Well, I enjoyed re-watching the Seahawk game as much as the original...

[Rams43]

Can never get quite enough of Petey’s long face on the sideline. Or of the frustration of the Seahawk players. Lol.

Couple of things that I noticed and that I haven’t already seen well covered...

I paid pretty close attention to that right side of the Ram OL. They played very well, contrary to what I’ve read from a couple of posters elsewhere.

In fact, all Ram players seemed to be blocking exceptionally well, including Higbee and all 3 WR’s. Somebody should take a bow for instilling good blocking fundamentals. That will be a huge boost in the playoffs.

GZ played very well considering that we now know he was in great pain. Man, his situation is proof that life isn’t fair. Sigh...

Quinn had an even better game than I had originally thought. Is it possible that he’s “back”? (Pun intended).

AD is held, often blatantly, on almost every play. I’m serious. It’s criminal what the refs let opponents get away with. Geez...

I tried to focus on Troy Hill, too. He looked like a Pro Bowl 5 year starter every time I saw him. Wow.

The way this team is blocking and Gurley is running? Honestly, they seem unstoppable. McVay started subbing with 7 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, then more extensively in the 4th. Point is that the Rams could have virtually named the score if McVay had wanted to. Coulda been a 60 burger, maybe even more. Utter domination to the point that the Rams broke the will of most Seahawk players. I loved it (does that make me a bad person?).

Okay, I’m just gonna say it. Tavon is not a good option as our RB, either. Yeah, he’ll get a nice gainer here and there, especially with that blocking in front of him. But he’ll have plays where he hesitates and does that stutter step thing and loses yardage. That one nice gainer when he swept right in the mid 3rd quarter? He was looking for a place at the end where he could run out of bounds. Had he cut inside I think he woulda had a TD.

Cooper has both great vision and great football instincts. Example was a punt at the 5 yard line where he saw no decent return opportunity and so he let it bounce into the end zone for a touchback. Some returners might have caught it and danced around before being tackled near that 5 yard line. Cough, cough...

Kudos to Wade and his staff for keeping and developing Littleton, Troy Hill, and Ebukam. Coaching and depth both matter if a team wants to go deep into the playoffs. Won’t be the subject of many headlines but it’s huge for the Rams fortunes.

Let’s pray for a speedy recovery for GZ. Hope to see him back 100% next OTA’s. Gutsy performance vs Seahawks. He and Webster are a couple of tough little mofo’s.

This rout enabled many starters to get rest and many backups to get valuable snaps. Snaps that could be very helpful if they are called upon due to injury in the playoffs. Frosting on the Seahawk rout cake, if you will.

Love the way Wade rotates his DL plus his OLB’s. Everybody stays fresh and somehow there seems to be little drop off. Genius DC, if you ask me.

Haven’t seen so much joy on the faces and in the body language of Ram players since the height of the GSOT. A pleasure to watch after all these years. I think we’re gonna be seeing a helluva lot more in years to come.

I tell you what. McVay seems like a 31 year old HC going on 50, if you know what I mean. My only criticism of him in this entire game is the passing playcall on 4th and inches instead of a running play. That’s it. What a HR hire he was!

Okay, now it’s on to Nashville and let’s clinch this division, shall we?

 

[TexasRam]

Some good observations my man.

I rewatched it 2 times myself. I also agree Higbee’s blocking has really improved, that really stood out to me. I was really riding Higbee’s ass .. uhh figuratively. He was a disaster early in the season but is now stonewalling guys and openin lanes vs real big Dline man. You can really see him working on rewind.

Quinn was just Dam near his old self. Owning a pro bowl LT like that is so promising for our playoff run. He didn’t just make a few plays. He was constantly pressuring Wilson.

I actually liked the 4th and 1 pass call. I thought Seattle played it perfectly and Goff hesitated too long. I’ve just seen too many 3rd and 1 stuffed this year forcing punt and wanted to mix it up, remember the Eagles converted two 4th and 1 on us via the pass leading to 14 points. I am not sure it’s a bad idea just needs to be executed better.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Some good observations my man.

I rewatched it 2 times myself. I also agree Higbee’s blocking has really improved, that really stood out to me. I was really riding Higbee’s ass .. uhh figuratively. He was a disaster early in the season but is now stonewalling guys and openin lanes vs real big Dline man. You can really see him working on rewind.

Quinn was just Dam near his old self. Owning a pro bowl LT like that is so promising for our playoff run. He didn’t just make a few plays. He was constantly pressuring Wilson.

I actually liked the 4th and 1 pass call. I thought Seattle played it perfectly and Goff hesitated too long. I’ve just seen too many 3rd and 1 stuffed this year forcing punt and wanted to mix it up, remember the Eagles converted two 4th and 1 on us via the pass leading to 14 points. I am not sure it’s a bad idea just needs to be executed better.

The way he OLine was opening holes in that game makes me think a run would have been better.

 

[Rams43]

Some good observations my man.

I rewatched it 2 times myself. I also agree Higbee’s blocking has really improved, that really stood out to me. I was really riding Higbee’s ass .. uhh figuratively. He was a disaster early in the season but is now stonewalling guys and openin lanes vs real big Dline man. You can really see him working on rewind.

Quinn was just Dam near his old self. Owning a pro bowl LT like that is so promising for our playoff run. He didn’t just make a few plays. He was constantly pressuring Wilson.

I actually liked the 4th and 1 pass call. I thought Seattle played it perfectly and Goff hesitated too long. I’ve just seen too many 3rd and 1 stuffed this year forcing punt and wanted to mix it up, remember the Eagles converted two 4th and 1 on us via the pass leading to 14 points. I am not sure it’s a bad idea just needs to be executed better.

We’re seeing the same Quinn, Tex.

Hell, I even saw some choke holds on him like he was getting back in his heyday.

Gotta disagree on the playcall on 4th and inches, though. Remember when Gurley had those two runs from the Seahawk one yard line?

Both times our OL blocked so well that he went in standing up, one time untouched.

I think the run call was the smarter play.

Nice to be nitpicking about a failed first down conversion in a 42-7 rout, huh?

 

[TexasRam]

We’re seeing the same Quinn, Tex.

Hell, I even saw some choke holds on him like he was getting back in his heyday.

Gotta disagree on the playcall on 4th and inches, though. Remember when Gurley had those two runs from the Seahawk one yard line?

Both times our OL blocked so well that he went in standing up, one time untouched.

I think the run call was the smarter play.

Nice to be nitpicking about a failed first down conversion in a 42-7 rout, huh?

Yea and I can see the logic behind running there since Gurley was already running Good. It’s just we almost exclusively up to that point have ran it on those short yardage plays with a bad conversion rate and I wanted them to break the predictability.

I think once you show you have the balls to throw a pass and convert it on 4th down you can then keep them guessing and loosen up those plays for a higher rate of success running it.

 

[JRobinson]

I did the same freakin thing and was just laughing as the third quarter had began. I loved every minute of that game.

 

[RamDino]

I saw Aaron Donald split a double team and EACH blocker had one arm around his chest!! And he still got pressure on Wilson! It seems like he and Quinn get held on every play!!! Hopefully, now that the Rams are being recognized for the great team that they are... the refs will start calling more penalties our way. Donald is virtually unblockable! Great post 43.

 

[LesBaker]

Nice read 43.........very good points.

AD is held, often blatantly, on almost every play. I’m serious. It’s criminal what the refs let opponents get away with. Geez...

On the one sack he was literally being held around the neck with the defender not even TRYING to cover up the fact he was holding. I'm sure sopmeone can post the clip. I hope the Rams send that to the NFL office with a big loud complaint. It's was horrible how much he was held Sunday. It may have been the worst I've seen as far as one player getting held so much in a football game.

It reminded me of something in the NBA several years ago when the Lakers were dominant and they were in a playoff run-up to the Finals. Shaq and Kobe were unstoppable then. I can't remember the team or defender someone here might though........Kobe was getting grabbed by the jersey the entire game and essentially every time he got the ball or tried to make a move off the ball, it was flat out cheating it was so bad. Not a little tug or a grip it was full on holding.......he actually complained to the ref and showed him how bad it was.....his jersey was actually stretched out and you could see the fabric was still bunched and twisted up from a defender holding him!!!

What I saw Sunday was at that level.

Gotta disagree on the playcall on 4th and inches, though. Remember when Gurley had those two runs from the Seahawk one yard line?

Both times our OL blocked so well that he went in standing up, one time untouched.

100% agree it was a dumb call. Had he decided to take a shot deep and strike for a TD I wouldn't complain but that play was designed to get a few yards and that's a risky play design anyway. The entire SEA defense was flowing in that direction right from the snap.

But other than that McVay called a great game.

We still disagree on Austin though. Many of those big runs by Gurley are happening because a couple of players on defense are getting frozen or literally moving out of the play altogether.

If you recall the long TD pass to Gurley to take the lead versus the Cowboys you know what I mean. He took two guys out of the play and froze a third. Without that Gurley doesn't have the little crease to slant into and be wide open for Goff. Plays like that are happening off of motion from TA. Defenses are aware that he can go all the way any time he gets the ball so he always moves players and creates space.

McVay is playing chess with him in motion and it's working. Pre-snap motion from TA is creating holes in the defense big time, if I can see the DB's move up and can see the LB's lean in or shift I know Goff and the players see it too and they take advantage. So many of the big strike plays have come from this it's hard for me to dislike what he is as a player. We not me.

 

[JIMERAMS]

Hig was wide open on that 4th down play but he needs to work on being seen. I think he may have been blocked out from Goff by a LB. he needed to settle and wave his arms easy TD.