20 Random Bye Week Thoughts

[AvengerRam]

1. At this, the (sort of) mid-point of the season, my thoughts turn to Third Eye Blind.

2. I’m only pretty sure, that I can’t take any more losing. While I recognize this team’s shortcomings, the most frustrating thing thus far has been the inability to swing outcomes in games that could have been won.

3. But… before we take a swing against Seattle, I wonder… what are we fighting for? Is this team still working toward a 2023 playoff birth, or is it just about building for the future (and… are those mutually exclusive)?

4. So, how’s it going to be for the rest of this season?

5. On the plus side, we should be getting some reinforcements.

6. I’m presuming that Matthew Stafford will be back this week. While the signing of Carson Wentz might make it more palatable to hold him out if his thumb isn’t right, knowing Stafford, I’m betting he’ll play even if he’s not quite 100%.

7. Ernest Jones’ likely return is also significant. He’s been one of our top 3 defenders all year.

8. I’m also expecting Rob Havenstein back. Again… a steady veteran presence who was missed.

9. Not this week, but Kyren Williams and Bobby Brown’s return in the next few weeks will also be welcomed.

10. On the down side, sounds like Tyler Higbee may need to step aside and heal for a while. An opportunity for Davis Allen?

11. I like the matchup with Seattle. We always seem to play them well, particularly at home.

12. A 4-6 mark would keep us in the playoff conversation.

13. A 3-7 mark would ramp up the draft talk exponentially.

14. The NFC West went 3-0 during the Rams’ bye. Ugh.

15. I’ve always hated the 49ers, but I think I hate this particular 49ers team more than most. Such arrogance for a squad that just broke a 3 game losing streak.

16. I’m in two fantasy leagues this year and have a combined record of 14-6. Les Snead… I’m gunning for your job!

17. I hope Kyler Murray plays just well enough to persuade Arizona not to take a better QB in the draft.

18. How many games before Puka Nacua becomes the first rookie Rams WR to surpass 1,000 yards? (He’s at 827)

19. Midseason MVPs: Offense: Nacua, Defense: Donald.

20. Time to break the November curse!

 

[den-the-coach]

10. On the down side, sounds like Tyler Higbee may need to step aside and heal for a while. An opportunity for Davis Allen?

Or will they finally activate Hunter Long? For a guy who had done nothing and caught nothing, the coaches sure talk him up. Will we actually ever see him play a down or will he remind us of Dan Curley from yesteryear?

 

[AvengerRam]

Brown could be back this week:

View: https://x.com/jourdanrodrigue/status/1724121916859126191?s=46

 

[den-the-coach]

Brown could be back this week:

View: https://x.com/jourdanrodrigue/status/1724121916859126191?s=46

Thought the Rams would be in trouble without the size of Brown, but Kobie Turner has really played well.

 

[ArkyRamsFan]

Will we actually ever see him play a down or will he remind us of Dan Curley from yesteryear?

Heh....I remember Dan (Hurley/girly) Curley. Another Mike Martz draft special.
I think 'ol Curley won the Trung Canidate ROY award for complete ineffectiveness as a NFL wannabe.

~ArkyRamsFan~

 

[muggmeister]

16. I’m in two fantasy leagues this year and have a combined record of 14-6. Les Snead… I’m gunning for your job!

And my rollercoaster Draftkings games got me back to even this week. Started with a $100 and I play 1, $25 each week in a 50/50 in a 2.2K person pool. Actually finished 88th out of 2,200 for my second best finish of the season. That was my high note for our Rams being on a bye.

 

[Jacobarch]

I think if most fans were honest with themselves a 3-6 record at the midway point of the season shouldn't surprise anyone. Moving on from core players and replacing them with unproven talent is always a gamble especially when it makes up over 50% of your roster. Good news is, the Rams brass hit on a lot of picks, and they have shown they can play and play well in the NFL. However, like with all young players it takes time to develop them and there's the chance that a successful first year player doesn't always translate to a successful NFL career. There are plenty of players who peaked early in their career just to disappear into the ether.
We also have great draft capital and needed cap room next year. If anything, the Rams can go back to their bread and butter of offering draft picks for players or sliding down in the draft to build a roster worthy of what we've seen in years past. While I don't think we make it to a SB next year, I do think that we will see something similar to McVays Rookie HC season.

The biggest issue I see is, not only do the rams need to rebuild in many Key positions. They'll eventually have to replace players like Donald, Kupp, and Stafford sooner rather than later. Which begs the question, how do you fill needed roles, plus replace the foundation of your team all within a couple of seasons? It's going to be a tall task, but the elephant in the room isn't Donald or Kupp, but Stafford. If we can hit on a FA or Rookie QB, everything else should fall into place, but if we whiff and miss, well then, that might be McVay's and Sneads curtain call. Time will tell.

Lastly, I'd like to talk McVay's scheme. Do you guys think he's keeping it vanilla this year because he knows the Rams aren't contenders? Or do you think he's putting his best foot forward with what we've seen the first 8 weeks?

 

[den-the-coach]

Heh....I remember Dan (Hurley/girly) Curley. Another Mike Martz draft special.
I think 'ol Curley won the Trung Canidate ROY award for complete ineffectiveness as a NFL wannabe.

~ArkyRamsFan~

I remember he was hurt and not active, finally, the day came where he was available and was going to play and then pulled a groin during warmups and never played a down of NFL football.

 

[JBRam77]

I think if most fans were honest with themselves a 3-6 record at the midway point of the season shouldn't surprise anyone. Moving on from core players and replacing them with unproven talent is always a gamble especially when it makes up over 50% of your roster. Good news is, the Rams brass hit on a lot of picks, and they have shown they can play and play well in the NFL. However, like with all young players it takes time to develop them and there's the chance that a successful first year player doesn't always translate to a successful NFL career. There are plenty of players who peaked early in their career just to disappear into the ether.
We also have great draft capital and needed cap room next year. If anything, the Rams can go back to their bread and butter of offering draft picks for players or sliding down in the draft to build a roster worthy of what we've seen in years past. While I don't think we make it to a SB next year, I do think that we will see something similar to McVays Rookie HC season.

The biggest issue I see is, not only do the rams need to rebuild in many Key positions. They'll eventually have to replace players like Donald, Kupp, and Stafford sooner rather than later. Which begs the question, how do you fill needed roles, plus replace the foundation of your team all within a couple of seasons? It's going to be a tall task, but the elephant in the room isn't Donald or Kupp, but Stafford. If we can hit on a FA or Rookie QB, everything else should fall into place, but if we whiff and miss, well then, that might be McVay's and Sneads curtain call. Time will tell.

Lastly, I'd like to talk McVay's scheme. Do you guys think he's keeping it vanilla this year because he knows the Rams aren't contenders? Or do you think he's putting his best foot forward with what we've seen the first 8 weeks?

I don’t think McVay is keeping it vanilla because he wants to. This team is designed to jump out to leads and run the ball and run play action to keep defenses off balance. The only game that this didn’t work was against Indy for some reason. The Pittsburgh game Stafford just threw a miserable INT to change momentum and followed that up a week later in Dallas with the worst throw Ive seen him make as a Ram. The defense can’t get key stops. They can’t force turnovers. No return Tds by the defense or special teams. We haven’t started a series on the opposing side of the field yet all season long. It’s hard to drive the length of the field every series of every game with a shaky OLine and 3rd rate running backs and no tight end weapons. Tutu has become invisible again. Teams with elite pass rushers just tee off when the Rams are in obvious passing downs. When was the last time the Rams beat a team with an elite pass rusher on it? If the D was more stout and allowed the O to sustain a lead the McVay playbook would open up more IMO (or maybe teams have him figured out?). It really is hard to figure it out. Its a talent problem. Its a depth problem. Its also a tactical/gameplanning issue. You have to assume teams will change their gameplan against you and prepare for it. They did that starting back in 2018. I thought he learned by now

 

[OldSchool]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VykxB7MMTWs&ab_channel=Evaldas98

 

[TexasRam]

I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend.

You could cut ties from all those playoff hopes that you've been living in.

And if you, don't want to hear me on this again..... I would understand.

Yes I would understand.

 

[PARAM]

18. How many games before Puka Nacua becomes the first rookie Rams WR to surpass 1,000 yards? (He’s at 827)

Soon. Very soon.

 

[CGI_Ram]

17. I hope Kyler Murray plays just well enough to persuade Arizona not to take a better QB in the draft.

Reassessing Murray.

So now that the luster of Sunday victory has subsided has anyone have thought about Murray’s performance? I looked at his performance as very good…for his first game back. I also think he will need to get better than he was. I also think the play calling changed a bit more than I was hoping...

www.arizonasportsfans.com

No Need to Draft a QB?

I’m sure after Murray played an unbelievable game, some people are thinking the Cards have their QB. As Lee Corso loves to say, “Not so fast, my friend.” I certainly hope they do. Murray was amazing coming back from an ACL injury. That said, I want to see more. Murray certainly answered many...

www.arizonasportsfans.com

 

[HX76]

16. I’m in two fantasy leagues this year and have a combined record of 14-6. Les Snead… I’m gunning for your job!

Didn’t you beat me this week just gone? Terrible gloating this, I’ve gone off these threads now.

 

[AvengerRam]

Didn’t you beat me this week just gone? Terrible gloating this, I’ve gone off these threads now.

I’m sorry?

 

[OnceARam]

Playoffs?
This season is about grading on a curve. If we win more than six games, our coaching staff will have done a hell of a job. The NFL is about talent first, the coaching. That said lots of promising rookies and reason for future success. In a year from now the talk will be about how the league has never seen a team reload so quickly. One down year is a small price to pay.

 

[muggmeister]

10. On the down side, sounds like Tyler Higbee may need to step aside and heal for a while. An opportunity for Davis Allen?

Would also like to see Higbee step aside and let's see what we have in both Allen and Long the rest of the way. Higbee has an $11M cap hit next year if he's on the roster with zero dead money (according to SPOTRAC) This is the perfect time to see if we have a couple TEs moving forward and towards next year. With the remaining holes we have on this team that we have to fill in the off-season I don't want TE to be one of them. Let the youngsters learn and grow.

 

[snackdaddy]

Reassessing Murray.

So now that the luster of Sunday victory has subsided has anyone have thought about Murray’s performance? I looked at his performance as very good…for his first game back. I also think he will need to get better than he was. I also think the play calling changed a bit more than I was hoping...

www.arizonasportsfans.com

No Need to Draft a QB?

I’m sure after Murray played an unbelievable game, some people are thinking the Cards have their QB. As Lee Corso loves to say, “Not so fast, my friend.” I certainly hope they do. Murray was amazing coming back from an ACL injury. That said, I want to see more. Murray certainly answered many...

www.arizonasportsfans.com

If Murray plays well enough it not only might make them commit to him, they could propel us to a last place schedule next year.

 

[dang]

Playoffs?
This season is about grading on a curve. If we win more than six games, our coaching staff will have done a hell of a job. The NFL is about talent first, the coaching. That said lots of promising rookies and reason for future success. In a year from now the talk will be about how the league has never seen a team reload so quickly. One down year is a small price to pay.

Forget worrying about wins and losses for the remainder of this season. It’s more about finding the foundational defensive pieces and establishing an offensive identity that the Rams can build on for a legitimate playoff run next year.