[RAMMAN76]

Rams inactives: QB Stetson Bennett, RB Cody Schrader, OL Dylan McMahon, OL Rob Havenstein, DL Neville Gallimore, DL Desjuan Johnson

Despite being questionable, Sean McVay said he expected Kam Curl and Kevin Dotson both to play against Miami, and they’re officially active. Christian Rozeboom, who popped up on the injury report Saturday with a neck injury that limited him in practice, is also active after being questionable.

Also, Jordan Whittington is active for the first time since Week 7, sitting out the last two games with a shoulder injury.

[Zen_Ronin]

Absolutely disguested by every element of that game. Primetime and they shit the bed, then rolled around in it. Bench Jackson and Noteboom and bring their replacements back.

[bremillard]

I would love to see something like that from our boys tonight. Enjoy the game, bro!! Should be electric in there.

Electric, alright. The Rams looked shocked...especially the offense which was pretty offensive to watch. Don't really know what this team is....the stinker showing tonight or the team that seemed to be on a roll? No excuses. The offense was as close to full strength as any in the NFL at this stage of the season. If tonight was any indication they aren't going anywhere. This loss has them with an 11% chance to win their division. A wild card is likely out of the question. I'm surprised at what happened tonight but maybe I shouldn't be.

[St. Loser Fan]

Can't believe I cleared my evening for that.

[Dare]

You guys witnessed first hand why I said J. Jackson SHOULDN'T start at center. People don't understand the role of the center. Jackson's inconsistent shotgun snaps led to a hugely costly muff by Stafford (something I specifically noted). Half of his shotgun snaps were off target. Even worse, his OL calls sucked. The most important part of playing center is making the correct blocking calls for the OL. Why do you think with Limmer at center, Stafford had time to throw, even against the Vikings who are known for their exotic blitzes. Jackson's blown OL calls made the OL look bad.

Noteboom didn't play as bad as portrayed. Stafford moved IN FRONT OF NOTEBOOM'S BLOCK AND GOT HIMSELF SACKED. Alaric Jackson showed his inconsistent play as well and why he might not get the kind of contract offer that he's expecting.

The game was lost by trusting Jonah to play well. Bring Limmer back. This is exactly why they moved Jackson to center in the first place. I've never understood the love he gets. Both Jackson's are average players (when Jonah is at OG). Jonah might eventually make a decent center but how many games do the Rams lose to find out? Jonah's poor OL calls are why the Fins got consistent pressure on Stafford. When Limmer was at center Stafford had all day.

The defense played well enough to win. The failure of the offense started with really poor OL play and that reflects poorly on Jonah who was supposed to make the correct blocking calls.

[safer]

I was once again happy with our very young, D front. Lots of pressure; some sacks and turnovers they forced. Our rushing D looks top ten to me now. MUCH improved there. Our secondary plays a lot of zone, and God knows how many times we blew coverages tonight. After all of this time to get our TWO, O line interior studs back I was very disappointed by how much they got manhandled tonight. I just do not know why Sean doesn't call more play action roll outs when they put that much pressure on us. When we were rolling out we had zero ints; and zero sacks. Calais Campbell is 6'8" and blocked at least two balls tonight without even jumping. Yet, for the most part, Sean kept Matthew in the pocket.
Sean is an absolute O genius, but had a very subpar game tonight. I was stunned that our O couldn't score a TD vs. and average D. Our playoff chances won't allow for any more shitty O.

[Dare]

Matt doesn't move because that isn't his game. This is why I honestly think his time in LA is done and with his options he will be in broadcasting next year. The Rams don't need a mobile QB they simply need one that isn't a sitting duck.

The Rams have a decision to make. Retire Stafford (I think he will retire if he can't start in LA) and sign another vet like Darnold. Or grab a QB1 in next year's draft. They probably won't have to trade up to get one. Use Jimmy G as a possible bridge if the rookie needs seasoning.

The Rams will have big salary increases starting in two years. This is why having a QB on a rookie contract and 5th year option makes the most sense. This year it makes the most sense to bench J. Jackson and play Limmer at center.

Why did I think Jonah made the wrong OL calls? Because it looked that way. On one sack given up, the defender came through the hole created by Dotson who blocked to his left. Why would Dotson do that unless that was the call by Jackson?

Jonah's experience at center is limited. He's not even more than average at OG. Avila got his holding call because again he was out of position for a run to his right. So Avila and Dotson who played at a high level last year suddenly in the same game don't know how to block? Stafford missed seeing a wide open Williams who would have scored a TD because he simply wanted to get rid of the ball as he didn't trust the OL (with both Avila and Jackson back?).

Yeah, maybe it's coincidental or maybe it's not. All those possessions in scoring position and coming away with only FGs? Yes, the Fin defense isn't as bad as portrayed but neither are they elite.

[rams1974]

OK, well, I know there's hit-or-miss capacity for "Rams negativity" here, but imma be honest, I'm not going to mind that much if they lose to the Patriots.

McVay is doing a really, really bad job this year and something needs to change. Just my opinion! Ow, quit it, I said it's just an opinion!!

I can't help but think that McVay is just in a different phase of his life now, he's won the SB, he's married his hot girlfriend, he's now got a 6(?) month old kid, and the booth is waiting. It'd take a pretty remarkable person to not be affected by all that and I think it has affected him. I'm beginning to think it's going to be best for all involved to mutually part ways at the end of the year.

(Ducks and hides)

[bremillard]

OK, well, I know there's hit-or-miss capacity for "Rams negativity" here, but imma be honest, I'm not going to mind that much if they lose to the Patriots.

McVay is doing a really, really bad job this year and something needs to change. Just my opinion! Ow, quit it, I said it's just an opinion!!

I can't help but think that McVay is just in a different phase of his life now, he's won the SB, he's married his hot girlfriend, he's now got a 6(?) month old kid, and the booth is waiting. It'd take a pretty remarkable person to not be affected by all that and I think it has affected him. I'm beginning to think it's going to be best for all involved to mutually part ways at the end of the year.

(Ducks and hides)

He's done a decent job with what he has to work with but last night both he and Stafford were subpar. I've been a stafford lover since early in his Detroit days but he isn't performing at an elite level now. Just isn't. The Rams are mediocre. They aren't horrible but they certainly aren't anywhere near Superbowl ready.

[/zn/]

It's the OL.

In fact it's almost invariably the OL, when the Rams offense struggle.

Here are 2 tweets and my response to them.

The 33rd Team@The33rdTeamFB
The Rams averaged 1.7 Yards per Play in the 1st vs. the Dolphins

That is dead last for any team in any game this season

304th out of 304

Sarah Barshop@sarahbarshop
The Rams have the third-lowest red zone touchdown percentage in the NFL this season, according to ESPN Research.

This is the fourth game this season in which Matthew Stafford didn’t throw a touchdown. That is tied for his most in a single season in his career.

The Rams and Stafford have problems when the OL is not executing, and that's usually because of injuries.

Earlier in the season they lost OL starters due to injury. It took a while but they then stabilized, which is a huge part of the 3-win streak.

But it looks like they re-encountered the kind of OL struggles they had earlier in the season when they elected to play 3 OL replacements in one game. The fact that 2 were previous starters does not matter--they were coming back from considerable time off. Add Noteboom replacing the injured Hav and you have 3 out of sync replacements in one game.

If nothing else, if it were me, I would have kept Limmer at center for just one more game. Though at the same time I think by now we have to conclude that Noteboom is just not a great Rams lineman.

3 guys returning from injury at the same time, one replacing Hav, and it looked to me like they just didn't have the kind of timing and confidence as a group that we see when the Rams OL is executing well.

But at the same time blaming anything else other than the OL struggles (which includes injuries before the bye and then the "3 replacements in one game" factor in the Miami game)... is way off base. The issue in both cases was the OL.