Scoring The Game LOSING TD

[Selassie I]

Here are my thoughts on this...

The anonymous Ram staff member who said that Gurley can no longer put his foot in the dirt and change direction at all... well that seems to be completely confirmed on that play.

Or worse... He just doesn't give enough of a fuck to care one bit about winning or losing anymore. Remember, it's been confirmed that everyone was told NOT TO SCORE A TD right before the play happened.


What a mess that was. It's really hard to believe almost. I gotta say... I loved him as a Ram, but I'm happy he's gone now.

 

[Allen2McVay]

Have to disagree about the 'doesn't give enough of a fuck' comment. Gurley broke a tackle inside the five that gave him momentum towards the goal-line, where he tried to go-down before scoring but broke the plane by inches.

I am also happy the Rams moved-on. Aside from appearing to have lost some explosiveness and becoming far less effective out-of-the-backfield, something seemed off to me. Gurley did not seem to be on the same page with McVay. Realize that is a vague comment but it just did not feel positive.

 

[Psycho_X]

The anonymous Ram staff member who said that Gurley can no longer put his foot in the dirt and change direction at all... well that seems to be completely confirmed on that play.

That's a good point I hadn't even thought of until now. I was trying to fathom a reason he couldn't stop there. People say momentum but there was plenty of room for an NFL running back to stop if they wanted to there. At worst, dig your foot in and spin so ball is on other side of you. But like you said, after rewatching that play I think you're right. It's almost like he plants and immediately goes limp with that leg which is when he falls awkwardly.

It's a shame, if he never tears that ACL in college he has a chance to be one of the best RBs of all time. Course that could be said about a lot of running backs in the history of the NFL. The injury gods usually get their sacrifice at some point in a career unfortunately. But he got paid well and has had a decent career. Still a good north to south runner at least.

 

[Selassie I]

Have to disagree about the 'doesn't give enough of a fuck' comment. Gurley broke a tackle inside the five that gave him momentum towards the goal-line, where he tried to go-down before scoring but broke the plane by inches.

I am also happy the Rams moved-on. Aside from appearing to have lost some explosiveness and becoming far less effective out-of-the-backfield, something seemed off to me. Gurley did not seem to be on the same page with McVay. Realize that is a vague comment but it just did not feel positive.

Those are the 2 theories I can come up with.

The "doesn't give enough of a fuck" theory may be hard to believe... but it certainly is a possible option in my eyes. I did say that that theory would be "worse". Hey... and I've hated the falcons since Steve Bartkowski, so in a sick sort of way, I hope he doesn't give enough of a fuck anymore.

My real point I was trying to point out is that I now 100% believe that Todd can no longer plant his leg and change direction. I believe that is the main reason we made the decision to cut him. He can still run faster than most humans in a straight line... but he's not able to do anything else with those wheels anymore. It turned out to be a GIANT liability on that play too.

 

[TXRams86]

I'm going to excuse the play call here to begin with because taking a couple of knees and getting your field goal team out there on third down would have been the ideal series in my opinion. I've rewatched that particular play a few times and it's obvious that he doesn't plant that left foot in the ground to try and stop momentum.

With respect to us moving on from him, without a doubt the health of his knee had a part to play in that decision. But I also believe there was some issues Gurley had with McVay that we will probably never hear about. Just look at this quote from him after we lost to Pittsburgh last year and McVay was calling himself an idiot for not using Gurley more: “He said it, I didn’t,” Gurley said laughing. “That’s all I got to say. I don’t have anything else to say.” How hard would it have been to say that he doesn't agree with that idea? Just a lot of weird shit coming from Gurley's side last year.

 

[Ramhusker]

View attachment 40454


Here are my thoughts on this...

The anonymous Ram staff member who said that Gurley can no longer put his foot in the dirt and change direction at all... well that seems to be completely confirmed on that play.

Or worse... He just doesn't give enough of a fuck to care one bit about winning or losing anymore. Remember, it's been confirmed that everyone was told NOT TO SCORE A TD right before the play happened.


What a mess that was. It's really hard to believe almost. I gotta say... I loved him as a Ram, but I'm happy he's gone now.

I have mixed feelings on this one. Sure, seems to be the smart thing to do not to score on that play but I view it as a little risky because they were behind at the time. What if you fumble the very next play or get called for a hold or false start? Crazy things happen in the NFL just as it did in this one. Sure, a chip shot FG is high percentage if you don't have a block, bad snap, fumbled snap, shanked kick. The Falcons are experts at giving them away late this year so who knows what would of transpired.

 

[Allen2McVay]

The strategy may be simple but the execution is not. I don’t think it’s easy for a football player to stop playing football.

Gurley was handed the ball. Guys were blocking and tackling. Big, tough guys that have done this all their lives.

Gurley was hit and pushed towards the goal line. He tried to get down but was inches over the line.

 

[Selassie I]

I have mixed feelings on this one. Sure, seems to be the smart thing to do not to score on that play but I view it as a little risky because they were behind at the time. What if you fumble the very next play or get called for a hold or false start? Crazy things happen in the NFL just as it did in this one. Sure, a chip shot FG is high percentage if you don't have a block, bad snap, fumbled snap, shanked kick. The Falcons are experts at giving them away late this year so who knows what would of transpired.

Well... you know how much I think of kickers. So, the thought of kicking an "automatic" field goal is not something that I believe in. Hahaha

 

[Tano]

If they had Sloman as their kicker, I would say Score the TD every time.

 

[Pancake]

I'd be more mad at the Falcon D than I would Gurley.

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

I don't understand why he didn't just fall over when the lber touched him.

.

 

[Psycho_X]

View: https://twitter.com/atlfalconsuk/status/1321536814004449281?s=21

 

[Angry Ram]

View: https://twitter.com/atlfalconsuk/status/1321536814004449281?s=21

Matt Ryan deserves to go to a competent team man.

 

[Rams77]

Man Gurley was praised for getting down and not scoring TDs in the past in situations like this. Crazy brain fart

 

[Flint]

Gotta give him a pass on this one, they were on the five or six and I don’t think the Lions were that intent in tackling him. What is he supposed to do? He can’t just stop in the hole, that’s asking to get blasted. So he runs through the hole, somebody half heartedly tries to tackle him, next thing he’s at the 3 trying to stop, very hard to do.
they were inside the ten what were they trying to accomplish, if they didn’t want to advance the ball take a knee. The Lions best chance was them scoring. The staff put Gurley in a tough spot, Gurley did that a couple times when he was a ram but I think from much farther out.

 

[rams1fan]

Two possibilities in my mind and neither has to do with health.

He remembered at the last moment to get down but it was too late to get down.

or

He knew all along to get down but wanted to get close for the eventual FG and the last tackle attempt made him misjudge.

 

[Ramlock]

View: https://twitter.com/atlfalconsuk/status/1321536814004449281?s=21

What was the down and distance on the play? You hear Ryan say get the first.

Seems like he had to get to the second level to get the first down, leaving only a couple yards between there and the goal line.

And he stumbled breaking 2 tackles...defense still has to own giving up the TD to the Lions.

Sucks

 

[CGI_Ram]

It was at this moment, it appears to me he remembers to get down... even in real time it would have seemed enough time to get down...

But, It looks to me he almost rolls his ankle... and that sort of leads to his awkward fall. Watch that ankle on replay.

Me personally, I think he had a brain fart then sorta tripped.

 

[Memento]

Glad that Todd was here, but I'm also glad that we have our own stable of good (Brown, maybe Calais on kickoffs) and great (Henderson, Akers when he's completely healthy and acclimated) backs.