FEATURE 20 Random Shooing the Vultures Thoughts

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AvengerRam

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1. My wife and arrived very late to the Game of Thrones party. We just watched the “Battle of the Bastards” episode. If the carnage in the scene in which the Starks confront the Boltons is a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10, the Rams injury situation this year is a 9.

2. And that, my Rams fans compatriots, is my long-worded way of saying that yes… its all about the injuries.

3. Well, mostly.

4. There are issues that deserve criticism that are not related to the injuries. Its fair, for example, to ask how a defensive scheme that allows Andy Fucking Dalton complete 21 or 25 passes (for over 10 yards per attempt) is not suspect.

5. Its also entirely fair to point out that Jalen Ramsey, for all his elite talents, has lapses in coverage that have hurt us (insert your Chris Olave beat Jalen like Jon Snow beat Ramsey Bolton joke here).

6. And, while I’m reluctant to use terms like “gave up” to describe how players approach a game, I do feel like the defense, shall we say, lost its intensity after Matthew Stafford went down.

7. But, in the end, these criticisms, fair though they may be, miss the point.

8. No team – I don’t care how strong a roster they might have, how much character they might have, and how well coached they might be – could survive the bloodbath on the offensive line and, more recently, the injuries at QB and WR that the Rams have suffered. None. Zero. End of story.

9. So, here’s where I’m going for the next several random comments… I’m coming after you, vultures (that’s my fair warning – don’t read ahead if you think this might be directed at you and you can’t handle criticism).

10. The vultures are the fans who celebrate when things are good, but seem to really get energized when they have something to complain about.

11. Vultures don’t typically kill their own prey, they descend on the dead and the helpless.

12. Vultures think they are insightful and the true “realists” among fans when, in fact, they’re about as insightful as a meteorologist who looks out the window and tells you its currently raining.

13. Vultures are not a new phenomenon. If you’ve been a Rams fan for decades, your seen them carrion (see what I did there?) before.

14. But this year, there’s an added element: WE JUST WON THE FREAKIN’ SUPER BOWL!!!!

15. I know that there’s a “attack the post, not the poster” rule here, so I won’t call out anyone by name. However, here is a partial list of inane, impertinent, immature and insufferable things that the current flock of vultures like to say…

16. They question whether it was worth the “all in” approach? Well, while I don’t necessarily agree with the premise (even if we went only “partially in,” injuries would have killed us this year), the answer to that question is “are you fucking kidding me?”

17. They question whether Sean McVay is really a good coach or, even more comically, suggest he lost it due to resting on his laurels, getting married, being distracted, etc., etc., etc.

18. They suggest that Matthew Stafford will/should retire, that Aaron Donald should be moved to Pittsburgh, and that the entire roster should be scuttled.

19. Here’s the simple truth. The Rams will need to bolster (or, perhaps, retheir OL this offseason. That will be a big task. But if they do, and the rest of the key guys return (most are signed through next year), this team will compete and, with a little luck, contend in 2023. If you don’t get that, you must have just started watching NFL football.

20. So, vultures… shoo! This is a bad year, we all know it. The Rams will be back and, when things are good, you’ll be right back on the bandwagon. In the meantime, you’re not helping the situation. Not even a little bit.
 
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Tano

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18. They suggest that Matthew Stafford will/should retire, that Aaron Donald should be moved to Pittsburgh, and that the entire roster should be scuttled.
I do worry that Matt may get brain injuries if he continues to get killed out there. I do not want him to have the same issues Junior Seau had.
 

Tano

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If I could go back in time and not watch Game of Thrones, I would. Fair warning. ;)
Well he can always watch the first 7 seasons and then guess in his mind how it ends in the 8th season without actually watching the 8th season.
 

AvengerRam

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  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6
I do worry that Matt may get brain injuries if he continues to get killed out there. I do not want him to have the same issues Junior Seau had.
I’m sure we all feel that way. It’s not our job, though, to evaluate whether he’s at that point.
 

thirteen28

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While I think there are valid criticisms toward McVay for things like play calling, approach to the OL etc., he gets a LOT of slack due to the injuries. If someone would have told you that our OL injury situation would be this bad prior to the season, any reasonable person would have said we are fucked. And that's what has happened. No matter how you quantify OL injuries, we are several standard deviations removed from the norm, and we must be approaching some sort of record for different number of OL combinations started, either in sheer number or streak. A good OL doesn't necessarily guarantee a good offense, but a really bad OL? Yeah, that pretty much guarantees a bad offense. And with the ridiculous, several-standard-deviations-from-the-norm level we have had at that position group, that's where we're at. Nothing else - McVay's play calling, Super Bowl hangover, etc., does more to explain this season than that.

As far as the whole was it worth it question? Please. Go ask the fans Cleveland Browns if it would be worth it to them to do what we did for the same results we had last year. Or better yet, go ask fans of the Lions after watching us win it with their longtime QB1. I'm pretty sure I know that the answer would be in the affirmative for our approach.

My biggest justifiable criticism this season remains the D. At a time when our O is struggling mightily, we need a D that will play on its toes but instead have a scheme that has them play on their heels. We never get turnovers, never do anything on D that could change the momentum in our favor. You can throw yards and points stats at me all you want, I can counter with turnover stats (0 since the Carolina game) and passing stats of guys like Andy Dalton and Colt McCoy against this D. If you were to tell someone to design a ridiculously passive D that would negate the talents of the best DL to ever play the game and a HOF CB, I don't think they could do better than the scheme we are using now. I wouldn't like this scheme even under circumstances where our O was playing lights out, but given our problems on that side of the ball, their complete inability to make anything happen stands our more and more, and its a gross underachievement given the talent of some of the players we have. I pray to God that someone hires Morris away as a head coach next year. If there is any criticism of McVay that is valid, it's his putting up with this shit.
 

Varg6

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I’ll say it again - I can’t imagine McVay leaving the Rams like this. I think it’s going to haunt him all off-season. I think it’s going to rejuvenate him, and make him come back stronger than ever.

I do think we should shut down Stafford for the season, but I can’t and will not imagine him retiring like this. He’s still got the desire to play. The only caveat, of course, is the idea of him not getting this time to form connections with other receivers. But I’d rather him heal and rest than get battered by this “OL.”

Another thought - I really hope Raheem gets a HC gig. I didn’t love his style of scheme during last season either. He quite literally changed and became more aggressive during the playoffs. Either way, I’m just not a fan. Wish him the best, but I’d prefer to get someone else at this point.

I think we’re also forgetting just how many quality coaches we’ve lost each and every year. Without the Super Bowl victory, it would be quite grim. I’m not thrilled we’ll have the worst SB hangover season of all time, but I think it is something McVay will learn from.

Frankly, we’ve been through worse. I’m not ready to give up on McVay. If this exact same season happens without the injuries we’ve sustained, then sure, let’s talk about it. For now - let’s just pray the Whiners get beat up in the playoffs.
 

ArkyRamsFan

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Yeah, and I'm done with McVay hiring his friends like Raheem Morris. Time to hire someone who is going to be held accountable or fired if necessary.
I get the feeling that Morris believes he had a permanent pass at his job sans results because he's a FOS - Friend of Sean.
Really want to hear what he has to say about his defense being slaughtered by career backup QBs last two weeks.
We had a decent chance to pull out some wins if his defense played like they should......

~ArkyRamsFan~
 

snackdaddy

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The defense is now almost as bad as the offense. We thought maybe the defense was good. But look at the offenses when they played well. Panthers, Falcons, Bucs(except that 44 second debacle)Cowboys with a backup and Cardinals. Not exactly offensive juggernauts.

Heck, the Cardinals and Saints were not good offenses to begin with and they had backups. They both put up 27 points making the QB's look like all pros. The Bills ran circles around them. So did the 49ers in the second game. This defense was overrated until a few weeks ago. Now we see what it really is. A bend before breaking defense.

So we have a bad offense and a bad defense now. In 2016 the standings said we were bad but not the worst team in the league. But I guarantee down the stretch we would not have beat any of the 31 other teams. This team looks like that now. I would be surprised if we win another game this season.
 

Tano

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The defense is now almost as bad as the offense. We thought maybe the defense was good. But look at the offenses when they played well. Panthers, Falcons, Bucs(except that 44 second debacle)Cowboys with a backup and Cardinals. Not exactly offensive juggernauts.

Heck, the Cardinals and Saints were not good offenses to begin with and they had backups. They both put up 27 points making the QB's look like all pros. The Bills ran circles around them. So did the 49ers in the second game. This defense was overrated until a few weeks ago. Now we see what it really is. A bend before breaking defense.

So we have a bad offense and a bad defense now. In 2016 the standings said we were bad but not the worst team in the league. But I guarantee down the stretch we would not have beat any of the 31 other teams. This team looks like that now. I would be surprised if we win another game this season.
I always argued that when we play teams with a decent QB that our defense would be overwhelmed.

And we haven't even played a team with a decent QB yet. (Sorry Brady fans but he is done.)

But now opposing teams have determined that Morris is going to keep on doing his soft zone shit and are taking advantage of it even with lower quality QBs (McCoy/Dalton/Crapola).

Morris needs to throw away this scheme and start playing more aggressive or we are going to continue seeing games where the other teams score over 20 points before the end of the third period.
 

Jacobarch

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Injuries always exacerbates flaws or weaknesses on any team. Truth be told our Oline wasn't that good before all of the injuries. Sure we don't really know how they would have geled if injuries weren't an issue. But when the online is being shuffled weekly that usually spells doom for any team and any QB.

As far as Stafford is concerned there really shouldn't be any talk of retirement because it's never been publicly stated by Matthew or the Rams. So we should all do ourselves a favor and just ignore the chicken littles and not fall into that troll trap. Call it what you will but the only reason it causes issues on this board is because people fall for it every time. So learn from it folks.

As far as defense is concerned. I doubt Morris gets an offer next year from any team. Obviously this is just an opinion but as far as I'm concerned with the talent this defense has they have vastly underperformed.
The real stinker with this defense is it's inability to change up their scheme. Again I'm not sure if this is Sean's decision or Morris's. But the scheme isn't doing them any favors ATM.

I think this off-season the Rams will clean house. I think the top brass stays put, mcVay snead demof etc but I think most if not all of the coaches get canned. Obviously jmo
 
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Memento

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1. My wife and arrived very late to the Game of Thrones party. We just watched the “Battle of the Bastards” episode. If the carnage in the scene in which the Starks confront the Boltons is a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10, the Rams injury situation this year is a 9.
Holy fate, GOT/ASoIaF is one of the best fantasy series ever (not counting my works). I just wish the GRRM wasn't a die-hard Cheatriots fan and a huge procrastinator (lawl, not that I'm not, haha), but it's a fantastic series, even with the faults. House of the Dragon is also a fantastic watch.
 

snackdaddy

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Injuries always exacerbates flaws or weaknesses on any team. Truth be told our Oline wasn't that good before all of the injuries. Sure we don't really know how they would have geled if injuries weren't an issue. But when the online is being shuffled weekly that usually spells doom for any team and any QB.

As far as Stafford is concerned there really shouldn't be any talk of retirement because it's never been publicly stated by Matthew or the Rams. So we should all do ourselves a favor and just ignore the chicken littles and not fall into that troll trap. Call it what you will but the only reason it causes issues on this board is because people fall for it every time. So learn from it folks.

As far as defense is concerned. I doubt Morris gets an offer next year from any team. Obviously this is just an opinion but as far as I'm concerned with the talent this defense has they have vastly underperformed.
The real stinker with this defense is it's inability to change up their scheme. Again I'm not sure if this is Sean's decision or Morris's. But the scheme isn't doing them any favors ATM.

I think this off-season the Rams will clean house. I think the top brass stays put, mcVay snead demof etc but I think most if not all of the coaches get canned. Obviously jmo
I agree the O-line wasn't that good to begin with. Average at best. Probably a little below that. But nowhere near as bad as it is now. If they stayed healthy all year I don't think we'd be sniffing 8 wins right now. But maybe .500 or slightly better. Not bottom of the league like we are now.

I doubt Morris is going anywhere. His bend don't break defense can work to a degree. What happened yesterday was poor execution by the players.

Changes will need to be made. I'm thinking more on the offensive side of the ball. Unless the defense continues this downward trajectory. Then that side of the ball will need changes.
 

FaulkSF

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The O line is a major problem not to mention the schematics on the D making the Red Rocket look like an all-pro:

IMG_20221107_214738.gif
 

majrleaged

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While I think there are valid criticisms toward McVay for things like play calling, approach to the OL etc., he gets a LOT of slack due to the injuries. If someone would have told you that our OL injury situation would be this bad prior to the season, any reasonable person would have said we are fucked. And that's what has happened. No matter how you quantify OL injuries, we are several standard deviations removed from the norm, and we must be approaching some sort of record for different number of OL combinations started, either in sheer number or streak. A good OL doesn't necessarily guarantee a good offense, but a really bad OL? Yeah, that pretty much guarantees a bad offense. And with the ridiculous, several-standard-deviations-from-the-norm level we have had at that position group, that's where we're at. Nothing else - McVay's play calling, Super Bowl hangover, etc., does more to explain this season than that.

As far as the whole was it worth it question? Please. Go ask the fans Cleveland Browns if it would be worth it to them to do what we did for the same results we had last year. Or better yet, go ask fans of the Lions after watching us win it with their longtime QB1. I'm pretty sure I know that the answer would be in the affirmative for our approach.

My biggest justifiable criticism this season remains the D. At a time when our O is struggling mightily, we need a D that will play on its toes but instead have a scheme that has them play on their heels. We never get turnovers, never do anything on D that could change the momentum in our favor. You can throw yards and points stats at me all you want, I can counter with turnover stats (0 since the Carolina game) and passing stats of guys like Andy Dalton and Colt McCoy against this D. If you were to tell someone to design a ridiculously passive D that would negate the talents of the best DL to ever play the game and a HOF CB, I don't think they could do better than the scheme we are using now. I wouldn't like this scheme even under circumstances where our O was playing lights out, but given our problems on that side of the ball, their complete inability to make anything happen stands our more and more, and its a gross underachievement given the talent of some of the players we have. I pray to God that someone hires Morris away as a head coach next year. If there is any criticism of McVay that is valid, it's his putting up with this shit.
You are preaching to the choir brother!
 

majrleaged

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I always argued that when we play teams with a decent QB that our defense would be overwhelmed.

And we haven't even played a team with a decent QB yet. (Sorry Brady fans but he is done.)

But now opposing teams have determined that Morris is going to keep on doing his soft zone shit and are taking advantage of it even with lower quality QBs (McCoy/Dalton/Crapola).

Morris needs to throw away this scheme and start playing more aggressive or we are going to continue seeing games where the other teams score over 20 points before the end of the third period.
Isnt this what got Bum fired. He just keept playing the same style d no matter the situation
 

majrleaged

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Sep 10, 2016
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Injuries always exacerbates flaws or weaknesses on any team. Truth be told our Oline wasn't that good before all of the injuries. Sure we don't really know how they would have geled if injuries weren't an issue. But when the online is being shuffled weekly that usually spells doom for any team and any QB.

As far as Stafford is concerned there really shouldn't be any talk of retirement because it's never been publicly stated by Matthew or the Rams. So we should all do ourselves a favor and just ignore the chicken littles and not fall into that troll trap. Call it what you will but the only reason it causes issues on this board is because people fall for it every time. So learn from it folks.

As far as defense is concerned. I doubt Morris gets an offer next year from any team. Obviously this is just an opinion but as far as I'm concerned with the talent this defense has they have vastly underperformed.
The real stinker with this defense is it's inability to change up their scheme. Again I'm not sure if this is Sean's decision or Morris's. But the scheme isn't doing them any favors ATM.

I think this off-season the Rams will clean house. I think the top brass stays put, mcVay snead demof etc but I think most if not all of the coaches get canned. Obviously jmo
As long as morris is gone.