December 5, 2024 • 35 mins
J.B. Long, D'Marco Farr, and Maurice Jones-Drew talk takeaways from Week 13, Los Angeles Rams rookie defensive end Braden Fiske winning Defensive Rookie of the Month for November, claiming cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr., keys to victory against the Buffalo Bills, and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
All right, here we go, Ramley. This is a big one.
Welcome to between the Horns, resented by your southern California
Toyota dealers. I'm JB along with MJD and DeMarco far
the Buffalo Bills already AFC East champions are coming to
Sofi Stadium this week. How you guys doing good?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Don't get scared. I'm not scared. No, I mean you
got to have a healthy respect. Again, just like Philadelphia,
a good team coming to town, and you gotta play
your best football healthy respect or you kind of have to.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
I feel like sometimes you have to have a little
nervous as to you, Like, if we don't play our
best game, this can kind of get away from you
a little bit.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
And it looks like it got.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Away from the AFC East after like Week three, right,
Like the Buffalo Bills stumbled a little bit early and
then they caught fire. And Josh Allen is he's not
He's really not the guy that we've seen the last
couple years. They're running the football better than anybody right now.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
MVP front runner for you. If you had to choose right.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Now, I'm gonna go, you know me, running backs matter
I'm gonna go with sakuon alright, DeMarco, he's in the clubhouse,
he's the clubhouse leader right now as MVP.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I like this opportunity right now for the Rams though, right,
Like sure, intimidating an opponent, but like if you want
to get in the dance, if you want to play
for the ultimate prize, that's the potential AFC representative right there,
another chance to level up.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
That's the crazy thing about professional football. I mean, when
you have all your goals are you want to control
your destiny going into the playoffs, often times you're going
to bump into a pretty good team you have to
beat that week. This is the same thing. So Buffalo's
coming to town. I think they're playing their best football
of the year. Let's hope the Rams can get there
to you know, kind of fend that off in so far. Yeah,
(01:40):
to me, it's it was kind of like.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
When you play like ray Lewis, or you play like
like Lofa Tatupu who is sc and these guys, And
to me, it was like, how is my off season workout.
I'm gonna put that to a test going against this guy, right.
I think it's the same for the Rams. How has
your off season? How is the all the games before
this prepared you for the game? Are you willing to
stand up and stop the run? Can you get to
(02:03):
the quarterback and get sacks right? Can't allow him to
break the pocket? Offensively? You know you're gonna see some
form of cover two and critical downs? Are you ready
and prepared for those? And then can you run the
football on your own right to get them to go
to a single high safety and take care and really
take advantage of Taylor rap in that situation?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
A guy that you know, you know.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
What's interesting is tell me if you disagree. I don't
think the Rams had played their best game yet. I
don't think they've put a full game on display. There
been some partial candidates, But if you asked me, okay,
the Rams that you were hoping to see coming out
of training camp, which game have they played to live
up to that billing?
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I mean the four touchdowns from Stafford twice has been
pretty good. I thought, to be honest, I know this's
gonna sound crazy, but I thought New England they had
played their best. They were playing their best game until
like that personal file from Jared Verse and the kind
of went downhill a little bit, but other than that,
they were just smothered. I thought the Vikings was another
tough opponent that you played really well.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Against Vikings all here, Patriots, Well, when you have.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
To remember you're traveling across the country, you have to
play a team who's who's beaten some pretty good teams
in the NFL. And really they took the Chargers to
the overtime. They've played well at home. They just played
terrible on the road. But you take that if you're
the Rams, right, you're taking a more physical opponent the
least that I thought would be more physical, and you
went and took it to them.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
I guess they answer is they haven't played their best
game yet. I mean there was That's what I'm hoping
there's been elements of. I mean Minnesota, I thought was great.
You came out of the gate, you answered Sam Darnold,
who was absolutely hot. I'm right there with you. At
New England, I thought that was your best opportunity to
play a complete game on both sides, and it kind
of got away from you. It became a game at
the end. But I still think they're searching. I think
(03:42):
there was elements in New Orleans where you were really
clicking on both sides and then you let it be
a game again. So we've seen it time and time again.
But I still think their best game is out there,
and I do think you're gonna need that to beat
Buffalo this weekend. Dare I say Week one might have
been their best game?
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Take me the lost, but you take Detroit to overtime
in Detroit week one, and then we've seen what Detroit's
been able to do here down the stretch with what
your third left.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I get that your left tacks not even on the roster,
but I hope your best performance leads to a win.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
That's where I'm going.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, I hope your best performance isn't a losing effort,
you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Yeah, you know what's funny about that, Like they always
talk about the process and thinking about the process.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
And like you really can't. The outcome sometimes is.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Out of your control, if that makes sense, Like you
can go out there and play your best game, Like
you can go out there and be perfect and then
like one or two plays they're perfect and then booth,
the game is over right, And so to me for
the Rams in this in this situation against the Buffalo Bills.
You want to play your best game, because this is
time to play your best game.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
The outcome is going to be the outcome. You want
to play four.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, you should be reving up to play your best
as you get down the stretch because again you want
to get hot.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah. For the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
A couple of things. One, At this moment in time,
I think we have to celebrate climbing from one to
four up the mountain to six and six. The rams
have not yet been above five hundred, and that's part
of the reason why I'm excited about this week is
because I think that chance is there. But to get
from one to four to six and six, we all
would have signed those papers immediately to have this chance
with five games to go.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Totally, you have to give them credit climbing out of
the cellar and just climbing out of like you said,
the pit of hell of professional football being below five
hundred here skin, you know what I'm saying. It's crazy
like that. Give them a lot of credit between the lines.
With the way you've played. You still got back to
five hundred, so I see where you're going. You have
(05:33):
to give them credit for it. But remember you dug
yourself a hole. So but I think it all goes
back to what we're saying. This team is still in
search of their best performance of the year, and this
is the most important time of the year. Was it
Bill Parcels that says the season really doesn't get started
until after Thanksgiving? That, well, here we are, this is
your first game after so much.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
It's so crazy how much can change in like a
seven week span right now, right now, Like you'll see
all type of stuff going.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
On, and one team will get hot and they'll just
make a run.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Like literally, I were talking about hard knocks before we
started the show, the Cincinnati Bengals, like, look, we still
got a chance. And the crazy part is if they
get hot, no one wants to play them in the
AFC because they've beaten everyone in a given time. And
so if you're the Rams, you feel the same way, like,
if we can get our best foot forward going and
start playing consistent good football, you just never know.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
I love echoes from the past, and we just looked
it up before we started this show. Last year's Rams
pattern was similar. They got hot at the end of
the season. Where were they at six and six? They
had just beaten the Cleveland Browns going on the road
to face an AFC favorite, Baltimore. Now they didn't win
that game, they lost in overtime.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
They played, but that might.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Have been their best performance of this season. So here
they are again against an AFC contender. It's at SOFI
Stadium this time around. Wouldn't be nice if again they
played like that and they finished the drill.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
This time we're in the matrix. Same thing again. Here
we go, same quarterbacks, same everything. That's one thing I
guess I could say, to play your best game, Matthew
Stafford has to be better, and that seems unfair to
ask him to do more, but I think it is
fair if you want to talk about getting off to
better starts, playing your best football, all that stuff, supplement
and the defense, it all comes back to him. So
(07:15):
if he's better and better early, I think you have
a better shot. Because, like you said with Buffalo, man,
if you get behind them and they start that avalanche
where he can't be stopped, his confidence is building and
they've got pass rushers to get to you. It's hard,
It really is hard to dig yourself out of that hole.
So the best thing is get ahead, stay ahead and
have your quarterback completing passes and staying on the field.
It's gotta happen.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
We're off to an amazing start. You know why Why
because we haven't even hit subject one on the script yet. Yeah,
which I love because did I tell you he got
us in trouble last week?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I know me specifically, Oh no, why what did I do?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Well? It was what Cameron, you and Stu? Yeah, right,
pre Thanksgiving between the horns. Yes, you guys got out
of here in twenty three minutes. Yes, and our boss
was like JB.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Part of that was editing though, so we'll leave that alone.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
When you run this show, it stills into like forty five.
No one's complaining. The common section is raving. Well, yeah,
there's no excuse for having a long edition between the
leaves anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
This late in the season, like you said, and you
still have a chance to control your destiny. This is
what we pray for here. I say, this is the
first team's revenge game. Though.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Remember we had this whole deal with von Miller set
up a couple of years ago and Bond he decides
to say, hey, you know what, I'm gonna go to Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
That was weird. Dropping the banners and then having Vond
on the other side was strange.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Well, you already dropped Taylor Rapp. You're gonna go David Edwards.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I understanding those guys.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
It was kind of a different situation, like Bond had
a chance to stay in LA and decided to go
to Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
So this is like if a rams like, hey, we
got to get some get back for that.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
You want to go back to New Orleans for just
a second, Like, help me decipher what to take away
as a building block and what's just beating a team
that's probably not ticketed for the playoffs. Where do we
come down on the win over New Orleans?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Do you think New Orleans is bad? I don't think
they're bad. Yeah, I think they're flawed. Yeah, I think
they're missing some pieces. And you know, been there as
a player and broadcast or whatever, so they're not bad.
They're better than you think. So I think going down
there and winning in New Orleans is always big no
matter what the records are, and they're pretty good when
you get in their wheelhouse, and like you said, if
(09:19):
you can't score early and then they start moving the
ball on you, they kept you out there for an
entire quarter. I know we want to give the offense
some heat for being on the field for a minute
two seconds in the first quarter, but give New Orleans
credit because they kept the defense on the field no
for ever. So that's a tough place to dig yourself
out of a deficit, and they did that, So give
them a lot of credit. I know the records really matter,
(09:41):
but it doesn't matter at kickoff. It matters who plays
the best on game day. So getting that victory down there,
I thought was huge. Give them a lot of credit
on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Yeah, to me, I thought, you having your two back
system kind of got going there right, A little blake quorum,
he was running, then.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
All of a sudden, kiren comes back. He starts running.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Now you feel more comfortable both guys in there playing,
which again, I think it's something that the Rams are
going to use down the stretch, run the football a
little bit better.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
The outside zone was there.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I was just about to say, what type of running
team are the Rams?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Whatever they need to be.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
I feel like like we can run downhill if we
have to, but if it's not working, we can go
sideline to sideline and they're starting to utilize those and
the running backs are running harder, they're running better, right,
they're breaking tackles, And to me, when you have two
guys that can do that, takes a lot of pressure
off your quarterback, a lot of pressure off your defense. Right,
you allow your defense to rest, and then your offensive
line is going forward, which every offensive lineman wants to
(10:30):
do because it's easier than obviously going backwards and pass
blocking against the guy's probably more athletic than you. So
to me, getting that running game going that was a
huge building block and obviously winning at the same time,
but I think that was a step in being the
team they want to be down the stretch.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
You're Ron Gold for this week. Okay, you're the position
coach for that room. What's your mix like based on
what we saw last week in New Orleans? Coach Cool, tell.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Oh, I'm serious. For series.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
You get a serious, You get a serious and then
you know what, if there's a play that I there's
a place specifically for a certain running back, get it.
But this is your series because again, as we get
down the stretch, I need guys fresh. We gotta be
fresh in the fourth quarter. So it's time to go
serious for serious, I think Blake's earned that, and I
think Iron for the benefit of him is you get
a chance to get a little breather here and there.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
We were comfortable with it.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Let me talk trenches with you, because when I try
and decipher, all, right, from the disappointment of Philly to
the triumph in New Orleans, what's the difference there? Yeah,
what's well both, what's closer to reality? And as much
as we want to talk about Sequon, don't get me wrong,
we want to vote for him MVP. I'm good with that.
But you told me before the game that was the
biggest team you've ever seen in person, the Philadelphia And
(11:40):
then I'm looking at New Orleans and they're playing a
backup center, a backup left guard who has to be
replaced by a third, and a rookie left tackle, and
I'm saying, Okay, I can't compare this apples to apples
with Alvin Kamara and Saquon Barkley because Philadelphia is the
upper crust and they're good, and yeah, New Orleans is
just average.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
So okay, Philly is hard to compare to anyone because
they're so good on both sides of the football just loaded.
Their defensive tackles. I think might be the best tandem
in the league so far, run in pass offensively. Do
we need to say how good their offensive line is.
So it's hard to go from Philly to New Orleans.
But I thought how you blocked and the plays you
called and the way you blocked versus New Orleans will
(12:19):
work against anybody. I know this as a defensive tackle.
The worst thing in the world you want to defend
is zone running because there's no room for error. If
I make one mistake and let the guard off, the
ball's gone, or if I get chopped down, the ball's gone.
Running straight at me, good, we've got a shot. But
when you're running that inside outside zone with Kyron and
Blake Korum, if you get to the free hitter before
(12:40):
he's ready, he bounces off and away we go. So
if you could stay with that sort of running, if
you want to go series by series, great, But I
think that sort of running that inside outside zone versus
just about anybody will work if you keep your tempo
and you have running backs that break tackles. Can I I'll.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Say this, I thought the Philadelphia Eagles really started kind
of what we saw in New Orleans. If you remember
that first drive, those first couple drives, the Rams are
up and down the field. It was easy, and then
the kiren fumbles right, and you're like, oh, man, if
he doesn't fumble, that's probably seven on the board. The
way they were moving against Philly, and so to me,
I think that that gave them confidence in Sean calling
(13:16):
the plays of what was been going on in the
running game and the passing game, and then the players
confidence that they were moving up and down the field
against one of the NFL's best. Then you go back
to New Orleans, you have that first half that was like,
oh my gosh, we can't get anything going, and you
go into halftime and I remember watching Sean do his
interview and he had a smile on his face, like
(13:37):
we're gonna go in there and fix some stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
And it was that confidence knowing that, look, we can.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
We can play way better than this because we already
we did it last week, right, so we can get
back to that. And I think that's the that's what
we talk about getting hot. It's like, even though you're
not you didn't win against Philly, you found something right
and then you kind of doubled down on it against
New Orleans. Now the chances this week is to do
the same thing. Can you keep growing from what the
performance in Philly was?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Let me ask you about one more position group because
I'm trying to find the truth between off ball linebacker
play against the Eagles. It was not a good night
for Rose Boom and Spates win against New Orleans probably
their best.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Game high as great a linebacker.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
So is that a bounce back? Is that a learn
from mistakes or is that just level of competition being
reflected in the results.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I learned when I got knocked on my butt, Yeah,
I learned when I got a whipping.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yeah, I mean quickly, all right, So be bullish on
the middle linebackers for the Rams. Growing together, you.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Learn what guys can and can't do in this league
as as a group, and what you guys are doing
up front. So I mean, like I said, Saquon Barkley
taught you that you could start front side a and
finish on the backsided and be gone and we can't
catch him Kamorrow, same thing. So you're getting better the
guys you face, the more reps you take, the better
you're gonna get. I keep saying, no matter what happens
this year, make the playoffs. Don't make the playoffs for
(14:54):
what this defense has gone through, having to defend an
offense that short circuits in the first quarter and you
have to keep the team in it or you're being
relied on to win the game at the score to score.
All the stuff they're going through is going to help
them be a better defense in the future, or it
might be right now. It seems like they're coming together
now that relevance, the understanding of what it takes, what
we need out of this series, this drive right here,
(15:17):
you start to see guys communicate that and go out
and execute. So they're gelling together as a defense, which
is great. If you get some help from your offense
in the first half of football games, this could be
a completely different football season. You might be well above
five hundred right now if you had that, so you're
gonna need it.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Let's take that point. Then, how do they go from good?
Like they're a solid middle class team in the National
Football League right now, six and six, that's how this
league is built. How do they get to great? How
do they get to NFC West Champs? What are some
of the ingredients that you need to see so that
they win four, if not five, of these final games.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
I think I already said it's for me, it's Matthew
Stafford has to raise it up, especially on those first drives.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
He has to be the best quarterback in the building
in games. Again, Alan Purdy, Rogers, Kyler Gino there and
I still.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Think it's in there. I do. When we talk about him,
it's glowing praise and it's deserved. He is one of
the best talents we've seen throwing the football right, but
on some of those first drives you've got to be accurate.
Some like it first drive versus New Orleans. I think
that there were a few that were should have been
first down catches, move the chains, and that we're a
little bit off. It's incomplete now it's second and ten,
(16:23):
the down a distance I hate the most this year.
Tell me if I'm wrong, is third and three? I
mean third and three. If you're coordinating against the Rams,
how much do you fear Kyrien Williams on a third
and three? Not much, which means I'm sending everything I
got at Matthew Stafford. So that's that's been the issue.
So he's got to be accurate throwing the football to
keep those those first and tens to second and twos
(16:44):
to third and ones and make it easier for your
offense to convert.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
So, if I could underscore something you just said there
within Matthew Stafford's portion of the program, handling pressure m
HM and third down efficiency, those are probably the two
areas where he can well.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Look at Elevate, look at Buffalo, look at Philadelphia. If
it's third and three, I'm still scared to death because
they roll out hurts. He's got a run pass option,
or I hand it to Saquon he picks it up.
But the same thing with Jared Allen. I think that's
that's the difference. Though, like Stafford's legs aren't an issue.
You talk about two guys that can run right to me,
then you accurate. Well, you have to.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I think the first part is you have to allow
him to get into the game right, which means I
thought the Rams tried to do it early on against yours,
with the first play being a play action play get
the ball out, But you should probably run the ball
in the beginning just to get it and then have
a quick hitch like we saw later on in the
first half or the second half to throw a quick
hitch out there to pookin the cool with the corners playing, I.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Think they wanted to get DeMarcus a touch right away.
I don't know if you ran that to the wrong
go yeah, but I think that keeper game was like
exactly what you said. Let's get Stafford a clean one.
Let's make sure that DeMarcus, coming off a tough week, yeah,
feels the football while he's engaged.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Yeah, I mean, I understand that. But I think the
key for me for them to get to where they
want to get to his consistency. But it's consistency overall, right,
being consistent in every moment, every situation, right, starting fast,
being consistent on your first time on the football field.
Don't go through and out right find a way to
get a first down. Like I said, if even if
it's a quick shotgun hitch to puokinakoop or a slant
(18:13):
or something that you know that you can catch and
get positive yards and shorten like get ahead of the chains.
Those are things that are gonna matter early in this game.
And then get into the rhythm of the game. Because
once the Rams got in rhythm, it was like I
like the Philly start.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
If if Karen doesn't fumble, I think you and you
change the complexion of the football game. So that's where
I think the Rams strength lies is running, running play,
set up play action, and then letting this golden arm
do its damage.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
I got a couple of three to throw at you.
The first you know this from listening to me called games.
I would double two two snaps and targets and see
what happens.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
I think I said that I don't know if we can.
I think I said that like week four on this show. Yeah,
Like for whatever reason, he is always.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Open, always open, and he's off coverage. He's creating zone
pockets for other players, and Buffalo plays a ton of zone.
You mentioned Taylor Rapp's name, Like you now that the
offensive line is intact if you're building confidence in your
ability to protect Stafford for vertical shots. He's the guy.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
He was open against Chicago and every other time it's
like it's just like four yards of separations every time
he catches the ball.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
All Right.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
The other name I'm concerned about or need to see
elevators Joshuacarty, Like I love going for it on fourth
down early in the game. I like that from the
plus twenty five, But you're not going to get to
where you're trying to go if you don't have confidence
in your kicker making high percentage field goals.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
The one time I went to the playoffs are kicker
Josco Bey Torus squad Week one, we had to sign
John Carney kicker from the Saints, right, yea, and he
was automatic from the between the twenty. Well, we had
to get to the thirty yard line. He was automatic
like he was gonna make it every time, which put
us in four down territory once we got closer to
the fifty because we're not gonna try to stretch his
(20:02):
leg out, We're just gonna keep going. That aggressiveness allowed
us mentally though, to know this is a ford. We're
in a four down situation and we've played we just
played better, and we actually went on a run and
went to the playoffs, right, and so to me, I think, sometimes, yes,
young kickers go through it, but that that's gonna force
McVay to be more aggressive in certains, which I like,
which I love.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
I'm not trust your future Hall of Fame quarterback. Yeah,
in an and five situation, or less as opposed to
turning it over to your rookie kicker who hasn't made
a field goal on a month. Basically, I'm just saying
there's gonna come a time, perhaps as soon as this.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Whatever it is, he's got to make his kicks, and
you've got to give him anod. But I refuse to
believe a guy that young and that strong in that
athletic uh can't make it from distance if that was
the issue.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
If he's got the leg, yeah, but if I if
I need that's for a game winner, if we're in
the course of this game, we're going for it because I,
like you said, I regardless of whoever the kicker is,
it can be justin Tucker, I don't care. Like I
have more trust in our quarterback and our offense than
I do anybody, because that's where all our money's allocated
to the guys that we want to play. I want
to keep that offense on the field as much as
(21:05):
we can. Even well, we do the go ball on
fourth down against New Orleans like, that's fine, I'll take that.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Well, especially this week when your opponent's scoring thirty points
per game regularly, field goals aren't going to do it,
So maybe this isn't the week, but you hear I'm
going with that. Let's talk some RAMS personnel, and I
wanted to touch on the secondary too. They actually claimed a
former first rounder and Emmanuel Forbes Junior this week, sixteenth
overall pick in the twenty twenty three draft. Doesn't sound
like he's necessarily going to impact this week's game plan.
(21:33):
But when you heard that news, any thoughts.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Well, it's funny when you don't see many first rounders
available this early from the team that drafted them, so
you wonder why. But then you start you look at
his dimensions and you consider who's there in Washington right now.
He may not fit what dan Quinn wants to do defensively,
but for somebody else he may be perfect. So I
do know that Sean McVay said they had their eye
on him for a while. And the more corners the better,
(21:58):
because when you think about what's like this year, you
still have to deal with Arizona, you still have to
deal with Seattle, you still have to deal with Buffalo,
but I'm not sure it's gonna be ready that soon.
But all these receivers coming up, the more corners you
have the more guys that you can sick on people
and say go man coverage or whatever, the better than great.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Yeah to me, anytime you're riding talent, it's a positive, Like,
that's a talented dude. He was a first round pick
for a reason. I'm sure a lot of people had
him on his board. Wait, yes again a little wait,
he's a little.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
You know, well, if I were to ask you more,
he's like, let's fast forward to April twenty twenty five
draft weekend. If I were to say the Rams are
spending a first round pick on defense, which position group
would you say is most likely? So this is almost
a free dart right to get ahead of that process.
It's the next level of their defense that we figure
they're going to invest in, So why not. Now let's
talk Braden Fisk. He's been named Defensive Rookie of the
(22:46):
Month for November, joining Jared Vers in that company. Is
there any case for him over verse? Not that it matters,
but like sometimes your award competition comes internally as much
as externally.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
That was a fumble return and for a time, Oh
my god, that's why cancel was.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Off any any cut back?
Speaker 3 (23:04):
Oh my god? Like and then how hard he was running.
You can tell he was breathing heavy down that sideline.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Hold the oxygen out for him when he gets to
the bench. Yeah, don't make him do it, just put
it on him. That's that's the big you know. I
hope he does. That would be great if he does. Uh.
Either way, it's great for us if Braden Fisk wins
Defensive Rookie of the Year, because it would be awesome.
It would be great recognition for him. It might also
make Verse mad, which is really cool. So he's bawling
out of control. So give the award to his teammate. Yeah,
(23:34):
He's in the Pro Bowl next year, which will be awesome. Yeah.
I think.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
I think it's funny because like as much as Verse
wants it, he probably doesn't want him to get it either,
because the are a teammates, Like you'll never hear the
end of it.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
They compete in the weight room, they compete on the field,
so that force multiplying.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Effects the next day with it there. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Kyn Williams is the RAMS nominee for Walter Payton Man
of the Year. That was cool to see the social
video with Steven Jackson. If you haven't caught that I
recommend it. Kobe Turner was on the mass singer, Yes,
a man of many talents.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
What else we got Tyler Higbee? We'll see if he
returns this week. When he does return, what do you
think that adds to the Rams playoff push?
Speaker 2 (24:14):
I want to see what he's got. He's hadn't played
football in a while.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
It's tough at that position, right to not have an
off season program or or it could.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Be frushing practice, yes, or it could be fresh legs.
He could be ready to go and could be a
spark for you. I think he gives you.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
He gives you in the passing game, that that that
guy that's gonna catch that that quick arrow, Like, he
just gives you more. If it feels like Stafford's more
confident throwing him the ball than he's been these other
tight ends, which is understandably so, because again, that's the
guy you've been throwing to you for a while. He's
been here. Well, he's the longest tenured Ram right at
this point. So the reliable tank back in your life.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
That's good. Yeah. Uh.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Injury report pretty good for both teams. Actually, Rams and
Bills both look pretty clean. Do you see that Micah
Hyde is back sign of the practice squad in Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Ohay, okay, that.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
That to me says super Bowl question, right, because he's
openly spoken about bringing that super Bowl to Buffalo. Never
sign those retirement papers. There's like Eric Weddle undertones there
in that move. I don't know that he's gonna play
this week, right, but they're preparing for January and February
and Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Let's mess that all fun.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
How about that we were talking pregame in New Orleans.
When the Commanders jumped out to that huge lead, It's like,
there goes the Wildcard. I feel that way. As we
turn our attention to the playoff picture they get to
eight and five, I think it's NFC West or Bus.
We've kind of said that on this show for several
weeks running. Is that where you guys are? Do you
need me to look at the NFC wildcard picture? Should
(25:38):
we just go right to the West for it?
Speaker 2 (25:39):
I mean, if there's a chance for the wildcard, I'd
love to hear it.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Well, here's the thing for the Rams to have a
look at the wildcard. They're gonna have to play so
well that they're going to mess around and end up
winning the West anyway, so it's a mood point. Which
prize would you rather have?
Speaker 2 (25:50):
By the way, you've set the GPS for NFC West, Yes.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
So I'm done scoreboard watching anywhere outside the division. Let's
start with Seattle at Arizona. See Hawks seven and five
leading the way, They've had the better of this series
against the Cardinals. Seahawks are undefeated since they're by Arizona
winless since theirs. How do you see that one? Breaking?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Well, Aaron Rodgers gave me another reason to hate him.
You had him, you had Seattle, and you couldn't get him.
But no, I mean, I I don't know how to
pick between Seattle and Arizona. I think I trust Gino
more than I do Kyler, but I am more afraid
of Carler than Gino, if that makes any sense.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
I think the reason I would pick Gina was because
of the surrounding pieces. Yeah right, and Jig was having
a crazy season. You got Metcalf back. Tyler Lockett is
always Tyler Lockett finds a way to impact the game.
And then they don't even run the football, like they
refuse to run the football, but when they decide to,
they still have that guy back there, those two guys
back there that could run it. So I mean, if
(26:49):
you're looking at Seattle is always about the O line.
Can they protect And I don't want to say they
got they got one of their guys back right?
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Yeah? And my question is who do you root for
this week? And if you're a Rams fan, because I
think the only argument I could make the other direction
is that the Seahawks' schedule is more difficult. They've got
Green Bay, Minnesota at Chicago here in so far still
to come, whereas the Cardinals have New England at Carolina,
Rams and Niners. It doesn't really matter, no, okay, because
(27:19):
when you're count when you're counting to ten for the Rams,
We've said this many times, I'm counting those last two
games as gotta wins, right, like if the Rams don't
have to win Week eighteen and can rest starters like
I'll eat a chocolate bar on this show. You know
how hard that would be for me to do, right, But.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
I'm still shocked by that. How do you not like chocolate?
Speaker 1 (27:37):
But never mind, because they got they got six, you
almost have to win at home those last couple, So
can you get two of the next three to set
up that scenario. That's that's what I'm looking at for
the Rams these next three weeks. Can you get at
least two of the next three?
Speaker 2 (27:49):
I believe so yeah, yeah, I mean, let's start with one.
Let's start with Buffalo. Wouldn't that be fun if you
beat Buffalo here, send them mafia home early? Yeah, that
would be nice. But it's like you said, it's it's
not going to be easy. And this is the guy
that you can't count out from any positions. If if
he's ahead, if he's behind, whatever, run pass, whatever. He
is one of the best players in this league talking
(28:09):
about Josh Allen. So it's not gonna be easy. And
here's the thing. They actually believe they're gonna make the
super Bowl. So not only are gonna have to break them,
you're gonna have to break their will. So like it's
a full time.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Is that though they lost all those pieces, let all
those guys go and got better, right. I think again,
what what they've done is kind of some of what
we want Stafford to do. Is they allow their running
game to kind of dictate, and then he impacts the
game every now and then, And that's the biggest thing
because he's one of the biggest guys in the NFL.
Like he's he is their biggest threat, he's their biggest
runner in the red zone. I will say this though,
(28:40):
have we listened to Kyle Shanahan talked about the Niners lately?
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Is that like I did just buzz past San Francisco there,
that's my bad.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Well, I'm just like he was, like, this is the
worst team we've had. This is not like the other teams. Like,
I don't think you should say.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
That you're not buying what he's selling or you just
don't think that's a good I just I'm not buying.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
I think he's trying to motivate his guys to play better.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Which running back did you claim this week for Fantasy FO?
Speaker 3 (29:07):
You know you already knows who I claimed. He won't
play it next week, but this week he's going to
play for sure.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Okay, uh oh that guy? Okay, thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Back to the Bills, Like you guys said, their quarterback
has I think overperformed against pressure. He's been nearly impossible
to sack, and their team leads the NFL with a
plus seventeen turnover March. And that's their formula so how
do you kind of invert unwine some of those things
to have a chance to beat them.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Every time I turn on the tape of Buffalo, especially
their offense, it seems like he's always taken the ball
in great field position. I don't know how or why.
Maybe it's because they score. Kickoff they do, they're not
that great and kickoff coverage, but tackles for loss they
do a great job. So not only are they getting
you off the field, you're losing yarders at the same time.
And then a decent punt return and then he's got
(29:57):
a chance to score on you. So you know what
the game play and what you have to do to
beat Buffalo or at least make it a game. So
the one thing you cannot do is turn it over, period,
end of story. You can't throw picks, you cannot fumble it.
And then when you're out there against Josh Allen, get
him the third down and see what and see just
take your best shot. And I think pursuon angles are
(30:18):
going to be huge, especially against him. I would say
light your hair on fire and go, but make sure
you have somebody covering for you, because he can pick
up and scramble and pick up first downs. The last
thing you want to do is get them the third
down and then have them pick it up time and
time again to wear you out.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
So like those Jalen Hurts easiest correct for first down scrambles,
those things.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
So and I would never tell Jared Vers to take
any smoke off his rush or Braden Fisk so and
not even Kobe Turner. So if you're not one of
those three guys that's hot that day, then you are
the coverman. Make sure that guy doesn't get out. But
I cannot tell these hunters stuck to slow down. We've
got to get to him because if he stands back there,
he can throw it a mile too. So this will
be a tough challenge for everybody that lines up on defense.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
My biggest is the bootleg. The bootleg game. Defensively, like
the Rams are gonna do a great job stop in
the run. They're gonna be physical upfront, they're gonna set
vertical edges. They're gonna do all you need to do.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
But it's when they fake then he boots out that
backside guy who likes to crash all the time.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
You're gonna have to be able to get vertical and
get and try to stop him because that's where he's
at his best, because he's not afraid to run, like
to be honest, like that's what he wants to do.
He doesn't want to throw the ball when he gets out,
but he wants to run unless the guy is wide open.
And so you have to force him to do what
he doesn't want to do, which is crazy to say
you want him to throw the football, but he's more
(31:34):
dangerous to me with his legs than he.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Is with his arm. That dude, that big should not
get the benefit of flighting. That's just me. That's not fair.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Are you at all curious to see what temperament the
Buffalo Bills bring to Los Angeles? And what I mean
by that is they clinched early, like they just took
their fifth straight division crown, but they're also playing for
the one seed and they're getting healthy, right, whether like
Coleman's back at receiver or Milano came back last week
at linebackers, So they taken this thing to the next
level or they taking their foot off the accelerator ever
(32:02):
so briefly having just secured their home playoff birth.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Yeah, they're about to put I mean just brought Mike
a hide back like this is staying on the gas. Oh,
they put this thing in back in the third gear
to get some RPMs.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Yeah, how about this.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
The last Rams win against the Bills was twelve years
ago with Sam Bradford against Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
The Rams last home win against Buffalo was before MJD
was born. Oh my god, eighty three in Anaheim.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
It's time. See it's the do theory. Then the Rams
are due.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
There's been a lot of those though, like Philadelphia and
Los Angeles, Miami head to head against the It's time
for one of these to break in LA's favor. That's
why I feel good about this week.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
I think they're just the one thing that's missing is
just a spark. And like you said, if you can
come out of here, come out of so far beating
the hottest team in the NFL, that might be the
spark you need to galvanize for the for the stretch run.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
I feel like they've already had their spark though, I
really do. I think in Philadelphia you had a spark,
and I think that spark didn't really catch all the way.
But like it's gonna start now, You're gonna start seeing
kind of a little smoke, you know how you ever
see how you watch naked and in a fray where
they got to get the thing going. They got to
get the spark first. When the smoke comes, then the
fire comes.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
There's time. It's time.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Now more of a Bear Grills guy.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
It's a little bit more. I mean I could, I
could understand. It's more Bear Grills has all these clothes on,
all these tools. They don't have anything.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
Yeah, because it's a championship week in college football and
everyone's focused on the college football playoff rankings, it's time
for the Rams to get that resume win, right. That's
kind of where we started Minnesota, great resume win. They
need another one of those, not because it's gonna, you know,
get them up the rankings, but because it's gonna make
these final four weeks beyond, including Thursday night football against
San Francisco.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Can I ask you one question.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Let's say the Rams, and let's say the Rams play
their best game and then they lose by one.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
How would you feel about that?
Speaker 1 (33:54):
I would feel a lot like I did flying home
from Baltimore last week. That's why the parallel is is
kind of close.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
To the home. I want to say, they don't play
a good game, but they win.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
I will say this, of the final five, this is
the least important game remaining on the RAMS schedule. If
you know what I mean, it would be the most
excusable lot. Like, I hate saying that out loud, but
that's what it is. If you were to rank the
final five, I guess it's probably Arizona because you don't
have a win against them yet. Seattle, San Francisco, Jets, Buffalo.
(34:23):
That's probably, off the top of my head what I
would say. Why not get them all?
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Why not? When you control your destiny, That's what I'm
looking for you.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
I think we already did keys to victory. Anything else
you want to tack on before I send this thing
back to the interwett.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Don't ever bring up Naked and Afraid ever again. I
watched that. Yeah, I just saw you out there.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
No, no, listen, that's the one thing you don't have
to see me out there? Was the visual Marco work
too hard to be uncomfortable. That's what there goes a
model for you, work too hard to be uncomfortable. I
just like watching people being uncomfortable looking out this.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
Man is dressed like he has any interest in being.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
Naked, and that's the visual I had. Don't do that.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
Let your might go there man, just like the Rams,
let's focus on Buffalo for m J D.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Damarco far m JB.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Long.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Hope you too can join us at SOFI Stadium. The
Rams are six and six. Is this the week they
get above five hundred for the first time? Thank you
for joining us for an extended extended episode between.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
The Horns normal.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Normal back of the normal length as always presented by
your Southern California Toy.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Other dealers,
All right, here we go, Ramley. This is a big one.
Welcome to between the Horns, resented by your southern California
Toyota dealers. I'm JB along with MJD and DeMarco far
the Buffalo Bills already AFC East champions are coming to
Sofi Stadium this week. How you guys doing good?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Don't get scared. I'm not scared. No, I mean you
got to have a healthy respect. Again, just like Philadelphia,
a good team coming to town, and you gotta play
your best football healthy respect or you kind of have to.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
I feel like sometimes you have to have a little
nervous as to you, Like, if we don't play our
best game, this can kind of get away from you
a little bit.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
And it looks like it got.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Away from the AFC East after like Week three, right,
Like the Buffalo Bills stumbled a little bit early and
then they caught fire. And Josh Allen is he's not
He's really not the guy that we've seen the last
couple years. They're running the football better than anybody right now.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
MVP front runner for you. If you had to choose right.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Now, I'm gonna go, you know me, running backs matter
I'm gonna go with sakuon alright, DeMarco, he's in the clubhouse,
he's the clubhouse leader right now as MVP.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I like this opportunity right now for the Rams though, right,
Like sure, intimidating an opponent, but like if you want
to get in the dance, if you want to play
for the ultimate prize, that's the potential AFC representative right there,
another chance to level up.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
That's the crazy thing about professional football. I mean, when
you have all your goals are you want to control
your destiny going into the playoffs, often times you're going
to bump into a pretty good team you have to
beat that week. This is the same thing. So Buffalo's
coming to town. I think they're playing their best football
of the year. Let's hope the Rams can get there
to you know, kind of fend that off in so far. Yeah,
(01:40):
to me, it's it was kind of like.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
When you play like ray Lewis, or you play like
like Lofa Tatupu who is sc and these guys, And
to me, it was like, how is my off season workout.
I'm gonna put that to a test going against this guy, right.
I think it's the same for the Rams. How has
your off season? How is the all the games before
this prepared you for the game? Are you willing to
stand up and stop the run? Can you get to
(02:03):
the quarterback and get sacks right? Can't allow him to
break the pocket? Offensively? You know you're gonna see some
form of cover two and critical downs? Are you ready
and prepared for those? And then can you run the
football on your own right to get them to go
to a single high safety and take care and really
take advantage of Taylor rap in that situation?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
A guy that you know, you know.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
What's interesting is tell me if you disagree. I don't
think the Rams had played their best game yet. I
don't think they've put a full game on display. There
been some partial candidates, But if you asked me, okay,
the Rams that you were hoping to see coming out
of training camp, which game have they played to live
up to that billing?
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I mean the four touchdowns from Stafford twice has been
pretty good. I thought, to be honest, I know this's
gonna sound crazy, but I thought New England they had
played their best. They were playing their best game until
like that personal file from Jared Verse and the kind
of went downhill a little bit, but other than that,
they were just smothered. I thought the Vikings was another
tough opponent that you played really well.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Against Vikings all here, Patriots, Well, when you have.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
To remember you're traveling across the country, you have to
play a team who's who's beaten some pretty good teams
in the NFL. And really they took the Chargers to
the overtime. They've played well at home. They just played
terrible on the road. But you take that if you're
the Rams, right, you're taking a more physical opponent the
least that I thought would be more physical, and you
went and took it to them.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
I guess they answer is they haven't played their best
game yet. I mean there was That's what I'm hoping
there's been elements of. I mean Minnesota, I thought was great.
You came out of the gate, you answered Sam Darnold,
who was absolutely hot. I'm right there with you. At
New England, I thought that was your best opportunity to
play a complete game on both sides, and it kind
of got away from you. It became a game at
the end. But I still think they're searching. I think
(03:42):
there was elements in New Orleans where you were really
clicking on both sides and then you let it be
a game again. So we've seen it time and time again.
But I still think their best game is out there,
and I do think you're gonna need that to beat
Buffalo this weekend. Dare I say Week one might have
been their best game?
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Take me the lost, but you take Detroit to overtime
in Detroit week one, and then we've seen what Detroit's
been able to do here down the stretch with what
your third left.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I get that your left tacks not even on the roster,
but I hope your best performance leads to a win.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
That's where I'm going.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, I hope your best performance isn't a losing effort,
you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Yeah, you know what's funny about that, Like they always
talk about the process and thinking about the process.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
And like you really can't. The outcome sometimes is.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Out of your control, if that makes sense, Like you
can go out there and play your best game, Like
you can go out there and be perfect and then
like one or two plays they're perfect and then booth,
the game is over right, And so to me for
the Rams in this in this situation against the Buffalo Bills.
You want to play your best game, because this is
time to play your best game.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
The outcome is going to be the outcome. You want
to play four.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, you should be reving up to play your best
as you get down the stretch because again you want
to get hot.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah. For the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
A couple of things. One, At this moment in time,
I think we have to celebrate climbing from one to
four up the mountain to six and six. The rams
have not yet been above five hundred, and that's part
of the reason why I'm excited about this week is
because I think that chance is there. But to get
from one to four to six and six, we all
would have signed those papers immediately to have this chance
with five games to go.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Totally, you have to give them credit climbing out of
the cellar and just climbing out of like you said,
the pit of hell of professional football being below five
hundred here skin, you know what I'm saying. It's crazy
like that. Give them a lot of credit between the lines.
With the way you've played. You still got back to
five hundred, so I see where you're going. You have
(05:33):
to give them credit for it. But remember you dug
yourself a hole. So but I think it all goes
back to what we're saying. This team is still in
search of their best performance of the year, and this
is the most important time of the year. Was it
Bill Parcels that says the season really doesn't get started
until after Thanksgiving? That, well, here we are, this is
your first game after so much.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
It's so crazy how much can change in like a
seven week span right now, right now, Like you'll see
all type of stuff going.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
On, and one team will get hot and they'll just
make a run.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Like literally, I were talking about hard knocks before we
started the show, the Cincinnati Bengals, like, look, we still
got a chance. And the crazy part is if they
get hot, no one wants to play them in the
AFC because they've beaten everyone in a given time. And
so if you're the Rams, you feel the same way, like,
if we can get our best foot forward going and
start playing consistent good football, you just never know.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
I love echoes from the past, and we just looked
it up before we started this show. Last year's Rams
pattern was similar. They got hot at the end of
the season. Where were they at six and six? They
had just beaten the Cleveland Browns going on the road
to face an AFC favorite, Baltimore. Now they didn't win
that game, they lost in overtime.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
They played, but that might.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Have been their best performance of this season. So here
they are again against an AFC contender. It's at SOFI
Stadium this time around. Wouldn't be nice if again they
played like that and they finished the drill.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
This time we're in the matrix. Same thing again. Here
we go, same quarterbacks, same everything. That's one thing I
guess I could say, to play your best game, Matthew
Stafford has to be better, and that seems unfair to
ask him to do more, but I think it is
fair if you want to talk about getting off to
better starts, playing your best football, all that stuff, supplement
and the defense, it all comes back to him. So
(07:15):
if he's better and better early, I think you have
a better shot. Because, like you said with Buffalo, man,
if you get behind them and they start that avalanche
where he can't be stopped, his confidence is building and
they've got pass rushers to get to you. It's hard,
It really is hard to dig yourself out of that hole.
So the best thing is get ahead, stay ahead and
have your quarterback completing passes and staying on the field.
It's gotta happen.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
We're off to an amazing start. You know why Why
because we haven't even hit subject one on the script yet. Yeah,
which I love because did I tell you he got
us in trouble last week?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I know me specifically, Oh no, why what did I do?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Well? It was what Cameron, you and Stu? Yeah, right,
pre Thanksgiving between the horns. Yes, you guys got out
of here in twenty three minutes. Yes, and our boss
was like JB.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Part of that was editing though, so we'll leave that alone.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
When you run this show, it stills into like forty five.
No one's complaining. The common section is raving. Well, yeah,
there's no excuse for having a long edition between the
leaves anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
This late in the season, like you said, and you
still have a chance to control your destiny. This is
what we pray for here. I say, this is the
first team's revenge game. Though.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Remember we had this whole deal with von Miller set
up a couple of years ago and Bond he decides
to say, hey, you know what, I'm gonna go to Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
That was weird. Dropping the banners and then having Vond
on the other side was strange.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Well, you already dropped Taylor Rapp. You're gonna go David Edwards.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I understanding those guys.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
It was kind of a different situation, like Bond had
a chance to stay in LA and decided to go
to Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
So this is like if a rams like, hey, we
got to get some get back for that.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
You want to go back to New Orleans for just
a second, Like, help me decipher what to take away
as a building block and what's just beating a team
that's probably not ticketed for the playoffs. Where do we
come down on the win over New Orleans?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Do you think New Orleans is bad? I don't think
they're bad. Yeah, I think they're flawed. Yeah, I think
they're missing some pieces. And you know, been there as
a player and broadcast or whatever, so they're not bad.
They're better than you think. So I think going down
there and winning in New Orleans is always big no
matter what the records are, and they're pretty good when
you get in their wheelhouse, and like you said, if
(09:19):
you can't score early and then they start moving the
ball on you, they kept you out there for an
entire quarter. I know we want to give the offense
some heat for being on the field for a minute
two seconds in the first quarter, but give New Orleans
credit because they kept the defense on the field no
for ever. So that's a tough place to dig yourself
out of a deficit, and they did that, So give
them a lot of credit. I know the records really matter,
(09:41):
but it doesn't matter at kickoff. It matters who plays
the best on game day. So getting that victory down there,
I thought was huge. Give them a lot of credit
on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Yeah, to me, I thought, you having your two back
system kind of got going there right, A little blake quorum,
he was running, then.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
All of a sudden, kiren comes back. He starts running.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Now you feel more comfortable both guys in there playing,
which again, I think it's something that the Rams are
going to use down the stretch, run the football a
little bit better.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
The outside zone was there.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I was just about to say, what type of running
team are the Rams?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Whatever they need to be.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
I feel like like we can run downhill if we
have to, but if it's not working, we can go
sideline to sideline and they're starting to utilize those and
the running backs are running harder, they're running better, right,
they're breaking tackles, And to me, when you have two
guys that can do that, takes a lot of pressure
off your quarterback, a lot of pressure off your defense. Right,
you allow your defense to rest, and then your offensive
line is going forward, which every offensive lineman wants to
(10:30):
do because it's easier than obviously going backwards and pass
blocking against the guy's probably more athletic than you. So
to me, getting that running game going that was a
huge building block and obviously winning at the same time,
but I think that was a step in being the
team they want to be down the stretch.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
You're Ron Gold for this week. Okay, you're the position
coach for that room. What's your mix like based on
what we saw last week in New Orleans? Coach Cool, tell.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Oh, I'm serious. For series.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
You get a serious, You get a serious and then
you know what, if there's a play that I there's
a place specifically for a certain running back, get it.
But this is your series because again, as we get
down the stretch, I need guys fresh. We gotta be
fresh in the fourth quarter. So it's time to go
serious for serious, I think Blake's earned that, and I
think Iron for the benefit of him is you get
a chance to get a little breather here and there.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
We were comfortable with it.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Let me talk trenches with you, because when I try
and decipher, all, right, from the disappointment of Philly to
the triumph in New Orleans, what's the difference there? Yeah,
what's well both, what's closer to reality? And as much
as we want to talk about Sequon, don't get me wrong,
we want to vote for him MVP. I'm good with that.
But you told me before the game that was the
biggest team you've ever seen in person, the Philadelphia And
(11:40):
then I'm looking at New Orleans and they're playing a
backup center, a backup left guard who has to be
replaced by a third, and a rookie left tackle, and
I'm saying, Okay, I can't compare this apples to apples
with Alvin Kamara and Saquon Barkley because Philadelphia is the
upper crust and they're good, and yeah, New Orleans is
just average.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
So okay, Philly is hard to compare to anyone because
they're so good on both sides of the football just loaded.
Their defensive tackles. I think might be the best tandem
in the league so far, run in pass offensively. Do
we need to say how good their offensive line is.
So it's hard to go from Philly to New Orleans.
But I thought how you blocked and the plays you
called and the way you blocked versus New Orleans will
(12:19):
work against anybody. I know this as a defensive tackle.
The worst thing in the world you want to defend
is zone running because there's no room for error. If
I make one mistake and let the guard off, the
ball's gone, or if I get chopped down, the ball's gone.
Running straight at me, good, we've got a shot. But
when you're running that inside outside zone with Kyron and
Blake Korum, if you get to the free hitter before
(12:40):
he's ready, he bounces off and away we go. So
if you could stay with that sort of running, if
you want to go series by series, great, But I
think that sort of running that inside outside zone versus
just about anybody will work if you keep your tempo
and you have running backs that break tackles. Can I I'll.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Say this, I thought the Philadelphia Eagles really started kind
of what we saw in New Orleans. If you remember
that first drive, those first couple drives, the Rams are
up and down the field. It was easy, and then
the kiren fumbles right, and you're like, oh, man, if
he doesn't fumble, that's probably seven on the board. The
way they were moving against Philly, and so to me,
I think that that gave them confidence in Sean calling
(13:16):
the plays of what was been going on in the
running game and the passing game, and then the players
confidence that they were moving up and down the field
against one of the NFL's best. Then you go back
to New Orleans, you have that first half that was like,
oh my gosh, we can't get anything going, and you
go into halftime and I remember watching Sean do his
interview and he had a smile on his face, like
(13:37):
we're gonna go in there and fix some stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
And it was that confidence knowing that, look, we can.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
We can play way better than this because we already
we did it last week, right, so we can get
back to that. And I think that's the that's what
we talk about getting hot. It's like, even though you're
not you didn't win against Philly, you found something right
and then you kind of doubled down on it against
New Orleans. Now the chances this week is to do
the same thing. Can you keep growing from what the
performance in Philly was?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Let me ask you about one more position group because
I'm trying to find the truth between off ball linebacker
play against the Eagles. It was not a good night
for Rose Boom and Spates win against New Orleans probably
their best.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Game high as great a linebacker.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
So is that a bounce back? Is that a learn
from mistakes or is that just level of competition being
reflected in the results.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I learned when I got knocked on my butt, Yeah,
I learned when I got a whipping.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yeah, I mean quickly, all right, So be bullish on
the middle linebackers for the Rams. Growing together, you.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Learn what guys can and can't do in this league
as as a group, and what you guys are doing
up front. So I mean, like I said, Saquon Barkley
taught you that you could start front side a and
finish on the backsided and be gone and we can't
catch him Kamorrow, same thing. So you're getting better the
guys you face, the more reps you take, the better
you're gonna get. I keep saying, no matter what happens
this year, make the playoffs. Don't make the playoffs for
(14:54):
what this defense has gone through, having to defend an
offense that short circuits in the first quarter and you
have to keep the team in it or you're being
relied on to win the game at the score to score.
All the stuff they're going through is going to help
them be a better defense in the future, or it
might be right now. It seems like they're coming together
now that relevance, the understanding of what it takes, what
we need out of this series, this drive right here,
(15:17):
you start to see guys communicate that and go out
and execute. So they're gelling together as a defense, which
is great. If you get some help from your offense
in the first half of football games, this could be
a completely different football season. You might be well above
five hundred right now if you had that, so you're
gonna need it.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Let's take that point. Then, how do they go from good?
Like they're a solid middle class team in the National
Football League right now, six and six, that's how this
league is built. How do they get to great? How
do they get to NFC West Champs? What are some
of the ingredients that you need to see so that
they win four, if not five, of these final games.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
I think I already said it's for me, it's Matthew
Stafford has to raise it up, especially on those first drives.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
He has to be the best quarterback in the building
in games. Again, Alan Purdy, Rogers, Kyler Gino there and
I still.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Think it's in there. I do. When we talk about him,
it's glowing praise and it's deserved. He is one of
the best talents we've seen throwing the football right, but
on some of those first drives you've got to be accurate.
Some like it first drive versus New Orleans. I think
that there were a few that were should have been
first down catches, move the chains, and that we're a
little bit off. It's incomplete now it's second and ten,
(16:23):
the down a distance I hate the most this year.
Tell me if I'm wrong, is third and three? I
mean third and three. If you're coordinating against the Rams,
how much do you fear Kyrien Williams on a third
and three? Not much, which means I'm sending everything I
got at Matthew Stafford. So that's that's been the issue.
So he's got to be accurate throwing the football to
keep those those first and tens to second and twos
(16:44):
to third and ones and make it easier for your
offense to convert.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
So, if I could underscore something you just said there
within Matthew Stafford's portion of the program, handling pressure m
HM and third down efficiency, those are probably the two
areas where he can well.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Look at Elevate, look at Buffalo, look at Philadelphia. If
it's third and three, I'm still scared to death because
they roll out hurts. He's got a run pass option,
or I hand it to Saquon he picks it up.
But the same thing with Jared Allen. I think that's
that's the difference. Though, like Stafford's legs aren't an issue.
You talk about two guys that can run right to me,
then you accurate. Well, you have to.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I think the first part is you have to allow
him to get into the game right, which means I
thought the Rams tried to do it early on against yours,
with the first play being a play action play get
the ball out, But you should probably run the ball
in the beginning just to get it and then have
a quick hitch like we saw later on in the
first half or the second half to throw a quick
hitch out there to pookin the cool with the corners playing, I.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Think they wanted to get DeMarcus a touch right away.
I don't know if you ran that to the wrong
go yeah, but I think that keeper game was like
exactly what you said. Let's get Stafford a clean one.
Let's make sure that DeMarcus, coming off a tough week, yeah,
feels the football while he's engaged.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Yeah, I mean, I understand that. But I think the
key for me for them to get to where they
want to get to his consistency. But it's consistency overall, right,
being consistent in every moment, every situation, right, starting fast,
being consistent on your first time on the football field.
Don't go through and out right find a way to
get a first down. Like I said, if even if
it's a quick shotgun hitch to puokinakoop or a slant
(18:13):
or something that you know that you can catch and
get positive yards and shorten like get ahead of the chains.
Those are things that are gonna matter early in this game.
And then get into the rhythm of the game. Because
once the Rams got in rhythm, it was like I
like the Philly start.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
If if Karen doesn't fumble, I think you and you
change the complexion of the football game. So that's where
I think the Rams strength lies is running, running play,
set up play action, and then letting this golden arm
do its damage.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
I got a couple of three to throw at you.
The first you know this from listening to me called games.
I would double two two snaps and targets and see
what happens.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
I think I said that I don't know if we can.
I think I said that like week four on this show. Yeah,
Like for whatever reason, he is always.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Open, always open, and he's off coverage. He's creating zone
pockets for other players, and Buffalo plays a ton of zone.
You mentioned Taylor Rapp's name, Like you now that the
offensive line is intact if you're building confidence in your
ability to protect Stafford for vertical shots. He's the guy.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
He was open against Chicago and every other time it's
like it's just like four yards of separations every time
he catches the ball.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
All Right.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
The other name I'm concerned about or need to see
elevators Joshuacarty, Like I love going for it on fourth
down early in the game. I like that from the
plus twenty five, But you're not going to get to
where you're trying to go if you don't have confidence
in your kicker making high percentage field goals.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
The one time I went to the playoffs are kicker
Josco Bey Torus squad Week one, we had to sign
John Carney kicker from the Saints, right, yea, and he
was automatic from the between the twenty. Well, we had
to get to the thirty yard line. He was automatic
like he was gonna make it every time, which put
us in four down territory once we got closer to
the fifty because we're not gonna try to stretch his
(20:02):
leg out, We're just gonna keep going. That aggressiveness allowed
us mentally though, to know this is a ford. We're
in a four down situation and we've played we just
played better, and we actually went on a run and
went to the playoffs, right, and so to me, I think, sometimes, yes,
young kickers go through it, but that that's gonna force
McVay to be more aggressive in certains, which I like,
which I love.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
I'm not trust your future Hall of Fame quarterback. Yeah,
in an and five situation, or less as opposed to
turning it over to your rookie kicker who hasn't made
a field goal on a month. Basically, I'm just saying
there's gonna come a time, perhaps as soon as this.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Whatever it is, he's got to make his kicks, and
you've got to give him anod. But I refuse to
believe a guy that young and that strong in that
athletic uh can't make it from distance if that was
the issue.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
If he's got the leg, yeah, but if I if
I need that's for a game winner, if we're in
the course of this game, we're going for it because I,
like you said, I regardless of whoever the kicker is,
it can be justin Tucker, I don't care. Like I
have more trust in our quarterback and our offense than
I do anybody, because that's where all our money's allocated
to the guys that we want to play. I want
to keep that offense on the field as much as
(21:05):
we can. Even well, we do the go ball on
fourth down against New Orleans like, that's fine, I'll take that.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Well, especially this week when your opponent's scoring thirty points
per game regularly, field goals aren't going to do it,
So maybe this isn't the week, but you hear I'm
going with that. Let's talk some RAMS personnel, and I
wanted to touch on the secondary too. They actually claimed a
former first rounder and Emmanuel Forbes Junior this week, sixteenth
overall pick in the twenty twenty three draft. Doesn't sound
like he's necessarily going to impact this week's game plan.
(21:33):
But when you heard that news, any thoughts.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Well, it's funny when you don't see many first rounders
available this early from the team that drafted them, so
you wonder why. But then you start you look at
his dimensions and you consider who's there in Washington right now.
He may not fit what dan Quinn wants to do defensively,
but for somebody else he may be perfect. So I
do know that Sean McVay said they had their eye
on him for a while. And the more corners the better,
(21:58):
because when you think about what's like this year, you
still have to deal with Arizona, you still have to
deal with Seattle, you still have to deal with Buffalo,
but I'm not sure it's gonna be ready that soon.
But all these receivers coming up, the more corners you
have the more guys that you can sick on people
and say go man coverage or whatever, the better than great.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Yeah to me, anytime you're riding talent, it's a positive, Like,
that's a talented dude. He was a first round pick
for a reason. I'm sure a lot of people had
him on his board. Wait, yes again a little wait,
he's a little.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
You know, well, if I were to ask you more,
he's like, let's fast forward to April twenty twenty five
draft weekend. If I were to say the Rams are
spending a first round pick on defense, which position group
would you say is most likely? So this is almost
a free dart right to get ahead of that process.
It's the next level of their defense that we figure
they're going to invest in, So why not. Now let's
talk Braden Fisk. He's been named Defensive Rookie of the
(22:46):
Month for November, joining Jared Vers in that company. Is
there any case for him over verse? Not that it matters,
but like sometimes your award competition comes internally as much
as externally.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
That was a fumble return and for a time, Oh
my god, that's why cancel was.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Off any any cut back?
Speaker 3 (23:04):
Oh my god? Like and then how hard he was running.
You can tell he was breathing heavy down that sideline.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Hold the oxygen out for him when he gets to
the bench. Yeah, don't make him do it, just put
it on him. That's that's the big you know. I
hope he does. That would be great if he does. Uh.
Either way, it's great for us if Braden Fisk wins
Defensive Rookie of the Year, because it would be awesome.
It would be great recognition for him. It might also
make Verse mad, which is really cool. So he's bawling
out of control. So give the award to his teammate. Yeah,
(23:34):
He's in the Pro Bowl next year, which will be awesome. Yeah.
I think.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
I think it's funny because like as much as Verse
wants it, he probably doesn't want him to get it either,
because the are a teammates, Like you'll never hear the
end of it.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
They compete in the weight room, they compete on the field,
so that force multiplying.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Effects the next day with it there. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Kyn Williams is the RAMS nominee for Walter Payton Man
of the Year. That was cool to see the social
video with Steven Jackson. If you haven't caught that I
recommend it. Kobe Turner was on the mass singer, Yes,
a man of many talents.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
What else we got Tyler Higbee? We'll see if he
returns this week. When he does return, what do you
think that adds to the Rams playoff push?
Speaker 2 (24:14):
I want to see what he's got. He's hadn't played
football in a while.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
It's tough at that position, right to not have an
off season program or or it could.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Be frushing practice, yes, or it could be fresh legs.
He could be ready to go and could be a
spark for you. I think he gives you.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
He gives you in the passing game, that that that
guy that's gonna catch that that quick arrow, Like, he
just gives you more. If it feels like Stafford's more
confident throwing him the ball than he's been these other
tight ends, which is understandably so, because again, that's the
guy you've been throwing to you for a while. He's
been here. Well, he's the longest tenured Ram right at
this point. So the reliable tank back in your life.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
That's good. Yeah. Uh.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Injury report pretty good for both teams. Actually, Rams and
Bills both look pretty clean. Do you see that Micah
Hyde is back sign of the practice squad in Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Ohay, okay, that.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
That to me says super Bowl question, right, because he's
openly spoken about bringing that super Bowl to Buffalo. Never
sign those retirement papers. There's like Eric Weddle undertones there
in that move. I don't know that he's gonna play
this week, right, but they're preparing for January and February
and Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Let's mess that all fun.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
How about that we were talking pregame in New Orleans.
When the Commanders jumped out to that huge lead, It's like,
there goes the Wildcard. I feel that way. As we
turn our attention to the playoff picture they get to
eight and five, I think it's NFC West or Bus.
We've kind of said that on this show for several
weeks running. Is that where you guys are? Do you
need me to look at the NFC wildcard picture? Should
(25:38):
we just go right to the West for it?
Speaker 2 (25:39):
I mean, if there's a chance for the wildcard, I'd
love to hear it.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Well, here's the thing for the Rams to have a
look at the wildcard. They're gonna have to play so
well that they're going to mess around and end up
winning the West anyway, so it's a mood point. Which
prize would you rather have?
Speaker 2 (25:50):
By the way, you've set the GPS for NFC West, Yes.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
So I'm done scoreboard watching anywhere outside the division. Let's
start with Seattle at Arizona. See Hawks seven and five
leading the way, They've had the better of this series
against the Cardinals. Seahawks are undefeated since they're by Arizona
winless since theirs. How do you see that one? Breaking?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Well, Aaron Rodgers gave me another reason to hate him.
You had him, you had Seattle, and you couldn't get him.
But no, I mean, I I don't know how to
pick between Seattle and Arizona. I think I trust Gino
more than I do Kyler, but I am more afraid
of Carler than Gino, if that makes any sense.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
I think the reason I would pick Gina was because
of the surrounding pieces. Yeah right, and Jig was having
a crazy season. You got Metcalf back. Tyler Lockett is
always Tyler Lockett finds a way to impact the game.
And then they don't even run the football, like they
refuse to run the football, but when they decide to,
they still have that guy back there, those two guys
back there that could run it. So I mean, if
(26:49):
you're looking at Seattle is always about the O line.
Can they protect And I don't want to say they
got they got one of their guys back right?
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Yeah? And my question is who do you root for
this week? And if you're a Rams fan, because I
think the only argument I could make the other direction
is that the Seahawks' schedule is more difficult. They've got
Green Bay, Minnesota at Chicago here in so far still
to come, whereas the Cardinals have New England at Carolina,
Rams and Niners. It doesn't really matter, no, okay, because
(27:19):
when you're count when you're counting to ten for the Rams,
We've said this many times, I'm counting those last two
games as gotta wins, right, like if the Rams don't
have to win Week eighteen and can rest starters like
I'll eat a chocolate bar on this show. You know
how hard that would be for me to do, right, But.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
I'm still shocked by that. How do you not like chocolate?
Speaker 1 (27:37):
But never mind, because they got they got six, you
almost have to win at home those last couple, So
can you get two of the next three to set
up that scenario. That's that's what I'm looking at for
the Rams these next three weeks. Can you get at
least two of the next three?
Speaker 2 (27:49):
I believe so yeah, yeah, I mean, let's start with one.
Let's start with Buffalo. Wouldn't that be fun if you
beat Buffalo here, send them mafia home early? Yeah, that
would be nice. But it's like you said, it's it's
not going to be easy. And this is the guy
that you can't count out from any positions. If if
he's ahead, if he's behind, whatever, run pass, whatever. He
is one of the best players in this league talking
(28:09):
about Josh Allen. So it's not gonna be easy. And
here's the thing. They actually believe they're gonna make the
super Bowl. So not only are gonna have to break them,
you're gonna have to break their will. So like it's
a full time.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Is that though they lost all those pieces, let all
those guys go and got better, right. I think again,
what what they've done is kind of some of what
we want Stafford to do. Is they allow their running
game to kind of dictate, and then he impacts the
game every now and then, And that's the biggest thing
because he's one of the biggest guys in the NFL.
Like he's he is their biggest threat, he's their biggest
runner in the red zone. I will say this though,
(28:40):
have we listened to Kyle Shanahan talked about the Niners lately?
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Is that like I did just buzz past San Francisco there,
that's my bad.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Well, I'm just like he was, like, this is the
worst team we've had. This is not like the other teams. Like,
I don't think you should say.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
That you're not buying what he's selling or you just
don't think that's a good I just I'm not buying.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
I think he's trying to motivate his guys to play better.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Which running back did you claim this week for Fantasy FO?
Speaker 3 (29:07):
You know you already knows who I claimed. He won't
play it next week, but this week he's going to
play for sure.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Okay, uh oh that guy? Okay, thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Back to the Bills, Like you guys said, their quarterback
has I think overperformed against pressure. He's been nearly impossible
to sack, and their team leads the NFL with a
plus seventeen turnover March. And that's their formula so how
do you kind of invert unwine some of those things
to have a chance to beat them.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Every time I turn on the tape of Buffalo, especially
their offense, it seems like he's always taken the ball
in great field position. I don't know how or why.
Maybe it's because they score. Kickoff they do, they're not
that great and kickoff coverage, but tackles for loss they
do a great job. So not only are they getting
you off the field, you're losing yarders at the same time.
And then a decent punt return and then he's got
(29:57):
a chance to score on you. So you know what
the game play and what you have to do to
beat Buffalo or at least make it a game. So
the one thing you cannot do is turn it over, period,
end of story. You can't throw picks, you cannot fumble it.
And then when you're out there against Josh Allen, get
him the third down and see what and see just
take your best shot. And I think pursuon angles are
(30:18):
going to be huge, especially against him. I would say
light your hair on fire and go, but make sure
you have somebody covering for you, because he can pick
up and scramble and pick up first downs. The last
thing you want to do is get them the third
down and then have them pick it up time and
time again to wear you out.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
So like those Jalen Hurts easiest correct for first down scrambles,
those things.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
So and I would never tell Jared Vers to take
any smoke off his rush or Braden Fisk so and
not even Kobe Turner. So if you're not one of
those three guys that's hot that day, then you are
the coverman. Make sure that guy doesn't get out. But
I cannot tell these hunters stuck to slow down. We've
got to get to him because if he stands back there,
he can throw it a mile too. So this will
be a tough challenge for everybody that lines up on defense.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
My biggest is the bootleg. The bootleg game. Defensively, like
the Rams are gonna do a great job stop in
the run. They're gonna be physical upfront, they're gonna set
vertical edges. They're gonna do all you need to do.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
But it's when they fake then he boots out that
backside guy who likes to crash all the time.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
You're gonna have to be able to get vertical and
get and try to stop him because that's where he's
at his best, because he's not afraid to run, like
to be honest, like that's what he wants to do.
He doesn't want to throw the ball when he gets out,
but he wants to run unless the guy is wide open.
And so you have to force him to do what
he doesn't want to do, which is crazy to say
you want him to throw the football, but he's more
(31:34):
dangerous to me with his legs than he.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Is with his arm. That dude, that big should not
get the benefit of flighting. That's just me. That's not fair.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Are you at all curious to see what temperament the
Buffalo Bills bring to Los Angeles? And what I mean
by that is they clinched early, like they just took
their fifth straight division crown, but they're also playing for
the one seed and they're getting healthy, right, whether like
Coleman's back at receiver or Milano came back last week
at linebackers, So they taken this thing to the next
level or they taking their foot off the accelerator ever
(32:02):
so briefly having just secured their home playoff birth.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Yeah, they're about to put I mean just brought Mike
a hide back like this is staying on the gas. Oh,
they put this thing in back in the third gear
to get some RPMs.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Yeah, how about this.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
The last Rams win against the Bills was twelve years
ago with Sam Bradford against Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
The Rams last home win against Buffalo was before MJD
was born. Oh my god, eighty three in Anaheim.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
It's time. See it's the do theory. Then the Rams
are due.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
There's been a lot of those though, like Philadelphia and
Los Angeles, Miami head to head against the It's time
for one of these to break in LA's favor. That's
why I feel good about this week.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
I think they're just the one thing that's missing is
just a spark. And like you said, if you can
come out of here, come out of so far beating
the hottest team in the NFL, that might be the
spark you need to galvanize for the for the stretch run.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
I feel like they've already had their spark though, I
really do. I think in Philadelphia you had a spark,
and I think that spark didn't really catch all the way.
But like it's gonna start now, You're gonna start seeing
kind of a little smoke, you know how you ever
see how you watch naked and in a fray where
they got to get the thing going. They got to
get the spark first. When the smoke comes, then the
fire comes.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
There's time. It's time.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Now more of a Bear Grills guy.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
It's a little bit more. I mean I could, I
could understand. It's more Bear Grills has all these clothes on,
all these tools. They don't have anything.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
Yeah, because it's a championship week in college football and
everyone's focused on the college football playoff rankings, it's time
for the Rams to get that resume win, right. That's
kind of where we started Minnesota, great resume win. They
need another one of those, not because it's gonna, you know,
get them up the rankings, but because it's gonna make
these final four weeks beyond, including Thursday night football against
San Francisco.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Can I ask you one question.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Let's say the Rams, and let's say the Rams play
their best game and then they lose by one.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
How would you feel about that?
Speaker 1 (33:54):
I would feel a lot like I did flying home
from Baltimore last week. That's why the parallel is is
kind of close.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
To the home. I want to say, they don't play
a good game, but they win.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
I will say this, of the final five, this is
the least important game remaining on the RAMS schedule. If
you know what I mean, it would be the most
excusable lot. Like, I hate saying that out loud, but
that's what it is. If you were to rank the
final five, I guess it's probably Arizona because you don't
have a win against them yet. Seattle, San Francisco, Jets, Buffalo.
(34:23):
That's probably, off the top of my head what I
would say. Why not get them all?
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Why not? When you control your destiny, That's what I'm
looking for you.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
I think we already did keys to victory. Anything else
you want to tack on before I send this thing
back to the interwett.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Don't ever bring up Naked and Afraid ever again. I
watched that. Yeah, I just saw you out there.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
No, no, listen, that's the one thing you don't have
to see me out there? Was the visual Marco work
too hard to be uncomfortable. That's what there goes a
model for you, work too hard to be uncomfortable. I
just like watching people being uncomfortable looking out this.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
Man is dressed like he has any interest in being.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
Naked, and that's the visual I had. Don't do that.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
Let your might go there man, just like the Rams,
let's focus on Buffalo for m J D.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Damarco far m JB.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Long.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Hope you too can join us at SOFI Stadium. The
Rams are six and six. Is this the week they
get above five hundred for the first time? Thank you
for joining us for an extended extended episode between.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
The Horns normal.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Normal back of the normal length as always presented by
your Southern California Toy.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Other dealers,
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