All Things Rams - Stafford Thread

[Cody_Russell]

Well, that’s depressing. I’m totally wrong. What a gutsy performance by Baker Mayfield and total choke job by the Raiders.

All time conservative Raiders offense. Choke by the Raiders defense in the 4th. Sucks for our draft pick.

[Nick Pappageorgio]

Yeah…a great performance by Mayfield. He’s never even practiced with the team

[Cody_Russell]

What hurts about it is the Raiders felt in control for 95% of the game. So many chances to end the game. A few boneheaded plays by the Raiders mixed in.

Now the Rams have some life. Sucks. Total tease of a game.

[CGVT]

Well, that sucked.

It was pretty good football game, though

[Forsh]

As soon as the Panthers cut him this was my fear

[JGSpartan]

When people say prevent defense prevents you from winning they are ignoring games like this. The Raiders did not protect the deep balls and they got burned.

[ghandi]

As soon as the Panthers cut him this was my fear

Mine too....Mayfield is a vet that can win an occasional game, just like this one...The Raiders are just awful....What a terrible hire for head coach.

[dpatnod]

I got home in time to see the last 9 minutes or so. Wow. That was Stafford Ball-esque.

[Mainevent]

Well that sucked. Fucking Raiders.

[froot loops]

Always fade the Raiders

[Cody_Russell]

This chart… exactly. The perception of the entire game felt like a Raiders win. Rams kept prevailing one play after another:

- It was 16-3. Raiders forced a punt. Clelin Ferrell jumped offsides to give the Rams a free 1st down.
- Rams converted on a handful of 3rd and 4th downs to make the game 16-10.
- Raiders go 3 and out. I thought the game would be over because the Raiders had a 3rd & 1 opportunity. Nope. Stuffed.
- Raiders big punt to the 2 yard line. I thought the game was over once again because no way Baker Mayfield drives 98 yards in 110 seconds. No timeouts.
- Raiders INT. Nope. Pass interference. Tease.
- Raiders big time sack that surely would have made it impossible. Nope. Erased by personal foul.
- Rams miracle big pass plays to their non-Cooper Kupp or Allen Robinson WRs. Raiders safety play or defensive play-calling questionable.

Why does this feel like the worst sports loss of the year to me… oh right, Michigan is 13-0 and I’ve watched the Lions with a hedging feeling all season. It’s going to suck if TCU upsets Michigan like this. Higher stakes.

[Futureshock]

NFL...

Uncalled holding fouls fuel another primetime comeback

Posted by Mike Florio on December 9, 2022, 6:43 AM EST

Getty Images

For the second time in four nights, a team trailing an NFL game by the score of 16-3 generated a pair of touchdowns with less than 3:30 on the clock to win, 17-16. For the second time in four nights, uncalled holding fouls helped the effort.

On Monday night, it was Buccaneers left tackle Donovan Smith. On Thursday night, it was Rams right tackle Rob Havenstein.

Pete Damilatis, a producer at NBC Sports, tweeted images of four instances in the final two drives of Havenstein holding Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby, with the preferred move being a right forearm across the throat.

It happened at least twice on the drive that cut the score to 16-10, and at least twice on the drive that resulted in the game-winning touchdown pass from quarterback Baker Mayfield to receiver Van Jefferson. And it happened on the game-winning touchdown pass from Mayfield to Jefferson.

Here’s the video, posted by the NFL’s official Twitter account, of the final play of the key drive. The hold can be seen plainly and clearly. Havenstein releases quickly, but he holds the hold long enough to slow down Crosby, who otherwise was closing in on Mayfield as he was preparing to throw.

Amazon’s Kirk Herbstreit spotted one of them, on third and 10 from the Raiders’ 24 with 6:32 to play. “I think that right tackle, Havenstein, gets away with one,” Herbstreit said. “Watch how he grabs onto him, around the neck.”

As with Smith on Monday night for the Bucs, if they’re not going to call it, why not keep doing it? Or, as with the Legion of Boom and their approach to constantly holding receivers in 2013, do it on every play and dare the officials to call it on every play.

On Monday night, it happened on the game-winning play, and it wasn’t called. On Thursday night, it happened on the game-winning play, and it wasn’t called.

Also, the Raiders weren’t complaining nearly enough about it — same as the Saints weren’t on Monday night.

That’s really the lesson here. Whether it’s incompetence or a subconscious desire by the officials to have two-score games get and stay interesting late (or even a Tim Donaghy-type situation, which cannot be completely disregarded given the proliferation of legalized gambling — and we’re definitely not accusing any of the officials from either game of being corrupt), the team on the wrong side of uncalled holding needs to be making it known, loudly and clearly, that holding clearly is happening.

[Futureshock]

No holding. The RT's just resting his arm around Maxx's neck.

The league loves dem some LAR

[Nick Pappageorgio]

Gonna say it again about Mayfield.

And I didn’t like him at all coming out…….there’s something there. I wouldn’t be at all suprised to see him be one of those late career guys (Like Jimmy Harbaugh with the colts).

While I agree that there’s something that rubs me the wrong way about the kid….I also have to admit there’s a spark.

He got a raw deal in Cleveland…he played through an injury that usually shuts QBs down for the season (as it did for Stafford early in his career). Playing with a harness….and instead of celebrating the kid’s toughness, they scapegoated him and ran him out of town.

[chemiclord]

Mayfield is a guy who needed (needs) to learn how to actually play the QB position, because the scheme and teaching he got in Oklahoma simply doesn't translate over to how the game is played at the NFL level. The problem is that those sort of guys usually don't get the opportunity; NFL coaches generally expect a level of general development, especially bad teams who need you to be a savior right now, not three years down the road.

Mayfield actually did pretty damn well considering the situation he was shoved into in Cleveland. He has the physical tools to do the job. Can everything else come together?