Peter King 12/3/18: Heavily edited by PrimeTime to be Ram related only...

Here’s the PrimeTime edited version. Enjoy...

Only Rams related comments posted here. To read the entire article click the link below.
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[profootballtalk.nbcsports.com]

By Peter King
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The Playoff Puzzle

NFC

Division Winners: L.A. Rams (11-1), New Orleans (10-2), Chicago (8-4), Dallas (7-5).
Wild Cards: Seattle (7-5), Washington (6-5, with a game tonight).
In The Hunt: Minnesota (6-5-1), Carolina (6-6), Philadelphia (5-6).

• Bears had a bad loss in New Jersey on Sunday, because it kept the Vikings alive for the division. Bears have the Rams Sunday night at Soldier Field. The Vikings have a tough one at Seattle.

• Seattle has the Niners and Cards left to play, and it’s hard to fathom a nine-win Seattle team not making it …

• Carolina, on a four-game bender, has the Saints in Week 15 and 17. Not the Panthers’ year …

• Rams look like the one seed, if only by looking at the near future; after the Bears Sunday night, L.A. has three sub-.500 teams left.

• Dallas, with a decisive win Thursday night, has four .500-or-below teams left. Looks like the Cowboys have saved their season—and Jason Garrett’s job.
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Defensive Players of the Week

Aaron Donald, defensive tackle, L.A. Rams. Two more sacks in Detroit, giving him a league-high 16.5 for the season, and very nearly clinching a second straight Defensive Player of the Year. His quickness and strength are right now unmatched by any front seven player in the NFL.

“He’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

—Rams quarterback Jared Goff, on his defensive teammate Aaron Donald, who has 16.5 sacks in 12 games.
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At 23, Brandin Cooks recorded a 1,173-yard receiving season for New Orleans in 2016. He was traded to New England the following spring for a first-round pick.

At 24, Brandin Cooks recorded a 1,082-yard receiving season for New England in 2017. He was traded to the Rams the following spring in a package for a first-round pick.

At 25, with four games left, Cooks has recorded a 1,026-yard receiving season for the Rams in 2018.

I predict he will not be traded in the spring of 2019—having signed a five-year, $80-million extension with the Rams in July. But it’s pretty weird that a young, consistently productive wide receiver got thrown overboard by good teams in successive years. (Even though the Saints have a very good right tackle, Ryan Ramczyk, to show for it. The Patriots used the pick on tackle Isaiah Wynn, who tore his Achilles in August and won’t play till next summer.)
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MVP Watch

3. Todd Gurley, RB, L.A. Rams. I continue to vacillate between Gurley and Jared Goff and maybe eventually Aaron Donald. But another huge day for Gurley—26 touches, 165 yards, two more touchdowns—puts him back in the running.
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[www.si.com]

I'll throw in something from MMQB with Albert Breer

One more for the magic of Sean McVay—Sunday’s win meant the Rams have posted 11 wins in back-to-back years for the first time in their history, which dates to 1937. And the cool thing about the win over the Lions is that it came in totally different fashion from the shootout victory over Kansas City. The 30-16 win in Detroit was a rock fight from the start, and so the Rams rode Todd Gurley (23 carries, 132 yards, two TDs) as much as they could.
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And from the Ringer's Danny Kelly and Rodger Sherman

[www.theringer.com]

[​IMG]
Getty Images/AP Images

Aaron Donald Forces a Fourth-Quarter Fumble
The Rams’ explosive, high-flying offense under wunderkind play-caller Sean McVay has stolen the show in L.A. this year, heavily overshadowing the team’s talent-packed but inconsistent defensive unit. Even superstar pass rusher Aaron Donald has seemed to fly under the radar at times despite posting numbers that make him the favorite for his second straight Defensive Player of the Year award. That’s just how electric Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, and the rest of the team’s offensive group has been.

Over the past two games, though, Donald has reminded the world that in a season dominated by offense, defense can still make or break a game: His two forced fumbles two weeks ago proved crucial in the team’s stunning 54-51 win over the Chiefs—both led to Rams touchdowns—and the powerful defensive tackle made another pivotal play on Sunday, offering up a late-game strip sack of quarterback Matthew Stafford that propelled the Rams to victory.

Thanks to an uncharacteristically lackluster performance from the team’s offense, L.A. was left clinging to a slim 16-13 lead midway through the fourth quarter. And Detroit, facing a first-and-10 from its own 42-yard line with 8:26 to go, was driving down the field—threatening to take a late lead. That’s when Donald did this:


View: [twitter.com]

Donald split a double-team, forced Stafford to retreat, then, after quickly closing the gap, swiped down on the quarterback’s arms, knocking the ball loose. The Rams recovered at the Lions’ 24-yard line; three plays later, Gurley rumbled to pay dirt for the decisive score, pushing L.A.’s lead to 23-13. That timely strip sack proved to be the turning point in a sloppy division-clinching win for the Rams:

Prior to that play, the Lions looked primed for an upset. A few snaps later, Gurley waltzed into the end zone untouched to kill any semblance of Detroit momentum. Donald’s turnover pushed L.A.’s win probability to better than 87 percent. The Rams coasted from there.

Donald pushed his league-leading sack total to 16.5, further cementing his status as the best defensive player in the world. He also showed that even when the Rams’ typically unstoppable offense stumbles, the team has a very valuable insurance policy. Donald is the prototype for what a defensive player must be in the new, offense-driven NFL:

He can disrupt the quarterback on any given snap, and more important, create turnovers when his team needs them the most. Donald showed he’ll give L.A. a powerful edge this postseason when the team goes head-to-head with some of the league’s other juggernaut offenses.
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[www.theringer.com]

Loser: Fantasy Troll Todd Gurley
Earlier this season, Todd Gurley swung fantasy matchups and betting fortunesby intentionally stopping short of the end zone on a play where he could’ve scored a touchdown, instead opting to allow the Rams to win a game by kneeling out the clock.

Some swooned at the superstar’s ultimate display of unselfishness, passing up the chance to score to give his team a better shot at winning. (As we all know, winners never pay attention to their personal stats. Oh, by the way, please ignore that entire section about how the universally-acknowledged greatest quarterback of all time has spent years fantasizing about an obscure rushing milestone.)

Sunday, Gurley one-upped himself.


View: [twitter.com]

Once again, Gurley stopped short of the end zone, passing up a touchdown and driving fantasy owners into despair. (After all, this week was the final week of the fantasy football regular season.)

One problem though: Gurley probably shoulda just scored. His non-score came with over two minutes remaining in a one-score game. His Rams couldn’t run out the clock—they had to score again to seal the game. Because of Gurley’s short stop, the Rams had to run two more offensive plays, running the risk of a botched snap or fumble that could’ve given the Lions life.

Everything worked out OK: Gurley punched in a touchdown two plays later. The Rams won, and Gurley put up 28.5 fantasy points, probably getting all his fantasy owners into the playoffs. But I’m worried Gurley is going a little bit too far in his attempts to appear unselfish. I appreciate the critical thinking that has led him to stop short, but most of the time scoring a touchdown is the best thing to do.