Can the Rams win it all?
doubledragon
Posts: 23,269 ✭✭✭✭✭
Pretty good article about the Rams.
It's Super Bowl or Bust for the Los Angeles Rams
Last week Peter Schrager made a salient observation. The Los Angeles Rams are the NFL's version of the Brooklyn Nets, amassing as much top-tier talent as financially possible and putting all eggs in the most immediate of baskets. That followed the surprising addition of vaunted pass-rusher Von Miller. Yesterday, Sean McVay and Les Snead won the Odell Beckham sweepstakes, bringing in another prolific offensive weapon for Matthew Stafford to utilize. It should have been abundantly clear the franchise was all in for 2021 before the acquisition but they helpfully bolded the text.
Beckham's final acts in both New York and Cleveland highlight the downsides of mercurial talent. Complaints about not getting the football frequently enough or in positions to excel were made public. Yet his decision to jump aboard a team more than capable of winning a Super Bowl suggests he's content to prioritize winning — for now — more than personal accomplishment. Whether he blends in and thrives in greener pastures remains to be seen.
We don't need to see anymore, though, to realize that the Rams are not only talented enough to hoist the Lombardi. We can understand that failure to do so will be exactly that: a massive failure. It's tough to read Conor Orr's piece painting L.A. as an inevitability and disagree. They are following the path blazed by last year's champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and stifling all available oxygen for opposing teams, perhaps forcing them all to reconsider an additional move to keep up with the Joneses.
My feelings on Stafford are well-known. Predicting he'd win a Super Bowl on the West Coast did not feel like a stretch at the time and now feels well within reach if he plays at the level he's played week in and week out through his entire career. Tom Brady and those Bucs are the most trustworthy obstacle standing in the way, along with upstart Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers. Clean football from here on out can land them the NFC's only bye and the clearest path. It's my belief they will emerge with the No. 1 seed, making the task of dispatching an ageless 44-year-old, a 37-year-old artist or a 24-year-old streaking comet more reasonable.
The AFC is a constant game of Are We Sure They're Good. Baltimore is getting thumped by Miami. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have significant problems. Josh Allen and the Bills have come back to Earth. Tennessee must piece it together without Derrick Henry. There are clear flaws for each of these contenders.
This year is surprisingly wide-open. Even better for the team with the most talent on paper. If not this year, then when? Now, Stafford is a cerebral player whose prowess has never been totally driven by athleticism so there's real optimism his game ages like a fine wine. Yet chances to summit the mountain come along so infrequently that they must be taken.
And there's something freeing in accepting the pressure, as Los Angeles has done. They've made the pronouncement that it's Super Bowl-or-bust and aren't running from it. They know the score and the stakes and pressure can either break pipes or create diamonds.
It's a plan so simple it just may work. Field the best team at all costs and see what happens. High-risk but high-reward.
Comments
They certainly have loaded up this season, they are stacked, Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Aaron Donald, Von Miller, Odell Beckham Jr. and Kevin Durant, they are loaded!
They have just as good a shot as about 10 other teams in my opinion. The NFL is so unpredictable, what looks good in print doesn’t always play out in reality.
Again I know it was a bad game but the Bills losing to Jacksonville proved that nothing is certain in the game
It's going to be interesting to see how deep the Rams can go, if they can make it payoff like the Bucs did last season.
Can the Rams win it all?
no.
Tennessee must piece it together without Derrick Henry.
they evidently "pieced it together" good enough to rather easily beat The Rams last week. who's the idiot that wrote that article??
The author of the artice is Kyle Koster, he writes for "The Big Lead."
Sports Illustrated is also getting in on it, they produced this advertisement for the Rams.
When Stafford is on his game the Rams are unbeatable. That's just the way it is. But a shootout between Rodgers, Brady, and Stafford...... If all three are hot....FLIP A COIN.
P.S. Cooper Kupp is currently the #1 receiver in the NFL. The boy is ELECTRIC! Sorry ......but it's true.
The Rams are having injury issues with the offensive line right now. That is why they got beat by the Titans. No protection for Stafford last Sunday.
I don’t trust Stafford to bring his team back from a deficit like I’d trust Brady, Mahomes or Rodgers. I think he is capable of managing a lead but under pressure I just don’t see him being the guy I’d want at QB in a big game
I don't know. You are probably correct. I think the Rams have gone into the second half leading in their last like 40? games that they won. Probably wrong......But they were behind against both Phoenix and Tennessee going into the second half and those were the 2 games they lost this season....AND....... the Rams need to receive the opening kickoff against a good team. Last Sunday the Titans got the opening kickoff........ I knew it was over right then.......yea, the Rams are NOT a come from behind team......unless it's against the Colts....etc.
Your thoughts are the same as mine.....EXACTLY! Especially about "managing a lead."..... but.....that is primarily the coaching staff. Clock management.
P.S. Except for Mahomes only because I don't know anything about his come from behind record. Do you?....Brady and Rodgers .....yes!
The Titans did not EASILY beat the Rams last week.......Stafford was being sacked in the end zone... O..k. 2 pts. But as he was going down he made a STUPID toss off to the two yard line right into the defender. TOUCHDOWN! The Lovely Mrs. Hydrant said, "Well, that's one way to turn 2 points into 7." ......Then.......the VERY NEXT PLAY from scrimmage.... Stafford threw a pic 6. Horrible pass. TWO PLAYS.....TWO TOUCHDOWNS. GAME!!!! I'm not a homer. But....the Titans got lucky. Both teams looked flat......AS I say......so goes Stafford... so go the Rams......My money is on Brady or Rodgers. The Titans were NOT.impressive on Sunday....... neither were the Rams. The Rams just sucked worse.
Just ran this topic by The Lovely Mrs Hydrant. She said, "The Titans weren't any good. The Rams just played lousy.". I agree. Hey,.....the girl knows her football....... simple explanations but.....spot on!
Tell Mrs. @Hydrant We all said hello 👋
alternate reality.
Mushrooms 🍄?
The Rams go out and sign ODBjr and the next day they lose WR Robert Woods to an ACL injury.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32620819/los-angeles-rams-receiver-robert-woods-suffers-torn-acl-sources-say
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Please explain.....
PRETTY PLEASE......CHERRY ON TOP!
Woods is a VERY good ball player. The Rams won't be the same team without him. Under the radar guy.
Between dumping Djax and losing Woods that's a pretty good hit to their WR core even though they signed ODB, who might need time to fit in. I'm sure they'll cope but that next game or two might be a little tough for their offense,imo.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
FLASH!! Just told THE LOVELY MRS.HYDRANT...the Rams won't be the same without WOODS........she told me, "That's why they got that Odell Beckham guy.....everything was on the HUSH, HUSH. They knew he was injured before."....... ON THE HUSH HUSH.. Her and the SECRET INSIDE SOURCE!!!!! Inside info! That girl!........HUSH...HUSH!!!!! 🤦 🙊
you'll never be able to outrun a bad diet
You guys are FUNNY!!!!!
It's all cool.
Oh, yea. Tonight's game against the Niners is make or break for the Rams. I like the 49er's. Always have. Their uniforms are the BEST!
Half time......the 49er's..in a romp.......Goff/Stafford.....six of one half dozen of the other. The Rams need a quarterback. HELP!😂
Well looks like OBJ has already destroyed the comradery of the locker room - EH, maybe not!. Still have another half to go. The Ghost of Goff past..................
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
Stafford will not lead this team to a Super Bowl.
Hell no - the incentive is not there. Just like many big names in the NFL - MILLIONS $$ up front - where is the incentive? "I got mine - now why should I get hit"? Many years ago a sports talk host from Cleveland named Pete Franklin mentioned this! "Money will destroy the sport!"
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
Definitely not.....stick a fork in it.....
Correct me if I'm wrong... But...Stafford has in two consecutive games given up 14 points in the opening minutes of the first quarter on stupid interceptions. 14 points against the Titans and now the Niners! 28 points! Both games were over before they got started........the Rams need a quarterback.
Or, as the Immortal Chick Hearn the late great Lakers announcer said, "The mustard is off the hot dog!"...... same thing.
Watched a lot of the game. I'm still not ready to write-off the Rams.
Is it just me, or did anyone else notice Rams receivers intentionally dropping balls in a sign of protest? It seriously looked like that to me. 😂😎 Anyway, I think these guys will be back in the thick of things soon enough.
Intentional or not.....it was BAD!
What happened to LA's fighting Rams last night, I demand an explanation. What the heck happened to LA's fighting Rams last night!
What the hell were they possibly protesting?
,,,,,,,,,,,
As I type this this morning and re-read my comment, I realize I should not have used the word "seriously". lol When I was watching the game, at some point the RAMS drops seemed so egregious that I had the thought that they must be doing it on purpose. Obviously that wouldn't be the case, but it did look bad. And then I got do to jokingly wondering if they didn't like the OBJ signing. I am sure that is not the case, but could see how some might not have liked the media coverage around it. He showed up and all of a sudden the media has them back in the SB. Sorry @perkdog, didn't mean to get you all worked up buddy!🤣
Hahaha ok, I was just confused is all lol.
Thanks for explaining lol. 🍻
--- The OBJ Experiment, Chapter One/looking ineffective, like he was just the 11th player on the field, although I did see him raising his arms in the air a few times, probably mouthing "I'm open, throw me the ball" to anyone who could hear(the question is, was he where he was supposed to be??) meanwhile, OB Sr. is compiling his next Youtube/Facebook/Twitter video.
--- The Matthew Stafford Experiment, Chapter Ten/two consecutive games, two consecutive drives with INT's and two consecutive Pick Six's. I sense a pattern.
--- The Von Miller Experiment, Chapter One/three tackles, no pressure on the QB and looking like the 10 year Veteran who is nearing the end of a fabulous career that he is.
--- The LA Rams, Chapter Ten/looking a lot different from the early Team that was a lock for the Super Bowl and expected to dominate the League.
--- The NFL, 2021 Season/impossible for me to figure out, I have certain thoughts about what's going on but don't need to make everyone laugh this early in the day. I think if all 32 Teams had their names on pieces of paper in a hat at the start of the season anyone could have picked the playoff lineup and been as close as things are today. no consistency, no predictability, no standout players from week to week, just media hype about a Team(s) that comes across as the Flavor-Of-The-Week until they fall into the dumpster.
..........
The NFL is an organization which appears to attempt to write their own narrative. If we are this deep into the season and no clear-cut favorite has risen, then I would assume that things are exactly as the NFL wants them to be.
the NFL has been striving for so-called "parity" for decades and this is about as close as they've come that I can recall. it's almost as if the game itself has evolved to a point where Teams can be really bad but none can be really dominant.
last night was especially interesting: The LA Rams are supposedly built to stop the pass on defense and stretch the field passing on offense. against an ordinary, below average Team like The 49ers, they could do neither. Teams seem built to stop the pass, yet they are proving this season to be ineffective against the combination used by The 49ers last night, RB screen passes, WR screens, short passes and running. it's nothing new, but Teams seem to have figured out how to do it better during the last several years. out of the 19 passes Garoppolo through I don't think more than 2-3 were thrown more than 10 yards downfield. The 49ers ran almost 50 times, successfully against that "vaunted" pass rush.
meanwhile, The Rams ran about 10 times and threw more than 40 times. it was a strange game.
I watched most of last night's game. I completely agree with the sentiment of this thread -- something fishy was going on last night. Despite perfect weather conditions for football, there were several/many instances of a dropped pass by a Rams player (easy catches). The game was played near Fisherman's Wharf -- and it sure smelled "fishy" to me.
I have decided that the NFL in 2021 is impossible to predict. teams that look like world beaters for a few weeks get destroyed by terrible teams. there is no rhyme or reason to it. look at the teams we all thought would be dominant that have fallen this season: Buffalo, KC, Chargers, Rams, Tampa, Dallas. the pack lost their first game and then without rodgers. maybe its their season?
I know that every time i think I have a handle on the teams to beat, more craziness happens.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I know that every time i think I have a handle on the teams to beat, more craziness happens.
the last three weeks have been especially puzzling. I was looking at the standings Sunday evening and again this morning and decided that there are only about 12 Teams that can reasonably be expected NOT to make the playoffs.
Neither pick was Stafford's fault, especially the second. Hard to say there's a pattern of pick-6s when he literally threw a perfect ball that the receiver simply didn't catch for no apparent reason. Countless other dropped passes for LA, too.
If I'm the Rams, I'm more concerned with the defense getting pushed all over the field.
............
I still have confidence in the Rams offense getting things together and being able to score enough to win any game. Stafford is definitely not the problem, and remains part of the solution.
However, it is interesting to look at the Rams' "all in" approach and wonder how they will look in a few years after giving up so much draft capital. If they don't win a Super Bowl within three years, will it be considered a failure? After all, they already went to a Super bowl and lost with Goff. Either way, time will tell....