https://forums.footballsfuture.com/topic/4360-week-11-rams-7-2-at-vikings-7-2/
Week 11: Rams (7-2) at VIKINGS (7-2)
We've won the last 4 meetings but I'm curious to see how good this Rams team really is. They've beat up on some pretty bad teams (Colts, Cardinals, Giants, 49ers) and their best win is against the Jaguars on the road. Wade Phillips as a defensive coordinator scares me because he's very good as a coordinator. Hoping we see that Vikings defense that shows up at home.
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This game will be huge for playoff implications. I'm glad we get it at home.
I trust that we can manage to slow down Goff, but I don't know about Gurley. He's a machine. Our DL will have their hands full.
This might be the best defense we've faced all year too. Keenum better be set for his revenge game. I suspect they know his tendencies and will look to exploit that.
The Rams have been blowing out teams, but I think this will be a close one. I'd like to see us get a defensive/special teams TD this week.
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1. The Vikings, a 7-2 1st place team, aren’t even being talked about, and are actually being a little disrespected by the media.
2. All you’re going to hear/read about all week is how great the Rams’ offense is.
3. Our defense just had a bad game and allowed 30 points.
Zimmer is going to be frothing this week. It’s going to be interesting on Sunday.
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Defense has to step up. Last week was dissapointing, hopefully Griffen and Rhodes will be healthy and ready to play.
i don't anticipate the Vikes keeping the Rams under 28 points so the offense better come prepared to keep pace. Thielen and Diggs will need big games.
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The Vikings have beat the Rams 4 times in a row...but, they've also beat the Los Angeles Rams 5 times in a row. They are 11-4 vs. the Rams over the last 30 years. It should be a good battle.
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Young hot shot HC vs. the wily veteran.
Time to show the young buck what's up!
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I suspect a low scoring game, no team scores 30 points.
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That'd be a win for the good guys. Don't see us winning a shootout.
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Bold prediction that the Vikings hold the Rams under 20 points.
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2 of the 3 best defenses the Rams have faced this year have held them to 20 pts or less (Washington, Seattle), so it's not out of the question. And even the 3rd, Jacksonville, held Goff to 124 yds passing.
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A national TV network’s idea that could be advantageous to an upcoming Vikings opponent was protested by the Vikings on Saturday.
Fox Sports has had the audacity — or ignorance — to allow a current NFL player to be a game analyst during a bye week for an opponent his team is still to play this season.
Tight end Greg Olsen, whose Carolina Panthers have next Sunday as their bye week, is to be a Fox analyst for the Vikings-Rams telecast on Sunday in Minneapolis. Olsen, the Panthers star tight end who had more than 1,000 yards in catches each of the previous three seasons, has been out with a foot injury but should be activated in time for the Vikings game Dec. 10 in Charlotte.
http://www.twincities.com/2017/11/11/charley-walters-vikings-displeased-with-greg-olsens-impending-fox-appearance/
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Olsen, the Panthers’ Pro Bowl tight end, will serve as a guest analyst alongside Kevin Burkhardt and Charles Davis for the Rams-Vikings game in Minnesota on Nov. 19, Fox announced Thursday.
The assignment comes three weeks before the Panthers host the Vikings, so Olsen isn’t expecting to sit in on the pre-game production meeting with Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer.
“I don’t know how much inside info they’re gonna give me,” Olsen said. “I don’t know how many production meetings I’ll be allowed into the stadium there in Minnesota considering we play them a few weeks later.”
Olsen becomes the third active player to work as a Fox analyst during a regular-season game, joining Matt Hasselbeck (2014) and Marcus Allen (1994).
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article183745776.html
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Since Zimmer took over the defense, the Vikings have only given up 30+ points in 7 games. The points allowed the following week have been 20, 17, 9, 10, 23, 38, and 10.
It’s not a guarantee, but I expect this defense to be focused and sharp against L.A.
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I really think the Rams are a sneaky good team! The defense will have to play it's best game of the year in my opinion. Vikings win, 21-19.
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Here are the QBs the Rams have faced this season, as well as their production
Savage 18-36-221-1-2
Manning 20-36-220-2-1
Palmer/Stanton 15-32-188-0-2
Bortles 23-35-241-1-1
Wilson 24-37-198-1-1
Prescott 20-36-252-3-1
Hoyer 23-37-332-2-1
Cousins 18-27-179-1-0
Tolzein 9-18-128-0-2
Honestly, I trust Keenum more than most of those options. Bridgewater couldn't do much worse, either.
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Dallas' defense is ranked higher than Washington's in both total defense and points against per game. We scored 35 on them.
We also didn't try to air it out against Jacksonville. Our special teams got us a lead. We opted to grind out a win and play it safe.
As for Seattle, we moved the ball up and down the field on them all game long. They had flukey plays go their way. It was basically the reverse of when the crappy Rams would somehow manage to beat the Seahawks under Fisher because the Seahawks made a bunch of unforced errors.
We left 20 points on the board in that game due to our own flukey mistakes (and a big ref mistake). Seattle's defense gave us some problems, but at the end of the day, we still should have scored at least 23 to 27 points on them if not for our own errors. It was easily the worst game of the McVay era, and the team hasn't played anything like that since.
We do have the book on Case. Defending Case is a lot like defending Russell Wilson (Wilson is obviously a much better and more athletic player, though). You contain Case in the pocket, clog the throwing lanes, collapse the pocket, and take away his lines of vision. When you do that, he struggles to locate targets in the short passing game and forces passes down the field.
I expect Minnesota to try and get him out of the pocket using play design. I also expect Wade to come up with some creative blitzes to try and force Case into mistakes when they boot him. -
jrry32
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The last time Teddy Bridgewater faced a Wade Phillips defense:
27-41, 269 yards, 1 touchdown
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This Rams defense isn't as good as the Broncos defense of 2015.