Game Replay Observations

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TexasRam

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I am a Night guy so stayed up to rewatch our Badass game tonight. Here are my observations after watching, rewinding and replaying every play a few times.

1. As posted in another thread - Goff had one incaccurate pass all night. Simply incredible.

2 But Maybe better than the accuracy was the 5 throw aways when nothing was there. Having an attacking fearless throwers mentality while also knowing when to throw it away is very hard to find in a QB.

3. We may have three 1000 yard 10 TD WR's this year. Kupp, Woods and Cooks are all over 300 yards in 4 games and on pace for over 1200 yards each. Kupp on pace for 16 TD, Woods with 12 and Cooks only with 1 TD so far but could easily catch up the pace with the way this offense is now operating.

4. The Rams offensive line is simply Awesome. I can't remember any offensive line in the NFL that is so assignment sound in both the run and pass. Each one of them had a moment when they were individually beat on a play leading to a pressure or sack or throw away, but Goff nicely compensates for these mishaps with his throw aways and quick reactions in the pocket.

5 By Rule there cannot be defensive pass interference on a defender on a fake punt that results in a throw down the field. I was originally pissed at Reynolds for not doing his best Brandin Cooks acting job impression but it wouldn't have mattered. But yes he should have at least tried to catch the ball.

6 Donald is in game shape. Even if he didn't have the two sacks, this would have been a dominating performance. Its hard to catch this during live action, but when you rewatch the tape carefully its clear he is in the backfield immediately every play.

7 Franklin-Myers - Great forced fumble to seal the game. But watch the tape and you will see he is very slow to the QB. I don't see him as a long term solution as an edge rusher the way they are trying to use him. He does provide power to collapse the pocket but doesn't have the quickness to be a force in this league. Sorry, just watch the tape and you will see.

8 Ebukam - Good speed and quickness but still getting engulfed by tackles on the edge. Its a problem.

9 Christian - Huge Liability in pass coverage. Yes we love his big hits but unless he can get better real fast he's gonna find his way back to a depth only guy. We gave up 400 yards passing and he is a big part of the problem. Watch the tape.

10 Ramik Wilson - See Christian but worse. Don't even know where to start. Looks like he is running in mud trying to cover underneath routes some times, and he doesn't offer much in run support.

11 Barron - Need him back ASAP. The knack for the blitz and the underneath coverage he offers is critical.

12 Shields- Got beat a few times but made some plays too showcasing that Pro Bowl talent from a few years ago. I think the Talib injury is a blessing in disguise because Shields just needs so reps to get back to his tip top form.

13 A gap Blitz - Watching Littleton show blitz in the A gap and then bail every play is annoying. How about let him actually press the A gap. Either he gets a sack or Frees the double team on Donald. I saw a delay blitz from him one time but the timing was off and he delayed too long it appeared.

14 How to fix the Defense:
A. We need an edge rusher. Maybe Obo is that guy, maybe one of these other rookies on the practice squad can be tried. Maybe we bring some old retired dude in like Atlanta did with Dwight Freeney or the Steelers with old man James Harrison.
B. As already stated Christian and Wilson need to be replaced. Barron and someone else. My vote is Kiser.

15 Kirk Cousins - He had one hell of a game.Throws in between defenders on multiple occasions. Props to the job he did.

16 What a time to be a RAM FAN!!!!!!!! This offense is now in full effect and rivals the GSOT. Most "experts" are now considering us the best team in the NFL.

17 David Carr shut the hell up- It was so nice to see Carr on the postgame on the NFL Network admit how good Goff is. Of course he picked his brother before the season to his top 10 QB list and left Goff off the top 10 list. Sucks to admit you are wrong but you had to do exactly that tonight.
 

Limey

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Haven't watched the game yet (had to work) but have the highlights recorded to watch later. How did Littleton do on D?
 

UKram

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Haven't watched the game yet (had to work) but have the highlights recorded to watch later. How did Littleton do on D?
from what i remember ...not a great deal... didn't really stand out at all today
 

RhodyRams

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5 By Rule there cannot be defensive pass interference on a defender on a fake punt that results in a throw down the field. I was originally ticked at Reynolds for not doing his best Brandin Cooks acting job impression but it wouldn't have mattered. But yes he should have at least tried to catch the ball. Almost makes me wonder if Reynolds knew that and was hoping for a flag. He was looking over the wrong shoulder. Was he looking for a flag or the ball?

6 Donald is in game shape. Even if he didn't have the two sacks, this would have been a dominating performance. Its hard to catch this during live action, but when you rewatch the tape carefully its clear he is in the backfield immediately every play.
The amount of holding that wasnt callled on AD99 and Suh was off the charts, but they were still disruptive
 

hotanez

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on #7 Meyers, it's not his fault. He's being used at edge because of the lack of players on the edge. Meyers is Brockers replacement in the future if Brockers leaves via free agency. That kid has a bright future and was a draft steal. Somebody please get Junior Galette on the phone
 

shovelpass

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7 Franklin-Myers - Great forced fumble to seal the game. But watch the tape and you will see he is very slow to the QB. I don't see him as a long term solution as an edge rusher the way they are trying to use him. He does provide power to collapse the pocket but doesn't have the quickness to be a force in this league. Sorry, just watch the tape and you will see.
This may be true, but he's doing a better job than Longacre, Easley, and Ebukam currently. I don't think anyone is expecting him to be a "force" in this league.
 

SteveBrown

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Adding:
I think Shields will get a lot better....mentally, and his endurance needs bit, too.
Surprised Peters played.....looked a bit tenative and a stop slow.
Those 2 QBs played as well as Rogers-Warner 51-48 duel in the 2009 playoffs.
Donald and Suh came through.
Rams had first down on the 4-5 yard line in the 4th quarter--and no points.....oooh, that was a bummer.
Defense back 7: looked pretty bad...tired, weary, disorganized?
Woods, Kupp and Cooks are not soooo far behind Bruce, Holt and Hakim.
THis is a "control" offense because all three WRs run precise routes---not many great offenses have that like the 2018 Rams do. Hakim was a great route runner when he was 'on', but not precise, and couldn't handle man-up often.

And.................Goff can sling it as well as anyone when he has a clear lane...."all time", anyone.
We will say by 2020 that he is better than Warner.....yepparoo
 

FaulkSF

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@TexasRam on #5, can there be defensive holding on a fake punt? It sure looked like the defender had a lot of jersey.
 

Mick

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I can't locate it, but on a run to the left side last night, Whitworth ragdolled a viking into another...saw the clip somewhere. If you can, watch that...guy is a destroyer of worlds.
 

Jacobarch

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Yes, the holding on Suh and AD was pretty bad, however the refs were letting these guys play. There were a couple plays that weren't called on us TBH. I remember Higbe had a really bad hold on a 3rd down that should have been called and wasn't and Saffold had a block in the back that was picked up that should have been called. So I like that the refs really kept the flags to a minimum.
 

Mackeyser

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Yes, the holding on Suh and AD was pretty bad, however the refs were letting these guys play. There were a couple plays that weren't called on us TBH. I remember Higbe had a really bad hold on a 3rd down that should have been called and wasn't and Saffold had a block in the back that was picked up that should have been called. So I like that the refs really kept the flags to a minimum.

At least they were consistent. That's all you can ask.

Whether they call a "ticky-tack" game or let 'em play, just be consistent.

Optimally, it'd be best if every crew was as close to the others in how they call each call, but full game consistency is a decent short-term compromise.
 

MrRiceGuyRJ

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My top observation. Aaron Donald. A lot of people (I'm definitely one of them) have been upset that he's not racking up stats. But people can't deny his presence on the field and what it does for the rest of our D-Line. Donald specifically stopped on the play and just tried to bat the ball down. He just standing still occupied two offensive lineman creating an easy path with minimal resistance for Brockers, Franklin-Myers and Suh. It was one of my favorite defensive plays of the game because it created an awesome pocket collapse

https://www.therams.com/video/rams-recover-critical-fumble-to-seal-the-victory
 

Q729

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Upon game replay... "...Now in the endzone...Kupp! COME ON! TOUCHDOWN RAMS! What a catch! What a throw!"
 

RamBall

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Just got done watching the game on DVR, it was odd seeing it from the opposite side I saw it from last night. AD was held a lot and Goff only really missed on 1 or 2 throws the whole game, last night I thought it was 3. The D didnt play as well as many of us expected, but you have to give minnesota some credit. Cousins played his ass off and Theilen and Diggs are 2 of the better WRs in the league, the D stuffed the run better than they had the 1st 3 games, in part because minnesota just didnt use the run enough to give themselves an opportunity to bust any. Joe Buck and Aikman had a hard time stating how good Goff is, even talked about how they felt he couldnt even throw a football from 1 TC practice his rookie year. Which is funny because I thought Goff was the only QB in camp that year that looked natural throwing the ball and definitely he threw it better than Keenum or Mannion.

Hekker appears to be getting rusty with the lack of 4th downs this season, Fisher knew how to keep his punt game top notch.