Cards-27 Rams-3: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

[NJCardFan]

This was a huge win. Divisional/conference game which means a lot heading down the playoff stretch.


The Good

3rd Consecutive 10(+) Win Season-Not since the years of the Cardiac Cards of 1974-76 has this happened.

Carson Palmer-Like a fine wine this guy is getting better with age. We should start calling him Merlot. He's setting numbers we haven't seen, well, ever. Even Warner didn't put up the numbers Palmer is putting up.

Fitz-I really don't think we all realize how special this guy is. 1,000+ career catches and he made some big ones today.

Running Game-I really wish DJ got that 1 yard to put him at 100 yards on the day but as it stood, even with our 2 best backs on the shelf, the bench produces 175 rushing yards against a pretty good Ram defense.

Offense In General-We have the #1 offense in the league. Something We've never been near in my 41 seasons as a fan.

Defense-Looks like PP21's meeting paid off as they nearly pitched a shutout. Yes the Rams got off a few big plays but that happens. The team came to play today and it showed on both sides of the ball.

Offensive Depth-I mentioned the running backs but the receiver depth is great as well.

Michael Floyd-I'm glad to see him playing worthy of being a 1st round pick.

Luck-And I'm not talking about Andrew. We caught some breaks today. The penalty on Austin's near punt run back. The fumble that was ruled touched while the defender had part of his body out of bounds. Nick Foles sucking. Yes we win this game easily but we got breaks in key spots most of them self inflicted by the Rams.

The Bad

Bobby Massie-He couldn't block my mother right now. He literally ole'd Alexander on his sack of Palmer. Not to mention his holding call at the end of the 1st half that might have cost us points.

Kick Coverage-All aspects of it are terrible. How many punt/kick off returns went for big yardage? We got real lucky on Austin's punt return because if the ball would have been at the 2 yard line, they probably score and it's probably a different game.

DJ Ball Control-Nearly had a fumble and in my eyes it was a lost fumble but luckily the officials saw that the Ram had part of his body out of bounds and nullified the fumble.

The Ugly

Nothing ugly about dominating a divisional opponent in their own house avenging an earlier loss.

I really don't fear any team. Even Carolina is beatable and the Eagles showed that the Patriots aren't infallible even at home(whoo hoo free coffee!). I was not impressed with the Vikings today as Wilson used them as a chew toy. There isn't one team we have left that I can look at and think, "we have no chance". They should be saying this about us. Well, bring on the Purple People Eaters.

 

[perivolaki]

Kick Coverage-All aspects of it are terrible. How many punt/kick off returns went for big yardage? We got real lucky on Austin's punt return because if the ball would have been at the 2 yard line, they probably score and it's probably a different game.

I wonder if this is where the injuries are starting to hurt us. Obviously our best special teams player has been pressed into service as a starting cornerback.

Not only are players doing more double duty but players who might not have even been on the roster or didn't play at all are now having to perform on special teams duty.

 

[Bert]

Honestly I think that outside of Justin Bethel who I honestly believe is the best special teams cover man in the NFL and judging by pro bowls and other awards, someone agress with me but the rest of our squad is extremely average. We also have some veteran guys in there who really have no interest in playing ST (yes Spoon, Im looking at you)

The point is, and you saw it today during the Rams game, teams have figured all this out and the new strategy is to put 2-3 guys on Bethel and completely take him out of plays, then poof, someone runs wild. I noticed this a few weeks back and have been watching closely on punts... I also went back and watched todays game, they did it every time to him. Sometimes Bethel still gets through and makes a play! I'm tellin ya the guy is unreal, lol. But I think the fact that Bethel is a freaking beast has let that whole unit get lazy and a bit complacent. They are going to have to step up because I guarantee we will see more of the same on Thursday.

 

[Jetstream Green]

I was watching the highlights and Massie might make mistakes... but he did blow some guys up on a few big runs which he does deserve credit for

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Bethel on one return had 2 guys holding him, one guy had his shoulder pads and they drove him out of bounds before he could get near the play. Penalty for sure should have been called.

DJ has to stop the fumbling. Would have liked to see him get the 100 mark. He ran hard up the middle and made some tough yards.

Defense came to play and it looks like PP's meeting helped them stay focused. Still couldn't get any sacks and pressure was inconsistent.

Still have concerns about Massie and Larsen. One big hit on CP and our SB hopes go up in smoke.

 

[Cardiac]

Honestly I think that outside of Justin Bethel who I honestly believe is the best special teams cover man in the NFL and judging by pro bowls and other awards, someone agress with me but the rest of our squad is extremely average. We also have some veteran guys in there who really have no interest in playing ST (yes Spoon, Im looking at you)

The point is, and you saw it today during the Rams game, teams have figured all this out and the new strategy is to put 2-3 guys on Bethel and completely take him out of plays, then poof, someone runs wild. I noticed this a few weeks back and have been watching closely on punts... I also went back and watched todays game, they did it every time to him. Sometimes Bethel still gets through and makes a play! I'm tellin ya the guy is unreal, lol. But I think the fact that Bethel is a freaking beast has let that whole unit get lazy and a bit complacent. They are going to have to step up because I guarantee we will see more of the same on Thursday.

Bethel is a beast for sure. Golden does pretty well as a gunner as well. After those two no one else gets my attention except for maybe Fua.

 

[Cardiac]

Good post NJCardFan but I disagree with the luck portion. We create a lot of penalties caused by the opposition on ST's. I think it's because we have a couple of dynamic players on ST's and they are well coached. No matter the reason there was holding on the Austin return.

Correct call on the DJ fumble and the Rams being out of bounds as they recovered it. So was it lucky that they didn't recover, somewhat but we have been very unlucky all year on recovering fumbles.

We made Foles suck, there was no luck involved there.

 

[CFLredzoned]

It's definitely an embarassment of riches when it comes to 'the good'.

The biggest thing that stood out to me was the complete domination on the line of scrimmage - on offense and defense. It was a complete 180 turn. From being dominated to dominating. I remember Jaws saying that the OL wasn't communicating at all in the San Fran game. All the little nuances of unspoken communication, plus the verbal communication, it just wasn't happening, at all. I don't know which guys were having the problems. But it looks like they put in the work and got it fixed.

0 turnovers. What a difference it is with a bad offensive team like the Rams, when you force their offense to actually go down the field and score points.

The post game hand shake. That was a surprise. I guess Fisher's had a really rough last month or so. All the talk of firing, the losing. I think Jeff really needed a hug and he got one - or two.

 

[NJCardFan]

Good post NJCardFan but I disagree with the luck portion. We create a lot of penalties caused by the opposition on ST's. I think it's because we have a couple of dynamic players on ST's and they are well coached. No matter the reason there was holding on the Austin return.

Correct call on the DJ fumble and the Rams being out of bounds as they recovered it. So was it lucky that they didn't recover, somewhat but we have been very unlucky all year on recovering fumbles.

We made Foles suck, there was no luck involved there.

The point is that in the past, the luck went against us. Now those breaks are falling our way.

 

[Bert]

Great write up as always NJ. GO CARDINALS!

 

[Snakester]

I love that we won this game like we did but the coaches have got to put Cooper back in at RG after the way Larsen was beaten so badly this game. If not Cooper then Watford.

 

[NJCardFan]

I love that we won this game like we did but the coaches have got to put Cooper back in at RG after the way Larsen was beaten so badly this game. If not Cooper then Watford.

Unfortunately Watford was just put on IR.

 

[Cardiac]

The point is that in the past, the luck went against us. Now those breaks are falling our way.

OIC.

Maybe in the past it wasn't bad luck but bad teams and poor coaching?

Maybe now BA's attention to detail has the team creating "better luck" so we are winning more now.

I'm not saying the above thoughts are 100% correct but I do believe to a great extent it is the case.