Some early impressions about preseason concerns held by some...

[Rams43]

These are based on just this first game against the Panthers, of course, so please take them fwiw.

Mixed bag on Goff. Need more evidence of his reported “step up” in training camp. Looked rusty/jittery to me.

Gurley was another mixed bag today, but it wasn’t because of his knee. His knee looked just fine.

Boom and Allen looked fine today. This was the biggest concern of most pundits and fans but it’s looking like a non-issue. And they appeared to improve with every series today as evidenced by the improved Ram running game in the 2nd half. Kromer is a genius. Lol.

Matthews looked good to me. Heck, he looked like he had been in this system for years.

Fowler was a beast. Another concern by pundits, but if he can keep up anything close to today’s effort then he is a cinch for extension with the Rams.

Not enough data to make a call on Weddle because of his early departure, although I have zero doubts about him in this D.

A few observations about other than preseason concern matters:

There was a whole lot of rustiness today. Unfortunately, on both O and D. Tackling, coverage, fumbling, WR’s not getting open, uncharacteristic drops, Goff inaccuracy all too often, blocking by the punting team, etc. For the 2nd year in a row the Rams were able to come away with an opening day win, anyway. BTW, I understand and support the McVay policy of sitting starters in preseason. Just pointing out that there is a risk involved, especially when opening against a decent team away.

JoJo should have NEVER made the 53.

Peters needs to get a handle on his maturity level. I’m trying to keep an open mind on his possible Ram extension, but that stupid PF penalty doesn’t make it any easier.

Panthers found a way to pretty much take AD out of the game. A very rare thing, indeed.

I would love to see Gaines get a few snaps in a rotation vs the Saints.

Rams had no answer for McCaffery. Was it our LB’s? Gotta fix that inside run D. Or else...

Hopefully, McVay has a few tricks up his sleeve for the Saints, because a sloppy effort like this certainly won’t get the job done, that’s for sure.

Rams coaches have a lengthy “to do” list to get ready for the Saints. Then again, they’ve got all week and play at home, so we’ll see.

All are off the top of my head for now. Feel free to add things that I missed.

 

[Merlin]

First thing off the top of my head is our wideouts. Kupp is elite. Woods is a plus wideout. Cooks is a bit of a disappointment to me. Reynolds had a bad game, but I often wonder just like with Cooks whether he doesn't let situations get too big for him at times. IMO we need to see more from Cooks going forward.

Secondly our two young OL did their jobs but replacing 40% of your line in the offseason is going to affect things, particularly when one of them is the guy making the calls. I think Allen made good calls today, guessing of course. But I also expect the OL as a whole to improve as a group week to week. And btw the Panthers are a very good test for them, not like this was a scrub front. But yeah the OL as a group needs to improve and I think they will.

Leaving Gaines inactive today was a mistake IMO. You gotta sub vs a run game like theirs today and there's a big difference between Gaines and the other depth DL in that role. Saints are varied and very good at running the ball up front too, so I expect Gaines to be active going forward.

Re: the rustiness we know what this team is. The core is there. I'm not even remotely worried. A half second more time for the QB and it's a different result. A little bit of a seam on runs and TG is getting 6+ on a given run vice being stuffed in the backfield. And so on.

IMO a lot of fans forget that other teams make plays too. It's not always our guys not doing their jobs. McCaffery is a goddamn beast. That OL can block and he's going to put up good points this season.

Lastly don't underestimate the difference in losing such a critical piece of the secondary in Weddle early in the game. That was a huge loss for them. It changes everything, given how he's been running the show since early in camp. So him coming back is HUGE for us to have a top defense IMO.

 

[RamsFanCK]

The Panthers have a better offensive line than I thought. I was surprised by our lack of interior push most of the game. Of course this was aided by Carolina’s quick passes against our zone. AD is gonna be like an addict needing a sack fix next week.

Littleton was just possessed today. On top of his forced fumble, recovery, and interception, he led the team in tackles and seemed to be the only one who could run with Mcaffrey. He’s gonna be on Kamara duty next week. Something he wasn’t good at in the NFC championship game last year. Im kinda pumped to see if he really took that next step with that huge measuring stick in week 2.

 

[hotanez]

First thing off the top of my head is our wideouts. Kupp is elite. Woods is a plus wideout. Cooks is a bit of a disappointment to me. Reynolds had a bad game, but I often wonder just like with Cooks whether he doesn't let situations get too big for him at times. IMO we need to see more from Cooks going forward.

small disagreement here on our WRs. I think Woods is Elite. Route runner, hands and outstanding blocking. Cooks was open a ton Goff just had tunnel vision. Goff was the biggest disappointment in my eyes. I hope it was just rust.

 

[1maGoh]

The Panthers have a better offensive line than I thought. I was surprised by our lack of interior push most of the game. Of course this was aided by Carolina’s quick passes against our zone. AD is gonna be like an addict needing a sack fix next week.

Littleton was just possessed today. On top of his forced fumble, recovery, and interception, he led the team in tackles and seemed to be the only one who could run with Mcaffrey. He’s gonna be on Kamara duty next week. Something he wasn’t good at in the NFC championship game last year. Im kinda pumped to see if he really took that next step with that huge measuring stick in week 2.

Wait for teams to get tired of Fowler killing them. They'll shift focus and Donald will feast.

 

[coconut]

Newton overthrew at least 5 wide open WRs. Rams pass D better fix it. Goff looked hot and cold. Gurley fumbling twice isn't good. Rams O line looked great. Newbs on Rams O line played very well to be the best news of this win.

 

[Jacobarch]

Everything I saw today was looking like rust.
Goff with a lot of time and open WRs and missing reads. Looked like the game was a little ahead of him today.
Fumbles obvious
Special teams will get fixed. And the rams secondary looking bad. Nothing new there

 

[Malibu]

I agree about Cam overthrowing receivers - this is a problem.

Against Brees we will get killed if we don't fix this.

 

[RamsFanCK]

I agree about Cam overthrowing receivers - this is a problem.

Against Brees we will get killed if we don't fix this.

I’m hoping we play a little less zone D

 

[Merlin]

Wait for teams to get tired of Fowler killing them. They'll shift focus and Donald will feast.

Wade had AD lining up at 5T in the early going, 3T thereafter, and he was basically nullified by good blocking and OL teamwork. Panthers did a great job against him, gave him a little schooling too on quite a few of the snaps, which is PERFECT with the Saints coming to LA next weekend.

Because AD has to be pi$$ed. So I expect him to beast out in week 2.

 

[bomebadeeda]

I'm not getting what you are saying about Donald. Carolina had 2 guys dedicated to Donald even to the point not to help out on other Rams players who had straight shots on the QB. Neither guy even looked at Fowler when he was lines up next to Donald and it led to 2 Fowler sacks. One on a stunt, the other where Carolina left a RB to block him. Fowler overwhelmed the RB for the easy sack and went straight up the gut on the other one. Donald did affect the game. He just didn't get numbers (stats) that everyone was expecting. There was also quite a bit of pressure on Newton on several deciding plays. DT is a hard position to grade. You might be surprised when the PFF grades come out this week and Donald will be in the elite range again.

Now to get to the reason for this thread. Goff wasn't on. And until he is for a few weeks, questions will continue about his abilities overall. I'm not worried about Gurley. It was obvious the Rams had a plan and they let that plan play out over the course of the game. And the numbers bear out the success of that plan.

 

[Merlin]

I'm not getting what you are saying about Donald.

He got handled. That was a positively un-Donald performance.

Edit: Brock did too. In fact he was being subbed quite a bit by Fox. SJD played pretty good, but I think all 3 of them got served a bit by that OL.

Really surprised by how good the Panthers OL played. If they play like that the rest of the season we might see Carolina again.

 

[Merlin]

I’m hoping we play a little less zone D

Zone tends to work out pretty good vs inaccurate QBs who make dumb throws. I.e. Cam.

Before Weddle was hurt the Panthers had 0 on the board, which was basically most of the first half (was around 5 mins left in 2nd quarter when he went down). Think removing him from the defense had a large impact on the secondary.

 

[RamsFanCK]

Zone tends to work out pretty good vs inaccurate QBs who make dumb throws. I.e. Cam.

Before Weddle was hurt the Panthers had 0 on the board, which was basically most of the first half (was around 5 mins left in 2nd quarter when he went down). Think removing him from the defense had a large impact on the secondary.

I don’t disagree with you at all. But I think Brees will shred the zone, I’d rather see man and some exotic blitzing next Sunday

 

[bubbaramfan]

I've been harping on it since TC. Only decent coverage LB rams have is Littleton. Someone has to step up.

rams pretty much played a penalty free game. No false starts. Still getting those block in the back penalties on returns though.

Peters shy's away from making tackles.

Weddle got a nasty cut on his head but he'll be OK. Should be patcted up enough to go against the Aint's.

 

[Merlin]

I don’t disagree with you at all. But I think Brees will shred the zone, I’d rather see man and some exotic blitzing next Sunday

Yeah a guy like Brees is a different prep but Wade will mix it up and we will be ready. Weddle's status is pretty important... If we have him plus this improved edge rush I really like our chances.

Might be a bit of a shootout but the Stains are gonna see an improved defense.

 

[I like Rams]

Concerned? Why should we be concerned? Rust was expected. The shitiest football played around the league comes at the beginning of the season, we are no exception.

If we have a melt down during the hardest stretch of our schedule like we did last season, then consider me worried.

 

[fearsomefour]

Allen started with a few iffy plays but finished strongly. Noteboom was so good I stopped watching him and kept an eye on Allen and Blythe.
Special teams were the worst of the groups today. Been a long time since I’ve said that.
Natson choosing to return a punt likely would have been a touchback, a blocked punt, another out that was either a partial block or affected by the rush, missed FG.
D started good and wore down.
More good news there than bad I think.
Gurley looked good and the OL got better as the game went along.
Goff was like an old Volkswagen. Still ran ok but rusty as heck.
He was slow on his progressions and didn’t see a lot of open receivers.
But a week one road win is a good win.

 

[fearsomefour]

Littleton is a stud....Peters is still a dummy.

 

[FrantikRam]

Peters had one bad play and it was meaningless. GZ missed such a close FG that penalty wouldn't have mattered.

OL, WRs, TEs and RBs all played outstanding. There was one big disappointment on offense today - he was rusty last year against Oakland, hopefully that's all this was.

Defense really only gave up 20 points (7 came from the blocked punt) - and 13 until the very end, in which we were playing prevent. Solid performance - although Cam missed several (wide) open WRs, so they were a combination of lucky and good. I also think the run d looked better before the Panthers last drive, and we were basically letting them run the ball.

Special teams was not good but confident that was an abberation.

I was curious to see what changes we would see on offense - we saw some four WR sets, more Malcolm, which I've been screaming for, and the biggest change I noticed was that I think McVay was trying to go with a short passing game - similar to what the Patriots do. Switched to focus on the run in the 2nd half