Four Down Territory: NFL Week 16

December 24, 2019
258

First Down 

The Rams are paying top-10 money to the following positions. All stats are from overthecap.com (OTC)

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This excludes Jalen Ramsey, who’s going to demand north of $15 million per year. According to OTC, the Rams rank 24th in available salary cap space for 2020 at close to $22 million. If the resign Ramsey, which they will, since they gave up two first round picks to grab him.

Oh yeah, Dante Fowler will also be a free agent this offseason.

Speaking of the draft, here are the picks the Rams currently own for the next few years.

2020: 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 6, 7

Related Articles

2021: 2, 3, 6, 7

The Rams haven’t had a first round pick in a long time, come to think of it.

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Limiting your resources would be fine if the team was winning but the Rams are 8-7 and have been eliminated from the playoffs. On the surface their offense is fine being that they still rank top ten in yards per game but they went from second in points per game in 2019 to twelfth. The defense is in the same range in points per game but have added eight more sacks since 2019 with one more game left to play. So, all things considered, that side of the ball has remained the same.

It’s clear that Goff has regressed throughout the season, missing easy throws and not seeing the field clearly.

The chicken/egg question to ask is this; is Goff’s regression due to the lack of a good offensive line or has his regression made the offensive line look bad? Betting money would say the former but the case can still be made.

Alright, the Rams have taken a step back but don’t have the cap space or top tier draft capital to turn this team around. How do they get themselves out of this mess?

First; they need to hit home runs on the draft picks they do have. That’s a lot of pressure on the scouting department but it is what it is. It’s the only way to get better and save money on rookie deals.

Second; it’s time for Sean McVay to be the genius he’s heralded to be. The past couple of years anyone who’s touched the hem of his playbook has gotten a job in the NFL and now it’s time to prove why that’s the case.

Third; Rams management need to find a way to get out of bad contracts; Todd Gurley’s in particular. His arthritic knee is only getting worse and putting him on a “pitch count” is severely hindering this offense. Unfortunately it won’t make financial sense to cut him until 2021.

LA will be opening a new stadium next year, hopefully it has other entertainment options because, as constructed, this team will be looking at 8-8 or 9-7 again.

Second Down 

That boy Carson Wentz is something else…

Let the record show that this accomplishment has occurred while he’s missing three starting wide receivers, starting running back, right tackle, and his star tight end missing time during the game with a rib injury. An injury that turned out to be broken.

Carson’s December run has been nothing short of magical. Beating three divisional opponents, two with game winning drives, to take first place in the NFC East.

He’s also lost a fumble, to be fair.

If the Eagles wanna make the playoffs it’s simple; beat the Giants in New York on Sunday. If they do make it that means meeting a Seattle team in Philadelphia in a rematch of week 12.

Are the Eagles good enough to win the Super Bowl? Probably not. They are good enough to make someone sweat in January, though.

And as an Eagles fan who has had to sit through all of these injuries, that’s all one can ask for.

Third Down

Michael Thomas is quietly having one of the best years in NFL history.

It’s always great to highlight players on the field but it’s even better to talk about the work they do off of it.

We take so much time to talk about what’s wrong with NFL players and their missteps that we sometimes miss all the good players do in their community. Thomas could easily go home after practice and do rich people stuff but instead he invests in those around him. And we all can agree that Saints fans are some of the most annoying beings on the planet but we all can gather ’round the fire for this story.

Warms the heart this holiday season.

Fourth Down 

PICK TIME!!!

Last week yours truly had a rough week and went 7-9. The season total is now 107-65. Let’s do this one more time for the regular season.

Winners are in red.

Sunday Afternoon 

Green Bay @ Detroit

New York Jets @ Buffalo

Miami @ New England 

Chicago @ Minnesota

Los Angeles Chargers @ Kansas City

Cleveland @ Cincinnati

New Orleans @ Carolina

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay 

Indianapolis @ Jacksonville

Philadelphia @ New York Giants

Arizona @ Los Angeles Rams 

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore

Tennessee @ Houston 

Oakland @ Denver 

Washington @ Dallas

Sunday Night 

San Francisco @ Seattle

Extra Points 

I’M HERE FOR ADAM’S RICH ENERGY

Pro Bowl bound.

Which one which?

MVP for the next 5 seasons!

@madads14

As always, thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

 

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December 24, 2019
258