Tag: rams news

Mic’d up Aaron Donald called safety vs. Steelers: ‘Watch this’

Aaron Donald was mic’d up for Sunday’s game and provided some fun moments on camera.

Aaron Donald put on a show in his hometown on Sunday, recording five tackles, a half-sack, a safety and three quarterback hits against the Steelers. It was his first NFL game ever in Pittsburgh and he certainly didn’t disappoint his friends and family who were in attendance to watch the two-time Defensive Player of the Year.

He was mic’d up for the game, which only makes watching him work that much better. He loves hyping himself up, as well as his teammates, even chirping at the opponent after the whistle.

One of the many highlights of the video came at the 3:21 mark when someone told Donald, “We can score right here” after the Rams backed the Steelers deep into their own zone.

Donald’s response? “Yes we can. Watch this,” essentially calling his shot before the ball was snapped.

A little bit later in the clip, at the 3:44 mark, Donald made a stop in the backfield on Tony Brooks-James. Donald picked the running back up and went to slam him to the ground, but Samson Ebukam helped break the fall.

After asking the official if the play was OK, the referee told Ebukam “thank goodness you were there.”

Donald: “Why, you would’ve flagged me?”

Official: “Yeah! He stopped you from slamming him.”

Donald: “He’s so little though!”

The whole video is entertaining, and he shared a fun moment with Clay Matthews after Matthews recorded a sack. Donald jokingly told Matthews “I hate you” for getting the sack.

The Rams unfortunately spoiled Donald’s homecoming, losing 17-12 to the Steelers.

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Rams had never lost a game with a safety and defensive TD until Sunday

Sunday was the first time ever that the Rams lost after recording a safety and defensive touchdown.

The Los Angeles Rams got a standout performance from their defense on Sunday, which was not matched by Jared Goff and the offense. They held the Steelers to just 17 points, but seven of those were scored by Pittsburgh’s defense on a fumble return.

The Steelers finished the game with only 273 yards of offense and 15 first downs, getting the benefit of short fields as the Rams turned the ball over four times. Los Angeles’ defense did everything it could to win the game, but the offense simply didn’t pull its weight.

This was a rare type of loss for the Rams, too. It’s just the first time in franchise history that they didn’t win a game in which they had a safety and defensive touchdown. The stat was uncovered by Pro Football Journal on Twitter.

Looking at Pro Football Reference, this loss becomes even more startling. The Rams were 13-0 in such games prior to Sunday, the best record in league history. Overall, teams with a safety and defensive touchdown in the same game were 144-47, good for a winning percentage of .754.

The last time the Rams had a safety and defensive score in the same game was in 2017 against the Colts, a blowout 46-9 win. They also did it in an overtime win over the 49ers in 2012, and again in a 36-0 win in 2003.

Prior to Sunday, only three such games resulted in wins of seven or fewer points. The Rams won every other game by at least 15 points.

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Rams’ postseason push made much tougher by brutal schedule

The Rams have the fifth-toughest remaining schedule in the NFL.

If the Los Angeles Rams are going to make the playoffs, they’ll have to earn it. With only seven games remaining and 1.5 games separating them from the sixth wild-card spot, the Rams have a lot of work to do.

It doesn’t help that their schedule is one of the toughest the rest of the way. They still have to face the Ravens (7-2), Seahawks (8-2), Cowboys (5-4) and 49ers (8-1), as well as the Cardinals (3-6-1) twice. The Bears (4-5) this weekend will be no cakewalk, either, with the defense that Chicago boasts.

According to NFL Research, the Rams have the fifth-toughest remaining schedule in the NFL with their opponents boasting a 38-26-2 record the rest of the way.

You might have noticed something about the five teams with the hardest remaining schedules. Four of them are in the NFC West, which is undoubtedly the best division in football this season.

The Rams got their favorable matchups out of the way earlier in the season when they faced the Falcons and Bengals, as well as the Buccaneers (and even the Browns). They went 3-1 in those games, but the Buccaneers were a team they should’ve beaten.

Now, it’ll be tough sledding the rest of the way – and America will get a good look at the Rams, too, with four of their last seven games coming in prime time.

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NFL announces Rams-49ers will be on Saturday night in Week 16

The NFL awarded Rams-49ers a prime-time slot in Week 16, with kickoff at 8:15 p.m. ET on Saturday night.

The Los Angeles Rams are quickly falling out of playoff contention with each mounting loss, seeing their postseason odds drop to 16.5 percent after Week 10’s results. Yet, the NFL still wants them in prime time late in the season.

The league announced on Tuesday that the Rams-49ers matchup in Week 16 will be held on Saturday night. There were three time slots available on Saturday in Week 16 with five games to choose from, and the NFL decided to give this NFC West showdown was given a marquee spot.

Bills-Patriots will be at 4:30 p.m. ET, with Texans-Buccaneers taking place at 1 p.m. ET that Saturday. The other two games – Raiders-Chargers and Lions-Broncos – will be on Sunday.

This means four of the Rams’ final seven games will be in prime time, with two in a row coming up against the Bears (SNF) and Ravens (MNF) the following week.

When Week 16 rolls around, the Rams hope to be in playoff contention. If not, they’ll try to play spoiler against the 49ers and drop them down in the postseason seeding.

Rams place Allen and Hager on IR. Who could replace them on 53-man roster?

Sean McVay shared some insight on who could replace Brian Allen and Bryce Hager on the 53-man roster.

The Rams made two expected moves official on Tuesday, placing Brian Allen and Bryce Hager on injured reserve. Sean McVay said Monday that Allen is out for the year, and last week, he said the Rams were planning to place Hager on IR with a shoulder injury.

That opens up two roster spots for the Rams, which they’re expected to fill soon. McVay said on ESPN’s “The Coach McVay Show” Monday night that the Rams would like to add players who have taken the field recently – so that there’s tape available and they’re likely in better shape – suggesting that the Rams might claim someone off waivers and possibly promote a player from the practice squad.

“There’s a couple guys that we feel like in-house are possible candidates to pull up from the practice squad,” McVay said.

As for players they might add in free agency or off waivers, he had this to say:

“There’s always guys out there and Les (Snead) and his group do a great job of kind of keeping an open eye on what those things look like,” he said. “Ideally, you want to be able to find somebody that’s played recently so you have some tape to evaluate and they’re probably in better shape. But I think we’ll probably be more inclined to use, ‘All right, if somebody hits the waiver wire that’s maybe been on a roster recently comes available’ or just using our practice squad to upgrade somebody.”

Chandler Brewer and Jeremiah Kolone are the only offensive linemen on the practice squad, so they would seem to be the obvious candidates to be called up with the Rams lacking depth on the front five. Neither player should inspire much confidence, but at least they provide some insurance if another injury occurs.

As for a potential waiver claim, the Panthers did just release guard Bryan Witzmann, who the Rams might have interest in. He could come in and back up David Edwards and Austin Corbett at guard, who are expected to start in Week 11.

In free agency, John Sullivan would make some sense for the Rams. He was their starter at center last season and although Los Angeles moved on from him this year, that was with the belief that Allen would be a viable replacement.

With Allen gone, it’s possible Sullivan could return to L.A. and take back his starting job in the middle of the line.

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Rams’ playoff odds take big hit, drop to 16.5% after Seahawks beat 49ers

Week 10 was a disaster for the Rams.

Week 10 was not kind to the Los Angeles Rams. Not only did they drop a crucial game to the Steelers, but their competition in the NFC moved further ahead in the standings. The Vikings beat the Cowboys, while the Packers knocked off the Panthers. The Bears got a much-needed win, too, for good measure.

The biggest game of the week came on Monday night when the Seahawks and 49ers squared off in arguably the most important game of the season in the NFC. The Seahawks won 27-24 in overtime, moving just a half-game behind the 49ers for the division lead.

More importantly, they pulled 2.5 games ahead of the Rams for one of the wild-card spots. The ideal outcome on Monday night would’ve been a 49ers win, dropping the Seahawks to 7-3, but the Rams weren’t that fortunate.

According to ESPN’s FPI, the Rams’ playoff chances took a significant hit after Monday’s game. Their odds of making the postseason dropped from 23.5 to 16.5 percent just based on the 49ers-Seahawks finish. Even with the 49ers losing, the Rams’ chances of winning the NFC West sit at 1.6%.

It hasn’t gotten to “Dumb and Dumber” levels of “So you’re telling me a chance” desperation, but the Rams’ playoff hopes are on life support right now. If they don’t beat the Bears on Sunday night and the Cowboys, Eagles, 49ers and Vikings all win, the Rams can all but kiss their postseason plans goodbye.

Sean McVay admits he should’ve used Todd Gurley more vs. Steelers

Sean McVay tried to explain why Todd Gurley didn’t get in the game in the fourth quarter, saying Malcolm Brown was making plays.

The Los Angeles Rams could do very little offensively against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, picking up only 16 first downs, 306 total yards and scoring zero touchdowns. What they did do well was run the ball with Todd Gurley.

He had 12 carries for 73 yards in what was his most productive game since Week 1 when he had 97 yards on just 14 rushes. Yet, Gurley didn’t touch the ball in the fourth quarter and wasn’t even on the field for the first two drives.

It’s hard to imagine why the Rams abandoned their most effective player on Sunday, and Sean McVay didn’t have a good explanation. On Monday, he did admit that he should’ve done a better job getting him involved more throughout the game, which hardly grants him a pass for that decision.

“Getting a guy like Todd Gurley more involved and more a part of it is definitely something that yesterday benefitted,” he said. “That’s where you say in hindsight, I should have done a better of doing that consistently throughout the game.”

The real reason Gurley was on the bench for most of the fourth quarter has to do with two things: Malcolm Brown and the Rams defense’s inability to get off the field. The former is something McVay can control. The latter is not.

When asked Monday why Gurley wasn’t part of the fourth-quarter game plan, McVay pointed toward Brown’s ability to “make some plays.”

“I think it really just had to do with that we had kind of gone into it and just feeling it out, we feel like he is doing really well, he’s playing at a high level. Malcolm made some tough hard-earned runs too. He’s been a guy that’s demonstrated he can make some plays,” he said. “It’s nothing really other than that. I think like anything else, when you want to be reflective as a coach, you say, ‘Could there have been some things that you wish you had done to maybe keep him in that rhythm?’ I wouldn’t argue with that. I would say, ‘You probably should have done that.’ Those are things that I’ll never claim to make all the right decisions. I think yesterday was something where you probably could have given him an opportunity to continue with that rhythm that he did have going there.”

The second part of the equation was that the Rams didn’t have the ball very much in the fourth quarter. They had it for less than two minutes in each of their first two drives to open the fourth quarter. They gave it up with 10:46 left to play and didn’t get it back until 2:46 – a span of 10 minutes without the ball.

McVay said that obviously played a role in Gurley’s lack of involvement, but there’s little reason to pull him from the game in favor of Brown, who only had 6 yards on two carries entering the fourth quarter.

“(Gurley) did a good job,” McVay said. “You really look at it, the two drives that he did miss, that second drive that Malcolm was in was at 12 and a half minutes left in the game. Then, the next drive starts at two and a half minutes. I think there was a little bit longer time in between drives that typically you usually see. It wasn’t necessarily like that was the true crunch time. Todd had been running really well, but that was the beginning of the fourth quarter in those drives that Malcolm was in there. Then, when you do get the ball back offensively, you’re in two-minute mode, playing down where you’re playing for a touchdown with 2:39 – I want to say – left in the game.”

He continued, admitting he would’ve gotten Gurley the ball if he knew the Rams would go 10 minutes without being back on offense.

“I think there’s always things that you look at as a coach and say, ‘Would you do it differently?’ I think – not to take anything away from Malcolm – but if you knew that that was going to be the last possession you get until two and a half (minutes) left, you probably would say, ‘I would’ve preferred to have Todd get into more of a rhythm and maybe get some touches there.’ There’s nobody to blame there but me,” he said.

Gurley said after the game that he’s “used to” not getting the ball in the fourth quarter. He also said “not really” when asked if he wants it more in crunch time.

McVay said didn’t seem too concerned about Gurley’s answers, saying “anytime that you’re a playmaker like him, you’re going to want that ball and you’re going to want more.”

This situation doesn’t seem to be sorting itself out, but McVay has to find a way to get Gurley more involved – even if it means abandoning the plan to conserve him for the end of the season. The Rams are reaching desperation time and they can’t afford to lose many more games.

NFL Week 11 power rankings: Rams continue to fall after 4th loss

The Rams dropped out of the top half of Doug Farrar’s power rankings this week.

The Los Angeles Rams dropped their fourth game of the season on Sunday, falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers 17-12 at Heinz Field. This week’s loss continued a troubling trend of inconsistency on offense, despite getting – and wasting – outstanding performances from their core group of defenders.

They seemed to be making progress against the Falcons and Bengals, but this weekend against a tougher opponent proved the Rams have not improved much at all. They dropped further down this week’s power rankings as Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire doesn’t see them as one of the 16 best teams in the NFL.

They’re No. 18 in his Week 11 power rankings after losing to the Steelers on Sunday afternoon.

After the Rams went 13-3 and reached the Super Bowl last season, head coach Sean McVay was the toast of the league. What a difference a year can make, and not in a good way. In a 17-12 loss to the Steelers on Sunday, McVay’s offense converted just one of its 14 third-down attempts. The Rams’ drives: Punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, fumble, punt, missed field goal, interception, interception, field goal, punt, punt, downs, interception. At one point, McVay pulled Jared Goff from the game, installed backup quarterback Blake Bortles, and then tried a fourth-down pass from punter Johnny Hekker, which was intercepted by safety Terrell Edmunds. Goff completed 22 of 41 passes for 243 yards, no touchdowns, and two picks of his own. Goff has a completion rate below 60% in each of his last five games, nobody seems to know why Todd Gurley isn’t getting the ball, and Cooper Kupp didn’t catch a single pass on a season-low four targets. The league may have figured out McVay and Goff, but McVay and Goff are helping their opponents with some truly ugly football.

Right ahead of the Rams are the Steelers, who are also 5-4. Behind Los Angeles are the Cardinals, who are better than their 3-6-1 record indicates. Now, it’s not as if the Rams have fallen below .500 or have become one of the worst teams in football, but given their talent level and expectations, 18th is certainly disappointing.

Even the Titans (No. 16) have moved ahead of the Rams and they have far fewer star players than Los Angeles. It’s just that they’ve gotten better play from their quarterback Ryan Tannehill, and more importantly, their offensive line.

The Seahawks are No. 6 after beating the 49ers on Monday night, while San Francisco ranks second.

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Rams Wire discussion forum: How concerning is Jared Goff’s play in 2019?

Are you worried about Jared Goff’s struggles this year?

Two years before his contract was set to expire, Jared Goff signed a massive extension with the Los Angeles Rams. It was worth $134 million for four years, including $110 million in guaranteed money.

He’ll have the highest cap hit in the NFL next season at $36 million, which is $2.5 million more than any other player. His play this year has done nothing to suggest the Rams were wise to pay Goff when they did, but how concerning has his performance been?

Put simply, it has raised some red flags, but there are also other factors to consider – like the offensive line being decimated and struggling mightily, and Todd Gurley’s lack of involvement.

We pose the question to you: How worried about Goff are you after seeing how he’s played this year? Share your thoughts and join the discussion at the Rams Wire forum.

Two Rams make PFF’s Team of the Week despite ugly loss to Steelers

Aaron Donald and Cory Littleton stood out as two of the best players in Week 10.

As poorly as the Los Angeles Rams played against the Steelers, there were a few standouts on the defensive side of the ball. Aaron Donald played particularly well, as did Cory Littleton, Clay Matthews and Taylor Rapp.

Donald had five tackles, a half-sack, three QB hits, two tackles for loss and a safety forced, helping limit the Steelers offense to just 273 yards. Littleton led all players with 14 tackles, also forcing and recovering a fumble, and making one tackle for loss.

He and Donald made Pro Football Focus’ Team of the Week for Week 10, despite the Rams losing in ugly fashion.

Donald earned an overall grade of 92.0, which was the best of any interior defender in Week 10, also generating five pressures and three defensive stops. Littleton was even better in PFF’s eyes, receiving a grade of 92.3, second-best among all inside linebackers.

Littleton continues to fly under the radar as one of the NFL’s best coverage linebackers. He recorded five defensive stops, a forced fumble and allowed just three receptions for 16 yards.

Donald and Littleton have been studs for the Rams all season and are a big reason the defense has played as well as it has. The offense simply hasn’t done its part in many of the Rams’ other losses, which is a big reason they’re just 5-4 after nine games.

Los Angeles needs better play from Jared Goff and the offensive line if a playoff push is going to be made.