WEEK 11: LA Rams VS Minnesota Vikings Discussion

[J. Kapp 11]

On the other hand...Case Keenum. He's played very, very well this year - he had a game or two like that with the Rams, but we know his shortcomings all too well. The Rams offense has taken the spotlight away from the defense, but the D has been amazing over the past 5 games. We're right there with the Vikings in some categories.

With all due respect, how can you give props to Jared Goff for his improvement post-Fisher, but not give credit to Case Keenum for the same thing?

If anybody should know how devastating a quarterback killer Jeff Fisher is, it's Ram fans. Sam Bradford never had a chance. Fisher ruined Nick Foles, who threw 27 TDs and 2 ints for the Eagles before The Killer got his mitts on him. Jared Goff looked completely overmatched last year, and Keenum had no hope of flourishing under Fisher's conservative system. Your team's turnaround is due almost completely to Sean McVay. Obviously nobody knew that a 32-year-old could turn a team around like this, but he's been a breath of fresh air for Goff. There is no doubt in my mind that Case Keenum would be a far better quarterback under McVay than he was under Fisher.

Also, it's important to note that Case Keenum has undergone a similar renaissance here with the Vikings as Goff has with the Rams. We have a good system and good weapons, and our offensive line is very much improved. As he's grown in confidence, Keenum has improved, as well -- I'm pretty confident he's playing consistently better than he ever did for the Rams. With that in mind, I think it's disingenuous to simply say, "We know what Keenum is." I would contend you know what "Keenum under Fisher" was. Prepare to be surprised.

Finally, this will be a good game. But if you think the Rams are beating this Vikings team by 9 in its own stadium ... well, good luck with that.

[J. Kapp 11]

Oh my gosh. I just read Mike Florio's prediction for the game -- he picks the Vikings by 4.

This is the same guy who said last week that the Vikings were worse than 6-2, the Redskins were better than 4-4, and it was "correction Sunday." Didn't bother to mention his extreme lack of judgment this week as he predicts us to beat the 7-2 Rams.

Obviously, I believe the Vikings are going to win. But what a tool Florio is.

[John_Viveiros]

Hey all. I was creeping on this board to see what you guys are talking about and remembered I may have joined here a few years ago...awesome.

Great match up Sunday, and who would have thought? Well....maybe you guys, but definitely not me.

Rams fans (or at least this one) are still in shock. Going from where we've been to this year, weak schedule or not, is like going from having no car to driving a Ferrari. Shock.

I don't really know how to view this game: on the one hand, the Vikings defense is scary. As a poster pointed out above, Goff hasn't done so well against defenses like the Vikings. For that reason, win or lose, I'll be watching Goff and the passing game very closely hoping to see progress.

On the other hand...Case Keenum. He's played very, very well this year - he had a game or two like that with the Rams, but we know his shortcomings all too well. The Rams offense has taken the spotlight away from the defense, but the D has been amazing over the past 5 games. We're right there with the Vikings in some categories.

As someone else pointed out above, you'll want to run the ball on us. Even though Thielen and Diggs are amazing, our pass defense is not really what you want to test. We'll give up some chunk yards when a team has established the run, but you definitely want to run the ball - straight at us. We're incredibly undersized up the middle, with no true nose tackle and undersized LBs manning the middle.

Special teams have gotten some love because we're winning - having arguably the best kicker to go along with the best punter in the NFL, a good return man and good coverage units seems like an embarrassment of riches to add onto a team with a top offense and defense. If the offense struggles, it's going to be really tough to get a win. Defense will have to come to play and limit the Vikings offense.

I've gone back and forth about this game. I've said 32-23 Rams (6 FGs, 2 TDs for the Rams, half of which would come from field position created by defense and special teams), to thinking it could be 24-17 Vikings. Two teams that are pretty evenly matched, it seems like this game will come down to turn overs. The Rams are 5-0 in games played outside of LA, so the team will have a ton of confidence - but the Vikings stadium will probably be the loudest we've played in this year.

Here's to a great game.

Welcome back! You guys have had a good year this year. We're hoping this isn't a replay of 1999, where the Rams came out of nowhere to surpass our Vikings and win your first Superbowl. As Mansquatch said above, the Rams look like a good team who has had an easy schedule, but I would not be shocked to see them beat the Vikes in this game. The Vikes seem to be about 60-40 to win this one, which still leaves a lot of scenarios where it's the Rams who move to 8-2.

I'm getting the feeling that this game is going to be a blowout, one way or the other. One of the teams will get a lead, and the other team will press and make mistakes, and it will get out of hand, one way or another. Both QB's run a bit hot and cold, it seems to me. Of course, I'm never right about these things.

[808vikingsfan]

I don't know how much I buy that the Rams have played an easy schedule so far, especially this year. There are no guarantee wins this year. They are blowing out their competition. They blanked AZ. How often do you see a team shutout another?

IMO, the Rams are probably the best team in the NFL. The only team that may be better are the Saints because of Brees. The only weakness I see is Goff. His inexperience may be the Rams downfall. I think to beat the Rams, you have to rattle Goff. To get to Goff, you need to contain Gurley.

I think the Vikings match up well with the Rams but they need a healthy Griffen and Keenum needs to play a mistake free game.

I wish the Vikings had Cook. A homerun threat would take a lot of pressure off the passing game.

I'm glad they're playing this game at home.

[FrantikRam]

With all due respect, how can you give props to Jared Goff for his improvement post-Fisher, but not give credit to Case Keenum for the same thing?

If anybody should know how devastating a quarterback killer Jeff Fisher is, it's Ram fans. Sam Bradford never had a chance. Fisher ruined Nick Foles, who threw 27 TDs and 2 ints for the Eagles before The Killer got his mitts on him. Jared Goff looked completely overmatched last year, and Keenum had no hope of flourishing under Fisher's conservative system. Your team's turnaround is due almost completely to Sean McVay. Obviously nobody knew that a 32-year-old could turn a team around like this, but he's been a breath of fresh air for Goff. There is no doubt in my mind that Case Keenum would be a far better quarterback under McVay than he was under Fisher.

Also, it's important to note that Case Keenum has undergone a similar renaissance here with the Vikings as Goff has with the Rams. We have a good system and good weapons, and our offensive line is very much improved. As he's grown in confidence, Keenum has improved, as well -- I'm pretty confident he's playing consistently better than he ever did for the Rams. With that in mind, I think it's disingenuous to simply say, "We know what Keenum is." I would contend you know what "Keenum under Fisher" was. Prepare to be surprised.

Finally, this will be a good game. But if you think the Rams are beating this Vikings team by 9 in its own stadium ... well, good luck with that.

I actually talked about Goff in my previous post - so I am by no means saying that he's "arrived". Goff is the biggest concern for this game, just as Keenum should be the Vikings biggest concern.

Having said that, Case is short and has questionable arm strength - I'm sure he has improved with the Vikings (from what I've seen he definitely has) - but he was undrafted for a reason, and he was not a good QB under prior coaching either. He has limitations and the most of the players on the Rams went to work with him day in and day out last year.

I agree that it will be a good game.

[Raptorman]

I don't know how much I buy that the Rams have played an easy schedule so far, especially this year. There are no guarantee wins this year. They are blowing out their competition. They blanked AZ. How often do you see a team shutout another?

IMO, the Rams are probably the best team in the NFL. The only team that may be better are the Saints because of Brees. The only weakness I see is Goff. His inexperience may be the Rams downfall. I think to beat the Rams, you have to rattle Goff. To get to Goff, you need to contain Gurley.

I think the Vikings match up well with the Rams but they need a healthy Griffen and Keenum needs to play a mistake free game.

I wish the Vikings had Cook. A homerun threat would take a lot of pressure off the passing game.

I'm glad they're playing this game at home.

The following is a list of the bottom 10 teams on defense for scoring. In other words, the teams that give up the most points per game. The Viking have played 2 of these teams, the Rams, 6. But yeah, their good.

Code: Select all

23	Arizona Cardinals	24.8
24	Miami Dolphins	24.9
25	Tennessee Titans	25.3
26	Washington Redskins	25.8
27	San Francisco 49ers	26
28	New York Giants	26.4
29	Denver Broncos	26.6
30	Cleveland Browns	26.7
31	Houston Texans	26.8
32	Indianapolis Colts	28

[808vikingsfan]

Bucky Brooks breaks down the Week 11 matchup between Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff, and the Minnesota Vikings defense.

Tidbit from this video: 18 of the Vikings 25 sacks were recorded with rushing 4 or fewer.

Jared Goff vs. the Vikings Defense: Who has the Edge? | Scouting Report | NFL Network

[J. Kapp 11]

I actually talked about Goff in my previous post - so I am by no means saying that he's "arrived". Goff is the biggest concern for this game, just as Keenum should be the Vikings biggest concern.

Having said that, Case is short and has questionable arm strength - I'm sure he has improved with the Vikings (from what I've seen he definitely has) - but he was undrafted for a reason, and he was not a good QB under prior coaching either. He has limitations and the most of the players on the Rams went to work with him day in and day out last year.

I agree that it will be a good game.

Sorry, I probably came off as defensive. I guess my cage gets rattled when people say, "We know who he is." What if key decision makers had made that assessment of Jared Goff after last year's dumpster fire?

Yes, Keenum is undersized, and he doesn't have a cannon. At the same time, Drew Brees has managed to make it work despite the same limitations. Russell Wilson is even shorter than Brees (although he's got a gun). When you're short, you have to make up for it other ways. Keenum does (at least this year). He's smart, he's a tremendous leader, he's mobile in and out of the pocket, and he's improving weekly. Also, I'd say he's getting far better coaching than he's ever had at any level. Is his ceiling as high as Goff or Wentz? Heck no. Does he occasionally make you scratch your head? Sure. Has his ball placement been a concern? Yes, but even THAT is improving. The bottom line is that Case Keenum is, right now, a Top-15 quarterback in the league for this year. There's a reason for THAT -- it's his play. As I've pointed out in other threads, his advanced passing metrics are ALL over 100 (league average) except for TD%+, which is just a tick below at 99.

For the most part, a quarterback's performance has little to do with his draft position. Tom Brady famously was a 6th-round draft choice. Brees was 2nd round. Russell Wilson 3rd round. Dak Prescott 4th round. Josh McCown 3rd round. Kirk Cousins 4th round. in fact, 8 of the top 15 in QBR this year are not first-round picks. And I can name plenty of first-round flameouts. Even Alex Smith was No. 1 overall, but he's done next to nothing until this year (heck, he's never thrown for more than 3,502 yards -- Bradford threw for 3,800 last year). It's rare, but players can emerge out of the darkest of draft shadows, and players can emerge late. I'm not saying Case Keenum is going to be the next Tom Brady. But "we know who he is" isn't nearly as accurate as "we know who he WAS."

I also realize the chances of Case Keenum being the Vikings quarterback in 2018 are slim. Teddy Bridgewater is likely to win back the job at some point. Based on his solid play this season, Case will want a chance to start somewhere. So he's probably gone. But for now, I like the way he's playing.

[S197]

I'm also glad this game is at home, it may be the difference maker. I haven't watched much of the Rams this year so I don't have much input other than I had a dream last night that the Vikings won 54-34.

This isn't a make or break game for either team but it could certainly put one in the driver's seat.

[Dmizzle0]

I'm also glad this game is at home, it may be the difference maker. I haven't watched much of the Rams this year so I don't have much input other than I had a dream last night that the Vikings won 54-34.

This isn't a make or break game for either team but it could certainly put one in the driver's seat.

True but if you look up some clips of some Rams home games, you'll see that their stadium arent even half filled

[Raptorman]

True but if you look up some clips of some Rams home games, you'll see that their stadium arent even half filled

Well, it does seat 93,600. So, it may be more full than you think.

[S197]

True but if you look up some clips of some Rams home games, you'll see that their stadium arent even half filled

Even with their record? That's surprising.

[808vikingsfan]

Well, it does seat 93,600. So, it may be more full than you think.

looks like the Rams are ranked #9 in attendance through week 10 averaging almost 74K /week. Vikings at #19 averaging 69K/week

[PurpleMustReign]

looks like the Rams are ranked #9 in attendance through week 10 averaging almost 74K /week. Vikings at #19 averaging 69K/week

Is that at home only or for every game?

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

[808vikingsfan]

looks like the Rams are ranked #9 in attendance through week 10 averaging almost 74K /week. Vikings at #19 averaging 69K/week

Is that at home only or for every game?

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk[/quote]

Home games.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/attendance/_/sort/allAvg