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Well the Hawks and Niners certainly (2 replies)

Speed_Kills — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 19:26:42 -0400

Have been ready to start the season.

Will our Rams bounce back tomorrow?

Feelings about NYG game? (no replies)

ramsfaninmd — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 19:04:14 -0400

I see a loss. I of course hope I am wrong. No Puka, lots of NYG runs and an excruciating loss.

Herbert is so overrated (2 replies)

Ridgewood Ram — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 19:36:48 -0400

Not impressed

Three TE's run the ball (no replies)

Hazlet Hacksaw — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 18:54:35 -0400

The script has always been there

Seahawks and 49ers Are The Best Teams In The NFC (2 replies)

Classicalwit — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 19:06:03 -0400

Buffalo is the best team in the AFC.

Puka ‘trending in the wrong direction’ (1 reply)

Ridgewood Ram — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 18:52:49 -0400

Per Schefter. McVay may be forced to use other players. :lol

The refs are really screwing the Redskins (1 reply)

Ramsdude — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 18:42:01 -0400

Called a TD a no catch. Even the announcers were shocked and confused.

Called a fumble when the catch was never made. The WR never made the required "football moves" to make it a catch.

It looks like the fix is in for the Cowboys. I really hate it when it so obvious what is going on yet we see it every week. The refs can't actually determine the outcome but they sure can "influence" it.

Just like they did against us in Shittatle during that final game for the #1 seed.

What a joke. Football is entertainment like WWE and not really a sport anymore. I am really surprised they get away with it like they do especially now that they are in bed with the gambling sites.

Found a cool AI Custom Portrait website thingy (no replies)

IowaRam — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 18:11:34 -0400

not sure I would actually order anything from them , but their preview photos are cool

lots of options

fun to play around with

[turnmeroyal.com]

[attachment 15749 painting10.jpg]

[attachment 15750 painting24.jpg]

Another Day- Another 49er Injury (8 replies)

RamBill — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 19:02:50 -0400

CANT MAKE THIS UP:

#49ers WR Demarcus Robinson is being carted to the locker room with an apparent foot/ankle injury

The 49ers are cursed

Demarcus Robinson to the locker room after suffering a right ankle injury after rolling his ankle while going untouched.

Durant just got his taint crushed.. (6 replies)

sstrams — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 19:05:51 -0400

In the Plowboys/Commanders game... yikes!

The only thing I hate more then the 49ers (3 replies)

Ridgewood Ram — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 19:05:37 -0400

Is being embarrassed by the 49ers. :banghead

Cardinals are not an easy out. (3 replies)

Ridgewood Ram — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 19:04:53 -0400

Giving Seattle all they can handle.

I'm so, so glad I did not watch Super Bowl 3 (1 reply)

NewMexicoRam — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 16:51:25 -0400

Because, who knows, I may have become a Jets fan back then.

I waited to watch my first football games until fall of 1969 instead.

What happened that made the Jets about the sorriest team in sports history?

Caleb Williams Just Got His Hamstring (1 reply)

Classicalwit — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 15:41:04 -0400

Looked like it grabbed on him.

Carson Wentz Is A Shell Of The Shell He Once Was (3 replies)

Classicalwit — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 17:22:35 -0400

Yowza! He is bad.

Ben Johnson said... (4 replies)

kw13 — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 15:24:17 -0400

He wants the Bears to be the highest scoring team in NFL history this year. Beating out Peyton Manning and the Broncos 606 points.

I love it. Whether it happens or not, go for it. This is all entertainment. And if you score a bunch of points you usually win. The Bears are fast and explosive. Caleb Williams is Patrick Mahomes 2.0. Still young, but exciting.

I liked when Matt Hasselbeck said in OT, we want the ball and we're gonna score!

He went on an apology tour after that for saying it, smh.

I like offensive football. How fun was the GSOT??

Does this have anything to do with the Rams? I guess just that, even though we scored like 30 points a game last year, we're not really fast or explosive or exciting.

We matriculate down the field. And throw to tight ends.

I'm just a little jelly of teams with fast wide receivers and mixing up plays and throwing the ball all over the place to multiple receivers. Like the Bills.

I've pretty much given up hope of a fast wide receiver, because McVay won't use him.

Ok, thanks for stopping by, Sunday a.m. thoughts and my team is 0-1

McVay held out all our starters and second string in preseason.. (13 replies)

kw13 — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 19:09:04 -0400

And still a good number of our key players are injured by game 2. Smh

I'm ok if we lose a game, but show up and be competitive. You've had an entire year to prepare for the first game.

We did not show up.

They need to show up tomorrow night.

LFG!!!!!!!

Sun 9-20-26: RW/TST Daily Thread Articles Coming in the Morning (6 replies)

BerendsenRam — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 18:11:12 -0400

GO RAMS!

I have to share this (4 replies)

ScRAM — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 15:40:32 -0400

[attachment 15747 CorbPrayimg.jpg]

My grandson leading both teams in prayer after the game.
On his own he went & asked other teams coach if they'd like to pray with them

Criticism of Chris Shula Is Missing the Bigger Picture With Rams Defense (7 replies)

RamBill — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 16:54:04 -0400

Criticism of Chris Shula Is Missing the Bigger Picture With Rams Defense

The Rams defense struggled in Week 1, but criticism of Chris Shula overlooks Sean McVay’s influence and the philosophy behind the scheme.Blaine Grisak

[www.si.com]

Since the Los Angeles Rams lost to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1, it has been the defense that has gotten the majority of the blame. With the Rams set to take on the New York Giants in Week 2, all eyes will be especially focused on Chris Shula and the defense.

Head coach Sean McVay and quarterback Matthew Stafford will certainly take the blame for the loss. Stafford noted after the game that the offense had two good drives the entire game, while McVay said that the offense lacked communication.

However, that doesn’t make the defense blameless. The Rams trailed by three points at halftime before the 49ers scored a touchdown to start the half and then allowed a 99-yard touchdown drive following a missed fourth-down conversion from the offense.

Put together, it simply wasn’t good complementary football. The defense was certainly put in a bad position with a long kick return to start the second half. Despite the offense not scoring from the one-yard line, the defense needs to find a way to get a stop. It wasn’t just one unit that deserved blame, but all three phases.

That doesn’t mean that multiple things can’t be true. Yes, more is expected from the offensive side of the ball. At the same time, there are places where the defense can be better.

“With the exception of the one explosive, I think what ended up happening is there were a lot of screens early on and a good commitment to the run where they were able to be in shorter third down situations,” said McVay on the Coach McVay Show this week. “There were some opportunities where we did get stickier than people realize because of the way that we align…I have tremendous trust and confidence in Chris Shula leading the way, our defensive coaches. And then we’re always looking at where those opportunities are to put players in the positions that allow their best traits and characteristics to come to life on a consistent basis, and you’ll see that moving forward.”

Why the Rams Didn’t Play More Man Coverage

The last sentence is the one that many have been examining since the end of the game. During the offseason, the Rams spent significant capital to acquire cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson. Against the 49ers, McDuffie played 25.7 percent of his coverage snaps in man coverage, which was the fourth-lowest rate in his career.

However, since entering the league in 2022, McDuffie has played man coverage on 43.5 percent of his snaps, the ninth-highest rate among defensive backs with over 1,000 coverage snaps in his career. The same can be said about Watson, who was also brought in as a man-coverage cornerback.

Richard Sherman is concerned about the Rams defense. Where does it start? How they use their corners. He explains in *very* good detail:

"You don't use a Corvette to Uber. You get in a Corvette, you're racing...you pay them their money, let him do what he was doing." [t.co] pic.twitter.com/hQRtnyGEng

— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) September 15, 2026

Before we get into that, it’s important to add context to the philosophy of the defense. It may be up to Chris Shula to call the defensive plays and add his own twist to the scheme. Still, it is on the head coach to decide the overall philosophy.

McVay certainly gives his coaches on the coaching staff more schematic freedom. With that said, the general ethos of the defense remains how McVay wants it to look. It’s why the complaints from Raheem Morris to now Chris Shula have remained the same.

Sean McVay’s Influence on the Rams Defense

It’s important to understand what McVay wants in a defense. It simply goes back to one of the turning points in NFL history. That turning point was the Rams’ 2018 loss to the Chicago Bears and the defense led by Vic Fangio. The Rams lost that game 15-6, and it was arguably the worst offensive performance of the McVay era.

As The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue wrote, “in the following years, McVay became “obsessed” with elements of Vic Fangio’s defense.”

McVay would hire Brandon Staley, who was Fangio’s right-hand man, to be his defensive coordinator in 2020. When Morris took over after Staley left, he continued many of those same principles. Morris maintained the foundation that Staley built built on lighter fronts and two-high safeties. Shula has since continued those defensive ideas established by Staley and Morris after working under both coordinators.

How Much of the Rams Defense Falls on Chris Shula?

It all goes back to the same underlying question. At what point is Shula not to blame for the Rams’ defense? Raheem Morris was criticized by the fanbase for three years for playing ‘soft coverage,’ ‘not being creative enough,’ and ‘not blitzing.’

However, look no further than the last two times the Rams have played a Morris defense. The Rams’ offense had arguably their worst performance of the season against Morris and the Falcons in 2025. Meanwhile, Morris and the 49ers completely shut out the Rams in the second half of Week 1. Morris simply isn’t the bad defensive coach that he was made to be for three years in Los Angeles.

Why the 49ers Complicated the Rams’ Defensive Approach
It’s very possible the 49ers and Shanahan were a reason for the Rams not running as much man coverage as they may have wanted. In general, man coverage is a bad idea against Shanahan. He’ll draw up man-beaters all day and create chaos. One play, they’ll make the guy covering Deebo Samuel fit the B gap, and the next, they’ll split Christian McCaffrey out with a linebacker on him in space. That’s not necessarily a world a defense wants to live in.

However, it’s also worth mentioning that the Fangio scheme, which is very zone-heavy, is also what McVay wants to run.

The Fangio defense really comes down to three main principles:

Two-high coverages take away vertical shots, limiting explosive plays and forcing quarterbacks to live underneath.

Fangio’s philosophy centers on playing defense with defenders moving forward. By aligning deeper, defenders keep everything in front of them and can attack downhill.

Fangio defenses are built around two-high shells and lighter boxes. Showing split safeties before the snap forces quarterbacks into post-snap processing.
That is the Rams’ defense in a nutshell, and it’s also a world in which the 49ers don’t mind living in. The issue with the Rams’ defense against the 49ers wasn’t necessarily that they didn’t play man coverage or didn’t blitz enough.

Majoring in man coverage with all the motions and shifts the 49ers have can be a nightmare and lead to major assignment errors, especially with the new shifts and motions they showed. Not to mention, the NFL as a whole is trending hard toward zone coverage and split-safety… [t.co]

— Adam Archuleta (@AdamArchuleta) September 12, 2026

For the most part, the secondary actually tackled well in space. According to NFL Pro, the 49ers had -6 yards after the catch over expected. The primary issue was the inability to stop the run, as the 49ers offense had a 56.7 percent rushing success rate. That was the highest in the NFL in Week 1.

“We always say that if we're in this together,” said defensive coordinator Chris Shula on Friday. “I think we can play harder. I think we can play better and we can execute better, really at all levels. We can also put them in better positions.”

The Rams’ Defensive Problems Don’t Have a Simple Solution

At the end of the day, it’s more complicated than simply saying, ‘they should have blitzed more’ or ‘they should have played more man.’ That doesn’t necessarily work against the opponent the Rams faced, and it’s also against the ethos of the overriding defensive philosophy.

22 times McD locked at snap. Not including other times #35 was. This about 1/3 of snaps.

Sometimes CBs in man, LB & S in zone or match zone.

Ask yourself, if you want more "man" coverage as it is charted, means you want CMC iso on Landman/Seights?, etc?

Just asking pic.twitter.com/K33dyMqc5g

— Jim Youngblood 53 (@53_jim70721) September 17, 2026

Last season, the Rams blitzed at a rate of 20.7 percent, which was the 29th-lowest rate in the NFL. In last place was the Philadelphia Eagles at 18.8 percent, who are coached by Vic Fangio. The Rams only blitzed 11.1 percent of the time against the 49ers, ranking 31st for the week, while Fangio and the Eagles were at 21.1 percent. Fangio and the Eagles had a higher rate, but it’s also just a one-game sample. It was still outside the top 20.

It’s understandable that fans would be discouraged by the defense after allowing 27 points and following an offseason in which they spent significant resources at cornerback and added Myles Garrett. The Rams’ defense certainly wasn’t perfect against the 49ers, but the issues are deeper than the current surface-level arguments.

Again, the point here is that it’s possible that Morris and Shula aren’t as bad as they are made out to be. Ultimately, the main ideas behind the scheme itself aren’t changing, and that’s because of McVay’s obsession with the Fangio defense. Until McVay decides to change it, this is what the Rams are running.

Chris Shula Has Earned the Benefit of the Doubt

This isn’t to say that the defense can’t or shouldn’t be better. It’s not even to say that they shouldn’t play tighter and run more man coverage. However, right now, it’s just a one-game sample. The Rams’ defense ranked fourth in defensive DVOA last season and 10th in defensive EPA per play. From an advanced metrics standpoint, they were a top-10 unit. That’s not a defensive coordinator you simply fire.

While it’s true they faltered down the stretch, Shula has earned more slack than just one game. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt that Week 1 was simply a poor performance. Again, it wasn’t as if the offensive side of the ball was much better. It was a dud from all facets.

"Rams, total dud. ... One of the worst games I've seen [Matthew Stafford] play in years."@danorlovsky7 did not hold back on the Rams after their season-opening loss to the 49ers

Do you think Puka plays? (3 replies)

ferragamo79 — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 13:14:01 -0400

Poll: Does Puka play Monday Night

Does Puka play Monday night? I hope he can go for the Rams and my fantasy team.

Sean McVay Talks Puka Nacua's Injury Status, Aaron Donald's Return & More Ahead Of Week 2 vs. Giants (no replies)

Ramsdude — Sat, 19 Sep 2026 20:15:27 -0400

Sean McVay Talks Puka Nacua's Injury Status, Aaron Donald's Return & More Ahead Of Week 2 vs. Giants

Los Angeles Rams
448K subscribers

Sep 19, 2026 #LosAngelesRams #LARams #Rams
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay talks wide receiver Puka Nacua's injury status, defensive lineman Aaron Donald's return to the Rams and more head of Monday Night Football vs. the New York Giants.

Rams 360: An In-Depth Conversation with Havenstein, McVay Reacts To Week 1-Video (no replies)

RamBill — Sat, 19 Sep 2026 18:44:21 -0400

Injury list. Our depth will be severely tested (4 replies)

Ramsdude — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 02:14:16 -0400

Injury list. Our depth will be severely tested on Monday night. I have been saying since the Draft that our depth is a major weakness. Especially, WR, OL and DL.

I don't think we addressed it enough in the Draft or FA. We all knew Puka could miss time and now that is happening. Whittington is also hurt. Who is going to step up??? Can Ty Simpson play WR if needed??? How about Safety or DE??? lol

We also worried about an aging Adams missing time. If he does, we are cooked.

[attachment 15746 1.png]

AD's hopeful return sets the stage for an epic MNF home opener/JB Long (2 replies)

BerendsenRam — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 05:47:02 -0400

[www.therams.com]

Puka misses Day 2 of practice per Nate Atkins (5 replies)

Ramsdude — Sat, 19 Sep 2026 17:32:36 -0400

link

[attachment 15745 1.png]

Talked to the Ram's Head Chef Last Night (2 replies)

Ramadune — Sat, 19 Sep 2026 21:35:30 -0400

My wife and I took a cooking class from the chef who was the head chef who served the Rams players, coaches, staff, VIPs and visitors when they were in training camp at UC Irvine.

I have no specific player info, as he probably couldn't tell one player from another, and he was far too busy to spend any time in the dining room anyway. But I do have a couple of interesting tidbits.

He had three kitchens going at all times. Kitchen One was breakfast and some lunch prep. Kitchen Two was dinner and some lunch prep. And Kitchen Three was where they were cooking everything and serving everyone.

I asked him about portions, and he said the players ate normal portions. He thought they were going to eat sizeable portions because a lot of them are big guys, but he said it's not like that. He said they ate; they drank smoothies, and they took supplements. All day long. Multiple times a day. The kitchen was open all day into the night, and they had a skeleton crew overnight in case someone needed a midnight snack.

I asked him what kind of food he made, and he said, "Whatever they wanted." He said if the players didn't get what they wanted to eat, they would leave campus to go find it, and no one wanted them to do that, so if the players asked for it, they made it.

He said his craziest day was when they provided over 5000 meals for 56 special events in a single day.

My Rams vs Giants story......1968 (4 replies)

oldschoolramfan — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 10:02:36 -0400

Rams vs Giants was the very first Ram Game that my brother and I went to in our lives.

It was 1968 at the Los Angeles Coliseum....November.....So my brother and I were 4 going on 5 years old in January. We are identical twins.

Our Dad took us to go see Roman Gabriel throw the pigskin to Jack Snow before they retired, he was big on stuff like that. ( I cheated and looked back at the Rams Roster for that game and we saw more than that....Deacon Jones, Merlin Olson, Dick Bass, Irv Cross, Jack Pardee were all on the field that day as well.)

Head Coach that day for our Rams was George Allen. So yes, there were plenty of HOF Rams on the field that day.

As the story goes, my Dad remembers us asking him who was that team running out of the tunnel with those horns on their helmets? He said, The Rams.

My brother and I said, "We like that team, we want those guys to win." From that November day in 1968, Ram Fans for the next 3 generations were born and still going strong.

So.......When the Rams play the Giants.......It's a special game, a VERY special game for me.

Think we had a thread.... (6 replies)

SeattleRam — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 15:36:14 -0400

along these lines a while back.

[www.youtube.com]

Sat 9-19-26: RW/TST Daily Thread Articles Coming in the Morning (6 replies)

BerendsenRam — Sat, 19 Sep 2026 15:33:29 -0400

GO RAMS!