I just woke up and consequently haven’t read every thread before posting this so if I repeat another’s thoughts, my apologies in advance.
Here goes…
Well, nobody is laughing at Snead’s team building strategy this morning, huh? Draft picks are nice but proven stars are better IF one can find gems in the mid to late rounds plus FA. Bet Snead can’t stop smiling this morning.
There were some doubters among the pundits but many of us were convinced that Rams were among the top 4-5 NFC teams long ago. As such, they deserved to be in SB conversations all along.
Something to think about. Both the Bengals and the Rams had to overcome substantial deficits to achieve their respective come-from-behind wins. I think that speaks well for the character and leadership on both teams. There’s no quit in either team.
Zack Taylor and Sean McVay, Two under-40 HC’s, good friends, both obviously from the same coaching tree and from the same staff now meeting in the SB. Can you imagine how McVay must feel like a proud papa? Wow!
The final 8 field in this year’s playoffs was as fine as I can remember. The exciting games were confirmation of that perception, imo.
I’ve been a critic of Morris through the first 10-12 games, heaven knows. And even now we could nitpick certain things if we wanted. Such as not putting Ramsey on opponent’s biggest weapon, going too soon back to soft zone after Rams get a 2 score lead, starting Rapp over Scott, DW’s regression, Burgess’ regression, etc. However… Morris DID start to make meaningful adjustments in the last third of the season (possibly after McVay ‘suggested’ them?) and the results were dramatic. I loved the ‘new’ aggression Morris suddenly revealed. About the same time as Rams went on their winning streak. Cough, cough.
Morris focused on clamping down on 49er run game and he succeeded. This forced JimmyG to beat us and, as expected, he couldn’t quite do it. I’m a huge results oriented person and Morris got the desired results. The 49ers are a quality team and they deserved to be in this game. Hell, they were leading by 10 points late. My point is that Morris deserves monster kudos for this D effort. This was Rams 1st win against these guys in 7 tries, something that Phillips and Staley couldn’t do.
Having said all that, it wouldn’t break my heart if Morris left if promoted to HC somewhere else. If he stays I will look forward to the 2 comp picks when he does inevitably leave. It’s a win-win situation for me whether Morris stays or goes, IOW. Here’s the thing, imo ANY competent DC could achieve Top 5 ranking with the personnel on this D roster. And I trust McVay to hire a very competent DC if Morris gets promoted.
Blanton had a very good game, but I’m hoping that Higbee will be healthy by kickoff time. I want our ‘beast’ back for the SB. Fingers crossed.
I was surprised and pleased to see Akers able to return. Shoulder injury on a RB is no small thing. Akers must be one tough Mofo. He just keeps impressing me.
I’m thinking that Stafford has entered some kind of ‘playoff zone’ kinda level. Three straight quality playoff performances in a row. If Skow makes that catch and Gay makes that FG this game would have been a MUCH more comfortable 4th quarter for us fans. One more quality game from Stafford and I think we’re gonna be very happy campers after this SB.
Both OBJ and Miller have exceeded my expectations as to positive impact for our Rams. I’ll admit it. I seriously doubt that we make it to SB without both of them, especially after the Woods injury. Can Rams afford to extend them? At least one of them? I dunno…
Nick Scott has earned the starting position don’t you think? In fact, I now wonder why he wasn’t starting sooner.
I’ll admit rolling my eyes when Weddle was signed. Boy, was I wrong. He’s not the player he once was, of course, but he’s as smart as ever and has been able help this D with both tangible and intangible benefits.
Howard has been a breath of fresh air, hasn’t he? Hope he can stay healthy for one more game.
Reeder, OTOH, is our weakest link. He will always be the one that opponents will first attack. Here’s hoping that Jones can be effective in the SB. I don’t want to think what a QB like Burrow could do to Reeder in the big game.
There’s been something ‘wrong’ with Gay last 2 games. Sure hope he’s back to normal by gametime. This could come down to a last second FG in the SB. I mean, that’s the way it’s been going throughout these entire playoffs, right?
I want to encourage everybody not to underestimate these Bengals. They are legit and deserve to be here. They survived a murderers row of AFC teams in the process. Their QB is looking like a generational talent with ice water in his veins and they have talent sprinkled throughout their roster. Plus, they are resilient and resourceful, quite capable of overcoming a monster lead held by the Chiefs, obviously. Truly a worthy opponent.
