Before getting into the post, I'd like to send a big "LSF Way To Go" to Brandon and Jon's Servite Friars for beating Mission Viejo to win the Pac-5 title again. If they three-peat, I'm calling out them out for steroids. For real. Also, I'd like to say that I'm going to go ahead and agree with the "real" media when they speculate that the Angels are the "mystery team" in the Cliff Lee race, along with the Spanks and Gay-ngers (see what I did there?). With Carl Craw-daddy going to the Sox, why not drop a National deficit sized chunk on a 32 year old starting pitcher?
With the Rams playing the Saints, my house was split down the middle this weekend. Me, being a hardcore Rams fan ever since my parents bought me a Flipper Anderson replica jersey that I slept in every night as a kid. My eleven month old son, born on the feast of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, patron of New Orleans, born in the year that the Saints won the Super Bowl, and personally chosen to be a Saints fan from birth by a local Norbertine Priest from St. Michael's Abbey. Clearly, my son makes better choices when it comes to football than myself. He enjoyed his first ever piece of lasagna to celebrate his Saints rolling my Rams 31-13, as expected, and then he made me change his poopy diaper to further rub it in my face.
What do bandwagon Rams fans think of Sammy B now? I mean, I like the guy, but as you know, I've never been a "greatest rookie QB ever" sort of fan. His numbers haven't been impressive, but the Rams defense has usually been there to keep games close. Against an explosive offense like New Orleans, I guess 31 points isn't too bad. Two interceptions right on the goal line, one returned for a 96 yard touchdown, however, is bad. When you get big chances, like recovering a fumble on a kickoff and starting at the NO 21, down by just 8, you have to take advantage. The Rams just couldn't do it. The Saints defense held strong, and we never really had a chance. Our only TD came on a Bradford keeper when the game was already well out of reach. At least Steven Jackson became the first rusher in Rams history to post six straight seasons of at least 1,000 yards.
1 for 11 on third down conversions really isn't going to get it done. Add to that three turnovers that the bad guys capitalize on, while you fail to capitalize on the three they gave you, and you have a recipe for disaster. The Rams also allowed 3 sacks for a total of 40 yards. Hugely bad. But, on the bright side, we were just -18 total offensive yards on the superior Saints. Sam Bradford, who seems to be having the "worst game of his career" on a weekly basis, went 18/32 for 231 with 0 TDs and 2 INTs. Gibson was his big target, getting 67 on 4, while Laurent Robinson got 61 on just 2. Steven Jackson finished with 96 on the ground. Fletcher and Dahl were monsters on defense, each getting a pick, and finishing as the top tacklers, with 9 a piece. USC alumn and Safety Darian Stewart pulled down the lone sack.
As we expected, the Rams are now 6-7. Unexpectedly, the 49'ers gifted us a win over the Seahawks, so we're still in first place. And, we now have our most difficult game on the schedule out of the way, while Seattle still has Atlanta and Tampa Bay. Add to that, next week's Chiefs suddenly look beatable, and you've got high hopes for a division title. We may even get to host the Saints in the opener, if we pull it off. One and done, but still one and fun. San Francisco is a game back of the tied division leaders, with Arizona two back. So, it could get much more interesting that the Rams v Seahawks season finalé for all the marbles that I envisioned in a previous post. The Rams are sitting on a -1.8 point differential per game right now (19th in the NFL), and have a SRS of -5.8 (league average rating being 0.0). Even as impressive as our defense seems to have been, they are also below average, although much less so than the team as a whole (-0.2). Even still, our takeaway/giveaway ratio is still a solid +5 (8th in the league), and that may just be what's keeping us afloat.
With Rams fans, or at least myself, constantly praising this almost average defense, I was wondering who the star of the stoppers is this season? Let's pick a defensive leader! Our nominees are...
1. Ohio State's James Laurinaitis
2. North Dakota St's Craig Dahl
3. Stanford's OJ Atogwe
4. Michigan's James Hall
5. Virginia's Chris Long
6. Iowa's Bradley Fletcher
We'll compare our nominees by sacks, interceptions, passes defended, and tackles+assists. Then we'll add our own value, making sacks worth 3, INTs worth 5, passes defended worth 2, tackles worth 1, and assists worth 0.5. I know, I love making up fake stats, and comparing players. We'll call this the DV (for "defensive value"):
1. Laurinaitis: 103 DV
2. Fletcher: 95.5 DV
3. Atogwe: 90 DV
4. Dahl: 88.5 DV
5. Hall: 61.5 DV
6. Long: 50 DV
There you have it. Based on my fake DV stat, James Laurinaitis is the Rams defensive leader. I think he's clearly the tackle master, and his ability to be multi-talented at getting sacks and defening passes makes him stand out above the rest. Chris Long really needs to pick it up on the pass rush, eh? Also, who would have rated Bradley Fletcher above OJ? Just me.
Next week the Rams face their most difficult challenge remaining, a battle with the AFC West leading Kansas City Chiefs (or "Chefs," if you're still into that 90's Super Bowl ad). The Battle Of Missouri may have seemed to be in the Chiefs favor (based on their superior 8-5 mark), but they just got blasted by the Bipolar Super Chargers 31-0 yesterday, so you never know. With a win, and a most likely loss for the Seahawks against Hot-Lanta, this could be the turning point in the season. Even with a loss to the Chiefs, we could still be in the drvier's seat for a shocking division title.
Let's marginalize the Chiefs!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
0 comments:
Post a Comment