General Rams thoughts and season overall so far

[mistaowen]

The Rams are a really good team and it’s likely going to be us or them competing for the 1–2 seed out of the NFC West. If Darnold didn’t have his worst game in two years, they probably steal a win on the road. Credit to the Rams, their defense is legit and they forced him into some bad throws. No doom and gloom from me, lost on the road with a last minute FG against a SB level team.

Stafford has played at an MVP-caliber level this year, and MM completely shut him down. Outside of their first drive, the Rams’ offense did absolutely nothing. We’re incredibly lucky that the timing worked out with Pete’s exit and Mike leaving Baltimore. I’m so excited to see how dominant this defense will be in another 1–2 years with continued roster upgrades and growing cohesion from the core.

The front seven, especially the defensive line, has been incredible. JS has finally built up the trenches, and there’s a real rotation up front with guys who can both stop the run and rush the passer. Kyren had one or two nice runs early, but otherwise the run game was flat. Watching this defense adjust and become suffocating is fantastic.

JSN should be in the MVP discussion this year, not just because of his stats, but because he’s essentially the entire offense right now. The run game struggles, Kupp doesn’t look 100%, and there really isn’t a true No. 2 option. I won’t lie: I was nervous about moving on from DK and wondering whether JSN was ready to be an inside/out No. 1, but he absolutely is. He belongs in that 1A/1B/1C tier of the league’s best receivers. His eventual payday is going to be massive.

The run game needs to be better but I don’t know if it will happen this year. It feels like Kubiak has an identity he wants to lean into - there are flashes of it - but for whatever reason it just isn’t coming together. K9 barely sees the field, and I’m not entirely sure why, though it seems like he isn’t in their long-term plans. Thankfully, Darnold and JSN have been feasting on defenses out of these run-heavy looks. It reminds me of the Kupp/Woods/Goff era, when McVay cooked teams with two-receiver route concepts. I think I saw a stat that they’re the best short-yardage third-down offense in the league and the worst in long-yardage situations, which tracks.

Overall, I’m confident they can beat any team in the league with the way the defense is playing. The one thing that has led to losses is the offense committing brutal situational turnovers that gift opponents a short field. They really need to tighten that up and stop giving the ball away.

 

[Biscanebay12]

Great D and JSN, other than that, not much.

 

[toffee]

Great D and JSN, other that, not much.

OL too.

 

[Ramfan128]

In your shoes, my takeaways would be the same (four INTs but a missed FG to win it so we can feel good about it).

I said before this game that it doesn't mean much either way - for yall its obvious - what I said above. On the flip side, this was probably Stafford's worst game, and only some of that is because of the Seahawks defense. That miss on the first fourth down was a terrible throw and Higbee was pretty wide open after Stafford got the defender to jump with a pump fake. He just threw the ball into the ground.

He and Adams connected for only 1/8 targets, and Adams had a pretty uncharacteristic drop on a 3rd and 10 that would have been a first down.

I believe we had more presnap penalties this week than we did all year, and I also fairly confident that was Puka's first career lost fumble....MAYBE second. But for a guy who routinely runs into three defenders to fight for extra yards, he doesn't fumble.

So you end up with (and I'm sure there are even more from Seattle's side):

Darnold wont throw four INTs again

Puka wont fumble again

Stafford wont play that poorly

Adams wont play that poorly

The Rams wont have those presnap penalties


All to say - there is nothing from this game that points to how the next game will go. Nothing.

If you want further proof, here are some numbers for this rivalry:

This is the third time under McVay in this rivalry where one team was down by 1 or 2 and had a game winning FG attempt - and missed.

In 2023, we won 30-13 in Seattle to open the season - so when we played them again in LA, we won easily right? Nope, Seattle had a game winning FG attempt but missed it. Cautionary tale here for what to expect when we meet on Thursday night in Seattle.

Stafford and McVay are 6-0 against Seattle - since Stafford joined the Rams, we have played Seattle 9 times total. The three games without Stafford were all Seahawk wins, but all three weren't decided until the final possession or overtime.

 

[Sperrydogg]

In your shoes, my takeaways would be the same (four INTs but a missed FG to win it so we can feel good about it).

I said before this game that it doesn't mean much either way - for yall its obvious - what I said above. On the flip side, this was probably Stafford's worst game, and only some of that is because of the Seahawks defense. That miss on the first fourth down was a terrible throw and Higbee was pretty wide open after Stafford got the defender to jump with a pump fake. He just threw the ball into the ground.

He and Adams connected for only 1/8 targets, and Adams had a pretty uncharacteristic drop on a 3rd and 10 that would have been a first down.

I believe we had more presnap penalties this week than we did all year, and I also fairly confident that was Puka's first career lost fumble....MAYBE second. But for a guy who routinely runs into three defenders to fight for extra yards, he doesn't fumble.

So you end up with (and I'm sure there are even more from Seattle's side):

Darnold wont throw four INTs again

Puka wont fumble again

Stafford wont play that poorly

Adams wont play that poorly

The Rams wont have those presnap penalties


All to say - there is nothing from this game that points to how the next game will go. Nothing.

If you want further proof, here are some numbers for this rivalry:

This is the third time under McVay in this rivalry where one team was down by 1 or 2 and had a game winning FG attempt - and missed.

In 2023, we won 30-13 in Seattle to open the season - so when we played them again in LA, we won easily right? Nope, Seattle had a game winning FG attempt but missed it. Cautionary tale here for what to expect when we meet on Thursday night in Seattle.

Stafford and McVay are 6-0 against Seattle - since Stafford joined the Rams, we have played Seattle 9 times total. The three games without Stafford were all Seahawk wins, but all three weren't decided until the final possession or overtime.

 

[Jac]

In 2023, we won 30-13 in Seattle to open the season - so when we played them again in LA, we won easily right? Nope, Seattle had a game winning FG attempt but missed it. Cautionary tale here for what to expect when we meet on Thursday night in Seattle.

Stafford and McVay are 6-0 against Seattle - since Stafford joined the Rams, we have played Seattle 9 times total. The three games without Stafford were all Seahawk wins, but all three weren't decided until the final possession or overtime.

I really wish that next game wasn't on Thursday. It's unfair to both teams to have such an important game get hamstrung by a short week of preparation. Maybe it's just me, but the NFL shouldn't schedule division games in week #1 or on Thursdays.

 

[thegameq]

This game confirmed my suspicions about this team's weaknesses: QB, O-Line and tackling.

If Sam crumples under duress,....well it does not bode well for any playoff aspirations. The NFC playoffs will not be a cake-walk. I know most qbs don't do so well under constant duress, but Sam simply cannot make mental mistakes like we saw yesterday.

The O-Line has been playing well, but they have had moments when they look bad. Missing assignments at crucial moments is not good.

The tackling problem has not gone away--it just isn't as bad as it was under Pete.


This team is on the precipice of being a dominating force in the NFL, but the above issues are holding them back. If they can at least fix the QB issue, we stand a very good chance. But Sam, unfortuntely, is a weakness--until he proves otherwise.

 

[hox]

OL too.

OL was not good. 3/4 of those picks there was pressure, leading to bad throws and bad decisions.

 

[94Smith]

On the flip side, this was probably Stafford's worst game,

He and Adams connected for only 1/8 targets, and Adams had a pretty uncharacteristic drop on a 3rd and 10 that would have been a first

Puka wont fumble again

Stafford wont play that poorly

Adams wont play that poorly

I didn’t have a horse in the game (49ers horse was being dragged to the rendering plant) but I will say poor play by a qb is a lot of times feeling pressure and getting off timing and moving off their spot. Great defenses make great qbs play poorly

 

[Shane Falco]

OL was not good. 3/4 of those picks there was pressure, leading to bad throws and bad decisions.

I disagree. I'd say 1 of the 4 had instant pressure with an unblocked blitzer coming through. And on a couple more he had pressure but it was late pressure. They were pretty bad throws mostly imo.

I would post all 4 int's for debate but I can never figure out how to link the vids from X.

But this article shows them and talks about them:

The Rams exposed Sam Darnold (again). Will he sink the Seahawks? — Pick Six

What was more impressive: The Rams picking Darnold off four times, or the Seahawks almost winning anyway?

www.nytimes.com

 

[flv2]

I really wish that next game wasn't on Thursday. It's unfair to both teams to have such an important game get hamstrung by a short week of preparation. Maybe it's just me, but the NFL shouldn't schedule division games in week #1 or on Thursdays.

Would you rather have your TNF game on the East Coast?

 

[toffee]

On track to 14-3 or 13-4.

 

[flv2]

I didn’t have a horse in the game (49ers horse was being dragged to the rendering plant) but I will say poor play by a qb is a lot of times feeling pressure and getting off timing and moving off their spot. Great defenses make great qbs play poorly

Stafford had a poor game. He missed multiple open receivers when not under severe pressure. In a time critical situation he threw an incompletion when he should have taken a sack if the receiver wasn't open.

There were other issues as well. Getting the ball up 9 points with 8 minutes left in the game we went into overly safe mode. Considering the objective was purely to consume time on that drive we snapped the ball, (with a running clock), with 7 seconds, 11 seconds, and 11 seconds remaining. Compared to snapping the ball with 2 seconds left we gave the Seahawks an additional 23 seconds. It was borderline unprofessional.

This was the '9th best' performance by the Rams in 10 games. I give the Seahawks defense a lot of credit but there were a lot of non-opponent things wrong with the Rams.

 

[hox]

 

[Fresno Hawk]

In your shoes, my takeaways would be the same (four INTs but a missed FG to win it so we can feel good about it).

I said before this game that it doesn't mean much either way - for yall its obvious - what I said above. On the flip side, this was probably Stafford's worst game, and only some of that is because of the Seahawks defense. That miss on the first fourth down was a terrible throw and Higbee was pretty wide open after Stafford got the defender to jump with a pump fake. He just threw the ball into the ground.

He and Adams connected for only 1/8 targets, and Adams had a pretty uncharacteristic drop on a 3rd and 10 that would have been a first down.

I believe we had more presnap penalties this week than we did all year, and I also fairly confident that was Puka's first career lost fumble....MAYBE second. But for a guy who routinely runs into three defenders to fight for extra yards, he doesn't fumble.

So you end up with (and I'm sure there are even more from Seattle's side):

Darnold wont throw four INTs again

Puka wont fumble again

Stafford wont play that poorly

Adams wont play that poorly

The Rams wont have those presnap penalties


All to say - there is nothing from this game that points to how the next game will go. Nothing.

If you want further proof, here are some numbers for this rivalry:

This is the third time under McVay in this rivalry where one team was down by 1 or 2 and had a game winning FG attempt - and missed.

In 2023, we won 30-13 in Seattle to open the season - so when we played them again in LA, we won easily right? Nope, Seattle had a game winning FG attempt but missed it. Cautionary tale here for what to expect when we meet on Thursday night in Seattle.

Stafford and McVay are 6-0 against Seattle - since Stafford joined the Rams, we have played Seattle 9 times total. The three games without Stafford were all Seahawk wins, but all three weren't decided until the final possession or overtime.

Stafford, Adams,Puka all played poorly because of the Hawks defense. It's the same way Darnold played poorly, because of the Lambs defense. The Hawks lost, to me that's how i see it. The Hawks lost more than the Lambs won it. If I was asked who looked better I would say the Hawks, not because im biased but because the Hawks controlled most of the game.

 

[Ramfan128]

Stafford, Adams,Puka all played poorly because of the Hawks defense. It's the same way Darnold played poorly, because of the Lambs defense. The Hawks lost, to me that's how i see it. The Hawks lost more than the Lambs won it. If I was asked who looked better I would say the Hawks, not because im biased but because the Hawks controlled most of the game.

To some degree, I agree. I couldn't say the Seahawks looked better though - the Rams were up by two possessions twice and the Seahawks never had the lead in this game. Stafford being off and how our defense played Darnold most likely led to McVay going run/run/pass, for example, on our last offensive possession. The Texans defense is also elite but Stafford was on fire in the second half of that game in week one - in a similar situation, we did NOT go run/run - that conservativeness was 100% based on how Stafford and Darnold were both playing, respectively. And I think the common refrain will be that Darnold won't throw four INTs again, which I agree with. So I'm just noting there was stuff on our end too - yes, Seattle's D is very good and our D is very good - but I think in both cases, there was additional bad play above and beyond that, and I don't think it'll happen again on either side. I am fully expecting the next game to be 30-something to 30-something

 

[Ozzy]

The Rams are a really good team and it’s likely going to be us or them competing for the 1–2 seed out of the NFC West. If Darnold didn’t have his worst game in two years, they probably steal a win on the road. Credit to the Rams, their defense is legit and they forced him into some bad throws. No doom and gloom from me, lost on the road with a last minute FG against a SB level team.

Stafford has played at an MVP-caliber level this year, and MM completely shut him down. Outside of their first drive, the Rams’ offense did absolutely nothing. We’re incredibly lucky that the timing worked out with Pete’s exit and Mike leaving Baltimore. I’m so excited to see how dominant this defense will be in another 1–2 years with continued roster upgrades and growing cohesion from the core.

The front seven, especially the defensive line, has been incredible. JS has finally built up the trenches, and there’s a real rotation up front with guys who can both stop the run and rush the passer. Kyren had one or two nice runs early, but otherwise the run game was flat. Watching this defense adjust and become suffocating is fantastic.

JSN should be in the MVP discussion this year, not just because of his stats, but because he’s essentially the entire offense right now. The run game struggles, Kupp doesn’t look 100%, and there really isn’t a true No. 2 option. I won’t lie: I was nervous about moving on from DK and wondering whether JSN was ready to be an inside/out No. 1, but he absolutely is. He belongs in that 1A/1B/1C tier of the league’s best receivers. His eventual payday is going to be massive.

The run game needs to be better but I don’t know if it will happen this year. It feels like Kubiak has an identity he wants to lean into - there are flashes of it - but for whatever reason it just isn’t coming together. K9 barely sees the field, and I’m not entirely sure why, though it seems like he isn’t in their long-term plans. Thankfully, Darnold and JSN have been feasting on defenses out of these run-heavy looks. It reminds me of the Kupp/Woods/Goff era, when McVay cooked teams with two-receiver route concepts. I think I saw a stat that they’re the best short-yardage third-down offense in the league and the worst in long-yardage situations, which tracks.

Overall, I’m confident they can beat any team in the league with the way the defense is playing. The one thing that has led to losses is the offense committing brutal situational turnovers that gift opponents a short field. They really need to tighten that up and stop giving the ball away.

Good post

 

[Hawkstud]

Great D and JSN, other that, not much.

Not true, a GREAT RECIEVER needs someone who can put the ball in his hands, and Darnold has also been throwing some darts + the addition of Cross, Lucas and Grey Zabel is far superior to any Seahawks O-LINE in the 8 years preceding...Continuity or lack thereof is a real thing...O-LINE needs more time playing TOGETHER.

 

[Biscanebay12]

Not true, a GREAT RECIEVER needs someone who can put the ball in his hands, and Darnold has also been throwing some darts + the addition of Cross, Lucas and Grey Zabel is far superior to any Seahawks O-LINE in the 8 years preceding...Continuity or lack thereof is a real thing...O-LINE needs more time playing TOGETHER.

You have your opinion, I have mine.

 

[Fresno Hawk]

To some degree, I agree. I couldn't say the Seahawks looked better though - the Rams were up by two possessions twice and the Seahawks never had the lead in this game. Stafford being off and how our defense played Darnold most likely led to McVay going run/run/pass, for example, on our last offensive possession. The Texans defense is also elite but Stafford was on fire in the second half of that game in week one - in a similar situation, we did NOT go run/run - that conservativeness was 100% based on how Stafford and Darnold were both playing, respectively. And I think the common refrain will be that Darnold won't throw four INTs again, which I agree with. So I'm just noting there was stuff on our end too - yes, Seattle's D is very good and our D is very good - but I think in both cases, there was additional bad play above and beyond that, and I don't think it'll happen again on either side. I am fully expecting the next game to be 30-something to 30-something

The first drive for LA was run heavy. This was the only drive LA drove down the field. It was aided by a penalty on 3rd down. 2 of LA's 3 scores were on short fields from a Darnold pick. All the Hawks points were from them driving down the field. Other than the first quarter this game was lost by the Hawks. To steer narrative that Mcvay only called plays a certain way because Stafford was off to me is not seeing other reasons why he did that. Like Stafford was off because the Hawks made him off the same way Darnold was off because LA made him off. The difference was Darnold tried forcing passes and Stafford threw them in the dirt or to an area that wouldn't hurt his team.