Some ‘knee jerk’ early post-game reactions...

[Rams43]

I reserve the right to change my opinions after re-watching this game, btw.

Here goes...

This Rams scoring D is already elite, especially in the 2nd half.

Just hated to see Obo and Fuller injured in this game. Obo seemed to be finally ‘getting it’ and Fuller had already established himself as a key player in this D. This D is simply better when he’s in there.

I think Ebu is being phased out. Obo, Polite, Hollins, and Lewis seem to be doing a better job, tbh.

Reeder had an eye opening game. I had thought that he shouldn’t be on the field on passing downs. I might have been wr..., wr..., Wrong!

Hill is still on my ‘stuff list’ I would give either Long or Burgess some of his snaps if I were Staley. At least a few. Just as Staley is doing with Ebu, matter of fact. Then let the best performer play. Staley can thank me later. Lol.

Ramsey positively impacts the game far beyond his coverage and tackling. He occasionally makes ‘special’ plays that inspire his teammates, not unlike AD.

Yeah, the jury is now in. Goff IS different this year and the results are on the field each week. We’re so fortunate to have this young man as our QB.

Akers was a pleasant surprise. I thought he would be tentative after that painful injury and the long layoff, but he certainly wasn’t. My expectations for him just went up a notch.

Okay, Everett is turning into a danged stud! He’s having a VERY nice year. Still don’t see how we can afford him next year, but he is putting out some great film that should have other teams drooling. Good for him.

Reynolds is another guy building himself an excellent resume in his contract year. Gonna miss them both. I mean, a LOT.

About Sloman. What can I say? Way too much drama, don’t you think? Still hasn’t made a FG in the critical 40-49 yard range, has he? Technically, he hasn’t had to attempt one. Weird, huh?

I still can’t understand why McVay/Bonamego prefer Kupp as a PR over Webster or Calais. Seems counterintuitive on multiple levels. So Un-McVay like.

My general impression is that all phases are coming together more and more each week.

Fewer penalties.
Better playcalling
Better execution
Progress is being made at edge opposite Floyd.
Already an elite scoring D, and isn’t that the name of the game?
O’Connell was a great hire.
Staley looking like a great hire.
Tackling seems a bit better.
Better communication in the secondary.
More pressure now than earlier and also far more sacks.

When ARob comes back and IF that edge position gets sorted out? Look out, NFC West!

Then again, our last 2 opponents were the Giants and Washington, sooooo...

 

[Loyal]

And Aaron Donald is the best DT in the history of football?

 

[Mackeyser]

And Aaron Donald is the best DT in the history of football?

FACTS. No question.

 

[TexasRam]

Rams #1 defense in the NFC after today.

 

[dang]

FACTS. No question.

Definitely on his way to the NFL Defense Mount Rushmore.

 

[Merlin]

This Rams scoring D is already elite, especially in the 2nd half.

I don't see a reason to crown these guys yet 43. Love the optimism of course as well as what I'm seeing overall in points allowed. But Wash is a shit offense and what our defense actually is won't come fully into focus until at least a few divisional games are in the books.

I think they have stuff to work on. But yes Staley has done a good job thus far of disguising the lack of talent at ILB. Always have liked Reeder but you don't want him in there too long, the guys with holes in their game get abused by scheme the longer they are starters. Kiser was much better in his drops as well as pursuit in the flats where so many teams are going to be testing us now.

The back end I think has the pieces to be elite and they look it on a lot of snaps. But they're still not a group that is putting together full games so there's room for them to get better. IMO it's all gonna be about the edge rush. We saw today what happens when that back end gets a little edge rush support, so when we face teams with better lines the question is will enough guys be able to step up and provide it.

At this point sitting 4-1 I have zero complaints though. I recognize our depth chart has some holes but the combination of our secondary quality plus our offense putting constant pressure on opponents this is clearly a very good team. Will they get off the field vs SF's offense? Or Seattle's? Can they crush the RB the Cards have at QB? Those things are going to determine how far this team goes IMO.

 

[TexasRam]

Do we know anything about our injuries ?

 

[Ramhusker]

Did Lewis get on the field today?

 

[Memento]

Did Lewis get on the field today?

Yep, and he got a few pressures. Polite got his first sack of his career as well.

 

[Rams43]

I don't see a reason to crown these guys yet 43. Love the optimism of course as well as what I'm seeing overall in points allowed. But Wash is a shit offense and what our defense actually is won't come fully into focus until at least a few divisional games are in the books.

I think they have stuff to work on. But yes Staley has done a good job thus far of disguising the lack of talent at ILB. Always have liked Reeder but you don't want him in there too long, the guys with holes in their game get abused by scheme the longer they are starters. Kiser was much better in his drops as well as pursuit in the flats where so many teams are going to be testing us now.

The back end I think has the pieces to be elite and they look it on a lot of snaps. But they're still not a group that is putting together full games so there's room for them to get better. IMO it's all gonna be about the edge rush. We saw today what happens when that back end gets a little edge rush support, so when we face teams with better lines the question is will enough guys be able to step up and provide it.

At this point sitting 4-1 I have zero complaints though. I recognize our depth chart has some holes but the combination of our secondary quality plus our offense putting constant pressure on opponents this is clearly a very good team. Will they get off the field vs SF's offense? Or Seattle's? Can they crush the RB the Cards have at QB? Those things are going to determine how far this team goes IMO.

Oh, I see the warts on our D, too, Merlin.

But that scoring D? Especially in the 2nd half? Pretty impressive, despite all wins being against NFC East teams.

 

[rams1fan]

Biggest take away for me was the play of the oline And goff play. Washington D was top 5 in sacks, ints and opposing qbr. They kept goff mostly clean and he diced them up

 

[madrid311]

I like what I see from our running game. Brown, Hondo and a healthy Akers make for a nice set up to have for Mcvay. Go rams

 

[MachS]

I think Ebu is being phased out. Obo, Polite, Hollins, and Lewis seem to be doing a better job, tbh.

I've been watching the OLB group a lot, especially in pass rush situations and to me I dont think there's a doubt that Obo is better than Ebu. Polite might be as well as he's been improving a lot. But Obo has impressed me in his first real season playing significant snaps and he's getting more and more comfortable. I truly hope he's okay and it's not a big injury to his arm today. With Obo, Polite, and T Lewis we have some young stud edge rushers. Obo is 25 and Lewis and Polite both only 22.

 

[jrry32]

Staley was a lot more aggressive today, and the defense looked ferocious. I can't wait to see Kiser back. He's a really good blitzer too. Terrell Lewis impressed me in the snaps he had. We'll see what this unit does over the next few weeks (Seattle is an especially great test), but we might just have ourselves a legitimate defense this year.

 

[fearsomefour]

Joseph-Day and Gaines made for a nice rotation today. Both made some plays.
Would like to see that continue to develop.

Reeder is just brutalized in the game chat.
He went full Clay Matthews today.....picking up sacks and not covering.
He did make some nice plays today and missed some plays too.

 

[Psycho_X]

Joseph-Day and Gaines made for a nice rotation today. Both made some plays.
Would like to see that continue to develop.

Reeder is just brutalized in the game chat.
He went full Clay Matthews today.....picking up sacks and not covering.
He did make some nice plays today and missed some plays too.

I'm hard on Reeder and I'm hard on Ebukam I will admit. But Reeder may have found himself a role with us today. Given his ability in pass coverage we might as well just blitz him every time instead which seemed to be Staley's preference in second half lol.

Ebukam... did he even play again? 4th week out of 5 that he was invisible. I think he had a tackle assist if I remember.

 

[PressureD41]

Unleash Obo & Lewis vs. the Whiners! Whiners have min game film to study of them. LFG!!!

 

[fearsomefour]

I'm hard on Reeder and I'm hard on Ebukam I will admit. But Reeder may have found himself a role with us today. Given his ability in pass coverage we might as well just blitz him every time instead which seemed to be Staley's preference in second half lol.

Ebukam... did he even play again? 4th week out of 5 that he was invisible. I think he had a tackle assist if I remember.

I don’t remember seeing Ebukam at all today.

People bashing on Reeder in game gets old to me because he is a back up player.
I actually like a lot about Reeder.
But, he is a two down backer.
Drop that safety down and blitz him.

 

[Ramlock]

I reserve the right to change my opinions after re-watching this game, btw.

Here goes...

This Rams scoring D is already elite, especially in the 2nd half.

Just hated to see Obo and Fuller injured in this game. Obo seemed to be finally ‘getting it’ and Fuller had already established himself as a key player in this D. This D is simply better when he’s in there.

I think Ebu is being phased out. Obo, Polite, Hollins, and Lewis seem to be doing a better job, tbh.

Reeder had an eye opening game. I had thought that he shouldn’t be on the field on passing downs. I might have been wr..., wr..., Wrong!

Hill is still on my ‘stuff list’ I would give either Long or Burgess some of his snaps if I were Staley. At least a few. Just as Staley is doing with Ebu, matter of fact. Then let the best performer play. Staley can thank me later. Lol.

Ramsey positively impacts the game far beyond his coverage and tackling. He occasionally makes ‘special’ plays that inspire his teammates, not unlike AD.

Yeah, the jury is now in. Goff IS different this year and the results are on the field each week. We’re so fortunate to have this young man as our QB.

Akers was a pleasant surprise. I thought he would be tentative after that painful injury and the long layoff, but he certainly wasn’t. My expectations for him just went up a notch.

Okay, Everett is turning into a danged stud! He’s having a VERY nice year. Still don’t see how we can afford him next year, but he is putting out some great film that should have other teams drooling. Good for him.

Reynolds is another guy building himself an excellent resume in his contract year. Gonna miss them both. I mean, a LOT.

About Sloman. What can I say? Way too much drama, don’t you think? Still hasn’t made a FG in the critical 40-49 yard range, has he? Technically, he hasn’t had to attempt one. Weird, huh?

I still can’t understand why McVay/Bonamego prefer Kupp as a PR over Webster or Calais. Seems counterintuitive on multiple levels. So Un-McVay like.

My general impression is that all phases are coming together more and more each week.

Fewer penalties.
Better playcalling
Better execution
Progress is being made at edge opposite Floyd.
Already an elite scoring D, and isn’t that the name of the game?
O’Connell was a great hire.
Staley looking like a great hire.
Tackling seems a bit better.
Better communication in the secondary.
More pressure now than earlier and also far more sacks.

When ARob comes back and IF that edge position gets sorted out? Look out, NFC West!

Then again, our last 2 opponents were the Giants and Washington, sooooo...

Ebu and Obo...they're like Tolkien dwarves

 

[Ramlock]

Can they crush the RB the Cards have at QB?

Sling the red midget!