From a wins/losses standpoint, 2-2 feels right. We'll see how they perform vs. PHIL. I think they can hang with the Eagles. Can they pull it out? TBD...
But overall- along the lines of what was expected. Much, much better offense. And other than McVay getting totally one dimensional vs. CIN the pass protection has been good. They've had good balance overall in 3 of 4 games. Held up well vs. a good pass rushing IND team with two new starters. Hopefully Jackson is back at LT this week. He was a late scratch so you would think so.
Nacua and Williams obviously the biggest pleasant surprises on offense. Stafford has been excellent overall I think, 5 INT and a 78.1 QB rating so far but I see a guy who's confident in his OL and receivers again. His 27/40 yesterday could have easily been 32/40 but the Colts, to their credit, knocked several completions away. Stafford absolutely willed the Rams to that win yesterday while clearly hurting. The team sees that and responded- and will respond going forward.
Defensively they have been better than I thought they'd be. Pretty solid vs. the run. Pass rush is still a big issue as we all knew it would be but the more they get and can sustain leads the more that can be masked. Plus the secondary has, I think, been very disciplined, good tackling, etc. overall. Donald, Jones, Fuller, and Witherspoon are the glue holding the D together. Young flashing clear potential and his quickness is obvious. When he can develop more pass rush moves (2024?) look out...
I have gone from thinking they're solidly a 7-10 or
maybe 8-9 team to solidly 8-9 and
maybe 9-8.
One note: it's early but points differential tends to be a very telling team stat as the season goes on. Through 4 weeks Rams are 12th in the league (+13).
Also, ESPN's Analytics calculator currently favors the Rams in 9 of their remaining 13 games.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2023 03:45AM by LMU93.
