Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, wine and football aren't that different. Sure they're complex,
but enjoying them should be easy. You don't need to
worry about complex formations and flavor profiles, or which wine
pairs with What all that matters is together. Barefoot Wine
and Rams are easy to enjoy, So let's enjoy ourselves.
Barefoot the official wine sponsor of the NFL. What is up, jammies,
(00:28):
Welcome back to another episode of Ricky's Ramjam, presented by
Barefoot Wine. What a win for the Rams against the
Niners at our home opener this weekend. I'm just so excited.
I don't even know how to set it up. Let's
just listen to the game call to the winning kick.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Final five seconds of regulation, Cardi from thirty seven to win.
Its the rookie with the right foot kick off away
and it's a Cardi party at SOFI Stadium, twenty seven,
twenty four.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
As always, JB. Long with the call. What a comeback,
what a win. What a coaching job by the squad
to get this team to where they're at. I want
to play a clip from coach mcvay's presser after the
game to sum it all up.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
I think you know I'm more interested to a I
see better than I hear. I saw a team respond
after a really humbling week last week. And you know,
three hours will never define you good or bad unless
you allow it to. And you know, we've got to
do a good job of being able to build on this.
You know this game is going to be over. It's
great to be able to get our first win in
the fashion that we were able to get it. But
how quickly can we make sure a let's look at this,
(01:34):
let's clean it up, and let's move forward well, making
sure that there's still a little bit of joy in
terms of how you move. And this will make for
you know, a good opportunity to progress and try to
be able to build on this.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Coming up soon is NFL Network Steve Weis, so don't
go anywhere, but first I want to talk about the
home opener and some incredible moments you might have missed
if you weren't there. Some cool people were at the
Rams house, including the silver medal winning US Olympic Artistic
swim team. That's a mouth full. How cool is that
Lebron James was there. Love Island's Leah and Miguel were
(02:04):
also there, and they did some awesome content too, which
was great to see them.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
There was this.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Karaoke moment where Ajmclean from Backstreet Boys showed up and
like to hear the crowd recognize that he was actually
there singing along.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
It was a really really fun moment.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Also, DJ Ski's booth has like a hydraulic impaula lowrider
that goes up and down during his sets. It was
such a vibe and so cool to see it like that. Okay,
this week's coin toss. I thought we were going to
get the interception last week, but I'll settle for a
force fumble and those turnovers. Also, that forty yard bomb
(02:38):
from Twuju to DeMarcus, I thought he was going to
catch that and then get in for a touchdown. We're
so close to nailing one of these, so let's try
it for week four. Okay, coin toss. Option one. Caleb Williams,
that's the Bears quarterback this week get sacked at least
two times by the Rams defense.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
So option one two sacks of Caleb Williams this weekend
a two to two touchdown? Option two or one? What's
it going to be? Let me know below?
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Joining me now is chief National Reporter for NFL Network.
Steve Whys Steve, my wine drinking connoisseur.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
How are you.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
I'm great, so glad to be back on the pod.
I'm sure it's a it's a happy time after that
great Rams rally, right, what a fantastic game.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
On some Oh my gosh, yeah, I mean I just
want to put a bow on it. Like you said,
how impressed were you with the way this team came
back and got the win against the Niners on Sunday.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
Well, when I was watching that game, you go back
and watch you check my Twitter feed. I'm like, the
Rams are playing with so much heart right here they are.
They're down, they fall behind, the Niners seem to be
generating a lot of momentum. They go up ten, but
Stafford keeps coming back. This defense all of a sudden
starts getting pressure on brock Purty. The couple breaks come
their way. The fake punt right special teams, to me
(03:56):
was like the real element of this game. But the
fake punt, they get it. They're rolling and you're like,
you're hearing the majority of the Niners fans in the
crowd like get silent, then hearing the Rams fans like
really get loud, and it was just like they're not
fading right, They're getting stops, they're coming back, They're closing
this gap, and Stafford is killing it in the passing game,
(04:19):
Guys are making plays. I mean, this is the type
of victory. I'm not saying something that's gonna propel them
all of a sudden to the NFC West Championship, but
as players and as coaches, it shows you that the
freaking stomach your team has to fight through any type
of adversity like this is something that's going to really
work well through that locker room for the rest of
(04:40):
the season.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
It was Stafford's forty fifth game winning drive in fourth
quarter or overtime. And you know, I've seen the argument
online as of you that both teams were missing some
key starters, but the way that the team rallied around
Matthew Stafford and how Stafford just was.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
So poised throughout that game.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
You know, there were some conversations even during the Cardinals game,
like why is Stafford even in there? That's why Stafford
is in there because he is such a leader and
he can take this team further than I think they
could have ever thought they could go in that moment
with all the.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
Na and Eric, with the players that were down right,
the Niners still had Nick Bosa and Leonard Floyd and
Fred Warner and some of those Tallano Hufonka right, they
still had a ton of all pros and Pro bowlers
on their defense, and they couldn't get stops. I mean
once Stafford got going, you know, throwing it to Wittington
(05:34):
and to two two at well and that running game
with Kien Williams, like those guys on defense couldn't make stops.
And that's why I thought it was so impressive with
what Stafford was doing. Sean was totally in his play
calling bag. I mean, he was killing it. That's why
I think it was so impressive because it was when
(05:56):
it was like when a music group hit that perfect
harmony and they knew they could sing any note in
any way and it was gonna sound good.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Yeah, it ended up being called out of bounds.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
But even that forty yard throw from to two, I
think he was a he was a quarterback in high school.
But that throw, even in that catch by DeMarcus, like
it was so close, Like I just thought, like you
nailed it when you said McVeigh was in his bag.
He it forced him without Cooper Cup, without Pooka, without
some of these guys to really get creative, which I think,
(06:26):
frankly is needed against this Niners, this Niners team. And
it was so much fun to watch.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
It, really, it really was. And again seeing all the
players come together the way they did it, it's hard
to do that, especially at that point of the game
against an opponent who's had your number for years, to
show up and to really kind of suck it up
the way they did.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Okay, So imagine you are a wide receiver and your
name is Xavier Smith and you get your first NFL
touch and it being a massive, massive, huge one, a
thirty eight yard punt return that set up the game
winning field goal.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Could you ask for a bigger moment than that?
Speaker 5 (07:08):
Not for him? And you know, I've got personal history
with Xavier, right. So you see the picture above me
where it's got Doug Williams, Patrick Mahomes and James Shack Harris,
see it right there, you see? Okay, So that's at
the HBCU Legacy Bowl, which is an annual all star game.
It's like a Senior Bowl for players from historically black
(07:30):
colleges and universities. That game's Xavier was the offensive MVP. Right.
He absolutely pouring up in this game. So he comes
from Florida A and M University. He's got this incredible backstory.
A smaller guy comes out of high school, doesn't have
any offers, or the offers he had falls through. His
brother was playing at Florida A and M. He goes
(07:51):
and he's gonna work and like the distribution plan for
Amazon down in Haynes City, Florida, where he's from. He's like,
I'm done. I got to help my mother, you know,
I just got to. I've got to stand up and
be a man now. So I think he takes like
what would equate to a semester off, but he takes
a class and remote classes. He gets he fits whatever
(08:14):
type of academic criteria. He needs. You to go to
Florida A and M walks on. Then if he comes
an HBCU all American, right, he's like the dude and
he's playing for you know, great coaches up there. He's
the guy. He kills it in the Legacy Bowl. He
got several teams all over the I'm gonna tell you this.
The Chiefs were all over him, and he fits the
(08:34):
spec for a Chiefs wide receiver, doesn't matter the size,
and somebody gets them in their hands and can take
it and go. Well, I knew Eric Yarbor, the Rams
wide receiver coach, was in love with him, right, We've
had conversations about him. Yeah, and he's like, we're gonna
draft him, Like, we're gonna draft this dude. And then
when it comes down to some other decisions in the
late rounds, they're like, oh, we're not gonna draft him.
(08:55):
Maybe we get him in a free agency, but we
know a lot of other teams are on him. He
ends up going to the Rams. I'm texting his agent
like he could not have gone to a better place, right,
he said it could. This is before Pooka blows up
right as a rookie. I'm like, he's gonna get coached
by Eric Yarbor, right, who is the king of taking
late brown draft picks like Cooper Cup, like Pooka Nakua
(09:17):
and turning them into legit players. Plus he's gonna go
to a good special team situation. And knowing how humble
of a human being that he is, you know would
show this year because he had he had the type
of preseason where he should be on the active roster,
right everyone thought he was gonna be on the final three.
He was great. He was great in the return game,
in the receiving game, you know, jet sweeps, he was
(09:39):
great sticks around. I was surprised he didn't get claimed
by another team because I know some other teams are
on him. And now he has a moment like that
on you know, on on a TV game. It was
just such a huge moment for him. And then to
see like the alumni fan base at Florida A and M,
(10:00):
you know, guys like Isaiah Land, Like guys like Isaiah
Land who plays for the Colts, a teammate of his
Florida and then who plays for the Colts, like my guy,
Like he's such a beloved figure at that university in Tallahassee.
And for him to show out like this, knowing he
could be a big time contributor to the Rams. Like
(10:22):
You're not supposed to be fans of guys doing what
I do, But I'm the biggest fan of his and
I think he's somewhat Over the course of the season,
the more opportunities he gets, the more dividend dividends. He's
going to pay off for the Rams.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
I think he told his mom on Friday, Hey, I
think I'm playing on Sunday. She gets to he gets
a game ball after which was awesome, which he gave
to her. Like, just the stories that I'm hearing surrounding
him have just been incredible, and I'm becu he's really
excited for him, and I think, yeah, oh, I didn't
even know that.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
So he had maybe the best week ever ever. I mean,
that's that's awesome. He is going to be our part
returner going forward. I think McVeigh said that in Oppressor,
which is so rightfully deserved. So hopefully that that stays
the course. So yeah, week week three, it was a
it was a moral victory, it was a victory victory,
it was a coaching victory. Every everyone is feeling great.
(11:16):
Vibes are high, and so now we're moving on to
week four. So two former number one overall picks squaring
off in Sunday at Chicago. What makes Caleb Williams tough.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
To game plan for? And how do you think the
Rams kind of attack this upcoming game?
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Look, this is one what the Rams can't sit there
and say, Okay, the Bears are struggling because the Rams
don't have that right right, this is this is where
they've got to continue to prove themselves week to week
with all the injuries that they have. But to get
with Caleb to you talk about the difficulty, he's a
dynamic player. I think he showed that at times against
the colt He's someone who can get out of trouble,
(11:55):
who can make the big throw. They do have receiving weapons,
right they They've got Dj Moore, They've still got Roma
dunesa who knows if Keenan Allen all of a sudden
it gets activated. The Rams have to stop the run
because that's been the issue. The Bears haven't run. They've
made him one dimensional. He's throwing the ball forty plus
times a game. That's a dream scenario to have a
(12:17):
rookie quarterback throw the ball more than forty times a game.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
So who's also been sacked thirteen times in three games,
which is.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
Houston number. What Houston did to him was rude. So
it's it's just it's really something that again the Rams
if they keep their heads on because defensively, I mean offensively,
it's gonna be a challenge. That Bears defense is real.
By points are going to be hard to come by
(12:48):
against that Bears defense. So it's gonna be it's gonna
be a tough game. There's nothing that the Rams can
take for granted, because Caleb does have it in him
to make the special play and if they get the
consistent drives going, then that's going to be tough. So again, Ram,
(13:08):
they they have no rights right to say, Okay, we
got this one. They've got to go into every game
like it's their super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
I mean, with this young defense, we've seen them, you
know Cardinals was coach McVay put it humbling and some
of those missed opportunities that the Rams defense had.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
I think they started.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Off slow against the Niners and then with the second
half really started turning it around.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
I mean Byron Young had a sack and two tackles
for loss.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Bradon Fist becomes the first Rams rookie to recover a
fumble in consecutive games. I think, like you said, right,
so when they're finally like putting these pieces together, and
you know, you hear coach speak all the time across
the league.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
You know, it's building blocks it's building blocks, but it
really is.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
And I think when you have someone like Caleb Williams
throwing the ball which he did fifty two times in
week three too much, that is going.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
To put that, yeah, way too much.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I'm really excited, long story short, to see this Rams
defense like really keep stacking these blocks and be able
to finish some of these plays that they haven't quite
tied the bow on yet.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
I'll say this, the two rookies, Jared Verse and Braden Fisk,
they show up. They show up every play. Yeah, so hard.
They work well in tandem. They're incredibly physical. Jared Verse
when he gets deeper into his career and he adds
a few extra pass rush moves because right now he's
physically dominates guys. But if he does things where he can,
(14:37):
you know, he needs to go to Von Miller's pass
rush camp. You know, Max Crosby all those guys can
teach in certain things because he is i mean, you
see him on every play.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, he's incredible and it's really fun to watch and
it's fun to watch him with Byron Young together too.
It's been it's been you know, two peas in a
pod with that too. So the Rams are getting healthier
along the oh line. We had Alaric Jackson back this
past week, and like you said, it's a solid Bears defense.
How does the you know, the Rams offense spread the
(15:10):
ball around to get guys like to to DeMarcus Robinson,
Tyler Johnson, et cetera.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
With using Kyron I guess against this tough Bears d.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
I think they have to run it because the secondary
for Chicago's really good. I mean, Jalen Johnson's is stud corner.
They've got excellent linebackers. So but they've got to find
a way to run the ball. You saw just how
rhythmically they operated when they were getting Kyrien going, how
strong the offensive line look generating a push. Again, they
(15:42):
weren't going up against a bunch of busters. They were
going up against some serious ballers for the Niners, and
they were resetting the line of scrimmage. So they've got
to continue that. Sean has got to stick with it.
That intermediate passion game that was so effective, the crossing
routes that Sean, they got to hit it early to
set up stuff over the top, maybe even to Xavier
(16:04):
Smith because he can get down the field, he can fly.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Yeah, I'm excited for this game.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
I think it's a great week for game, and coming
off of that win, I think it's just like a
really great time. And like you said, you can't just
like look ahead or look past this game. But I
think with the position that the Bears are in and
how the Rams are kind of coming up off of
this momentum and positive, you know, there were no injuries
coming out of the game, I think there's a lot
(16:28):
to look forward to for this Week four matchup.
Speaker 5 (16:32):
I really think so. And you know, look, it's something
is to where I mean, no joke on the outside,
be a big picture perspective. People were saying with all
of these injuries, the Rams are done. Maybe they trade
Matthew Stafford at the deadline and start stocking draft picks.
I mean that was the conversation. And to beat a
team like the Niners getting healthy and just seeing how
(16:56):
one thing that the Rams that Sean McVay, whether whoever's
been coaching with them, they don't get enough credit for
it is a development of young talent and to see
that young talent surfaced in clutch moments to perform when
some of the Niners players like Brandon Ayuk did not
show up in clutch moments. It goes to show you
the belief they have and their coaching staff and their
(17:18):
methods to develop players, and how things are coming together. Again.
I don't think this necessarily leads to some four or
five game winning streak in a run to the NFC West.
But week by week, if there's that improvement with that
play caller and that quarterback, and with Cooper Cup eventually
coming back, and Pooka and Akup eventually coming back, knowing
(17:38):
they've got some gas in the reserve of some of
this other young talent coming up, I think it's going
to be very promising, especially on the back half of
the season when they get healthy with some of it,
with some of the momentum that they could generate here.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
I mean they took the Lions to overtime in Week one.
It really is a game of inches. And this whole
narrative could be changed. Yes, Arizona was a different East
in itself, but you know, like like we said, there
are a lot of different ways that this team can
move forward.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Week by week.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Steve, before I let you go, I always ask the
same three questions, and now we have different questions because
it's a it's a new season. If you were to
describe your perfect day start to finish, like, what would
it include?
Speaker 5 (18:22):
Okay, I wake up about six thirty, which I always do,
go get a good workout in I would probably be
somewhere in the Santa Inez Valley on about a seventy
degree day, getting ready to start tipping a pino grigio
I'm sorry, at Pino noir. Probably do that for about
the next six or seven hours, right then go get
(18:44):
like a fantastic Indian dinner, like Indian cuisine dinner, and
then probably probably go back to whatever nice Airbnb cottage
my wife and I are staying at andre out what
we want to watch? Like I told you, you know,
I'm a true crime junkie. I'm also a swamp people junkie.
(19:05):
It's not on right now, but I'd probably watch, you know,
some type of true crime episode, you know, and just
sit back and just chill.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Oh yeah, which celebrity celebrity would you like to switch
lives for for one day?
Speaker 5 (19:17):
And why? Wow? I I you know, this is a
really really really good question. You know here it is here,
you know what my guy Wolf Blitzer, I would like
switching I like that. I love to live in the
(19:40):
world where are getting constant bombardment, Like I don't need.
I don't need like the champagne life. All right, I've
got my wine life. Okay. So I would rather like
being wolfsh Chair deal with all of the crazy national
and international news and like see how I digest it
(20:04):
and like figure out, like figure out the next steps.
So I'd like to be wolf Blitzer for a day.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
That would be a kind of stressful situation, but kind
of fun too. You're right, I think that's a good perspective.
Last question, iced coffee on a snowy day or a
hot coffee in a heat wave.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
Hot coffee in a heat wave. I cannot stand cold coffee.
I don't know what it is, but that is not
it for you. Okay, I do knock it down, all right.
I will sit in the middle of I will sit
in the middle of Las Vegas sipping a nice ventie
hot one cream only, cream only, no sweetener.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Okay. Okay. Wow, that's a hot take. Literally, it's a
literal hot take. Steve. Thanks so much. It's so great
to see you.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Love your insight as always and looking forward to seeing
all of your addictions come true for week four because
you've been nailing them so far.
Speaker 5 (21:04):
Well we'll see, hopefully better than the week three. I
didn't nail at week three, but.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
I think I just got shrug emojied in real life.
But that's okay. He's just being humble, Steve Weisch. There
he goes. What a great guy. Love all of his
insight as always.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
And like you said, it's gonna be a great game
in Chicago for week four, So that does it.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
We're off.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
It's an away game this upcoming weekend like we've been
talking about, and then we've got a long stretch of
home games at SOFI stadiums. To drink your barefoot wine,
stay hydrated because the season is just getting goot.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Let's ram it.