Talking Rams... What do you know?

[joeyxfresco]

2 hours ago, Captain Morgan said:

 

brother, win or lose in week one, you don't know how hard we'll be pulling for you in week two.

I think the whole world will be pulling for the Rams after the bitch fit the Saints threw after the NFC conference game. It’s one thing to bitch about a call but another to blame the call on your loss after your midget QB throws a pick in OT

[SetfreexX]

A couple thoughts on the Rams...

• Goff is over-rated, not saying he isn't good, but he's closer to what we saw in the SB in my opinion
• Is Gurley still Gurley?
• Solid LT, but what about the rest of the OL, also Whitworth's age has to show at some point, but probably not Week 1
• Great WR group & serviceable TE's as well
• Aaron Donald to me IS that defense, no other rushers scare me (no not Fowler Jr.) Clay Matthews hasn't been Clay Matthews as of late
• Talib is getting old, Weddle is getting older than old, and Peters has been more talk than play late last season, I like their nickel even if just for the hit vs New Orleans

I think with all the above we're adequately equipped to deal with their team, I think this game will be a lot closer than some might anticipate, I think the real gap for the Rams is their ILB'er group and I think we have better athletes than their safety's will be able to take advantages of the mismatches in space. 

I expect big games, from CMC, and Olsen with Moore, and Samuel providing the ''splash'' plays. I think we have as much offensive capability as the Rams, and I think overall we have the better defense, I believe our pass rush wins us this game in close fashion. 

 

[SetfreexX]

3 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Valid, but McVay knows that too.

Even still doesn't seem as if he can do anything about.

If we line up after the communication is cut same result, am I missing something here?

[ncfan]

Cam gets sacked 5-6 times (2-3 from Darnold)

2 passing TDs 1 int. 

 

We sack Goff 4 times, 1 of them being from Burns

Gurley gets 100+ yards rushing and 2 TDs,  still getting used to this new D, we have a Hard time stopping the run

 

My heart says 27-24 Panthers

Head says 17-10 Rams

[Mr. Scot]

16 minutes ago, SetfreexX said:

Even still doesn't seem as if he can do anything about.

If we line up after the communication is cut same result, am I missing something here?

He can adjust.

(that's how they got to what they're doing now, after all)

Some choices get exposed but still go back to doing exactly what they were doing before thinking it was just a one time thing. Others take the lesson and try to fix what went wrong.

We'll see which way McVay goes.

[KB_fan]

13 hours ago, CPF4LIFE said:

If Rivera and the staff are smart they are studying that superbowl tape pretty closely to see how patriots bottled up the rams O.

Remember the Panthers have got a beefed up analytics team to help now.

I'm somewhat concerned about our Oline being not yet cohesive and thus a bit uneasy about the Rams D-line. The Oline is going to get a STOUT test with the Rams game and then the super short week to play again on Thurs night. But the " mini bye" will give coaches a chance to learn and adjust a bit early too.

In the bigger picture, I'm actually pretty glad it's the Rams week 1.  Tons of motivation. A great test against a high quality team. We'll know quite a lot about the Panthers quickly.

Even better, with all our new players, a revitalized deep passing game (hopefully), and the new defensive scheme, the Rams won't have had a lot of relevant film to analyze and pick apart. Playing them early is good in terms of the element of surprise.

[KB_fan]

1 hour ago, CRA said:

I would expect Wade to come at Cam in the same manner he has before 

If I hear anything in Sunday about Green Dog Blitzes, I might be sick. PTSD.

[CRA]

7 minutes ago, KB_fan said:

If I hear anything in Sunday about Green Dog Blitzes, I might be sick. PTSD.

Ding ding ding! 

[Mr. Scot]

The theory goes that early in the season, everyone is sloppy and therefore the team with the greater talent wins.

Personally, I think you have to factor superior coaching in there as well. Add in that units which haven't had much turnover would be expected to be more in sync out of the gate..

[Seltzer]

5 hours ago, CRA said:

I would expect Wade to come at Cam in the same manner he has before 

The Rams are good on defense, but they're not the historically great team the Broncos were in 2015.

The Cardinals blitzed the fool out of Cam in the NFCC game, and he absolutely lit them up.  Wade Phillips got a lot of credit for shutting down the Panthers in the Super Bowl, but most of what they did other teams had tried earlier, but they just didn't have the personnel (especially on the back end) to pull it off.  And even with that defense, the Panthers did enough to win had they not turned the ball over twice in the redzone with one being returned for a score.

The 2019 Rams have a guy in Aaron Donald who may go down as one the greatest defensive players ever, and Dante Fowler is pretty good.  But the defense overall, while solid, isn't on the same level as the 2015 Broncos.  The Rams linebacker corp can be exploited, and while theor secondary is fundamentally sound, they are no better than the teams we play in the NFC South.

None of this is to say this will be an easy matchup.  I suspect the Rams will blitz early and often until Cam takes advantage of it.

I'm sure the offensive line has been working overtime on blitz pickup.  The Rams are going to try to confuse these guys and gamble, especially since they have confidence their offense is going to put up a lot of points.

Cam and Co just have to be ready.

I hope Norv gets CMC involved in some screens early and then sets up some deep shots.

[KB_fan]

3 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Add in that units which haven't had much turnover would be expected to be more in sync out of the gate

Nice in theory, but think of how little turnover Panthers had from 2015 to 2016. It didn't make them winners. 

[45catfan]

The Rams faithful won't logjam the majority of uptown like the Cowboys fans did at last year's opener.  I sat in traffic forever...after the game AND before!

[The Lobo]

8 hours ago, Ramfan128 said:

Hey all - Rams fan here, just signed up for your site. I enjoy discussing upcoming games with rival fans.

I'll cut right to it: I chalked this game up as an L the moment the schedule was released. Officially, I'm picking the Rams to win, because I'm a Rams fan. But if I had to bet money on this game, I'd be betting on Carolina. The main reason is your front 7 - we have two offensive linemen starting their first meaningful games of their career, and going up against a deep and talented interior DL. Kuechly is the best in the league, Carolina is at home and it's a 10am PT start for the Rams.

Defensively, last year we were awful against the run - I am cautiously optimistic that will be fixed this season, but this is a tough start. CMC is also unstoppable out of the backfield as a receiver.

Also, we rested all our starters last year in preseason and only won in week one because we were playing the Raiders - we were actually losing at half time of that game. The whole offense was off.

Once the season starts rolling, I expect the Rams offense to get back to where it was last year before Kupp went down - but this is such a tough start to the year.

My heart says everything clicks for the Rams and Cam comes out rusty - Rams win 27-17

But my head says that both teams look poor offensively, with Carolina doing more in the run game to eek out a 19-16 win

TBH, I won't be too stressed either way about this game. It's a tough away game, early start time, and the first game of the season - I would lose this game in exchange for beating the Saints by 50 next week 10 out of 10 times.

Welcome, hopefully you stick around after the game and throughout the season. I always like reading opposing teams opinions. It will be a good game Sunday. Cheers to a great injury free game! 

[Mr. Scot]

48 minutes ago, KB_fan said:

Nice in theory, but think of how little turnover Panthers had from 2015 to 2016. It didn't make them winners. 

It's all theory at this point.