…

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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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Dropping Boyle and signing Rypen.

LOL...Saleh should be fired just for that.

Rams Walter Payton Man Of The Year

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If you're not listening to Nate, are you even footballing?

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?

Presentation show is on ESPN at 8PM Est which means you can tune in around 8:58 to see the winner....
Who's gonna win?

These two really like the Rams. They had some nice things to say. I like their game reviews.
The Rams coverage starts at 13:05

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Monday Night Football- December 4, 2023

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC

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

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.

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!

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…