Rules of this post and thread that I am adhering to, but do not expect others to adhere to:
(1) No captain obvious comments.
(2) No a**hole comments.
My intension of this post is to stimulate a "keys of the game" type discussion. This post does pay homage to the fine work of past RamsOnDemand posters. I do not mean to degrade the great work that they have done in any way. Nor am I taking ownership of this format in any way. I only hope to build upon the shoulders of the giant that came before me because I appreciated their work and sincerely miss it. With all of that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the read and feel inspired to add to it or argue against it:
One.
Tyler Higbee is the heart and soul of this team. I did not realize it before the Cards game, and in retrospect it was obvious. When he was chopped down in the heat of the game against Detroit, it was devastating. It was devastating on a physical basis for Tyler, but also on an emotional basis for the team as a whole. I don`t pretend to know what it is about him in terms of personality, character traits or work ethic, but he is the clear alpha. (“Alpha” meaning; he who is most willing to sacrifice himself for the betterment of the group.)
Two.
Our chances of beating Philly or SEA on the road without Dotson are in question as McVay would have to scheme around his absence, limiting the playbook. We should be fine without him against the Panthers, SF, GB or Chicago. Not sure about potential AFC opponents, but I would imagine he will be back by then if not before.
Three.
Alaric Jackson is the unsung hero of the team. Second is McCollough, who has played beyond what we could have expected from him. I hope our QB puts those guys on his Xmas list for the rest of his days, because they have earned it.
Four.
Poona Ford is our best signing of the offseason (although there were excellent ones, like the extensions of KW and Alaric, and the additions of Adams and Landman). Poona is critical to our run defense. The difference is night and day. And the success our run defense experiences going forward is based on his availability. The Panthers will be an indication of his availability and impact going forward. Remember the reason the Panthers were able to gash us in the regular season was because he was limited with a calf injury. I will go even further by saying that an 80% healthy Poona is enough to make us competitive, which is rare-rare.
Five.
Shula is not a magician. What I mean by that is that he cannot make plays for our players. But what he can do is put players in position to succeed. I would argue that he has exceled at that with one glaring exception. Going forward the DL rotation will have to be 100% on point. The exception has been Fiske for much of the season. That said, the rumor is that he has been playing hurt. I think if that is true, Fiske should not be on the field if he isn`t able to generate that low end, first-gear explosion that we witnessed glimpses of in his rookie season. That said, he had a sack against the Cards and looks healthier… maybe healthy?
Six.
Shula needs to figure out who can play in the secondary and how to mitigate situations where teams have exposed their limitations. Thank goodness our singular big bodied CB, Witherspoon got some quality reps against the Cards. Someone on the board said his footspeed looked slow. That may be true and given that you can`t replicate game speed in shorts, it is understandable. However, if you look at the big body receivers that we will be facing in the playoffs, they are not speed guys. They are more like basketball power forwards – and that is where we need him.
Seven.
We need Lake healthy and productive. I am a big fan of McCollough in situational situations, especially when those situations don`t require read-and-react capabilities. McCollough is an elite blitzer and has many other above average NFL traits. But Lake enables Shula to run his FULL defense, which is why we extended him (along with his leadership traits). What I mean by that is that Lake, because of his elite tackling and read-and-react capabilities, allows Shula to play cat and mouse in terms of what secondary players are occupying which zone windows. This also makes our pass rush better because it makes opposing QBs second guess what they are seeing. (Also, what happened to the promise of McCreary???)
Eight.
The expectation for the Rams is to beat Carolina regardless of health issues. The expectations after Carolina will be dependent on availability and match-up. (This includes the availability of Adams and Ferguson, which I haven`t addressed elsewhere.)
Nine.
There is something rotten in Denmark… The NFL might be fixed (over 51% chance imo). I believe in the integrity of the game, and I believe many of you do to. But from what I have witnessed this season, the games looked guided by the refs toward a predetermined outcome. Perhaps it is just incompetence, but I will be watching the playoffs with this lens to decide on whether I will continue to watch the professional game.
Ten.
We have an ELITE coaching staff, front office and owner. And I for one am thanking my lucky stars when I look out on the landscape of the league. The difference between earned wealth/position and inherited wealth/position could not be more apparent. Yes, I realize that you cannot separate earned from inherited in many cases due to the nature of the how much of an advantage guys like McVay, Shula and Dimitroff have had growing up, in the families that they grew up in. For those of you, like me, that have not grown up in privileged positions, Godspeed and good luck to you. Don`t ask for life to be easier, turn hardship into the strength of character that will propel you forward.
Romans 5:3-5 NIV. Not only so, but we also glory (give glory to God) in our sufferings (and in our victories), because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame (there is no shame in loving God), because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (the quiet voice of our conscience), who has been given to us (when we exercise our free will to surrender our false sense of control to Christ Jesus, who is our lord and savior offering us unearned forgiveness and unmitigated favor).
Go at it boys.
(1) No captain obvious comments.
(2) No a**hole comments.
My intension of this post is to stimulate a "keys of the game" type discussion. This post does pay homage to the fine work of past RamsOnDemand posters. I do not mean to degrade the great work that they have done in any way. Nor am I taking ownership of this format in any way. I only hope to build upon the shoulders of the giant that came before me because I appreciated their work and sincerely miss it. With all of that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the read and feel inspired to add to it or argue against it:
One.
Tyler Higbee is the heart and soul of this team. I did not realize it before the Cards game, and in retrospect it was obvious. When he was chopped down in the heat of the game against Detroit, it was devastating. It was devastating on a physical basis for Tyler, but also on an emotional basis for the team as a whole. I don`t pretend to know what it is about him in terms of personality, character traits or work ethic, but he is the clear alpha. (“Alpha” meaning; he who is most willing to sacrifice himself for the betterment of the group.)
Two.
Our chances of beating Philly or SEA on the road without Dotson are in question as McVay would have to scheme around his absence, limiting the playbook. We should be fine without him against the Panthers, SF, GB or Chicago. Not sure about potential AFC opponents, but I would imagine he will be back by then if not before.
Three.
Alaric Jackson is the unsung hero of the team. Second is McCollough, who has played beyond what we could have expected from him. I hope our QB puts those guys on his Xmas list for the rest of his days, because they have earned it.
Four.
Poona Ford is our best signing of the offseason (although there were excellent ones, like the extensions of KW and Alaric, and the additions of Adams and Landman). Poona is critical to our run defense. The difference is night and day. And the success our run defense experiences going forward is based on his availability. The Panthers will be an indication of his availability and impact going forward. Remember the reason the Panthers were able to gash us in the regular season was because he was limited with a calf injury. I will go even further by saying that an 80% healthy Poona is enough to make us competitive, which is rare-rare.
Five.
Shula is not a magician. What I mean by that is that he cannot make plays for our players. But what he can do is put players in position to succeed. I would argue that he has exceled at that with one glaring exception. Going forward the DL rotation will have to be 100% on point. The exception has been Fiske for much of the season. That said, the rumor is that he has been playing hurt. I think if that is true, Fiske should not be on the field if he isn`t able to generate that low end, first-gear explosion that we witnessed glimpses of in his rookie season. That said, he had a sack against the Cards and looks healthier… maybe healthy?
Six.
Shula needs to figure out who can play in the secondary and how to mitigate situations where teams have exposed their limitations. Thank goodness our singular big bodied CB, Witherspoon got some quality reps against the Cards. Someone on the board said his footspeed looked slow. That may be true and given that you can`t replicate game speed in shorts, it is understandable. However, if you look at the big body receivers that we will be facing in the playoffs, they are not speed guys. They are more like basketball power forwards – and that is where we need him.
Seven.
We need Lake healthy and productive. I am a big fan of McCollough in situational situations, especially when those situations don`t require read-and-react capabilities. McCollough is an elite blitzer and has many other above average NFL traits. But Lake enables Shula to run his FULL defense, which is why we extended him (along with his leadership traits). What I mean by that is that Lake, because of his elite tackling and read-and-react capabilities, allows Shula to play cat and mouse in terms of what secondary players are occupying which zone windows. This also makes our pass rush better because it makes opposing QBs second guess what they are seeing. (Also, what happened to the promise of McCreary???)
Eight.
The expectation for the Rams is to beat Carolina regardless of health issues. The expectations after Carolina will be dependent on availability and match-up. (This includes the availability of Adams and Ferguson, which I haven`t addressed elsewhere.)
Nine.
There is something rotten in Denmark… The NFL might be fixed (over 51% chance imo). I believe in the integrity of the game, and I believe many of you do to. But from what I have witnessed this season, the games looked guided by the refs toward a predetermined outcome. Perhaps it is just incompetence, but I will be watching the playoffs with this lens to decide on whether I will continue to watch the professional game.
Ten.
We have an ELITE coaching staff, front office and owner. And I for one am thanking my lucky stars when I look out on the landscape of the league. The difference between earned wealth/position and inherited wealth/position could not be more apparent. Yes, I realize that you cannot separate earned from inherited in many cases due to the nature of the how much of an advantage guys like McVay, Shula and Dimitroff have had growing up, in the families that they grew up in. For those of you, like me, that have not grown up in privileged positions, Godspeed and good luck to you. Don`t ask for life to be easier, turn hardship into the strength of character that will propel you forward.
Romans 5:3-5 NIV. Not only so, but we also glory (give glory to God) in our sufferings (and in our victories), because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame (there is no shame in loving God), because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (the quiet voice of our conscience), who has been given to us (when we exercise our free will to surrender our false sense of control to Christ Jesus, who is our lord and savior offering us unearned forgiveness and unmitigated favor).
Go at it boys.
