The RamCave
By Joe Torosian
Sunday night, I like the Rams over the Chicago Bears—34-17.
This is what I expect: tempo.
I always got the feeling in the Jared Goff era this was Sean McVay’s preference. You’d catch glimpses of it, but because Goff was so inconsistent, you didn’t see it a whole lot.
Goff melted in chaos. Matt Stafford spent the first 12 years of his career playing in Detroit (a synonym for chaos). It will be interesting to see if McVay sets a faster pace—especially with all the depth at wide receiver and the lack of a bell-cow running back.
Also, the Bears’ secondary is not very good.
What I expect from the Bears is their defense to come up the middle. Andrew Whitworth and Rob Havenstein are experienced tackles…but the Rams are starting Brian Allen at center. He hasn’t played a regular-season game since 2019 when he started nine games and was terrible.
Andrew Whitworth
Last Add Whitworth: I’ve been waiting for four years for the bill to come due on the 40-year-old left tackle…I hope I have to wait five. Good news is Joseph Noteboom is more than serviceable as a replacement at tackle.
The Bears’ best weapon is wide receiver Allen Robinson, but the Rams counter with Jalen Ramsey and Darious Williams. Their running game is suspect, and Andy Dalton should be under pressure all night.
I give it nine minutes before the first “Play Justin Fields/Bench Andy Dalton” post shows up in my Twitter feed. (And I don’t have a massive Twitter feed.)
Lastly—Keep an eye on the Rams Justin Hollins.
The Bears lead the Rams head-to-head: 54-38-3
But the Bears haven’t won in Los Angeles since December 26th, 1982.
In the 34-26 loss, the Rams Vince Ferragamo threw for 509-yards and three touchdowns. Wendell Tyler, George Farmer, and Preston Dennard all gained over a 100-yards receiving. Ferragamo threw two picks. One was by Jeff Fisher, then a Chicago cornerback.
Actually, the Bears won that ’82 game in Anaheim at the Big A. Technically, Inglewood’s not Los Angeles, but it’s close enough. So it’s fair to say the Bears haven’t won in Los Angeles since December 8th, 1968, when they beat the Rams, 17-16.
Jack Concannon was the Bears’ quarterback, the leading rusher was Brian Piccolo with 62-yards on 22-carries, and Dick Butkus picked off a pass.
Days & Numbers of Future Past:
Whitworth #77—(Gary Jeter, Doug France)
Havenstein #79—(Mike Fanning, Coy Bacon)
Noeteboom #70—(Infamy: Alex Barron, Wayne Gandy, Bill Hawkins—all #1 Picks)
Stafford #9—(Austin Davis, Mark Herrmann, Jeff Kemp, Bill Wade. Punter Rusty Jackson in 1976 was the last Ram to wear #9 as a full-time starter.)
Dallas at Tampa Bay: Notes
***Early on, I thought Dak Prescott’s arm looked a little soft. If they’re using techniques from MLB to manage Dak’s arm, shouldn’t he be on an Attempt (Pitch) Count?
***Shaq Barrett? I know he registered a sack, but he costs too much and produces too little.
***Watching Tom Brady play quarterback is the equivalent of listening to Pachelbel’s “Cannon in D.”
***I thought Rob Gronkowski was supposed to be a complementary player? Same with Antonio Brown.
***Remember the big deal made about Tampa Bay bringing Chris Godwin back?
***Ezekiel Elliott not being in the Dallas backfield on a 3rd-&-1 late in the fourth quarter is kind of telling.
***Funny that it was an offensive pass interference call that crushed the Cowboys against the Rams in last season’s opener. This year’s opener, same side of the field, and it’s not called…How marvelous.
Offensive Line Scoreboard from The Dark Side of The Moon
Tampa Bay
LT: Donovan Smith—B+
LG: Ali Marpet—C+
C: Ryan Jensen—A
RG: Alex Cappa—A-
RT: Tristan Wirfs—A-
Dallas
LT: Tyron Smith—A-
LG: Connor Williams—C
C: Tyler Biadasz—B+
RG: Connor McGovern—B+
RT: La’el Collins—A-
Week-1 Picks
(Winners in Bold)
Jets-Panthers—Carolina needs this to begin HC Matt Rhule’s second season.
Jaguars-Texans—Easy to take Jags, smarter to take Houston.
Chargers-Washington—I was a Redskins fan, not a DC fan. But the Chargers are going to Charger.
Packers-Saints—Rooting for Jameis Winston, but never Saints. Green Bay is better.
Eagles-Falcons—Take Philly, leave the cannolis.
Vikings-Bengals—Imagine life as a Bengals fan. Go with the Norsemen.
Seahawks-Colts—Indy’s not ready, Seattle needs every “W” living in the NFC West.
Browns-Chiefs—KC. Come again? KC. One more time? KC.
Broncos-Giants—Go with the G-Men at home.
Steelers-Bills—Josh Allen, believe it or not, needs to prove 2020 wasn’t a fluke.
49ers-Lions—The NFC West is tougher than any Lions den.
Cardinals-Titans—Cards are pretenders, Titans believe they’re contenders. Need to prove it.
Dolphins-Patriots—Miami’s getting there, New England lives there. Everyone will love Mac Jones when this is over.
Monday Night
Ravens-Raiders—When I was writing at The Mid, I was against Jon Gruden’s return to the Raiders. Still am…Gruden’s being exposed. Baltimore, even with everyone in the running back room on crutches.
Joe T. is the author of “Tangent Dreams: A High School Football Novel” … “Temple City & The Company of The Ages” … “The Dead Bug Tales” … “The Dark Norm” & “FaithViews for Storm Riders”…all five available through Amazon.com.
www.JoeTorosian.com
jtbank1964@yahoo.com
Follow Joe on Twitter @joet13b
Instagram: @joet13b
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College Hoops Breakdown—Every Monday
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From The RamCave—Every Friday
