I knew from TC this was a championship caliber roster so in complete honesty, I am not surprised in the least. Happy, elated absolutely but not surprised. I knew if Morris would simply quit playing his soft defense they could dominate games. I knew they had a championship-caliber receiving corps as well.
Staley proved just how good this defense was if played properly. He played his defense like McVay plays his offense with lots of deception to cause confusion. Morris tends to play his defense more conventionally. During the regular season, Morris' defense was strictly middle of the road ranking between 16-18. But after he came off his soft defense foolishness his playoff defense, played aggressively has been ranked by some as being the #2 unit in the playoffs.
If he continues to play the defense in the same manner as he did during the playoffs I will have no problem with him. Adjustments he made during the playoffs showed how good not only the players were but how good Morris can be when he wants to be. One adjustment stood out. He showed a 5 man DL but only rushed 4. The 5th man forced the Bungle OL to assume a man blocking call freeing up AD and Miller. He adopted a new attitude. He dropped the idiotic bend not break philosophy to begin playing a style that challenged the offense to beat the Ram D.
Once I saw him do that against the Cards I knew they would likely win it all. It's why when I looked at the different scenarios, I knew that a Super Bowl matchup against the Bungles would be a lock to be a win.
When you really look at the game, the only reason the Rams didn't blow the Bungles out were injuries. Had the Rams been at full strength with OBJ, Higbee, Woods, Fuller and Rochell, the Rams would have won this going away. With OBJ for a full game, it wouldn't even have been close. They had no answer for OBJ and Kupp. Their DL is strong vs the run but mediocre as pass rushers. Their safeties are good but their CBs suck. That's why I personally don't see them getting past the divisional round at best for the next several years. By that time their roster will be completely turned over and who knows if it will be better or worse.
Takeaway the bogus Higgins TD (which would have given them a 1st and 25 yds instead of a TD) and they only scored 13 points.
The Rams didn't play a clean game yet they still beat them with one receiver, a 4th TE, and an un-retired SS. When you do an actual breakdown of the game, you can't see what the media was raving about. Burrows is good but Mahomes, Jackson, Allen, and Herbert are as good or better. No, the Rams dodge a huge bullet with this matchup considering their injury state. Against any other team, the Rams probably lose the minute OBJ goes down.
So no I'm not surprised the Rams won.
