Week 5- Rams vs. Seahawks

[BStanRamFan]

I do think Stafford is legimately injured in his throwing hand after hitting his hand on the helmet of a player in the Colts game. He under threw D-Jax on the 60+ bomb and he underthrew Kupp in the 4th for what would have been a TD.

We have an easy stretch coming up. Maybe we rest him vs HOU and let Wolford/Perkins play? But his hand isn't right. I blame alot of the errant throws on that. He thought he zipped the ball out the back of the endzone and it was an INT to Diggs. All his balls are underthrown and I think it's that throwing hand. 

[BStanRamFan]

7 hours ago, jrry32 said:

Good to get the W. Winning on the road on TNF is very hard. Winning on the road in Seattle on TNF is damn near impossible. We need Stafford to be sharper. But he came through when it mattered. I hate Morris's scheme.

Despise it. He came off badly in the offseason when commenting on X's and O's and I knew were in for regression, but not this much. The secondary is a nightmare. Why isn't Burgess play AT ALL? McVay needs to step in at some point.

[LeotheLion]

28 minutes ago, BStanRamFan said:

I do think Stafford is legimately injured in his throwing hand after hitting his hand on the helmet of a player in the Colts game. He under threw D-Jax on the 60+ bomb and he underthrew Kupp in the 4th for what would have been a TD.

We have an easy stretch coming up. Maybe we rest him vs HOU and let Wolford/Perkins play? But his hand isn't right. I blame alot of the errant throws on that. He thought he zipped the ball out the back of the endzone and it was an INT to Diggs. All his balls are underthrown and I think it's that throwing hand. 

He thought Van was breaking back. That is the only explanation. His finger isn't hurt enough that he underthrew a throwaway.

Not all his balls are underthrown. He sailed a ball over Woods head when he was wide open over the middle. And then sailed balls over Kupp and Van on 3rd down. I don't think it's injury. He is just playing bad.

[rocky_rams]

9 hours ago, LeotheLion said:

Love the 2nd half but I'm still terrified of Stafford submarining this team. He was not good today for large stretches. 

Bro he was playing with a dislocated finger. Give him a little break 

[LeotheLion]

1 minute ago, rocky_rams said:

Bro he was playing with a dislocated finger. Give him a little break 

That doesn't come close to explaining the interception. That was a mental mistake. 

[rocky_rams]

Just now, LeotheLion said:

That doesn't come close to explaining the interception. That was a mental mistake. 

How would you know? You ever tried playing QB with a dislocated finger? 

And when it mattered most, Stafford stepped up and won the game for us. Especially with the lackluster defense we have

It’s funny, I don’t remember you being this critical of Goff 

[LeotheLion]

1 minute ago, rocky_rams said:

How would you know? You ever tried playing QB with a dislocated finger? 

And when it mattered most, Stafford stepped up and won the game for us. Especially with the lackluster defense we have

It’s funny, I don’t remember you being this critical of Goff 

No. But let's use logic here, if Stafford was so hurt that he did in fact under throw the stands by 20 yards then why wouldn't he just throw it to the sideline, don't even try for the back of the end zone. So yes, either way mental mistake.  A mistake that luckily didn't cost us. I still think he was going for Van.

The pick Stafford threw was basically Goff's one in Seattle last year on the bootleg. Which in my opinion was probably the lowlight of Goff's time here. I was just as critical of that play. Both were trying to making a play when it wasn't there. If I remember correctly on Goff's, also on an early down and early in the game. But I also have higher expectations for Stafford. After all, his cost was 2 first round picks to swap. So he has to be an upgrade or else the trade is complete disaster. Through 5 games, I see a more talented QB that certainly raises our ceiling. But the accuracy issues are concerning. Most of the stalled drives the last 2 games have come due to missing wide open players on 3rd downs. 

Stafford picked up his play in the 2nd half. But overall, this wasn't a good game. I'm happy with the win but like I said after the Arizona game, the offense will have to carry more of the weight than the defense this year. When we play better teams, I don't think this offensive effort would be enough. 

[LeotheLion]

It was just 1 drive, but I'm curious what McVay was thinking on the 3rd and 10 draw call in the first half. We saw that or screens constantly with Goff when he was content to punt. It has been nice that McVay has tried to convert those this year and Stafford has delivered on a lot of those conversions. I'm not sure what happened there. It also seemed like Brian Allen screwed up the delay of game before that. 

[rocky_rams]

10 minutes ago, LeotheLion said:

No. But let's use logic here, if Stafford was so hurt that he did in fact under throw the stands by 20 yards then why wouldn't he just throw it to the sideline, don't even try for the back of the end zone. So yes, either way mental mistake.  A mistake that luckily didn't cost us. I still think he was going for Van.

The pick Stafford threw was basically Goff's one in Seattle last year on the bootleg. Which in my opinion was probably the lowlight of Goff's time here. I was just as critical of that play. Both were trying to making a play when it wasn't there. If I remember correctly on Goff's, also on an early down and early in the game. But I also have higher expectations for Stafford. After all, his cost was 2 first round picks to swap. So he has to be an upgrade or else the trade is complete disaster. Through 5 games, I see a more talented QB that certainly raises our ceiling. But the accuracy issues are concerning. Most of the stalled drives the last 2 games have come due to missing wide open players on 3rd downs. 

Stafford picked up his play in the 2nd half. But overall, this wasn't a good game. I'm happy with the win but like I said after the Arizona game, the offense will have to carry more of the weight than the defense this year. When we play better teams, I don't think this offensive effort would be enough. 

I agree that Stafford a mediocre game against the Cards. I think he payed well considering the circumstances against Seattle. 
 

Goff has had many boneheaded interceptions. Not just the one from last year against the Seahawks. 
 

I get that we paid premium draft picks to get Stafford so we need to hold him to a higher standard. The same standard we all should’ve been holding Goff when he was one of, if not the highest,  paid QBs in the league 

and he’s been an upgrade over Goff, no questions asked. 
 

 

[BEASToftheEAST4]

Don’t understand all the hate on Stafford. The guy’s finger was clearly hurt and that will always affect how well you’re able to throw the ball. Did he miss some plays? Sure. Was the INT terrible? Of course. But all in all, he played well when it mattered and got us the W in a very difficult environment to do so. 
Im more concerned with McVay. Felt like we were playing scared all game. Had a lot of weak play calls in big spots and that run call on 3rd and 10 early in the game was downright atrocious. 
 

Defense played a LOT better this time. Taylor Rapp sucks though. I’ll echo what everyone else is saying—WHERE IS BURGESS? Anyone else feel like our D played better against Russ than we did against Geno?

[LeotheLion]

5 minutes ago, rocky_rams said:

I agree that Stafford a mediocre game against the Cards. I think he payed well considering the circumstances against Seattle. 
 

Goff has had many boneheaded interceptions. Not just the one from last year against the Seahawks. 
 

I get that we paid premium draft picks to get Stafford so we need to hold him to a higher standard. The same standard we all should’ve been holding Goff when he was one of, if not the highest,  paid QBs in the league 

and he’s been an upgrade over Goff, no questions asked. 
 

 

I never said he just had 1, but if I had to pick what was his worst, it was probably the one at Seattle. Stafford's yesterday rivals that both in timing and being completely unforced. 

Stafford did battle back and play better in the 2nd half. But last year, our offense was able to sputter for large stretches of games and get bailed out by the defense keeping it tight. I think we both agree that won't be the case this year. While the defense wasn't great yesterday, they were able to limit points which is all I truly care about.

I don't like being negative after a win but I also think generally this type of offensive effort won't be enough. There was a lot of good though in the game and if not for a ridiculous double punt, this is a blowout. 

[stl4life07]

12 minutes ago, rocky_rams said:

I agree that Stafford a mediocre game against the Cards. I think he payed well considering the circumstances against Seattle. 
 

Goff has had many boneheaded interceptions. Not just the one from last year against the Seahawks. 
 

I get that we paid premium draft picks to get Stafford so we need to hold him to a higher standard. The same standard we all should’ve been holding Goff when he was one of, if not the highest,  paid QBs in the league 

and he’s been an upgrade over Goff, no questions asked. 
 

 

Plus Goff was making these same mistakes 4yrs into the system AND he had 5yrs of overall experience in the NFL so he should know better. He stopped pushing the ball down the field and McVay didn’t open up the playbook for Goff bc he didn’t fully trust him anymore.

We knew that if Goff started off badly like Stafford did against the Seahawks in the first half that things wasn’t going to get better. We know that Stafford can look bad for a quarter or a half and still get things going and finish the game great and win. The main thing being McVay isn’t going to pull back the reigns on Stafford like he did Goff if there are struggles in parts of the game.

Yall know I’m a huge Goff fan and I think he is a battler and will fight till the game end but Stafford is better and I trust in him and through 5 games isn’t telling me the story of how the rest of the season or the rest of his time in LA will play out. 

[BStanRamFan]

58 minutes ago, LeotheLion said:

He thought Van was breaking back. That is the only explanation. His finger isn't hurt enough that he underthrew a throwaway.

Not all his balls are underthrown. He sailed a ball over Woods head when he was wide open over the middle. And then sailed balls over Kupp and Van on 3rd down. I don't think it's injury. He is just playing bad.

Yeah I just disagree. The hand is an issue and it's impacting his accuracy. His decision making has been slightly questionable, but I'm more concerned about his hand than anything else.  Overcompensating and underthrowing are more related to the injury than anything else.  

[LeotheLion]

Just now, BStanRamFan said:

Yeah I just disagree. The hand is an issue and it's impacting his accuracy. His decision making has been slightly questionable, but I'm more concerned about his hand than anything else.  Overcompensating and underthrowing are more related to the injury than anything else.  

So you think this injury is from the Colts game? That doesn't really explain why he was so good against Tampa. Plus he was also good after he nicked the hand against Indy. 

I'll buy that the finger affected his throws last night from the 2nd quarter on. Though I think he was missing less throws after dislocating it. The missed 3rd downs and interception were pre injury. 

Every QB misses throws from time to time so I never like to live in the world that just excuse everything for injury. Because then how do we explain it when he is playing well? You basically just have the trump card that resolves you from blame for poor performance. 

I also have very little concerns over his decision making. Aside from the interception, the only other decision I didn't like yesterday was the deep shot to Desean on 3rd and 3. Would have liked him to play that short and it looked like Kupp was open past the sticks. And I think that is why I am being so critical of Stafford, he is making the right reads and just missing the throws. Which is probably the better world to live in than the opposite but then we can just see how many yards and points are being left on the field. 

Hopefully the mini-bye helps him heal if it is in fact a hand injury.

[BStanRamFan]

1 minute ago, LeotheLion said:

So you think this injury is from the Colts game? That doesn't really explain why he was so good against Tampa. Plus he was also good after he nicked the hand against Indy. 

They're the worst secondary in the NFL.

 

2 minutes ago, LeotheLion said:

I also have very little concerns over his decision making. Aside from the interception, the only other decision I didn't like yesterday was the deep shot to Desean on 3rd and 3. Would have liked him to play that short and it looked like Kupp was open past the sticks. And I think that is why I am being so critical of Stafford, he is making the right reads and just missing the throws. Which is probably the better world to live in than the opposite but then we can just see how many yards and points are being left on the field. 

Hopefully the mini-bye helps him heal if it is in fact a hand injury.

I also didnt like that. Kupp was open and would have been an easy first down. 

He's underthrown quite a few deep balls this season. He overthrew a few yesterday to Kupp. His throws that require "touch" are being impacted by the injury. Obviously, if it's an open receiver that we schemed with Kupp pulling the defenders with him, it's an easier throw. If he completes those "touch" throws, we aren't having this discussion. I also think McVay is opening the play book more and more to him as weeks go on, so we will see some of the confusion on routes because he's learning on the fly with no preseason. 

I'm just shocked with that I'm hearing about Stafford from this board after 2 mediocre games. Everything is going to be fine. These are the growing pains of a QB who's in his first new system in 10 years with no preseason and he's dealing with a dislocated finger on his throwing hand. We're 3-1.