Unsung Heroes of the Super Bowl

[Flatlyner]

Everyone knows how big the main guys came up; Kupp, Stafford, Donald, Miller, etc. but I think lost in the light are some guys that had some pretty major impacts in one way or another that people are talking about:

Ernest Jones - He seemed to be around the ball on every play. He had a pretty great sack after getting cut blocked, hopped up and took Burrow down. He had a few pretty important tackles that limited the yards gained on catches. Maybe his best contribution was keeping Reeder on the bench however. (1 sack 7 total tackles)

A'Shawn - wrecking machine against the run and even got a fair amount of pass rush pressure (1 sack, 6 total tackles).

Weddle - What a tough son of a bitch. Tore his pec early in the game and manned the fuck up to finish game. He certainly didn't shy away from hits due to it either.

Eli Apple - for talking shit about how you were gonna shut down Kupp/OBJ and then get roasted on the winning TD. If you pretend to be a top cover corner, play like one (just not against us sucka).

Cincy OLine - Maybe not unsung, but they had the turnstiles churning in the 2nd half of the game. They actually played pretty well in the 1st half, but ran out of steam or got tired of getting steam rolled by Donald.

CJ Uzomah - Thank you for coming back but not being able to be 100%. I'm sure that had something to do with his lack of production. He sure as hell manned up to play, but should he have?

Cooper Kupp - but not for all the catches and TD's, for missing Stafford so bad on that trick play. Stafford was about to get knocked out on that hospital route, had the throw been accurate. Think our chances of victory dramatically reduce with The Wolf in there.

Hendo - He made some absolutely clutch catches when we had nobody to throw to. Additionally, he had some nice blitz pick ups. No sure why he didn't get more play time (Akers was ineffective as hell).

Hopkins - Dude has like zero experience or snaps since he was drafted, and has a ton of run in the biggest game of his life. He actually played fairly well (blocking needed some help) in the passing game. We were down to ONE eligible TE on the roster and he played pretty good.

The Refs - I'm fairly certain they missed a pretty blatant false start towards the end of the game on that Kupp PI play. It looked like the LT clearly was up in blocking position before the ball was snapped. Yes, they missed some big calls to, but, that certainly helped us in the end and that is a call all the refs on the field could of and should have likely made. The Higgins PI was likely only one refs call.

Did I miss anyone?

Cheers Fellas!!

 

[VegasRam]

No, you didn’t.
Jones set the tone for the whole game, stopping the 4th and 1.

 

[PhillyRam]

Everyone knows how big the main guys came up; Kupp, Stafford, Donald, Miller, etc. but I think lost in the light are some guys that had some pretty major impacts in one way or another that people are talking about:

Ernest Jones - He seemed to be around the ball on every play. He had a pretty great sack after getting cut blocked, hopped up and took Burrow down. He had a few pretty important tackles that limited the yards gained on catches. Maybe his best contribution was keeping Reeder on the bench however. (1 sack 7 total tackles)

A'Shawn - wrecking machine against the run and even got a fair amount of pass rush pressure (1 sack, 6 total tackles).

Weddle - What a tough son of a bitch. Tore his pec early in the game and manned the fuck up to finish game. He certainly didn't shy away from hits due to it either.

Eli Apple - for talking shit about how you were gonna shut down Kupp/OBJ and then get roasted on the winning TD. If you pretend to be a top cover corner, play like one (just not against us sucka).

Cincy OLine - Maybe not unsung, but they had the turnstiles churning in the 2nd half of the game. They actually played pretty well in the 1st half, but ran out of steam or got tired of getting steam rolled by Donald.

CJ Uzomah - Thank you for coming back but not being able to be 100%. I'm sure that had something to do with his lack of production. He sure as hell manned up to play, but should he have?

Cooper Kupp - but not for all the catches and TD's, for missing Stafford so bad on that trick play. Stafford was about to get knocked out on that hospital route, had the throw been accurate. Think our chances of victory dramatically reduce with The Wolf in there.

Hendo - He made some absolutely clutch catches when we had nobody to throw to. Additionally, he had some nice blitz pick ups. No sure why he didn't get more play time (Akers was ineffective as hell).

Hopkins - Dude has like zero experience or snaps since he was drafted, and has a ton of run in the biggest game of his life. He actually played fairly well (blocking needed some help) in the passing game. We were down to ONE eligible TE on the roster and he played pretty good.

The Refs - I'm fairly certain they missed a pretty blatant false start towards the end of the game on that Kupp PI play. It looked like the LT clearly was up in blocking position before the ball was snapped. Yes, they missed some big calls to, but, that certainly helped us in the end and that is a call all the refs on the field could of and should have likely made. The Higgins PI was likely only one refs call.

Did I miss anyone?

Cheers Fellas!!

Hopkins with a great block on that Kupp 4th & 1 play. Wiped out Hendrickson I believe.

 

[BuffaloRam]

Trey Hopkins 66 for the Bengals sucker punching Donald after 99 hit Burrow cleanly inbounds. That literally was the worst thing someone could have done to 99. He was immense after that. Burrow knew he was fucked after that - the hit hurt and he knew what was coming.

 

[Ballhawk]

Great thread! It is amazing just how many players stepped up and made plays for this team when needed.
They all deserve their rings!

 

[OldSchool]

Reggie Scott won't ever get the credit he so rightly deserves with the media. We Ram fans have to acknowledge him.

 

[12intheBox]

David Long Jr was solid. I would not have known to give him credit for that 4th down game winning play without seeing a breakdown of it - but it’s the little things.

For one of the forums whipping boys, he came up huge

 

[Ellard80]

Raheem Morris - unsung hero of that game.

 

[UnknownREknown]

Funny that you brought up Kupp missing Stafford. Didn't think anyone looked at it like that but those were my exact thoughts. I told everyone around me, he would've gotten his ribs broken or fumbled and possibly returned for a td (or both, smh).

And yeah, Ernest Jones, man!!! Dude is such a beast. Scary to think what the defense can do when fully healthy and under the same scheme for another year.

 

[dpjax]

Everyone knows how big the main guys came up; Kupp, Stafford, Donald, Miller, etc. but I think lost in the light are some guys that had some pretty major impacts in one way or another that people are talking about:

Ernest Jones - He seemed to be around the ball on every play. He had a pretty great sack after getting cut blocked, hopped up and took Burrow down. He had a few pretty important tackles that limited the yards gained on catches. Maybe his best contribution was keeping Reeder on the bench however. (1 sack 7 total tackles)

A'Shawn - wrecking machine against the run and even got a fair amount of pass rush pressure (1 sack, 6 total tackles).

Weddle - What a tough son of a bitch. Tore his pec early in the game and manned the fuck up to finish game. He certainly didn't shy away from hits due to it either.

Eli Apple - for talking shit about how you were gonna shut down Kupp/OBJ and then get roasted on the winning TD. If you pretend to be a top cover corner, play like one (just not against us sucka).

Cincy OLine - Maybe not unsung, but they had the turnstiles churning in the 2nd half of the game. They actually played pretty well in the 1st half, but ran out of steam or got tired of getting steam rolled by Donald.

CJ Uzomah - Thank you for coming back but not being able to be 100%. I'm sure that had something to do with his lack of production. He sure as hell manned up to play, but should he have?

Cooper Kupp - but not for all the catches and TD's, for missing Stafford so bad on that trick play. Stafford was about to get knocked out on that hospital route, had the throw been accurate. Think our chances of victory dramatically reduce with The Wolf in there.

Hendo - He made some absolutely clutch catches when we had nobody to throw to. Additionally, he had some nice blitz pick ups. No sure why he didn't get more play time (Akers was ineffective as hell).

Hopkins - Dude has like zero experience or snaps since he was drafted, and has a ton of run in the biggest game of his life. He actually played fairly well (blocking needed some help) in the passing game. We were down to ONE eligible TE on the roster and he played pretty good.

The Refs - I'm fairly certain they missed a pretty blatant false start towards the end of the game on that Kupp PI play. It looked like the LT clearly was up in blocking position before the ball was snapped. Yes, they missed some big calls to, but, that certainly helped us in the end and that is a call all the refs on the field could of and should have likely made. The Higgins PI was likely only one refs call.

Did I miss anyone?

Cheers Fellas!!

All great picks, one comment though. Watch the 4th and 1 jet sweep to Kupp on the game winning drive, Hopkins made the key block that opened that hole. Haven’t seen what else he did blocking wise but that was an impressive play by him, possibly game saving.

 

[kurtfaulk]

All great picks, one comment though. Watch the 4th and 1 jet sweep to Kupp on the game winning drive, Hopkins made the key block that opened that hole. Haven’t seen what else he did blocking wise but that was an impressive play by him, possibly game saving.

good on him just getting in the way. if he was a bit stronger kupp goes behind him but as he gave way a little a gap just opened up for kupp to cut it upfield.

either way kupp was always getting the 1st down because that's what he does.

.

 

[CGI_Ram]

So many good names. True team effort.

Rewatching the game yesterday… those Henderson catches were big time.

 

[Memento]

Johnny Hekker. Yes, he missed the hold that cost us a point, but his punts were awesome and helped pin the Bengals back. This is why we kept him and got a pick for the other punter.

 

[den-the-coach]

Johnny Hekker. Yes, he missed the hold that cost us a point, but his punts were awesome and helped pin the Bengals back. This is why we kept him and got a pick for the other punter.

Quite frankly, I believe the missed extra point could have been a blessing in disguise. The Rams needed to score 7 not 3 & IMO, it made them more aggressive. Overall knowing you only need 3 limits the play calling possibly. We will never know, but the Rams need 7 and they got 7, if they just needed 3, who knows?

 

[OntarioRam]

Quite frankly, I believe the missed extra point could have been a blessing in disguise. The Rams needed to score 7 not 3 & IMO, it made them more aggressive. Overall knowing you only need 3 limits the play calling possibly. We will never know, but the Rams need 7 and they got 7, if they just needed 3, who knows?

I agree, but you can't be missing extra points. 9 out of 10 times it will burn you.

Hekker is still solid but he is noticeably worse than he 3+ years ago. We all remember the absolute special teams weapon Hekker was from the Fisher years. But he hasn't been a weapon for some time now, and actually has his fair share of meh punts creeping in, be them short or simply over over-kicking coverage, although he is still a good punter on balance in my view.

I'd look to move on from Hekker for cheaper alternatives. We need every cap dollar possible, and it is better to move off a player 1 year early than late in the NFL. I think the Rams know this, and were contemplating going in a different direction last year, but got cold feet at the last moment, shipping the other guy (his name escapes me) to Green Bay.

 

[fearsomefour]

Hopkins really impressed.
No game experience and he played well.
He really looks good and smooth and natural route runner.
His blocking was ok, but, as others have said, he flushed out the contain on the key 4th and 1 with the game on the line and managed to not panic and hold or grab.
Really solid.
Sometimes injuries have a strange affect.
I had TE as a top draft need. Not anymore.
Higbee is the man but with the emergence of Blanton and now Hopkins and Harris still recovering and developing TE could be an area of depth and strength without drafting a TE.
Coaches did a great job getting these ready.

 

[rdlkgliders]

A'Shawn was simply amazing.
His best day as a Ram, he was involved in so many game changing plays

 

[RamFan503]

A'Shawn was simply amazing.
His best day as a Ram, he was involved in so many game changing plays

Yep. I just kept seeing him and all the Bungles around him seemed pissed. That was a sign to me that he was getting in and wrecking their party.

 

[HighDesertRam]

Funny that you brought up Kupp missing Stafford. Didn't think anyone looked at it like that but those were my exact thoughts. I told everyone around me, he would've gotten his ribs broken or fumbled and possibly returned for a td (or both, smh).

And yeah, Ernest Jones, man!!! Dude is such a beast. Scary to think what the defense can do when fully healthy and under the same scheme for another year.

I through Kupp had room to run on that play.

 

[ottoman89]

Ashawn hit his potential. And has been an absolute force. I look for him to stay around a few more years.