Los Angeles Rams! How The West Will Be Won?

Y'all 3-1 now... Either the Rams aren't bad as thought of OR 'Zona [a preseason Super Bowl fav] isn't as good. I vote for the former...

 

Welcome aboard! I actually never truly had an NFL team I followed until now. I was a Vikings fan for a bit with Moss. I followed Willis and Urlacher because I played LB so I sort of liked the Niners and Bears. I also loved those 80s Bears defenses. I liked the Ravens because I loved watching Lewis. Most recently I liked the Colts because Luck was a monster for me in my dynasty fantasy football league.

I'm happy to have a team now though. It feels realer to me. I just hate that the Rams show so much incompetence.

1. Fisher needs to be fired. He's horrible. Challenging two easy to see non-catches against the Cardinals SHOULD have cost the game. Then he decides to try a fake punt on his own 25 yard line on 4th and 5? Are you serious? What kind of idiot are you? Worse than that, he decided to kick a field goal on 4th and 4 in the Bills' red zone? Why? If you trust your offense to go down the field (and your defense in case it doesn't work) after a fake punt on your own 25 yard line, then why wouldn't you trust them to get the job done on the opposite spectrum in more favorable circumstances? It makes ZERO sense. Fisher is a horrible, horrible, horrible coach.

2. Snead has blown it. I don't know how good Goff is, but it seems unlikely he's as good as Wentz so you've likely blown that pick. Heck he's likely not as good (or at least not better) than Dak Prescott so you REALLY f***ing blew the pick. What is the worst part of our offense? The WR core. We've got nobody on the perimeter who is a legitimate threat AND a quarterback who is unable to threaten teams offensively down the field. Who are teams afraid is going to beat them? Quick? Britt? Those guys are at best 3rd WRs on another team and more likely they're practice squad guys on other teams or out of the league. You gave Austin a 40 million dollar contract and the guy can't even catch or run underneath routes and be a possession receiver a la Edelman in New England. He can't stretch the field because a) he can't catch in traffic because he weighs 150 pounds and b) you don't have a quarterback who can throw the deep route.

We gave up 1.15, 2.43, 2.45, and 3.76 in THIS draft AND we gave up our 1st next year AND a 3rd next year. I mean what the f***... imagine instead:

1.15- Corey Coleman
2.43- Derrick Henry
2.46- Michael Thomas
3.76- Shon Coleman
4.110- Tyler Higbee
4.117- Dak Prescott
6.177- Temarrick Hemmingway
6.190- Josh Forrest
6.207- Mike Thomas

Henry comes in as a massive change of pace back for Gurley to protect his value. You could also instead draft Spriggs, Martin, or Whitehair to supplement your average at best offensive line. I already picked Coleman in the 3rd to help there too. Now you've got Coleman who looked like a legitimate WR1 potential kid, but at least a WR2 potential kid before he broke his hand. Thomas looks like a legitimate possession receiver to me. Higbee I like as a potential TE with WR skills and obviously Prescott is legit and the future of the Cowboys could have been ours.

Now you've got a defense, a line that can block, and an offense brimming with potential weapons. I know hindsight if 20/20 but it shouldn't be THIS obvious. Two high second rounders AND a mid-first AND a future 1st for a kid who isn't playing yet and even when he does is unlikely to outshine his contemporaries.

Fisher and Snead need to go.

 

I have no idea. I don't know what the team is waiting to see out of Goff, but it's becoming ridiculous. I'm still laughing at the idea that Snead and FIsher entertained rumors about an extension.

Keenum has thrown 10 INTs and only 8 TDs this year. He's thrown 7 INTs in the last 3 games.

Is Goff going to do significantly worse? If so, why the f*** did we mortgage everything to get him?

 

I was at the game against the Panthers. Our defensive front is full of playmakers. We have very little talent on the back end though.

The offense is not only scarce with talent, but there's now zero reason for Case Keenum to be starting in the NFL. I understand he's a nice guy and a hard worker, but he's not a starting quarterback. You spent every last dime on Goff and refuse to play him. There's now no hope for this season officially. There's zero reason to not start Goff unless you're just afraid he sucks and don't want to admit it.

Fire Fisher. Fire Snead. Put Goff in the games. End of story.

 

I've been keeping tabs on the Goff issue and there seems to be no explanation as to why the Rams choose not to play him. Injury? Not learning the pro style fast enough? The company line fed to the media is that it seems to be neither and that Goff is progressing in practice. Keenum is making enough plays to keep the team from being overrun but he's not making the crucial ones for the win.

 

Keenum has either directly or indirectly (and in some cases not his fault he just lacks talent) been responsible for a good 2-3 losses this season. Late interceptions, missed passes, sacks taken when he should throw the ball... He's just not very good and when you have a bad OC/HC and limited options downfield that frequently drop passes, bad things are going to happen.

Their explanation is that Goff isn't ready... whose fault is that? This was the guy the Rams mortgaged their future for. If he's THIS far from ready, then how big of a mistake did they make here? When will he actually be ready?

 

About damn time.

I already fear this kid is a dud, but let's find out now instead of waiting until next season.

 

The kid was on Hard Knocks and was asked "where does the sun rise?" and he had no idea.

Hopefully he's smart at football, because from what I've seen and heard he's not the brightest kid outside of the field. It also doesn't bode well that the Rams run one of the most simplistic offenses in the last 10 years and the staff didn't think he was ready for it until now.

I'll stay open minded, but my expectations are very low.

 

I'm not calling him a bust yet, but there's red flags for me already.

1) Keenum should never have beaten him out of the job. I watched all the preseason games and Keenum won the job because Goff was so far from ready.
2) It's more about opportunity costs. If Keenum (or Mannion) was decent enough to start, why didn't we bolster our WR corps in the draft? Why didn't we add playmakers behind our d line? Why didn't we bolster the o line?
3) If Goff couldn't understand this most simplistic of offenses, that doesn't bode well for the future. He may be talented, but he needs to be intelligent too.

He can end a lot of this discussion if he plays well this Sunday, but there's plenty of reason to be skeptical.

 

Is it really that much of a gap between what Goff played under at Cal and the system the Rams use? It seems that it is being made out that way like he's learning a new language. I have seen the last two games with Keenum and he looks like less than a journeyman player. Mannion was also regarded high in college.

 

I mean I'm sure the reads are different and the routes are different, but it can't be THAT much different. This offense is so easy to scheme against it's pathetic.

Play 1: Inside the tackle run to Gurley
Play 2: sideline fade for Britt
Play 3: Bubble screen to Austin
Play 4: Quick slant or in route
Play 5: Out to Brian Quick

That's it. And they all come with enormous tells it's not hard to read these plays.

 

Watched the game for a bit... 7-0 Rams. Went to the gym, checked out the telly 10-0 Rams in the third. I checked the box score...14-10 Fins. What?

 

Awful Fisher coaching. Too conservative and relies on the defense to bail him out. They couldn't do it today.

Goff looked pretty good. In an offense that doesn't handcuff him, he might be worth something.

 

Tweeted by Ed Werder:

"Jared Goff’s longest completion travelled 7 yards, and he finished just 5-of-11 for 64 yards on passes thrown more than 5 yards downfield."

Yep, that is conservative...