[AvengerRam]

Talk about predictable. Nowhere did I blame or fault Goff for that throw. But to say that he threw Woods open is just not true and IMO, an attempt to rationalize Goff's mistake/miscommunication.

If Woods had continued to where the pass was thrown and we know that the DB actually caught the pass instead, it stands to reason that Woods, the ball and the DB all would have been intersecting. Which is NOT throwing Woods open. Had Woods continued and Goff thrown the pass differently then maybe he would have been throwing him open but at that point we have to acknowledge that it was a bad pass. So, it was either a bad pass or he did not throw him open.

The all-22 shows that Woods made the right read regardless of what Collinsworth said on the broadcast. There were no defenders on the inside and Woods slowed to either sit down or pivot back and had the ball been thrown right to him or even to his back shoulder, it would have had a higher chance for success. Clearly, trying to lead Woods was not what Woods thought and exactly why the DB intercepted the ball. I suppose it's arguable whether or not it was a bad play by Goff but to actually try and paint like he was actually doing something good...it's predictable.

I may be bias but I'd say my view of this play is far more objective than those who are trying to not only say it wasn't a bad play, but actually a good one by Goff are just as bias.

You fixate on one term (“throwing Woods open”), ignore everything else that has been said, and claim your subjective opinion is objective fact.

How’s that working out for you?

[moklerman]

You fixate on one term (“throwing Woods open”), ignore everything else that has been said, and claim your subjective opinion is objective fact.

How’s that working out for you?

When it's the whole point, you sort of have to fixate on it.

How it's working out? About par for the course. I point out that "throwing him open" isn't really an accurate description of what happened and I'm criticized for blaming, faulting & criticizing Goff.

[Hacksaw]

@moklerman
It's clear from most angles the db got a jump on the play. Got some read.
Would the play have worked? Possibly not. Or 17 makes the catch and is tackled immediately. Or PI when Diggs hits him early. Or Woods avoids the tackle and is gone.
I know there are sight reads and automatic adjustments on plays. Woods may have been making an adjustment. But his back was turned to Diggs after his cut so not so sure about that.
Putting it all on Goff seems unfair as this looked like a typical short crossing route which the Rams do run a lot. Looked like 17 was probably the 2nd option as well.
The db made a good play on the ball which turned out to be great..

[Hacksaw]

@CanuckRightWinger
I can see a scenario where the Rams brass was doing their roster - salary cap evaluations and were forced to make some riskier decisions.
The defense was a priority, but not allocating funds towards the Oline was a concern for most since off season.
If my take on the salary cap aspect is a factor, then Snead has some culpability in this as well. Although this is the same Snead that drafted who appear to be some solid rookies. Addressing the weakness the inexpensive way.
That said, paying Goff, TGII, Higby and AD goes along way towards our cap issue prohibiting funds for the Oline. That was their calculated risk. Then losing Noteboom's injury really exposed that. Havs and Whit declining exacerbated the problem.
Meanwhile, Kromer is working with what he has, a patched up line filled with newbie kids and their grandpa. If they are actually as good as they have looked the last few games, AK and LS deserve some props as well as criticism for their offseason decisions. That remains to be seen though. JMO

Go Rams and Happy Holidays in the great white North!

[AvengerRam]

When it's the whole point, you sort of have to fixate on it.

But its not the whole point. I, for example, provided an explanation as to why it was, at worst a miscommunication, and I never used (or even implied) the term "thrown open."

You express opposition to everyone, not just whomever used the term "thrown open."

To quote Yoda... "That, is why you fail."

[PARAM]

FACT: The reason my team of 50+ seasons may miss the NFL Playoffs this year is because Aaron BSArtist Krommer overestimated the talents of Noteboom and Allen...…….and then served up a mook like Demby as the #1 replacement. Period. Full Stop!

We are not going to miss the playoffs because Zuerlein missed a FG in Seattle. If we DO miss the 2019 NFL Playoffs ….
We are going to miss the Playoffs because Aaron Kromer was a BAD JUDGE OF NFL CALIBER BLOCKING PROWESS!!!!

I'm certainly not going to put it all on Kromer and the O line. In our first loss of the season the D let up 464 yards and 48 points to Tampa Bay! In our 2nd loss of the season our special teams missed a game winning field goal as time expired! In our 3rd loss the offense stunk it up. Noteboom went down in that game. Demby, as bad as he was, started 1 game (vs Cleveland) and we won that one. Edwards has started the last 7 games, Bobby Evans the last 4. We're 5-2 over that span, losing to Pittsburgh (because of the offense) and Baltimore (because they are great). It might be said, Kromer has done yeoman work starting 9 different lineman in 4 different starting line combinations, not to mention those disrupted line combos when Noteboom, Allen and Havenstein went down in 3 separate games.

With the original 5, that allegedly Kromer miscalculated on, we went 3-3, however having the game winning FG against Seattle lined up, should have really been 4-2. Not bad with two thirds of the O line learning on the job. Now with the same 5 starting the last 4 games, we're 3-1. So Kromer gets a bit of a pass IMHO.

I know you aren't very happy with Son-of-a-Bum's defense either. But they really only lost us 2 games (Tampa; Baltimore) and are currently ranked #8 in total yards allowed. Take out (and I know we can't) those 2 losses and they'd be ranked in the top 5. They've allowed a little more than 2 TD's (2.07) and a little more than a FG (1.3) per game including the two blowouts. 18.4 PPG, which should most always be more than enough to win with McVay's offense.

Finally, the Rams aren't going to miss the postseason anyway because Kirk Cousins and the Vikings are going down once, if not twice the last 3 weeks.

[CanuckRightWinger]

Thanks Hacksaw for summarizing calmly a possible scenario which possibly led the Rams braintrust to make the unfortunate personnel//positional decisions which have us in this 8-5 quandary, and currently out of the NFL Playoff hunt (as of today).

To me....this 2019 Los Ramos season has been overall disappointing. Los Ramos picked up vets Eric SteadyEddy Weddle to replace an inconsistent Lamarcus Joyner, and Clay 8SacksIn10Games Mathews to push Ebukam and Obo. We kept Dante ExpensivePiece Fowler as well.

I never worried about losing Joyner, nor about losing the lazy & expen$ive Nymchuck (sp) MeFirst Suh at DT.........but I was VERY worried about letting both Saffold and Sullivan go, with only rookie-types on the roster to replace them. That decision that Snead...and Demoff/Pastoors AND McVAY made....to roll the dice on Noteboom and Allen was not, and could not have been made unilaterally, in some Boardroom vacuum eh!!! No, no....upper management HAD TO talk to the management team guy in charge of the Rams OLine...
SO,

Surely the OLine Coach Kromer was called on to give his assessment of the 2019 OLine fortunes right!!?

Well, not only did Kromer give a favorable assessment about his two new OLine starters Noteboom and Allen.....he was so glowing in his praises that both rookies were excused from playing in the 2019 PreSeason!!

Then we all watched PreSeason right? Did anybody with a working pair of retinas ACTUALLY see Jamil Demby outperform David Edwards??!! ANYBODY!!!???

Demby blew chunks in PreSeason. We all saw it.

Yet when Noteboom goes down to injury, who does Kromer trot out and plug-in as the replacement huh??!!
Fooking Demby!!!

Again, I thank you Hacksaw for your objective take on the OLine situation lead-up....BUT,

I guess there is more volatility in MY brain's wiring.....because where I have worked all my life, first in the military and then in the private sector.....when management fooks up, heads roll.

So to me, Aaron Kromer fooked up. I no longer respect him, nor his future decisions. Why would I after this 2019 OLine debacle he masterminded??

Furthermore, I fully understand posters here who make excuses for Kromer. They want to continue to have faith in the LawnChairCollector.....no problemo for me! Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I have often quoted the line here at RFU..."vive les differences."

But what really really pizzes me off is when some Rams fan posters here imply they have some inside information or sources that make my opinion moot. That somehow my opinion about Kromer's accountablity is all wet because it is a KNOWN FACT that:
Rams never start rookies
Rams 2 starting OTs' 2019 talents eroded, which was "the real OLine problem"
The Noteboom-Allen part of the OLine was just starting to gel when the injuries happened.
Blythe was the weak link!
Criticizing Aaron Kromer "Looks bad because he is so fooking respected around the NFL"
....and on and on....

ME: HeII, I haven't seen this much spin-doctoring since the Benghazi sham.

I have been watching Rams football since 1967.....so IMO, I have investment herein....skin in the game!
If we miss the 2019 Playoffs, I will forever hold Aaron Kromer as the primary culprit for this avoidable disappointment. Period. Full Stop.

As such, and given my nature.....and my life-long observations regarding management accountability, I have no problem in saying that I prefer Aaron Kromer be gone from Los Ramos in 2020.

As always, JMO!

A joyful and peaceful Christmas Season to you and yours Hacksaw!

[safer]

Canuck, I agree with your assessment of Demby, but what if the coaches felt that the rooks didn't know enough of our system to handle the line calls and audibles? I'm guessing they knew Edwards was the better player, but thought he didn't know the complete O we would be running in the regular season. The preseason is all about dummy-downed O's so as to not show any secrets, right?
In the preseason we ran with almost all 2nd stringers and less, and ran vanilla O .....fewer audibles for the most part.
I'm not as hard on the coaches because most all we fans see are the physical parts of the game...........and maybe Dumby...er...Demby was further along in knowledge. But the bottom line is, here we are and with all that's gone wrong, we have suddenly found ourselves THREE competent, young Olinemen AND a fourth (Blythe) was is better at another position. That's pretty fookin (as you might well say) good! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

[aeneas1]

Canuck, I agree with your assessment of Demby, but what if the coaches felt that the rooks didn't know enough of our system to handle the line calls and audibles?

thing is, why would demby have known more about the rams system or have been more up to speed on line calls / audibles than the rooks? i mean demby is a rook as well for all intents and purposes - the rams drafted him in 2018 and waived him before the start of preseason, and then picked him up off the lions practice squad towards the end of last year but he was never activared... all told, headed into this season, demby had never played a snap in an nfl game (other than preseason).

anyway, the offense has looked much better lately, let's hope it continues to do so this weekend!

[safer]

Just sayin' he had several more months of time to learn our system..........obviously he hasn't mastered the "how to" part