As much as outside appearances were that we got our ass beaten in Australia, we have every chance to win that game even with the insanely bad circumstances we had:
5. AD not being in the lineup.
Setting aside the Aussie fly at the last minute buffoonery, we should have beaten 3 out of 4 and are super competitive even though not at our best
I was giving the Rams a break for the early-season travel, resulting in a tired team. I thought maybe I was overreacting to the Eagles game because it was played in the rain. But looking back at the actual number and quality of Eagles players who were sidelined at kickoff, plus the ones who got injured during the game, the real elephant in the room here is that the Rams shouldn't have needed a 14-point comeback in the last half of the fourth quarter to beat this team.
| Player | Position | Injury Type | Status / When They Went Out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lane Johnson | T | Personal Reasons | Pre-Game Inactive (Ruled out 90 minutes before kickoff) |
| DeVonta Smith | WR | Hamstring | Pre-Game Inactive (Ruled out before kickoff) |
| Dallas Goedert | TE | Knee (MCL) | Pre-Game Inactive (Ruled out before kickoff) |
| Zack Baun | LB | Concussion | Pre-Game Inactive (Ruled out before kickoff) |
| Marcus Epps | S | Groin | Pre-Game Inactive (Ruled out before kickoff) |
| Fred Johnson | T | Knee | Pre-Game Inactive (Ruled out before kickoff) |
| Hollywood Brown | WR | Ankle | Pre-Game Inactive (Ruled out before kickoff) |
| Landon Dickerson | G | Knee | Injured Reserve (IR) (Ruled out before kickoff) |
| Saquon Barkley | RB | Hamstring | In-Game: Left in the 1st half; did not return |
| Quinyon Mitchell | CB | Knee | In-Game: Left in the 3rd quarter; did not return |
| Jonathan Greenard | OLB | Ankle | In-Game: Left in the 2nd half; did not return |
| Tank Bigsby | RB | Hip / Core | In-Game: Left late in the game; did not return |
| Cooper DeJean | CB | Evaluation | In-Game: Left briefly for medical tent; returned |
| Drew Kendall | C | Evaluation | In-Game: Left briefly for medical tent; returned |
| Cam Jurgens | C/G | Concussion | In-Game: Played through game; reported symptoms next |
They had some quality players missing and injured during the game. The Rams didn't? Garrett (IR), Donald, Parkinson, Ferguson, Watson, etc. It's the NFL. Guys are going to miss games because of injury and guys are going to miss snaps in the game because of injury. We had Poona, Mumpfield and Forbes all go down during the game and miss snaps. I didn't hear any, "yeah but's" from the Denver game when we had Puka and Kinchens out, Garrett on IR, Ferguson and Parkinson go down during the game. Like I said, it's the NFL. I'm not going to put an asterisk next to any game we win. I will put one next to the Denver game because of officiating but even then, we shouldn't have let it come to that. About the only player who could go down on any team, where you could say, "yeah, that really hampered them" is the #1 QB.
Yes, at skill positions, but we are mid on the O line. That is the Achilles heel of the offense. The Niners blow them up whenever it's 3 and 1, or 4th and 1. Meanwhile, the Niners O line has not given up a sack.
My post has nothing to do with the Denver game. My opinion is that the Eagles lost significantly more talent and were a shell of themselves from the start of the season. Smith was 30% of their passing yards. Barkley is the focal point of their run game at 5.1 YPC and 81.3% of the running back totals in the first three games. The Rams had injury losses too, but not at the level of the Eagles' losses.
| Player | Pos | Injury | Game Status / Exit Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Donald | DE | Back | Inactive (Pre-game scratch) |
| J. Watson | CB | Shoulder | Inactive (Pre-game scratch) |
| C. Parkinson | TE | Knee/Shoulder | Inactive (Pre-game scratch) |
| T. Ferguson | TE | Ankle | IR (Ruled out before kickoff) |
| M. Garrett | OLB | Knee | IR (Out; following surgery) |
| R. Rivers | RB | Calf | IR (Ruled out before kickoff) |
| K. Mumpfield | WR | Shoulder | In-Game: Left mid-game; did not return |
| E. Forbes | CB | Knee | In-Game: Suffered minor contusion; finished game |
I want us all to see AD99 and MG95 on full throttle plus the other 9 and others in sub packages. I can't wait to see it.
Love the post and the optimism, and I largely agree. Rams have a great shot at winning it all.
Well, they have a 3rd place schedule, so they play 3 games against 3rd place teams, where we play 3 games vs 2nd place teams.
I want them to be nastier in the run game. Also, it seems like they can't block two stunts in a row. However, PFF has them ranked 12 as of now, so they aren't that bad but they're not excellent either.
Correction. I realized today the Niners play the Vikings and not tge Lions. Apparently Lions & Vikings were both 9-8 last yr and ob a tiebreaker, the Vikings finished in 3rd place.
