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because if the Rams can’t get going against

in Balance Discussion Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:47 am
by elaine95 • Farseer | 399 Posts | 3990 Points

New England Patriots (4-2) at Chicago Bears (3-2)1:00pm ET Jack Youngblood Jersey , CBSInteresting game here. The Pats are riding a three-game winning streak while the Bears look to continue one of the better turnarounds from 2017. At home, it’s certainly going to set up well for the Bears to pull for the upset. Would make perhaps for more of an interesting setting were the weather befitting of a Pats-Bears matchup...Buffalo Bills (2-4) at Indianapolis Colts (1-5)1:00pm ET, CBSWoof.Reminder: the Bills beat the Minnesota Vikings in Minnesota in Week 3, 27-6. The NFL is very NFL.Detroit Lions (2-3) at Miami Dolphins (4-2)1:00pm ET, FOXThe Dolphins have a chance to start 5-2, but the odds have swung against it entirely. The Fins opened as four-point favorites, but the Lions are now favored by a field goal.Minnesota Vikings (3-2-1) at New York Jets (3-3)1:00pm ET, FOXThis might be the game of the early slate with both teams trying to stay in mix of the developing playoff settings. After a season in which they reached the NFC Championship, the Vikes have gone without a win in three of their first six games. Meanwhile Torry Holt Jersey , the Jets have really picked up their game in 2018. While I’m skeptical of how long they can sustain this level of play, defending home field against the Vikings would be an impressive statement.Carolina Panthers (3-2) at Philadelphia Eagles (3-3)1:00pm ET, FOXAnother captivating matchup that might be less about who wins and more about who loses.Cleveland Browns (2-3-1) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-3)1:00pm ET, FOXThe Browns have been a fun team early on if only for escaping the absolute bottom of the barrel that they’ve occupied in recent years. Still...they’re 2-3-1 and well beyond the mark right now. If they can get a road win here though, things get really fun with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs up the next two weeks. The Bucs on the other hand are on a three-game losing streak with QB Jameis Winston now two games removed from his suspension.Houston Texans (3-3) at Jacksonville Jaguars (3-3)1:00pm ET, CBSYES PLEASE. The Los Angeles Rams trudged through a funky one on Sunday Night Football to get a big win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 3, 20-13.Lots to unpack, but let’s take perspective of the bigger picture here on Overreaction Monday.InjuriesThankfully, the Rams didn’t seem to add anyone to the injury list. The bigger factor here though was the impact of the two guys who were out: TE Tyler Higbee and RG Austin Blythe.The latter’s absence meant OL Jamil Demby got the start Orlando Pace Jersey , and he predictably had a rough go of it early on. He, and his interior linemates in LG Joseph Noteboom and C Brian Allen, had some tough work in the first half. They improved over the course of the game which is good to see from some younger players. It meant though that Rams Head Coach Sean McVay couldn’t rely on the young trio early on which meant the Rams had to restrict their offense with the Browns going six-wide up front. The results were pretty unenjoyable, but such was the cost of not having a line to trust. There’s a fair question to be asked why McVay preferred WR screens to HB screens with RB Todd Gurley to try to work against the Browns’ blitz packages, but overall the Rams couldn’t find much success with those and certainly nothing like what the Browns got on their well-timed screen call to RB Nick Chubb.As for Higbee’s absence, it meant QB Jared Goff didn’t have one of his favorite release valves available. It’s certainly fair to wonder what the impact was there in the first half, though at least he had WR Cooper Kupp as a go to.But hopefully it was a one off. Higbee and Blythe might be back next week, and these things might have been an anomaly if McVay can trust his OL’s second half performance more than their first half showing.Performance issuesWhile a lot of the issues were related to the absences above, the two concerning performances on offense were from Goff and Gurley. Neither did themselves any favors to correct the narratives around them coming into this season in Week 3. Hopefully we get an offensive explosion to put to bed the growing concerns Deacon Jones Jersey , because if the Rams can’t get going against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks those concerns are going to gain quite a bit of validity.Defensively though...wow. The combination of the Rams’ secondary working in tandem with DL Aaron Donald up front is absolutely shutting things down overall. It’s early, but Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips is in the running for coach of the year.StandingsThe Seahawks came up just short at home against the New Orleans Saints in Week 3. Otherwise, we’d be talking about three undefeated teams in the NFC West. It’s still the highest win total of any three teams in a division through three games.As for the conference:Four undefeateds. The real surprise might be the Detroit Lions. Gotta wonder if that Week 1 tie against the Arizona Cardinals is going to come back to bite them. And with the Chicago Bears and Washington Monday Night Football Players on Monday Night Football tonight remaining, some very surprising teams at 1-2. Not quite panic mode for the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles...but only just. A loss in Week 4 for any would likely kick panic mode into full swing.

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