Hard to watch, huh? A reality check much like getting splashed by a face full of ice water.
So many things and players that I thought were solid and above proved not to be when faced by a top team. Very sobering.
All 3 Ram phases were abused before a national audience.
93 touched on it when he said that Rams can compete well against other mediocre teams, but crumple like aluminum foil against the top teams. Fools gold, IOW.
Rams have some soul searching to do and must make some very tough decisions next offseason if they hope to once again be among top NFC teams. Such as:
Are Rams good enough at RB? Kyren has now officially got a fumbling problem and yet Corum scarcely ever sees the field.
Time to invest in an OT? Hav is getting older and already missing far too many games. McClendon isn’t the answer, not yet, anyway.
Our TE corps isn’t producing like it should. Not up to league norms, anyway. Is it talent deficit or a McVay playcalling issue? I think this is one big missed opportunity area.
Might be time to trade Kupp. Yeah, I love him, too, but he’s not the same threat anymore and he’s gobbling up 30M in salary these days. That’s money that’s needed elsewhere.
Bringing in a WR looks like it should be a high offseason priority. Snead has proven that he can find them, sooooo…
Bringing in a top boundary CB is now critical if we want Shula’s D to evolve. Maybe two CB’s, dammit!
I think Safety will be okay IF Snead can bring in a couple of top CB’s next offseason via FA or draft.
Karty is disintegrating right before our eyes. I didn’t see this coming. Didn’t matter so much in this blowout game, but in normal games a reliable kicker can turn losses into wins. Sigh…
Even Ethan Evans had a bad night, not that I think he needs replacement. But the poor play on this team last night was contagious, it seems.
I’m not sure that Stafford will be able to play long enough to see Rams fix all these things. Somehow or some way Snead needs to get Stafford’s eventual replacement on this roster.
McVay needs to look in the mirror, too. He is the HC after all. Team fell apart and I didn’t see adjustments of any kind. Rams O is getting 80% of cap dollars and turning in mediocre results almost every week. Should McVay turn over play calling duties to LaFleur? Is it smart to continue using 11-personnel so heavily, especially when opposing D’s seem to have figured out how to choke it? Maybe take another look at his RB profile philosophy? These are just some of the questions I think McVay should be asking himself.
Let’s face it, at least 3 NFC teams alone have passed Rams by and are continuing to pull away:
Lions
Eagles
Packers
And there are several others nipping at our heels, as well.
And don’t get me started with the AFC top teams.
My point being, where has that ‘McVay magic’ gone?
I no longer much care if Rams make the playoffs, tbh. I think that they should focus on developing their youngsters as best they can, McVay should strongly consider fundamental changes in his philosophies about playcalling, TE usage, etc. And Snead/McVay should be laying aggressive plans to upgrade this roster come next offseason. NOTHING should be off the table if they hope to catch up with those 3 top NFC teams.
Thoughts?