We’ll Joe, you’ve just set up the next potential instalment of The Bad News Bears (or in this case The Really Rank Rams). Will this bunch of unknowns and leftovers win the SB? It would make for a great story.
Seahawks according to Yahoo's look at team tiers going into 2023 are seen as an assending team. Their definition: Ascending: Building steam with a solid core of players, but not mortgaging the future yet.
The Rams in the same article "Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald are good enough at their respective positions to keep Los Angeles somewhat(*) relevant. The Rams will likely still have a tough time competing in the division, much less the conference."
The Rams are seen as a team in transition (rebuild).
The Rams will be a great opening day division opponent to give Seattle's starters at home a taste of regular season before their road trip to Detroit in week 2.
You never want to take an in division opponent lightly, which I don't think Seattle does. I don't think you could you ask for a better home opener though to get the ball rolling.
This team has something to prove to themselves and the league. The ball is in their court.
*Even at TurfshowTimes* they are predicting a week 1 loss to the Seahawks, even though the game-by-game prediction for the season has LA somehow getting to 9-8 and backing into the playoffs. (But the Cardinals are tanking. Which makes me see a cartoon of "I'm not tanking, YOU'RE tanking!")
Oh, and I am definitely making my lamb roast next Sunday. It has been many years since the last time and I just dug out the recipe. Hopefully while the lamb is roasting the Seahawks will be eating the Rams for lunch!
Yea, I go fishing in the summer. Unfortunately, I will miss the draft this year. One of my favorite times of the year after the football season. Thanks for missing me. I've missed everyone here, too, and SSJ. I am stupider at football then the rest of you, now. My only solace is I don't hear about every nick and scratch on team. One day I got a check in on the Hawks, and I had just said, well, at least no one has broken a leg, and the first thing I read is that JSN has a broken wrist! Thank goodness it turned out to be a minor hiccup of the season.
I see lots of "Power Ranking" lists where the Rams are in the bottom 5, so I'm not sure what is the basis for the premise of "People think the Rams have a good team".
For years, fans have pointed to the Rams and commented that creative front offices can get around the salary cap, that there are always ways to create space.
Well, yes, if you're willing to mortgage the future. Eventually, this is what you get.
I fault the NFL for creating a system that lets teams play games with the salary cap to the extent they do. If I were a Rams' fan, I'd be grateful that my team lucked out and managed to eek out a Superbowl win. It didn't have to go that way. If success is measured in terms of Superbowl wins only, then LA is on par with Seattle over the last ten years.
The risk of the Rams' strategy, is they might have had this same train wreck with no trophies of note worth pointing at. Alas, it's not so bad to be a fan of a team competing with conference opponent Arizona for the top pick in the draft. Not that it's a great prize. How many first picks have failed to live up to expectations? Or at least not been better than second, third or tenth picks? The draft is anything but an exact science. Is Caleb Williams really that much better than Maye, Penix, Nix, et. al.?
Great article. I learned a lot. I learned not to be afraid of the Rams. You outlined the WHY. I believe you.
The Seahawks are going to feast on the LA Rams. I cannot wait. Joe has me convinced. This game is not about "How good are the Seahawks?" this game is about "How bad are the LA Rams?"
I watched the Huskies embarrass Boise St. I was worried when the score was 6-0. I shouldn't have been. The Huskies reeled off 28 points in the second quarter and I stopped worrying.
The Seahawks are going to feast on the LA Rams and I know this because Witherspoon is their number one CB. Now, go do it Seattle!
What makes a "successful" Coach? McVay has 2 Super Bowls during his 5 year tenure, starting out by breaking the bank and sacrificing the future. Now it looks like he's rebuilding the accounts and gathering ammo for the future. Are we seeing a pattern here? In 10 years, who will have the most super bowls under his belt? Maybe the cycle is best measured in 12 year increments? One thing undeniable about Pete, he has maintained his fan base, AKA profits. Every year we felt we had a chance, proving Pete is not just a great Coach, but a damn good GM. He's damn good at selling us Hope. That's a lot of hats to wear. No doubt, McVay got the job making promises. Looks to me like he's kept them. He damn near quit last year. I wonder what promises (if any) he's made to stay at it.
The reason why I think Carroll >>> McVay, and it isn't close, is because of what Carroll had to work with when he joined. He took a very bad roster and made it competitive (and a force on D) BEFORE Russ was drafted. He won a SB and came *this close* to a 2nd, and kept his team competitive in the LOB transition, and THEN traded his "franchise QB" away for a boatload of picks and STILL MADE THE PLAYOFFS!
McVay now has his hands full, and if he makes it back to the playoffs by next year I will tip my hat to him. But let's see if that happens.
His near retirement was interesting. Why was it even known to the media? Surely if he wanted to keep that decision making process to himself he could have. I don't know anything about the situation, but it's hard to think that he didn't want to just be in the news a bit to see what kind of reaction it might get. He's already likely to make more money for less work to be another TV personality. Did he just take us all along on his decision-making journey to make sure we didn't forget that he's a celebrity too?
My bet is he had to apply the threat to gain a Board consensus to let him do what he knows must be done, which includes a year of low energy among their fans. I expect by the 2nd half, we shall see Lock at QB. Okay, 4th Quarter. This would be a good game for Spoon to cut his teeth on, especially before a home field crowd.
Seems like a good bet. Setting up team ownership to accept a low bar and patience for a rebuild.
I read Spoon isn't expected to play week 1 due to his hamstring injury. That rams o-line sounds primed to provide for a great premiere for Dre'mont Jones!
It seems to be only the national media that thinks the Rams might be decent. Michael-Shawn Dugar said they would be trash, and he referenced Jourdan Rodrigue who covers the Rams for the Athletic as his source. So I think it’s just all the numbskulls that don’t bother with due diligence.
I know many fans wanted to dump Pete and build around Russ. I think the middling years after the two SB disappointed many, but the fact that the Seahawks were never terrible and made the playoffs almost every year might be a better testament to Pete’s skills as a coach than winning it all with an all time great team. The NFL is designed for parity and boom/bust cycles and the Hawks have been way better than most for over a decade. From memory, I think they have the 3rd best record with the top two being KC, with Mahomes and Reid, and New England, with Brady and Belicheck. Pretty good company!
I’ve never been in a hurry to fire Pete, if only because--and contrary to what many believe--successful head coaches do not grow on trees. Of the 518 head coaches in NFL history, 103 have winning records. I.e., fire Carroll and you have a roughly 20% chance of replacing him with a coach who wins more than he loses. Getting one who wins 59% of his games is a little over an 8% likelihood. Heck, Jim Mora Jr’s .484 winning pct is well above the median.
Sean McVey has a Gruden vibe. Not racist, that I know of, but everything else. Hot and cold and forever, instead of calm and cool and non-judgmental. Pete is so much more than the gum chewing cheerleader we see on Sunday. He's not elite as a game day coach, and that can be important, but he is elite at enough of the job as to be irreplaceable in my opinion.
Ken, did you intentionally use the Ram parts word play because of the Rampart hospital from Emergency! TV show implication, or is that just my overactive imagination? I picked up on it, I just want to know if you put it there on purpose. I thought to ask because if it was purposeful, I thought you might have made the thumbnail be from the series or some sort of hospital themed pic.
Ram parts/lamb parts... I think this Ram's team (this year and next) is really where the assessment will be made about how good a coach McVay really is. It is definitely easier to win games when you are overspending and cashing in future draft capital... let's see if he can rebuild the roster into a competitive team. This year's edition will not be that.
As for lamb parts, I have a fabulous recipe for a boneless leg of lamb that I think I will make in honor of next Sunday's game. I might even post up the recipe on my blog (my mouth is watering just thinking about it).
I actually prefer to take double chops and sear them on both sides, and finish in the oven. Very easy. You have to find a decent French restaurant to get a good rack of lamb.
Mix up some herbs with a nice olive oil, coat the chops, sear, and oven grill for no more than 12mins to keep them rare/medium-rare. Serve with Feta Esquites (made in the same pan to get all those juices involved!) and an olive & avocado salad garnished with some sliced pickled jalapenos for a very very tasty and easy Greek-Mexican Lamb meal
True, true, but I like my lamb on the rare side and Greek style doesn't cook it that way. I love the flavours though and don't stand between me and a buffet with Greek-style chicken.
So often the scenario when looking for the 'culprit' is to follow the money. Your research is much appreciated in locating where the Rams $$ is. Your perspective on where the Rams stand just makes sense to me. Thanks for the incite. I am looking forward to a really fun beat down next Sunday in Seattle!
I think the three player bias evolved because that was about the maximum that a media talking head could count on the mass audience remembering. Or maybe that’s the typical number of Jersey numbers per team that the NFL shop keeps in back stock.
I remember during the Cowboys’ last dynasty every announcer and analyst talked about their holy trinity of Troy Aikman, Emmett Smith, and Michael Irvin. If that was all they had defenses would have shut them down. And that ignores that on the other side of the ball the Cowboys’ defense might have actually been stronger! That team’s strength probably was its incredible depth, as it happened during the last years before free agency really kicked in.
Go back a little further, the headline for the Seahawks in, say, 1985 would be Curt Warner, Steve Largent, and Kenny Easley. (Give or take a player, but really 3 is all the casual fan has mental space for)
So the top three test is one of the more inaccurate ones out there, even if it’s good shorthand to see who is the most popular with the masses.
We’ll Joe, you’ve just set up the next potential instalment of The Bad News Bears (or in this case The Really Rank Rams). Will this bunch of unknowns and leftovers win the SB? It would make for a great story.
A new theme song for the LA Wethers (https://savvyfarmlife.com/wether-sheep/) to go with their new name: https://youtu.be/Jqu_8j6kt0A
Belichick on the current Rams (and others) all in perspective. https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/pats_hc_bill_belichick_shades_bucs_rams_jags_for_all_in_seasons/s1_13132_39199111
Seahawks according to Yahoo's look at team tiers going into 2023 are seen as an assending team. Their definition: Ascending: Building steam with a solid core of players, but not mortgaging the future yet.
The Rams in the same article "Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald are good enough at their respective positions to keep Los Angeles somewhat(*) relevant. The Rams will likely still have a tough time competing in the division, much less the conference."
The Rams are seen as a team in transition (rebuild).
The Rams will be a great opening day division opponent to give Seattle's starters at home a taste of regular season before their road trip to Detroit in week 2.
You never want to take an in division opponent lightly, which I don't think Seattle does. I don't think you could you ask for a better home opener though to get the ball rolling.
This team has something to prove to themselves and the league. The ball is in their court.
*Even at TurfshowTimes* they are predicting a week 1 loss to the Seahawks, even though the game-by-game prediction for the season has LA somehow getting to 9-8 and backing into the playoffs. (But the Cardinals are tanking. Which makes me see a cartoon of "I'm not tanking, YOU'RE tanking!")
https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2023/9/2/23852476/los-angeles-rams-schedule-prediction-preview?_gl=1*o1fap2*
Oh, and I am definitely making my lamb roast next Sunday. It has been many years since the last time and I just dug out the recipe. Hopefully while the lamb is roasting the Seahawks will be eating the Rams for lunch!
There's something familiar about the managing editor at turfshowtimes. I guess he couldn't edit some pessimism into one of the writers.
What a delicious idea.
Here's hoping. Stephen is it my recollection failure or have I been missing your comments? Good to see you.
Yea, I go fishing in the summer. Unfortunately, I will miss the draft this year. One of my favorite times of the year after the football season. Thanks for missing me. I've missed everyone here, too, and SSJ. I am stupider at football then the rest of you, now. My only solace is I don't hear about every nick and scratch on team. One day I got a check in on the Hawks, and I had just said, well, at least no one has broken a leg, and the first thing I read is that JSN has a broken wrist! Thank goodness it turned out to be a minor hiccup of the season.
I would love to go fishing but alas, I have
No Fishing Licence.
Luck to you!
I see lots of "Power Ranking" lists where the Rams are in the bottom 5, so I'm not sure what is the basis for the premise of "People think the Rams have a good team".
I do love to hate the Rams, though.
For years, fans have pointed to the Rams and commented that creative front offices can get around the salary cap, that there are always ways to create space.
Well, yes, if you're willing to mortgage the future. Eventually, this is what you get.
I fault the NFL for creating a system that lets teams play games with the salary cap to the extent they do. If I were a Rams' fan, I'd be grateful that my team lucked out and managed to eek out a Superbowl win. It didn't have to go that way. If success is measured in terms of Superbowl wins only, then LA is on par with Seattle over the last ten years.
The risk of the Rams' strategy, is they might have had this same train wreck with no trophies of note worth pointing at. Alas, it's not so bad to be a fan of a team competing with conference opponent Arizona for the top pick in the draft. Not that it's a great prize. How many first picks have failed to live up to expectations? Or at least not been better than second, third or tenth picks? The draft is anything but an exact science. Is Caleb Williams really that much better than Maye, Penix, Nix, et. al.?
“ Whether they will prove to be or not is up to me.”
Missing a not maybe. Or is it up to you? If it’s up to you then hot damn!
Great article. I learned a lot. I learned not to be afraid of the Rams. You outlined the WHY. I believe you.
The Seahawks are going to feast on the LA Rams. I cannot wait. Joe has me convinced. This game is not about "How good are the Seahawks?" this game is about "How bad are the LA Rams?"
I watched the Huskies embarrass Boise St. I was worried when the score was 6-0. I shouldn't have been. The Huskies reeled off 28 points in the second quarter and I stopped worrying.
The Seahawks are going to feast on the LA Rams and I know this because Witherspoon is their number one CB. Now, go do it Seattle!
What makes a "successful" Coach? McVay has 2 Super Bowls during his 5 year tenure, starting out by breaking the bank and sacrificing the future. Now it looks like he's rebuilding the accounts and gathering ammo for the future. Are we seeing a pattern here? In 10 years, who will have the most super bowls under his belt? Maybe the cycle is best measured in 12 year increments? One thing undeniable about Pete, he has maintained his fan base, AKA profits. Every year we felt we had a chance, proving Pete is not just a great Coach, but a damn good GM. He's damn good at selling us Hope. That's a lot of hats to wear. No doubt, McVay got the job making promises. Looks to me like he's kept them. He damn near quit last year. I wonder what promises (if any) he's made to stay at it.
The reason why I think Carroll >>> McVay, and it isn't close, is because of what Carroll had to work with when he joined. He took a very bad roster and made it competitive (and a force on D) BEFORE Russ was drafted. He won a SB and came *this close* to a 2nd, and kept his team competitive in the LOB transition, and THEN traded his "franchise QB" away for a boatload of picks and STILL MADE THE PLAYOFFS!
McVay now has his hands full, and if he makes it back to the playoffs by next year I will tip my hat to him. But let's see if that happens.
His near retirement was interesting. Why was it even known to the media? Surely if he wanted to keep that decision making process to himself he could have. I don't know anything about the situation, but it's hard to think that he didn't want to just be in the news a bit to see what kind of reaction it might get. He's already likely to make more money for less work to be another TV personality. Did he just take us all along on his decision-making journey to make sure we didn't forget that he's a celebrity too?
My bet is he had to apply the threat to gain a Board consensus to let him do what he knows must be done, which includes a year of low energy among their fans. I expect by the 2nd half, we shall see Lock at QB. Okay, 4th Quarter. This would be a good game for Spoon to cut his teeth on, especially before a home field crowd.
Seems like a good bet. Setting up team ownership to accept a low bar and patience for a rebuild.
I read Spoon isn't expected to play week 1 due to his hamstring injury. That rams o-line sounds primed to provide for a great premiere for Dre'mont Jones!
It seems to be only the national media that thinks the Rams might be decent. Michael-Shawn Dugar said they would be trash, and he referenced Jourdan Rodrigue who covers the Rams for the Athletic as his source. So I think it’s just all the numbskulls that don’t bother with due diligence.
Trying to stay relevant in the LA media market has a lot to do with it.
I know many fans wanted to dump Pete and build around Russ. I think the middling years after the two SB disappointed many, but the fact that the Seahawks were never terrible and made the playoffs almost every year might be a better testament to Pete’s skills as a coach than winning it all with an all time great team. The NFL is designed for parity and boom/bust cycles and the Hawks have been way better than most for over a decade. From memory, I think they have the 3rd best record with the top two being KC, with Mahomes and Reid, and New England, with Brady and Belicheck. Pretty good company!
I’ve never been in a hurry to fire Pete, if only because--and contrary to what many believe--successful head coaches do not grow on trees. Of the 518 head coaches in NFL history, 103 have winning records. I.e., fire Carroll and you have a roughly 20% chance of replacing him with a coach who wins more than he loses. Getting one who wins 59% of his games is a little over an 8% likelihood. Heck, Jim Mora Jr’s .484 winning pct is well above the median.
Sean McVey has a Gruden vibe. Not racist, that I know of, but everything else. Hot and cold and forever, instead of calm and cool and non-judgmental. Pete is so much more than the gum chewing cheerleader we see on Sunday. He's not elite as a game day coach, and that can be important, but he is elite at enough of the job as to be irreplaceable in my opinion.
Mike Dugar says that Pete does the hard things well—e.g., building a culture. That’s a great way of putting it.
Ken, did you intentionally use the Ram parts word play because of the Rampart hospital from Emergency! TV show implication, or is that just my overactive imagination? I picked up on it, I just want to know if you put it there on purpose. I thought to ask because if it was purposeful, I thought you might have made the thumbnail be from the series or some sort of hospital themed pic.
First thing I thought of was ramparts red glare.
Continuity is so hard to keep in NFL ( Not For Long).
Ram parts/lamb parts... I think this Ram's team (this year and next) is really where the assessment will be made about how good a coach McVay really is. It is definitely easier to win games when you are overspending and cashing in future draft capital... let's see if he can rebuild the roster into a competitive team. This year's edition will not be that.
As for lamb parts, I have a fabulous recipe for a boneless leg of lamb that I think I will make in honor of next Sunday's game. I might even post up the recipe on my blog (my mouth is watering just thinking about it).
Being half-Greek, I like rosemary roasted, maybe grill-finished, with mint jelly.
Oh, and speaking of ram/lamb pieces.... better watch out, there may be dogs about!
https://youtu.be/3GE-sfEbJ7I?feature=shared
I could sure go for some rack of lamb but none of the Mexican restaurants near me serve it.
I actually prefer to take double chops and sear them on both sides, and finish in the oven. Very easy. You have to find a decent French restaurant to get a good rack of lamb.
Mix up some herbs with a nice olive oil, coat the chops, sear, and oven grill for no more than 12mins to keep them rare/medium-rare. Serve with Feta Esquites (made in the same pan to get all those juices involved!) and an olive & avocado salad garnished with some sliced pickled jalapenos for a very very tasty and easy Greek-Mexican Lamb meal
I've got a friend who swears by the Costco rack of lamb and does a very simple at-home preparation. I'm no lamb connoisseur, but I find it tasty!
Costco has good meat!
Their are Greeks in the world that know a little about Lamb Chops too.
True, true, but I like my lamb on the rare side and Greek style doesn't cook it that way. I love the flavours though and don't stand between me and a buffet with Greek-style chicken.
So often the scenario when looking for the 'culprit' is to follow the money. Your research is much appreciated in locating where the Rams $$ is. Your perspective on where the Rams stand just makes sense to me. Thanks for the incite. I am looking forward to a really fun beat down next Sunday in Seattle!
Thanks, Ken.
I think the three player bias evolved because that was about the maximum that a media talking head could count on the mass audience remembering. Or maybe that’s the typical number of Jersey numbers per team that the NFL shop keeps in back stock.
I remember during the Cowboys’ last dynasty every announcer and analyst talked about their holy trinity of Troy Aikman, Emmett Smith, and Michael Irvin. If that was all they had defenses would have shut them down. And that ignores that on the other side of the ball the Cowboys’ defense might have actually been stronger! That team’s strength probably was its incredible depth, as it happened during the last years before free agency really kicked in.
Go back a little further, the headline for the Seahawks in, say, 1985 would be Curt Warner, Steve Largent, and Kenny Easley. (Give or take a player, but really 3 is all the casual fan has mental space for)
So the top three test is one of the more inaccurate ones out there, even if it’s good shorthand to see who is the most popular with the masses.
OMG massive amounts of likes on your post here AggieHawk! Or just one big-ass one