The Rams played playoff level football for the second week in a row exhausting philadelphia 37-19 and pushing their record to 2-0 with a quality road win. With the exception of a couple of botched plays that kept the game closer than it should have been, the Rams were really exceptional today in so many respects, especially on offense.They made some huge plays on defense, including a game altering diving INT in the end zone by darius williams to kill a late third quarter eagles drive, along with a handful of critical red zone and third and fourth down stops. The game plan was solid and Goff executed really well, connecting for three td's to our all pro tight end Tyler Higbee. Our red zone performance was night and day improved from last week and we ran the ball very effectively, wearing down the philadelphia defense, while our defense held wentz and company to only 3 second half points. A really big win in so many way, especially with a brutal road game ahead next week in buffalo and hopefully a performance the Rams can continue to build on.
The Good
Goff was excellent today with 20-27-267, 3 td's to higbee, no interceptions and a rating of 142. The last td to higbee for 28 yards was really a beautifully designed play and higbee was wide open for what was effectively the game clincher. He started out like a house of fire, hitting his first 13. He was deadly on the play action bootlegs and made some really terrific throws. No, he wasnt perfect and continues to struggle when under pressure, and he did miss one huge throw for a td to an open henderson that could really have impacted the game, but Goff has really proven that with time and a running game, he is very accurate and plays at a very high level. Still needs to show he can make the throws with guys in his face, but lets hope our running game and therefore our play action stays effective, allowing him to be comfortable in the pocket and step into the throws as often as possible. He clearly outplayed wentz today and that was a real difference in the game.
The running game was outstanding with 39-191-4.9 average. McVay stayed with the running game again which was really important. One long run, but otherwise, just some solid pounding and some reasonable blocking by the offensive line, higbee and woods (who is just a sensational all around player, i loved the comparison spielman made to larry fitzgerald, high praise indeed). One exception on the run blocking, see below. Offensive line also deserves credit on the pass blocking, allowing only one sack (although it was a big one) and not many pressure, which really was a function of the run game and the play action. Edwards stepped in and played fine after Noteboom left with the calf injury.
Kiser had 16 tackles and a forced fumble early that was recovered by kenny young leading to our first td!!! That's quite an afternoon. Solid, not spectacular, not too fast, but pretty darn reliable....
