What did you learn from week 11?

[Prime Time]

we will all tell the stories of Aaron Donald to our children and their children when they say (insert name) is the best defensive player ever

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.c...aron-donald-is-playing-even-better-this-year/

Sean McVay: Aaron Donald is playing even better this year

Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, the 2017 defensive player of the year, already seems to be the clear favorite to win it again. His coach definitely thinks so.

“I think he was well deserving of defensive player of the year last year and I think he’s even playing better this year,” Rams coach Sean McVay told reporters on Tuesday. “I think he’s truly taken his game to a different level. You feel him every single snap.

The impact that he makes on the game in so many different ways that maybe don’t even show up on the stat sheet, even though he is putting up these eye-popping numbers where he’s leading the league in sacks and he’s forcing fumbles. . . .

“You just kind of get accustomed to, ‘There’s another play Aaron makes,’ but you don’t ever want to take that for granted. The best part about Aaron, and you guys know this, is when you hear Aaron interview, the first thing he says is, ‘I’ve got a lot of room for improvement.’ I think the one thing that I’ve been so impressed with, with him is he is a great player, he’s a special player, but he’s always continually focusing on what he can do to improve.

There’s never that complacency that sets in. I think that’s why you see a great player playing at a really high level. I think he raises the level of his teammates. He certainly raises the level of this team and he is making big-time plays at the moments that we need them the most. He is a really, really special player that we are lucky to have.

I just think the way he works naturally rubs off on people and I think that consistency where a lot of people think leadership is talking and things like that. Really, what I’ve learned being around Aaron is I think he’s a great leader by the way that he consistently goes about his business, brings people with him just by doing right.

We talk about it all the time, we see a lot better than we hear and he’s a guy that definitely shows up and he shows instead of having to say all the time and then that speaks a lot louder than what words can do in a lot of instances.”

Some have suggested that Donald should receive MVP consideration, but that will be difficult to accomplish, not only because the league has so many great offensive players this year but also because the Rams have two other viable candidates in running back Todd Gurley and quarterback Jared Goff. They may split votes, making it harder for any of them to win it.

 

[Ellard80]

Donald is worth every penny.

 

[Raptorman]

Scoring isn't through the roof. It's up about a point a game that's it.

The "high scoring" NFL is simply not a fact.

But points have come easily in most NFL games this season as the torrid scoring pace continues.

The 7,791 points scored through Week 11 is the most in NFL history as are the 895 touchdowns and 570 touchdown passes.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/11/20/nfl-continues-torrid-scoring-pace/

 

[LesBaker]

But points have come easily in most NFL games this season as the torrid scoring pace continues.

The 7,791 points scored through Week 11 is the most in NFL history as are the 895 touchdowns and 570 touchdown passes.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/11/20/nfl-continues-torrid-scoring-pace/

It's still just a little bit more per game.

calling the pace torrid is a bit overblown

 

[Raptorman]

It's still just a little bit more per game.

calling the pace torrid is a bit overblown

Last year it was 43.4 points per game. This year so far its 49 points per game. That is a significant jump.

 

[LesBaker]

Last year it was 43.4 points per game. This year so far its 49 points per game. That is a significant jump.

That's less than a FG per team. Hardly the pyrotechics being reported.

I'm curious how much yardage is up though because IMO fan perception is being skewed by that.

 

[RocknRam29]

That it's painful to hear Jason Witten trying to pronounce Ebukam. Lol


View: https://twitter.com/Tarek_Fattal/status/1064944662111125504?s=19

 

[Ramstien]

What I learned is that this defense can step up in crunch time.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Oh, and our time management at the end of the game needs work. That last touchdown to Everett, I looked over at my wife and just said "why would they do that?" Our defense was gassed, they weren't able to stop anything, there was a ton of time on the clock, and McVay went for a bomb. Thanks to going up against a rookie instead of Rodgers or Brees, Mahomes throws an interception which largely mitigates the poor decision to go deep with almost 2 full minutes remaining and 3 timeouts from the opposition that had been marching up and down the field with impunity all night.

You score when you can score. It was no given they would score a td.

What happens after that interception? Pass-Pass-Pass. One of which goes incomplete, saving the opposition a timeout. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. It took the punt of the year from Hekker and Mahomes's lack of field presence at a crucial moment to save us from certain disaster again.

And? The jags took your route, playing it safe, not going for the 1st down and how did that work out for them? I've seen plenty of teams take the safe route then lose the game. Many, many times.

The whole sequence was just echos of the Super Bowl 2 years ago when Shanahan had it won and decided to show everybody how much smarter he was than anyone else and kept throwing the damn ball, running out of the shotgun, and having the plays go off with 15 seconds still left on the play clock. Ego got the best of McVay yesterday.

They were completely different situations. The falcons only needed a fg to win the game. Burn the cheats timeouts with runs then kick the fg to go 11 ahead. Game over.

How is that the same to being ahead by 3 and trying to get the first down to win the game?

.

 

[1maGoh]

No, I'm saying that right now the team that has the best chance is the Saints. Only 1 team that gave up more than 25 points per game during the season has every won the Super Bowl. And right now the Rams and Chiefs are over that figure. Not saying it can't happen, but it is not likely too.

We'll now you've gone from making it to the super bowl to winning it. My point was that everyone AFC pick is the chiefs who showed that they can't keep up with the Rams. To say that we can't make it but they can (which you didn't explicitly, but that's the feeling around the NFL) is illogical.

Cue Spock meme.

 

[jjab360]

That it's painful to hear Jason Witten trying to pronounce Ebukam. Lol


View: https://twitter.com/Tarek_Fattal/status/1064944662111125504?s=19

 

[FarNorth]

Other than Hekker is the best punter since Ray Guy...I think you pretty much nailed it.

Hekker is better than Ray Guy.

 

[thirteen28]

I learned that the guys who needed to step up in Kupp’s absence were ready to do just that.

I learned that next season, when Kupp is healthy, McVay is going to have the “problem” of having more weapons than he can get on the field at once.

 

[Mojo Ram]

Patrick Mahomes looks like Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins and he has the posture of a 14 yr old girl in beauty school.

 

[1maGoh]

I learned that the guys who needed to step up in Kupp’s absence were ready to do just that.

I learned that next season, when Kupp is healthy, McVay is going to have the “problem” of having more weapons than he can get on the field at once.

If McVay always puts the best players on the field, this the great use of 11 personnel, will he start using 10 personnel next year with the emergence of Reynolds?

I have a feeling that if we have another serious that emerge, like Reynolds or Everett, then we may see whole game or halves played with different personnel groupings. 11 personnel in game 1, but 12 personnel in game 2 based in the matchup.

 

[Loyal]

Hekker is better than Ray Guy.

Guy used to boom kicks that sometimes hit dome roofs, and was a worry in a Super Bowl hosted in new Orleans.....I love me some Hekker, but am not so sure to say that he is automatically better than Ray Guy. I remember marveling at what he could do, and I was no Raider fan.

 

[shaunpinney]

Scoring isn't through the roof. It's up about a point a game that's it.

The "high scoring" NFL is simply not a fact.

I wasn't stating that the league has become a high scoring league, just pointing out that the game has changed, and many historical stats just don't count for much in todays game - it's just the same as saying that the worst scoring offence can't be the highest scoring offense the following year.

 

[Mackeyser]

Honestly, the rule changes in the NFL are like tax law changes that only really benefit the rich.

If you don't have playmakers at QB, WR and RB, then the DBs will still be able to cover and defenses will hold up.

It's teams that have this abundance of weapons... clearly the Rams, Saints and Chiefs... that are seemingly abusing the system.

But every team doesn't have this. We've also seen a team like Tampa Bay rack up tons of production if not points because they've got legit weapons. Seriously, if Tampa had a defense, they'd be causing havoc in their division. Not saying they'd even have a winning record, but they'd be a much tougher out.

 

[Raptorman]

That's less than a FG per team. Hardly the pyrotechics being reported.

I'm curious how much yardage is up though because IMO fan perception is being skewed by that.

2015 352 yards per game
2016 350 yards per game
2017 334 yards per game
2018 360 yards per game

 

[LesBaker]

2015 352 yards per game
2016 350 yards per game
2017 334 yards per game
2018 360 yards per game

Wherever you got this info probably has the average going back further and it would be interesting to see how it has changed in the last 15-20 years