What Stafford hasn't had

[dieterbrock]

He also hasn't been in a winning environment.
I have seen enough film to know that he excels in high pressure situations.
Especially when you compare him to his predecessor, who allowed the moment
to swallow him whole.


View: https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1399781244167147529?s=20

Yeah, you missed the point.
Stafford has not come close to having the pressure of the expectations that he will have in LA. He's a hero for winning 5 games a year in Detroit, while his "predecessor" gets shown the door despite winning 40+ games and helping the team get to the Superbowl.
He hasnt faced that pressure pretty much since his days at Georgia
I have no doubt Stafford will do great things, that's what the great ones do. When the pressure gets high, some guys fold and some guys rise above it. I think #9 is the latter but it doesnt mean he wont have to run the gauntlet first

 

[Merlin]

Fair point. Obviously nothing from Brown yet and A'Shawn has been inconsistent. But Brockers has too, which is why I don't think we will miss him much on the field.

It's more of Brockers just being an average player IMO and that being relatively easy to replace.

And, the Rams under McVay have a great track record of moving on from players, especially on defense:

Ogletree
Quinn
Joyner
Talib
Fowler
Littleton
TruJo
Barron
NRC
Peters is the only one who played better outside of LA, but was part of us getting Ramsey so even that was a good decision.

What is really interesting with Brock is the question of whether he can continue what he did in 2020. And the Rams making that move with him insinuates that they don't think it is likely. Or at the least that they don't want to pay him that much and/or want to get better or get better for less money.

So in a way they sort of lucked out with him because he saved our ass in 2020. Or maybe they knew Robinson was going to have issues and pivoted/played it really well. Not sure which tbh but it will be cool to see how Brock does in Detroit. I've bagged on the guy in the past but I remain a big fan of his. All the guys willing to step up front and lead are guys I'm pulling for.

 

[Merlin]

Yeah, you missed the point.
Stafford has not come close to having the pressure of the expectations that he will have in LA. He's a hero for winning 5 games a year in Detroit, while his "predecessor" gets shown the door despite winning 40+ games and helping the team get to the Superbowl.
He hasnt faced that pressure pretty much since his days at Georgia
I have no doubt Stafford will do great things, that's what the great ones do. When the pressure gets high, some guys fold and some guys rise above it. I think #9 is the latter but it doesnt mean he wont have to run the gauntlet first

The Rams are without a doubt one of the highest expectation teams in the league. Stafford has never had to deal with a guy like McVay who is constantly refining and pushing to improve everything. And guys who tire of that get cast out.

Funny thing is I think all that losing in Detroit works in his favor. He might get tired of being coached hard after he wins a couple championships with us, but I think he's going to endure it and enjoy it in season one and probably season two. Which, incidentally, come at a relative bargain cap-wise.

I'm seeing a two year window of high end offense and deep playoff runs. And I hope it's not the kool-aid. :alol:

 

[RamFan503]

I hope you are right. I always figured he didn’t trust Goff to make the right read in the face of a likely heavy pass rush.

I think it will still potentially depend on field position. But I do think McVay will trust Stafford more to protect the ball when backed up. That may be another aspect that will be cool to watch unfold - another level of unpredictability.

 

[oldnotdead]

Stafford basically carried the Lions on his arm his entire career. That is immense pressure every year. With what he has as a Ram means he doesn't have to have a perfect game to win. He will have a complimentary run game and most of all an elite defense. Look how many games the Rams will simply outmatch the opponent and the game be over before the 4th quarter.

I'm sorry but I fail to see how coming to a contender will increase whatever self-imposed pressure he had as a Lion. Losing year after year is much worse on a true competitor, and is a huge burden for a guy like Stafford who goes out in every game to try to win. That simply isn't going to change. Only the outcome will change and with each win, it's better and that pressure diminishes until the next game. Wins don't haunt you all week, but losing builds up and does.

After a while, he will go into games expecting to win, not trying to win. That is a whole different kind of pressure, a good pressure if you will as it's akin to excitement, not desperation. IMO his years here in LA will extend his career as it did with Brady, Brees, and Rodgers. Like so many others one Super Bowl win will cement him and Ramsey as HOF QB & CB. Donald is simply a lock right now. My God, Donald, Ramsey, and now Stafford potential HOF players on the same team at the same time. WOW

This is why I'm stoked this year. Remember the Super Bowl is going to be in SoFi. For that defining moment to happen to those Ram players in their home stadium in the same game for each of them will IMO be historic. This could be the greatest team the Rams have ever fielded. I'm not just saying that as a homer. I believe it and have watched it take form and BTW it could also cement Snead and McVay as an elite HC and GM perhaps sending them to the HOF as well. We are blessed to be here right now watching this come to fruition and I believe it will.

Let the Ram dynasty begin!

 

[Tano]

Run plays on third and long will be rare this year. That has been McVay throwing in the towel knowing that making Goff sit there and wait for routes to develop on an obvious passing down (play action is way less meaningful there) is a dicey proposition. He won't be doing that this year very often unless he's sitting on a nice lead.

But to be fair as well it was not just Goff. Blythe did his part there. And our WR3 and WR4 matchups sucked ass so all a team had to do was blanket two options. This year the improved QB position plus improvement at C and also the improvement at WR3 and WR4 means teams will have a hard time cheesing their way off the field in those situations. They'll need to play it straight up IMO.

This times 100

 

[FrantikRam]

The Rams are without a doubt one of the highest expectation teams in the league. Stafford has never had to deal with a guy like McVay who is constantly refining and pushing to improve everything. And guys who tire of that get cast out.

Funny thing is I think all that losing in Detroit works in his favor. He might get tired of being coached hard after he wins a couple championships with us, but I think he's going to endure it and enjoy it in season one and probably season two. Which, incidentally, come at a relative bargain cap-wise.

I'm seeing a two year window of high end offense and deep playoff runs. And I hope it's not the kool-aid. :alol:

I do too. I think it's a Favre to the Vikings type of move. When it happened, it was obvious that the Vikings were going to go off.

And while Favre is a hall of famer, I'd say Stafford is close to what Favre was when he went to the Vikings. And Favre had his most efficient passing season. And they likely win the Super Bowl if not for turning the ball over five times or bountygate. And the officials even apologized after the game, but Saints fans conveniently forgot about that when the no call happened.

Same feeling I get with Stafford this year. Except that we win it all.

Pressure can come from multiple places - having McVay instead of Patricia is not a quantifiable difference. It's like going from a guy not qualified to teach math at all to learning from one of the best professors on the planet. Having AD is another. Suh is not and never has been close to AD. In 2018 are defense was statistically below average, yet they closed out most of our wins. They had to stop Mahomes twice to win that epic Monday Night game.

That's not really quantifiable either - it would appear that Stafford had defenses on that level - but I don't think he did. While that defense never allowed a game winning drive, his defenses in Detroit, from what I can recall, specialized in allowing game winning drives.

The run game as well.

You put all this together, and this is going to be a great season to be a Rams fan.

 

[Tano]

Nearly every third and long was a run play. Very conservative.

Or WR screen

 

[Tano]

I just watched the Rams/Jets game for the first time in it’s entirety. Blythe single handed OT crushed drives with his inability to pass block in that game. With a better center I think the Rams win that game.

I have said that so many times in my posts. Blythe was absolutely horrible in that game.

When I re-watched that game, I noticed that Goff was not as horrible as it appeared while watching the game the first time.

He wasn't having a good game by any means but he wasn't absolutely terrible either.

He was probably having an average game. And I have seen teams win when their QB is average. Happens frequently in fact.

But Blythe was having such a terrible game that day, he basically made Goff's stats horrible especially since Goff cannot evade an inside rush for the life of him.

 

[Shuie3225]

The daily appreciation post that we now have Stafford at QB. To keep the Baldy's Breakdown theme going, he just posted this today. One thing Stafford hasn't had is a problem going through simple progressions. I really think he's going to explode in this offense.


View: https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1401180986692472835?s=20

 

[Faceplant]

Stafford basically carried the Lions on his arm his entire career. That is immense pressure every year. With what he has as a Ram means he doesn't have to have a perfect game to win. He will have a complimentary run game and most of all an elite defense. Look how many games the Rams will simply outmatch the opponent and the game be over before the 4th quarter.

I'm sorry but I fail to see how coming to a contender will increase whatever self-imposed pressure he had as a Lion. Losing year after year is much worse on a true competitor, and is a huge burden for a guy like Stafford who goes out in every game to try to win. That simply isn't going to change. Only the outcome will change and with each win, it's better and that pressure diminishes until the next game. Wins don't haunt you all week, but losing builds up and does.

After a while, he will go into games expecting to win, not trying to win. That is a whole different kind of pressure, a good pressure if you will as it's akin to excitement, not desperation. IMO his years here in LA will extend his career as it did with Brady, Brees, and Rodgers. Like so many others one Super Bowl win will cement him and Ramsey as HOF QB & CB. Donald is simply a lock right now. My God, Donald, Ramsey, and now Stafford potential HOF players on the same team at the same time. WOW

This is why I'm stoked this year. Remember the Super Bowl is going to be in SoFi. For that defining moment to happen to those Ram players in their home stadium in the same game for each of them will IMO be historic. This could be the greatest team the Rams have ever fielded. I'm not just saying that as a homer. I believe it and have watched it take form and BTW it could also cement Snead and McVay as an elite HC and GM perhaps sending them to the HOF as well. We are blessed to be here right now watching this come to fruition and I believe it will.

Let the Ram dynasty begin!

Agreed. Every NFL player feels pressure to win, much less every QB. It's not like being in Detroit made him less of a competitor. Such a silly stance.

Stafford is an elite athlete surrounded by top notch talent all over the offense, defense and coaching staff. We should expect nothing but his best. I would bet he delivers it.

 

[Allen2McVay]

View: https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1401180986692472835?s=20

I am not a big Brian Baldinger fan but at the end of that clip, in criticizing Goff's decision-making, Baldinger said:

'Touchdown to Check-down but don't Get-down' That's great!

I am going to copyright that!

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I have said that so many times in my posts. Blythe was absolutely horrible in that game.

When I re-watched that game, I noticed that Goff was not as horrible as it appeared while watching the game the first time.

He wasn't having a good game by any means but he wasn't absolutely terrible either.

He was probably having an average game. And I have seen teams win when their QB is average. Happens frequently in fact.

But Blythe was having such a terrible game that day, he basically made Goff's stats horrible especially since Goff cannot evade an inside rush for the life of him.

I love having Game Pass. I rewatch the season a couple times after it’s over. It clears up what the misconceptions might be and actually gives me a better opinion of some players and worse of others

 

[Tano]

The daily appreciation post that we now have Stafford at QB. To keep the Baldy's Breakdown theme going, he just posted this today. One thing Stafford hasn't had is a problem going through simple progressions. I really think he's going to explode in this offense.


View: https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1401180986692472835?s=20

Yeah that was definitely a bad play by Goff. But every QB does that from time to time except for the great ones.

 

[majrleaged]

I hope you are right. I always figured he didn’t trust Goff to make the right read in the face of a likely heavy pass rush.

McVay lost trust in Goff in the Miami Game and Goff never recovered that trust.

 

[Reddog99]

The more I watch Stafford play the more confident I become in the offense this season. I seen some things that I really liked. He doesn't get shaken up by the pass rush and he gets rid of the ball quickly. Hes almost constantly moving around in the pocket. I also like how he places the ball to where only the WR can catch it. I strongly believe we're in good hands with him.

 

[Merlin]

The daily appreciation post that we now have Stafford at QB. To keep the Baldy's Breakdown theme going, he just posted this today. One thing Stafford hasn't had is a problem going through simple progressions. I really think he's going to explode in this offense.


View: https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1401180986692472835?s=20

Yeah there was a lot of film like that last season man. A lot. To the point where I was done after the Miami game.

But I think we should keep this on Stafford and what he can do vice Goff and where he fell short. That horse is dead man.

 

[Faceplant]

I'll tell ya what Stafford hasn't had....until now he hasn't had fuckin RAMS fans behind him. He has (most of) US behind him now and that should be all he and the Rams need to win multiple SBs over the next few years.... Book it Danno.

 

[FrantikRam]

McVay lost trust in Goff in the Miami Game and Goff never recovered that trust.

The thing fans don't always think about is that coaches are not going to be happy just because we won. They may say so publicly, but if you're defense gives up 600 yards and 49 points in a win, that week of practice is probably no different than if the defense gives up 600 yards and 49 points in a loss.

The offense or passing offense was pretty bad against the Giants, Niners, Dolphins, Niners, Patriots, Jets and Seahawks. Two of those were wins, but in the film room after the game, I doubt McVay was like "Blythe you missed that block but it's okay, we won"

None of that is just one players fault - however I think that McVay indicated that he thought it was primarily two players, and it's the same two the fans mostly agreed on.