20 Random Thoughts, and My First Quarter Evaluation

[AvengerRam]

Time for my weekly data dump... and my review of the first quarter of the season:

1. The Elias Sports Bureau has confirmed that ugly wins count as much as pretty ones.

2. Still, I really thought this one would be a laugher.

3. The offense seemed a bit out of synch, and way too conservative. I'll call it an anomaly for now, unless it becomes a pattern.

4. Have to give credit to the defense, though. They were stifling in the first half, and made enough plays in the second to keep the Giants out of the End Zone. Sure, the Giants have a bad offense, but they're still an NFL team.

5. Our imperfect defense has also allowed less than 20 points in 3 of 4 games. That's a trend I want to see continue.

6. I don't have much to say about the Jalen Ramsey/Golden Taint brawl. Stupid thing for two grown men to do. I don't really care about the backstory.

7. Five sacks (plus one called back by penalty) was nice to see.

8. My Offensive MVP for the first quarter of the season: Jared Goff. Can't ask for much more from Goff. He is on a career-best pace in completion percentage (72.1), yards per attempt (8.7) and passer rating (108.1).

9. My Defensive MVP for the first quarter of the season: Aaron Donald. Shocker, I know. His 3.5 sacks and 10 QB hits only tell part of the story. The attention he receives makes the whole defense better.

10. The Rams are currently 9th in yards/game and 11th in yards/game allowed. I like that balance.

11. I'm hoping we'll see a spark in Quarter 2 from Cam Akers and Terrell Lewis.

12. Right now, I'd say our second best pass rusher is Morgan Fox.

13. If I had to list a concern when it comes to the offense, I'd say it my fear that our pass protection could falter if forced into a greater degree of difficulty (i.e. giving Goff a pocket that allows him to make deep throws).

14. On defense, my concern continues to be the consistency of the pass rush. I do think its improving, though.

15. Our MVK (most valuable contract) is Darious Williams' deal. We're paying him $750K this year, and he's an RFA next year. His play may obviate the need to pay UFA Troy Hill this offseason.

16. Raymond Calais' 41 yard KR was nice to see. More please.

17. The Seahawks look strong on offense, but that defense... 415 yards allowed to the Dolphins who might have beaten the Hawks if they could score in the Red Zone. They're very beatable.

18. San Francisco's injuries are taking their toll. If we can take advantage in 2 weeks, we'll have some nice breathing room over the hated Whiners.

19. Didn't I tell you to pump the breaks on the Cardinals, national media? Yes, Kyler Murray is an exciting player, but he's also 27th in yards/attempt and only three QBs have a higher INT% than he does.

20. Looking at the schedule (@Washington, @San Francisco, Chicago, Miami), I'm expecting the Rams to have at least 6 wins at the halfway point, and won't be surprised if they have 7

 

[nighttrain]

7 wins at midpoint

train

 

[fearsomefour]

7 wins at midpoint

train

I had the Rams at 9 wins or so for the season.
Starting 1-2.
Going 2-1 was a huge headstart.
With Washington, SF, Miami, Chicago incoming a 7-1 first half is certainly possible.
I am very, very interested in the next two weeks.
Both teams have strong front sevens (even with their injuries SF front seven is very good) that will make running the ball a challenge.
We saw on Sunday when the run game stalls the roll outs and screens are soon to follow.......or maybe that was one game?
It was all short passes and lack of running game.
The Rams were 3-1 last year as well.
Will be very interesting to see if the Rams reset or if we are seeing a reset of last years issues with game planning/play calling.
I’m optimistic for several reasons.
The second half of schedule is much tougher (Seattle twice, Arizona twice, SF, NE, Tampa Bay, Jets).
Need to bank roll three of four wins the next four weeks.

 

[nighttrain]

2nd half is much tougher and why we need 7 at the midway
train

 

[FrantikRam]

After yesterday I am going into the Washington game with much trepidation and thinking it will be a tough, tough game. Possibly one that we lose.

 

[dang]

10-9 with 6 minutes left was not the plan. But the combination of the NYG defense balling out and the Rams going so conservative after the first score made it a reality. Malcolm Brown looked like the only one that was playing with an intensity on offense. That needs to change and McVay needs to make that happen. Props to a number of defensive players (Williams, Fox, Ramsey).

 

[Tano]

After yesterday I am going into the Washington game with much trepidation and thinking it will be a tough, tough game. Possibly one that we lose.

Haskins sucks - don't look at the stats from yesterdays game

 

[LouisvilleRam]

The frustrating part was we made it look so easy on our 2 TD drives. There was a whole lot of ugly on offense in between those scores.

 

[tomas]

Raymond Calais' 41 yard KR was nice to see. More, please.

His speed and agility look intriguing- maybe McVay can get Raymond Calais some touches in the backfield.

 

[madrid311]

I had the Rams at 9 wins or so for the season.
Starting 1-2.
Going 2-1 was a huge headstart.
With Washington, SF, Miami, Chicago incoming a 7-1 first half is certainly possible.
I am very, very interested in the next two weeks.
Both teams have strong front sevens (even with their injuries SF front seven is very good) that will make running the ball a challenge.
We saw on Sunday when the run game stalls the roll outs and screens are soon to follow.......or maybe that was one game?
It was all short passes and lack of running game.
The Rams were 3-1 last year as well.
Will be very interesting to see if the Rams reset or if we are seeing a reset of last years issues with game planning/play calling.
I’m optimistic for several reasons.
The second half of schedule is much tougher (Seattle twice, Arizona twice, SF, NE, Tampa Bay, Jets).
Need to bank roll three of four wins the next four weeks.

Yes, we will see if it's a trend with mcvay. The running game is a must. We need a healthy aikers and hendo to make this work.

 

[nighttrain]

His speed and agility look intriguing- maybe McVay can get Raymond Calais some touches in the backfield.

only three players ran a faster 40 than Akers at the combine, Calais one of them
train

 

[ottoman89]

Yesterday's offense is about what I'd expect if the running game isn't going. Seems like if the run game is taken away we struggle on Offense. I'd rather the Rams have these games early so they can try to tweak and change things now rather than later in the season.

And truth is, all good teams have off games.. but it seems like the "great" ones are the ones that pull through and win. It seems like these are the games we'd have lost last season.

It's still early and with no preseason they're trying to figure things out. I'll take 3-1 while they're still adjusting.

 

[Psycho_X]

Has Calais ever returned punts lol? I love Kupp but it's just not working. And Kupp has great speed once moving and cutting but his take off speed isn't the best. Plus, he's lacking in awareness for the position which is just an experience issue I admit. Calais speed would be intriguing though.

Also, saw this from a Saints fan complaining about their penalties but look who is second to last in defensive penalty yards for first quarter of the season. Has been a fairly clean team so far.


View: https://twitter.com/john_siglerr/status/1313150484576862208?s=20

 

[Merlin]

I suspect the Rams have a tell somewhere on the screens. Someone is putting their foot further back or something. That's the type of stuff Belichick would find, super minor details that would give him an edge and Judge is from that tree even if he is a ST background. He knows how they approach all that.

Last year our screens were terrible and I suspected the same thing. Even looked at their alignment pre-snap but couldn't really see well enough. But the way teams were pinning their ears back in 2019 screens should have worked but they didn't.

Could just be that the Giants nuked our screen game and were well prepared. But the way they keyed on them makes me suspect the tell and that stuff does happen.

 

[Merlin]

15. Our MVK (most valuable contract) is Darious Williams' deal. We're paying him $750K this year, and he's an RFA next year. His play may obviate the need to pay UFA Troy Hill this offseason.

Hill is as good as gone. He's just too inconsistent and looks lost in zone.

What the Rams are thinking right now is that they need to get a look at some of their other nickel options. IMO. They need to know what they have and Hill's inconsistency has opened that door.

 

[nighttrain]

2nd half is much tougher and why we need 7 at the midway
train

when i wrote this i was buying into the Murray hype-train, Zona not as tough as i first thot
train

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

I have a theory about our offensive "lulls" as McVay calls them:

Every single player interviewed after the game mentioned "execution," and how one player being off can bring the whole play down. I think maybe our O is too dependent upon the execution of plays going perfectly, when sometimes you just have to create, extend, or just make a damn play. Other offenses with lesser schemes (and I'm sure less mentally demanding ones) seem to just play a little more opportunistically, which at times can work out for them.

 

[bwdenverram]

This game made me think of the game back in St.Louis many years ago where our D held the Shecocks to like 175 yards of total offense yet we lost because our offense sucked and couldn't finish in the last few seconds of the game. We were NOT a very good team and they were.
Point being is sometimes bad teams just stick around and good teams have bad days and let them.
I think we will be ok. Hopefully with Lewis and A'Shawn coming back around week 7 we'll get a nice boost on D to make a second half run to the playoffs.

 

[Angry Ram]

Yesterday's offense is about what I'd expect if the running game isn't going. Seems like if the run game is taken away we struggle on Offense. I'd rather the Rams have these games early so they can try to tweak and change things now rather than later in the season.

And truth is, all good teams have off games.. but it seems like the "great" ones are the ones that pull through and win. It seems like these are the games we'd have lost last season.

It's still early and with no preseason they're trying to figure things out. I'll take 3-1 while they're still adjusting.

IDK, after thinking about it maybe the Giants aren't as pushovers as everyone thought?

Week 1 they gave the Steelers a fight, and damn well could've won that game until Daniel Jones had that INT to Cam Heyward (wtf), almost beat the Bears who also have a decent defense, They only get their ass handed to them by the shitters.