Hey Readers, the Rams are good. Like one of the top teams in the NFL good. Barring a controversial PI call to give the Bills first and goal in Week 3, the Rams could be 5-0 after a dominant afternoon in Washington.
The Rams went into Washington looking to prove something after a win but somewhat lackluster performance against the Giants in Week 4. Well, they not only showed up and won, they pretty much dominated in every phase of the game.
Rams Horns Up Against Washington O
Washington has had their offensive issues throughout the season, but on Sunday, they looked like a patch of plush green leaves, ripe for the Rams to feed on. And Los Angeles did just that.
Washington had 108 TOTAL yards on the day. You read that right. Brandon Staley, Aaron Donald, and Co. held the professional football team of Washington to one football field plus 8 yards total. They had 10 total first downs (3 due to penalty). The Rams held the combination of Kyle Allen and Alex Smith (amazing that he is back on the field) to 70 yards through the air and a poultry 1.8 yards per pass. They also finished with 8 sacks, with 4 by the best defensive player in the game Aaron Donald, and 3 by fill-in linebacker Troy Reeder(Jachai Polite had the final sack).
Perhaps the biggest bright spot on this defense (we all know Donald and Jalen Ramsey are great) is the impressive play of CB Darious Williams. Williams has been a shutdown corner who has made very opportunistic plays in key situations. Coming into the game, he had a coverage grade of 70.1, according to PFF, and he certainly improved on that with this performance.
Goff Laughing At The Gaff
The gorgeous galloping giraffe that is Jared Goff, continued his onslaught on the critics on Sunday. He finished the game 21-30 with 309 yards, two touchdowns, one poor interception, one rushing touchdown, and one terribly executed spike.
Coming into this season, there were talks in some circles about how the Rams need to move on from Goff, and will never be an elite team with him at the helm. I will be the first to say that Goff probably isn’t in the same tier as Wilson, Rodgers, or Mahomes, but to say that the Rams would better off without Goff is not only silly, it’s lazy.
The NFL is hard, news flash I know, and the QB position is the hardest position to play in all of sports. He also gets the mundane moniker of “system QB” and that McVay has made him who is. Another news flash, it’s not a bad thing if your coach makes you a better player. Also, what do most elite QBs have in common? Almost all of them have played with pretty much one head coach for MOST of or all of their careers (Wilson-Carroll, Rodgers-McCarthy, Brady-Belichick, Brees-Payton, etc). Continuity is so important and Goff has that in LA.
So far this season, he is proving to be one of the top QBs. He is over 1,000 yards already and has a completion percentage of 72.1.
LA’s Golden Giraffe.
The Electricity Is Back On At General Electric
I have been trying to make this nickname stick for Gerald Everett, and I am going to make it happen! But the lights came back on in week 5. After 51 yards receiving through 4 weeks, Everett finished Sunday with 95 receiving yards, a lot of those came via YAC.
GE has the talent to be a supreme offensive weapon, and McVay put him in opportunities to succeed against Washington. Hopefully, we continue to see his utilization increase, because that just means that Goff has more weapons at his disposal.
NFC East Division Winners
With the dominant win over Washington, the Rams put a bow on their clean sweep of the NFC East. With all of the storylines heading into the season, and all of the traveling out east, this is an impressive feat, regardless of the other team’s records.
The Rams now begin division play with a matchup against the 49ers next week. While writing this, I have been watching the SF v Miami game. I’m sure Donald, Floyd, Ramsey, and the rest of the Rams defense are feeling their mouths water, as you should too.
How are we feeling through 5 games Rams fans? Comment below or hit me up on Twitter, @RyanDyrudLAFB!
Los Angeles Rams Defensive Tackle Aaron Donald. Photo Credit: Brook Ward | Under Creative Commons License