October 17, 2024 • 37 mins
Camryn Irwin, Stu Jackson, and Maurice Jones-Drew chat about the state of the Los Angeles Rams after the bye week, what it will mean to have wide receiver Cooper Kupp back on the field, facing defensive end Maxx Crosby and the Las Vegas Raiders, and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to Between the Horns, presented by your Southern California toy,
the Dealers. Cameron Er went alongside by good friends Stu
Jackson and Maurice Jones drew the Rams coming off a
bye week and a bye week for us as well.
Did you get any rest at MJD. I don't think
you did, but maybe, Stu, did you get.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Some rest a little bit? I mean played some golf
and wow, that's w Yeah, exactly. Yeah, play a little
bit of golf and then just watch a lot of
college football and you know all the NFL games that
were on the schedule for that week. So yeah, well
spent at least by my standards.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
So I'm jealous. I had to watch football. You got
to watch games. Yep, it was awesome. Bye week was
a work week for me. I was just getting back
from London. That was awesome over there. Besides the Jags
losing to the Bears, which who have gotten much better
since we've played them, Mike goodness, both offensive and defensively.
(01:03):
But yeah, still a little jet lagged, but we'll figure
it out. We're going to fight do this thing. I
will give you everything I got. I was just for
our fans in a while. I was over there, I
was keeping tabs, I was texting JB. I was watching
the games. I was doing everything I could to kind
of keep saying tact. So I'm really excited for this week,
and really after this bye week was kind of the
plan on the Rams getting back healthy and making a
(01:23):
run like last year.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I was gonna say, MJD may have no idea what
time Zony currently is.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
I'm in China right now, no clue, but.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
We're excited to break down the Los Angeles Rams after
this bye week. It is the Raiders at Sofi Stadium
come Sunday, and I feel like before we get into
any major adjustments coming out of the bye week, let's
take a look at what the state of the Rams
is after the first five sitting at one and four. However,
is it as rough as it may seem. We saw
(01:53):
Sean McVay talk with JB Long earlier this week and
he said the gap may not be as wide as
we imagine it to be. Is that the case?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I would say? So, I mean, look at the standings
for the NFC West, I get there. I mean, record wise,
there's not as much separation as people may think, I mean, yes,
it is what it is as far as you know,
especially where the Rams stand. But there's not a lot
of separation right now, and there's still several weeks left
to make up ground. There's two home games in five
days for the Rams to potentially make up that ground, especially,
(02:21):
so not as insurmountable as people may think.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Hey, I think when you look at kind of the schedule,
and it's not necessarily just the record wins and losses,
it's how you won and how you lost. Right you
go back to Week one, you went in overtime with
the Detroit Lions till you get blown out by Arizona.
So that kind is one of those ones. But then
you beat the Niners. Then you have close losses. You
should have the Rams dominated the Bears game for what
(02:48):
three and a half quarters and allow the Bears to
take the lead late in the game and then kind
of go from there. And then I was against Green Bay.
You have opportunities in that game to win it. You
get the pick six, you get in the red zone,
and again a lot of times and it's not the
twenty to the twenty, it's more the twenty in where
the Rams have struggled, which have cost them those games.
So if you can fix those red zone problems, you
(03:10):
can leaves say the Rams could be three and two
or four and one at this point and having that
ability to go again the red zone has been something
that's kind of started last year towards the end of
the season, and it's kind of carried as well, like
head over to this one. So hopefully that's what you
were looking for after the bias. We're not as far
away because we've had opportunities to win these games, but
(03:30):
we just haven't converted in the red zone.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And there is an accountability to that, right, Like there's
an understanding of maybe it's a bit of inexperienced the
Rams the second youngest team in the NFL on average,
just twenty five and a half years. But there's also
a different level of a bit of frustration because it
feels like it's just within your reach. Right We're talking
about one possession games that the Rams have taken losses,
and how do you go about fixing some of those
(03:55):
issues and those controllables in a bye week like this.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, I think the biggest thing was coming into this season,
you knew that the defense was gonna take a little
bit of time to get adjusted, right because you lost
Aaron Donald, you traded away, you know, Jalen Ramsey. It
was gonna be a younger defense. The offense was gonna
carry the season. They were gonna be the ones you're
gonna lean on. The offense office is gonna score points
a lot of the defense to come along. And then
you have a bunch of injuries that happen, and so
(04:19):
now it's okay, we got to figure out how to
make this thing move while it's going. And so those
losses in those plays that that mistakes, mistakes were made
both offensively defensively, you can learn from those, and you're
hoping that in this bye week that you go back
over what was going on. This is the technique we
need to play, This is what we need to call
(04:39):
in this situation. These are the communication techniques that we need,
and then you hope the young guys can make those
adjustments to go. But I've always said this, and I've
said this a couple of times on the show, those
injuries become blessing in disguises because guys are getting reps
that normally wouldn't have got any reps. Bo Limbert just
comes to mind, is you have a guy that comes
in as a rookie that's playing meaningful, you know, reps
(05:02):
throughout the first half of your season. Once everyone gets healthy,
do you pull them? Do you keep them? And even
if you do, you have a guy that you know
you can count on down the road.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And to that point, the wide receiver room especially I
think is also benefit from that too. A lot of
guys have gotten reps that they maybe wouldn't otherwise if
you had had a healthy Cooper Cup, a healthy Pooka
and Akua, which is really bringing along the depth there
and and putting it in a good place, especially for
the rest of the season.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Stu, you have an incredible pulse on the team. You're
in the practice facility day and in day out. What have
you seen in this week because there was an added
practice on Monday.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yeah, I mean, the the vibes have been good. I mean,
everybody feels really refreshed and you know, recharged and ready
to go. I mean, again, as cliche as that sounds,
the truth just from you know, talking to guys on
Monday and Wednesday and just you know, seeing you know
obviously how you know Sean mcmay feels this week, you know,
everybody feels like they're in a really good space to
(05:54):
be able to, you know, attack this week and get
back on track.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I like that you use the word energy because even
from some of the pressers that we've seen, it seems
like that energy is starting to build and there's a
confidence that's starting to build because there can be parallels
drawn from this season to last season. They were three
and six going into the by then ultimately winning seven
up their last eight. How do you use last season
in terms of building that confidence because that's something they
(06:20):
can hang on to.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
I think you talked about the controllables, right, and as
a player, you can control your effort and your energy.
That's what you can control. Now, there's other things that
we as pros we like to say we control, but
those are the two main things. And so for me,
when you have those effort and energy plays like the
pick six that happened against the Packers, when you can
start to cultivate that and get more consistent play like that,
(06:43):
all of a sudden, it becomes contagious, right, And so
to me, I think when you look at just the
Rams in general, if you go back to the Niners game.
That was a very contagious game with that effort and
energy that they played with. Can you stack it up
the next week? And that's kind of where you have
young guys. It's hard to do that week after week
because again again I remember being a young guy, and
I remember like going crazy one week and then being exhausted,
(07:06):
like what I just emptied the bucket? How do I?
How do I empty the bucket again?
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Right?
Speaker 3 (07:12):
And you learn, you start to learn a routine, You
start to learn do get do I come early all
the time, like you start to figure out who you
are as a player, and then you start to fit
your role. I think the biggest thing that I've learned
with this RAMS team compared to last one is there's
a lot of role players on this one, guys that
are gonna do two at well as a role player, right,
And we talked about roles being growing because of injuries.
(07:35):
That's what He's a guy that we didn't see for
a while last year. Then he comes in, he starts
making place. Now you have a role. Now you have
to be the best in that role as possible, and
that it goes for everybody. And so if you can
control your effort and your energy and your attitude, then
I think it'll turn around.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I think by the same token too, that question you
asked reminded me of what I had asked Matthew Stafford
post game after the Green Bay game, where I said,
you know, obviously every season that you season is its
own story, but what do you draw on from a
leadership standpoint or what can you use from last season
to apply to the current circumstances. And he basically said,
you know, you can't be scared to put yourself out
back out there, regardless of what your records is, and
(08:13):
so playing with that fearlessness is one of the things
that at least that I think about or go back
to in light of that.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, and you mentioned too too, and I think something
just popped into my head in regards to you earn
the right for expectation, right, and each of these guys
has now put performances together, especially at the wide receiver
group where you're going, there's now expectation on them to
perform in the second half. Also, I want to note
you talked about the Bears improvement and you just look
at what the Rams have faced. You thought maybe that
first half wasn't going to be as tough in terms
(08:41):
of strength to schedule. But now considering the NFC North,
of our five competitions, three of them against the NFC North,
there's seventeen and five as a division leading the NFL,
the strength of schedule in the front half for the
Los Angeles Rams has been a daunting task.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Yeah. Absolutely. I mean you knew, especially with opening the
with the home opener, I should say, being against the
forty nine ers, that that was always going to be
a tough challenge obviously owned division, but yeah, especially with
the way that the NFC North is shaping up, with
the way the Packers are playing as well, you know,
those are going to be some really good tests that
(09:16):
I think the you know, the Rams will look back
on and be you know, appreciative of the growth or
opportunities that came from it.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
And again when you talk about the Bears and their growth,
they just really turned around and started running the ball,
became more of a fifty to fifty offense. Understand that
their defense has always been really good. We saw that firsthand.
I think with the Rams it's the opposite right where
we needed offense to get back to being that explosive
team that's scoring twenty eight points, getting you know, two
touchdowns early in the game, putting pressure on the other
(09:45):
side to allow the defense to continue to grow. And
it's not necessarily the front end of the defense that
I'm worried about, because again, Jared versus Fisk have done
an amazing job of adding to Byron Young and Kobe
Turner and the pressure they're bringing in. But it's the
second part of it, right on the back end, the
linebackers being able to cover in space you now have
to take over. And I think that's gonna be the
(10:06):
next step for this Rams defense. Is can that that
front if it's five guys, if it's four guys, if
it's three guys, can you get pressure on the quarterback
consistently and consistently meaning every snap right the quarterback has
to either move his pocket or take his eyes off
off of the routes so that you can help those
guys in the back and as they get healthy and
healthier and start to play.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Better, especially too, because some of the things that you
know the Rams do in terms of you know, covered
structures or the way they approach the secondary ties into
those rush planes as well. Right, and the way they
rush the passer.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
It was so funny. When I first got with the Rams,
I was like, this is so unsound what they're doing it.
It was like unbelievable, just some of the covers things.
But when you have Aaron Donald who can get pressure
in two seconds, like, we have the luxury of doing
that right, And so I think, now you're again it's
a learning process. This is what we've done for the
last I know, we've been here since twenty sixteen, so
(11:00):
nine years is the last one we've done. And now
we have to switch it up, and that's a learning process.
How do how do we switch it up? Do we
run more stunts on the front, do we play tighter
coverage on the back end? Do we like And so
again we knew the first couple of weeks it was
gonna take some time, but I thought the Rams defense
have done an awesome job of getting off the field.
They've converted a lot of those pressures in the sacks
as of lately. You just hope that they can continue
(11:22):
that growth as they kep going. And then you know,
the last thing I'll say is this when you're asking
rookies to play a lot and to play and to
be impact players. The rookie wall is the most is
a thing that you have to worry about, and having
that by early is gonna kind of push that wall
back a little bit, because again they shouldn't be worn
down as much.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Well, you gave me a beautiful transition. So I was
just about to ask you about Jared Vers and Kobe
Turner and that pass rush and the optimism that you
can find, but you detailed it beautifully. I'll give you
one more in terms of a silver line in Kobe
Turner had a great performance against green Bay. Six tackles
too for loss, two sacks and two QB hits. So
looking for that consistency. But that is a huge step
(12:04):
in the right direction. All right, Let's shift here. So
the NFC West is technically up for grabs. You look
at what the rest of the field looks like. The
Seahawks forty nine ers and Cards forty nine ers and
Seahawks at three and three, Cards at two and four
forty nine ers have a tough test this week. They
face the Chiefs, Seahawks have the Falcons who are also
four and two, and the Cardinals take on the Chargers
(12:24):
for Monday Night, Football who are at three and two.
You look at strength of schedule, and this is a
little interesting. To close this out for the NFC West,
the top of the order in terms of strength of
schedule remaining is San Francisco and then Seattle. The Rams
at three in the division, this could really work in
their favor. And I already asked, is it that far
out of reach? The numbers and history don't go our direction. However,
(12:48):
the Rams have proven it before. So what do you
feel like they have to do? Do they have to
pick up both of these wins in the next five days.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I don't want to say its must win to that extent,
but I do think I mean, yeah, they do need
to take advantage of having these two home games in
five days, especially when you consider that you'll be when
you do resume, you know, traveling or roadplay, that you're
going to be at Seattle at the beginning of November.
So getting a couple wins in this stretch would be
(13:20):
absolutely huge, like I said earlier, for not only making
up that ground, but also just you know, getting yourself
on the right track and being in a good space
going into what's obviously one of the most challenging road
environments in the league.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
It's funny. I feel like every game is a must
win in the NFL, just because of how certain teams
playing in certain teams. But it's funny how Arizona's been
playing lately. After they played the Rams, right, that wasn't
the same team. They haven't been the same team we've
seen in week since Week two, which is very interesting.
And then Niners have their own issues trying to figure
out offensive without CMC. They have a lot of guys
(13:54):
banged up, and they've been struggling as well. You're right,
this is gonna be a tough game. This is almost
a game for the Niners that they need to win
to get confidence, to feel like they're back that team
that can contend in Super Bowls. And then if you
look at Seattle, Seattle was three and oh right, and
all of a sudden they've lost. They've lost three straight
and there's something going on where they can't figure it out.
I mean, they're losing the teams that you feel like
(14:15):
they should have had the handle, especially at home, right
because it's always tough to go to the Northwest, Fron anywhere,
And so to me, I think the Rams are in
prime position, prime position, meaning early in the year, there
was a lot of expectation. Everyone was kind of buzzing,
you know, you were coming back all these things, and
that expectations kind of dropped a little bit, which means
you're under the radar. And if you can just stack
(14:36):
one win, which is again, this Raiders team, there's a
lot of they're all messed up. I don't even know
what this everyone it's called. But again I'm in China
and discombobulated. I just feel like, yeah, well, they have
a fracture in their locker room right now, right when
you trade away Devonte Adams. You know, as much as
(14:59):
I love Antonio, here's why. I was a good friend
of mine, played against them, grew up with them, coached
against them. He's trying to create a certain culture there,
right and so they have some issues that they're fighting
through right now. This is a great time to kind
of get a nice jumpstart on the team that's that's
trying to figure out who they are. And then you
get the Minnesota Vikings at home on a Thursday. And
(15:20):
the best part about that is if you're able to
win Sunday win Thursday, that Thursday game is gonna be
huge because that's top of the NFC right now. Right
the Minnesota Vikings are the top the upper echeline of
the NFC. So if you're able to find a way
to get that victory, then all of a sudden, now
you have confidence rolling in and then you can go
into Seattle energy effort. Confidence, we're playing better, We're doing
(15:44):
what we need to do, and you know, I think again,
that's the biggest thing, the biggest issue for our fans.
It's never a talent issue in the NFL. It's always
who's more confident in their scheme and what they're doing.
And so that's kind of what you're hoping that the
Rams get these next two weeks, is that they can
go while these other teams are having to fight this
uphill battle, you're under the radar and you can just
chop away game after game and find a way to
(16:06):
win it.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
I love it. All Right, let's reset offensive and defensive
play coming out of the buy. Maybe some adjustments that
we might see. The good news is there's been a
lot of talk about Cooper Cup this week. There's potential
that we may see him.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Is that true. I'm just saying I have him. He's
in there right now. But Stu, I need you to
let me know.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
He's trending in the right direction, but possibly plays.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
I know what that means.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Yeah, so I know that coach talk yep. So that
that's from McVeigh. I mean that, no official designation or
status as far as whether he'll play or not. But
got an individual got some individuals.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Look great too by the way.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Yeah, was moving was moving well at least from I
can tell what I could tell. I mean again, uh,
the full breakdown of that, I'll leave to the experts
that people who are actually monitoring his workouts more closely.
But yeah, we'll see me obviously, as we all know,
if he if he coults back, that would be a huge,
huge boost for this offense. And I think we'd also
(17:07):
you know, help with especially some of the issues that
we've seen in those one possession losses where you know,
you have that you know, that chemistry that again we
all have known and have seen between him and Stafford
where they're very rarely, if ever had are they not
on the same page in those situations, and they can
just you know connect and get those things back on track.
(17:28):
But yeah, so we'll see looking good, but still to
be determined.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
How does the dynamic shift if he is back in
the mix offensively, I.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Think it's a it's a huge It's a huge victory
for not only the Rams in general, but for like
two two at well. Right, who's been kind of the
guy the focal point of the passing game, Kobe Parkinson,
he should be see less coverage or eyes on him,
and a lot of that should go there. Then, I
also believe you what you've done through the last couple
of weeks, he hasn't been there. You've created depth, meaning
(17:58):
that he doesn't have to play a high percent of
the snaps right, give him a break here or there.
As you've gained more trust than these other guys that
are making plays. And then when Puka comes back, all
of a sudden, now we have six guys that we
can trust to go out there role and we don't
have to run these guys into the ground. That's a
little bit. That's like from an analyst standpoint. As a coach,
we always want our best guys out there, but I
(18:19):
think those other guys have earned a lot of trust.
I think Jordan Winnington's earned a ton of trust both
in the running game and the way he's blocking and
also catching the ball over the middle of the field,
right running those deep end routes or crossing routes two
two ouls again finding ways to create separation right understanding
who he is, and it seemed like again it felt
like the Rams are kind of going away from him
(18:39):
a little bit, and then now it's like he drug
him back in, Like, look, I can still make plays
and be a difference maker on this team, stretching the
field vertically as well as breaking those comebacks out of
those out routes. So having Cooper Cup back puts more
pressure on the opposite defense because I just mentioned all
these guys and we're going to talk about another guy
here in the running game soon that I think will
help again, right, I think the Rams have done a
(19:01):
great job of building his roster. It's just getting everybody
out there on the same page, playing at the same time.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
The first thing I thought of was red zone. It's
been a conversation through the first five weeks of play
for the Los Angeles Rams, and just to give you
some numbers for Cooper Cup He's been the number one
red zone threat for the Rams all except for two
years when he had some injuries, But just some more
numbers for you. Ninety receptions on one hundred and thirty
four targets. That's in the red zone alone for six
hundred and sixty one yards. He has thirty seven red
(19:29):
zone touchdowns. The number one threat returning hopefully to the
Los Angeles Rams this week, let's talk a little defense. Actually, no,
you mentioned another running back, Blake carm We saw the mixture.
It was nice to see him out there versus Green Bay.
Your thoughts on his performance and how that could be
maybe a two headed monster.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
I thought, I thought he did an awesome job and
I felt like he's very explosive, right, you see it,
the way he moves. I love what Kiren does. He
just moves different, and maybe because he's a little fresher,
a little younger, Kiren does an awesome job of manipulating
linebackers and he's great in the past game and we've
seen him explode. But to be able to put another
guy in there to give him a break, right, I
(20:09):
think it just makes the Rams more explosive. As Blake
continues to understand the offense and grow, the more confident
they get in him, the more he can play, the
more Matthew Stafford can feel comfortable to check the ball
down to him right and to see him. To me,
that draft pick was the key to this offense because
I've been in a two headed running back and room
(20:31):
with myself and Fred Taylor. It was unstoppable. And we
weren't the best passing team we like, And it's not
that Cooper Cup like, we had bigger guys, but we
didn't throw the ball. We ran the ball eighty percent
of the time, seventy percent of the time. So when
you can still win ten twelve games running the ball
like that much, and imagine that with what the Rams
have right with all the motions and shifts and be
(20:53):
able to split those carries, and how that'll carry you
throughout the season. Especially you know, as our fans, no,
football doesn't really start counting counting until Thanksgiving. Once they
get Thanksgiving hits, that's when you know where you are.
That's why it's like there's so much more time left
for the Rams. As soon as they Thanksgiving hits, you're like, okay,
where a my position now to make this run at
(21:14):
the playoffs? Very similar last year Thanksgiving hit, the Rams
were able to figure out where they were then they
ran off some play some games and won, so they
have some time. But as long as they can continue
to get healthy and get these younger guys playing offensively,
I don't I think your red zone woes will go away.
I think you become a very explosive offense where you're
not having those twelve fifteen play drives, you'll have seven eight,
(21:40):
you know, five four, maybe a one play touchdown drive
because you take a shot down the field or you
can check the ball down and the guy can go
to the house. So Blake Koram did an awesome job
against the Packers. I think his explosiveness makes his offense
so much more dangerous. Though.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
The other thing I'll say too about blakekorm that I
really like is you see him use those jump cuts
sometimes where like, you know, there may not be something there,
kind of similar to Kyroen, where like you know, he'll
use a jump cut to make something out of nothing basically,
and next thing you know, he's, you know, gaining five
or six yards on a play that looks like it
might be going for a loss.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
That's what you're looking for.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Yeah, so having two of those is obviously something that's
especially helpful. For keeping the offense ahead of schedule and
ahead of those change chains.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
All right, let's switch gears defensive side of the ball.
We saw a bit of a different look in the
secondary against the Packers, Josh Wallace in the mix. Do
you expect to see a different look or maybe the
same from Green Bay?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Well? See, I mean, one thing that maybe they kind
of alluded to was the fact that you know, some
of those rotations and adjustments to the secondary were based
on essentially how they were approaching and preparing for the Packers.
Could be a different story depending on what they see
on tape against the Raiders obviously, but sounded like from
especially at the cornerback position, he's pretty happy with how
(22:54):
that looked, and it sounds like the way that they
use the corners is the way that we'll continue to
see that for this week. We'll see with the with
the safety position. But obviously it was huge having Darius
Williams back, and like I said, we'll see what happens
in terms of like if we see more of Jalen
(23:15):
mccolla and Josh Wallace again like we did previously.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
I feel like, you know something you kind of like
going around it. I'll say this. I talking with the
coaches early in the year. They were still trying to
figure out what this secondary is going to look like,
and and I feel like they don't have an answer
yet and they're still trying to figure those things out,
and that's gonna happen. Especially again, we talked about it
how this defense was a work in progress, and as
(23:38):
much as I think as fans or as people that
aren't in the building all the time, or as coaches,
it's like, well, you should just go with this group
and just let like no, no, no, no. Like I
think Sean McVay said it, best, competition breeds greatness, Like
you have to figure out, Okay, you're not playing the
best right now, we need to put someone else in
and see what they could do your job. Maybe that
brings the best out of you. Maybe you you you know,
you start to pick it up a little bit. And
(24:00):
so to me, figuring out the best four that you
can have back there to start in your base or
the best five out there if you're a nickel is
going to be important because again we saw the secondary
kind of they've been giving up some chunk plays here
and there, So you got to make sure that you
tighten that up and lock it in whoever it may be.
It's gonna be interesting to see this week and then
obviously on our short week after that, find a way
(24:23):
to make plays. And I think that's gonna be you know,
it's easy to say that, but having the right eyes
where your eyes are supposed to be, making sure you're
in the right position and have the right leverage. Those
are the little things that the Rams safeties or secondary
and needs to fix and get right.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
The Rams look to solidify their run defense, and there's
been a lot of conversation around the linebacking group. Do
you anticipate maybe seeing Omar Spas in the mix?
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Well? See, I mean one thing I saw online some
of the comparisons as far as like, you know, pro
football focused grades and comparing them to current starters versus
guys who played in the preseason, where he says, you know,
like that's not exactly an apples to apples comparison. And
so again, one thing that McBay had mentioned before is
that you know, if if those changes were necessary, then
(25:13):
like basically the guys who and and it was warranted,
like the guys who would be out there, like who
have those opportunities would would be playing. But you know, ultimately,
like he's they're gonna there could be more changes on
the way, we'll see, you know, he mentioned obviously like
they're obviously in consideration of, you know, whatever's best for
the team, and so who knows does that mean more
(25:37):
even just like a handful more snaps for Omar Spates
compared to you know, the basically the snaps that really
hasn't been getting at all, or you know, what does
that mean exactly for inside linebackers some of these other
positions we'll see. But again, and I think the other
thing you have to keep in mind too, especially with
(25:57):
some of these position changes, and I'm talking about inside
line by because that's the one that's been generating the
most conversation right now. You know, Troy Reader is the
green dot, the onfield defensive signal caller. Like any adjustment
you make like that, Now, if if you decide to
make changes there, that affects the operation, the whole operation
of the defense. And so there are just a lot
(26:17):
of factors in play between a player's readiness. Uh, the
transition for preseeds is in the regular season, and I mean,
I'm sure I'm forgetting some other factors as well. But
I don't know, how do you see that?
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Yeah, well, I would say this you first and foremost,
you have to look at how the Rams allocate their resources, right,
They don't really allocate a lot of resource to the
inside linebacker position, the off ball backer. They look the
outside backer, they look to corner. Uh they loved obviously
d line pressure, and so you're gonna lose some there
if you're not allocating resources to that position. Where if
(26:49):
you look at the Niners, for example, they they allocate
a lot of resources the off off ball linebacker. So
it's just it's just a different philosophy with saying that.
And I understand I see all that as well. And
I know there's a lot of fans that are, you know,
clamoring for a more space or changes or trades or
whatever it may be. You have to understand and trust
that Sean mcvah and this staff, they've been doing this
(27:10):
for a long time, and Sean is an offensive mind,
knows how to really manipulate that position, and so he's
gonna put who they believe are going to give them
the best chance to win. At times, some of the
guys rose Boom or Reader. They're not the best in
space and we know that. I mean, that's just it's
been like that since they've been here. And it's not
saying that they care or they can't do it. It's just
(27:32):
when you have Roseboom match up on DJ Moore, that's
a matchup that the Bears like. I think DJ Moore
and a lot of people the Bears would like that situation.
So you just have to find ways to put those
guys in position. That's where the coaching comes in. Put
them in a better position to be successful. And that's
kind of going to it maybe limited you a little bit,
it may not, but you want to make sure you're
(27:53):
putting those guys and a chance to have a high
success rate. And I think teams have kind of offensively
information to put them in a position and not have
as much success. And that's why you're seeing a lot
of the issue. So maybe Omar space the answer. Again.
I was one of the big fans of him coming
out of preseason where he was like the most physical
(28:14):
dude I'd ever like. It was awesome to see that,
but I also understand the preseason, Like when I played
in the preseas, it was like, look, don't touch me.
I'm trying to get out of bounds. I was gonna
give him a look and then I'm out of here, right.
And so I know it's a little bit different when
you get into the regular season and coaches are scheming.
They have guys spending hours and hours and hours weeks
on weeks and weeks on one game. Right, And I'll
(28:36):
give our fans a quick a quick insight on it.
We were in Arizona, and who do we play after
to Arizona? We played the Niners? Right, who do you
play after the Niners? It was Chicago, Chicago. There was
a scout from Chicago at the Arizona game that I
know who was scouting the Rams because they play him
two weeks from now, and so they they scout weeks
ahead of time to figure out how to do this,
(28:58):
and then they give that information to the coaching staff
for that week. So understand that, you know people are
figuring out how to do that. It's just again, you
want to try to do your best as a coach
to put them in the best chance to be successful.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
The other thing I'll add to that real quick too,
is I asked McVay the other day in this press conference, Like, basically,
how do you weigh having enough of a sample size
and enough health essentially at a position to know when
a change is warranted versus it just being simply being
a matter of you know, getting healthy at a position
in order to you know, decide whether or not you know,
(29:31):
you need to make changes from a personnel standpoint, And
he said, that's like, that's obviously you know, the the
balance or the difficult balance that you're trying to strike
in wigh and that you know it may not necessarily
be wholesale changes. Just going back to my comment about
somebody like Omar Space earlier, it could just mean it
could be as simple as somebody like getting more snaps
right than they have before, or being more involved in
(29:53):
some capacity, And so that's something we could potentially be
looking at to when it comes to whatever those person
changes now.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Also, and I'll add to this, they may add a package, right,
so maybe it's a certain package where he comes in.
And again, when you put those packages, it's for him
to showcase his abilities and what they're confident in. And
I think that's what our fans have to understand, Like
it's hard to put a player out there if you're
not confident that he could do everything. So when you
put a you don't want him to lose. Again, we
(30:21):
talk about confidence all the time. You don't want him
to lose that. So whatever he's great at, that's what
this package is going to kind of showcase for him.
If it's he's gonna play the run, well, guess what
in a rundown with a run formation, we're gonna put
you in. So you know your gap, your fitt and
you're gonna do your thing. And that's just kind of how.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
It goes awesome. All right, guys, Well, I'm gonna expedite
us a bit here because we are crushing it on time.
Let's break down the Raiders. They sit it too and
four big news for them. DeVante Adams now gone out
of the mix, but somehow they also ended up with
Tom Brady as a co owner this week, so a
little bit of a mix up there. What are your
thoughts initially on that trade because he was already out
(30:59):
with a hamstring injury for the last three weeks.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
I feel like relationships kind of run their course, and
I think that relationship ran its course. Davanta Adams was
he was a He was a neighbor of mine in
the Bay Area when he was with h He grew
up in Palo Alto, so he's a neighbor of mine.
His neighbor knew who his neighbor was, Derek Carr, So
he went to the Raiders to play with Derek Carr.
You trade Derek Carr away, that kind of That was
(31:24):
the whole situation there. So I just felt like that
relationship ran dry a little bit. Shout out to Tom Telesco,
who was mad enough to say, hey, listen, this isn't
gonna work. You're not happy. We're not happy. Hey, let's
send to you where you can be happy. We can
get something back in return. That's good business. Is it
good business for the team? I don't. I don't think
so at this point. They have a lot of injuries.
(31:46):
I know it was a trade. Tucker is going to
kind of be there. Their guy going forward at the
receiver position. Brock Bowers is a big weapon for him.
They're struggling run the football right now offensively, so this
is may again, this may be a game where you
can find some success and some traction offensively to help
you out. Obviously, with the quarterback change as well.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Yeah, well, and especially with Adams gone now, I mean
that even with the crazy amount of targets that brock
Bowers has already seen, there are going to be I
would imagine even more going this way down, and there's
going to be even more increased focused on stopping him. Especially.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Yeah, brock Bauers leads all tightands and targets receptions and
receiving yards. That's thirty four or thirty seven receptions in
three hundred and eighty four receiving yards. He's already looking
like he might have a Pro Bowl season.
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Quick insight for people I coached him in high school.
He runs a four three forty like people he didn't run,
but at his size and his speed. In high school
he ran a four or five to one out of
like alignment stance. So he has the ability to run,
as we've seen him run past some guys as well.
So the Rams need to make sure that they take
him very serious because he is a big time player.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
There's also another name that sticks out, as it always does,
Max Crosby. He's really good. He leads the Raiders right
now with five and a half sacks. How do you
manage him?
Speaker 2 (32:59):
This week.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Run the football, run at him, utilize your play action pass,
and I think those tight splits will really affect him.
To me, Max Crosby is a different a different animal
offensive that you have to account for certain guys, like
let's say the Nick Bosa, He's gonna line up on
the same side, he's gonna line up over the left
(33:20):
tackle all the time. You know where he's gonna be.
Max Crosby's gonna line up all over the place. And
so to me, that's that's a little bit of a
concern because he tries to find what we call waldo, Right,
He's gonna find the guy that he could take advantage
of as much as possible, and then try to get
as many reps on him in pass the situations as possible.
If you're the Rams, how do you neutralize that. You
get a good running game going, You stay ahead of
(33:41):
the chains, like Stu said, and you find a way
to play action pass and take shots and you force
him to go through multiple bodies play after play after play.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
And I would add too, from a protection standpoint, maybe
asking the tight ends and running backs to chip and
help out the tackles a little bit too.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Right, Yeah, again, Max is a He has a skill set,
don't get me wrong, but his number one skill set
is effort. He does not stop and that's where he
wears guys down. And you notice he'll get two or
three sacks in like the third fourth quarter because he's
worn down the tackle. So he has a good skill set,
but his number one attribute is that he's an effort
guy all the time. He's one hundred percent all the time.
(34:17):
And so that's what scares me more than anything.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
I love it. We're all on the same page. You
guys just checked off our first key to victory, which
is to run the football. Let's go to our second
key to victory for this matchup with the Las Vegas
Raiders pressuring Aid and O'Connell just his second start, he
is replacing Gardner Minshew's seven interceptions between the two of
them combined, which leads the NFL. What does this team
(34:43):
have to do to try and get him out of rhythm.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
Well, I just remember them winning a game against the
Chiefs where he I don't think he threw a pass
in the last like three quarters of the game. So
to me, in order to if you want to win
this game, you can't allow them to have success running
the football, because they will be stubborn enough just to
they'll just run it if they have to, because they
know that they're they're limited or you know, they have
an issue at the quarterback position. So if you can
(35:06):
stop the run, I would force Aid and O'Connell to
beat me. You have to beat me, right, And that's
that's just kind of my mindset of it. You're gonna
have to beat me without throwing it to bron Bauers too,
Like that's like we're gonna double team him and then
you gotta win. Throw it to everybody else, we don't care.
And so stopping the run, and then when you do
get pressure on him, he will take his eyes as
(35:27):
he starts to feel pressure, he'll take his eyes off
the receivers downfield. So again, knowing, knowing the Raiders being
in that building a long time ago, Uh, they're gonna
try to protect him much they can. They're gonna try
to run the football this week.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
It'd be a good week to finish those or convert
those pressures into tackles for lost and sacks.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Yeah, I love it. Last and finals too. I'm coming
to you next. We have to protect QB one Matthew Stafford.
He's given up sixteen sacks this season. The offensive line
has probably faced more health issues than we Well, actually
there was one one of our season that we faced
this exact same situation. But is there a bright side
to this in terms of a key to victory for
(36:06):
this week?
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Yeah, I think it's gonna be good experience going against
a past rusher like Max Crosby, like we talked about earlier,
and then from a silver lying standpoint, I mean, could
potentially get Joe Nobum back. He did return to practice
this week. Again, his stats for Sunday still to be determined,
but certainly him being back with would help quite a
bit with not only protect protection against Crosby, but just
(36:32):
overall keeping QB one on his feet.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Is he heading in the right direction?
Speaker 2 (36:36):
Is he those those room vays words? I don't know.
I mean, he was, he was limited. He was limited
on on Wednesday. We'll see how how he looks today.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Awesome, All right, guys, Well this has been an extended
cut of between the Arnes only because Jury isn't here.
Happy birthday Jury, of course, man, we really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
I'll also say this Sean McVay said the story is
not written after five games, so Rams fans, I think
it's time for a revision like last season. This is
a wrap on our Week seven edition of Between the Horns,
presented by your Southern California Toyota Dealers. We can't wait
to see you in Sofa Stadium come Sunday.
Welcome to Between the Horns, presented by your Southern California toy,
the Dealers. Cameron Er went alongside by good friends Stu
Jackson and Maurice Jones drew the Rams coming off a
bye week and a bye week for us as well.
Did you get any rest at MJD. I don't think
you did, but maybe, Stu, did you get.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Some rest a little bit? I mean played some golf
and wow, that's w Yeah, exactly. Yeah, play a little
bit of golf and then just watch a lot of
college football and you know all the NFL games that
were on the schedule for that week. So yeah, well
spent at least by my standards.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
So I'm jealous. I had to watch football. You got
to watch games. Yep, it was awesome. Bye week was
a work week for me. I was just getting back
from London. That was awesome over there. Besides the Jags
losing to the Bears, which who have gotten much better
since we've played them, Mike goodness, both offensive and defensively.
(01:03):
But yeah, still a little jet lagged, but we'll figure
it out. We're going to fight do this thing. I
will give you everything I got. I was just for
our fans in a while. I was over there, I
was keeping tabs, I was texting JB. I was watching
the games. I was doing everything I could to kind
of keep saying tact. So I'm really excited for this week,
and really after this bye week was kind of the
plan on the Rams getting back healthy and making a
(01:23):
run like last year.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I was gonna say, MJD may have no idea what
time Zony currently is.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
I'm in China right now, no clue, but.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
We're excited to break down the Los Angeles Rams after
this bye week. It is the Raiders at Sofi Stadium
come Sunday, and I feel like before we get into
any major adjustments coming out of the bye week, let's
take a look at what the state of the Rams
is after the first five sitting at one and four. However,
is it as rough as it may seem. We saw
(01:53):
Sean McVay talk with JB Long earlier this week and
he said the gap may not be as wide as
we imagine it to be. Is that the case?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I would say? So, I mean, look at the standings
for the NFC West, I get there. I mean, record wise,
there's not as much separation as people may think, I mean, yes,
it is what it is as far as you know,
especially where the Rams stand. But there's not a lot
of separation right now, and there's still several weeks left
to make up ground. There's two home games in five
days for the Rams to potentially make up that ground, especially,
(02:21):
so not as insurmountable as people may think.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Hey, I think when you look at kind of the schedule,
and it's not necessarily just the record wins and losses,
it's how you won and how you lost. Right you
go back to Week one, you went in overtime with
the Detroit Lions till you get blown out by Arizona.
So that kind is one of those ones. But then
you beat the Niners. Then you have close losses. You
should have the Rams dominated the Bears game for what
(02:48):
three and a half quarters and allow the Bears to
take the lead late in the game and then kind
of go from there. And then I was against Green Bay.
You have opportunities in that game to win it. You
get the pick six, you get in the red zone,
and again a lot of times and it's not the
twenty to the twenty, it's more the twenty in where
the Rams have struggled, which have cost them those games.
So if you can fix those red zone problems, you
(03:10):
can leaves say the Rams could be three and two
or four and one at this point and having that
ability to go again the red zone has been something
that's kind of started last year towards the end of
the season, and it's kind of carried as well, like
head over to this one. So hopefully that's what you
were looking for after the bias. We're not as far
away because we've had opportunities to win these games, but
(03:30):
we just haven't converted in the red zone.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And there is an accountability to that, right, Like there's
an understanding of maybe it's a bit of inexperienced the
Rams the second youngest team in the NFL on average,
just twenty five and a half years. But there's also
a different level of a bit of frustration because it
feels like it's just within your reach. Right We're talking
about one possession games that the Rams have taken losses,
and how do you go about fixing some of those
(03:55):
issues and those controllables in a bye week like this.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, I think the biggest thing was coming into this season,
you knew that the defense was gonna take a little
bit of time to get adjusted, right because you lost
Aaron Donald, you traded away, you know, Jalen Ramsey. It
was gonna be a younger defense. The offense was gonna
carry the season. They were gonna be the ones you're
gonna lean on. The offense office is gonna score points
a lot of the defense to come along. And then
you have a bunch of injuries that happen, and so
(04:19):
now it's okay, we got to figure out how to
make this thing move while it's going. And so those
losses in those plays that that mistakes, mistakes were made
both offensively defensively, you can learn from those, and you're
hoping that in this bye week that you go back
over what was going on. This is the technique we
need to play, This is what we need to call
(04:39):
in this situation. These are the communication techniques that we need,
and then you hope the young guys can make those
adjustments to go. But I've always said this, and I've
said this a couple of times on the show, those
injuries become blessing in disguises because guys are getting reps
that normally wouldn't have got any reps. Bo Limbert just
comes to mind, is you have a guy that comes
in as a rookie that's playing meaningful, you know, reps
(05:02):
throughout the first half of your season. Once everyone gets healthy,
do you pull them? Do you keep them? And even
if you do, you have a guy that you know
you can count on down the road.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And to that point, the wide receiver room especially I
think is also benefit from that too. A lot of
guys have gotten reps that they maybe wouldn't otherwise if
you had had a healthy Cooper Cup, a healthy Pooka
and Akua, which is really bringing along the depth there
and and putting it in a good place, especially for
the rest of the season.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Stu, you have an incredible pulse on the team. You're
in the practice facility day and in day out. What have
you seen in this week because there was an added
practice on Monday.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yeah, I mean, the the vibes have been good. I mean,
everybody feels really refreshed and you know, recharged and ready
to go. I mean, again, as cliche as that sounds,
the truth just from you know, talking to guys on
Monday and Wednesday and just you know, seeing you know
obviously how you know Sean mcmay feels this week, you know,
everybody feels like they're in a really good space to
(05:54):
be able to, you know, attack this week and get
back on track.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I like that you use the word energy because even
from some of the pressers that we've seen, it seems
like that energy is starting to build and there's a
confidence that's starting to build because there can be parallels
drawn from this season to last season. They were three
and six going into the by then ultimately winning seven
up their last eight. How do you use last season
in terms of building that confidence because that's something they
(06:20):
can hang on to.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
I think you talked about the controllables, right, and as
a player, you can control your effort and your energy.
That's what you can control. Now, there's other things that
we as pros we like to say we control, but
those are the two main things. And so for me,
when you have those effort and energy plays like the
pick six that happened against the Packers, when you can
start to cultivate that and get more consistent play like that,
(06:43):
all of a sudden, it becomes contagious, right, And so
to me, I think when you look at just the
Rams in general, if you go back to the Niners game.
That was a very contagious game with that effort and
energy that they played with. Can you stack it up
the next week? And that's kind of where you have
young guys. It's hard to do that week after week
because again again I remember being a young guy, and
I remember like going crazy one week and then being exhausted,
(07:06):
like what I just emptied the bucket? How do I?
How do I empty the bucket again?
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Right?
Speaker 3 (07:12):
And you learn, you start to learn a routine, You
start to learn do get do I come early all
the time, like you start to figure out who you
are as a player, and then you start to fit
your role. I think the biggest thing that I've learned
with this RAMS team compared to last one is there's
a lot of role players on this one, guys that
are gonna do two at well as a role player, right,
And we talked about roles being growing because of injuries.
(07:35):
That's what He's a guy that we didn't see for
a while last year. Then he comes in, he starts
making place. Now you have a role. Now you have
to be the best in that role as possible, and
that it goes for everybody. And so if you can
control your effort and your energy and your attitude, then
I think it'll turn around.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I think by the same token too, that question you
asked reminded me of what I had asked Matthew Stafford
post game after the Green Bay game, where I said,
you know, obviously every season that you season is its
own story, but what do you draw on from a
leadership standpoint or what can you use from last season
to apply to the current circumstances. And he basically said,
you know, you can't be scared to put yourself out
back out there, regardless of what your records is, and
(08:13):
so playing with that fearlessness is one of the things
that at least that I think about or go back
to in light of that.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, and you mentioned too too, and I think something
just popped into my head in regards to you earn
the right for expectation, right, and each of these guys
has now put performances together, especially at the wide receiver
group where you're going, there's now expectation on them to
perform in the second half. Also, I want to note
you talked about the Bears improvement and you just look
at what the Rams have faced. You thought maybe that
first half wasn't going to be as tough in terms
(08:41):
of strength to schedule. But now considering the NFC North,
of our five competitions, three of them against the NFC North,
there's seventeen and five as a division leading the NFL,
the strength of schedule in the front half for the
Los Angeles Rams has been a daunting task.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Yeah. Absolutely. I mean you knew, especially with opening the
with the home opener, I should say, being against the
forty nine ers, that that was always going to be
a tough challenge obviously owned division, but yeah, especially with
the way that the NFC North is shaping up, with
the way the Packers are playing as well, you know,
those are going to be some really good tests that
(09:16):
I think the you know, the Rams will look back
on and be you know, appreciative of the growth or
opportunities that came from it.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
And again when you talk about the Bears and their growth,
they just really turned around and started running the ball,
became more of a fifty to fifty offense. Understand that
their defense has always been really good. We saw that firsthand.
I think with the Rams it's the opposite right where
we needed offense to get back to being that explosive
team that's scoring twenty eight points, getting you know, two
touchdowns early in the game, putting pressure on the other
(09:45):
side to allow the defense to continue to grow. And
it's not necessarily the front end of the defense that
I'm worried about, because again, Jared versus Fisk have done
an amazing job of adding to Byron Young and Kobe
Turner and the pressure they're bringing in. But it's the
second part of it, right on the back end, the
linebackers being able to cover in space you now have
to take over. And I think that's gonna be the
(10:06):
next step for this Rams defense. Is can that that
front if it's five guys, if it's four guys, if
it's three guys, can you get pressure on the quarterback
consistently and consistently meaning every snap right the quarterback has
to either move his pocket or take his eyes off
off of the routes so that you can help those
guys in the back and as they get healthy and
healthier and start to play.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Better, especially too, because some of the things that you
know the Rams do in terms of you know, covered
structures or the way they approach the secondary ties into
those rush planes as well. Right, and the way they
rush the passer.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
It was so funny. When I first got with the Rams,
I was like, this is so unsound what they're doing it.
It was like unbelievable, just some of the covers things.
But when you have Aaron Donald who can get pressure
in two seconds, like, we have the luxury of doing
that right, And so I think, now you're again it's
a learning process. This is what we've done for the
last I know, we've been here since twenty sixteen, so
(11:00):
nine years is the last one we've done. And now
we have to switch it up, and that's a learning process.
How do how do we switch it up? Do we
run more stunts on the front, do we play tighter
coverage on the back end? Do we like And so
again we knew the first couple of weeks it was
gonna take some time, but I thought the Rams defense
have done an awesome job of getting off the field.
They've converted a lot of those pressures in the sacks
as of lately. You just hope that they can continue
(11:22):
that growth as they kep going. And then you know,
the last thing I'll say is this when you're asking
rookies to play a lot and to play and to
be impact players. The rookie wall is the most is
a thing that you have to worry about, and having
that by early is gonna kind of push that wall
back a little bit, because again they shouldn't be worn
down as much.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Well, you gave me a beautiful transition. So I was
just about to ask you about Jared Vers and Kobe
Turner and that pass rush and the optimism that you
can find, but you detailed it beautifully. I'll give you
one more in terms of a silver line in Kobe
Turner had a great performance against green Bay. Six tackles
too for loss, two sacks and two QB hits. So
looking for that consistency. But that is a huge step
(12:04):
in the right direction. All right, Let's shift here. So
the NFC West is technically up for grabs. You look
at what the rest of the field looks like. The
Seahawks forty nine ers and Cards forty nine ers and
Seahawks at three and three, Cards at two and four
forty nine ers have a tough test this week. They
face the Chiefs, Seahawks have the Falcons who are also
four and two, and the Cardinals take on the Chargers
(12:24):
for Monday Night, Football who are at three and two.
You look at strength of schedule, and this is a
little interesting. To close this out for the NFC West,
the top of the order in terms of strength of
schedule remaining is San Francisco and then Seattle. The Rams
at three in the division, this could really work in
their favor. And I already asked, is it that far
out of reach? The numbers and history don't go our direction. However,
(12:48):
the Rams have proven it before. So what do you
feel like they have to do? Do they have to
pick up both of these wins in the next five days.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I don't want to say its must win to that extent,
but I do think I mean, yeah, they do need
to take advantage of having these two home games in
five days, especially when you consider that you'll be when
you do resume, you know, traveling or roadplay, that you're
going to be at Seattle at the beginning of November.
So getting a couple wins in this stretch would be
(13:20):
absolutely huge, like I said earlier, for not only making
up that ground, but also just you know, getting yourself
on the right track and being in a good space
going into what's obviously one of the most challenging road
environments in the league.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
It's funny. I feel like every game is a must
win in the NFL, just because of how certain teams
playing in certain teams. But it's funny how Arizona's been
playing lately. After they played the Rams, right, that wasn't
the same team. They haven't been the same team we've
seen in week since Week two, which is very interesting.
And then Niners have their own issues trying to figure
out offensive without CMC. They have a lot of guys
(13:54):
banged up, and they've been struggling as well. You're right,
this is gonna be a tough game. This is almost
a game for the Niners that they need to win
to get confidence, to feel like they're back that team
that can contend in Super Bowls. And then if you
look at Seattle, Seattle was three and oh right, and
all of a sudden they've lost. They've lost three straight
and there's something going on where they can't figure it out.
I mean, they're losing the teams that you feel like
(14:15):
they should have had the handle, especially at home, right
because it's always tough to go to the Northwest, Fron anywhere,
And so to me, I think the Rams are in
prime position, prime position, meaning early in the year, there
was a lot of expectation. Everyone was kind of buzzing,
you know, you were coming back all these things, and
that expectations kind of dropped a little bit, which means
you're under the radar. And if you can just stack
(14:36):
one win, which is again, this Raiders team, there's a
lot of they're all messed up. I don't even know
what this everyone it's called. But again I'm in China
and discombobulated. I just feel like, yeah, well, they have
a fracture in their locker room right now, right when
you trade away Devonte Adams. You know, as much as
(14:59):
I love Antonio, here's why. I was a good friend
of mine, played against them, grew up with them, coached
against them. He's trying to create a certain culture there,
right and so they have some issues that they're fighting
through right now. This is a great time to kind
of get a nice jumpstart on the team that's that's
trying to figure out who they are. And then you
get the Minnesota Vikings at home on a Thursday. And
(15:20):
the best part about that is if you're able to
win Sunday win Thursday, that Thursday game is gonna be
huge because that's top of the NFC right now. Right
the Minnesota Vikings are the top the upper echeline of
the NFC. So if you're able to find a way
to get that victory, then all of a sudden, now
you have confidence rolling in and then you can go
into Seattle energy effort. Confidence, we're playing better, We're doing
(15:44):
what we need to do, and you know, I think again,
that's the biggest thing, the biggest issue for our fans.
It's never a talent issue in the NFL. It's always
who's more confident in their scheme and what they're doing.
And so that's kind of what you're hoping that the
Rams get these next two weeks, is that they can
go while these other teams are having to fight this
uphill battle, you're under the radar and you can just
chop away game after game and find a way to
(16:06):
win it.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
I love it. All Right, let's reset offensive and defensive
play coming out of the buy. Maybe some adjustments that
we might see. The good news is there's been a
lot of talk about Cooper Cup this week. There's potential
that we may see him.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Is that true. I'm just saying I have him. He's
in there right now. But Stu, I need you to
let me know.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
He's trending in the right direction, but possibly plays.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
I know what that means.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Yeah, so I know that coach talk yep. So that
that's from McVeigh. I mean that, no official designation or
status as far as whether he'll play or not. But
got an individual got some individuals.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Look great too by the way.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Yeah, was moving was moving well at least from I
can tell what I could tell. I mean again, uh,
the full breakdown of that, I'll leave to the experts
that people who are actually monitoring his workouts more closely.
But yeah, we'll see me obviously, as we all know,
if he if he coults back, that would be a huge,
huge boost for this offense. And I think we'd also
(17:07):
you know, help with especially some of the issues that
we've seen in those one possession losses where you know,
you have that you know, that chemistry that again we
all have known and have seen between him and Stafford
where they're very rarely, if ever had are they not
on the same page in those situations, and they can
just you know connect and get those things back on track.
(17:28):
But yeah, so we'll see looking good, but still to
be determined.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
How does the dynamic shift if he is back in
the mix offensively, I.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Think it's a it's a huge It's a huge victory
for not only the Rams in general, but for like
two two at well. Right, who's been kind of the
guy the focal point of the passing game, Kobe Parkinson,
he should be see less coverage or eyes on him,
and a lot of that should go there. Then, I
also believe you what you've done through the last couple
of weeks, he hasn't been there. You've created depth, meaning
(17:58):
that he doesn't have to play a high percent of
the snaps right, give him a break here or there.
As you've gained more trust than these other guys that
are making plays. And then when Puka comes back, all
of a sudden, now we have six guys that we
can trust to go out there role and we don't
have to run these guys into the ground. That's a
little bit. That's like from an analyst standpoint. As a coach,
we always want our best guys out there, but I
(18:19):
think those other guys have earned a lot of trust.
I think Jordan Winnington's earned a ton of trust both
in the running game and the way he's blocking and
also catching the ball over the middle of the field,
right running those deep end routes or crossing routes two
two ouls again finding ways to create separation right understanding
who he is, and it seemed like again it felt
like the Rams are kind of going away from him
(18:39):
a little bit, and then now it's like he drug
him back in, Like, look, I can still make plays
and be a difference maker on this team, stretching the
field vertically as well as breaking those comebacks out of
those out routes. So having Cooper Cup back puts more
pressure on the opposite defense because I just mentioned all
these guys and we're going to talk about another guy
here in the running game soon that I think will
help again, right, I think the Rams have done a
(19:01):
great job of building his roster. It's just getting everybody
out there on the same page, playing at the same time.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
The first thing I thought of was red zone. It's
been a conversation through the first five weeks of play
for the Los Angeles Rams, and just to give you
some numbers for Cooper Cup He's been the number one
red zone threat for the Rams all except for two
years when he had some injuries, But just some more
numbers for you. Ninety receptions on one hundred and thirty
four targets. That's in the red zone alone for six
hundred and sixty one yards. He has thirty seven red
(19:29):
zone touchdowns. The number one threat returning hopefully to the
Los Angeles Rams this week, let's talk a little defense. Actually, no,
you mentioned another running back, Blake carm We saw the mixture.
It was nice to see him out there versus Green Bay.
Your thoughts on his performance and how that could be
maybe a two headed monster.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
I thought, I thought he did an awesome job and
I felt like he's very explosive, right, you see it,
the way he moves. I love what Kiren does. He
just moves different, and maybe because he's a little fresher,
a little younger, Kiren does an awesome job of manipulating
linebackers and he's great in the past game and we've
seen him explode. But to be able to put another
guy in there to give him a break, right, I
(20:09):
think it just makes the Rams more explosive. As Blake
continues to understand the offense and grow, the more confident
they get in him, the more he can play, the
more Matthew Stafford can feel comfortable to check the ball
down to him right and to see him. To me,
that draft pick was the key to this offense because
I've been in a two headed running back and room
(20:31):
with myself and Fred Taylor. It was unstoppable. And we
weren't the best passing team we like, And it's not
that Cooper Cup like, we had bigger guys, but we
didn't throw the ball. We ran the ball eighty percent
of the time, seventy percent of the time. So when
you can still win ten twelve games running the ball
like that much, and imagine that with what the Rams
have right with all the motions and shifts and be
(20:53):
able to split those carries, and how that'll carry you
throughout the season. Especially you know, as our fans, no,
football doesn't really start counting counting until Thanksgiving. Once they
get Thanksgiving hits, that's when you know where you are.
That's why it's like there's so much more time left
for the Rams. As soon as they Thanksgiving hits, you're like, okay,
where a my position now to make this run at
(21:14):
the playoffs? Very similar last year Thanksgiving hit, the Rams
were able to figure out where they were then they
ran off some play some games and won, so they
have some time. But as long as they can continue
to get healthy and get these younger guys playing offensively,
I don't I think your red zone woes will go away.
I think you become a very explosive offense where you're
not having those twelve fifteen play drives, you'll have seven eight,
(21:40):
you know, five four, maybe a one play touchdown drive
because you take a shot down the field or you
can check the ball down and the guy can go
to the house. So Blake Koram did an awesome job
against the Packers. I think his explosiveness makes his offense
so much more dangerous. Though.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
The other thing I'll say too about blakekorm that I
really like is you see him use those jump cuts
sometimes where like, you know, there may not be something there,
kind of similar to Kyroen, where like you know, he'll
use a jump cut to make something out of nothing basically,
and next thing you know, he's, you know, gaining five
or six yards on a play that looks like it
might be going for a loss.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
That's what you're looking for.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Yeah, so having two of those is obviously something that's
especially helpful. For keeping the offense ahead of schedule and
ahead of those change chains.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
All right, let's switch gears defensive side of the ball.
We saw a bit of a different look in the
secondary against the Packers, Josh Wallace in the mix. Do
you expect to see a different look or maybe the
same from Green Bay?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Well? See, I mean, one thing that maybe they kind
of alluded to was the fact that you know, some
of those rotations and adjustments to the secondary were based
on essentially how they were approaching and preparing for the Packers.
Could be a different story depending on what they see
on tape against the Raiders obviously, but sounded like from
especially at the cornerback position, he's pretty happy with how
(22:54):
that looked, and it sounds like the way that they
use the corners is the way that we'll continue to
see that for this week. We'll see with the with
the safety position. But obviously it was huge having Darius
Williams back, and like I said, we'll see what happens
in terms of like if we see more of Jalen
(23:15):
mccolla and Josh Wallace again like we did previously.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
I feel like, you know something you kind of like
going around it. I'll say this. I talking with the
coaches early in the year. They were still trying to
figure out what this secondary is going to look like,
and and I feel like they don't have an answer
yet and they're still trying to figure those things out,
and that's gonna happen. Especially again, we talked about it
how this defense was a work in progress, and as
(23:38):
much as I think as fans or as people that
aren't in the building all the time, or as coaches,
it's like, well, you should just go with this group
and just let like no, no, no, no. Like I
think Sean McVay said it, best, competition breeds greatness, Like
you have to figure out, Okay, you're not playing the
best right now, we need to put someone else in
and see what they could do your job. Maybe that
brings the best out of you. Maybe you you you know,
you start to pick it up a little bit. And
(24:00):
so to me, figuring out the best four that you
can have back there to start in your base or
the best five out there if you're a nickel is
going to be important because again we saw the secondary
kind of they've been giving up some chunk plays here
and there, So you got to make sure that you
tighten that up and lock it in whoever it may be.
It's gonna be interesting to see this week and then
obviously on our short week after that, find a way
(24:23):
to make plays. And I think that's gonna be you know,
it's easy to say that, but having the right eyes
where your eyes are supposed to be, making sure you're
in the right position and have the right leverage. Those
are the little things that the Rams safeties or secondary
and needs to fix and get right.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
The Rams look to solidify their run defense, and there's
been a lot of conversation around the linebacking group. Do
you anticipate maybe seeing Omar Spas in the mix?
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Well? See, I mean one thing I saw online some
of the comparisons as far as like, you know, pro
football focused grades and comparing them to current starters versus
guys who played in the preseason, where he says, you know,
like that's not exactly an apples to apples comparison. And
so again, one thing that McBay had mentioned before is
that you know, if if those changes were necessary, then
(25:13):
like basically the guys who and and it was warranted,
like the guys who would be out there, like who
have those opportunities would would be playing. But you know, ultimately,
like he's they're gonna there could be more changes on
the way, we'll see, you know, he mentioned obviously like
they're obviously in consideration of, you know, whatever's best for
the team, and so who knows does that mean more
(25:37):
even just like a handful more snaps for Omar Spates
compared to you know, the basically the snaps that really
hasn't been getting at all, or you know, what does
that mean exactly for inside linebackers some of these other
positions we'll see. But again, and I think the other
thing you have to keep in mind too, especially with
(25:57):
some of these position changes, and I'm talking about inside
line by because that's the one that's been generating the
most conversation right now. You know, Troy Reader is the
green dot, the onfield defensive signal caller. Like any adjustment
you make like that, Now, if if you decide to
make changes there, that affects the operation, the whole operation
of the defense. And so there are just a lot
(26:17):
of factors in play between a player's readiness. Uh, the
transition for preseeds is in the regular season, and I mean,
I'm sure I'm forgetting some other factors as well. But
I don't know, how do you see that?
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Yeah, well, I would say this you first and foremost,
you have to look at how the Rams allocate their resources, right,
They don't really allocate a lot of resource to the
inside linebacker position, the off ball backer. They look the
outside backer, they look to corner. Uh they loved obviously
d line pressure, and so you're gonna lose some there
if you're not allocating resources to that position. Where if
(26:49):
you look at the Niners, for example, they they allocate
a lot of resources the off off ball linebacker. So
it's just it's just a different philosophy with saying that.
And I understand I see all that as well. And
I know there's a lot of fans that are, you know,
clamoring for a more space or changes or trades or
whatever it may be. You have to understand and trust
that Sean mcvah and this staff, they've been doing this
(27:10):
for a long time, and Sean is an offensive mind,
knows how to really manipulate that position, and so he's
gonna put who they believe are going to give them
the best chance to win. At times, some of the
guys rose Boom or Reader. They're not the best in
space and we know that. I mean, that's just it's
been like that since they've been here. And it's not
saying that they care or they can't do it. It's just
(27:32):
when you have Roseboom match up on DJ Moore, that's
a matchup that the Bears like. I think DJ Moore
and a lot of people the Bears would like that situation.
So you just have to find ways to put those
guys in position. That's where the coaching comes in. Put
them in a better position to be successful. And that's
kind of going to it maybe limited you a little bit,
it may not, but you want to make sure you're
(27:53):
putting those guys and a chance to have a high
success rate. And I think teams have kind of offensively
information to put them in a position and not have
as much success. And that's why you're seeing a lot
of the issue. So maybe Omar space the answer. Again.
I was one of the big fans of him coming
out of preseason where he was like the most physical
(28:14):
dude I'd ever like. It was awesome to see that,
but I also understand the preseason, Like when I played
in the preseas, it was like, look, don't touch me.
I'm trying to get out of bounds. I was gonna
give him a look and then I'm out of here, right.
And so I know it's a little bit different when
you get into the regular season and coaches are scheming.
They have guys spending hours and hours and hours weeks
on weeks and weeks on one game. Right, And I'll
(28:36):
give our fans a quick a quick insight on it.
We were in Arizona, and who do we play after
to Arizona? We played the Niners? Right, who do you
play after the Niners? It was Chicago, Chicago. There was
a scout from Chicago at the Arizona game that I
know who was scouting the Rams because they play him
two weeks from now, and so they they scout weeks
ahead of time to figure out how to do this,
(28:58):
and then they give that information to the coaching staff
for that week. So understand that, you know people are
figuring out how to do that. It's just again, you
want to try to do your best as a coach
to put them in the best chance to be successful.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
The other thing I'll add to that real quick too,
is I asked McVay the other day in this press conference, Like, basically,
how do you weigh having enough of a sample size
and enough health essentially at a position to know when
a change is warranted versus it just being simply being
a matter of you know, getting healthy at a position
in order to you know, decide whether or not you know,
(29:31):
you need to make changes from a personnel standpoint, And
he said, that's like, that's obviously you know, the the
balance or the difficult balance that you're trying to strike
in wigh and that you know it may not necessarily
be wholesale changes. Just going back to my comment about
somebody like Omar Space earlier, it could just mean it
could be as simple as somebody like getting more snaps
right than they have before, or being more involved in
(29:53):
some capacity, And so that's something we could potentially be
looking at to when it comes to whatever those person
changes now.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Also, and I'll add to this, they may add a package, right,
so maybe it's a certain package where he comes in.
And again, when you put those packages, it's for him
to showcase his abilities and what they're confident in. And
I think that's what our fans have to understand, Like
it's hard to put a player out there if you're
not confident that he could do everything. So when you
put a you don't want him to lose. Again, we
(30:21):
talk about confidence all the time. You don't want him
to lose that. So whatever he's great at, that's what
this package is going to kind of showcase for him.
If it's he's gonna play the run, well, guess what
in a rundown with a run formation, we're gonna put
you in. So you know your gap, your fitt and
you're gonna do your thing. And that's just kind of how.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
It goes awesome. All right, guys, Well, I'm gonna expedite
us a bit here because we are crushing it on time.
Let's break down the Raiders. They sit it too and
four big news for them. DeVante Adams now gone out
of the mix, but somehow they also ended up with
Tom Brady as a co owner this week, so a
little bit of a mix up there. What are your
thoughts initially on that trade because he was already out
(30:59):
with a hamstring injury for the last three weeks.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
I feel like relationships kind of run their course, and
I think that relationship ran its course. Davanta Adams was
he was a He was a neighbor of mine in
the Bay Area when he was with h He grew
up in Palo Alto, so he's a neighbor of mine.
His neighbor knew who his neighbor was, Derek Carr, So
he went to the Raiders to play with Derek Carr.
You trade Derek Carr away, that kind of That was
(31:24):
the whole situation there. So I just felt like that
relationship ran dry a little bit. Shout out to Tom Telesco,
who was mad enough to say, hey, listen, this isn't
gonna work. You're not happy. We're not happy. Hey, let's
send to you where you can be happy. We can
get something back in return. That's good business. Is it
good business for the team? I don't. I don't think
so at this point. They have a lot of injuries.
(31:46):
I know it was a trade. Tucker is going to
kind of be there. Their guy going forward at the
receiver position. Brock Bowers is a big weapon for him.
They're struggling run the football right now offensively, so this
is may again, this may be a game where you
can find some success and some traction offensively to help
you out. Obviously, with the quarterback change as well.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Yeah, well, and especially with Adams gone now, I mean
that even with the crazy amount of targets that brock
Bowers has already seen, there are going to be I
would imagine even more going this way down, and there's
going to be even more increased focused on stopping him. Especially.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Yeah, brock Bauers leads all tightands and targets receptions and
receiving yards. That's thirty four or thirty seven receptions in
three hundred and eighty four receiving yards. He's already looking
like he might have a Pro Bowl season.
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Quick insight for people I coached him in high school.
He runs a four three forty like people he didn't run,
but at his size and his speed. In high school
he ran a four or five to one out of
like alignment stance. So he has the ability to run,
as we've seen him run past some guys as well.
So the Rams need to make sure that they take
him very serious because he is a big time player.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
There's also another name that sticks out, as it always does,
Max Crosby. He's really good. He leads the Raiders right
now with five and a half sacks. How do you
manage him?
Speaker 2 (32:59):
This week.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Run the football, run at him, utilize your play action pass,
and I think those tight splits will really affect him.
To me, Max Crosby is a different a different animal
offensive that you have to account for certain guys, like
let's say the Nick Bosa, He's gonna line up on
the same side, he's gonna line up over the left
(33:20):
tackle all the time. You know where he's gonna be.
Max Crosby's gonna line up all over the place. And
so to me, that's that's a little bit of a
concern because he tries to find what we call waldo, Right,
He's gonna find the guy that he could take advantage
of as much as possible, and then try to get
as many reps on him in pass the situations as possible.
If you're the Rams, how do you neutralize that. You
get a good running game going, You stay ahead of
(33:41):
the chains, like Stu said, and you find a way
to play action pass and take shots and you force
him to go through multiple bodies play after play after play.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
And I would add too, from a protection standpoint, maybe
asking the tight ends and running backs to chip and
help out the tackles a little bit too.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Right, Yeah, again, Max is a He has a skill set,
don't get me wrong, but his number one skill set
is effort. He does not stop and that's where he
wears guys down. And you notice he'll get two or
three sacks in like the third fourth quarter because he's
worn down the tackle. So he has a good skill set,
but his number one attribute is that he's an effort
guy all the time. He's one hundred percent all the time.
(34:17):
And so that's what scares me more than anything.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
I love it. We're all on the same page. You
guys just checked off our first key to victory, which
is to run the football. Let's go to our second
key to victory for this matchup with the Las Vegas
Raiders pressuring Aid and O'Connell just his second start, he
is replacing Gardner Minshew's seven interceptions between the two of
them combined, which leads the NFL. What does this team
(34:43):
have to do to try and get him out of rhythm.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
Well, I just remember them winning a game against the
Chiefs where he I don't think he threw a pass
in the last like three quarters of the game. So
to me, in order to if you want to win
this game, you can't allow them to have success running
the football, because they will be stubborn enough just to
they'll just run it if they have to, because they
know that they're they're limited or you know, they have
an issue at the quarterback position. So if you can
(35:06):
stop the run, I would force Aid and O'Connell to
beat me. You have to beat me, right, And that's
that's just kind of my mindset of it. You're gonna
have to beat me without throwing it to bron Bauers too,
Like that's like we're gonna double team him and then
you gotta win. Throw it to everybody else, we don't care.
And so stopping the run, and then when you do
get pressure on him, he will take his eyes as
(35:27):
he starts to feel pressure, he'll take his eyes off
the receivers downfield. So again, knowing, knowing the Raiders being
in that building a long time ago, Uh, they're gonna
try to protect him much they can. They're gonna try
to run the football this week.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
It'd be a good week to finish those or convert
those pressures into tackles for lost and sacks.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Yeah, I love it. Last and finals too. I'm coming
to you next. We have to protect QB one Matthew Stafford.
He's given up sixteen sacks this season. The offensive line
has probably faced more health issues than we Well, actually
there was one one of our season that we faced
this exact same situation. But is there a bright side
to this in terms of a key to victory for
(36:06):
this week?
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Yeah, I think it's gonna be good experience going against
a past rusher like Max Crosby, like we talked about earlier,
and then from a silver lying standpoint, I mean, could
potentially get Joe Nobum back. He did return to practice
this week. Again, his stats for Sunday still to be determined,
but certainly him being back with would help quite a
bit with not only protect protection against Crosby, but just
(36:32):
overall keeping QB one on his feet.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Is he heading in the right direction?
Speaker 2 (36:36):
Is he those those room vays words? I don't know.
I mean, he was, he was limited. He was limited
on on Wednesday. We'll see how how he looks today.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Awesome, All right, guys, Well this has been an extended
cut of between the Arnes only because Jury isn't here.
Happy birthday Jury, of course, man, we really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
I'll also say this Sean McVay said the story is
not written after five games, so Rams fans, I think
it's time for a revision like last season. This is
a wrap on our Week seven edition of Between the Horns,
presented by your Southern California Toyota Dealers. We can't wait
to see you in Sofa Stadium come Sunday.
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