Week 7 perspective recap
Back on top on the scoreboard, the Rams move out to 5-2 in the brutally competitive NFC West. Oh and soup.
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FOOTBALL
A much needed response after the loss in Week 6 to the San Francisco 49ers saw the Los Angeles Rams dismantle the Chicago Bears in Week 7, 24-10.
Let’s recap.
Injuries
Terrell Burgess! Such promise! Such potential!
Sigh.
A gross ankle has done in his 2020 season. Here’s hoping he comes back 100% for 2021. Assuming FS John Johnson moves on, a trio of S Taylor Rapp and SS Jordan Fuller along with Burgess could be a lot of fun both for us to watch and for DC Brandon Staley to work with.
Rams HC Sean McVay said that was the only injury coming out of the game to affect Week 8, but we know things can pop off during the practice week so let’s see how it goes.
Making things interesting is the activation of DT A’Shawn Robinson coming in for his first action of the year. We’ll have to see how much he might actually play on Sunday (I wouldn’t anticipate a ton), but he could certainly have a major impact after the bye. And it’ll be an interesting return from rest for the team overall who should get Fuller back and perhaps EDGE Ogbonnia Okoronkwo not long after.
Performance Issues
Not a ton to really criticize outside of perhaps kicking…and that’s been adressed!
I might also pull a weekly tab out for McVay’s timeout usage, but we know that’s not going to change any time soon and I’ve expended all my rage at needlessly yelling into the void in 2020 so I’m pretty much at a point of acceptance now.
I might toss a small flier out noting QB Jared Goff’s decision making in the first half where he tossed a couple ducks out instead of either throwing the ball away or taking off or even taking the sack. He was quite fortunate not to have any of them picked off, and that’s not the dice you wanna roll against much of the competition after the bye.
Standings
There’s probably not going to be a ton of sorting this out beside the intradivisional games coming up after the bye. It’s too close, and all four of us are good enough to win most of our non-divisional games.
The only note I might put next to that is the San Francisco 49ers. I made some allusions on Twitter toward the idea that had we beaten them in Week 6 that you might have been able to effectively argue that their 2020 season was for the most part finished. A two-win streak over the Rams and New England Patriots have obviously brought them back within striking distance, but the scheduling effects of having finished first in the division last year are coming home to roost now. They travel to face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday only to play on a short week at home against the Green Bay Packers in Week 9. Then they’re back on the road to deal with the New Orleans Saints ahead of their Week 11 bye and then on to LA for a return engagement against us in Week 12. Seattle, Green Bay, New Orleans and us. That’s a combined 19-6 they’re facing in their next four games. Worst of luck to you!
Not sure there’s a playoff picture really taking shape yet especially in the expanded 2020 format especially especially with the NFC East. We might only be able to pretty much begin phasing out the 1-win teams not in the East…which only eliminates two. Maybe Week 8 helps begin to separate things, but as per usual the parity of the league and per unusual number of postseason slots is keeping the playoff window wide open for nearly everyone in the conference.
FOOD
It’s gettin cold! Time for soup! I love soup season. It’s like wearing a coat inside your body. And it’s also like a war against weather, and I enjoy a good fight.
“What’s that? You’re gonna make my skin cold and make the air I breathe into my face sharp and spike-y? Take this hot meat water, you sumbish!”
Plus, soup is more diverse than we give it. You’ve got thinner brothier soups and creamier heavier soups laden down by flour. The whole spectrum can be fantastic especially when you match the soup to the event.
It’s hard to enjoy a thick creamy chowder inside in the comforts of a home heated by our technological advances. It’s impossible not to enjoy a thick creamy chowder confronted by the sting of a gray, windy day after Halloween. There are many things Boston gets very, very, very wrong. This is not one of them.
Every year I play with clam chowder. Every year, I get through 2-3 variations and they’re all good and I can’t really lean into a single one.
I’ll do it again this year.
I’ll be just as indecisive a year from now.
God bless.
FUCKERY
The Los Angeles Dodgers. It only took 32 years.
Champions.