Before we jump on the airwaves and fully break down and analyze the game, The Coach and The Don give their instant analysis and reaction to the Rams win over the Atlanta Falcons.
The Don
The Rams are back. Los Angeles is going to the Super Bowl.
After a dominant performance over the Atlanta Falcons, the Rams have fixed all of their issues and are ready for another title appearance…
Let’s pump the brakes a little. It was an overall nice performance, but now we need to see some consistency and improvement against elite teams.
Overall, I thought the offensive line still struggled but they did look slightly improved. Part of the improvement is simply due to playing a great 49ers line last week and then playing a very malign Falcons defensive line this week. While the score looks great, the Rams were still only able to amass 90 yards on the ground. This is a Falcons team that gave up 166 yards on the ground just two weeks ago against Houston.
I do like what I saw from David Edwards, who was drafted in the 5th round this year as a tackle out of Wisconsin and made his first career NFL start, at guard. He definitely has work to do but seemed like an immediate upgrade over Jamil Demby.
Pass-Pro was better, and Goff did have a cleaner pocket from the previous week. McVay did dial-up some different play calls that had Goff rolling out in order to take some of the pressure off of the line, the obvious weak spot.
The big story of the game was obviously Jalen Ramsey. With very little practice, Ramsey played ample snaps and made his presence felt on defense. He finished with four tackles, a forced fumble, and was able to contain Julio Jones for most of the game. On the surface, obviously Ramsey’s coverage skills are a huge upgrade for the Rams, but that goes full circle when his upgrade in coverage also upgrades the pass rush. LA finished with five sacks on the day, Fowler tallying three.
Overall, it was a great team win and a way to get back on track, but expectations should be tempered week to week. This is still a very talented team that has some holes that need to be patched up if they truly expect to make another run. This, however, was a great step in the right direction.
The Coach
There were a number of people writing off the Los Angeles Rams after losing three straight games and dropping back-to-back divisional games. Then the Rams go and do something stupid like completely controlling the Falcons from kickoff to kneel down. All of a sudden the Rams look like they may have some things figured out.
The Rams have a golden opportunity to really get things back on track with their next three opponents. On the Bleav in LA Football podcast, we mentioned how they should be able to take care of Atlanta, which they certainly did. Now they look ahead to the Bengals in London and the Steelers in Pittsburgh for the next two weeks. After that, the Bears come to town for the first true Rams home game since the 49ers loss on October 13th.
The Rams could legitimately win the next three and be 7-4 heading into their game with Baltimore in late November. This season is far from over folks. Rams could still make the playoffs and honestly still have a chance at the division. They need the 49ers to start losing however. Regardless, the Rams have survived the first road bump and look to get even better with some new toys.