Over Macho Grande?

[Tano]

This discussion reminds me of the tale about playing chess with a pigeon. And, no I don't hate Goff. As a HATER of the Minute Scrotum BiQueens, that TNF game in September 2018, was one I'll ALWAYS cherish. The MNF shootout against Mahomes, he was a bit erratic but came out on top in an historic fray. The NFCCG in the Superdome, I thought he'd arrived what with the mental toughness he displayed that afternoon. But minutes before the Super Bowl, the cameras picked him up on the sideline and he looked as though the moment was too big for him. He appeared to be physically ill. And at critical stages, he played the way he looked in that moment.

Calling him GOOF makes you a hater.

And I have even said in a prior post that Goff was not ready for the game in the first half. He made all kinds of errors. He had a wide open Gurley on the sideline on a 2nd down on the first series and then for some unknown reason did not throw to a open Woods deep on the third down and instead ran out of bounds. He was determined not to make a mistake in that game. And that was just the first series.

But his play in the second half was much better since he drove the Rams down the field within easy FG range on every drive. They just couldn't finish due to two drops by Cook (one was definitely pass interference but I have seen very good WR catch the ball with one hand like that before).

 

[David Ray]

I have watched the video many times and Cook still should have caught that ball. Both Kupp and Puka catch it because they would block out the CB from hitting their arm the way he did. Plus I have see QBs miss seeing wide open receivers before even Stafford. You're just a Goff hater especially calling him GOOF.

Have you watched the video where they break down Cooks failure to catch a ball that's a "tad late"? No, you haven't. Because there isn't one. Nor should there be.

 

[David Ray]

Calling him GOOF makes you a hater.

And I have even said in a prior post that Goff was not ready for the game in the first half. He made all kinds of errors. He had a wide open Gurley on the sideline on a 2nd down on the first series and then for some unknown reason did not throw to a open Woods deep on the third down and instead ran out of bounds. He was determined not to make a mistake in that game. And that was just the first series.

But his play in the second half was much better since he drove the Rams down the field within easy FG range on every drive. They just couldn't finish due to two drops by Cook (one was definitely pass interference but I have seen very good WR catch the ball with one hand like that before).

I don't hate GOOF. I just have two good eyes and know when I'm watching a DOOFUS.
You, on the other hand, clearly have distaste for Cooks to try to saddle him with the responsibility for bailing out GOOFUS the DOOFUS.

 

[Tano]

Have you watched the video where they break down Cooks failure to catch a ball that's a "tad late"? No, you haven't. Because there isn't one. Nor should there be.

Well there are a lot of Goff haters out there. WR usually don't get hate unless they are assholes.

 

[Tano]

I don't hate GOOF. I just have two good eyes and know when I'm watching a DOOFUS.
You, on the other hand, clearly have distaste for Cooks to try to saddle him with the responsibility for bailing out GOOFUS the DOOFUS.

Um what? Calling him GOOF and GOOFUS the DOOFUS clearly makes you a hater.

 

[David Ray]

Um what? Calling him GOOF and GOOFUS the DOOFUS clearly makes you a hater.

No, it makes me a discerning evaluATER.

 

[David Ray]

Um what? Calling him GOOF and GOOFUS the DOOFUS clearly makes you a hater.

I do appreciate him trying to give the Wild Card game away though with that DOOFUS play he made. Unfortunately, the ball didn't bounce the LA RAMS way.

 

[dang]

You refuse to recognoze that the ball should have been in Cook's possession long before the DB arrived which would have prevented any opportunity for the pass to be broken up. I'll admit, Cooks is not that type of WR. He has a smallish frame and is not physical on contested catches. So, GOOF's indecision put him in a position where his skillset was going to be in an unfavorable matchup.
GOOF's FAULT in February 2019, GOOF'S FAULT TODAY and GOOF'S FAULT FOREVER.

I agree it’s mostly on Goff. It didn’t need to be a contested catch especially to the speedy but small Cooks.
However, you win no points with me with the GOOF comment. His name is Goff and he was a major part of getting the Rams AND Lions back to relevance.

 

[RamFan503]

Yeah... I'm done with this shit. It's clear that a certain poster I just banned from this thread is only here to be a dick.

Everyone carry on and let this crap go.

Cheers.

 

[Merlin]

Cooks should have caught the ball. No doubt about it. A better receiver would have. Also a better receiver would have caught the other pass later on in the game, which also might have led to a Rams victory. I've mentioned before in fact that I believe a healthy Kupp would have meant a title. Nobody will ever convince me otherwise.

But Goff had the title there in his grasp and the team came up short because he couldn't carry the offense when Belicheat took away his run game. There's a long list of QBs who are good but not good enough to get it done in the deep playoff games, Goff unfortunately is one of them.

McVay rightly responded by getting rid of both players and building a team that could get it done. Had to run that stench of failure out the fucking door.

 

[RamDino]

Cooks should have caught the ball. No doubt about it. A better receiver would have. Also a better receiver would have caught the other pass later on in the game, which also might have led to a Rams victory. I've mentioned before in fact that I believe a healthy Kupp would have meant a title. Nobody will ever convince me otherwise.

But Goff had the title there in his grasp and the team came up short because he couldn't carry the offense when Belicheat took away his run game. There's a long list of QBs who are good but not good enough to get it done in the deep playoff games, Goff unfortunately is one of them.

McVay rightly responded by getting rid of both players and building a team that could get it done. Had to run that stench of failure out the fucking door.

A healthy Kupp may have meant a title, but a healthy Gurley would have meant a lot more, IMO. Either would have made a HUGE difference. With both guys being out we probably never had a chance.

Agree that Goff could not "carry the offense" but Bill Belicheat was abusing Sullivan and Blythe the entire super bowl and Goff had patriots in his face constantly. The patriots sacked him 4 times and hit him another 12 times. The Rams sacked Brady once and hit him 4 times. The Rams could not run the ball either... which can negatively affect the passing game. I guess the point is that neither Goff or Cooks is a failure that had to be run out the door. Both men have had good careers since leaving the Rams. If Stafford never became available... who knows what the Rams might have done at QB. And Cooks was a concussion away from being seriously injured so I don't blame the Rams for cutting him loose.

The first patriots super bowl loss was a cheating-backbreaker but the second one was just an injury-depleted Rams roster, and a total offensive failure. I was shocked to see Gurley miss the Super Bowl and when he didn't play I knew it was serious. Nobody misses the big game after "resting" his knew for what seemed like several weeks. I remember he carried the ball a few times against Dallas in the playoffs and looked good, but that was about it. Within days of that super bowl loss I posted that "THIS IS GOFF'S TEAM NOW" because I truly believed Gurley was done. Unfortunately, Goff could not "carry the team" the next season and McVay lost confidence in him. I always wondered, however, what would have happened if Stafford had not become available. Would the next guy have been as good as Goff?

 

[Merlin]

A healthy Kupp may have meant a title, but a healthy Gurley would have meant a lot more, IMO. Either would have made a HUGE difference. With both guys being out we probably never had a chance.

Belicheat would still have taken Gurley away even if he was in good health and form. They were stacked up front schematically to deny the outside zones that were our bread 'n butter that season and consistently winning on the edge in that regard vs the blocking.

Kupp being out was the biggest possible hit vs that scheme. Even then though there was room to hoist that Lombardi, we just didn't have the QB who could win it. He was slow through his reads, slow to see the field, and it cost him and us.

 

[AvengerRam]

So we’re not over February 2019?

 

[Steve808]

Belicheat would still have taken Gurley away even if he was in good health and form. They were stacked up front schematically to deny the outside zones that were our bread 'n butter that season and consistently winning on the edge in that regard vs the blocking.

Kupp being out was the biggest possible hit vs that scheme. Even then though there was room to hoist that Lombardi, we just didn't have the QB who could win it. He was slow through his reads, slow to see the field, and it cost him and us.

Despite that, with the score tied 3-3, Gurley ripped off about a 30 yard run that put the Rams in long FG range. But some phantom holding call brought it back. Even the announcers could not believe that play was called holding on the Rams. Seems like brady and company got one or two of those calls in every super bowl.

In super bowl 36, brady was pressured on the last drive and threw the ball way out of bounds while in the pocket. If that play is called grounding, super bowl 36 goes to OT or Warner gets a shot with some time left on the clock. The way Warner was playing, our chances were good at that time.

SB 36 was such a rip off that even the game winning FG took 7 seconds. WTH?

 

[Merlin]

Despite that, with the score tied 3-3, Gurley ripped off about a 30 yard run that put the Rams in long FG range. But some phantom holding call brought it back. Even the announcers could not believe that play was called holding on the Rams. Seems like brady and company got one or two of those calls in every super bowl.

In super bowl 36, brady was pressured on the last drive and threw the ball way out of bounds while in the pocket. If that play is called grounding, super bowl 36 goes to OT or Warner gets a shot with some time left on the clock. The way Warner was playing, our chances were good at that time.

SB 36 was such a rip off that even the game winning FG took 7 seconds. WTH?

Yeah no holding call there may have been a victory. It was that tight a game. That was what made Belicheat so great, his ability to dumb down offenses and pull them into ugly scrums that boiled down to a few situations per game. I'll always feel like that trophy was ours to win. Which is to say I'm still not even close to being over it.

 

[tempests]

A healthy Kupp may have meant a title, but a healthy Gurley would have meant a lot more, IMO. Either would have made a HUGE difference. With both guys being out we probably never had a chance.

Agree that Goff could not "carry the offense" but Bill Belicheat was abusing Sullivan and Blythe the entire super bowl and Goff had patriots in his face constantly. The patriots sacked him 4 times and hit him another 12 times. The Rams sacked Brady once and hit him 4 times. The Rams could not run the ball either... which can negatively affect the passing game.

This is pretty close to what it was. The Patriots got consistent pressure on Goff while blanketing our receivers in coverage....our running game was non existent. Our first eight possessions ended in punts...we never even reached the red zone.

It was a bad game for everyone on offense, a team failure. Laser focusing on either Goff or Cooks, or 'those two plays' just shows how thin our margin for error was...most Super Bowls you can survive that kind of thing, because you'll be in a position to score again. We were never really close to winning that Super Bowl because of how thoroughly effective Belichick's game planning was. McVay got taken to the woodshed....it was a learning experience...he learned from it and came back a better coach.

 

[Tano]

This is pretty close to what it was. The Patriots got consistent pressure on Goff while blanketing our receivers in coverage....our running game was non existent. Our first eight possessions ended in punts...we never even reached the red zone.

It was a bad game for everyone on offense, a team failure. Laser focusing on either Goff or Cooks, or 'those two plays' just shows how thin our margin for error was...most Super Bowls you can survive that kind of thing, because you'll be in a position to score again. We were never really close to winning that Super Bowl because of how thoroughly effective Belichick's game planning was. McVay got taken to the woodshed....it was a learning experience...he learned from it and came back a better coach.

And the thing is we had the Patriots just as bamboozled for 3 quarters where they only scored 3 points as well.

And since it was such a close game, two plays like that really make a significant difference in the game.

And the holding penalty - that was pro-Brady refereeing by far.

 

[den-the-coach]

So we’re not over February 2019?

I am not over any Super Bowl loss. From Waddy being wide open in the end zone Ray, the illegal hit to head to Kurt Warner to Brandon Cooks not clutching the ball, no sir, I am not over any of them. However, you learn from them and hope to win moving forward.

Again I dislike losing more than I like winning and there is a difference. Unlike former Ram owner Dan Reeves, who once said and I quote: "I enjoyed losing more with Harland Svare, than winning with George Allen."

 

[Merlin]

I am not over any Super Bowl loss.

Yeah I have to agree on that. Those losses stick with you.

It was a bad game for everyone on offense, a team failure. Laser focusing on either Goff or Cooks, or 'those two plays' just shows how thin our margin for error was

Teams pay QBs what they pay them for a reason. It is recognition that the guy who touches the ball every play is the single biggest indicator on your chances of winning any given game. The overall strength of the roster matters, but to what extent that is required is more or less depending on your QB quality.

All of our Super Bowl losses had poor QB play in common. The Steelers simply had the better QB who made the plays to get the dub. The Patriots the first time Warner was not sharp, and his impatience and errors early in the game cost us the title. And the second time Goff shit the bed. He was completely bamboozled out there and it deflated our team as the game went on.

Coaches always share in the blame. The rosters again do matter. But look at that title we recently won. Shit happens and you lose key players and have to overcome it in the most challenging environment to win that title. That final drive to win it all was an extension of willpower by Stafford, who would have cruised to a win had OBJ not been hurt. The moment was there and he got it done. Whereas the moment was there for Goff but he didn't see the fucking receiver, then floated the ball to him just enough to where the DB could interrupt a sure TD.

By the way I respect that some of our posters still support and make excuses for Goff in that game. It is quite noble of them. And again I don't hate the guy, I really don't. I just have no desire to try to rationalize the failure away.

 

[tempests]

And since it was such a close game, two plays like that really make a significant difference in the game.

Well, like I said, the Rams persistent struggles on offense are why those two plays stick out. They were so infrequently in a position to score.

By halftime the Rams had not yet reached 50 yards of offense. Every time they got the ball it was punt, punt, punt, punt, punt.

Consistently failed to convert and sustain drives and it wasn't just those two plays.

Every time we had a fruitless drive, went 3 and out, kick the ball back to New England...that counted against our chances too.

Our D held Brady down for three quarters...Hekker's terrific punting kept them at bay....but it was only a matter of time.

Finally got one over on Brady in the playoffs three years later. But we built a big lead and forced him to play from behind. That's what we needed. Over 400 yards, 30 points, to weather the storm. Donald consistently pressured him in 2021....didn't do that in the Super Bowl.