This team doesn't suck. They came out in the hype of a banner ceremony and laid an egg on Thursday Night. And they did it vs. the consensus best (projected) team in the league. Not the Bears. Not the Jets. Not the Jags.
They were collectively not ready to play. Without question. When Higbee flat-out dropped a pass the 2nd time I knew their heads were just not right. I thought another very telling play was the no look pass from Stafford to Kupp that, instead of hitting him in stride for a 'wow' play, sailed, was tipped and intercepted. Bad timing and execution. But it doesn't mean Stafford sucks.
And that game also doesn't mean:
- the Rams can't draft
- Noteboom should be cut and Whitworth coaxed out of retirement
- Morris can't coach
- the Rams ran a country club camp
- on and on....
It means the came out and played poorly in week one vs. a really, really good Bills team that had a very smart gameplan. That's it. Vegas made the Rams essentially 5.5 point underdogs which raised eyebrows but, well, Vegas typically knows. And also the Rams will be favored to win in 11 or 12 of their next 16 games. And they are going to be favored to win their division and play an opening round playoff game at home. Let's focus on them getting there first and then go from there....
Are the Rams likely to repeat? No. And let's be really clear,
they never were. If for no other reason than history says it's rare. Let's see after week 6 or 7 or so where they are. This is my 45th season now as a Rams fan and they've played in 5 Super Bowls winning 2. If #3 doesn't happen this year, well, I'm not going to stomp up and down about it.
But we've seen worse from this team (see November 2021) and seen them rebound in improbably fashion (starting with beating Arizona on MNF with 40% of the team out).
McVay (and Morris) can still coach. Snead still put together a very good team. That didn't all change 3 days ago.
The team has earned a bit of benefit of the doubt after the past 5 years. Let's enjoy this season and not turn on them or make knee-jerk complaints one game into their title defense season.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2022 05:43AM by LMU93.
