Let's begin the discussion of what the Rams need to do to avenge their loss earlier this year at new orleans. Personally, i think the Rams have a 50-50 chance at this game and the formula for victory is not complicated and frankly, similar to last week against dallas.

First, as in any game, red zone and turnovers are critical. Red zone is an area we have all agreed the Rams can improve. When i say turnovers, i also mean turnover opportunities, such as the chance ebukam had yesterday on the potential pick six and the chance graham had in the philly game today when he failed to recover the fumble after he tried to run with it.

Red zones and turnovers are givens. Let's put them aside.

The relatively straightforward points. First and foremost, the Rams need to be able to run the ball enough to take the pressure off Goff and make play action effective. Second, we need to be able to control the new orleans running game which will help us put pressure on brees which is what dallas did successfully to win against new orleans and what philly was able to do for the first 1 and a half quarters today. We didnt get pressure in the first game and brees lit us up for 45 points. Same thing happened today after philly stopped getting pressure. To state the obvious, Brees is not prescott, dont count on him missing open receivers if you don't get in his face. Next, we need a plan to control michael thomas. He absolutely killed us last time and that was with talib out and he murdered philly today. With the game on the line, 3rd and 13, and philly has single man coverage on him with an average db and of course brees hits him for a critical first down. We will see how much of a difference Talib can really make next week.

So, to me, run the ball (then use play action, taking what the defense gives you), control the saints running game, pressure brees up the middle, stop thomas from killing us, convert in the red zone, and win the turnover battle and we are on our way to Atlanta to the big dance. Let's hope that McVay can learn from the last game at new orleans and can give goff the best chance to succeed both with play calling and coaching him all week on taking what the defense gives him.

I think the fact that we faced that hostile crowd earlier this year has got to help us as the environment will not be new to us. Let's hope we dont dig ourselves a big hole like we did last time.

I really dont think its all that complicated. Execution is another story, but we will see how far we have come. McRammer keeps beating the drum and he has a great point. These games are typically won in the trenches. I don't want to count on Goff having to outperform brees slinging it around 40 times or more, its about pounding them into submission or at least pounding them enough to give goff a reasonable chance which he showed he could do against them the first time around.

Ramming...

The Rams won their first playoff game of the McVay era and advanced to the nfc championship game next sunday by thoroughly running the ball down dallas' throat on the way to a hard fought 30-22 victory. The Rams gained 273 yards rushing on 48 attempts for a 5.7 average against a dallas defense that completely shut down the #1 ranked chickens run game in their playoff win last weekend. Both Gurley (16-115) and CJ (23-123) ran for over 100 yards, the first time in Rams playoff history that two backs have done so in the same game. The Rams recorded three rushing touchdowns and the dominance by the offensive line in the trenches allowed the Rams to control the clock, leading to an almost 37-23 advantage in time of possession. When you consider that the Rams did not turn the ball over all game, punted only once, held Elliott to 47 yards rushing on 20 carries, converted 7-13 on third and fourth down while holding dallas to 1-10 on third down and recording one huge fourth down stop, you pretty much explain the Rams victory. But for some early redzone struggles and a brutal drop by Ebukam on a sure pick six, this game would have been over a lot sooner. The Rams really deserved to win this game and they now await the winner of the philadelphia vs new orleans game to see who they play for a chance to go to the big dance.


The Good

Offensive line, offensive line and offensive line. Absolute dominance both in the run game and in pass protection. 273 yards rushing!!!!! Goff was not sacked and was not hit much. The holes at the point of attack in the running game were sensational, especially when you consider the quality of the opposition. All five guys played well and they were terrific as a unit. Needless to say, if we can run the ball the way we did today, we are going to be very very very tough to beat by anyone anywhere. Just absolutely outstanding play. With the game on the line and McVay going hyper aggressive on 4th and about one and a half rather than kicking the field goal to make it a two score game, the oline did the job and created enough of a hole for CJ to plow into the end zone and make it a 15 point game. Really can't say enough about the way the Rams offensive line took over the game and imposed their will on the dallas defense. By far Sullivan's best game of the year.

Gurley and CJ were both terrific, showing power, speed and ball security. Gurley showed great burst on his 35 yard touchdown run to put the Rams ahead 20-7 late in the second quarter. Great run. CJ was critical today because Gurley obviously needed to be spelled because of his month off on the cardio side. You have to give Snead huge credit for finding CJ after Malcolm Brown went out for the year with the shoulder injury. We are not here in my view without CJ and he will likely remain an important part of our title run because he can keep Gurley fresh and provide very hard running between the tackles.

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CJ. Quite possibly the Rams best late season addition EVER!