Last week was a total debacle like I have really never seen before if you consider how capable these players could be on that field.
And, from a fantasy team POV, I not only got to pick Todd Gurley with the 4th pick in that draft, we also picked up Tayvon Austin deeper down as a reserve. But then the league enacted this Flex player so we used him for that position.
Also, I came up with the brilliant idea to pick up RB Lamarr Charles from the Kansas City Chiefs. He has not played a game and I had no clue he was injured. I did know how to deal with the draft board online (which was fast and furious) at the exact time early in that process.
Plus, we have Dez Bryant and he did not have one catch all game. Or, if he did have any, he scored us zero points at WR if all positions. And, with Charles not playing, we had to put in the second string Bronco RB. He scored us -2 yards.
One antidote is that I had never done fantasy Football till now. I had done pools every years for I think maybe two decades now. I also did pools at my old jobs.
As far as picking Austin whenever we did, I was thinking the team knew something we did not know after the close of that 41 Million Dollar deal. And, therefore maybe who know knows, he would break out.
Monday night was awful and it had set the tone for a very hard week.
What I needed to happen with Ram team (i.e.: maybe Gurly breaking out gaining a 150 yard plus on the ground alone and maybe Tayvon somehow doing about 80 to 120 if you include rush and pass), our opponent had with Ben Rothlesberger and DeAngelo Williams from Pitt. They did what we needed the Rams team to do to even have a crack at winning this week. It was an embarrassment. I mean the Rams were. Which then in turn embarrassed me in a couple ways.
I am not sure what the pro writers are saying about playing Jarad Goff, but the fact is when you viewed some Case Keenum's passing from that drone camera or the one on a wire? The ball died in many cases or it veered off center in a floating way. I think a Goff arm could have a few of them in the hands of those receivers. At least they could have given them a chance to catch the ball. I hear that Keenum will start again today which if its to give him one final ditch attempt at anything and no matter what quarter the game is in on Sunday, if he comes up lame or short, Goff needs to enter the game.
I am fine with that plan.
If Jeff Fisher keeps Goff out of the games, he needs to change his mindset like now. Here’s what Fisher had to say in his day after press conference:
Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher
Week 1 in the NFC West wasn't what some of us expected......
Seahawks 12, Dolphins 10
Patriots 23, Cardinals 21
Needless to say, I don't think many Rams fans saw San Francisco sitting atop the division after Week 1.
I never root for injuries. Period. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, if Wilson isn't able to make it to 100% the Rams chances of winning Sunday clearly go up.
Rams DT Michael Brockers gets contract extension
This is good news for the Rams. Maybe Snead and Fisher learned from their mistakes last year.
Sorry Rams fans, Keenum is Still Starter
Silver lining? The Rams might Actually Dress the #1 Overall Pick in Week 2
The Rams have an opportunity to jump right back into the thick of things in the NFC West in Week 2. The 49ers will likely struggle against the Panthers and the Cardinals will be motivated to avoid an 0-2 start. If the Rams can pull off an upset, they won't be ahead of anyone. But at least they won't be trailing the pack either.
The Rams have taken care of another one of their pending free agents, signing defensive tackle Michael Brockers to a three-year contract extension, keeping him in Los Angeles through the 2019 season, the team announced on Thursday.
“Retaining Michael was a priority for our organization,” Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher said. “Our defensive front has always been important to us, and Michael has been a significant part in what we do on that side of the football since we drafted him. We’re excited that he is going to continue his career with us here in Los Angeles.”
The No. 14 overall pick of the 2012 draft, the defensive tackle has been a mainstay on the Rams’ defensive line. Through Week 1 of the 2016 season, he’s played in 62 career games, making 61 starts.
Many of Brockers’ responsibilities do not show up on the stat sheet, as he frequently receives double teams, freeing up the defenders around him to make plays. Still, Brockers has recorded 287 tackles, 14.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles in his young career. He made a career-high 13 tackles in last year’s home opener against the Seahawks.
Inaugural Taste of the NFL-Los Angeles Rams Event Launched to Fight Hunger.
And, from a fantasy team POV, I not only got to pick Todd Gurley with the 4th pick in that draft, we also picked up Tayvon Austin deeper down as a reserve. But then the league enacted this Flex player so we used him for that position.
Also, I came up with the brilliant idea to pick up RB Lamarr Charles from the Kansas City Chiefs. He has not played a game and I had no clue he was injured. I did know how to deal with the draft board online (which was fast and furious) at the exact time early in that process.
Plus, we have Dez Bryant and he did not have one catch all game. Or, if he did have any, he scored us zero points at WR if all positions. And, with Charles not playing, we had to put in the second string Bronco RB. He scored us -2 yards.
One antidote is that I had never done fantasy Football till now. I had done pools every years for I think maybe two decades now. I also did pools at my old jobs.
As far as picking Austin whenever we did, I was thinking the team knew something we did not know after the close of that 41 Million Dollar deal. And, therefore maybe who know knows, he would break out.
Monday night was awful and it had set the tone for a very hard week.
What I needed to happen with Ram team (i.e.: maybe Gurly breaking out gaining a 150 yard plus on the ground alone and maybe Tayvon somehow doing about 80 to 120 if you include rush and pass), our opponent had with Ben Rothlesberger and DeAngelo Williams from Pitt. They did what we needed the Rams team to do to even have a crack at winning this week. It was an embarrassment. I mean the Rams were. Which then in turn embarrassed me in a couple ways.
I am not sure what the pro writers are saying about playing Jarad Goff, but the fact is when you viewed some Case Keenum's passing from that drone camera or the one on a wire? The ball died in many cases or it veered off center in a floating way. I think a Goff arm could have a few of them in the hands of those receivers. At least they could have given them a chance to catch the ball. I hear that Keenum will start again today which if its to give him one final ditch attempt at anything and no matter what quarter the game is in on Sunday, if he comes up lame or short, Goff needs to enter the game.
I am fine with that plan.
If Jeff Fisher keeps Goff out of the games, he needs to change his mindset like now. Here’s what Fisher had to say in his day after press conference:
Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher
(Opening remarks)
“You’ve heard of the 24-hour rule. If you haven’t, and you’re new
to this, I’ll explain to you what it is. We basically have this philosophy, and
everybody does, that you get 24 hours to get this thing over with, and
corrected, and done. In this case, I gave them a 22-hour rule, because we got a
short week. We’re just wrapping up with the players now at 5:00 p.m. We’re
correcting things and looking at tape, and see what happens, and then we go on;
we have to move on. Everybody is sleep deprived, but that’s a part of
theMonday Night game. So, the coaches have already got a good start on
our next opponent. I did ask the players, just to take an extra half hour…so
maybe it’s an 22.5-hour (rule), and go back and reflect; make sure that we did
everything possible that we possibly could do last week. That’s about
preparation, and everything. Players are resilient, they bounce back. They’re
excited about this challenge this coming weekend.
“As far as the game is concerned, you don’t win games converting
3-of-15 on third down, You don’t win games with 10 penalties, seven on defense.
Not rushing the football, not scoring points, giving up too many big plays.
There were some really good things in the game. Great, tremendous efforts,
tremendous plays, in all three phases. Let me remind you, this is not a
preseason game. This is a regular season game, and we didn’t do enough to win
the game. So, you learn from it and you move on. From an injury standpoint, we
came through it healthy, which is encouraging. Everybody is in good shape.
(On what disappointed him the most about last night’s
game)
“It was the constant inability to get back into the game. We had
opportunities. When we were third-and-3, we called a timeout, avoided the delay
of game, got the first down, and then we get the penalty. We get (RB) Todd
(Gurley) has the penalty. So now, we’re back out 15 yards, and we throw the
interception. We had opportunities to get back in the game; we just never
capitalized on it.”
(On his thoughts regarding last night not looking like a
Jeff Fisher coached team)
“We didn’t. We expected to go in there and compete, and win the
football game. I didn’t expect to go in there and get beat 28-0. Yes, you have
to go back and look at it. Offensively, we couldn’t make plays. It’s a
combination of bad decisions at the quarterback position, and drops at the
receiver position. When you look at games like this, what happens is...I’ll
take, for example, the offensive line. You’ve got five guys up there that are
going to grade out really well, in a loss, but each one of them had a mistake.
If you add those five mistakes in critical situations, that costs you a
third-down conversion, that costs you an opportunity to score. We had mistakes;
we had too many mistakes at different positions at different times, it added
up.”
(On if he’s concerned about the decision-making of his
leaders, in regards to the Gurley and DT Aaron Donald penalties)
“That’s a great point. We addressed it today. Todd was a little
frustrated when he flipped the ball past the official and it landed in the hands
of an opponent. Sometimes that’s called, and that’s not called. The learning
experience from that is just give it to him, put it on the ground. When they
scored their final touchdown, their tight end spiked the ball right in front of
three of our defensive players; that was not called. So, that in itself is also
a learning experience for our guys. Now with respect to Aaron, Aaron was playing
really hard, and there was some chirping going on in that little scrum. He
shouldn’t have done it, but he kind of pushed (WR Quinton Patton) 11 away, who I
am fond of, I think he’s a really good player, I’ve known him since he was about
this big, he played at Nashville. So, the helmet comes off; so now things start.
The officiating department got involved. One of the officials put his hands on
Aaron, and Aaron, just didn’t know him, he just slapped hands down, so that’s
what he was ejected for. The helmet coming off was a result of the ejection,
which I disagree with. The helmet doesn’t come off if he’s not ejected. He does
have a 15-yard penalty, which is not acceptable. When you have time to look at
it and be realistic, that’s how those things play out. But, we addressed it.
These are two captains that had significant penalties in this game, and we just
can’t have that.”
(On if anything stood out about the inability to run the
ball consistently yesterday)
“Well they didn’t let us – they weren’t going to let us – their
whole defense was setup to that. We had, probably, a half-dozen runs that were
close to getting unblocked to the safety with Todd, it’s just that close. Their
commitment was to stop the run and then try to get us to make the plays outside.
But we wanted to stay with the run because it’s the run game that helps you get
the plays outside.”
(On if he has made a decision regarding whether QB Sean
Mannion or QB Jared Goff will be the backup on Sunday)
“No I haven’t, I will. And there’s that chance, too (that Goff is
the backup). He’s pushing along; this whole experience for Jared was good – not
good for our team, but good for him to see all this. We’ll decide later in the
week.”
(On if he was aware that DE Robert Quinn and WR Kenny Britt
were going to raise their fists during the National Anthem)
“I was not aware of that and I still haven’t seen it and I haven’t
addressed it with them yet. But they have the right, they totally have the right
and I get the issue. I think what we’ve done and what the organizational
philosophy, with respect to the anthem, is well-known. They have the right to do
that. I think there’s a difference between what they did and sitting down or
kneeling down or sitting on the bench and things like that. But they have that
right and I respect that.”
(On the kind of game he thought offensive coordinator Rob
Boras called and if they were trying to get the ball up the field
more)
“As a head coach, as coordinators, we all second-guess ourselves
after it’s all said and done. Rob was not happy with himself, but a lot of it
was dictated by what the defense was doing and by what we were trying to do. We
wanted to get the run-game going, we needed to get the run-game going. We felt
that, even at halftime being down two scores, we felt (that) we just needed to
take balance in this game and make some plays and get some points and we’ll find
a way to win this. As I mentioned to you in the past, Rob did an outstanding job
calling plays the last four or five weeks (of last season) when I put him in a
difficult position – he’s a good playcaller, we just didn’t execute for
him.”
(On if he has to massage egos or if the team was down on
themselves today)
“There’s the actual sense of disappointment and frustration, but
you have got to push that out, you have got to eliminate that and come back
ready to work. Our challenge, which we talked to them about, was we’re on a
short week already, so we’re back tomorrow. And today we’re trying to recover,
so tomorrow’s going to be a mental day and we have to get everybody back in the
swing of things, physically. Yeah, we talked about it. Players are different
than coaches – my job is to go back down the hall and get the coaches going
because losses linger much longer with coaches than they do players. Players
wake up in the morning and go ‘Oh, shoot, who are we playing this week?’ But,
you also have to go into detail, like we said, about what happened.”
(On starting G Cody Wichmann at right guard and the
rotation during the game)
“Yeah, our plan going in was to let them both play – Cody and
‘J.B.’ (G Jamon Brown). We’ll probably settle into one or the other by the end
of the week. But you’re very observant, they both played and they both had a
moment, but they also both did some really good things there. In addition to
that, I was really pleased with (T) Rob (Havenstein) – once he settled down
after the first quarter, it was really good to have Rob back at the right tackle
spot.”
(On Seattle Head Coach Pete Carroll coming back to the Los
Angeles Coliseum after coaching at USC for a number of years and if addresses
the type of reception he expects Carroll to get)
“I would like to think that we would have a significant home-field
advantage there. From a personal standpoint, I’m excited – this is our home
opener here. We’re disappointed what happened last night, but as the week goes
on, the enthusiasm and excitement is going to grow. As far as Pete is concerned,
I could see the emotions that Pete is going to go through. He and I have been
doing this a long time, this is about our teams competing and finding a way to
win the game. I’m sure he’ll have an emotional moment. I may bring him into my
office – which was his old office – and let him see it.”
(On how to not allow a defeat like this to define the
team)
“It’s pretty simple, if you beat them down all week because we got
beat, you have really little chance of having success the next week. You have to
learn from it and move on. It’s, again, what I said earlier – they’re resilient,
they come back. Everybody is either 1-0 or 0-1 right now, our focus is on Week 2
and that’s what gives you a chance. It’s a good group, they’re disappointed,
they’re disappointed in each other but they’re together. The defense understands
that they’re going to need the offense and the offense understands that they’re
going to need the defense and special teams will balance it out. They’re
together right now and they’re ready to compete this week and get ready.”
(On what advice he will give the team about shutting down
the outside noise that will be talked about for the rest of the week and focus
on the upcoming game)
“Well that’s okay, it’s talked about in every NFL city. Teams are
winning and hey, they’re going to the playoffs. Teams lose and they’re not going
to the playoffs – it’s doom and gloom. You don’t get caught up with that, you
just focus on what you’re doing – turn to each other and have fun and
prepare.”
(On if there’s a little bit of advantage to playing a team
that you have had recent success against after just suffering a
loss)
“I don’t know if there’s an advantage or not. My job, as the head
coach, and our jobs as a staff is to get them ready to play and respect this
opponent because they’re highly-talented. I think Miami is a good football team
and for them to hang in there and find a way, even with (Seahawks QB) Russell’s
(Wilson) ankle situation, to find a way to win that game is impressive. We’re
just going to prepare. We’re familiar with them, they’re familiar with us; we
respect them, they respect us. I love watching them play – the Seahawks –
because they play hard, Pete does a great job and fortunately, we’ve had some
success against them.” Week 1 in the NFC West wasn't what some of us expected......
Game Results
Rams 0, 49ers 28Seahawks 12, Dolphins 10
Patriots 23, Cardinals 21
Standings
| W | L | |
| San Francisco 49ers | 1 | 0 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 1 | 0 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 0 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 0 | 1 |
Needless to say, I don't think many Rams fans saw San Francisco sitting atop the division after Week 1.
Top Storylines
Russell Wilson's Injured AnkleI never root for injuries. Period. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, if Wilson isn't able to make it to 100% the Rams chances of winning Sunday clearly go up.
Rams DT Michael Brockers gets contract extension
This is good news for the Rams. Maybe Snead and Fisher learned from their mistakes last year.
Sorry Rams fans, Keenum is Still Starter
Silver lining? The Rams might Actually Dress the #1 Overall Pick in Week 2
Week 2 Schedule
| Seattle at Los Angeles | San Francisco at Carolina | Tampa Bay at Arizona |
The Rams have an opportunity to jump right back into the thick of things in the NFC West in Week 2. The 49ers will likely struggle against the Panthers and the Cardinals will be motivated to avoid an 0-2 start. If the Rams can pull off an upset, they won't be ahead of anyone. But at least they won't be trailing the pack either.
“Retaining Michael was a priority for our organization,” Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher said. “Our defensive front has always been important to us, and Michael has been a significant part in what we do on that side of the football since we drafted him. We’re excited that he is going to continue his career with us here in Los Angeles.”
The No. 14 overall pick of the 2012 draft, the defensive tackle has been a mainstay on the Rams’ defensive line. Through Week 1 of the 2016 season, he’s played in 62 career games, making 61 starts.
Many of Brockers’ responsibilities do not show up on the stat sheet, as he frequently receives double teams, freeing up the defenders around him to make plays. Still, Brockers has recorded 287 tackles, 14.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles in his young career. He made a career-high 13 tackles in last year’s home opener against the Seahawks.
Inaugural Taste of the NFL-Los Angeles Rams Event Launched to Fight Hunger.
A satirical look at more than 75 years of Football's Rams history, combined with discussions of American Exceptionalism and almost 50 years of personal experience in the life of a Rams Fan. The history parallels and intertwines life to form a humorous, yet serious look at American History, World History, an American Footballteam, and Political Science.
