Ep.559: POD FOR LA - The Downtown Rams Charity Stream for LA Fire Relief

We have a strong platform here. We want to give back. DONATE HERE: https://www.gofundme.com/f/downtown-rams-pod-for-la-fire-relief-fundraiser
We will be breaking down the #Rams Vikings game as well as other playoff games for Wild Card Weekend. 
We will be taking donations for the LA Fire Relief. Here will be the charities that those donations will go to:

• LA Fire Department Foundation
• - LA Regional Food Bank
• - California Fire Foundation
• - Pasadena Humane Society

This live stream will be a 4 hour event very similar to our NFL Draft Streams in the past. We will look to bring on guests as well during the 4 hours and we hope to see you there! The stream will air on all of our YouTube channels and here on Twitter/X 
We love you and we are here for you. We may not be in LA to help directly right now but we know we can use our platform to make a difference and help from where we are currently. #PrayForLA #PodForLA

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
All right, guys, welcome back to Downtown RAMS. As always,
I'm Alexis Kraft. Join here with my co host Jake
Ellen Moogan, and guys, we have a very special live
episode for everybody tonight. Jake and I are going to
be previewing our matchup against the Minnesota Vikings this weekend
in a live episode, and we are going to be

(00:25):
raising money throughout this episode for Los Angeles wildfire relief.
All the proceeds that we earn from this episode are
going to go towards several different charities in the Los
Angeles area assisting victims of the tragic wildfires that have
been happening this past week. And we have a go
fundme link linked in the description of this YouTube video

(00:47):
right now that you can donate to. Throughout the night,
we're going to be streaming for four hours. We are
going to have a lot of fun. We're going to
be answering questions from you all, and it should be
a very good time. And to top it off, Fantasy Cares,
which is a fantastic organization that combines fantasy football and charity,

(01:08):
is going to be matching everything that we earn tonight
up to five K, which is awesome and really really
cool of them to do, so we're really excited. We
really appreciate everybody tuning in tonight for this live episode,
and Jake, you and I have just been discussing kind
of throughout the week how we can help. A lot
of our listener base is deeply affected by these wildfires

(01:30):
going on, and our hearts have just been breaking seeing
the damage that everybody has had to go through and
the damage to the city of Los Angeles, the city
that Jake and I care deeply about. And like we said,
the majority of our listeners live in Los Angeles, and
we know that there's a lot of listeners who are
unable to listen to this episode tonight because they are

(01:51):
dealing with the aftermath of these fires. So our hearts
go out to them. We're with you, We're thinking of you.
We're going to raise as much money as we can
to everybody in the area, and we hope that the
RAMS can get the w on Monday night to bring
some joy to the city of Los Angeles.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
You said that about as well as anybody could have
said that, Alexis, because that was a lot. So everybody
give a warm applause to Alexis Craft. Obviously we can't
hear your clapping, but maybe put you know, the clapping
emoji or something in the comments. We are on Facebook, YouTube,

(02:29):
and we're on Twitter, slash x, and we're across i
don't know, like seven eight nine different platforms like just
you know, our channel, Downtown Rams, my channel, Lexus channel.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
So you know, we really wanted to make a difference.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
And I'll be honest with you, a lot of people
have been asking, hey, where are the RAMS videos on
this channel? Like normally, you know, this is a playoff game.
I expected more coverage. I'm not gonna lie. I've been
so affected by everything that's been going on, it's been
really hard for me to focus on anything. So, you know,
I had this idea that I was going to do
a charity stream j E Live and then Alexis actually

(03:09):
texted me while this was in my head, like, hey,
we should do something for you know, the California fires,
And I was just like I thought so as well,
And yeah, we we came to this, you know decision.
You know, we we just want to help out and
we want to make sure that you know, we don't
want to just focus on one charity and the reason
we came down to the GoFundMe and doing it this

(03:32):
way is because there just wasn't enough integration to get
done what we wanted to do. YouTube only allows you
to do one foundation. I literally just got an alert
that they accepted, you know, the LA Fire Department Fund
Foundation into their giving program. I had requested that way

(03:53):
earlier in the week. They finally just added it too late.
But also we wanted to focus on four local charities
that could really impact the community, you know. And I
just I have to say this because I understand some
people will be like, you know, why don't we just
focus on this and this and this. And yes, those
big box charities they also help, but we really wanted

(04:16):
to focus on the local scene.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
Uh. There are people that you know, follow this channel.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
There are people that follow our work that are are
actually helping people, like you know, Brittany betts On on
Twitter and what she's doing like literally going to you know,
different places, whether that be shelters and and picking up
products and and delivering them just totally selfless stuff. And

(04:41):
you know, we wanted to do something in that capacity.
And we know that we're not in LA and we
don't live in LA but we consider ourselves, you know,
kind of part of this community in a sense. And
you know, Alexis is in Illinois and I'm in upstate
New York and we can we can help. And you know,
my biggest thing is why bother caring about having a

(05:03):
platform if you can't ever do something like this, Because
you know, I say it all the time. You know,
as I've grown older, you know, gift receiving isn't the
same as gift giving. For me, well, I appreciate both.
I appreciate gift giving way more. And uh, you know,
this is something that we really felt the need to do.

(05:23):
I know there's gonna be super chats tonight. Also wanted
to be you know, full disclosure here. All super chats
that are part of this stream will be donated to
you know, will be spread out to the four. These
four are, of course, the l A uh you know,
the LA Fire Department Foundation, the California UH Fire Foundation,

(05:45):
the LA Regional Food Bank, and the Pasadena Humane Society.
Now here's the thing, and this is why we decided
to go with you know, go fundme instead of just
super chats. Are super chats while we do receive them,
YouTube does take cuts from them, and I've been open

(06:06):
about this before. This is just normal because it's not
listed as giving, it's listed as just a donation to
a creator. YouTube takes a thirty percent cut. I get
seventy percent of it on this channel, and so I
won't receive that until February twenty fourth, maybe earlier, maybe later,
but pretty much in February. And I did not want

(06:30):
to have to have people one get that get their
superchats cut like that, and two I didn't want to
have to you know, Unfortunately, if we do really, really well,
I wouldn't be able to front all that money and
then get it in February.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
So we felt this was the best option.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
We really appreciate Scott Fish and Fantasy Cares for matching it,
you know. Five thousand and We hope that you know,
you guys will enjoy this, this four hour presentation that
we have for you. Hopefully we can raise some money.
We are gonna, you know, switch this thing over to
like our usual show. We'll be bringing this ticker up,

(07:09):
you know, over the course of the show. But this
is what we're gonna look like, and it's gonna be
if you guys are new here, then you have no
idea what I'm talking about, but welcome. And if you're
not new here, then you know exactly what I'm talking
about when I say it's gonna be of the vibe
of essentially the NFL Draft streams we do every April.

(07:29):
So really looking forward to doing this and hopefully we
can raise some money. You know, right now, the goal
is four point five k. That is a dynamic goal
set by GoFundMe. Our original goal was twelve thousand dollars,
So whatever we can do to help that is where
it's gonna go. After this fundraiser is over, we will
keep it going after this live stream until after the game.

(07:53):
After the game, all that money will be you know,
donated across those four foundations. So we have appreciate everybody's contributions,
whether you are donating to the cause. If you can't
afford it, obviously don't donate if you can't afford it,
but if you can, we appreciate it. And if you
can't find a way to do you know something on

(08:14):
your part, whether that means you know, sharing it to
people who can, or you know, maybe doing something you
know if you live in that community. But that's all
I really have to say about that. You guys can
donate the link. Is it going to be in the
description below. If you are on Twitter, you can find
the link. We're gonna post it under the tweets because

(08:34):
this thing was just tweeted out as a video on YouTube.
The link should be in the description on all the
videos and of course the link is going to be
posted in the pinned comment section as well for the
chat and in addition to that, Facebook should have the
link as well. So if you need any help finding

(08:55):
the link, be sure to you know, reach out and
be like, you know what, like, hey, I need this
if you if we see in the comments section, you know,
we'll try and help you guide you towards it. But
we really appreciate you guys tonight. We're looking forward to it.
We know we got big competition with the game going
on the college football game, but we hope that you'll

(09:16):
have fun and stick around. So, you know, that's that's
all I have to say, and let's let it rip.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
Yes, And as Jake pointed out, you know a lot
of you are regulars here. There's a lot of new
people here there to tuning in for the stream. We
appreciate you guys tuning in. So if you see me
looking down, that's because right in front of me, right here,
I have a laptop, and on this laptop, that is
where I am seeing everybody in the chat. So it's
not that I am, you know, just losing my mind

(09:48):
or disinterested when I'm looking down like this. It's because
I'm looking at what you all are sending in the chat.
And that's how we know when we can share comments,
which we will put some on the screen as well,
so what we have the ability to do that, But
I just want to let you guys know that I
am looking at you when I'm looking down and then
looking at my camera and I talk to you. So
we appreciate everybody who is here. We're excited to talk

(10:12):
about the Rams. We're you know, excited to talk about
you know, after we kind of preview the Rams game,
we'll talk about just the playoffs in general, the NFL outlook,
and then we'll just be answering questions throughout the night.
Like Jake said, it's very similar to our NFL draft streams.
We're really just all here hanging out with each other
on this Friday night, trying to raise some money to
help a lot of our friends who are in need

(10:33):
in the city of Los Angeles. So with that, Jake,
should we talk about the Rams. The reason that we are,
you know, all brought together here and part of this community.
You know, our Los Angeles Rams are playing in the
NFL Playoffs Wildcard matchup this Monday night. Now here is

(10:54):
the kicker most of you have probably heard by now,
But the game has been moved from Last Angelus to Arizona.
So you know, the game was supposed to be at
Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles, the Rams head home field advantage. However,
due to the wildfires in the area, they no longer
can have the game at Sofi Stadium. It's not safe.
It's not safe for the teams, it's not safe for

(11:16):
the community. They need those roads open so they can
get needed resources into the city. It's probably not a
good idea to have a ton of people from out
of town coming into the city as well. So they
have moved the game to Arizona in Glendale, where the
Arizona Cardinals normally place the Rams in a literal sense

(11:36):
of lost home field advantage, but you know they are
closer to Los Angeles obviously than they are to Minnesota.
So you know there's that, and we know that there's
a lot of Rams fans who have been able to
get tickets at State State Farm Arena. Will slipping my mind.

Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yes it is State f we will get we will
go in all that.

Speaker 1 (11:57):
Yeah we're that but that's the name of it. But
you know in Glendale and thankfully a lot of Rams
fans have been able to secure tickets there. So that's
where they will be playing on Monday night. Jake, we've
played the Minnesota Vikings this season. We've played them at
so far once this season in primetime Thursday Night Football,

(12:18):
and it was a game at the Rams won, and
you know, we've talked about it often. You know, that
was a big Thursday night football game. It was kind
of a crazy week, Like there's those rumors that Cooper
Cup was going to be traded and if the Rams
didn't win, they were going to blow it all up.
And this Thursday Night Football was the season and everything
was riding on this and the Rams come out and

(12:38):
won that game. Jake, going into this playoff matchup against
Minnesota on Monday Night, what do you think should be
top of the.

Speaker 2 (12:46):
Rams minds, man, I know there's gonna be a lot
on their minds. I think it was Tyler Hagbee that
referred to, you know, taking the pets and the family
and the team is like Noah's archetype vibes. But you
know there's gonna be a lot. But they make no
mistake about it. I mean, their their mind is on

(13:08):
this game, and I do think they're going to come
out with a fire knowing that they represent LA I
think really focusing on this game and looking at how
you go about attacking Minnesota.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
Well, first off, you look at what.

Speaker 2 (13:19):
Sam Darnold did in Week eighteen, and while he's had
a great season, he still has his tendencies and the
Rams know that, and so they went up against him
those first two scripted drives in that Week eight game
on you know, that primetime game, those two scripted drives,
I'll tell you right now, Donald looked like the MVP,
and they looked like the scariest offense in the league.

(13:41):
But if you remember, the Rams made adjustments and almost
instantaneously took over the game in a huge way. That
was the first time Cooper Cup was back, you know,
since since Week two pukin Akua was back since Week one,
and you started to see kind of this energy, you know,

(14:01):
on the offensive side. So will that be the case
in this one. We know that, you know, looking at
Brian Floor as their defensive coordinator, he likes to send
the blitz. Matthew Stafford has been great against the blitz,
so I think that's gonna be a big thing here.
But I think the Rams really in this one are
going to want to attack Sam Donald with that young
pass rush that has absolutely dominated teams this year. And

(14:25):
I think if they can use more man coverage and
get these guys playing you know man on, you know,
Jordan Addison man On, you know Justin Jefferson and Jalen
Naylor and you know TJ Hawkinson, that could force enough time,
you know, for Sam Donald to sit there with the
ball in his hands and to get the pass rush
after him. So I think that's really key and critical

(14:46):
in this one. Also, let's not be ignorant to the
fact that the last three games before the Week eighteen game,
the Rams offense just hasn't scored points. It's not, you know,
anything that anybody's really not talking about. Right, you go
back to the Bills game where they scored thirty seven
forty four in total but thirty seven offensively against the
Buffalo Bills, and that team hasn't showed up since. The defense, however,

(15:11):
has become the bright spot of this team. So I think, really,
you know, first thing is they're going to want to
attack Sam Darnold. They're going to want to use some
man coverage, get those guys manned up and make it
harder on him to make these decisions. And number two,
they are definitely when they do that on the offensive side,
they are going to want to hit the Vikings where

(15:31):
it hurts. No one plays more too high safety coverage
than the Minnesota Vikings in the entire NFL, and no
one leaves the middle of the field open more than
the Minnesota Vikings. So I do expect Tyler Higbee to
be a huge X factor in this game. They got
him going in Week eighteen. You saw him come back
catch a touchdown against the New York Jets. I was

(15:52):
at the game. That was a very exciting moment, I
can tell you that much. But then he comes back,
he scores a touchdown, looks really good, and look really
look like he you know, lost any bit of a
step against Seattle. So the good thing is that this
guy has been able to play three games after not
playing the whole season and suffering a torn you know,
ACL and mcl complete tear and everything you know in January.

(16:16):
So you know, I think you know where that comes
from is that when you get this guy going, he
could be a threat in the red zone. And when
he's a threat in the red zone, well so is Poukinakua,
so is Cooper Cup, so is Kyron Williams. And now
all of a sudden, it's a pick your poison opportunity here,
and the Vikings are not in the best, you know,

(16:36):
best opposition there, because you know, when you have different
ways to beat a team, you know, it makes you
ready for anything. And so with this struggling offense the
way it's been, I do think, you know, the last
time Matthew Stafford say he took you know, a week off,
it was week eighteen.

Speaker 3 (16:52):
They go into Detroit and he went god mode.

Speaker 2 (16:55):
And you know what, I think Matthew Stafford is going
to go absolutely crazy in this game, but I don't
think I think he necessarily has to. So those are
my Thingslexis obviously you got to get the offense going
attack essentially, where you know the Vikings aren't, but you
also have to attack Sam Darnold, use that pass rush
and be able to shut down their wide receivers.

Speaker 3 (17:15):
An easier task said than done.

Speaker 1 (17:19):
Well, let's start there, Jake's let's start by talking about
Minnesota's offense versus this Rams defense, because you're right, I mean,
the Rams defense has been kind of the lifeblood of
this Rams team, especially you know in recent weeks, which
if you would have told anybody that at the beginning
of the season, I don't think anybody would have believed it.

(17:39):
It was a very different story. I think at the
beginning of the Rams season, you know, injuries obviously changed
a lot of things. But you know, as you and
I talked about for many weeks, this young Rams defense
we thought was going to be good, but we thought
it was going to take them time to kind of
build chemistry and jail together. And it did. They didn't
start off playing like they're playing now, right, And I think,

(17:59):
you know, the first half of the season, people were
calling for Shula's job and they were saying that the
Rams defense was awful and they couldn't figure it out.
But as we start to see from this defense, it's
like they've gotten better and better each week as they've
gone on, and they've really come a long way from
where they were at the beginning of the season. And
that's started up front, right. It started with guys like
Jared Verse and Branden Fisk and Byron Young and Kobe

(18:21):
Turner and Bobby Brown. This really awesome front for the
Rams has kept them in a lot of games. So
you know, you're going against a Minnesota offense led by
Sam Donald, who you know, wasn't supposed to be the
Vikings starting quarterback going into the season. As we all know,
the Vikings parted with Kirk Cousins, they draft JJ McCarthy.

(18:44):
JJ McCarthy ends up getting injured in pre season, and
you know you've got Sam Donald now is a starting
quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. So I think everybody was
kind of out on the Vikings before things got started,
and then what do you know, Sam Donald paired with
Kevin O'Connell. He starts to absolutely go off. He's got
one of the if not the best receiver in the

(19:06):
game justin Jefferson. On that offense, they got Aaron Jones,
at running back they got from their division rival, Green
Bay Packers. That's still so bizarre to me to think
that Aaron Jones is now a Minnesota Viking and not
a Green Bay Packer. You know, Jordan Addison a very
good receiver who a lot of our friends in Los
Angeles are familiar with out of USC. You know, Jordan

(19:28):
Addison's been a very good receiver for them, you know, TJ.
Hockinson when he's healthy, very good tight end. So they've
got a pretty good offense, you know, in terms of
stars there. So I think that it's going to be,
you know, a big priority I think for the Rams
secondary to lock in on Justin Jefferson and Jordan Adderson.

(19:50):
Jordan Addison, you know, those are two very good receivers,
you know, especially Justin Jefferson and this Ram secondary. They've
been better in recent weeks, but throughout the season they've
been pretty hit or miss, and it's a big task
right to guard Justin Jefferson. So you know, they they
were able to I don't know if kntain is the

(20:12):
right word. I mean when they played them on Thursday
Night football. You know, we did win, but Justin Jefferson
still won. Over one hundred yards. He had eight receptions
for one hundred and fifteen yards.

Speaker 2 (20:22):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
You know, Jordan Addison was kept pretty quiet, which you
know is good. But Jake, who do you think they're
gonna put on Justin Jefferson in this game? Because you
know you've got your guy Kello Witherspoon. He seems like
the obvious choice, you know, but who knows? I mean
Kobe Durant's back. What do you think is going to happen? Uh?
With these two receivers? Jake, you're muted? Well can you

(21:21):
if you guys can hear? Can you guys hear me?
If you guys can hear me? We still can't. People
in the chat are asking if they're going deaf? Can
you guys hear me? I don't know what's going on.

(21:43):
I'm just gonna keep talking.

Speaker 3 (21:51):
Hello.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
So it sounds like they're good. Yep, they can hear
you now, Jake. Nope, Now they can't hear now now
Jake's sound is gone again, but they can hear me.
So let me just say, everyone comment who you can hear?

(22:12):
You know, guys, this wouldn't be a downtown rams uh
draft stream or live stream if there wasn't like some
freak thing going on, but it sounds like you guys
can't hear Jake. So we're just gonna.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
How about now, yep, you can hear me.

Speaker 1 (22:29):
Now, yep, I can hear you now.

Speaker 3 (22:32):
Good lord it is.

Speaker 2 (22:33):
It would not be a Downtown Rams live stream without
this type of stuff.

Speaker 1 (22:37):
I just gavel to god, I figured you would.

Speaker 2 (22:41):
I couldn't hear you for a second. You know, that's
just the way it really do be like that sometimes,
it really did. I do want to say. What I
was saying is that you know they don't have corners
really shadow wide receivers. You know, they haven't done that
since Jalen Ramsey Kello went up against Devanta Adams in
the Jets game, anyone up against Garrett Wilson.

Speaker 3 (23:03):
What I want to say is this. I brought it
up on the screen.

Speaker 2 (23:09):
We passed twenty two hundred dollars in donations, so I
wanted to give a shout out to everybody that has
already donated.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
Were actually that's that's actually delayed.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
We are now at two three hundred and sixty, so
really appreciate you guys. Were almost have fifty donations. I mean,
that's pretty awesome.

Speaker 3 (23:31):
So we really.

Speaker 1 (23:32):
Appreciate that we've got six hundred and fifty people watching
right now across all platforms.

Speaker 3 (23:37):
That's pretty crazy when you talk about.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
It, that's really really cool. So thank you to all
six hundred and fifty of you who are tuned in.
Thank you to everybody who's donated. It means a lot.
And like we've said, all one hundred percent of everything
is going to go to those in need in Los
Angeles who are in need of assistance, So it means.

Speaker 2 (23:56):
A lot, absolutely, And we won't keep it up because
you have to manually refresh it, which I think is
kind of lame, but we'll keep bringing it up, you know,
as time goes on. But yeah, Alexis, I do think
that they're kind of just gonna mix and match. You know,
we'll see Darius Williams probably at some point on Justin

(24:18):
Jefferson and Jordan Addison and maybe some Kobe Durant. Kobe
Durant was back, but it was also week eighteen. We
haven't really seen him when they were playing their starters,
you know, full on. So what does that mean moving forward?
I mean, Sean McVay has said before he feels they
have three starting corners.

Speaker 3 (24:35):
That is evident. They definitely do.

Speaker 2 (24:36):
I thought Kobe played a great game against Seattle in
week eighteen.

Speaker 3 (24:41):
So we'll see how things go. Well, we'll definitely see
how things go.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
But you know, I think something that really needs to
be talked about is that front for the Vikings. And
you know, Kyra Williams ran for almost one hundred yards
the last time you know, he faced the Vikings. But
you know, looking at you know, guys like Jonathan Bullard
and Harrison Phillips, Mary Tillery. You got Jonathan Grenard on
the edge, Andrew Van Ginkel is an absolute weapon. Then

(25:05):
you got some you know depth with Dallas Turner, who's
a first round rookie who's playing a little bit more.
But you know it's not a starter jahad Ward. One
guy in particular I want to name is Jalen Redman,
who has been turning it on since week fourteen. I
do think the Vikings are going to come out trying
to sell out to stop the run.

Speaker 3 (25:25):
I do.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
And the reason I think that is because the Rams.
Their thing that has been able to bail them out
has been the run has been Kyron Williams.

Speaker 3 (25:34):
But if you're able to shut down Kyron Williams.

Speaker 2 (25:36):
Well, now it forces you to, you know, make some
plays in the passing game which you haven't made in
three weeks. So I think that's a big thing to
look at. Here is ken the Rams you know, mitigate
that you know, run defense, and I also think they
can because they're going to be fully healthy on the
offensive line, and we now know that Havenstein is back
and that is huge for this offensive line.

Speaker 1 (26:00):
I agree with you, you know, I think if I'm the
Minnesota Vikings, I look at what this Rams offense has
done the past several weeks, and you know, the only
thing that's really worked for them offensively is the run game.
As you just said, So I think it's a it's
you know, a smart, you know, a kind of educated
guest to say that that the Vikings are going to
try to shut down Kiraen Williams are going to try

(26:20):
to shut down the run game, and so I think
the Rams are going to be forced to get their
receivers going. I think we could see a really big
game from Puka Nakua. You know, I think Cooper Cup
could be more involved. You know, he has been pretty
quiet in the past several games. And I think this
could be an opportunity to get Cooper Cup involved. I
think Tyler Higby is going to have a big game,

(26:40):
I really do. I think he's looked good since he's
come back. I think that, you know, he has really
helped the Rams offense kind of find that receiving spark
that they kind of need aside, you know, from Pukah.
I think that that Tyler stepped in and done that well.
And I still think that Kien you know, will have
a relatively decent game. I don't think we're probably going
to see, uh, you know, one of these you know,

(27:02):
one hundred plus yard rushing games from him. We might,
But like I said, I think that, you know, the
Minnesota is really gonna focus on shutting down the run
game and forcing Matthew Stafford to throw the ball, so
so that would be you know, my bet. But I
think Kyron will still be involved. I think that he
will be involved a lot in pass pro as he
always is. He's gonna be out there a lot, I mean,
as we all know. Unfortunately, Blake Korum got injured and

(27:27):
broke his arm, you know, in the last game of
the season, so he is now out for the rest
of the season, which means that Ronnie Rivers is not
the backup. So you know, we'll see Ronnie Rivers in
there a little bit. I don't think we're gonna see
any Cody Schrader unless something happens to the other two guys,
you know. Receiving wise, I think that Puka Nakua, like
I said, we're gonna need a big game from him.

(27:48):
We're gonna need DeMarcus Robinson to step up, you know,
as he has in so many other games, you know,
in the middle of the season, especially when we were
hurting in the receiving room. So I think it's gonna
be one of those games. Listen, it's a wild card
playoff game. You've lost home field advantage theoretically, you know.
I know that they're technically still the home team, but

(28:08):
they're no longer at SOFI Stadium because of you know,
the tragedy in Los Angeles right now, so they are
having to travel, you know, so they're stolen the road
even though it's technically supposed to be their home game.
So I think you're gonna need guys to step up.
And I think that, you know, Jordan Winnington is another
guy who I would love to see get more involved
in offense. I would hope that, you know, McVeigh, you know,

(28:31):
utilizes him some more.

Speaker 3 (28:32):
I agree.

Speaker 2 (28:33):
Everyone here knows how I feel about Jordan Whittington getting
more reps. I just don't know how you watched the
film his twenty eight targets and sit there and say, yeah,
you know, he's just not ready. I mean, I think
you know, obviously, opportunities are a big thing. You know,
Pooka and akup If he only got twenty eight targets,
wouldn't be pook and Akua today. He'd be a guy

(28:55):
that would be saying needs to play more, and the
Rams would be screwed without Pooka and Akoua. So I
just feel like they have something special in Jordan Whittington.
I didn't think it was something special when they drafted him.
I said, he makes a lot of sense. He'll replace
Ben Scronik, maybe some others, and I thought he could
be a starter potentially. But I'm telling you right now,

(29:17):
this guy his star potential. He could be another Nkua
Like I mean that when you look at the way
he gets the football, there's no wasted motion. This is
one of the best in my opinion, this is one
of the best ball carriers I've seen all year. I
mean the way he just you know, his vision when
he gets the ball, he knows what he's gonna do
with it.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
He can work in a multitude of way.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
It's not just you know, on slip screens, not just
you know, on quick slants and quick outs and you know, no,
I mean you saw the go route. People saying that
he can't be an ex receiver, well look at what
he did to Namia Pritchett last week against Seattle. I
mean that double move. We all saw it and everyone's like,
why is he wide open? It's because the double move

(29:56):
absolutely buried him. And so when you look at Whittington
from pass catching standpoint, you look at him from you know,
his route running, and then he's already the second best
blocker on the team. Uh, it says a lot. And
just bottom line is this guy could be special. And
he has Eric Yarber coaching him in the wide receiver
room who's one of the best in the league. And

(30:17):
in addition to that, he also has Pooka Nakua and
Cooper Cup around him, and he's got Matthew Stafford throwing
him the football. So a lot of positive influences around him.
And this is a guy who was overlooked because you know,
you had Jatavian Sanders at Texas, you had b Jean Robinson,
Rosehawan Johnson, you know, you had Jonathan Brooks, you had

(30:39):
you know, all these different guys, Xavier Worthy and and
this that's the thing, added I Mitchell. I mean, he
was so under the radar that people forget this was
a top prospect coming out of uh you know, coming out.

Speaker 3 (30:53):
Of high school.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
So look, I think Whittington can be something in this league.

Speaker 3 (30:59):
I think he should start next year. He's a thousand
yard receiver if he does.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
And I'll go as far as to say he needs
to be a part, not just a part. He needs
to be a focal point in this game plan against
Minnesota because the way that you attack them, it's very simple.
The way that you attack them is with the quick
passing game or do you attack them over the middle,
because if you keep pint them with the quick passing game,
you know they're playing too high safety and you know
that the two high safeties means there are two guys

(31:24):
way in the back. So now you have to worry
about nine guys and for the most part, if you
get in the quick screen game, well, now you got
five six guys up front, then you got some corners,
you got linebackers. But I think this is how the
Rams can really beat them. They're gonna hit them with
the short passing attack, try and use that play action
to their advantage. We saw Garoppolo have a lot of

(31:45):
success with that. But we also saw last week with
Mike Laflor calling plays, they used a lot of bubble screens,
but they did so in the perfect spots and we
saw a lot of success from that. So really hoping,
you know, that's the direction that they go in.

Speaker 3 (32:02):
We'll see.

Speaker 2 (32:03):
But it's worth mentioning Alexis week seventeen to pretty much
win the division. We we know they had to wait
for some things to happen, but I was to win
the division. We all know that week seventeen, late in
the game, fourth quarter, who's in on that play to
you know, get that first down. It's Jordan Whittington, a
guy who hadn't caught a pass in five weeks. So

(32:27):
I'm just saying, I do think that the coaching staff
is starting to catch on. I do or maybe they
always knew. And it's hard because Cooper Cups the veteran there,
but eighty eight needs to have it. He needs to
be fed the ball in this game. Obviously, Nikua we
know what he can do. So to the Vikings, and
I wouldn't be surprised if they try to shut Nakua out.

(32:49):
And if they do that, then other guys have to
set up a step up and Waitington would be my guy.

Speaker 1 (32:56):
Yeah, I mean it makes sense. You know. The point
you make about Nikua is kind of like we talked
about earlier with kyn Williams. You know, you you're in
a playoff game. You look, those are the two guys
right that have been making things happen for the Rams.
You know, Jordan Winnington could very much fly under the radar,
you know against the Vikings. You know, Cooper Cup could
have a big game. I still think it's going to
be Tyler Higbee, you know, like I mentioned, But guys,

(33:19):
quick check in real quick. We've got eight hundred and
twenty four people watching right now across all platforms, so
thank you so much. It's only five o'clock out on
the West Coast, so having this many people on that
early over there, you know, appreciate it. Everybody watching from
the East coast as well. I know we've got a
lot of people overseas that have messaged me and said
that they're going to be watching as well. So we

(33:40):
appreciate it all eight hundred and thirty of you currently
in the chat, and thank you to everybody who has
donated so far. That that link will be in the
description all night, and Jake will be popping it up
on the screen like the tech wizard he is anytime
that we are. I mean, well, well that's that. Listen

(34:02):
for me, I'm very like, I don't know how any
of this works. J Candle is all of the technology.
I you know, I know how to log in and
I know how to turn my camera on, and he
takes it from there. He's the wizard when.

Speaker 3 (34:14):
It comes to I appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (34:17):
Yeah, so you know, but I can read and I
look at the numbers, and I see the chat. Like
I said earlier, for everybody who who is new and
doesn't normally watch our live streams. When I'm looking down,
it is because I'm reading the chat on this laptop
that I have in my lap, So I see all
of your comments that you guys have been sending all night.
We really appreciate it, so yeah, thank you so much.

(34:39):
And as somebody else just pointed out in the chat,
you can buy Rams l A FD or l A
Strong shirts. Those are available. The Rams are selling those,
and all of the proceeds when you buy those shirts
go to Wildcare wildfire relief as well. So you know,
we don't have that linked, but you can go buy
it from fit in the RAMS store.

Speaker 3 (35:02):
I bought it.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
I wish they they had it earlier so I could
get it for the show. But either way, you know,
I'm I'm repping my royal and you know that's uh,
that's the best I could do. But no, this shirt's dope,
and I definitely recommend it. You know, thirty five dollars. Essentially,
you get a shirt and you donate thirty five dollars

(35:23):
to the La Fired Department Fire Department Foundation, which is
already part of our you know efforts here one of
the four charities that this will be going to and
spread out equally to the four. But those guys need it,
they need it, so yeah, you know, definitely love that
you highlighted that. And let's see here Alexis, we have

(35:48):
super chats. Do you want to get to them now
or do you want to wait?

Speaker 1 (35:51):
Let's let's do what we we have so far. Let's
let's throw them up. And this episode will also be
available to stream an audio for everybody who couldn't make
the live stream. And we know we have a lot
of listeners who like to listen to Downtown Rams in
the car when they're out for a drive, going to work,
whatever they do. So to everybody who's listening via audio,
we're about to read some of the super chats from

(36:13):
the YouTube chat and we'll read them out loud.

Speaker 2 (36:16):
Sounds good, all right, Man of Paradox, thank you for
the ten You both are appreciated for taking the time
to do this. Helping both people and animals is a
wonderful thing. Thank you so much. Yeah, animals mean so
much to both of us. Obviously we've been pet owners,
and I just I've seen the videos and it's so

(36:38):
I mean, I get emotional just watching it. I Mean,
I just can't imagine, you know, your pet being in
that situation and it's not just straight up abandonment, because
I don't want to just act like every single you know,
pet that is being taken care of by you know,
Pasadena you know Humane Society.

Speaker 3 (36:56):
It is doing so because the owner abandoned them.

Speaker 2 (36:59):
Sometimes things have and where a dog gets off the
leash and it's like, what can you do. I mean,
that's already scary enough in a normal circumstance, but now
you're talking about wildfires and everything, embers going everywhere. So yeah,
you know, they're they're treating animals with burns and even
animals that aren't injured. They're you know, hosting them essentially

(37:20):
for now. So it's awesome what they're doing, and we
just want to be able to help. But we don't
want to just help them. We want to be able
to help, you know, kind of everybody that we can.
So that's why we decided to go with this. But
thank you so much for that. I appreciate it. Man
Paradox again, thank you for the ten Thanks for the
clarification on the superchat dispersal.

Speaker 3 (37:41):
I will donate to one of the links as well.
Really appreciate you.

Speaker 2 (37:45):
Yeah, and I don't mean to discourage superchats, it's just
you know, being full disclosure here. YouTube takes thirty percent,
so that's why we wanted to do the GoFundMe. But
all of these superchats, while normally they go to the channel,
they go to us. Any super chat that is on
this specific live stream event will be donated to charity. Yes,

(38:07):
and it'll just be basically how we're doing it. It'll
be you know, added up together and dispersed between the
four foundations. Jim, thank you so much for the twenty.
Jim just says, thanks, we appreciate you.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
I appreciate you.

Speaker 2 (38:24):
Colton socol thank you for the two. We appreciate that. Edwin,
thank you for the twenty. Thank you so much to
both of you. I was born and raised in LA.
I now live in Oregon, but I have all my
families still living in LA. It breaks my heart seeing
the streets I used to walk on on fire. Our
rams are going to win for LA. We appreciate you, Edwin,
and yeah, we're gonna do We're gonna do everything we

(38:47):
can to try and help. I mean, obviously we're not
out there. We're not, you know, moving rubble on our own.
We're not, don't you know, bringing stuff to you know, shelters.
The people that are doing that are just above and
beyond and deserve to be recognized, like I mentioned Brittany earlier,
but no, you know, we're trying our best, and you

(39:07):
know we really appreciate that. Let's see here, Alfonso Curiel,
thank you for the two prayers to LA. Let's go Rams.
Thank you Alfonso and so Cal eighty eight. Thank you
for the for the twenty. Just want to thank you
guys and donate whatever I can. Hope the RAMS can

(39:30):
win after all this, all these tribulations. I agree with
you there. It's it's tough. It's tough. You know, they
have the whole city of Los Angeles to essentially play
for on Monday Night. That's a lot of pressure. But
you know what, I think they're gonna get it done. Timothy.

(39:52):
I just want to highlight the fact that you guys
aren't even from LA yet you're doing this for a
community that desperately needs it.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
That's what Rambley is all about for Welcome to LA.

Speaker 2 (40:01):
Appreciates you, Timothy, Timothy, That's what it's all about. You know,
it shouldn't matter you know where you come from. If
people are in need you help. You know, I donated
to the Maui Uh fires as well, but you know,
I felt like doing something like this was more I
guess able, I had more of a platform connected to

(40:24):
LA where you know, we could do something, actually make
a difference, you know, and that's what we really wanted
to do. So it's really cool having a lot of
rams fans that follow this, that are in LA that
could help this because this has grown into what it
is right now. I mean just being able to, you know,
raise the money that we have already and we're talking
about almost three thousand dollars at this point. This is

(40:46):
because of you guys as well. It's not just because
we have a platform. The platform also has to stem
from the people that are loyal and the people that
watch and the people that support.

Speaker 3 (40:56):
So it's not a one man rock band.

Speaker 2 (40:59):
I mean, you guys are just as much a part
of it as we are, and we're excited to do
this and and just it feels good. You know, obviously
this could not be a worse way to start off
a year, but it feels good at least for us
that we can start off our year trying to give back,
because that's that's the whole thing. When you get to

(41:20):
you know, the level of say a Tom GROSSI, that's
what you want to be able to do you know,
you want to be able to use your platform. You
want to be able to use your community in the
nicest way possible and help others that that otherwise can't
be helped. So that's a big thing for us. But Timothy,
we really appreciate you. And yeah, well we'll keep you

(41:41):
guys monitored on the donations, but right now this is
what we're looking at.

Speaker 3 (41:47):
Nope, just kidding. See again, you have to manually refresh it.

Speaker 2 (41:50):
We're almost at three thousand thanks to you guys, over
fifty donations. We will read them at the end of
the show. There's obviously a lot anonymous, but the people
that have chosen to put their names on that, we
will read them at the end of the show to
wrap it up. There's a lot, so we'll you know,
we'll read Oh do you want to read them.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
Now, let's wait, we'll do it. We'll do it at
the end. But yeah, I just just wanna again say
thank you again so much everybody who is donating, you know,
the Adrian and the Chat love you too. Love you
guys that are all sending us love. Hi Kevin and Hawaii.
Uh thanks Edward, love you as well. Yeah, I mean

(42:33):
just it means a lot. And you know, like Jake said,
you know, so many of our listeners have been affected
by what's going on, you know, in Los Angeles, and
we know that, you know, unfortunately, there's so many people
who would be tuned in tonight that are not able
to tune in because they they've lost so much and
are dealing with the aftermath of this horrible disaster. And

(42:56):
so our hearts go out to them. You know, we
hope that they're getting the help that they need. They're able,
you know, to get care, They're able, you know, to
be safe and recuperate, and you know, we will be
here when everybody is you know, ready and able to
sit down and listen to our show and and you know,

(43:16):
think about the Rams. But you know, we know that
there's so many who aren't even able to focus on
football this weekend and might not even be able to watch,
you know, the Rams game on Monday night or you know,
have it been following along. So you know, we are
with everybody who is struggling, and you know, we hope that,
you know, we can do our part to assist them.

(43:38):
There's a lot you know, if you follow Jake and
I on Twitter slash x. We've been trying to share
some resources. I currently on my Instagram story have resources
up for anybody who needs them or who wants to
share them. I've I've shared some links on my Instagram
you know story over there. I have them on my
Twitter page. Anything that we can do to help, you know,
anybody who comes across that who might need to. Hopefully

(44:00):
it can help, even if it's just one person, you know,
get the assistance and relief that they need to. There's
a lot of people out there doing a lot of
good things in Los Angeles. It's a city that's very
resilient and that cares about one another and has a
city full of people who want to help and do
what they can. So as Jake just you know, refreshed

(44:20):
our GoFundMe, we have now raised again. We're getting closer
and closer to that three thousand dollars mark. We're at
twenty eight and ten dollars. Thank you so much to
everybody who's donated, Thank you to everybody who's sending super chats.
We're going to have that up for the rest of
the stream. And yeah, we're excited to you know, not

(44:44):
only help but get to interact with you guys and
talk about, you know, football. We've kind of talked about
the Rams, you know a little bit already, but you know,
Jake kind of after highlighting what we think both sides
of the ball need to do, let's get into our predictions.
Let's get into and here's what's really weird is we're

(45:04):
now going to get into our predictions for a Rams
Vikings game that is going to be played in Arizona
on a Monday night. That's a mad lib is and
a lot that That is a very bizarre paragraph that
you know, doesn't make entirely a lot of sense, uh,

(45:25):
taken out of context. So before we get into that,
I want to highlight Mario Silva, who just sent a
super chat just now. If you see that, Jake, he
said first superchat hashtag las strong not even from la
but still don't have electricity. The windstorms have affected so
much of SoCal. Also, Allison did nothing wrong. So for first, well, listen,

(45:53):
I'm an Allison high tower defender, and I know that
anybody who is watching us for the first time, I
just lost a lot of cool cred because I'm an
Alison high tower defender. But she's a victim. Okay, she's
a victim. But Mario, aside from you and I agreeing
on that, I'm sorry to hear that you don't have electricity.

(46:14):
I hope that that comes back for you soon. I
hope that you're at least safe and you have you know,
the resources that you need. And thank you so much
for donating and towards helping other people. And we appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
We appreciate you, Mario, thank you so much. All right, Okay,
so let's do that's one second. Let's do this, because
you were gonna, you were gonna do that. I want
to do two things. I want to I want to

(46:49):
throw shade it at a certain group of people. Okay,
understand why. And I want to give credit. So the
first thing is I just have to say this. I
also want to give credit as well. So let's give
credit to dem Off, Kevin Demoff. Let's give credit to
the Rams. Let's just give credit to what the Rams

(47:13):
have done to get these fans to Arizona. Let's also
give credit to the Arizona Cardinals who have given the
Rams their facility to use, have given the Rams their
charter plans to use. It's incredible. I think the gesture
is obviously huge. I'm not sure what that means, Like

(47:37):
this could very well be a Rams home game. I
saw thirty five it said over thirty five thousand Rams
season ticket holders have purchased Rams tickets. Kelly Stafford, Matthew
Stafford's wife, is working on getting people over here in buses.

Speaker 3 (47:55):
There is an effort here to make the most of this.

Speaker 2 (47:58):
And while they're you know, they're fighting for LA They're
trying to win this game for their city, and they
are of the belief that there could this could be
the last you know, this was the last chance to
play at so far, and they were all excited about it.
Now you know, just abruptly gets taken away from them. Well,
they're still trying to turn this into a home game.

(48:20):
They've had a lost success I believe was at nine
to the last ten times at that stadium they've won,
except for of course this year Week two. We don't
talk about that. But I just have to give a
lot of credit there. First and second, you know, for
both parties. Obviously the Rams are doing their job getting
these season takeholders over and everything. But with that being said,

(48:42):
we have to be honest before we get into the predictions,
this is this is unfair. I totally agree with the
move I do and the relocation. I'm actually for it
because it's not just they could have played there. It's hey,
you know, so our first responders are being you know used. Well,

(49:03):
you would need first responders to operate a game, right,
You need security, you need police officers, you need firefighters.
They're always firefighters on just in case anything goes wrong
at the stadium, just like any event. So that's really
why that they did that, right, Well, that's not my issue.
My issue is that you have people that are so

(49:27):
shameless trying to make a buck, a quick buck, that
they are up charging these people. They are buying these
tickets that were one hundred dollars, right, one hundred dollars
and they're selling for a thousand. Look, I get it,
free market, all of that. I'm a believer in free market.

(49:51):
But you have to understand this game is only being
played in Arizona because of tragedy. This is an emergency relocation.
The only people that should be going to this game
or people in Arizona Cardinals fans, because Cardinals fans do
since they're hosting it, their season ticket holders get a

(50:14):
chance to go RAM season ticket holders and Vikings fans
that want to come over, and any neutral fans that
want to go and see the game. People that are
taking advantage of this to upsell by four times or
eight times what the tickets cost. That is the most
scumbag thing you could do, because, whether you realize it

(50:37):
or not, because they're just tickets, you are actually taking
advantage and you're exploiting what is happening with the fires.
And so I felt like what we're doing and what
people are doing here, I feel like we had to
put that out there. At least I had to to,

(50:59):
you know, be on a with people and let them
know this is happening and it's not okay, and there's
nothing we can do about it, but you know, we're
I'm gonna say my piece. So I don't know what
you thought your thoughts are, Alexis. I don't want to
speak for you, but it just really aggravates me that
you have these people that are dropping everything they're doing

(51:19):
in LA to go to this game. They're trying to
find ways to go to this game. You have people
that are doing everything possible, okay, just going through every
single possibility to get people in buses over to this stadium,
and you got these other people spitting in everyone's faces
to make a quick buck. I mean, at what point

(51:40):
do you actually just sit there and have some fricking morals?

Speaker 3 (51:44):
That's all I have to say.

Speaker 1 (51:46):
Well, I definitely have some thoughts on that as well,
you know, real quick, I do want to shout out
I did see in our chat Fantasy Cares for everybody
who heard, you know, the opening of our episode, we
talked about how Fantasy Cares is going to be matching
all the donations you know that we get tonight up

(52:08):
to five thousand dollars, which is amazing and incredible. So
thank you so much, uh to Fantasy Cares. You guys
are awesome. It means so much to us and so
much to our listeners, and you know, so much I know,
to people who are need a relief in the city
of La So I wanted to go ahead and shout
that out before their chat got lost amongst everybody you know,
coming in we've got one thousand and thirty people watching

(52:30):
across all platforms right now. Amazing, you know. But to
touch on kind of the point that Jake brought up
about the ticket scalpers. Yeah, you know, I'm very frustrated
seeing that. I mean, the whole situation is frustrating enough.
And I know so many people are you know, hurting,
not just because of the personal you know impact right

(52:51):
that these wildfires are having on them, but you know
people who also maybe did buy tickets to go to
the Wildcard Game, or maybe they are season ticket holders,
and you know, all all of that and now to
have the game, you know, moved to a completely other state,
in a completely different stadium in city and trying to
figure out kind of you know, how that all works.
And then you've got people, you know, capitalizing and buying

(53:13):
tickets and selling them for four times the price. It's
just it, it's really sad. It's it's sad, and you know,
I think it's frustrating for everybody in the fan base.
And you know, I don't know how how to entirely
prevent it, but it is heartening to see so many people,
you know, like Kelly Stafford or you know, Kevin Demoff
try and get you know, rams fans to the game.

(53:35):
So you know that that's a positive. And I think,
you know, this is just one of those situations where
it's not fair. But the RAMS are going to have
to make the most of it. You know, the Vikings
are traveling too, so you know, it's not like the
game got relocated to Minnesota, right, you know, it's still
on the West Coast. It's still you know, in a
city you know that isn't Minneapolis. So you know, they're

(53:57):
just going to have to make the best of it.
But it is unfortunate, and I think it's you know,
great that you know, so many people are able to
help out and they're trying to make the best of
a bad situation. So yeah, I mean that's my thoughts
on that. But yeah, I mean I think, like I said,
you know, hopefully RAMS fans can get there. It sounds

(54:18):
like a good amount of RAMS fans are going to
be able to make the track, which it does makes
it makes me happy, you know, to hear that so
many people in the midst of all this chaos or
are going to have the means and the resources and
the time to be able to get out to Arizona
on a Monday night. It's not even a weekend game.
It is a Monday night game that has been relocated.

(54:38):
Uh So it's you know. Great, it's great that people
can can do that.

Speaker 3 (54:43):
So no, it is great.

Speaker 2 (54:45):
And by the way, just to answer questions that I
know if we should get to the but I do
want to put this out there because I saw people
asking the comments section. There will be Rams signage on
the field, so we are going to see a RAMS
logo at the center of Stay Farm Stadium. There's gonna

(55:06):
be Rams end zone all of that. I don't know
if they're selling merchandise. I had people ask me that
I have no idea. Kevin Demoff is very active right
now on Twitter. Maybe maybe you should ask him straight
up at this point. But yeah, I don't know about
all that. But I do know that it's gonna look
like a RAMS game aesthetically. The Rams are wearing royal

(55:27):
with yellow pants, so I know some people will be
excited about that. I think it's gonna be a great game.
I really believe that. But I I almost said it.
We'll get to the predictions now before I pop it.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
Off, well real quick, before we get to the predictions.
And guys, I know that that this episode is a
little bit you know, chaotic, right, you know this is
a traditional you know episode Downtown RAMS is a format,
you know, due to the circumstances with this episode, we're
kind of in and out of talking about the RAMS

(56:01):
and then talking about the wildfires and talking about you know,
those in need as we should. So right, there's there's
things that are more important than just talking about the game.
So I know that this is very chaotic. So we
appreciate all one thousand and forty of you who are
in here, you know, bearing with kind of you know,
an untraditional format for this episode. But Jake, if you
want to pull up the GoFundMe, I did just get

(56:24):
word that we've crossed the three thousand dollars mark, so
thank you so much. He's about to refresh it.

Speaker 3 (56:32):
But there we are. There, we are, yes.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
So thank you so much everybody. We're at three two
hundred and thirty five dollars raised for Wildcare wildfire relief
in the city of Los Angeles. We appreciate everybody who's donated,
everybody who's tuning into the stream. As Jake said earlier,
all the revenue that we earn from this this stream
in particular this episode, you know, whether that's from you know,

(56:58):
donations or at revenue what ever it is, will be
donated to eight for Los Angeles for everybody who is struggling.
So we really appreciate everybody who is assisting and donating
to those in need, which includes so many people who
we know are RAMS fans and listens to our show.
So on that note, Jake, let's get into our predictions

(57:21):
for the game. You know, for this game, you know,
the Rams are taking on the Vikings. You know, they
obviously have it's winneror go home. There's so much in
the line that for the Rams, they're going to be
playing for the city of Los Angeles as well. You know,
that's another thing that I know is going to be
on their minds and they're gonna, you know, be wearing that,
you know, on their sleeve going to this game. Jake,

(57:42):
I'll let you go first. What are three bold predictions
from you for this matchup against the Vikings on Monday night.

Speaker 2 (57:52):
Well, maybe it's just me being hopeful, but I think
Jordan Whittington is going to play the most he's played
all season long. And I know that sounds crazy, but
I really do think there's gonna be a transition.

Speaker 3 (58:07):
There's just no way you can tell me watching the tape.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
You watch what eighty eight's doing what he did in
Week eighteen, what he did when he was asked to
be the starter. You know, in relief, there's just no
way he's not out there. There's no way he's not
out there and being a focal point of the offense.
He is important to this team. I just think his
yards after the catchability. He's a former running back and

(58:30):
you see it. It's just it's crazy to me. So
there is just maybe it's just hopeful, but I think
this is going to be a big game for Jordan
Winnington because, let's be honest, the last time the postseason
happened back in January of last year, against the Lions,
Hukunaku almost had two hundred receiving yards. If you don't

(58:52):
think that a guy who had one hundred yards after
not even practicing, just being picked up off the ir
three hours before the game, they find out. If you
don't think that the Vikings are gonna put in emphasis
on stopping Cooper Cup, then you are out of your gord. Okay,
they are going to they I don't know if they
will succeed, but they are gonna put an emphasis to

(59:13):
succeed and you know, take Cup out of or, excuse me,
pooka a coupa out of the game. So I had
just said Cooper Cup multiple times, pooka aacua. So because
of that, I do think that when you take or
you try to take pook and a Cup out of
the game, it's going to open up opportunities that Sean
McVay is going to see and Matthew Stafford is definitely
gonna see. So I think Whittington, first off, is gonna

(59:35):
play the most snaps he's played all year. I think
Tyler Higbee is going to go for sixty plus yards
and two touchdowns in this game. And I think the
last one here is that the Rams defense is gonna
sack Sam Darnold five times.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
That is an amazing number and I would love.

Speaker 2 (59:58):
To see that five plus because if he sacks him six,
I'm not going to get somebody.

Speaker 3 (01:00:02):
Coming out here and saying you said five, you're wrong.

Speaker 1 (01:00:05):
You know, well right, well, you know, I do like
all those predictions, and all of those, you know, I
think are really reasonable, you know, honestly, you know, for
this game against the Vikings, he kind of took one
a little bit. So my first prediction was that Tyler
Higbee was going to get a touchdown. I just I
said it earlier in the episode. I feel like Tyler

(01:00:27):
Higby is going to have a big game. You know,
he's played really well since he's come back. It's clear
that Stafford trusts him, and you know, Higby's been reliable,
and I think that he is going to have a
touchdown and go over sixty yards receiving, which might not
even be a lot, you know, based on how I
think he's going to play. But you know, I think
he's gonna have a pretty good game. I think he's

(01:00:47):
going to be productive. So that'll be my first, you know,
prediction for this game. My second prediction for the game
is that I think we're going to see a Cooper
Cup touchdown. And I know that people are like, that's
not that, but you know what, Cooper Cup has kind
of been put through the ringer by everybody. I think
for the past several weeks. We've seen it online. You know,
he's been quiet in games. It hasn't quite been himself

(01:01:10):
since he's come back from injury. But you know what,
this is the show, this is prime time, this is
a playoff game. You know, Cooper Cup has done so
much for the Rams over his course of the career,
course of his career, and I think that he's going
to show, you know, he's still got something left, right,
He's he's gonna go out there and I think that
he's gonna have a touchdown, you know, probably not gonna
go for over one hundred yards. I'm not gonna say

(01:01:31):
he's gonna have a ton of receptions, but I think
he's gonna get a red zone touchdown and he's gonna
come up big for the Rams. So that's my second prediction.
Then my last prediction on the defensive side is I
think we're gonna see two Braiden Fisk sacks. I mean,
Braiden Fisk is gonna have a big game. He's had
a very good rookie year. As says Jared Verse, I mean,
Jared Verse is the favorite at this point to win

(01:01:54):
Defensive Player of the Year. So everybody you know knows
how I felt about Jared Vers going into the draft.
I'm very happy, uh, you know, with with what he's done,
you know, for the Rams. But I'm also very happy
with what Braidon Fisk has done. So I think we're
gonna see a big game from Braid and Fisk, and
I just think we're gonna need the defense to step up.
You know, we we've needed our defense to step up

(01:02:15):
the past several games because our offense has just not
been operating on all cylinders, you know, as everybody knows.
So I think that our defense is going to come
through for us, and you know, particularly up front, you know,
I think that they're they're really going to get after
Sam Darnold. Uh and hopefully, you know, cause some mistakes.
You know, if they're not getting sacks, hopefully they're going
to get the pressures and cast some mistakes. But Jake,

(01:02:37):
now that we've given our predictions, and in terms of stats,
let's talk about the big stat let's talk about, uh,
you know, the score. Let you go first. What do
you think the score is going to be on Monday
night in Arizona.

Speaker 2 (01:02:56):
I think on Monday Night in Arizona, the Rams are
going to win twenty four twenty in what is going
to be a heartfelt You're gonna feel it. I mean,
there is gonna be a passionate game. I think these
guys are gonna just lay it out on the line.
I think we're gonna see some good things out of Stafford.

(01:03:18):
I know some people have been kinda you know, what's
going on with him? Is he declining? I don't think so.
I think that that rest is gonna give him some time.
I think the score is gonna be not what it
should be. I think it's gonna be twenty four to twenty,
with a chance where the Rams probably could have won
by more. But I'm gonna say twenty four to twenty,
and I think it's gonna be a twenty one to

(01:03:41):
twenty game. And Josh Cardy is gonna drill a field
goal that doesn't allow the Vikings enough time to go
down the field and kick a field goal because they
need a touchdown because Cardi made it.

Speaker 3 (01:03:52):
So that's how I see it. Twenty four to twenty.
Rams move on.

Speaker 2 (01:03:56):
And I'm gonna go as far as to say, I
just have this feel, man, they're going to go to
Philadelphia and play the Eagles.

Speaker 1 (01:04:05):
Well I don't. I haven't even thought that far yet,
but I will say I do have the Rams winning
this game. I think it's going to be twenty seven
to twenty one, so a similar ish score kind of
you know, to what you have, and you know, I
just feel I feel good about this matchup. You know,
we played Minnesota already this season on Thursday Night football.

(01:04:26):
I think, you know, McVeigh seems to have a pretty
good handle on what this Vikings team is. I think
that the team is going to be fired up. There's
gonna be a lot of players who have rested, particularly
an offense that I think they're going to come out
swinging and they've got something to play for. You know,
their city has you know, been on fire. I mean
it's been horrible, and you know, I think the Rams

(01:04:48):
are going to come out and I think that they're
going to play very, very hard for the city of
Los Angeles, and I think they're going to get the W.
So I'm I'm excited for it. It's going to be intense.
It's it's a Monday night game, which you know, I
think everybody will be sad and seeded to watch it.

Speaker 2 (01:05:08):
They've had some weird instances in the past. I mean,
they've played a Tuesday night football game. The year they
won the Super Bowl, they played, you know, a game
that was supposed to be at you know, Aztecas Stadium
that gets moved and they had the wildfires, and of course,
you know, what happened then with the Rams winning fifty
four to fifty one on Monday Night Football against the Chiefs.
But his team has fought through some adversity throughout Sean

(01:05:30):
mcvay's tenure, and so I don't think this is going
to be any different. I mean, you know, obviously the
grand scheme of things is that this is the craziest
wildfire they've ever experienced, and I don't want to minimize that,
but I just think that the experience that McVeigh has
had in these situations in the past, obviously this is

(01:05:51):
a little different. But I think he's gonna have him
ready to go, and I think he's the better coach,
although I really like Kevin O'Connell, and I just think
right now the Rams are playing a better brand of
football than the Vikings. And I know the Vikings won
fourteen games and it's not going to be easy. But
I feel really good about this game. Whereas you know,

(01:06:12):
last year, I felt good, but I was a little
nervous about the Lions game.

Speaker 3 (01:06:17):
I felt good, but a little nervous.

Speaker 2 (01:06:18):
This one, I feel really good and I do feel
really confident the Rams are going to win this game.

Speaker 1 (01:06:25):
Me as well, and you know, we're three days out now,
so you know, we've got some time until the game,
and hopefully, you know, we we can assist in getting
some of these RAMS fans, you know, the need the
care that they need, and that they're able to watch
the game on Monday night. Obviously it's not anyone's priority

(01:06:48):
who's dealing with this strategy, but if they are able
to watch, you know, hopefully they can lift their spirits
a little bit.