Category: Latest Rams news

NFL rules analyst Gene Steratore says Jared Goff’s fumble should’ve been incomplete

Gene Steratore believes Jared Goff’s arm was coming forward on his controversial fumble.

One of the biggest plays in Sunday’s game between the Rams and Steelers came just before halftime when Jared Goff fumbled the ball and it was returned 43 yards by Minkah Fitzpatrick for a touchdown. That gave Pittsburgh a 14-7 lead with 1:44 left in the first half, taking any sort of momentum away from the Rams. The Steelers would hold on to the lead and go on to win 17-12.

The play was reviewed, as all touchdowns are, and the ruling on the field stood as called. Well, after watching the replay several times, many fans and analysts came away wondering if Goff actually fumbled it.

It could’ve very easily been called a forward pass and incomplete, but that’s not how the officials on the field saw it. Former NFL official and CBS analyst Gene Steratore disagreed with the ruling and shared his thoughts on the play on Twitter.

He believes Goff’s arm was coming forward when the ball came out, which would’ve made it incomplete.

After the game, Goff was asked whether it felt like a pass instead of a fumble.

“It did. I haven’t seen a replay though. So I don’t know,” he said. “Once I see a replay, I’ll let you know, but it felt like I threw it, but who knows. I haven’t seen it.”

This will probably do nothing to help the way fans feel about Sunday’s game, but a former official with 15 years of experience views this play differently than those who were on the field Sunday.

Had the play been called incomplete right away, it likely would’ve stood if the Steelers challenged it. However, since it was deemed a fumble, the officials decided there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn it.

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Smith-Schuster: Jalen Ramsey said ‘so many cuss words I’ve never heard of’

Jalen Ramsey introduced a new vocabulary of curse words to JuJu Smith-Schuster.

It’s widely known that Jalen Ramsey likes to talk trash on the field. He’s a player with a lot of confidence in himself, and rightfully so. He’s one of the best cornerbacks in the league and lets people know about it.

JuJu Smith-Schuster has faced Ramsey in the past and did so again on Sunday in the Steelers’ win over the Rams. He heard an earful from Ramsey throughout the game as the two were matched up throughout the game, and afterwards, Smith-Schuster shared some insight on what Ramsey said.

Well, he said as much as he could, at least.

“It was cool, man. He talks a lot. He talks so much. He said so many cuss words I’ve never heard of, and I’m 22 years old. But he’s a good player,” Smith-Schuster told reporters.

Ramsey had some success against Smith-Schuster, but he was also called for two pass interference penalties and was beaten a few times for receptions by Smith-Schuster. The two lined up across from each other all game long, and Smith-Schuster finished with three catches for 44 yards on six targets.

He also mentioned how Ramsey is forced to follow the Rams’ scheme more closely than he had to in Jacksonville.

“It’s a lot different than him being in Jacksonville where he was able to do whatever he wants. Over here, he has to pretty much do what he’s told … so it’s different. But it was a great experience, wish we got more balls thrown at us, but it’s hard when you’re double-teamed.

Leading up to the game, Ramsey said he was “not really worried” about covering Smith-Schuster and was focused more on himself. He also said Smith-Schuster is “not Antonio Brown,” which the young receiver agreed with after the game.

“He’s right, though, I’m not Antonio Brown,” Smith-Schuster said. “I will never be Antonio Brown. I am myself. I’m JuJu Smith-Schuster. I’m not as good as him yet. I think I still have time to proceed to get to his level.”

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Rams open as 6.5-point favorites over Bears in Week 11

The Rams are home favorites over the Bears despite losing in ugly fashion Sunday.

There’s only been one game this season where the Los Angeles Rams were not favored at kickoff. Week 11 won’t be one of those games as they enter their matchup with the Chicago Bears as the favorites.

Despite losing a disappointing game to the Steelers on Sunday in which the offense scored zero touchdowns, the Rams are significant favorites over Chicago at home in Week 11. According to BetMGM, the opening line has Los Angeles favored by 6.5 points.

The fact that the Rams are at home definitely helps and pushes the line in their favor, but the home team typically only gets three points built in. So clearly the oddsmakers still view the Rams as the better team, even after that ugly loss in Pittsburgh.

The over/under line was set at 41.5 points, which is tied for the second-lowest total since Sean McVay joined the Rams. In Week 3 of 2017, the Rams-49ers game had an over/under of 40.5 points, which turned into a 41-39 shootout win by Los Angeles.

The season opener in 2017 between the Rams and Colts had an over/under of 41.5 points, and Los Angeles won that one 46-9.

This will be a prime-time matchup between the Rams and Bears with kickoff set for 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday night. The last time these two teams met, Chicago completely shut down the Rams offense, winning 15-6.

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