Week 5 vs Eagles

[stl4life07]

6 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

The offense just falters every 2nd half. Have seen that happen four times in five games. That needs to get corrected if this team is going to make a true run at one of the WC spots. Have to beat the Seahawks next meeting and sweep the Cardinals. Definitely a possibility. 

The reason why I feel confident though is the teams the Rams will be fighting with for the 7th seed will be the Saints/Bucs/Falcons (whoever don’t win the NFCS). That’s it’s. We assume the Eagles and Cowboys get in from the NFCE then the Lions from the NFCN. The Packers will be contending for the 7th seed too. Then the Niners and Seahawks from the NFCW. 
 

Rams already beat Seattle and they still have to play the Bengals and Eagles too. They could lose to both teams just like the Rams did. Rams still have to play the Giants. We can beat them just like the Seahawks did. So yeah the Rams definitely have to get better in the 2nd half on offense but the competition for that 6th and especially that 7th seed in the NFC isn’t all that strong. Rams can get in probably even at 9 wins. But it’s going to be interesting.

[LeotheLion]

The part of the game that is so frustrating is the lack of tackling by the back 7. Two scoring drives were kept alive by Durant not making a tackle. And both were pretty poor efforts on his part. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

59 minutes ago, stl4life07 said:

The reason why I feel confident though is the teams the Rams will be fighting with for the 7th seed will be the Saints/Bucs/Falcons (whoever don’t win the NFCS). That’s it’s. We assume the Eagles and Cowboys get in from the NFCE then the Lions from the NFCN. The Packers will be contending for the 7th seed too. Then the Niners and Seahawks from the NFCW. 
 

Rams already beat Seattle and they still have to play the Bengals and Eagles too. They could lose to both teams just like the Rams did. Rams still have to play the Giants. We can beat them just like the Seahawks did. So yeah the Rams definitely have to get better in the 2nd half on offense but the competition for that 6th and especially that 7th seed in the NFC isn’t all that strong. Rams can get in probably even at 9 wins. But it’s going to be interesting.

Yeah, the Rams will be right there until the end. Just have to play cleaner ball in the 2nd half and have relative health. The running game is rough to watch, not going to lie. Maybe mix in more carries for Rivers. That's definitely a spot that needs to be upgraded. The pass blocking when the OL is healthy is solid. It falls apart when there is one injury which is true for many teams. The secondary had some rough moments yesterday but all things considered, it has played as well as you could have hoped. Ahkello is playing very good and Kendrick before the Eagles game was lights out as well. 

It's a young team that will have its fair share of ups and downs. Eventually they will go on a big run.

And depending on how the Niners season goes and what happens with the Eagles, Seahawks, Lions etc, there is a slight possibility of them already clinching the #1 seed before week 17. So you guys can get us with our backups and then that becomes another divisional win. Could be the difference of making the playoffs and missing it by a game. 

[stl4life07]

6 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Yeah, the Rams will be right there until the end. Just have to play cleaner ball in the 2nd half and have relative health. The running game is rough to watch, not going to lie. Maybe mix in more carries for Rivers. That's definitely a spot that needs to be upgraded. The pass blocking when the OL is healthy is solid. It falls apart when there is one injury which is true for many teams. The secondary had some rough moments yesterday but all things considered, it has played as well as you could have hoped. Ahkello is playing very good and Kendrick before the Eagles game was lights out as well. 

It's a young team that will have its fair share of ups and downs. Eventually they will go on a big run.

And depending on how the Niners season goes and what happens with the Eagles, Seahawks, Lions etc, there is a slight possibility of them already clinching the #1 seed before week 17. So you guys can get us with our backups and then that becomes another divisional win. Could be the difference of making the playoffs and missing it by a game. 

Yeah I dont think the Niners would take it easy on the Rams the last game of the regular season especially if they know the Rams need to win to get in possibly. But it would be crazy if the Rams beat the Niners in SF to get in just like the Niners beat the Rams years ago in LA to get in. 

But yeah I agree with what you said. Im impressed with how the Rams defense is playing right now. I didnt expect them to play this well early on. Yesterday was rough but I credit Hurts and his ability to extend plays with his legs and he is so hard to tackle. But I think like you said this is a young defense. They will continue to get better and in these situations I expect them to learn as the season goes along. 

The one thing Im so glad about is Stafford hip contusion didnt real show itself in this game. He looked great with his throws. I thought in the 2nd half he did miss opportunities but most of them was just him and his receivers not being on the same page. Kupp was looking one way and he was looking another way. The big one was him missing Tutu on a potential TD. But he hits that more times than not. It was just bad he didnt hit that this time. I thought the Rams couldve run the ball more. Williams averaged 4.1ypc. Thats good against a tough run defense in the Eagles. But I understood the plan to attack the Eagles weak secondary. I just wouldnt only have 13 carries for Williams. He shouldve gotten over 15 carries. If not for anything to just keep the defense off the field bc they were gassed in the 2nd half from being on the field a ton. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

1 minute ago, stl4life07 said:

Yeah I dont think the Niners would take it easy on the Rams the last game of the regular season especially if they know the Rams need to win to get in possibly. But it would be crazy if the Rams beat the Niners in SF to get in just like the Niners beat the Rams years ago in LA to get in. 

But yeah I agree with what you said. Im impressed with how the Rams defense is playing right now. I didnt expect them to play this well early on. Yesterday was rough but I credit Hurts and his ability to extend plays with his legs and he is so hard to tackle. But I think like you said this is a young defense. They will continue to get better and in these situations I expect them to learn as the season goes along. 

The one thing Im so glad about is Stafford hip contusion didnt real show itself in this game. He looked great with his throws. I thought in the 2nd half he did miss opportunities but most of them was just him and his receivers not being on the same page. Kupp was looking one way and he was looking another way. The big one was him missing Tutu on a potential TD. But he hits that more times than not. It was just bad he didnt hit that this time. I thought the Rams couldve run the ball more. Williams averaged 4.1ypc. Thats good against a tough run defense in the Eagles. But I understood the plan to attack the Eagles weak secondary. I just wouldnt only have 13 carries for Williams. He shouldve gotten over 15 carries. If not for anything to just keep the defense off the field bc they were gassed in the 2nd half from being on the field a ton. 

If the Niners have the #1 seed clinched up, they are not going to play their starters for the entire game, or at all. Why would they? I'm sure Kyle will like them to play a quarter or so before the bye week but it would be crazy to play them the full game when it is meaningless before the playoffs. NOW, maybe the team is 16-0 at that point and they play for the undefeated season.....I'm kidding, there's no chance of that happening...........right? Right? RIIIGHHHHTTTTTT????

[stl4life07]

10 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

If the Niners have the #1 seed clinched up, they are not going to play their starters for the entire game, or at all. Why would they? I'm sure Kyle will like them to play a quarter or so before the bye week but it would be crazy to play them the full game when it is meaningless before the playoffs. NOW, maybe the team is 16-0 at that point and they play for the undefeated season.....I'm kidding, there's no chance of that happening...........right? Right? RIIIGHHHHTTTTTT????

So you dont think if it comes down to the last game of the season if the Rams win they get in that Kyle isnt going to try to win and not allow the Rams to just get in? But hey I hope you are right if it came down to it. Id rather see all the Niners backups in a game that might be everything to the Rams and nothing to the Niners.

[J-ALL-DAY]

2 minutes ago, stl4life07 said:

So you dont think if it comes down to the last game of the season if the Rams win they get in that Kyle isnt going to try to win and not allow the Rams to just get in? But hey I hope you are right if it came down to it. Id rather see all the Niners backups in a game that might be everything to the Rams and nothing to the Niners.

Why would the NIners play their starters in a meaningless game? Why do they care that much if the Rams get in the playoffs or not? They care about that over their health? 

[stl4life07]

4 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Why would the NIners play their starters in a meaningless game? Why do they care that much if the Rams get in the playoffs or not? They care about that over their health? 

Not saying they would care in particular if the Rams got into the playoffs or not. Im just trying to look at it from different angles than just a meaningless game Niners wont play their starters. But its going to be interesting. I think its going to come down to that last playoff spot and the Rams fighting with other teams in the NFC to get in. Hopefully the Niners dont have anything to play for and they do rest their starters. I think the key to Week 18 could be Week 13 Niners at Eagles. If the Eagles win then they own the head to head and the Niners will need to be one game better just to get the 1 seed. And it could come down to the last game of the season to maybe determine that. And if it comes down to that then the Niners will have to play straight up the Rams.

[J-ALL-DAY]

11 minutes ago, stl4life07 said:

Not saying they would care in particular if the Rams got into the playoffs or not. Im just trying to look at it from different angles than just a meaningless game Niners wont play their starters. But its going to be interesting. I think its going to come down to that last playoff spot and the Rams fighting with other teams in the NFC to get in. Hopefully the Niners dont have anything to play for and they do rest their starters. I think the key to Week 18 could be Week 13 Niners at Eagles. If the Eagles win then they own the head to head and the Niners will need to be one game better just to get the 1 seed. And it could come down to the last game of the season to maybe determine that. And if it comes down to that then the Niners will have to play straight up the Rams.

Obviously if the #1 seed is still up for grabs, the Niners will play their starters. I just brought up a possibility that they have the #1 seed clinched by week 18. That would depend on what happens going forward with the Lions and the H2H match ups against the Eagles/Seahawks. 

If the #1 seed is clinched and the team does not have to play for an undefeated season, than the starters will play a quarter or two at most in week 18. They would be stupid to play the entire game. 

[Dr LBC]

14 hours ago, jrry32 said:

Too many mistakes in this one to beat a better team. But I liked the fight our guys showed. That said, I wish we had a better option than Kendrick. He is just too erratic of a player and makes dumb mistakes at the worst times. It was great to see Kupp back. If some of the young guys start to mature and our OL can stay healthy, we may just be a playoff team. Stafford will need to be at this best. But we have the weapons, and the defense is competent enough to help us win if the offense performs. We'd benefit a lot from an explosive HB to pair with Kyren and a better pass rusher opposite Byron Young. I wouldn't go out and give up a premium pick at the trade deadline, but some guys I'd inquire about are:

HB
Antonio Gibson - Washington
Cordarrelle Patterson - Falcons
D'Onta Foreman - Bears
Jeff Wilson or Raheem Mostert - Miami
Elijah Mitchell - 49ers

Pass Rusher
Carl Lawson - Jets
Markus Golden - Steelers
Preston Smith - Green Bay
Yannick Ngakoue - Chicago

I think all should be relatively cheap in terms of compensation. Although, we'll need to offer a premium so the other team will eat cap. 

I think we're kind of up the proverbial creek in terms of getting another EDGE of note in this season, just down to constraints limiting our ability to acquire juxtaposed against how realistic our chances of actually hoisting a Lombardi this season are (or aren't).  Maybe those chances change with an injury of note or two to the Niners or Eagles, but barring that, this is one of their two's conference to lose - and, as we've seen perpetually illustrated by KC in the AFC - when you're a league/media favorite, you get the added bonuses of preferential treatment by the officiating just from implicit bias alone.  Our best bet in bolstering our pass rush may actually be more in the course of adding to the interior rush presence so as to free up AD to move around and play the edge more (which, in turn, creates more opportunities for Young - especially if we create opportunities to bring them both from the same side).  I haven't done a deep dive into who all actually could present those opportunities, but I'd wager they're out there.

As for RB, another name I'd throw out there - particularly as Denver shows more and more that they're going to cellar-dwell this year - even though Payton is known to horde RB's, and even more particularly as he appears he may continue to lose touches to Jahleel McLaughlin even once Javonte Williams returns to full health: Samaje Perine, someone who I know you're familiar with (and who IIRC was your regular late-round flier in mocks when he was coming out), and who has the added bonus of being familiar with a McVay-styled scheme given he was playing for Zac Taylor in Cincinnati last year.  He's also on the relative cheap, considering he'd be $3m against the cap for Denver this season regardless if he were stay on the roster or they offload him and the remainder of his 2023 game-checks/contract and eat the accelerated hit (dead money) of the remaining $1.5m proration of the signing bonus they already paid him this year.

[Flounch]

6 hours ago, LeotheLion said:

The part of the game that is so frustrating is the lack of tackling by the back 7. Two scoring drives were kept alive by Durant not making a tackle. And both were pretty poor efforts on his part. 

Yes all the misses tackles yesterday, it was crazy. They couldn't tackle Hurts, they had to be 2/3 players around to tackle 1 guy....

[jrry32]

5 hours ago, Dr LBC said:

I think we're kind of up the proverbial creek in terms of getting another EDGE of note in this season, just down to constraints limiting our ability to acquire juxtaposed against how realistic our chances of actually hoisting a Lombardi this season are (or aren't).  Maybe those chances change with an injury of note or two to the Niners or Eagles, but barring that, this is one of their two's conference to lose - and, as we've seen perpetually illustrated by KC in the AFC - when you're a league/media favorite, you get the added bonuses of preferential treatment by the officiating just from implicit bias alone.  Our best bet in bolstering our pass rush may actually be more in the course of adding to the interior rush presence so as to free up AD to move around and play the edge more (which, in turn, creates more opportunities for Young - especially if we create opportunities to bring them both from the same side).  I haven't done a deep dive into who all actually could present those opportunities, but I'd wager they're out there.

As for RB, another name I'd throw out there - particularly as Denver shows more and more that they're going to cellar-dwell this year - even though Payton is known to horde RB's, and even more particularly as he appears he may continue to lose touches to Jahleel McLaughlin even once Javonte Williams returns to full health: Samaje Perine, someone who I know you're familiar with (and who IIRC was your regular late-round flier in mocks when he was coming out), and who has the added bonus of being familiar with a McVay-styled scheme given he was playing for Zac Taylor in Cincinnati last year.  He's also on the relative cheap, considering he'd be $3m against the cap for Denver this season regardless if he were stay on the roster or they offload him and the remainder of his 2023 game-checks/contract and eat the accelerated hit (dead money) of the remaining $1.5m proration of the signing bonus they already paid him this year.

There might be some chances to pursue an EDGE if teams fall out of the race by the end of the month. The trading team would have to eat the cap. I think of a guy like Yannick Ngakoue on the Bears. He's on a one year deal. They're not going anywhere. At the trade deadline, would they deal him for a mid-round pick? Maybe.

Of course, Yannick wouldn't help our run defense. But having him on passing downs instead of Hoecht would help our pass defense. He's still a guy who can get after the QB. And Donald makes those dudes look quite good.

Another possible name is Chase Young. If Washington falls out of the hunt, they may consider trading him. They won't be able to keep him and Sweat this off-season. If we offer a third, do they take it? Maybe. And we could consider whether to keep Young. 

[Dr LBC]

54 minutes ago, jrry32 said:

There might be some chances to pursue an EDGE if teams fall out of the race by the end of the month. The trading team would have to eat the cap. I think of a guy like Yannick Ngakoue on the Bears. He's on a one year deal. They're not going anywhere. At the trade deadline, would they deal him for a mid-round pick? Maybe.

Of course, Yannick wouldn't help our run defense. But having him on passing downs instead of Hoecht would help our pass defense. He's still a guy who can get after the QB. And Donald makes those dudes look quite good.

Another possible name is Chase Young. If Washington falls out of the hunt, they may consider trading him. They won't be able to keep him and Sweat this off-season. If we offer a third, do they take it? Maybe. And we could consider whether to keep Young. 

My reservation - if you can call it that - on Young isn't whether Washington might trade him, but rather that we'd likely be priced out unless we were willing to pony up a truly premium pick (and I'm talking, they're going to want our 2024 1st), because a contending team would easily offer a 3rd in compensation, and Young would likely lean that direction (and he's with Klutch Sports so if he has any shot at open free agency, you just know he's going to take it) because it would give him more opportunity on a (likely) more complete defense AND a shot at a ring.

[jrry32]

2 hours ago, Dr LBC said:

My reservation - if you can call it that - on Young isn't whether Washington might trade him, but rather that we'd likely be priced out unless we were willing to pony up a truly premium pick (and I'm talking, they're going to want our 2024 1st), because a contending team would easily offer a 3rd in compensation, and Young would likely lean that direction (and he's with Klutch Sports so if he has any shot at open free agency, you just know he's going to take it) because it would give him more opportunity on a (likely) more complete defense AND a shot at a ring.

If a better team offers a third, that's a worse third than ours. I'd laugh and hang up the phone if they asked for a first.

[Dr LBC]

13 hours ago, jrry32 said:

If a better team offers a third, that's a worse third than ours. I'd laugh and hang up the phone if they asked for a first.

This is, with Les' past reputation, they'd have more reason than not to ask for a 1st.