Well, it’s been half a day since the final gun...

[Raptorman]

Only three teams that gave up 25 points per game or more during the season ever made it the Super Bowl. Only one, won. Defense matters. All you need is one team to stop you in the playoffs. One team to figure you out.

But, yeah. Believe defense is dead.

 

[PhillyRam]

Times are changing unfortunately... League wants offense and that is what we are getting.

Thus holding like this is ignored.

 

[Rambitious1]

So I’m gonna throw out a few things here, some of which might make a few uncomfortable.

Yeah, we won. But geez, the Chiefs spotted us 13 points and 8 penalties before getting started. Then they added 5 turnovers. So, if we meet again in the SB on a neutral field... Gulp.

Talib will make a big difference for the Rams, I’m certain. A much needed one, I might add.

I’m virtually certain that Gurley was hurt early and was not 100%.

Question. Why didn’t either HC emphasize their respective running games to a greater degree? Would have kept the opposing potent O off the field more. I get that Gurley was probably hurt, but Malcolm Brown is no slouch and could have been quite effective. The game resembled Arena football most of the time. Did both HC’s overlook the obvious?

Is Big Whit winding down? Is it too soon to give Boom a few series to get some experience?

Refreshing to see Reynolds, Everett, and Higbee all step up, big time. Perfect timing.

Clearly, the Ram O and ST are SB worthy. But, is the D? We “held” the Chiefs to 51 points. Hard to type that sentence. Merlin and Deacon are spinning in their graves right about now. And Jack Youngblood is unavailable for comment. Lol.

Goff wasn’t perfect, but neither were his conditions to operate. Chiefs are a likely SB team, so any win over such a team is noteworthy. I wouldn’t trade Goff for ANY other NFL QB as of 2018.

AD is superhuman. He routinely wrecks opposing O’s. We got Sooooo lucky with that 13th overall pick.

Hekker was once again a stud when needed most. So many heroes on this team that he probably doesn’t get enough credit.

Is Suh’s presence sufficiently enhancing AD’s opportunities? I mean, $14 million worth? I don’t think so, frankly. I think he’s lost his fastball and is a goner in ‘19.

Don’t think Barron will be a Ram next year, either. Probably some kind of a trade.

Is Fowler’s presence helping Ebu? Of course it is, but I mean does it enable Ebu to become a quality starting OLB? Put another way, was Longacre’s poor play allowing opponents to take away Ebu? Speaking of Longacre, I doubt that he’s among the actives the rest of this season and is a goner next year. Duh!

Don’t know what to make of Peters. I once thought he was a lock to be extended, but now I’m not so sure. Heck, he might get beat out by a CB drafted in the 1st next year. He’s gotta win me over once again. What’s with the socks thing, btw? Sheesh.

Joyner’s a goner. Bank it. He’s very replaceable for a fraction of his salary.

Still predicting a minimum of 3 new starters on D next year. Suh, Barron, and Joyner all goners.

Some others are iffy based upon how they contribute during the final 5 games plus the playoffs.

Brockers
Fowler (salary demands will be a factor)
Ebu (one great game does not a season make)
Peters (can Wade fit him into the system, or not?)

Look, we just allowed 51 points to the Chiefs. We’ve allowed 282 points through 11 games, do the math. In the last 4 games Rams have allowed 154 points. That is not a misprint.

[www.espn.com]

This cannot continue if we hope to go to the SB. And it certainly cannot continue into 2019. Our O and ST can do just so much. Right now this D is resembling AD and the 10 dwarfs a bit too much, don’t you think?

They will be tough, but so will other teams. In reading your post it seems to assume things are static, that not much if anything changes. I tend to think things are dynamic- ever changing. So we’ll see. Talib will help, Fowler having more time with the team and in the system will also help. More time without Kupp will give McVay more time to figure things out and for the team to play together more without him. So we’ll see, too far away to be overly concerned IMHO.

 

[Rams43]

I never understand statements like this, your pretty much not giving any credit to the defense for holding them to zero early and creating turnovers.

?????

What does this even mean? Are you referring to the first 8 minutes of a 60 minute game? Damn!

Talk about a non sequitur.

This is a quote from the OP.

Look, we just allowed 51 points to the Chiefs. We’ve allowed 282 points through 11 games, do the math. In the last 4 games Rams have allowed 154 points. That is not a misprint.

[www.espn.com]

Now, one can choose to ignore those facts, or not. Just like one can choose to ignore gravity, or not.

But ignoring things that make one uncomfortable comes with a heavy price, sometimes.

Our scoring D needs to improve by playoff time. It just does. We have a hole in our bucket, IOW.

 

[8to12]

I never understand statements like this, your pretty much not giving any credit to the defense for holding them to zero early and creating turnovers.

I understand what you are saying, but results are based on the final score ; WIn vs Loss. Yes, they got turnovers....and with all of those turnovers the Chiefs still scored 44 points! The Rams are 10-1.....one of the best seasons to date. I am not complaining about the specifics of the defense last night, But, I would like to see them get to the Superbowl. And, teams that go deep into the playoffs generally improve over the course of the season. The offense is doing well. They are consistently scoring over 30 points per game. However, is the defense improving? What is N. Suh doing on the field the last 4 games? For 14-Mil he seems to be just occupying space.... for just one example.
The Rams won the battle last night, but are they improving in order to win the War?

 

[badnews]

When both teams can and do score this quickly, you are going to see tons of possessions lead to a bunch more points. Its a cycle and last night was a perfect storm.

 

[FarNorth]

When both teams can and do score this quickly, you are going to see tons of possessions lead to a bunch more points. Its a cycle and last night was a perfect storm.

Exactly!! Both teams doubled down on throwing the ball. If either had used their outstanding running backs more it might have been a very different game.

 

[Karate61]

Only three teams that gave up 25 points per game or more during the season ever made it the Super Bowl. Only one, won. Defense matters. All you need is one team to stop you in the playoffs. One team to figure you out.

But, yeah. Believe defense is dead.

That was then, this is now. Defense is dead! All 4 of the top rated teams this year...not good defenses!

 

[Steve808]

I watched that on the Herd this morning. He was pissing me off!

My local radio show in Hawaii was saying the Rams won but they think the Chefs would win in a rematch because no way KC gives up 5 turnovers. But there was 1 comment made that the Rams find a way to win, which is what great teams do. In fact, winning so many close games might be a good thing where out team doesn't panic when they get down. They trust each other for someone to step up and get the job done.

And thus far, it's worked to the tune of 10-1.

 

[Karate61]

My local radio show in Hawaii was saying the Rams won but they think the Chefs would win in a rematch because no way KC gives up 5 turnovers. But there was 1 comment made that the Rams find a way to win, which is what great teams do. In fact, winning so many close games might be a good thing where out team doesn't panic when they get down. They trust each other for someone to step up and get the job done.

And thus far, it's worked to the tune of 10-1.

Weak. Can we start saying, if Cooks catches that bomb in the endzone; if, if, if is so iffy!

 

[FarNorth]

Weak. Can we start saying, if Cooks catches that bomb in the endzone; if, if, if is so iffy!

Rams missed on two close plays which could have been tds. If Reynolds and Cooks had made those plays, Goff would have had 7 passing tds. What would the story line have been then?

 

[Karate61]

Rams missed on two close plays which could have been tds. If Reynolds and Cooks had made those plays, Goff would have had 7 passing tds. What would the story line have been then?

Probably the exact same as right now. Excuses for the Chiefs and Mahomes. Only way to shut them up is to keep on winning! With the remaining schedule, Rams may go 15-1!

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

If the refs were calling offensive holding on pass plays, then the Rams Defense would be very good. A lot of defenses would be a whole lot better.

Allowing Olinemen to hold on pass plays is the reason that these offenses are able to put up 50 points weekly. Donald would have 20+ sacks if they called holding. Drives would end much more frequently, instead of being extended while we see Dlinemen being held.

The league wanted more offense and they figured out how to get it. D coordinators, Dlinemen, and coaches will need to go back to the drawing board and figure out a way to beat the holding, or play a different style of defense to combat it.

 

[Mackeyser]

What this shows me is the great offenses these days are the great teams. All these other lower scores are a reflection of poor offense.

If I was a GM today, I would build my team 99% offense, 1% defense.

After drafting your stud QB:

Assemble the best oline. Pay the big bucks for the best players.

Go get a top three running back.

Grab a couple stud tight ends.

Stack a supierior core of exceptional 4-5 wide receivers.

With the little money left over for defense, draft and maybe snatch some garbage from the Canadian league.

And there you have it. That's your Super Bowl winning Team!

Defense is Dead!

Our Rams beat your hypothetical team every day and twice on Sunday.

 

[Mackeyser]

?????

What does this even mean? Are you referring to the first 8 minutes of a 60 minute game? Damn!

Talk about a non sequitur.

This is a quote from the OP.

Look, we just allowed 51 points to the Chiefs. We’ve allowed 282 points through 11 games, do the math. In the last 4 games Rams have allowed 154 points. That is not a misprint.

[www.espn.com]

Now, one can choose to ignore those facts, or not. Just like one can choose to ignore gravity, or not.

But ignoring things that make one uncomfortable comes with a heavy price, sometimes.

Our scoring D needs to improve by playoff time. It just does. We have a hole in our bucket, IOW.

OH, for the love of Pete...

We've faced since Week 3 without Talib: Cousins, Wilson, Keenum, Beathard, Rodgers, Brees, Wilson and Mahomes.

Other than Keenum who is capable as he showed this week beating the Chargers and Beathard, all of those are top QBs playing at a time when good offense is going to trump good defense on most plays. And we've gotten the BEST those teams could give and still ONLY have 1 loss to a team playing out of their minds IN their dome which is one of the toughest places to win outside of Seattle, NE and KC.

Now if we just won a 54-51 game against the Jets or Cardinals...then yeah, I'd be with you, but Mahomes and Brees are having record years, Rodgers and Wilson are exceptional and Cousins had a tremendous game in that loss.

You're saying, "I can't believe we got a D on defense" and I'm saying "well, considering this wasn't an algebra test, it was a thesis defense on non-Euclidian geometries in space time".

When we had an algebra test with Talib, we ACED it, 34-0 and the game wasn't that close. We aced our Calc exam against the Chargers 34-23 and it wasn't that close, either.

Negating the difficulty of an opponent removes all context.

Also, championship teams find a way to win these games. This team has found ways to win that other teams haven't.

You watch when Talib comes back. This defense is going to be HUNGRY. Our DL took some time to gear up and wasn't really going when Talib was playing and STILL only allowed 12 ppg. With our DL playing like this AND Talib back in the secondary... oof.

It's going to be a special 5 game stretch.

 

[fearsomefour]

As for the not running ball point from the OP....you have two offensive coaches and agressive play callers who saw big chunk plays all over the field.
There were receivers running wide open all night on both sides.
Trying to settle into a ground and pound game plan would have likely insured a loss.

 

[UnknownREknown]

KC did not commit 5 turnovers.

LA forced 5 takeaways. There is a big difference.

When Pharoh Cooper was coughing up the ball on punt returns in the playoffs, thats more self inflicted.

Donalds strip sacks, Samsons pick, the interrupted throw to Peters... those were players making plays.
Thats the Rams BEATING the freaking Chiefs.

Bring em on in the SB. I want to beat them twice.

Look, its bad enough I have to live in an area infested with Chiefs fans and Mahomeboys...

Maybe it's me enjoying the win alot or getting pissed from cocky ass chief fans comments before the game (or both) but a big hell yes to this comment and my exact thoughts.

 

[RamsSince1969]

What’s with the end of defense narrative?
I’m not sure that is necessarily true. I think, this year is like any other year with the exception being the top 3 teams in the NFL
— the Rams, the Saints, and the Chefs — all have high potent offenses and lackluster defenses.

Check out these “normal” scores from this past week and you’ll see that not every team can do what the Rams, Saints, and Chefs have done week in and week out. I think it’s more of an indication of how brilliant these 3 offensive-minded coaches are than the end of defense.

View attachment 27133 View attachment 27134
View attachment 27135

Dieter, I was out in Harper TX in at a friends ranch last June! What a beautiful part of the country you live in! Armadillos, wild hogs and game everywhere. Thanks for the scoring stats too.

 

[Steve808]

Rams missed on two close plays which could have been tds. If Reynolds and Cooks had made those plays, Goff would have had 7 passing tds. What would the story line have been then?

That the Chiefs are actually better than the Rams because the Chiefs had 5 turnovers. <sarcasm off>

 

[Merlin]

Defense is not and never will be dead. Put two teams in a game in the playoffs and if one of them has a noticeably better rate of giving up points in the regular season they're probably going to get the stops they need even if the game is a shootout. Assuming things are relatively equal offensively of course.

One or two top offenses will be stalled in this year's playoffs and get eliminated. Usually that happens to offenses who have terrible scoring defense on the other side, too, so you don't want to be that team.

Both sides matter. Special teams matter too for that matter. Media just over plays things like this IMO.