Playoffs: Falcons @ Rams it is!!

[GabesHorn]

Watching NFLN discussion about Rams / Falcons game. Willie McGinest piped in saying Atlanta's defensive speed will be too much for the Rams to handle and they will slow Gurley, and take away our best receiver. He also mentioned their offense it too explosive and the Rams won't be able to slow them down. I love how the "experts" continue to rate this team as inferior. I really hope we put a complete beat down on the falcons from the opening kickoff to the last snap in the game, so some of these clowns will finally show some respect.

Edit: If they were as great as he proclaims, they would have won their division and would possibly be sitting with a bye this week. Well they didn't and are playing this week so they must not be that great.

Willie McGinest has made a fool of himself as he works mainly at NFL Network in L.A. & is around many L.A. fans inside the building & bleeding Pats ALL THE TIME I fully believe Willie has hit his head. He's never been a good predict expert. It makes no sense to hear him say the RAMS have no shot against this falcons team that should have beat his Patriots but melted worse than any team in NFL history in the end of the SB game. What kind of memories will be in falcons heads after that nightmare? They barely beat seahags in a tough away game late & we put beatdown on the same team just couple weeks later.Willie is a RAMS hater & has never hidden it.Warner & Faulk have always had bigger jobs at NFL Network & Willie gets the on site gigs instead of in studio.Now Faulk is gone..This falcons team keeps finding new ways to collapse in the playoffs after the biggest collapse last season in SB.

My first thing to do is tweet Willie after the clock ticks down Sat. Night. McGinnest SUX. Knows NOTHING about the RAMS & their team resting players & ability of it's players after his pats played falcons last season. Wants to give falcons all the play he can after his team beat them last year. Matt Ryan is an up & down QB. I just hope we catch him on a down week. He has a quick release. Son of Bum needs to break these guys down good. Hope players being fresh really helps with Barron coming back with Big rest. My biggest point is Willie McGinest gives the RAMS no chance against the falcons. No one but Gurley deserved being mentioned. Stop Gurley & beat Rams period.

 

[FrantikRam]

Goff, Gurley, Donald, TruJo, Joyner, Tree, Barron, Saffold and a bunch of other guys on our roster - will all remember the beat down Atlanta gave to us last year.

Revenge factor + playing at home + media mostly picking Atlanta + rest = beat down

Plus we lost last week and we don't lose two in a row..

 

[OldSchool]

Great news for Aaron Donald.


View: https://twitter.com/vxmcclure23/status/948241260581740546

 

[Psycho_X]

Great news for Aaron Donald.


View: https://twitter.com/vxmcclure23/status/948241260581740546

The middle of their o-line was already their weak link. Wade Phillips is going to bring Donald, Tree, Barwin, Brockers, Barron, kitchen sink, Ebukam, Quinn, and god himself through the middle of that line all game.

 

[BonifayRam]

Rams are rested, but will face a more-experienced Falcons team in the first round

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/01/...-experienced-falcons-team-in-the-first-round/
The Rams don’t have the edge in experience, but they should have more energy.While the Atlanta Falcons battled into the fourth quarter on Sunday to beat Carolina and clinch a wild-card spot, the Rams enjoyed a leisurely afternoon and sat most of their starters against San Francisco.

So now it’s rest vs. rings when the Rams host the Falcons on Saturday night at the Coliseum in the first round of the playoffs. Only four players on the Rams’ active roster have played in the postseason, while most of the Falcons are 11 months removed from an NFC championship and a trip to the Super Bowl.

“We are a youthful team, but I think we’ve demonstrated good maturity throughout the course of the year,” Rams coach Sean McVay said during his regular Monday news conference at Cal Lutheran.McVay cited the Rams’ tough schedule, which included the most miles traveled in the NFL this season, and the fact that the Rams never lost consecutive games in 2017. They also were the youngest team in the league, in terms of average player age, and managed to go 11-5 and win the NFC West.

Few of the Rams have ever been through this, though. Offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth appeared in six playoff games with Cincinnati over the last decade, while linebacker Connor Barwin played five and offensive lineman John Sullivan played four.No other Rams starter has played a snap in the postseason. Reserve running back Lance Dunbar played three games and offensive lineman Cornelius Lucas played two, but Lucas likely won’t play this week. Rams cornerback Kayvon Webster won the Super Bowl with Denver two years ago, but Webster is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon.

The Falcons’ challenge is different, but no less light. Their bye week was in early October, and they had to play well down the stretch simply to make the playoffs as the NFC’s final wild-card team. Now, with the game on Saturday night, the Falcons will have to play on a short week and make a cross-country flight.

Still, they know the drill. Most of the Falcons’ core was a part of last season’s conference-championship team, and quarterback Matt Ryan is in the playoffs for a sixth time in his 10th NFL season. The Falcons’ defense also is strong and allowed an average of only 19.7 points per game this season.“We’re playing a football game against an excellent team this week,” McVay said. “We know the stakes are a little higher, because if you win, you continue playing and if not, your season is over, but as far as how we get ready to go play a football game, we’ll remain the same.”

The Rams also appear to be as healthy as possible. Starting cornerback Troy Hill left Sunday’s game in the first half to be evaluated for a possible concussion, but McVay said Hill did not suffer a concussion and “should be in good shape” this week. Reserve defensive back Blake Countess remains in the league’s concussion protocol.McVay indicated that linebacker Mark Barron, who has missed the last two games with an Achilles injury, will have a good chance to play against Atlanta.

“He feels good,” McVay said. “I think his mindset and mentality is, he’s getting ready to play in a playoff game on Saturday night. I think this week will serve him well, having given him that time off. Then he will get a couple extra days and see how he feels on Wednesday. He will ramp it up and that will give us a good gauge of whether he can expect him to play. But things are looking good for him.”

HELPING HANDS
McVay, a 31-year-old, first-year head coach, went to the playoffs as a member of Washington’s staff in 2012 (as tight ends coach) and 2015 (as offensive coordinator). Washington lost both games, and with McVay calling plays, lost to Green Bay 35-18 in a wild-card-round game at home.McVay said he would lean on more-experienced assistants, such as defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who joined the NFL coaching ranks in 1976, for assistance this week if necessary.“That’s where you feel good, when you go into a challenge like this,” McVay said. “We’ve got a bunch of great people in this building that I can rely on, and feel comfort in that.”

FAMILIAR FOE
The storylines run deep in this game. Matt LaFleur, the Rams’ offensive coordinator, spent the previous two seasons as the Falcons’ quarterbacks coach. Phillips was Atlanta’s defensive coordinator in 2002 and interim head coach in 2003. Rams general manager Les Snead worked for the Falcons from 1997-2011, as a scout and as a player-personnel director.Then there’s McVay, who spent his formative years in Georgia and went to high school in Brookhaven, which is approximately 12 miles north of Atlanta. McVay said his childhood home was approximately 30 minutes from the Falcons’ then-stadium, the Georgia Dome, and McVay said that while he didn’t grow up as a Falcons fan, he attended many games with his father, Tim, who was a local television executive.

 

[1maGoh]

I think the playoff experience factor really comes down to this: there are two types of teams that make the playoffs, good teams and mediocre teams that get lucky. Mediocre teams won't get lucky every year so they don't have as much "playoff experience". Good teams will almost always be in the playoffs, so they have "playoff experience".

There's going to be some teams that melt down because players get nervous in their first playoff game, but I think that probably isn't the norm. That's purely subjective though, and I don't think you could get a player to admit it if it was true. Also, big pressure situations might make some players perform worse and it might make other players perform better. So it could go either way strictly from an experience perspective.

 

[Merlin]

I've already started getting text messages from co workers. I'm surrounded here in Atlanta. Gonna be a crazy week here, even my own house is divided.

"Everyone wearin red... Move out now."

 

[Merlin]

For everyone sweating the Rams experience... Just take a look at who they played and their record since the halfway point of the season, and then queue up some vids of the locker room after the games.

This group is special. They're in a mind-set that sets them apart from a normal young team trying to establish themselves. There's a maturity and focus those types of teams don't often have.

Rams gonna beat the Falcons and then move to a very tough game in Minnesota for the conference.

 

[Psycho_X]

There's going to be some teams that melt down because players get nervous in their first playoff game, but I think that probably isn't the norm.

Only player I'm worried about is Ficken. Everyone is going to be more jacked up and excited than nervous because none of them are playing for their jobs next season. Ficken either has a career or doesn't based off this one game more than likely. I'm going to have to take a shot before every single field goal and xp attempt. Just glad it's on a Saturday night so don't have to worry about being at work the next morning lol.

 

[Rmfnlt]

Matt LaFleur, the Rams’ offensive coordinator, spent the previous two seasons as the Falcons’ quarterbacks coach.

I forgot about this... the other "connections" are old and useless... but this one is fresh and meaningful.

LaFleur should have good first-hand knowledge of the workings of that offense and, especially, Ryan.

 

[Rmfnlt]

Just glad it's on a Saturday night so don't have to worry about being at work the next morning lol.

I thought the same thing when I saw it was Saturday.... if it was gonna be on Sunday, I was gonna take a half vacay day.

I've already put my liver on notice that it is going to have a very rough day!!

 

[dieterbrock]

Taking the family to Disney, never thought it would interfere with playoffs when we booked the trip last spring....
So fortunate that the game is Saturday night!!!

 

[T-REX]

Fun fact:

Fun fact: your avatar is smoking hot!

 

[Soul Surfer]

Atlanta made it to the Super Bowl last year and hadn't been to the playoffs in 4 or 5 years. It's in the head.

You're right, things have changed in the last few years in that regard.

 

[Prime Time]

Bill Simmons talks about the Rams/Falcons game. It begins at 41:00. "Falcons are dumbasses."

https://www.theringer.com/the-bill-...s-the-lines-wild-card-weekend-with-cousin-sal

 

[TSFH Fan]

Bill Simmons talks about the Rams/Falcons game. It begins at 41:00. "Falcons are dumbasses."

https://www.theringer.com/the-bill-...s-the-lines-wild-card-weekend-with-cousin-sal

Oh man, it sounds like Sark cost Simmons some money.
"Sarkisian's (Sarkaysian) just awful. He's a terrible offensive coordinator."


View: https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/938975972400939010

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[kurtfaulk]

.

Nfl live.

Who has the advantage? Tim hasselbeck and Louis Riddick.

Goff over Ryan.
Gurley over the falcons rbs.
Falcons wrs over rams wrs.
Falcons d over rams d.
Mcvay over Quinn.

.

 

[Psycho_X]

1/6/2018 - Day of the game.

16- Jared Goff
20- Lamarcus Joyner
18- Cooper Kupp

They will all have touchdowns.

#illuminati

 

[FarNorth]

For everyone sweating the Rams experience... Just take a look at who they played and their record since the halfway point of the season, and then queue up some vids of the locker room after the games.

This group is special. They're in a mind-set that sets them apart from a normal young team trying to establish themselves. There's a maturity and focus those types of teams don't often have.

Rams gonna beat the Falcons and then move to a very tough game in Minnesota for the conference.

Exactly right!! Playoff experience might be a problem for teams without mental focus and toughness, or with bad coaching, or not enough ability. But when you're good-- or really good-- it's just football. I would also say that great competitors are great competitors from early on. The Rams are really good, really hungry, have great competitors, and great coaching. I expect them to bring their A game and handle the Falcons.

Although, I must admit that one thing that might be difficult is to make up for the playoff experience of blowing a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl...

 

[DaveFan'51]

Agreed. That's the point. Whether or not we beat the Falcons will come down to who plays better that day. I think playoff experience is a narrative. Kind of like the narratives saying that McVay didn't have enough experience to succeed as a HC.

THIS^^! And wouldn't it be nice for the Rams and McVay to meet the Cheatriot's and Bellicheat in the SB and have this narrative " Out with the Old in with the Young!!:yess: