Category: Latest Rams news

Rams CB Troy Hill undergoing thumb surgery, still may play Saturday

Troy Hill broke his thumb, but he may not miss any time.

Troy Hill left Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys with a thumb injury, leaving the Rams thin at cornerback. His injury thrust Darious Williams into a role with the first-team defense, which he took in stride and played well in.

It turns out Hill broke his thumb, but it may not cost him any time on the field. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Hill is undergoing surgery on his thumb but could still play Saturday against the 49ers.

Hill, not Jalen Ramsey, has been the Rams’ best cornerback since becoming a starter earlier this season after Aqib Talib was placed on IR. He’s been picked on by opposing quarterbacks, but he’s held his ground and turned in some particularly good performances.

The Rams only have two games remaining in 2019, but they’re ones they must win in order to have a chance to make the playoffs. Having Hill on Saturday would help the defense, but if they lose or the Vikings win, Los Angeles will be eliminated from playoff contention. In other words, he could get Week 17 off if it comes to that, allowing him to rest his thumb a week early.

Jared Goff injured his hand early vs. Cowboys but says he’s fine

Jared Goff remained in the game after injuring his hand, indicating afterwards that it’s not a concern.

Jared Goff didn’t exactly have a stellar performance against the Cowboys, throwing an interception and gaining only 284 yards passing on 51 attempts. He and the Rams offense got nothing going until late in the game, which is when they scored 14 of their 21 points.

The final score of 44-21 doesn’t accurately portray how lopsided the game was, because the Cowboys controlled every aspect of it from start to finish. Goff was under pressure often and got no help from the running game, which led to an underwhelming showing at AT&T Stadium.

Sean McVay revealed after the loss that Goff injured his hand early in the game, but it doesn’t seem to be a concern. He was never pulled from the game and insisted afterwards that he’s OK.

“I saw him just continue to compete,” McVay said of how Goff played. “Got his hand banged up and just as a gutsy competitor, remained out there with his teammates finding a way even though – I’m always interested in how we continue to compete, even when the game was out of hand, just to see guys just continue to battle, have some pride about it. I thought Jared did a nice job.”

McVay didn’t know which specific play the injury happened on, but said “he did it earlier in the game.”

When asked how his hand was feeling, Goff simply said “my hand is fine,” indicating it’s no big deal and won’t keep him off the field moving forward.

Rams are biggest underdogs of Sean McVay era vs. 49ers in Week 16

The Rams opened as 6.5-point underdogs to the 49ers in Week 16.

The Rams’ season didn’t end on Sunday in Dallas with their 44-21 loss, but their postseason chances did take a huge hit. Sitting two games behind the Vikings for the sixth seed in the NFC, the Rams need to win their next two and have Minnesota lose out.

That doesn’t look like an easy proposition, especially with the Rams visiting the 49ers next. It’s a prime-time Saturday night matchup between two teams that are coming off disappointing losses, with each still in the playoff race.

The 49ers were stunned at home by the Falcons on Sunday and will look to bounce back with a win over the Rams. They’re unsurprisingly favored in the game, as they have been in most of their contests this year.

According to BetMGM, the Rams are 6.5-point underdogs to the 49ers in Week 16. The over/under is 46.5 points. Incredibly, that’s the most points they’ve been underdogs by since Sean McVay took over as head coach in 2017.

Previously, their Week 17 game against the 49ers two years ago when they rested their starters was the largest spread against them (6.0 points). The Rams have been underdogs just twice this season: at home against Baltimore and on the road against Seattle.

They have the talent to cover the 6.5-point spread, especially after the 49ers just lost to the Falcons at home, but the last time these teams met, San Francisco was dominant. The 49ers rolled to a 20-7 win, limiting the Rams to just 157 total yards and 10 first downs.

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Sean McVay shares his thoughts on coin-toss controversy vs. Cowboys

Sean McVay and Jared Goff were both confused by the coin-toss mix-up before the Cowboys-Rams game.

Sunday’s game between the Rams and Cowboys got off to an unconventional and bizarre start at AT&T Stadium. After the Cowboys won the coin toss, Dak Prescott told the official that Dallas wanted to kick off in the first quarter.

By saying that, he also gave the Rams the option to choose what they wanted to do to begin the second half: kick or receive. The Rams, of course, chose to receive the second-half kickoff, but they didn’t end up getting the ball as they expected to.

Because Prescott said “defer” after also saying the Cowboys wanted to play defense, the NFL reviewed the situation and corrected it. Dallas got the ball to start the second half as Prescott intended, preventing the Rams from getting an extra possession.

The score wound up being 44-21, so the mix-up probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome, but Sean McVay was asked about it after the game and shared his thoughts on what happened.

“The way that I interpreted it from the start was, they won the toss and they chose to kick in the first half, so I immediately asked the refs, tried to get the clarification,” McVay said. “We were under the impression that we were going to be able to receive the second half kick as well. I guess they went to New York. They had a microphone and they said they heard the word “deferred.” I found out right before the start of the second half, so we were always under the assumption we were going to get that kick, be able to receive that kick coming out of the half and I was told right before that that wasn’t the case.”

That sort of change can definitely impact a coach’s game plan. There’s a big difference between having to kick off to start the second half and getting the ball first, especially when trailing by 21 points as the Rams were.

Jared Goff was also confused by the situation and was under the impression that the Rams would begin the second half with the ball, which turned out not to be the case. Goff, Eric Weddle and Johnny Hekker were all holding back smiles and laughs when the coin toss played out, indicating they knew Prescott messed up.

They knew what he meant, but the rulebook interpreted it differently.

“I think by rule that’s what it is – we would get the ball in the second half, but I do think he may have then corrected himself and then said defer,” Goff said after the game. “I don’t quite remember exactly, but we knew what he meant, but by the letter of the law, I think that if he does say kick, that is a rule. I don’t know the intricacies of that rule well enough, but they said that he did correct himself and say ‘defer’ after that.

“We had talked to the referees the whole game in the first half, and we were told we would get it in the second half. I don’t think that would have changed much with the outcome of the game, but it was something a little weird, definitely.”

The Rams were dominated in every phase of the game and could do nothing right until it was too late and the Cowboys put it out of reach, so a coin-toss gaffe was hardly their biggest issue. Receiving the kick in both halves would’ve been helpful, but certainly not enough to change the outcome of the game.

Rams Week 15 snap counts: McVay reverts to 11 personnel vs. Cowboys

The Rams utilized very little 12 personnel on Sunday in Dallas.

The Los Angeles Rams were having a great deal of success in recent weeks by utilizing more 12 personnel to get two tight ends on the field at a time. Tyler Higbee had two straight 100-yard games and Todd Gurley had rushed for 174 yards on 42 carries in the Rams’ last two wins.

In Sunday’s 44-21 loss to the Cowboys, Sean McVay went back to his roots and reverted to his heavy 11 personnel usage. The Rams leaned on their trio of starting receivers, as well as a dash of Josh Reynolds.

The result? Only 289 net yards and 20 yards rushing by Gurley. Needless to say, McVay’s game plan didn’t work the way he had hoped, partly because the execution was poor. He likely wanted to attack the Cowboys’ linebackers in the passing game, specifically Jaylon Smith, but it didn’t exactly go according to plan.

Here are the snap counts from Sunday’s drubbing in Dallas.

Offense

After only playing only 29% of the snaps last week against the Seahawks, Cooper Kupp returned to his more typical usage. He played 92% on Sunday, which was the second-most among Rams receivers. Robert Woods didn’t miss a snap, while Brandin Cooks played 71%. Reynolds chipped in 26 plays, catching two passes for 36 yards.

Johnny Mundt only played 11 snaps against Dallas, which was one of the bigger surprises. He’s a great blocking tight end and helps the ground game a lot. Tyler Higbee also only played 86%, too, so he came off the field more than expected.

Todd Gurley was rarely spelled in the backfield, playing all but three snaps. Malcolm Brown was out there for the three plays Gurley missed but did not receive a carry or target.

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Aaron Donald on loss to Cowboys: ‘We got embarrassed’

Aaron Donald was brutally honest after the Rams’ loss to the Cowboys on Sunday.

There’s no way to put lightly how terrible the Rams looked on Sunday in Dallas. They were run over by the Cowboys 44-21, and the final score wasn’t indicative of how lopsided the actual game was. With just under seven minutes left in the game, the Rams trailed 37-7 before scoring two touchdowns in garbage time to draw the score closer.

Whether it was the offense or defense, Los Angeles looked uninspired and flat out of the gates, missing tackles and allowing Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard to run wild from start to finish, while simultaneously failing to get anything going on offense.

Aaron Donald knows how poorly the Rams played against Dallas, calling it an embarrassing loss.

While the execution was poor on the Rams’ part, so was the preparation. For a team that took it to the Cardinals and Seahawks in the last two weeks, Los Angeles sure didn’t look like the same squad on Sunday.

The defense, in particular, was outmatched against the Cowboys. The line got no push, the outside linebackers generated very little pressure and Dallas took advantage of the Rams’ lapses.

Studs and duds from Rams’ deflating loss to Cowboys

The Rams were embarrassed in Dallas and now have almost no chance of making the playoffs.

The Rams were embarrassed in Dallas on Sunday, getting blown out 44-21 by the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in one of the biggest games of Los Angeles’ season. They scored 14 of their 21 points in the final four minutes when the game was already out of reach, doing very little well on offense or defense.

As a result, our studs and duds are pretty lopsided. There weren’t many players who stood out for the right reasons, while several others had poor showings on a big stage in Arlington.

Studs

Tyler Higbee

Higbee once again stuffed the stat sheet, this time catching a career-high 12 passes with 111 yards receiving. He had a great 26-yard reception to set up the Rams’ first touchdown, once again on a designed rollout for Jared Goff where he sat down in the zone, coming wide open. A good portion of his production came when the game was already out of hand and the Rams padded the stats in garbage time, but it was another productive game for Higbee.

Darious Williams and Jalen Ramsey

Excluding Tavon Austin’s 59-yard touchdown, the Cowboys’ wide receivers combined for just three catches for 22 yards. Amari Cooper was held to only 19 yards on one catch, while Michael Gallup caught one pass for 6 yards. Williams and Ramsey played well enough to slow down the Cowboys’ wideouts, but Dak Prescott beat them in other ways with his backs and tight ends.

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NFC playoff picture: Rams need a miracle to make postseason

The outlook isn’t great for the Rams’ chances of making the playoffs.

The Rams already faced an uphill climb to the postseason entering Week 15, needing to win at least two of their final three games and get help from other teams. Unfortunately, their odds of making the playoffs plummeted after losing to the Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.

They were blown out 44-21 at AT&T Stadium, snapping a two-game winning streak. To make matters even worse, the Vikings also beat the Chargers, giving them a two-game lead over the Rams in the wild-card race.

With only two weeks remaining, that puts Los Angeles in an absolutely terrible spot in the playoff picture. Here’s how the standings currently look.

1. NFC West: Seahawks (11-3)

2. NFC North: Packers (11-3)

3. NFC South: Saints (10-3)

4. NFC East: Cowboys (7-7)

5. Wild card: 49ers (11-3)

6. Wild card: Vikings (10-4)

In the hunt

Rams (8-6)
Eagles (7-7)

In order for the Rams to make the playoffs, they must beat the 49ers in Week 16, as well as the Cardinals in the season finale. That won’t be enough by itself, though. The Vikings must also lose to the Packers next week and then the Bears in the final week of the season.

That seems highly unlikely to happen, especially after the way the Rams played on Sunday in Dallas. They looked slow, lacked precision and didn’t play the way they did one week ago against the Seahawks.

According to the New York Times playoff simulator, the Rams’ odds sit at 5%. Needless to say, it’s looking like they’ll be watching games from home in January.

Five takeaways from the Rams’ 44-21 loss in Dallas

The Rams suffered a brutal defeat at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys this week. Here’s a few takeaways from the loss.

The Rams failed to show up in Week 15 in a must-win game against the Dallas Cowboys. They were dominated on both sides of the ball in a 44-21 rout by the Cowboys. Here’s a few takeaways from the Rams’ likely season-ending loss in Dallas.

Rams never recovered from disastrous second quarter

The Rams might as well have just stayed in Los Angeles this week. It didn’t look like they had any desire to try and beat the Cowboys this week.

The Rams scored a touchdown early in the quarter. That was the extent of positive things to happen to the Rams in said quarter. Former Ram Tavon Austin scored a 59 yard touchdown the following drive on a play where Dante Fowler could have had a sack and Taylor Rapp leveled the man defending Austin.

Next, the Rams went three-and-out, but Hekker was able to pin the Cowboys at their own three yard line. That didn’t matter. Dallas embarked on an eight minute, 14 play drive that resulted in a touchdown. The Rams got the ball back right after the two minute warning, and Goff tossed a brutal interception on the second play of the drive.

Then came the icing on the cake. After stopping Dallas on third down following the interception, Michael Brockers was called for illegal use of hands and the Cowboys scored a touchdown on the next play.

Neither side of the ball picked it up in the second half until the Rams had two garbage-time touchdown drives. It was a quarter that basically ended the Rams’ season. The Rams never recovered from a 59 yard touchdown by Tavon Austin. 

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Instant analysis of Rams’ 44-21 loss to the Cowboys

The Rams’ season is likely over after a devastating blowout loss in Dallas.

The Los Angeles Rams traveled to Dallas riding a two-game win streak after thrashing the Seattle Seahawks last week. They faced a Cowboys team that had lost four of their last five games and hadn’t beaten a team with a winning record all season. It seemed like we were trending towards an easy victory for the Rams.

Quite the opposite happened. The Rams were lifeless on both sides of the ball and Dallas cruised to an easy 44-21 victory. Dallas totaled nearly 500 total yards on offense and made Jared Goff’s as difficult as possible on defense. The loss makes it nearly impossible for the Rams to make the playoffs and doesn’t mean much for the Cowboys’ playoff implications.

The Rams lost control of the football game in the second quarter and failed to get back into it. They didn’t look like they belonged in the same league as the Cowboys. It was the second time in the Rams’ last four games that they were dismantled on both sides of the ball.

Here’s our analysis of the likely season-ending loss.

Player of the game: Johnny Hekker

It says a lot about a blowout loss when the punter is the player of the game. Hekker felt like the only Ram who was trying on Sunday. Hekker punted five times and averaged over 55 yards per punt. One punt went for 67 yards and another pinned the Cowboys at their own three yard line. He even completed a pass for a first down. Hekker gave both the offense and the defense chances to succeed on Sunday.

Stat of the game: 143

143 was the difference in offensive yards between the Rams and Cowboys in the second quarter. The Cowboys scored a touchdown on all three of their possessions in the quarter. The Rams were lifeless on both sides of the ball after a touchdown early in the quarter, and Goff threw a brutal interception that set the Cowboys up for a touchdown late in the quarter. The game, and the season as a result, fell apart in that second quarter.

Game Notes

  • This has to be the ugliest performance by the Rams all season. The Ravens are the best team in the NFL, and getting manhandled by them could be more of a result of them just being that good. The Cowboys have been lifeless over the past few weeks. it’s embarrassing that the Rams were the ones who looked lifeless in this game.
  • Jared Goff failed to receive much protection from his offensive line and played horrible as a result. Goff has proven that he can play at a high level in this league, but it feels like he needs a perfect offense around him to do so. It is worth noting that Goff suffered a hand injury late in the second quarter and looked visibly affected by it. That being said, he wasn’t playing great before the injury, and he was able to make some solid throws in garbage time.
  • Tyler Higbee’s hot streak continued this week. Higbee set a career high in receptions with 12 and had over 100/yards for the third straight week. If Higbee plays like this for the duration of his recent contract extension, he’ll be worth the money.
  • Former Ram Tavon Austin’s 59 yard touchdown early in the second quarter was a direct result of two mistakes by the Rams. Early in the play, Dante Fowler had a chance to sack Dak Prescott and failed. Down the field, Taylor Rapp collided with Darious Williams and left Austin wide open as a result.
  • The Rams also had a chance to hold the Cowboys to three points after Goff’s second quarter interception, but Michael Brockers was called for illegal use of the hands after a third down stop and the Cowboys scored a touchdown on the next play. The Rams never recovered.
  • Starting cornerback Troy Hill left the game in the first quarter with a thumb injury. Darious Williams stepped in as a result, and didn’t do much to impress at all. It was a disastrous performance by the Rams on defense. Hill’s absence was felt, but it seems unlikely the Rams win this game with him.
  • The stats will look a little deceiving today, as many of the Rams padded their stats in garbage time. The Rams had 135 yards and two touchdowns on their last two drives of the game. They were empty numbers.
  • To make the playoffs, the Rams need to win their remaining games against San Francisco and Arizona while the Minnesota Vikings have to lose their last two games against Green Bay and Chicago. Neither scenario is likely. Barring a miracle, the Rams won’t be playing in January.