20 Random Working Overtime Thoughts!

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AvengerRam

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1. OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. A funny thing happened on the way to a blowout win...

3. Okay, let's start with the superlatives... I'm going with co-MVPs on the offensive side of the ball this week.

4. First, Matthew Stafford. He is one tough SOB. I'm sure his hip is going to be sore tomorrow, and throughout the week. There was never any indication, though, that he was going to sit out the end of the game. He was amazing on that final drive, reminding us once again why we traded for him.

5. You can't overlook Puka Nacua, though. Unbelievable performance once again, with 163 yards and the game winner in OT (not to mention being Johnny on the spot recovering a Kyren Williams fumble). He is no fluke. He's a real find.

6. It was also amazing seeing a parade of Colts players going over to Puka to congratulate him after the game (including Anthony Richardson). He has really found his place in the NFL fraternity, and his rivals are taking notice. Puka is loving it!

7. On defense, Ankhello Witherspoon and Ernest Jones get honorable mentions, but it was Aaron Donald who made his presence felt throughout the game. He's my defensive MVP of the week.

8. You have to love the way the Rams started the game. Unlike last week at Cincinnati, the Rams cashed in on two consecutive TD drives that set the tone early. The run/balance pass was exactly what we wanted to see.

9. Overall, you have to be happy with the running game, which produced 150 yards on 34 carries (plus 14 yards on two Stafford scrambles). It wasn't an even performance, but it was a big key overall. Williams had his first 100 yard game, and it was nice to see Ronnie Rivers spelling him and contributing.

10. You also have to give high grades to the offensive line. With A.J. Jackson out, Joe Noteboom to LT, and Kevin Dotson in at RG, the line kept Stafford clean and opened holes for the running game.

11. So how did the Colts get back into this one? I'd say it was several factors.

12. I wouldn't say the Rams took their foot off the gas, but I do think they decelerated a bit after building the big lead.

13. Of course, it didn't help that Stafford was hobbled, making us a little more predictable (and contributing to the one INT, thrown one play after the injury).

14. It also didn't help that Brett Maher missed two field goals. He's a marginally adequate stopgap, but I think its fair to say that the Rams will need to look at a long term solution at PK next year.

15. The defense had some lapses too. While I hate to pile on one guy, I do feel like defensive breakdowns too often involve Michael Hoecht, who either gives up the edge or gets beat in coverage.

16. You have to give some credit to the Colts, though. They made some big plays and fought hard. Sometimes, you just have to tip your hat.

17. There was a lot of emotion from the Rams at the end of the game, including Donald bear-hugging Sean McVay. As much as I would have liked a nice, relaxing blowout, I think the team, particularly a young team, can really benefit from a win like this one.

18. So, here we are, 2-2 after four games, and looking at a three game home stand ahead of us. We could be getting a key reinforcement in Cooper Kupp (can't wait to see him with Puka), and our young core continues to gain experience. I'm really looking forward to seeing what's ahead.

19. Will the Rams look to add more to the roster? On the offensive side, I do feel like there were some runs that a better RB would have broken for more yards, but I have to say I doubt we'll see a move there. On the defensive side, upgrading Hoecht's spot would be an obvious way of improving the unit. Again, though, I'm not really expecting a move.

20. Time to celebrate!
 

AvengerRam

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20RT Footnote...

Our execution on screen passes was abysmal. Stafford took a big hit on multiple screen plays (including the one that resulted in his injury) and the blocking (yeah, I'm talking to you, Van Jefferson) was just bad. Maybe that's a play that will work better with Kupp in the lineup. Maybe it just needs to be scrapped.
 

snackdaddy

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I still don't know who they are. The first half team that moved the ball with ease and played solid defense? Or the second half team that blew a 23-0 lead while shooting themselves in the foot? Or somewhere in between?
 

AvengerRam

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I still don't know who they are. The first half team that moved the ball with ease and played solid defense? Or the second half team that blew a 23-0 lead while shooting themselves in the foot? Or somewhere in between?
I’d say that they are a team that has had a tough early schedule, were nonetheless competitive in all four games, and came away with two wins.

Given that (1) we’re relying heavily on young players who are getting better with time, and (2) we’re likely getting back one of our top players soon, that’s a good place to be.

(But, yes…it would have been nice to have pulled away for an easy win.)
 

oldnotdead

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Next week doesn't look like a foregone loss. The Eagles look beatable. AZ is certainly beatable if you don't take them lightly. The Steelers just lost their QB1 so they are vulnerable. The Lions exposed GB so the next 5 games are most certainly winnable. I think we go into the bye week at least 5-4 but I think we will be 6-3 which IMO sets us up for an 11 win season. This is why I said in the prediction thread that 10-7 was the bottom line and very likely but 11-6 was feasible. I think most people on this board would have accepted 2-2 at this point. The Rams would be 3-1 except for some point shaving refs. I saw a highlight reel of missed and bad calls last week and it's wide spread each and every week week.

IMO refs need to fail their eye exam to be hired. The fact that legalized gaming is an authorized NFL sponsor is no joke.
 

AvengerRam

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Next week doesn't look like a foregone loss. The Eagles look beatable. AZ is certainly beatable if you don't take them lightly. The Steelers just lost their QB1 so they are vulnerable. The Lions exposed GB so the next 5 games are most certainly winnable. I think we go into the bye week at least 5-4 but I think we will be 6-3 which IMO sets us up for an 11 win season. This is why I said in the prediction thread that 10-7 was the bottom line and very likely but 11-6 was feasible. I think most people on this board would have accepted 2-2 at this point. The Rams would be 3-1 except for some point shaving refs. I saw a highlight reel of missed and bad calls last week and it's wide spread each and every week week.

IMO refs need to fail their eye exam to be hired. The fact that legalized gaming is an authorized NFL sponsor is no joke.
I agree with you that the Rams have some favorable matchups coming up, and no game should be viewed as a foregone loss.

I'm also going to politely ask that if you, or anyone else, wishes to discuss the subjects of point shaving, fixing games, or the like, that you start your own thread on the topic. Last week's 20RT thread got hijacked by that tangent last week, and I'd really prefer to avoid the same thing happening this week. Thanks.
 

Merlin

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I still don't know who they are. The first half team that moved the ball with ease and played solid defense? Or the second half team that blew a 23-0 lead while shooting themselves in the foot? Or somewhere in between?
I think they're both. They're a team counting on young players and guys with holes in their game, but when they all execute together they play good ball.

This isn't a team who is going to score 7 on every drive and if they don't it doesn't mean McVay is shit. They're not gonna get a stop every possession on defense and if not it doesn't mean Morris is shit. We have an old QB with high miles who is easily dinged up. He's nails but he's fragile. We have flaws on our OL. We have flaws all over our defense. Our special teams isn't gonna win games for us.

Fact that we're 2-2 is damn near a miracle. I'm proud of this team. But honestly I think we have a lot of fans who need to get some reality checks on ridiculously high expectations. It's crazy tbh.

This is no Super Bowl team. They may get in the playoffs or maybe win one and give us hope but a title ain't gonna happen. This is a rebuild team and that's ok. For myself realizing that and trying to enjoy them when they play matters.
 

OntarioRam

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This team is very good. It is not yet a contender, but it should be next year, if we can hit on a few draft picks and make a few good free agent additions with our upcoming cap space. The Colts have a good defensive line and our o-line held up very well. Stafford was generally kept clean. Add a running back that is a game breaker - or at least a compliment to what Williams brings; Rivers is too similar in that both are smaller backs that simultaneously lack great speed - and this offense will really pop. The defence is solid even if unspectacular and lacking much in the way of splash plays/turnover abiility outside of Donald. They are so young that they should continue to grow quite a bit yet though. I am hopeful we see some FA signings and/or prime draft picks invested on that side of the ball this offseason to give it some pop.

Despite such a tough schedule, this team should be 3-1 but for McVay embarrassing himself this past Monday against the Bengals by refusing to run the football for no good reason. And we have not yet had our best WR /offensive player on the field in Kupp. Let that sink in. This team can play. I have said it in a few other threads - Cincinnati is a BAD football team in its current form with Burrow completely neutering their offense by playing on 1 leg. They have a good roster on paper, but they cannot move the football because they are one dimensional / their QB might as well be a statue. And so their D is tired and worn. The Titans and their sad offensive system put up 27 points on the Bengals today. And like I said in response to comments our D was so good last week... a legitimately good D would have blanked the Bengals in their current state on MNF... or at least come close to it. Well, lo and behold, the Bengals only scored 3 points today vs. the Titans' powerful defense. I can't be too hard on McVay though. As much as he lost us the game in Cincy, he won us the game in Seattle IMO, that offensive output was largely due to great scheming.
 

RhodyRams

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10. You also have to give high grades to the offensive line. With A.J. Jackson out, Joe Noteboom to LT, and Kevin Dotson in at RG, the line kept Stafford clean and opened holes for the running game.
I didnt watch the whole game, but it seemed every time Rams had the ball #9 was getting hit at least once

stat line says 2 sacks and 9 qb hits
 

Allen2McVay

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I didnt watch the whole game, but it seemed every time Rams had the ball #9 was getting hit at least once

stat line says 2 sacks and 9 qb hits
It's not that he was hit a lot, given the number of attempts but when he was hit, there were some hard hits.
 

AvengerRam

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I didnt watch the whole game, but it seemed every time Rams had the ball #9 was getting hit at least once

stat line says 2 sacks and 9 qb hits
There were at least 3 QB hits that were on badly executed screens. On those plays, the free man got to Stafford, which was more an issue of a receiver's failure to chip or just bad design, rather than the OL allowing pressure. Another happened when Stafford tripped (possibly due to his hip injury).
 

HE WITH HORNS

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There were at least 3 QB hits that were on badly executed screens. On those plays, the free man got to Stafford, which was more an issue of a receiver's failure to chip or just bad design, rather than the OL allowing pressure. Another happened when Stafford tripped (possibly due to his hip injury).
One was a whiff by Jefferson. When Kupp comes back, Van should be looking from the sidelines.
 

kurtfaulk

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21 - why did the Rams have such difficulty covering the tes? Every one of them was always open every play. Strange.

.
 

Classic Rams

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I saw Puka miss a block that got Stanford hurt, and he admitted that in the interview and felt bad. He kinda got steamrolled. But that's a WR against a LB so I don't blame him too much. On Hoechts coverage I was like why do they keep switching a lineman into coverage, he's not a true edge LB because he's too slow. As for "the Rams are not a SB team yet" we don't know because no one can say that about any team yet. Some teams start off like a mad bull only to whimp out later (whiners) and some teams that have a few losses that don't look great early end up winning it all. It's happened all throughout history. So we don't know what we'll have later. I'm just not calling them anything yet until we get near the end of the season. And even that may be too early to tell.
 

bomebadeeda

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The season is about attrition The wear and tear on the teams are tough and you just have to survive the injuries that happened and hopefully they don't come to your players that mean more than others that been said we did good today Stafford played out of his mind Donald played out of his mind and Puka did great things just my two cents

Sorry about the punctuation I'm using my phone and I'm doing talk to text which usually takes my accent and tells you all sorts of things so
 

Kupped

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Hoecht ain't 300 pounds, guys.

Nowhere close. Listed weights mean very little and he had an entire offseason to change his body for a position where he would be in space more.

He's 270 at the most, imo.