1 - At least we witnessed the first drive. Perfectly executed.
2 - Complete and fullblown in-division destruction this season. Embarrassing.
3 - I think that the injury-avalanche will save Gannon. It’s such an easy and obvious excuse for Bidwill.
4 - It is very strange to me that several posters prefer to improve the offensive line before putting in a new quarterback. I would argue that individually the players on the Rams o-line are not that much better than the Cards’. Their scheme and - especially - Matthew Stafford just makes it look a ton better.
5 - I had high thoughts about Rallis after last season. Not so much anymore. He has clearly regressed a lot, even with much better players.
6 - Very naive by most of you, and everyone in the media, to assume that Murray is truly injured. The Call of Duty League (supposedly kind of like a World Cup) started on the 5th of December with “Opening week”. There is no way that Murray would spent his time on the practice field and in games over that.
7 - I have long been wondering why kickers don’t take longer run-up to a kick? It happened again on the last kick of the first half. Wouldn’t Ryland be able to kick longer if he generated more power in his leg? Maybe he is not allowed to start his run-up before the ball is snapped, and thus a longer run would obviously give the defenders more time to collapse the pocket?
8 - Congratulations to McBride on breaking Travis Kelce’s record of games in a row with at least five catches. Yeah, we need to celebrate the small successes, guys.
9 - I guess you could call it a positive that both the Saints and Titans got closer to the Cards in the draft standings, but the Browns would have leapfrogged them if they had beat the Titans. It seems unlikely that the Titans and Browns have any chance in their last four games, while the Saints do have both the Jets, Titans and Falcons left.
According to The Athletic, Cardinals have a 96% chance of a top 10 pick, and 40% chance of a top 5 pick. My expectations is that the Cardinals will beat the Falcons and end up drafting #9 or #10 (after the Rams, by the way).
10 - Few teams - if any - in the NFL retools as well as the Rams. First they won their Super Bowl in 2021 with a roster that was heavily compiled by veterans they traded for or signed in free agency, and when they found out the year after that they needed an influx of young, hungry fresh blood, they delivered two masterful draft classes in 2023 and 2024.
It’s hard not to think of two candidates from their front office, if the Cards let go of Ossenfort - both that I first heard about in a great article about the Rams’ draft process two years ago (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/54...raft-scouting-process-rams-behind-the-scenes/). The reason I thought about them is that both Brad Holmes and James Gladstone became successful GM’s with other teams after having served as Director of College Scouting under Les Snead. Thus, I have their successors on my radar.
Nicole Blake was promoted when Gladstone left, after she had been instrumental in developing the Rams’ successful draft strategy, but I think it is fair to wait and see with her. After all, she has only been in the NFL for seven years, and six of them were on a strategic planning-level rather than personnel building. Also, the last Rams-draft (where she was in her current role) has mostly been a fiasco so far.
Taylor Morton is basically Les Snead’s best friend and right hand man, and has played a major role in the Rams’ personnel decisions since Snead brought him with him in 2012.
I am a big advocate for hiring in-division people in decisions roles, whether it be coaches or personnel people.
2 - Complete and fullblown in-division destruction this season. Embarrassing.
3 - I think that the injury-avalanche will save Gannon. It’s such an easy and obvious excuse for Bidwill.
4 - It is very strange to me that several posters prefer to improve the offensive line before putting in a new quarterback. I would argue that individually the players on the Rams o-line are not that much better than the Cards’. Their scheme and - especially - Matthew Stafford just makes it look a ton better.
5 - I had high thoughts about Rallis after last season. Not so much anymore. He has clearly regressed a lot, even with much better players.
6 - Very naive by most of you, and everyone in the media, to assume that Murray is truly injured. The Call of Duty League (supposedly kind of like a World Cup) started on the 5th of December with “Opening week”. There is no way that Murray would spent his time on the practice field and in games over that.
7 - I have long been wondering why kickers don’t take longer run-up to a kick? It happened again on the last kick of the first half. Wouldn’t Ryland be able to kick longer if he generated more power in his leg? Maybe he is not allowed to start his run-up before the ball is snapped, and thus a longer run would obviously give the defenders more time to collapse the pocket?
8 - Congratulations to McBride on breaking Travis Kelce’s record of games in a row with at least five catches. Yeah, we need to celebrate the small successes, guys.
9 - I guess you could call it a positive that both the Saints and Titans got closer to the Cards in the draft standings, but the Browns would have leapfrogged them if they had beat the Titans. It seems unlikely that the Titans and Browns have any chance in their last four games, while the Saints do have both the Jets, Titans and Falcons left.
According to The Athletic, Cardinals have a 96% chance of a top 10 pick, and 40% chance of a top 5 pick. My expectations is that the Cardinals will beat the Falcons and end up drafting #9 or #10 (after the Rams, by the way).
10 - Few teams - if any - in the NFL retools as well as the Rams. First they won their Super Bowl in 2021 with a roster that was heavily compiled by veterans they traded for or signed in free agency, and when they found out the year after that they needed an influx of young, hungry fresh blood, they delivered two masterful draft classes in 2023 and 2024.
It’s hard not to think of two candidates from their front office, if the Cards let go of Ossenfort - both that I first heard about in a great article about the Rams’ draft process two years ago (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/54...raft-scouting-process-rams-behind-the-scenes/). The reason I thought about them is that both Brad Holmes and James Gladstone became successful GM’s with other teams after having served as Director of College Scouting under Les Snead. Thus, I have their successors on my radar.
Nicole Blake was promoted when Gladstone left, after she had been instrumental in developing the Rams’ successful draft strategy, but I think it is fair to wait and see with her. After all, she has only been in the NFL for seven years, and six of them were on a strategic planning-level rather than personnel building. Also, the last Rams-draft (where she was in her current role) has mostly been a fiasco so far.
Taylor Morton is basically Les Snead’s best friend and right hand man, and has played a major role in the Rams’ personnel decisions since Snead brought him with him in 2012.
I am a big advocate for hiring in-division people in decisions roles, whether it be coaches or personnel people.
Last edited:
