talking about the things they had to do to deal with yet again
crowd noise in their own building.
No. I mean, we prepared for it, we prepared to be on, you know,
the silent count at home again but
it wasn't, you know, something that we haven't done before.
No, it's not. And it's probably not something that they will
stop doing.
Because when there's a big game look this is what happens when
you vacate a market for 20 years you're going to have
thousands of fans of every team in Los Angeles. So in that team
comes to town. They want to go
see that team play. It's that simple
and look. Regardless of that you're going to have Bills fans
but L I had no NFL teams for 20 years. You've got fans of every
team in LA and they go to those buildings when that building
When the Chargers are the Rams play. And that's just something
the Rams have to deal with. And it's it made their Super Bowl
victory,
even more impressive that they were able to do it without a true
home field advantage, even though they had home field for
the Super Bowl. But, you know, Peter,
one of the big topics of training camp in the preseason,
the Matthew Stafford, elbow injury, the wedding. A lot of
talk about it last night. And again, as I said earlier,
I don't know whether
they weren't throwing the ball
down the field because of the elbow or Because of Michael
hide and Jordan poyer,
who were keeping everything in front
of the,
the
them, and the secondary,
what we'll see next week and the week after how that elbow
holds up, but that continues to be a question mark because
number one Matthew Stafford. Threw the ball, a lot last
night that elbow may be sore today.
And number two, maybe we saw those short to intermediate
throws
because they really didn't want to open it up
and have him fire it.
40, 50 yards down the field.
Mike, the really noticeable thing last night was and you
know, when I visited the Rams in Camp, they were all in on
Allen Robinson and they felt like
this was going to be
the antidote to putting too much attention
on Cooper cup. And I remember leaving the Rams and just
having this feeling
and I wrote about it. I said it you know in a number of
occasions That you know to me I think Alan Robinson is going to
be a great not good but a great fantasy player this year
because I think he's going to have over 100
targets and blah blah blah blah blah. But last night
Allen Robinson had two Targets including one in garbage time
right? At the end on the last series so you know that's
something that McVeigh has to go back and look at, he's smart
enough to To figure out a way that even if, that
even if the safeties are playing deep and taking away,
those kinds of throws that Matthew Stafford loves to make,
I think it is, it's a little bit reactionary right now
to start saying, whoa, Matthew Stafford, zarm
Matthew Stafford, had a clean pocket, maybe three times all
night. Last night, he was under Relentless pressure.
That was the problem last night.
Not as elbow and and to me Sean McVeigh has to sit down and
he's got to say, okay,
I've got to figure out some other ways
that when we get frustrated like that, with Allen Robinson,
how can we get him in position
to make plays and to be a really good alternative
to Cooper cup?
You mentioned the running game that's going to be one of
the keys to taking the steam out of a pass rush 52. Rushing yards
for the Rams last night as we previously mentioned, Josh
Allen had 56,
so he out rushed the Rams, entire Team, all by himself,
cam Akers, fully healed. After last year's torn Achilles. He
came back for the regular season finale and played pretty
well in the postseason
given that he had missed almost all of the regular season. He
had three carries 40
In yards last night that is not going to make it any easier for
Matthew Stafford. To have time to set up and throw he did,
find Cooper cup 13 times for 128 yards, so much for teams,
taking him away.
MDS pointed out a great stat. Earlier this morning though, on
Twitter, Stafford, throwing to cup, eight and a half yards per
pass,
87 percent completion percentage. And a touchdown
Matthew Stafford throwing to all other receivers
4.3 yards per pass, 62 percent, completion percentage.
H zero touchdowns.
So
you know I thought that maybe
the plan for Sean McDermott Leslie, Frazier would be let's
come up with a way to take away Cooper cup and force Matthew
Stafford to go elsewhere. They found a way to say, let him
throw it, let him throw the cup
because what we can, we'll deal with that. We just won't let
him go anywhere else or when he tries to go anywhere else, it's
not going to work.
They have to develop something else
running game and or Allen Robinson a third row.
Eva that's reliable.
There's some possibilities there from Ben's quranic 222
out. Well, they've got some intriguing skill sets that they
can use to compliment
cup and Robinson. And then there's the looming possibility
of obj at some point who was at the game last night on
the sideline before the game part of the trophy and banner
raising. But
it just feels like they got to diversify that offense. Peter
can't just be Matthew. Stafford and Cooper cup. The numbers for
cup will be It'll again,
but it makes it harder to win games.
Look, I think it was very obvious, you know, at least to
me that the role that Odell Beckham jr. Played in
the pregame festivities, the fact that he's got a locker is
Jordan rodrigue of the athletic reported that he's got a locker
at their facility, waiting
for him, with his name plate on it. It would be a pretty big
upset if Beckham didn't re-sign with the Rams. But
we're talking about
Thanksgiving ish,
you know, so they have to fix this problem.
They can't wait for Odell Beckham to come in writing on
his White Horse. They got to fix this problem before then.
And yeah, I heard from somebody last night, whose opinion,
I always respect about how Brazen and blatant. The Rams are being
with this flirtation with obj. He's basically an unofficial
member
of the team. He's a 54th guy on the
From the locker to the presents last night to
just this overwhelming vibe that
it's a matter of time before he officially joins the team. But
my reaction that is any of the other 31 teams want to make him
an offer that he won't refuse. They could, they could sign
him. He's a free agent, he can do whatever he wants at this
point
and that's the one risk. The Rams taken playing the long game
with obj, and this is the hidden benefit that he has.
What if what if the
Rams, keep losing. He joked earlier this week. He'll sign
with whoever wins last night. Well, if I'm picking between
the two teams last night for my next destination and my goal is
to win another Super Bowl. I'm taking the bills
and maybe by Thanksgiving, ish Peter,
there will be another team
that Odell Beckham jr. Looks at and says that's that's where
I need to go. If I want to try to get another Super Bowl ring,
Thanks for the Memories Rams
but my destiny is calling elsewhere.
The risk, they're taking by not Gary. Well, I full flexibility
to go anywhere he wants,
could very well be. And here's the way I kind of look at it,
Mike. So
if you're O'Dell,
the one thing that is obvious
from people who know him,
he wants to play in Los Angeles,
you know. I think it is entirely possible. Okay,
I think. What is so interesting about this? This, I think it's
entirely possible
that while his long-term home is with the Rams,
you know, if the Rams are five and eight by the time he's
ready to play and that would be before then. But I mean if
they're struggling
by the time he's nearly ready to play.
Would it surprise you a lot
if Odell Beckham jr.
Sign with Team X
that has a little bit of cap room
and is near the top
just for a contract till the end.
Season
and then he'd be free again in March
able to sign wherever you wanted to. So he could actually
view this
as like a two-month road trip somewhere,
you know, from
you know, the middle of November till maybe, three
months, till the middle of February, he would hope. But
I think it's clear
that there is a bond between the Rams
and Beckham.
But I don't think it is obvious that he's going to sign there.
And you know Peter I'll say this
next Friday at this time.
The Chargers could be 2 and 0 or 1 and 1, or 0 and 2 there in
LA.
We don't know how they're going to be.
They got Justin Herbert good God,
if your Odell Beckham jr. And,
and if you want some favorable matchups,
he Keenan Allen and Mike Williams may help you get
favorable matchups if he would join the Chargers. But there's
another team in that same stadium that he could sign with
at some point. If they navigate, the first few months
of
the season in a way
that creates Oppression there going to be a content of
the problem with the AFC,
too many contenders.
I don't care what the bills did last night. You still got
the Chiefs, you've still got great teams, the Bengals who are
being completely overlooked. For some reason, you've got
other teams that could rise up and be really good like
the Chargers, like the Raiders, like the Broncos, like
the Steelers, like the Ravens,
and
it may benefit him to let some of the Season go by before he
makes that pic like you said, sign through the end of
the season.
And if he can get to a team that plays deep into the postseason,
he plays. Well like he was doing before. That ACL went,
you walk into free agency and you're a guy that gets signed
day one
and you get a huge contract on the open market because
he can still play at a high level, his teammates, love him,
and the game is more exciting
when he is part of
hit, subscribe for the latest news and Analysis from pro
football talk.