January 7, 2025 • 54 mins
Jake and Alexis talk about the Rams and Seahawks finale plus give their thoughts on the upcoming Vikings game. Use the code "JKBOGEN" to play $5 and get $50 instantly. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/JKBOGEN Be sure to follow @DowntownRams, Alexis Kraft - @TheAlexisKraft and Jake Ellenbogen - @JKBOGEN on Twitter Check out Alexis Kraft's YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpO4UFq8EQlrPr3NH6Ai7DQ
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
All right, guys, welcome back to Downtown Rams. As always,
I'm Alexis Kraft. Join here with my co host Jake
ellen Bogan, and we are coming to you after a
week eighteen Rams loss to our division rival, the Seattle
Seahawks twenty five to thirty. You know, as we all know,
the Rams already locked up a playoff spot, so they
(00:23):
opted to play their backups on offense against the Seahawks
and it wasn't enough to come away with the w.
So therefore, you know, we're gonna talk a little bit
about that. But Jake, as we also will talk about
our loss to the Seahawks basically solidified our matchup against
the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs. We were going to
(00:46):
play whoever lost the Sunday night football game between the
Lions and the Vikings. Lions win, so we're gonna take
on the Vikings at SOFI Stadium. Jake, before we get
into that, we should talk a little bit about what
we saw during the game against Seahawks, because, you know,
some interesting things happened. We got to see some guys
who we don't normally get to see a lot of
(01:06):
kind of have their time to shine. What were your
thoughts on the Rams performance against the Seahawks.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah, you know, I was really impressed with what we saw.
I thought Garoppolo kind of solidified his role. If they
want to bring him back next year as a backup,
I think that he would definitely come back, and I
think the Rams would definitely want him back. Saw a
guy that operated with twenty pressures against him in this game.
I thought, you did a really nice job, you know,
kind of manipulating the pocket. You definitely saw just his
(01:35):
you know, ability in play action. And keep in mind
he's doing this Blake korm goes down very early on
the game doing it with Ronnie Rivers, who hasn't played
since Week two, I believe, and I was really impressed.
I mean, I thought Rivers played really well as well,
especially in pass protection. I think that's really going to
benefit them in the postseason. But just watching Garoppolo and
(01:57):
just the way Mike Lafleur called this game, now, I
have to bring it up, and I brought it up
pretty much the last three times I have made content.
But in case anybody didn't notice that Sean McVay time
out when they you know, lined up, Ethan Evans is
out there it's fourth and one. That to me was huge.
(02:18):
That was the turning point. I think for Mike Laflor.
That was when the training wheels came off. It's like,
all right, you are an offensive coordinator in the NFL.
That is called games before. Okay, go for this thing.
That was what the timeout was for. Sends him out there,
they go for it, and after that, I think you
(02:40):
just saw just kind of this unraveling in a good way.
A chaotic offense that you know, was while they were
chaotic in like you know, they had some explosives and
what have you, they were also you know, really even
Keel Jimmy Garoppolo was never too high, too low. He
had a really bad pass, the interception, then he had
the miss throwing the last play of the game. But
(03:02):
I thought Garoppolo really suffered from the drops. I think
he played really well. I mean, three hundred and thirty
plus yards not what anybody was expecting him to do
in this one. Jordan Whittington, bottom line, needs to be
out there way more.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
He looks so good.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
I mean I would go as far as to say,
like when I watched Jordan Whittington, maybe it's the number.
I think a CD lamb. That's how I feel about
Jordan Whittington right now. I think he is going to
go for a thousand yards as early as next year
if they let him cook, and they need to let
him cook in the playoffs because I think they need
to get him going.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
He has that explosive ability.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
This team isn't generating a ton of explosives, so that's
kind of how.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
I see that too, too.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Out Well, he had some drops in this one, very uncharacteristic.
He did have the most receptions, finished the season with
the most receptions of his career, So shout out to him.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
DeMarcus Robinson.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
You got him going after a four week d I
spell five target, zero catches. He got going to this one.
Had a good rapport with Garoppolo. Tyler Johnson did some
good things obviously. The touchdown Tyler Higbee Okay, a huge, huge,
huge takeaway. Tyler Higbee has not lost a step. I
know some people were worried about that devastating injury. He
(04:18):
looks exactly Tyler Higby. I would say he looks a
little bit better than Tyler Higby in twenty twenty three.
I just think he looks more explosive maybe it's just me.
I don't know, but I was really impressed him. He
found the end zone. And the offensive line was not great,
but they're going up against the starters. What I will
say that right side was great. Okay. This is why
(04:41):
when people complained about Nopuom playing right tackle and people
like you and I Wara mcclennon Jr. Was stellar, absolutely
stellar on Sunday, like he was their best offensive lineman.
And Jonah Jackson had some really good tape at right guard.
Obviously know Jonah Jackson can play, he just doesn't have
(05:03):
an opportunity because they have their starting five. But that
is a really good feeling when you see your right
tackle play at that level against some tough competition here
in Seattle, and you know he only gives up I believe,
one pressure, no sacks. And you know this is big
because haven Stein we know is gonna play. That's been
(05:24):
made clear. He's gonna play for the Vikings game. But
you still have to worry. I mean, this is a
guy that's had some injuries this year, okay, and if
he comes out he's nine hundred percent, or god forbid,
he reaggravates his injury. I need to know that my
next man up isn't gonna kill me. And right now,
with the way war McClendon played, you know this past Sunday,
(05:46):
I feel good about it. So, you know, that's kind
of the offense encapsulated. But Alexis, I felt really good
about the way they played.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I did too, you know, I really liked what I saw.
You know, I'd say my only my biggest complain about offenses.
I wanted Blake Korm to be used more, you know,
especially like that first quarter. You know, I think we
all kind of wanted to see him utilize a little
bit more. I you know what, I thought this was
gonna be the week that my Blake Korum anytime touchdown
(06:15):
paid off. I basically went zero for like six or
seven on that because I'd bet that quite a bit.
So if anybody listened to me about that, bet, I apologize,
But I don't. I think everybody thought that this would
have been the week. But yeah, other than that, you know,
I thought that the play calling was pretty good on offense.
(06:35):
I really liked what I saw from Jordan Whittington. You know,
I was surprised they kept him in as long as
they did. Uh, you know, I'm very like, I don't know,
I'm very superstitious about injuries. I didn't even like that
we had some defensive starters out there. I the whole
game like, I would have sooner have lost fifty to
nothing if it just meant that, you know, you took
(06:58):
all the starters out. Thankfully none of our starters got injured,
but Jake Blake Korum ended up breaking his arm. He's
out now for the season. Didn't like that, obviously, don't
like an injury at all. But he's the main backup
to Kien Williams. So you know, I had a lot
of people messaging me about, you know, what are we
going to do now? But I will say, you know,
(07:19):
Ronnie Rivers and you and I talked about this. Ronnie
Rivers looked really good, uh, for a guy who basically
hasn't played football until this week. You know, he's not
getting snaps in games. You know, Kiroen obviously is getting
you know, eighty five percent ninety percent of snaps at
running back, and then when he's not getting those, it's
(07:39):
been Blake Korm. So Ronnie Rivers hasn't really played in
a professional football game in eighteen weeks and for I
thought he looked good, you know, all things considered. I
know that you had some thoughts about this, you know
as well. But you know, it's a it is a
really big bummer, you know, to for Blake to get injured,
you know, I'd say the good news is, you know,
(08:00):
he's a rookie, he will bounce back. This is just
a very minor setback, just at a terrible time. And ironically,
it's very similar to Kyrien Williams's story, right, he gets
injured on a freak play his rookie season, you know
as well. But I was, you know, like a little
bit relieved when I saw how well Ronnie Rivers was running.
(08:20):
But what are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Yeah, I mean, this guy hasn't had a carry since
the Chicago game. From what I'm seeing here, he had
two carries against the Lions. I had to look it
up because I was like, when is the last time
he had to carry two carries against the Lions. He
had a catch for no yards against Arizona, he had
two carries for nine against the Niners, and he had
(08:44):
six carries for twenty six against the Bears. Did not
play until this game. I thought he looked superb in
pass protection, which I think is kind of a reminder
there's more to this position than just getting the rock
and running right.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
So that's how I feel there.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
But you know, looking essentially looking at it, and I
understand some people won't like this. I think Ronnie Rivers
gives the Rams a better chance to win than Blake
Koram does right now. And there's you know, respective careers.
I mean, you know, it's really unfortunate. You hate it,
you hate injuries. I feel bad for Blake, but I
(09:26):
also feel like, look, you know, we can't have it
both ways. You can't be really excited for Omar Spates
to get his opportunity at the expense of Troy Reider,
and you know, not understand that. Look like Ronnie Rivers
can add some things and maybe right now in this
you know, this stage of his career, Blake korm can't.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
So that's kind of how I see it. Right now.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
I think Rivers really can add something to this offense
out of the passing game, which is something Blake can do.
But it's really the past protection that we saw the
Blake pickups. We're evident it was clear as day, you
know that he was he was having you know, he
was definitely having you know, some success there. And that's
a big deal because when Kyra Williams comes off the field,
(10:12):
the biggest issue that people have is when he comes
off the field, who is going to pass protect right?
And it kind of forces you into a box like
you can only do it however you're gonna do it,
And so I think that does matter. And you know,
I think that that was a big deal to get
him going. And you know, we'll see what ends up
happening to your thing, you know, because people were asking me, hey,
(10:34):
what are we doing at running back? I do have
a list, shocker, I don't think it actually will amount
to much. I think that they'll probably go with what
they have and then I think we'll probably see, you know,
and maybe I'm wrong, but I think they're gonna use
Jordan Whittington kind of in that that role. But my
(10:58):
list was essentially I think Zeke Elliott is at the
top of that list. Who was just cut by the
Cowboys veteran presence, you know, they saw him in the playoffs.
Obviously in twenty eighteen. Ezeke Elliott can't really play much
anymore at the level he used to could be a
red zone guy, but Kyram Williams is so much better
(11:20):
than everybody else in the red zone that that's not
really a big deal. So really, what does Elliott bring.
It's that pass protection ability. He's still a good pass protector.
And so if you're looking for one more guy on
this roster, and I'm still not even convinced they're going
to do it because they were trying to make room
for Troy Reader and John Johnson, if they do bring
in somebody like I think Elliot would make sense. I
(11:43):
also think Darryl Henderson, I think Malcolm Brown. These are
guys that have, you know, familiarity with the Rams. I
think they'd be on speed dial. I know some people
before you ask. No, Zach Evans is not available. Evans
is on the Jets practice squad. Boston Scott, who spent
time with the Rams and a lot of people felt
like he would make the team. He is currently available,
(12:05):
to keep an eye on him. Matt Breda, who worked
with Michae Laflor in San Francisco, he's available. There's one guy, however,
that the Rams. There's two guys, but John Kelly re
upped with the Browns. There's one guy that is available
that is a big name, former thousand yard rusher that
(12:25):
actually met and worked out for the Rams, and this
was recently, this is early December, and that's James Robinson
from the Jaguars.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Everyone remembers what he did with the Jaguars and then
kind of fell off with the injuries. Was last scene
with the Giants, I believe last year. James Robinson charge
not tried out, but he worked out for this team
early December. So that tells me that Robinson definitely has
a shot to be the guy if they decide to.
(12:56):
But I actually would be totally fine with them rolling
with what they have Kyron Williams. Then you got Ronnie Rivers,
then you got I think Cody Schrader is a fine player,
can help you in the passing game. But then you
have Jordan Whittington, who you could he was a former
running back who you could use there. If you're worried
about Whittington's durability and you don't want to run him
(13:18):
into the ground, then I could absolutely see them going
with James Robinson. And to be honest with you, if
they go with anybody, I think it will be Robinson.
I know some people think it's going to be you know,
Darryl Henderson or Malcolm Brown. Those are just you know,
me throwing out there for familiarity factor. But I think
(13:38):
James Robinson, most notably and most recently meeting with this
team and you know, working out for this team. I
think that would be the guy that they would go with.
But also we have no idea how the workout went
down to a Lexus. I mean, he could have failed
to work out miserably. All we know is that it
was reported that he worked out for the Rams, so
(13:59):
you know that's that's that.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah, I'm I'm kind of on the same page. I
think that they're probably going to stick with what they
have because their game plan doesn't I don't. I don't
think it really changes with the corn injury. You know,
I think Kyroen was going to get ninety percent of
reps anyways, right, so then you're looking at someone to
give him, you know, a breather, and I think that
if you know Ronnie Rivers, I think he has that capability.
(14:24):
I do think Zeke Elliott is interesting because of the
pass protection, right, I mean, especially at times when the
offensive line has gotten shakey. I mean, part of the
reason you have Kien Williams in there so long is
because he he does so many reps in past protection
that it would be a little bit intriguing if the
Rams wanted to bring in Zeke Elliott for that purpose.
(14:46):
But even if they brought him in, I don't think
that that changes how much they run the ball with Kien.
But Zeke would be interesting as he grew up a
Rams fan, as most people know from Saint Louis. He
also grew up idolizing Stephen Jackson and going to games
and you know, kind of modeling his game after him.
So that could be fun if they really wanted to
(15:06):
just find somebody to throw in there every once in
a while help protect Stafford. But I don't think that
they'll do it. I think that they'll just stick with
Kyron and you know, Ronnie stepping in if they want
to give Kyroen, you know, some time off. But I
don't think they signed anybody.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah, I don't think they signed anybody either. I will say,
to put into perspective, Ezekie Elliott as a runner would
be like when the you know, Patriots had Stephen Jackson
or Yeah, the Patriots. Yeah, the Patriots had Stephen Jackson,
so that that was at the very very end of
his career. Wasn't really obviously wasn't the same guy. So
(15:46):
it wouldn't be somebody that could come in and just,
you know, do a bunch of things that he used
to do. I mean, he had six hundred and forty
two rushing yards last year. This year only had two
hundred and twenty six and fifteen games. He really is
just not the same player, averaging you know, three point
one yards per carry three point five the following year.
He is on the decline. Running back is about to
(16:09):
hit thirty years old. It's sad. You hate to see it.
I definitely don't like watching these guys go downhill. But
this is the way sports is. You know, Father Time
is undefeated. Unfortunately Elliott, you know, having playing with injuries.
I mean he's never had a significant injury, but playing
through injury, it'll do that. I'll wear you down the
(16:30):
way he ran wore him down. And so there's people
saying bring back sj thirty nine.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
I don't think so. I don't think that would be
in the cards.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
But yeah, I think that James Robinson or they just
don't get it done, and I would lean towards they
don't get anything done. You can always add somebody later on,
But I just don't think they're not in that headspace.
They'll figure it out, and they don't want to even
think about that. Like if it's Kyron Williams, Ronnie Rivers,
(17:02):
and Cody Schrader. Most teams keep three running backs anyway,
you know, maybe they add somebody their practice squad just
in case, But at the same time, I don't even
think they're eligible. I don't think you can use the
practice squad in the postseason. I could be wrong, but
I don't think you can. So, yeah, Cam Akers is
playing against the Rams detect, so he wouldn't be an option.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I wish that we would have seen more Cody Schrader
against the season. I agree, because I feel like it
wasn't you know he had won carry, you know, we
didn't know. We weren't able to see what he could
do at all, and I felt like, but again, I
think it was kind of like they had their plan
going into the game with Koram and then he ends
(17:47):
up getting hurt and then they just I think kind
of I don't know if they panicked, but they just
you know, Ronnie Rivers the rest the way. And they
also didn't like call any running plays when Korum was
in either. We talked about that earlier, which was frustrating.
You know, they got a little pass So it wasn't
the best game if for people who wanted to see
kind of what our other running backs could do, unfortunately.
(18:07):
But yeah, again, I don't know that it matters so
much because I think the game plan is going to
be what it's been all season. When they go to
the playoffs, it's going to be feed Kiren right and
then when you need to obviously give him some time
to breathe, they'll probably just throw Ronnie Rivers in there.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
It was definitely the pass protection, I think, because the
way they were getting beatenside. You know, keep in mind,
I mean no disrespect. Dylan McMahon has not played all
year long, and he gave up like six pressures and
Ovula was really struggling in pass protection next to him.
So when you had all that pressure coming up front, well,
(18:46):
now I need a running back that can withstand that.
I need a guy that can come up and have
a blitz pick up. I need a guy that can
work in pass protection, and I think that's just what
ended up happening.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
The way the game.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Went down, they wanted to get straighter to the ball.
You could tell they threw him in the game. They
immediately ran the ball with him. He got two yards
and then they threw it to him. But it just
felt like it was in the cards because they were
Regardless of what anyone says. And I can't stand this hole,
the Rams weren't trying to win this game. That's just
not true. The Rams absolutely were trying to win this game.
It's why they started a lot of their starters on defense.
(19:23):
They still started guys on offense like they wanted to
win this game. They just prioritize sitting the players that
are key and critical to how far they're going to
go in the postseason. Because I mean, I said it
on my live stream after the game, you say what
you will if you're you know, complaining about them not
you know, resting their starters or resting whatever. Blake Korum
(19:45):
got hurt in this game. Christian Watson just tore his ACL.
Zay Flowers has an LCL injury, right, this is what happens.
So after we saw a week of injuries left and right.
I mean, what was it on the line we saw
Terry on Arnold go down. It's a reminder that, you know,
(20:05):
Aaron Jones like, it's always there's always a reminder there.
You know why you do something the way you do it.
And yeah, okay, if the Rams had their starters, I
think they clearly beat Seattle.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I guess I'll ask you this. I didn't care who
the Rams played.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I think they can beat anybody, including anybody in the AFC.
Did you care who the Rams played? Because I mean
I didn't at all.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
I wasn't adamant about it. I will say that when
it came down to the Sunday Night, when we learned
that obviously we were gonna play whoever lost Sunday Night football,
I wanted to play the Vikings over the Lions. I
will say that I did not want to play the
Lions first round. I just and that's you know, I'm
(20:55):
not saying that I didn't think we couldn't beat them.
I thought they were going to be tougher than the Viking.
We've played the Vikings this season, we beat them this
season on primetime. I think that the Lions are a
lot better team than the Vikings. So you know, while
I do think anything can happen and anybody can be
anybody in the NFL playoffs, if I was a betting person,
(21:16):
I'd rather play the Vikings over the Lions. So yes,
I guess that My answer is yes, I was hoping
that we would end up playing the Vikings, and we are.
But that's not to say that they're not a good
football team, because they are a very good football team.
As somebody just pointed out in the chat, they are
favored over the Rams to win next Monday Night, which,
by the way, I know a lot of people are
(21:38):
angry about the Monday night game. I am ecstatic because
I was not going to be able to watch if
they played on Saturday. So I was very much hoping
that the Rams played Sunday or Monday, and thankfully we
got the Monday night football game. But I do know
a lot of people don't like that slot. But I'm sorry, guys.
I just have to say I'm happy about it because
(21:59):
that means I can watch. I've got no conflicts, So yeah,
I don't know, did you were you pulling for anybody specific?
I mean, we kind of talked about it the last
episode that we recorded. But things change. So were you,
you know, hoping to play.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I was pulling for more so the Rams would play
on Sunday and not Saturday than I was any team
in particular because I wanted to watch US. I wanted
to watch UFC on Saturday, and if they had played
Saturday night, I'm like, the Rams are going to take precedence,
So I would prefer to enjoy both both live sports
and everything.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
And yeah, I mean Monday night. I have issues with.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
I think from a competition standpoint, I think it's BS.
So not only do you get a bye as a
first rounder, but then you get an additional game on
a lot additional day on a lot of these teams.
I mean, whoever you play between those two if you
are the Lions, but if you aren't the Lions, think
about this because it's very simple. The Rams play the
(23:03):
Lions if everything goes according to plan. And what I
mean by according to plan is when you're you know,
charting out a bracket and you advance all the best seeds,
that's according to plan. That's how it's supposed to be.
The underdog isn't supposed to win. So when the Rams
of the four seed going against the five seed, they
(23:23):
are supposed to beat the five seed. When the three
seed is playing the sixth seed, they're supposed to beat
the sixth seed, and of course the two seeds supposed
to beat the seventh seed. Well, if anything you know,
goes different here, right, So say the Rams win, but
the Commanders actually win on Sunday and the Rams will know.
(23:45):
That's the benefit there, I guess to an extent, is
that we all get to know who the Rams would
face if they win that game against the Vikings on Monday.
But be that as it may, the Rams basically will
know and the Commanders if they beat the Bucks. That
means that the Rams would go to Philly if they win,
(24:08):
and the Commanders would go to Detroit. And it's so
weird because I had this idea in my head, no
open air, get me in a dome, even if it
is ford Field. And then I had Andrew Whitworth on
this channel and he talked me into the idea that
(24:30):
the Rams are built for that Eagles game. They're built.
They don't have that old school like, they don't have
a great show on turf style offense, they don't have
a lot of explosives. They don't have a Junior Gibbs,
they don't have a Sakwon Barkley, so playing on turf, like,
there's not really a benefit there, you know, for them.
(24:52):
They don't have any guys that are like wicked explosive
that could really benefit playing on turf like some of
these other guys where you'd rather or play a Jumior
Gibbs or Saint Kwon Barkley on grass than you would
on turf. Right, it makes sense. It slows them down
just a little bit, but still enough to slow him down.
The Rams are kind of this grinded out football team.
(25:14):
Since the Bills game, we saw that barn burner against Buffalo,
they have not played that style of game since they've
played these grinded out you know, Kyra Williams Toat's the
Rock twenty nine times back to back games like that
type of style of football. They played in the cold,
and I think that Jets game they learned a lot
in and they can add that and they can push
(25:37):
that into.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
The Eagles game. So I'm kind of with Wit on
this one.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
If I were to choose, I think I I'd rather
go to Philly than go to Detroit and then you
played Detroit in the NFC title game, or you don't.
And you know, in that scenario, if Washington beat Detroit,
then you would host the NFC title game.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
That It's that simple.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
So either way, we know that the Rams are going
to play at least two fourteen win teams. The question
is are they going to play a fifteen win and
a fourteen win or two fourteen wins. If they win,
of course they have to advance. But if they do advance,
they're going to be playing a really good team regardless.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
So let's talk about that. Let's talk about you know,
and we're going to do another episode closer to the
game because you know, at the time of this recording
it's Monday night and we play, so we literally are
week away, and in the NFL, a lot can happen
in a week, so you know, we're getting a little
a little ahead of ourselves. But just kind of briefly,
(26:38):
you know, touching on this matchup against the Vikings. You know,
like we mentioned earlier, we've played the Vikings already this season.
We played them on Thursday Night Football, we played them
on primetime. I was at a wedding rehearsal, as everybody knows.
So I kind of had an unusual experience watching that
game where I was having to like sneak watch it
(26:59):
on my phone, you know, at a dinner table. But
I did watch it, and you watched it, and everyone
watching our channel watch it as well.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
We won. I was sick. I did the watch party sick.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
You yeah, you were sick. I was sick that I
couldn't watch the game there, see what I did there.
But we won thirty to twenty. We won thirty to
twenty in primetime on Thursday Night football, which was really
nice because the Rams kind of have this habit on
primetime football the past few years of embarrassing me when
(27:31):
the world is watching. They've had a couple of games
like that this season. Talk about the Philadelphia Eagles game, Uh,
you know, our team, but you know, we beat this team.
That's what I'm trying to say. We've beat this team.
We beat them, like, you know, the score thirty to twenty.
I felt like it could have been a lot worse.
(27:52):
We pretty much dominated the Vikings, you know when we played.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Them, you know thirty after the first two.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Yeah, yeah, it could have been a lot worse. And
so obviously, you know that doesn't mean that we're automatically
slated to win again if we play against them, But
we've proved ourselves that we can, right We Sean mcvays
proved that he can out coach Kevin McConnell this season,
which we've seen it and right, so, you know, as
(28:20):
a Rams fan on a surface level, we should feel
good going in this game. But Jake, what do you
think if anything has changed between that Thursday night football
game and now for both teams that might flip the
script a little bit. What is something the Rams should
look out for now that they're going to play the
Vikings again?
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Well, I mean you got to look out for now.
See very interesting again. Wit brought this up earlier. Sam
Darnold was really good against the blitz, right, the stats
indicate that he was really good against the blitz. Well,
we realized when the Lions really blitzed him, is that
his numbers against the blitz were just let's be honest here,
(29:04):
he didn't see the blitz as much as you would think.
So the Lions really tested him and blitz the hell
out of him last night. And this is somebody that
really just kind of crumbled in the moment. I don't
think he had a ton of help from those wide receivers.
Justin Jefferson should have held on to a few of those.
(29:24):
I think obviously he stopped running on the touchdown. There
were issues, right, But.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
When you.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Know, start getting a quarterback in, you know, very uncomfortable,
when you get him throwing off his back foot and
have him running for his life off platform. I mean,
Josh Allen can make that, but that's not always the
best thing. That's not always the operation you want to
go with. And so I just look at this Rams team.
They can get after the quarterback without sending, but now
(29:53):
they are blitzing and they're being effective. You saw a
Kello Witherspoon's Mutumbo act, you know, bat in the pass away.
You've seen Quentin Lake blitz. You've seen Cam Curl obviously
against Aaron Rodgers and the Jets.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
That was huge.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
But the blitzing has worked out, you know, since the
bye week for the Rams, and I just think that
you know, what we what we learned, and kind of
the different thing here is that Sam Donald does struggle
against it. And if you're getting pressure and you're just
gonna play man defense, It's gonna be hard. It is
really gonna be hard for Sam Donald to make plays.
I do expect this team to try and take advantage
(30:32):
of the Rams, because if they do play in that
man coverage, then you know, if they're able to get
through you know, with Cam Akers and that explosion or
you know, Aaron Jones, they can obviously get some yards
out of that and some chunks at that and keep
drives live. I'm really curious if Kevin O'Connell is going
to try to protect Sam Donald from himself. That's what
(30:55):
I'm curious about, because if Sam Donald plays like he
did against the Rams and he throws a decent amount,
he wasn't like he was great. In the first two
drives that were scripted. He struggled, but he wasn't like
catastrophic like last night. He didn't throw an interception, and honestly,
he might as well have. Last night was catastrophically bad.
(31:17):
They had every opportunity to be in that game, and
they had three red zone trips in which they got
no touchdowns. I just feel like the way the Rams
are playing against the run right now and how everybody
on that secondary, regardless if you realize it or not,
can play in man coverage, including Emmanuel Forbes, who, by
the way, killed it in man coverage against dek Metcalf.
(31:38):
I think he could be an absolute weapon if you
want to deploy him on third downs, obvious passing downs,
deep passing downs. You don't have to have him make
a tackle, because we saw him trying to make a tackle.
He's a willing tackler, but he just doesn't have the
mass where he kind of just bounces off guys. Right,
But if you play him to his strength and you
(32:00):
use him on those third and obvious situations where it's
third and long and they're going deep down the field,
well that those you know, the fluidity in his hips,
I mean he could easily, you know, ask be asked
to just shut somebody down on a play and he
could do that. He had some really good reps on Sunday.
I was really impressed with Forbes. So that's how I
(32:22):
would utilize him. But Alexis, this game plan has to
be very similar to the forty nine ers. Obviously, you
got to score more points than you did against the Niners.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
Was it twelve to six? That's not going to cut it.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
But the thing that they did against the forty nine
ers is that they forced Rock Purdy, who just absolutely
destroys zone defense and will just always find the open man.
They forced him to try and make pinpoint accurate throws
in man coverage. And oh, by the way, while you're
trying to do that, which you still didn't want to
(32:58):
do when you were very reluctant to do that, we're
also gonna have Jared Verse and Kobe Turner and Braden
Fisk and Byron Young all over you the whole game.
So I think it's gonna be similar to that. I
would worry. You know, there is the potential Kevin O'Connell,
you know, kind of moves away from the passing game.
If the Rams can't stop the run game, then you
(33:19):
kind of reactivate Sam Donald. It's almost kind of like
a trap card because if you start giving up the run,
then the play action is going to be more effective.
You get Sam Donald going the play action, then you
get his confidence up. If you can do that, you
can kind of write this ship or right now, I
understand you know, the playoffs started clean slate. There is
some sort of momentum drop here. You can't tell me
(33:41):
there's not the Vikings went in this game expecting to win.
There's no way they didn't expect to win. All those injuries,
the Lions are playing with, you know, they beat you know,
the Lions earlier. They were expecting to win this game,
and it just the reality is that they didn't get
it done. And you know, not only did they not
get it done thirty one to nine, So it's just
(34:02):
not acceptable to do that. And they gave it four
touchdowns to the same running back and Gibbs and you
know that that's that. And and by the way, they
didn't beat the Lions. I'm sorry, I meant to say that.
They lost in the final seconds to the Lions thirty
one to twenty nine. And you know, I think kind
of coming from that game, you have to feel like, okay,
(34:24):
revenge angle, we almost beat them all that, we know
we're capable of it, and they were in this game.
They should have taken the points, they should have kicked
the field goals on the road. But then you just
you look at it and it's like, man, you know,
the Lions just ran away with this game, and it
got ugly, and I started thinking, and maybe maybe I'm
(34:44):
not onto something.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
Maybe I am.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
But when it became more and more obvious that the
Vikings were who the Rams were gonna play, I started
really rooting for the Vikings to kind of fall off
because I felt like, in this scenario, the worst thing gets,
the more down the Vikings are gonna get. And I think,
while it's obvious this is a clean slate, you move
(35:08):
on that stuff still lingers. They still played that game
with starters. Those starters are playing the next the following week.
Now they have to be on the road. They had
it all right.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
In front of them.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
If they win this game, number one seed the super Bowl,
the road to the Super Bowl runs through Minnesota, and
you feel good about that. Well, they lost that, and
now they don't even get a playoff game winning fourteen games.
So I just think right now, the momentum is definitely
not looking good right now for the Vikings. And I
think with the Rams, even though they lost this game,
(35:42):
I mean, you saw how happy those starters were that,
you know, sat like a cup like a staffer Puka
kyn how happy they were, you know, for their teammates.
I mean, this was a game that they absolutely dominated
in the second half. They should have won. I wish
vinev knew what in off sides was because Keier Thomas
(36:02):
wasn't off sides and that would have effected the end
of the game. You know, that's neither here nor there,
because they did have a chance at the end to
win it and they didn't. But at the same time,
I don't think you, I don't think your momentum gets
dinged in that one, because that was really like to
have them go toe to toe with the Seahawks, who
(36:23):
clearly were going after this thing.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
They wanted ten wins for their coach.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
They wanted to be able to say that they tied
the Rams, you know, in the division, and you know whatever.
But I'll tell you, I mean, I just think the
the vibe of this team, the way they played this out,
I think it really can benefit you even when you
have backups in there and you're playing at that level.
It just tells me that organizationally, in the locker room,
(36:49):
the coaching staff, all of that, they have their ducks
in a row, and people are excited right now in
that Rams building. I mean, you saw Josh Carty saying,
look like, you know, we're not afraid of anybody.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
You know, we're excited.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
No one picked us whatever you know, Sean mcfay saying,
we respect everyone by fear no one. Yeah, I mean
that's a dangerous team right there. And they found multiple
ways to win, whether it was ugly, whether it was
having to drop forty four against the Buffalo Bills. They've
won in multiple different ways this year.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Aren't you glad that we never gave up on Joshua Cardy.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
I can't believe some of these people. I mean, really, like,
are you kidding me? You look and you're like, he
missed five field goals all year and people are like
tearing him down, and I mean, you remember my rant
on here.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Ugh. I love how I said that, just like that's
the tea. This isn't even tea. But this was my
treat to myself. I've been chatting with the Chat, all
eight hundred of you that are in here right now.
I've been manning the Chat this episode, and I told
them what I told you Jake earlier, how I'm just
super under the weather. So I got myself that that
(38:02):
just absolutely terrible for you. Sugar drink right there that
I'm sipping on just bring me back to life a
little bit understandable, But yeah, it was just so. It
was sad. It was funny, but sad to see throughout
the season people give up on a rookie kicker and
who really has never done anything. I felt like that
(38:26):
was worthy to give up on him. I know he
had a couple of games with some miskicks, but I mean,
he has looked really good the past few games, and
I think he's only going to get better. I think
he's working on the kinks and he is going to
be pretty good for a long time if he keeps
us up. So yeah, I just wanted to shout that out.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
That was huge to get him going from the left too,
by the way.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
Yeah, and in his confidence too, obviously, you know, not
just getting the points on the board, but as a
play player, to get your confidence up and absolutely shut
people up who are being dramatic on the internet. You know.
I'm sure he doesn't see that.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
But just I know.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
But still, I mean, why would you even if if
there's any chance of my kicker seeing negativity and having
any sort of chance of that affecting his mental state,
why would I put that out there?
Speaker 3 (39:23):
I just I don't know.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Well, yeah, I thought that was, you know, a good storyline,
you know, relatively all in all, I felt, you know,
even though the Rams lost, you know, I think things
went well from them. I mean, bummer about Blake Korm.
We talked about that earlier that I think was probably
the biggest you know, other than getting you know, the
l the technical loss, right, I mean losing Blake Koram
(39:49):
for the season. Uh but Jake, you know what I
would encourage everybody to not do to Blake Korm what
they did to Kyen Williams. Let's not label him injury
prone because he got an injury his worked season, because
that happened to Kien Williams and people jump ship on him.
So I better not see that when people talk about
Blake Korum. I know his arm is going to heal,
(40:11):
he's going to be fine, and you know, we wish
him the best, but it is it is really a bummer,
Like Week eighteen, it is just.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
They call him Joshua Mariocardi. I've never heard that.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
They're they're giving him Joshua. They're trying to find a
nickname for him.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
I mean, I kind of like Cardi B.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
But I mean I like Playboy Cardi because that's after
there's a rapper I don't know who that is. Okay,
so that's.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
That's why I was like Cardi B. I don't know culture, but.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
I'm pretty sure. So there's a rapper Playboy Cardi, but
he spells it differently. So if you say Playboy Cardi
but spell it Cardi, it's the same. But but that
one probably won't I guess catch on. I think Cardi
party is what everybody is. I see.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
Kill a Cardy.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
I kind of like, yeah, somebody just dropped in the chat. Yeah,
Playboy Cardi, but you would spell it differently. Yeah, So
like Cardi doesn't make sense because there's no like his
first name starts with the J.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
It's just Cardi B. You know what doesn't make sense?
JK Bogan. I I don't know why it's JK Bogan.
I'm j E right, j A right? So Jake starts
with the A and ou a K. Nothing starts with
the JK. That's not even English.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
I just thought I never put that together.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
You're right, it's like JK Bogan, what what the hell?
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Because you're abbreviating Jake and then you're abbreviating Ellen Bogan,
so you're taking the A and the E out of Jake,
and you're taking the Ellen out of Bogan.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Okay, so you do the vision, but I don't even
remember how I came up with it. I just did
and it just like worked. My I I assumed your
middle name started with the K. Yeah it doesn't. My
madle name, you know, is actually believe or not. My
initials spelled Joe. My maddle name is Oliver, so literally
K means no, like it just makes no sense, but
(42:19):
I like it. I don't remember when I did it.
And the K is silent, yeah j Bogan silent K.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
I mean, I hate my I've said this a lot.
I do not like my Twitter user name. The alexis
Craft just sounds embarrassing, but you know what I made
my Twitter.
Speaker 3 (42:39):
It's really not.
Speaker 1 (42:41):
I mean, it's just it's just the okay pretentious. But
what happened is when I when I made my Twitter,
I was fifteen, and the username alexis Craft was taken
and I was a big Cody Simpson fan and his
Twitter was the Cody Simpson. So I was like, all right,
that makes sense. I'll just put the alexis Craft so
(43:02):
I still have my name in there. And then what
ended up happening is Rams fans started to follow me,
and so it was like my real name was out there.
I've said before, if I could do it again, I
would not probably have my real name on anything, but
it is that's it ended up happening that way. So yeah,
my my actual name is Alexis Craft. I don't get
(43:23):
to hide behind any false identity. So there's that. Someone
in the chat just said, asked me how old I am?
I am twenty eight, which apparently nobody thinks that because
every time I say that, everybody's like, you're twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (43:38):
Everyone's well, you were twenty three, and.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
I'm like, I wish yeah, yep, nope.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
I don't remember.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
Yeah, my Twitter name I think was Jake. It was
Jake Bogan. I think Jake Bogan. I don't remember mine
is crazy. I don't even Jake Bogan.
Speaker 1 (43:58):
I think it was Jake is twenty nine. Somebody that
just asked how old you are? You're older than me.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Yes, I'll be thirty this year. No comment at this time.
Speaker 1 (44:12):
I kind of like feel like at this point it's
like I just like just be thirty, like twenty eight,
It's like like twenty twenty nine. It's like, let's just
like be thirty.
Speaker 2 (44:23):
It's like, as soon as you hit thirty, like you're
this is what's going to happen, just because of all
the negative connotation about being thirty years old, Like as
soon as I hit thirty, I'm gonna feel in my knees,
my back, everything, and it's not even going to be real.
It's all just gonna be this placebo thing because everybody
said that, like thirty is so evil and bad and
(44:44):
it's the end of your life. But yeah, it's Uh,
if I was running back, i'd be hitting a wall.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
I just have always felt like I'm going to hit
my peek in my thirties, So I'm not scared of it.
I mean I'm scared of it from like what society
in the world falsely labels your thirties. But I've always
just felt like I'm going to actually be in my
stride at thirty, which is I think a good place
to be. Like you don't want to be in your
stride in high school, like you know people who peak
(45:14):
in high school. You don't want to be that person.
You just don't, you know. I think for me my twenties,
I'm figuring it out. My thirties I'm going to get
there and I'm going to like hit my stride.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
Definitely haven't. Definitely didn't peak in high school. I can
tell you that much. Neither did I no chance.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Okay, so we're probably going to wrap this up because
when we start talking about like peaking in high school
and like our old twitter like ats, that's how you
know it's time to cut it off. Cut them off.
You guys are still puppies. I don't think I've ever
been called a puppy before. That is fascinating. Well, now
(45:59):
I have officially thirteen fourteen, forty two thirty three wow
three all right three?
Speaker 3 (46:06):
No, not by it.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
I will say, well, it is nice. I will say
from you know, interacting with like the listeners who listen
to our show, And I don't. When I say interacting,
I should say seeing messages because I will admit if
people who are like under eighteen message me, I will
not respond, just just not. I appreciate the support, but
(46:28):
you know, I just I'm not going to. But there
is like a wide range of people like age groups
to listen to our show, which I think is just
really cool that everybody can enjoy and listen because you know,
I'll tell you, like when I do improv or something
right or I'm on stage performing like that is not
for all ages. You know that there are certain age
(46:49):
groups and there are there are age groups too young,
and I also sometimes too old right that, Like, Yeah,
understand what's like some of the references. So it is
nice to be able to do a show that every
body can enjoy and we're all on the same page.
Thank you so much for the super chat.
Speaker 3 (47:06):
Thank you, Johan, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
Let's beat the vikes and show that we're contenders. Yeah,
I better not here a skull chane it so far,
this is all up to you guys. I won't be there,
so this is up to you. Hav thank you for
the super chat, Yo shout out Jake for the big
Wit appearance.
Speaker 3 (47:30):
Appreciate you man yet.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
Brian Beadle, thank you for the five You guys are awesome.
It's too bad we couldn't pull out a win yesterday
although it was a great experience. Love our chances Monday night. Yeah,
I really can't stress it enough. I understand maybe I
shouldn't even be as confident as I am. I'm not
saying they're gonna blow out the Vikings, But I really
do feel good about this game. You know, they're gonna
(47:55):
have John Hesse, John Hussey, excuse me as the officials,
So they dodged the did Craig rollstad bit.
Speaker 3 (48:03):
John Hussey.
Speaker 2 (48:04):
The Rams are seven to four in games that he's officiated.
The Rams are the least penalized team in the NFL.
The Rams, actually, Alexis, I don't know if you saw this.
This is gonna bode well for them in the postseason. Okay,
I think about this. You got Stafford who's got all
sorts of experience, fourth quarter comeback, game winning drive, king.
(48:26):
You got Kyron Williams who can take on a big workload.
Just got a huge, huge week arrest and he could
take on a big workload. He can play that ground
and pound and you know, can pretty much get any
first down, like you know, any short yardage. He can
manage that right goal line. He's got a nose for
(48:46):
the end zone. Great stuff. Then you got Pooka Akuah,
your superstar. You got Cooper Cup if he can hold out.
I mean, I know he's kind of not the same receiver,
but I mean, if he can get going, now that
we're in the postseason, that would be nice. He got
explosive Jordan Winnington, hopefully he gets more opportunities. You got
DeMarcus Robinson who's got seven touchdowns this season. You got
(49:07):
two too out well your deep threat. You got Tyler Johnson,
you can make plays after the catch. You got Tyler
Higbee who looks like he hasn't lost a step and
could be a huge weapon at tight end. You got
a fully healthy offensive line knock on Wood that better
stay the case. Then you have on the defense the
number one pressure rate defense up front. You got a
(49:27):
secondary that is playing lights out. You got a defense
that now has their linebackers and Omar Spates and you know,
Christian rose Boom, the safeties are playing well. I just
think there's a lot to feel good about. When it
comes to the Rams fourth down, they're the best, the
second best defense, the best fourth down defense in the
second half of the season of anybody in the playoffs,
and they're the best fourth down offense in the second
(49:50):
half of the season. So when a team has to,
you know, push comes to show a team has to
go for it on fourth down, the Rams are the best.
They have over an eighty one percent success rate, and
you know when a team goes for it on fourth down.
Against the Rams, well, they've done a really nice job
in the second half of the season to shut him down,
and that's huge. That might not be huge against the
Vikings this week, but if they move on to, say,
(50:11):
you know, the Lions, that would be pretty damn big
because the Lions, I mean, how many times they go
for it on fourth down? It feels like at least
three times a game, maybe four. So yeah, those are
just some thoughts that I have. Obviously, I trust the
coaching staff at trust McVay. Oh, you can't forget about
the fact that Ethan Evans is a weapon. I mean,
(50:32):
his leg is insane. They have Jordan Whittington, who's a
kick return weapon. They got some guys on special teams,
Exaviers you know Xaviers Smith. He is lightning in a bottle.
When he gets going, he could really make you pay.
But he's also a great gunner on special teams. And last,
but certainly not least, on special teams, you got Josh Cardy,
(50:54):
who's been lights out as of late, and I'll tell
you they got him going at the right time. You're
only as good your kicker, do not forget. The Rams
do not win the Super Bowl without Matt Gay. They don't,
they don't beat They do not get to the Bengals
game without him. They don't beat the Bengals without him.
They don't beat the Bucks without him. They don't beat
the forty nine ers without him. Matt Gay was key
(51:15):
and critical in addition to that to get to the
twenty eighteen Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. We
talked about all the time, Greg Zerline, he is gonna
make a huge game. He's gonna make a huge kick.
That's all anybody thought. Oh wow, he's got this crazy leg.
It's gonna be one of these days you're gonna need it.
Fifty eight yarder, boom drills it. They go to the
(51:36):
super Bowl, So again, you know, it might all come down.
You know when you think about all these players and
everything that goes on in between the twenties and inside
the red zone and all these crazy athletes. But at
the end of the day, more often than not in
the postseason, it comes down to in a lot of cases,
(51:56):
the least athletic player having to make a play at
the end to win the game. And that kick. I mean,
the way Cardi has been booting him. I feel pretty
damn good about him right now. So we're going to
see what ends up happening. But Alexis, I think there's
a lot to feel good about when it comes to
the Rams. There is a chance if they do get
to the super Bowl, they will have played the toughest
(52:19):
They will have the toughest road in the history of
the league, having to play a fifteen win team and
two fourteen win teams. That's a possibility. But you can't
take anything away from this scene. If they accomplish that,
I can tell you that much.
Speaker 1 (52:32):
Bring it on. Hell yeah, bring it on. I feel
really good about this team right now too. I think
all Rams fans should, you know, going into this wild
card matchup against the Vikings, you got to earn it.
Nothing is given, but obviously feel you know, feel confident,
feel good about our chances. And we'll be back to
talk about it on Friday night. You know, we will
(52:54):
be here kind of closer to the game. We'll have
more updates and we'll be able to kind of break
down a little bit more about what's what's going on
before we head out here. Matthew, thank you for the
super Chat.
Speaker 3 (53:06):
He said, my Old Ass. That just made me think.
Speaker 1 (53:10):
There's a movie that came out recently called My Old
Ass that Jake and I both really like and recommend.
But thank you so much. Matthews is still young. Yeah,
how you feel in your.
Speaker 3 (53:24):
Heart, I'm with you. But yeah, but yeah, that'll do it.
Speaker 1 (53:30):
That'll do it. So guys, as always, please like and
subscribe if you like what you hear. You can follow
us on social media at Downtown Rams. You can follow
me on Twitter at the Alexis Craft. You can follow
Jake at JK Bogan. You can follow us both on Instagram,
same handle for Jake on Instagram. I think I'm just
Alexis Craft on Instagram though, so pretty easy to find, uh.
(53:54):
And like I said earlier, we'll be back Friday night.
We'll have a big preview episode for this wild card
matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. We're very excited for it. Guys,
have a safe week. Hope everybody has a good week.
Hopefully it flies by so we can get to this matchup.
But guys, as always, stay safe, take care and go Rams.
All right, guys, welcome back to Downtown Rams. As always,
I'm Alexis Kraft. Join here with my co host Jake
ellen Bogan, and we are coming to you after a
week eighteen Rams loss to our division rival, the Seattle
Seahawks twenty five to thirty. You know, as we all know,
the Rams already locked up a playoff spot, so they
(00:23):
opted to play their backups on offense against the Seahawks
and it wasn't enough to come away with the w.
So therefore, you know, we're gonna talk a little bit
about that. But Jake, as we also will talk about
our loss to the Seahawks basically solidified our matchup against
the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs. We were going to
(00:46):
play whoever lost the Sunday night football game between the
Lions and the Vikings. Lions win, so we're gonna take
on the Vikings at SOFI Stadium. Jake, before we get
into that, we should talk a little bit about what
we saw during the game against Seahawks, because, you know,
some interesting things happened. We got to see some guys
who we don't normally get to see a lot of
(01:06):
kind of have their time to shine. What were your
thoughts on the Rams performance against the Seahawks.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah, you know, I was really impressed with what we saw.
I thought Garoppolo kind of solidified his role. If they
want to bring him back next year as a backup,
I think that he would definitely come back, and I
think the Rams would definitely want him back. Saw a
guy that operated with twenty pressures against him in this game.
I thought, you did a really nice job, you know,
kind of manipulating the pocket. You definitely saw just his
(01:35):
you know, ability in play action. And keep in mind
he's doing this Blake korm goes down very early on
the game doing it with Ronnie Rivers, who hasn't played
since Week two, I believe, and I was really impressed.
I mean, I thought Rivers played really well as well,
especially in pass protection. I think that's really going to
benefit them in the postseason. But just watching Garoppolo and
(01:57):
just the way Mike Lafleur called this game, now, I
have to bring it up, and I brought it up
pretty much the last three times I have made content.
But in case anybody didn't notice that Sean McVay time
out when they you know, lined up, Ethan Evans is
out there it's fourth and one. That to me was huge.
(02:18):
That was the turning point. I think for Mike Laflor.
That was when the training wheels came off. It's like,
all right, you are an offensive coordinator in the NFL.
That is called games before. Okay, go for this thing.
That was what the timeout was for. Sends him out there,
they go for it, and after that, I think you
(02:40):
just saw just kind of this unraveling in a good way.
A chaotic offense that you know, was while they were
chaotic in like you know, they had some explosives and
what have you, they were also you know, really even
Keel Jimmy Garoppolo was never too high, too low. He
had a really bad pass, the interception, then he had
the miss throwing the last play of the game. But
(03:02):
I thought Garoppolo really suffered from the drops. I think
he played really well. I mean, three hundred and thirty
plus yards not what anybody was expecting him to do
in this one. Jordan Whittington, bottom line, needs to be
out there way more.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
He looks so good.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
I mean I would go as far as to say,
like when I watched Jordan Whittington, maybe it's the number.
I think a CD lamb. That's how I feel about
Jordan Whittington right now. I think he is going to
go for a thousand yards as early as next year
if they let him cook, and they need to let
him cook in the playoffs because I think they need
to get him going.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
He has that explosive ability.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
This team isn't generating a ton of explosives, so that's
kind of how.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
I see that too, too.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Out Well, he had some drops in this one, very uncharacteristic.
He did have the most receptions, finished the season with
the most receptions of his career, So shout out to him.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
DeMarcus Robinson.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
You got him going after a four week d I
spell five target, zero catches. He got going to this one.
Had a good rapport with Garoppolo. Tyler Johnson did some
good things obviously. The touchdown Tyler Higbee Okay, a huge, huge,
huge takeaway. Tyler Higbee has not lost a step. I
know some people were worried about that devastating injury. He
(04:18):
looks exactly Tyler Higby. I would say he looks a
little bit better than Tyler Higby in twenty twenty three.
I just think he looks more explosive maybe it's just me.
I don't know, but I was really impressed him. He
found the end zone. And the offensive line was not great,
but they're going up against the starters. What I will
say that right side was great. Okay. This is why
(04:41):
when people complained about Nopuom playing right tackle and people
like you and I Wara mcclennon Jr. Was stellar, absolutely
stellar on Sunday, like he was their best offensive lineman.
And Jonah Jackson had some really good tape at right guard.
Obviously know Jonah Jackson can play, he just doesn't have
(05:03):
an opportunity because they have their starting five. But that
is a really good feeling when you see your right
tackle play at that level against some tough competition here
in Seattle, and you know he only gives up I believe,
one pressure, no sacks. And you know this is big
because haven Stein we know is gonna play. That's been
(05:24):
made clear. He's gonna play for the Vikings game. But
you still have to worry. I mean, this is a
guy that's had some injuries this year, okay, and if
he comes out he's nine hundred percent, or god forbid,
he reaggravates his injury. I need to know that my
next man up isn't gonna kill me. And right now,
with the way war McClendon played, you know this past Sunday,
(05:46):
I feel good about it. So, you know, that's kind
of the offense encapsulated. But Alexis, I felt really good
about the way they played.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I did too, you know, I really liked what I saw.
You know, I'd say my only my biggest complain about offenses.
I wanted Blake Korm to be used more, you know,
especially like that first quarter. You know, I think we
all kind of wanted to see him utilize a little
bit more. I you know what, I thought this was
gonna be the week that my Blake Korum anytime touchdown
(06:15):
paid off. I basically went zero for like six or
seven on that because I'd bet that quite a bit.
So if anybody listened to me about that, bet, I apologize,
But I don't. I think everybody thought that this would
have been the week. But yeah, other than that, you know,
I thought that the play calling was pretty good on offense.
(06:35):
I really liked what I saw from Jordan Whittington. You know,
I was surprised they kept him in as long as
they did. Uh, you know, I'm very like, I don't know,
I'm very superstitious about injuries. I didn't even like that
we had some defensive starters out there. I the whole
game like, I would have sooner have lost fifty to
nothing if it just meant that, you know, you took
(06:58):
all the starters out. Thankfully none of our starters got injured,
but Jake Blake Korum ended up breaking his arm. He's
out now for the season. Didn't like that, obviously, don't
like an injury at all. But he's the main backup
to Kien Williams. So you know, I had a lot
of people messaging me about, you know, what are we
going to do now? But I will say, you know,
(07:19):
Ronnie Rivers and you and I talked about this. Ronnie
Rivers looked really good, uh, for a guy who basically
hasn't played football until this week. You know, he's not
getting snaps in games. You know, Kiroen obviously is getting
you know, eighty five percent ninety percent of snaps at
running back, and then when he's not getting those, it's
(07:39):
been Blake Korm. So Ronnie Rivers hasn't really played in
a professional football game in eighteen weeks and for I
thought he looked good, you know, all things considered. I
know that you had some thoughts about this, you know
as well. But you know, it's a it is a
really big bummer, you know, to for Blake to get injured,
you know, I'd say the good news is, you know,
(08:00):
he's a rookie, he will bounce back. This is just
a very minor setback, just at a terrible time. And ironically,
it's very similar to Kyrien Williams's story, right, he gets
injured on a freak play his rookie season, you know
as well. But I was, you know, like a little
bit relieved when I saw how well Ronnie Rivers was running.
(08:20):
But what are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Yeah, I mean, this guy hasn't had a carry since
the Chicago game. From what I'm seeing here, he had
two carries against the Lions. I had to look it
up because I was like, when is the last time
he had to carry two carries against the Lions. He
had a catch for no yards against Arizona, he had
two carries for nine against the Niners, and he had
(08:44):
six carries for twenty six against the Bears. Did not
play until this game. I thought he looked superb in
pass protection, which I think is kind of a reminder
there's more to this position than just getting the rock
and running right.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
So that's how I feel there.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
But you know, looking essentially looking at it, and I
understand some people won't like this. I think Ronnie Rivers
gives the Rams a better chance to win than Blake
Koram does right now. And there's you know, respective careers.
I mean, you know, it's really unfortunate. You hate it,
you hate injuries. I feel bad for Blake, but I
(09:26):
also feel like, look, you know, we can't have it
both ways. You can't be really excited for Omar Spates
to get his opportunity at the expense of Troy Reider,
and you know, not understand that. Look like Ronnie Rivers
can add some things and maybe right now in this
you know, this stage of his career, Blake korm can't.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
So that's kind of how I see it. Right now.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
I think Rivers really can add something to this offense
out of the passing game, which is something Blake can do.
But it's really the past protection that we saw the
Blake pickups. We're evident it was clear as day, you
know that he was he was having you know, he
was definitely having you know, some success there. And that's
a big deal because when Kyra Williams comes off the field,
(10:12):
the biggest issue that people have is when he comes
off the field, who is going to pass protect right?
And it kind of forces you into a box like
you can only do it however you're gonna do it,
And so I think that does matter. And you know,
I think that that was a big deal to get
him going. And you know, we'll see what ends up
happening to your thing, you know, because people were asking me, hey,
(10:34):
what are we doing at running back? I do have
a list, shocker, I don't think it actually will amount
to much. I think that they'll probably go with what
they have and then I think we'll probably see, you know,
and maybe I'm wrong, but I think they're gonna use
Jordan Whittington kind of in that that role. But my
(10:58):
list was essentially I think Zeke Elliott is at the
top of that list. Who was just cut by the
Cowboys veteran presence, you know, they saw him in the playoffs.
Obviously in twenty eighteen. Ezeke Elliott can't really play much
anymore at the level he used to could be a
red zone guy, but Kyram Williams is so much better
(11:20):
than everybody else in the red zone that that's not
really a big deal. So really, what does Elliott bring.
It's that pass protection ability. He's still a good pass protector.
And so if you're looking for one more guy on
this roster, and I'm still not even convinced they're going
to do it because they were trying to make room
for Troy Reader and John Johnson, if they do bring
in somebody like I think Elliot would make sense. I
(11:43):
also think Darryl Henderson, I think Malcolm Brown. These are
guys that have, you know, familiarity with the Rams. I
think they'd be on speed dial. I know some people
before you ask. No, Zach Evans is not available. Evans
is on the Jets practice squad. Boston Scott, who spent
time with the Rams and a lot of people felt
like he would make the team. He is currently available,
(12:05):
to keep an eye on him. Matt Breda, who worked
with Michae Laflor in San Francisco, he's available. There's one guy, however,
that the Rams. There's two guys, but John Kelly re
upped with the Browns. There's one guy that is available
that is a big name, former thousand yard rusher that
(12:25):
actually met and worked out for the Rams, and this
was recently, this is early December, and that's James Robinson
from the Jaguars.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Everyone remembers what he did with the Jaguars and then
kind of fell off with the injuries. Was last scene
with the Giants, I believe last year. James Robinson charge
not tried out, but he worked out for this team
early December. So that tells me that Robinson definitely has
a shot to be the guy if they decide to.
(12:56):
But I actually would be totally fine with them rolling
with what they have Kyron Williams. Then you got Ronnie Rivers,
then you got I think Cody Schrader is a fine player,
can help you in the passing game. But then you
have Jordan Whittington, who you could he was a former
running back who you could use there. If you're worried
about Whittington's durability and you don't want to run him
(13:18):
into the ground, then I could absolutely see them going
with James Robinson. And to be honest with you, if
they go with anybody, I think it will be Robinson.
I know some people think it's going to be you know,
Darryl Henderson or Malcolm Brown. Those are just you know,
me throwing out there for familiarity factor. But I think
(13:38):
James Robinson, most notably and most recently meeting with this
team and you know, working out for this team. I
think that would be the guy that they would go with.
But also we have no idea how the workout went
down to a Lexus. I mean, he could have failed
to work out miserably. All we know is that it
was reported that he worked out for the Rams, so
(13:59):
you know that's that's that.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah, I'm I'm kind of on the same page. I
think that they're probably going to stick with what they
have because their game plan doesn't I don't. I don't
think it really changes with the corn injury. You know,
I think Kyroen was going to get ninety percent of
reps anyways, right, so then you're looking at someone to
give him, you know, a breather, and I think that
if you know Ronnie Rivers, I think he has that capability.
(14:24):
I do think Zeke Elliott is interesting because of the
pass protection, right, I mean, especially at times when the
offensive line has gotten shakey. I mean, part of the
reason you have Kien Williams in there so long is
because he he does so many reps in past protection
that it would be a little bit intriguing if the
Rams wanted to bring in Zeke Elliott for that purpose.
(14:46):
But even if they brought him in, I don't think
that that changes how much they run the ball with Kien.
But Zeke would be interesting as he grew up a
Rams fan, as most people know from Saint Louis. He
also grew up idolizing Stephen Jackson and going to games
and you know, kind of modeling his game after him.
So that could be fun if they really wanted to
(15:06):
just find somebody to throw in there every once in
a while help protect Stafford. But I don't think that
they'll do it. I think that they'll just stick with
Kyron and you know, Ronnie stepping in if they want
to give Kyroen, you know, some time off. But I
don't think they signed anybody.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah, I don't think they signed anybody either. I will say,
to put into perspective, Ezekie Elliott as a runner would
be like when the you know, Patriots had Stephen Jackson
or Yeah, the Patriots. Yeah, the Patriots had Stephen Jackson,
so that that was at the very very end of
his career. Wasn't really obviously wasn't the same guy. So
(15:46):
it wouldn't be somebody that could come in and just,
you know, do a bunch of things that he used
to do. I mean, he had six hundred and forty
two rushing yards last year. This year only had two
hundred and twenty six and fifteen games. He really is
just not the same player, averaging you know, three point
one yards per carry three point five the following year.
He is on the decline. Running back is about to
(16:09):
hit thirty years old. It's sad. You hate to see it.
I definitely don't like watching these guys go downhill. But
this is the way sports is. You know, Father Time
is undefeated. Unfortunately Elliott, you know, having playing with injuries.
I mean he's never had a significant injury, but playing
through injury, it'll do that. I'll wear you down the
(16:30):
way he ran wore him down. And so there's people
saying bring back sj thirty nine.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
I don't think so. I don't think that would be
in the cards.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
But yeah, I think that James Robinson or they just
don't get it done, and I would lean towards they
don't get anything done. You can always add somebody later on,
But I just don't think they're not in that headspace.
They'll figure it out, and they don't want to even
think about that. Like if it's Kyron Williams, Ronnie Rivers,
(17:02):
and Cody Schrader. Most teams keep three running backs anyway,
you know, maybe they add somebody their practice squad just
in case, But at the same time, I don't even
think they're eligible. I don't think you can use the
practice squad in the postseason. I could be wrong, but
I don't think you can. So, yeah, Cam Akers is
playing against the Rams detect, so he wouldn't be an option.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I wish that we would have seen more Cody Schrader
against the season. I agree, because I feel like it
wasn't you know he had won carry, you know, we
didn't know. We weren't able to see what he could
do at all, and I felt like, but again, I
think it was kind of like they had their plan
going into the game with Koram and then he ends
(17:47):
up getting hurt and then they just I think kind
of I don't know if they panicked, but they just
you know, Ronnie Rivers the rest the way. And they
also didn't like call any running plays when Korum was
in either. We talked about that earlier, which was frustrating.
You know, they got a little pass So it wasn't
the best game if for people who wanted to see
kind of what our other running backs could do, unfortunately.
(18:07):
But yeah, again, I don't know that it matters so
much because I think the game plan is going to
be what it's been all season. When they go to
the playoffs, it's going to be feed Kiren right and
then when you need to obviously give him some time
to breathe, they'll probably just throw Ronnie Rivers in there.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
It was definitely the pass protection, I think, because the
way they were getting beatenside. You know, keep in mind,
I mean no disrespect. Dylan McMahon has not played all
year long, and he gave up like six pressures and
Ovula was really struggling in pass protection next to him.
So when you had all that pressure coming up front, well,
(18:46):
now I need a running back that can withstand that.
I need a guy that can come up and have
a blitz pick up. I need a guy that can
work in pass protection, and I think that's just what
ended up happening.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
The way the game.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Went down, they wanted to get straighter to the ball.
You could tell they threw him in the game. They
immediately ran the ball with him. He got two yards
and then they threw it to him. But it just
felt like it was in the cards because they were
Regardless of what anyone says. And I can't stand this hole,
the Rams weren't trying to win this game. That's just
not true. The Rams absolutely were trying to win this game.
It's why they started a lot of their starters on defense.
(19:23):
They still started guys on offense like they wanted to
win this game. They just prioritize sitting the players that
are key and critical to how far they're going to
go in the postseason. Because I mean, I said it
on my live stream after the game, you say what
you will if you're you know, complaining about them not
you know, resting their starters or resting whatever. Blake Korum
(19:45):
got hurt in this game. Christian Watson just tore his ACL.
Zay Flowers has an LCL injury, right, this is what happens.
So after we saw a week of injuries left and right.
I mean, what was it on the line we saw
Terry on Arnold go down. It's a reminder that, you know,
(20:05):
Aaron Jones like, it's always there's always a reminder there.
You know why you do something the way you do it.
And yeah, okay, if the Rams had their starters, I
think they clearly beat Seattle.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I guess I'll ask you this. I didn't care who
the Rams played.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I think they can beat anybody, including anybody in the AFC.
Did you care who the Rams played? Because I mean
I didn't at all.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
I wasn't adamant about it. I will say that when
it came down to the Sunday Night, when we learned
that obviously we were gonna play whoever lost Sunday Night football,
I wanted to play the Vikings over the Lions. I
will say that I did not want to play the
Lions first round. I just and that's you know, I'm
(20:55):
not saying that I didn't think we couldn't beat them.
I thought they were going to be tougher than the Viking.
We've played the Vikings this season, we beat them this
season on primetime. I think that the Lions are a
lot better team than the Vikings. So you know, while
I do think anything can happen and anybody can be
anybody in the NFL playoffs, if I was a betting person,
(21:16):
I'd rather play the Vikings over the Lions. So yes,
I guess that My answer is yes, I was hoping
that we would end up playing the Vikings, and we are.
But that's not to say that they're not a good
football team, because they are a very good football team.
As somebody just pointed out in the chat, they are
favored over the Rams to win next Monday Night, which,
by the way, I know a lot of people are
(21:38):
angry about the Monday night game. I am ecstatic because
I was not going to be able to watch if
they played on Saturday. So I was very much hoping
that the Rams played Sunday or Monday, and thankfully we
got the Monday night football game. But I do know
a lot of people don't like that slot. But I'm sorry, guys.
I just have to say I'm happy about it because
(21:59):
that means I can watch. I've got no conflicts, So yeah,
I don't know, did you were you pulling for anybody specific?
I mean, we kind of talked about it the last
episode that we recorded. But things change. So were you,
you know, hoping to play.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I was pulling for more so the Rams would play
on Sunday and not Saturday than I was any team
in particular because I wanted to watch US. I wanted
to watch UFC on Saturday, and if they had played
Saturday night, I'm like, the Rams are going to take precedence,
So I would prefer to enjoy both both live sports
and everything.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
And yeah, I mean Monday night. I have issues with.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
I think from a competition standpoint, I think it's BS.
So not only do you get a bye as a
first rounder, but then you get an additional game on
a lot additional day on a lot of these teams.
I mean, whoever you play between those two if you
are the Lions, but if you aren't the Lions, think
about this because it's very simple. The Rams play the
(23:03):
Lions if everything goes according to plan. And what I
mean by according to plan is when you're you know,
charting out a bracket and you advance all the best seeds,
that's according to plan. That's how it's supposed to be.
The underdog isn't supposed to win. So when the Rams
of the four seed going against the five seed, they
(23:23):
are supposed to beat the five seed. When the three
seed is playing the sixth seed, they're supposed to beat
the sixth seed, and of course the two seeds supposed
to beat the seventh seed. Well, if anything you know,
goes different here, right, So say the Rams win, but
the Commanders actually win on Sunday and the Rams will know.
(23:45):
That's the benefit there, I guess to an extent, is
that we all get to know who the Rams would
face if they win that game against the Vikings on Monday.
But be that as it may, the Rams basically will
know and the Commanders if they beat the Bucks. That
means that the Rams would go to Philly if they win,
(24:08):
and the Commanders would go to Detroit. And it's so
weird because I had this idea in my head, no
open air, get me in a dome, even if it
is ford Field. And then I had Andrew Whitworth on
this channel and he talked me into the idea that
(24:30):
the Rams are built for that Eagles game. They're built.
They don't have that old school like, they don't have
a great show on turf style offense, they don't have
a lot of explosives. They don't have a Junior Gibbs,
they don't have a Sakwon Barkley, so playing on turf, like,
there's not really a benefit there, you know, for them.
(24:52):
They don't have any guys that are like wicked explosive
that could really benefit playing on turf like some of
these other guys where you'd rather or play a Jumior
Gibbs or Saint Kwon Barkley on grass than you would
on turf. Right, it makes sense. It slows them down
just a little bit, but still enough to slow him down.
The Rams are kind of this grinded out football team.
(25:14):
Since the Bills game, we saw that barn burner against Buffalo,
they have not played that style of game since they've
played these grinded out you know, Kyra Williams Toat's the
Rock twenty nine times back to back games like that
type of style of football. They played in the cold,
and I think that Jets game they learned a lot
in and they can add that and they can push
(25:37):
that into.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
The Eagles game. So I'm kind of with Wit on
this one.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
If I were to choose, I think I I'd rather
go to Philly than go to Detroit and then you
played Detroit in the NFC title game, or you don't.
And you know, in that scenario, if Washington beat Detroit,
then you would host the NFC title game.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
That It's that simple.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
So either way, we know that the Rams are going
to play at least two fourteen win teams. The question
is are they going to play a fifteen win and
a fourteen win or two fourteen wins. If they win,
of course they have to advance. But if they do advance,
they're going to be playing a really good team regardless.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
So let's talk about that. Let's talk about you know,
and we're going to do another episode closer to the
game because you know, at the time of this recording
it's Monday night and we play, so we literally are
week away, and in the NFL, a lot can happen
in a week, so you know, we're getting a little
a little ahead of ourselves. But just kind of briefly,
(26:38):
you know, touching on this matchup against the Vikings. You know,
like we mentioned earlier, we've played the Vikings already this season.
We played them on Thursday Night Football, we played them
on primetime. I was at a wedding rehearsal, as everybody knows.
So I kind of had an unusual experience watching that
game where I was having to like sneak watch it
(26:59):
on my phone, you know, at a dinner table. But
I did watch it, and you watched it, and everyone
watching our channel watch it as well.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
We won. I was sick. I did the watch party sick.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
You yeah, you were sick. I was sick that I
couldn't watch the game there, see what I did there.
But we won thirty to twenty. We won thirty to
twenty in primetime on Thursday Night football, which was really
nice because the Rams kind of have this habit on
primetime football the past few years of embarrassing me when
(27:31):
the world is watching. They've had a couple of games
like that this season. Talk about the Philadelphia Eagles game, Uh,
you know, our team, but you know, we beat this team.
That's what I'm trying to say. We've beat this team.
We beat them, like, you know, the score thirty to twenty.
I felt like it could have been a lot worse.
(27:52):
We pretty much dominated the Vikings, you know when we played.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Them, you know thirty after the first two.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Yeah, yeah, it could have been a lot worse. And
so obviously, you know that doesn't mean that we're automatically
slated to win again if we play against them, But
we've proved ourselves that we can, right We Sean mcvays
proved that he can out coach Kevin McConnell this season,
which we've seen it and right, so, you know, as
(28:20):
a Rams fan on a surface level, we should feel
good going in this game. But Jake, what do you
think if anything has changed between that Thursday night football
game and now for both teams that might flip the
script a little bit. What is something the Rams should
look out for now that they're going to play the
Vikings again?
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Well, I mean you got to look out for now.
See very interesting again. Wit brought this up earlier. Sam
Darnold was really good against the blitz, right, the stats
indicate that he was really good against the blitz. Well,
we realized when the Lions really blitzed him, is that
his numbers against the blitz were just let's be honest here,
(29:04):
he didn't see the blitz as much as you would think.
So the Lions really tested him and blitz the hell
out of him last night. And this is somebody that
really just kind of crumbled in the moment. I don't
think he had a ton of help from those wide receivers.
Justin Jefferson should have held on to a few of those.
(29:24):
I think obviously he stopped running on the touchdown. There
were issues, right, But.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
When you.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Know, start getting a quarterback in, you know, very uncomfortable,
when you get him throwing off his back foot and
have him running for his life off platform. I mean,
Josh Allen can make that, but that's not always the
best thing. That's not always the operation you want to
go with. And so I just look at this Rams team.
They can get after the quarterback without sending, but now
(29:53):
they are blitzing and they're being effective. You saw a
Kello Witherspoon's Mutumbo act, you know, bat in the pass away.
You've seen Quentin Lake blitz. You've seen Cam Curl obviously
against Aaron Rodgers and the Jets.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
That was huge.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
But the blitzing has worked out, you know, since the
bye week for the Rams, and I just think that
you know, what we what we learned, and kind of
the different thing here is that Sam Donald does struggle
against it. And if you're getting pressure and you're just
gonna play man defense, It's gonna be hard. It is
really gonna be hard for Sam Donald to make plays.
I do expect this team to try and take advantage
(30:32):
of the Rams, because if they do play in that
man coverage, then you know, if they're able to get
through you know, with Cam Akers and that explosion or
you know, Aaron Jones, they can obviously get some yards
out of that and some chunks at that and keep
drives live. I'm really curious if Kevin O'Connell is going
to try to protect Sam Donald from himself. That's what
(30:55):
I'm curious about, because if Sam Donald plays like he
did against the Rams and he throws a decent amount,
he wasn't like he was great. In the first two
drives that were scripted. He struggled, but he wasn't like
catastrophic like last night. He didn't throw an interception, and honestly,
he might as well have. Last night was catastrophically bad.
(31:17):
They had every opportunity to be in that game, and
they had three red zone trips in which they got
no touchdowns. I just feel like the way the Rams
are playing against the run right now and how everybody
on that secondary, regardless if you realize it or not,
can play in man coverage, including Emmanuel Forbes, who, by
the way, killed it in man coverage against dek Metcalf.
(31:38):
I think he could be an absolute weapon if you
want to deploy him on third downs, obvious passing downs,
deep passing downs. You don't have to have him make
a tackle, because we saw him trying to make a tackle.
He's a willing tackler, but he just doesn't have the
mass where he kind of just bounces off guys. Right,
But if you play him to his strength and you
(32:00):
use him on those third and obvious situations where it's
third and long and they're going deep down the field,
well that those you know, the fluidity in his hips,
I mean he could easily, you know, ask be asked
to just shut somebody down on a play and he
could do that. He had some really good reps on Sunday.
I was really impressed with Forbes. So that's how I
(32:22):
would utilize him. But Alexis, this game plan has to
be very similar to the forty nine ers. Obviously, you
got to score more points than you did against the Niners.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
Was it twelve to six? That's not going to cut it.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
But the thing that they did against the forty nine
ers is that they forced Rock Purdy, who just absolutely
destroys zone defense and will just always find the open man.
They forced him to try and make pinpoint accurate throws
in man coverage. And oh, by the way, while you're
trying to do that, which you still didn't want to
(32:58):
do when you were very reluctant to do that, we're
also gonna have Jared Verse and Kobe Turner and Braden
Fisk and Byron Young all over you the whole game.
So I think it's gonna be similar to that. I
would worry. You know, there is the potential Kevin O'Connell,
you know, kind of moves away from the passing game.
If the Rams can't stop the run game, then you
(33:19):
kind of reactivate Sam Donald. It's almost kind of like
a trap card because if you start giving up the run,
then the play action is going to be more effective.
You get Sam Donald going the play action, then you
get his confidence up. If you can do that, you
can kind of write this ship or right now, I
understand you know, the playoffs started clean slate. There is
some sort of momentum drop here. You can't tell me
(33:41):
there's not the Vikings went in this game expecting to win.
There's no way they didn't expect to win. All those injuries,
the Lions are playing with, you know, they beat you know,
the Lions earlier. They were expecting to win this game,
and it just the reality is that they didn't get
it done. And you know, not only did they not
get it done thirty one to nine, So it's just
(34:02):
not acceptable to do that. And they gave it four
touchdowns to the same running back and Gibbs and you
know that that's that. And and by the way, they
didn't beat the Lions. I'm sorry, I meant to say that.
They lost in the final seconds to the Lions thirty
one to twenty nine. And you know, I think kind
of coming from that game, you have to feel like, okay,
(34:24):
revenge angle, we almost beat them all that, we know
we're capable of it, and they were in this game.
They should have taken the points, they should have kicked
the field goals on the road. But then you just
you look at it and it's like, man, you know,
the Lions just ran away with this game, and it
got ugly, and I started thinking, and maybe maybe I'm
(34:44):
not onto something.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
Maybe I am.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
But when it became more and more obvious that the
Vikings were who the Rams were gonna play, I started
really rooting for the Vikings to kind of fall off
because I felt like, in this scenario, the worst thing gets,
the more down the Vikings are gonna get. And I think,
while it's obvious this is a clean slate, you move
(35:08):
on that stuff still lingers. They still played that game
with starters. Those starters are playing the next the following week.
Now they have to be on the road. They had
it all right.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
In front of them.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
If they win this game, number one seed the super Bowl,
the road to the Super Bowl runs through Minnesota, and
you feel good about that. Well, they lost that, and
now they don't even get a playoff game winning fourteen games.
So I just think right now, the momentum is definitely
not looking good right now for the Vikings. And I
think with the Rams, even though they lost this game,
(35:42):
I mean, you saw how happy those starters were that,
you know, sat like a cup like a staffer Puka
kyn how happy they were, you know, for their teammates.
I mean, this was a game that they absolutely dominated
in the second half. They should have won. I wish
vinev knew what in off sides was because Keier Thomas
(36:02):
wasn't off sides and that would have effected the end
of the game. You know, that's neither here nor there,
because they did have a chance at the end to
win it and they didn't. But at the same time,
I don't think you, I don't think your momentum gets
dinged in that one, because that was really like to
have them go toe to toe with the Seahawks, who
(36:23):
clearly were going after this thing.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
They wanted ten wins for their coach.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
They wanted to be able to say that they tied
the Rams, you know, in the division, and you know whatever.
But I'll tell you, I mean, I just think the
the vibe of this team, the way they played this out,
I think it really can benefit you even when you
have backups in there and you're playing at that level.
It just tells me that organizationally, in the locker room,
(36:49):
the coaching staff, all of that, they have their ducks
in a row, and people are excited right now in
that Rams building. I mean, you saw Josh Carty saying,
look like, you know, we're not afraid of anybody.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
You know, we're excited.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
No one picked us whatever you know, Sean mcfay saying,
we respect everyone by fear no one. Yeah, I mean
that's a dangerous team right there. And they found multiple
ways to win, whether it was ugly, whether it was
having to drop forty four against the Buffalo Bills. They've
won in multiple different ways this year.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Aren't you glad that we never gave up on Joshua Cardy.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
I can't believe some of these people. I mean, really, like,
are you kidding me? You look and you're like, he
missed five field goals all year and people are like
tearing him down, and I mean, you remember my rant
on here.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Ugh. I love how I said that, just like that's
the tea. This isn't even tea. But this was my
treat to myself. I've been chatting with the Chat, all
eight hundred of you that are in here right now.
I've been manning the Chat this episode, and I told
them what I told you Jake earlier, how I'm just
super under the weather. So I got myself that that
(38:02):
just absolutely terrible for you. Sugar drink right there that
I'm sipping on just bring me back to life a
little bit understandable, But yeah, it was just so. It
was sad. It was funny, but sad to see throughout
the season people give up on a rookie kicker and
who really has never done anything. I felt like that
(38:26):
was worthy to give up on him. I know he
had a couple of games with some miskicks, but I mean,
he has looked really good the past few games, and
I think he's only going to get better. I think
he's working on the kinks and he is going to
be pretty good for a long time if he keeps
us up. So yeah, I just wanted to shout that out.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
That was huge to get him going from the left too,
by the way.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
Yeah, and in his confidence too, obviously, you know, not
just getting the points on the board, but as a
play player, to get your confidence up and absolutely shut
people up who are being dramatic on the internet. You know.
I'm sure he doesn't see that.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
But just I know.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
But still, I mean, why would you even if if
there's any chance of my kicker seeing negativity and having
any sort of chance of that affecting his mental state,
why would I put that out there?
Speaker 3 (39:23):
I just I don't know.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Well, yeah, I thought that was, you know, a good storyline,
you know, relatively all in all, I felt, you know,
even though the Rams lost, you know, I think things
went well from them. I mean, bummer about Blake Korm.
We talked about that earlier that I think was probably
the biggest you know, other than getting you know, the
l the technical loss, right, I mean losing Blake Koram
(39:49):
for the season. Uh but Jake, you know what I
would encourage everybody to not do to Blake Korm what
they did to Kyen Williams. Let's not label him injury
prone because he got an injury his worked season, because
that happened to Kien Williams and people jump ship on him.
So I better not see that when people talk about
Blake Korum. I know his arm is going to heal,
(40:11):
he's going to be fine, and you know, we wish
him the best, but it is it is really a bummer,
Like Week eighteen, it is just.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
They call him Joshua Mariocardi. I've never heard that.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
They're they're giving him Joshua. They're trying to find a
nickname for him.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
I mean, I kind of like Cardi B.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
But I mean I like Playboy Cardi because that's after
there's a rapper I don't know who that is. Okay,
so that's.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
That's why I was like Cardi B. I don't know culture, but.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
I'm pretty sure. So there's a rapper Playboy Cardi, but
he spells it differently. So if you say Playboy Cardi
but spell it Cardi, it's the same. But but that
one probably won't I guess catch on. I think Cardi
party is what everybody is. I see.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
Kill a Cardy.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
I kind of like, yeah, somebody just dropped in the chat. Yeah,
Playboy Cardi, but you would spell it differently. Yeah, So
like Cardi doesn't make sense because there's no like his
first name starts with the J.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
It's just Cardi B. You know what doesn't make sense?
JK Bogan. I I don't know why it's JK Bogan.
I'm j E right, j A right? So Jake starts
with the A and ou a K. Nothing starts with
the JK. That's not even English.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
I just thought I never put that together.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
You're right, it's like JK Bogan, what what the hell?
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Because you're abbreviating Jake and then you're abbreviating Ellen Bogan,
so you're taking the A and the E out of Jake,
and you're taking the Ellen out of Bogan.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Okay, so you do the vision, but I don't even
remember how I came up with it. I just did
and it just like worked. My I I assumed your
middle name started with the K. Yeah it doesn't. My
madle name, you know, is actually believe or not. My
initials spelled Joe. My maddle name is Oliver, so literally
K means no, like it just makes no sense, but
(42:19):
I like it. I don't remember when I did it.
And the K is silent, yeah j Bogan silent K.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
I mean, I hate my I've said this a lot.
I do not like my Twitter user name. The alexis
Craft just sounds embarrassing, but you know what I made
my Twitter.
Speaker 3 (42:39):
It's really not.
Speaker 1 (42:41):
I mean, it's just it's just the okay pretentious. But
what happened is when I when I made my Twitter,
I was fifteen, and the username alexis Craft was taken
and I was a big Cody Simpson fan and his
Twitter was the Cody Simpson. So I was like, all right,
that makes sense. I'll just put the alexis Craft so
(43:02):
I still have my name in there. And then what
ended up happening is Rams fans started to follow me,
and so it was like my real name was out there.
I've said before, if I could do it again, I
would not probably have my real name on anything, but
it is that's it ended up happening that way. So yeah,
my my actual name is Alexis Craft. I don't get
(43:23):
to hide behind any false identity. So there's that. Someone
in the chat just said, asked me how old I am?
I am twenty eight, which apparently nobody thinks that because
every time I say that, everybody's like, you're twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (43:38):
Everyone's well, you were twenty three, and.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
I'm like, I wish yeah, yep, nope.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
I don't remember.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
Yeah, my Twitter name I think was Jake. It was
Jake Bogan. I think Jake Bogan. I don't remember mine
is crazy. I don't even Jake Bogan.
Speaker 1 (43:58):
I think it was Jake is twenty nine. Somebody that
just asked how old you are? You're older than me.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Yes, I'll be thirty this year. No comment at this time.
Speaker 1 (44:12):
I kind of like feel like at this point it's
like I just like just be thirty, like twenty eight,
It's like like twenty twenty nine. It's like, let's just
like be thirty.
Speaker 2 (44:23):
It's like, as soon as you hit thirty, like you're
this is what's going to happen, just because of all
the negative connotation about being thirty years old, Like as
soon as I hit thirty, I'm gonna feel in my knees,
my back, everything, and it's not even going to be real.
It's all just gonna be this placebo thing because everybody
said that, like thirty is so evil and bad and
(44:44):
it's the end of your life. But yeah, it's Uh,
if I was running back, i'd be hitting a wall.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
I just have always felt like I'm going to hit
my peek in my thirties, So I'm not scared of it.
I mean I'm scared of it from like what society
in the world falsely labels your thirties. But I've always
just felt like I'm going to actually be in my
stride at thirty, which is I think a good place
to be. Like you don't want to be in your
stride in high school, like you know people who peak
(45:14):
in high school. You don't want to be that person.
You just don't, you know. I think for me my twenties,
I'm figuring it out. My thirties I'm going to get
there and I'm going to like hit my stride.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
Definitely haven't. Definitely didn't peak in high school. I can
tell you that much. Neither did I no chance.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Okay, so we're probably going to wrap this up because
when we start talking about like peaking in high school
and like our old twitter like ats, that's how you
know it's time to cut it off. Cut them off.
You guys are still puppies. I don't think I've ever
been called a puppy before. That is fascinating. Well, now
(45:59):
I have officially thirteen fourteen, forty two thirty three wow
three all right three?
Speaker 3 (46:06):
No, not by it.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
I will say, well, it is nice. I will say
from you know, interacting with like the listeners who listen
to our show, And I don't. When I say interacting,
I should say seeing messages because I will admit if
people who are like under eighteen message me, I will
not respond, just just not. I appreciate the support, but
(46:28):
you know, I just I'm not going to. But there
is like a wide range of people like age groups
to listen to our show, which I think is just
really cool that everybody can enjoy and listen because you know,
I'll tell you, like when I do improv or something
right or I'm on stage performing like that is not
for all ages. You know that there are certain age
(46:49):
groups and there are there are age groups too young,
and I also sometimes too old right that, Like, Yeah,
understand what's like some of the references. So it is
nice to be able to do a show that every
body can enjoy and we're all on the same page.
Thank you so much for the super chat.
Speaker 3 (47:06):
Thank you, Johan, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
Let's beat the vikes and show that we're contenders. Yeah,
I better not here a skull chane it so far,
this is all up to you guys. I won't be there,
so this is up to you. Hav thank you for
the super chat, Yo shout out Jake for the big
Wit appearance.
Speaker 3 (47:30):
Appreciate you man yet.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
Brian Beadle, thank you for the five You guys are awesome.
It's too bad we couldn't pull out a win yesterday
although it was a great experience. Love our chances Monday night. Yeah,
I really can't stress it enough. I understand maybe I
shouldn't even be as confident as I am. I'm not
saying they're gonna blow out the Vikings, But I really
do feel good about this game. You know, they're gonna
(47:55):
have John Hesse, John Hussey, excuse me as the officials,
So they dodged the did Craig rollstad bit.
Speaker 3 (48:03):
John Hussey.
Speaker 2 (48:04):
The Rams are seven to four in games that he's officiated.
The Rams are the least penalized team in the NFL.
The Rams, actually, Alexis, I don't know if you saw this.
This is gonna bode well for them in the postseason. Okay,
I think about this. You got Stafford who's got all
sorts of experience, fourth quarter comeback, game winning drive, king.
(48:26):
You got Kyron Williams who can take on a big workload.
Just got a huge, huge week arrest and he could
take on a big workload. He can play that ground
and pound and you know, can pretty much get any
first down, like you know, any short yardage. He can
manage that right goal line. He's got a nose for
(48:46):
the end zone. Great stuff. Then you got Pooka Akuah,
your superstar. You got Cooper Cup if he can hold out.
I mean, I know he's kind of not the same receiver,
but I mean, if he can get going, now that
we're in the postseason, that would be nice. He got
explosive Jordan Winnington, hopefully he gets more opportunities. You got
DeMarcus Robinson who's got seven touchdowns this season. You got
(49:07):
two too out well your deep threat. You got Tyler Johnson,
you can make plays after the catch. You got Tyler
Higbee who looks like he hasn't lost a step and
could be a huge weapon at tight end. You got
a fully healthy offensive line knock on Wood that better
stay the case. Then you have on the defense the
number one pressure rate defense up front. You got a
(49:27):
secondary that is playing lights out. You got a defense
that now has their linebackers and Omar Spates and you know,
Christian rose Boom, the safeties are playing well. I just
think there's a lot to feel good about. When it
comes to the Rams fourth down, they're the best, the
second best defense, the best fourth down defense in the
second half of the season of anybody in the playoffs,
and they're the best fourth down offense in the second
(49:50):
half of the season. So when a team has to,
you know, push comes to show a team has to
go for it on fourth down, the Rams are the best.
They have over an eighty one percent success rate, and
you know when a team goes for it on fourth down.
Against the Rams, well, they've done a really nice job
in the second half of the season to shut him down,
and that's huge. That might not be huge against the
Vikings this week, but if they move on to, say,
(50:11):
you know, the Lions, that would be pretty damn big
because the Lions, I mean, how many times they go
for it on fourth down? It feels like at least
three times a game, maybe four. So yeah, those are
just some thoughts that I have. Obviously, I trust the
coaching staff at trust McVay. Oh, you can't forget about
the fact that Ethan Evans is a weapon. I mean,
(50:32):
his leg is insane. They have Jordan Whittington, who's a
kick return weapon. They got some guys on special teams,
Exaviers you know Xaviers Smith. He is lightning in a bottle.
When he gets going, he could really make you pay.
But he's also a great gunner on special teams. And last,
but certainly not least, on special teams, you got Josh Cardy,
(50:54):
who's been lights out as of late, and I'll tell
you they got him going at the right time. You're
only as good your kicker, do not forget. The Rams
do not win the Super Bowl without Matt Gay. They don't,
they don't beat They do not get to the Bengals
game without him. They don't beat the Bengals without him.
They don't beat the Bucks without him. They don't beat
the forty nine ers without him. Matt Gay was key
(51:15):
and critical in addition to that to get to the
twenty eighteen Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. We
talked about all the time, Greg Zerline, he is gonna
make a huge game. He's gonna make a huge kick.
That's all anybody thought. Oh wow, he's got this crazy leg.
It's gonna be one of these days you're gonna need it.
Fifty eight yarder, boom drills it. They go to the
(51:36):
super Bowl, So again, you know, it might all come down.
You know when you think about all these players and
everything that goes on in between the twenties and inside
the red zone and all these crazy athletes. But at
the end of the day, more often than not in
the postseason, it comes down to in a lot of cases,
(51:56):
the least athletic player having to make a play at
the end to win the game. And that kick. I mean,
the way Cardi has been booting him. I feel pretty
damn good about him right now. So we're going to
see what ends up happening. But Alexis, I think there's
a lot to feel good about when it comes to
the Rams. There is a chance if they do get
to the super Bowl, they will have played the toughest
(52:19):
They will have the toughest road in the history of
the league, having to play a fifteen win team and
two fourteen win teams. That's a possibility. But you can't
take anything away from this scene. If they accomplish that,
I can tell you that much.
Speaker 1 (52:32):
Bring it on. Hell yeah, bring it on. I feel
really good about this team right now too. I think
all Rams fans should, you know, going into this wild
card matchup against the Vikings, you got to earn it.
Nothing is given, but obviously feel you know, feel confident,
feel good about our chances. And we'll be back to
talk about it on Friday night. You know, we will
(52:54):
be here kind of closer to the game. We'll have
more updates and we'll be able to kind of break
down a little bit more about what's what's going on
before we head out here. Matthew, thank you for the
super Chat.
Speaker 3 (53:06):
He said, my Old Ass. That just made me think.
Speaker 1 (53:10):
There's a movie that came out recently called My Old
Ass that Jake and I both really like and recommend.
But thank you so much. Matthews is still young. Yeah,
how you feel in your.
Speaker 3 (53:24):
Heart, I'm with you. But yeah, but yeah, that'll do it.
Speaker 1 (53:30):
That'll do it. So guys, as always, please like and
subscribe if you like what you hear. You can follow
us on social media at Downtown Rams. You can follow
me on Twitter at the Alexis Craft. You can follow
Jake at JK Bogan. You can follow us both on Instagram,
same handle for Jake on Instagram. I think I'm just
Alexis Craft on Instagram though, so pretty easy to find, uh.
(53:54):
And like I said earlier, we'll be back Friday night.
We'll have a big preview episode for this wild card
matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. We're very excited for it. Guys,
have a safe week. Hope everybody has a good week.
Hopefully it flies by so we can get to this matchup.
But guys, as always, stay safe, take care and go Rams.
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.