Big Injury Update: Puka Nacua Status, Davante Adams Matthew Stafford Chemistry Issues, 10 Takeaways!

Big Injury Update: Puka Nacua Status, Davante Adams Matthew Stafford Chemistry Issues, 10 Takeaways!

A road win in the NFL is a road win in the NFL and the Rams have their best start since their Super Bowl winning season in 2021. We got 10 big takeaways from the Rams 17 to3 win over the Ravens and a Puka Nua injury update that’s coming up next on Locked on Rams. [Music] You are Locked on Rams, your daily Los Angeles Rams podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What is up, Ramy? And welcome to another episode of Locked On Rams, your daily podcast covering your Los Angeles Rams. Free and available wherever your podcast, Locked On Rams, part of Locked On podcast network, your team every day. We’re also available over on YouTube and we’re closing in on 20,000 subscribers. So, join the party, hit the subscribe button, hit the notification bell if you want to support every single episode. Hit that like button and drop a comment down below. Podcast listeners, writers review. My name is Doug McCain. You can follow me on exit Instagram at dmac_. I’ve covered LA sports for over a decade, 247 sports, Bleacher Report, SI Dodgers Nation. And as always, I’m joined by the Rams prealf and postgame show host for the Rams flagship radio station, es ESPN 7108. He’s in his 11th season covering your Los Angeles Rams, the people’s champ, Mr. Travis Rogers. You can follow him on X at Travis Rogers. And today we’ve got our big takeaways from the Rams 17-3 win over the Ravens. What we like, what we didn’t like. We got an injury update on Puka Nakua. But first, today’s episode of Locked On Rams is brought to you by Mazda. Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned for highlights later in this week’s Moving the Game Forward. Mazda move and be moved. All right, Travis. So, the Rams, they get back in the win column. They defeat the injury plagued a a Cooper Rush le a Tyler Hutley Ravens team. It was a better day for Derek Henry, but all in all, the Rams got a dub. It was sloppy in the first half. You had some unforced errors, some penalties, some drops, some missed kicks. They were still able to get out of Baltimore with a win. You never want to take road wins in the NFL, especially early window for West Coast teams for granted, but not very enthusiastic after this one. still I mean a little bit of underwhelming win for the RA for the Rams. Yeah, it’s funny DMac because I this took me 10 years to kind of wrap my head around. This took me 10 years of being a part of the Rams broadcast and and kind of having expectations coming into this game that that are high or this game that are low and okay, they should beat this game by, you know, two touchdowns or this one’s going to be tough. Here’s what I’ve come to the conclusion. They’re all hard. They’re never easy. And if you win, it’s a good day. and and and and that’s kind of where I landed on this. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t a particularly fun game to watch. It was just one of those games that they left with more points than the other guy or or more to the point they stayed in Baltimore with more points than the other guy because that’s going to be their jump off point to go to uh to London coming up next. But yeah, it it it wasn’t pretty. You know, there there’s some stuff that I I know we’re going to get into, whether it’s the kicking game, Puka’s injury, Cororum’s injury that don’t fill you with with a ton of of of warm fuzzies, but you know, they they did what you’re supposed to do against a team like Baltimore that’s been as as banged up as they have. They just they look like a totally that doesn’t look like the Ravens. Like you and I have been watching the Ravens for a long time and they’re always pretty tough. That team was just all over the place making mistakes. But the Rams get out with a dub. They’re 4-2. you know that nobody in the NFC, maybe with the exception of the Bucks, looks great. And I I’ll take my chances against Tampa at this point. But all in all, a pretty good win even if it wasn’t pretty. Yeah, I think I’d rather win ugly than lose pretty. And I mean, look, anytime you hold a Ravens team, even though you don’t have Lamar Jackson, you got some backups in there, you got Z Flowers having inexplicable fumbles, but anytime you hold a Ravens team or any NFL team for that matter to three points or less in their house, it’s tough to say, “Oh, they were awful that day, right? I mean, you got to give credit to this defense.” But still, I think for me, big picture, it’s if you’re going to call this Rams team a Super Bowl contender, if you’re going to look at this through the scope of this team’s failure this season or success is going to be hinged to winning a Super Bowl, then that’s how you should evaluate every game, right? If the Titans went into Baltimore, won 17 to3, like, “Oh, cool. Cam Ward, rookie quarterback. This is a great.” But you have to view this Rams team as a Super Bowl contender. And for me, it’s I look at some of the bad habits are continuing. And I look at that first quarter and they came out, it was sloppy. They looked like they look like a West Coast team playing an early window game against the Ravens. I mean, you had three times Cooper Rushes getting you off sides on hard counts. And then you have just the lack of I mean, that’s one thing, but but they still got the job done, right? For me, it’s the lack of scoring. I mean, they’re 30 they’re 24th in the NFL in first quarter points per game with 3.3. If you take out the Eagles game, which of course I’m going to do to build my narrative, they scored 10. You’re averaging two. So, I mean, last year they were 30th in first quarter points per game. This year they’re 24th. This is a Rams team. If you just execute the script early on in games, we’ve seen them adjust. We’ve seen them play well in second half. This team is so close to Hey, if you if you give us a good first 15 minutes, this team, I think, could be a six-0 team potentially. Oh, they should be six and0. Look, if they make their kicks, they’re 6 and0. But that, like you said, you know, what Bill Parcell said, you are what your record says you are. I I agree with what you’re saying, Doug, that they they looked disinterested. They looked like they were not ready to go. And this is kind of a a weird deal with the Rams the last few years where early in the season through the early parts of the games they appear to be in first gear. They’re not hitting the ground running the way that we’ve seen them when it comes to later in the season and and again the last couple of years they’ve been chasing wins, right? One and four last year, three and six the year before that. So they had no choice but to come out and start throwing punches and and and hit the ground running. This is a little different. They do have some wins in the bank and they they seem to need to get slapped across the face before they decide that they’re going to wake up and go do it. That first half was was dreadful, right? And but you know, they get the goal line stand right before the end of the half, which I think gave them a little bit of a boost and then they came out and bang bang, they get two touchdowns right away and then they fell back asleep again. I just I don’t think the Ravens had their full attention. Um not that that shouldn’t be the case. I mean, they they should, but I I I believe in Shawn McVey. I believe he knows all the things that we’re talking about and that they will get it squared away. But this was a team that kind of kind of sleptw walk through the game and they got it done and they’ll take it, but there there’s still a lot of stuff to clean up, namely the sense of urgency when the game starts. It seems like they’re kind of trying to feel their way through it a little bit as opposed to coming out just going 100 miles an hour. Yeah, I totally agree. And I was just going to bring that play up. I think that sequence there to end the first half really changed the game because one thing we saw for the Rams in this game was you didn’t see that pattern continued where they neutralize elite running backs. You seen them have so much success whether it be shutting down Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor and CMC in consecutive weeks. Well, Derrick Henry 122 yards, 5.1 yards per carry. It was his best game of the season, but they stopped him when it mattered most. And it was during that goal line stand. At the end of the first half, the Ravens at first and goal from the four yardd line. Henry carried the ball to the oneyd line on first down. And it was second and goal from the one. And then you saw them go to these direct snaps to Mark Andrews. They had basically a tush push type of play there. And on fourth and goal, Jire showed why he’s a future AllPro. Breaks into that backfield, stops Henry. And then you saw Troy Reer in there to to kind of finish the job. So instead of going into the half 10 to three with no momentum and an ugly first half, it’s tied at 33 and you feel good about your chance of making an adjustment. So yeah, big credit to the defense there in that spot. Yeah, it felt like it was going to get ugly. Like that opening drive with Derrick Henry, it was like uhoh. you know, he was averaging seven yards a carry and and you know, leading up to this game, we talked about how, okay, it should be a little easier to defend Henry because there is no Lamar Jackson. That Cooper Rush isn’t a threat to run the ball. Cooper Rush really isn’t a a threat to throw the ball. Just load the box up and and shut Henry down. They did load the box up and they couldn’t shut him down. He he was just I I you know he I think he had 90 yards at the end of the first half and it’s like oh my gosh that the Rams escaped with just three points was was fairly fortunate. They did a better job on him in in in the second half along the way. But um you know I I I don’t know how to unlock it. I think that Shawn McVey is probably trying to to figure out how to unlock it. that that sense of urgency from the beginning of the first quarter as opposed to, hey, we’re about to fall behind to a Cooper Rush le team at the end of the half. Let’s, you know, let’s get our you know what’s in gear and and they did and and I guess there’s there’s some some solace to be pulled from the the fact that they can do it when they need to do it. But you come out like that against a better team and you’re going to put yourself in a hole that may be far more difficult to come out of. Yeah, absolutely. And I I would much rather be a team that’s 4 and2 than and just still trying to figure things out that’s had high flashes versus a a team that’s under 500 and it’s desperate to try to get back in the race in their division and make the playoffs and all those things. So the fact that they’re still stacking wins, it says a lot about this team where your floor is just winning ugly. If your floor is winning ugly, then I think you feel really good about that because I mean there’s so many reasons why they should have lost this game. And if they’re playing most of the league with that effort, they’re probably going to lose that game. And let’s just be honest, you know, two for five in the red zone. The special teams was what it was. And I I I I know that Travis Rogers cannot wait to talk about special teams. I know that. And I’m going to save that because I can’t wait to hear that. But hey, you got the job done. 17 to3 is not that impressive against this Ravens team, but still you can win in different ways. And I think that really good teams this early in the season, you win in different ways. And Puganua goes out. That’s another big factor as well. And you were still overcome that. And I I still feel like the best football is yet to come for this Rams team. And now I think they’re going to realize if you go to London, this kind of this should be a wakeup call and a loss really like going into London against a Jaguars team that’s much improved. I mean, yeah, it was just the good and the bad with the with the with the Jags, right? But I think that they have a chance to make a statement in London. Say, okay, going into the buy at 5 and two, that sounds perfect. Yeah, it’s funny. I I agree with you. I I thought that coming out of that debacle against San Francisco at Sofi Stadium on Thursday night that they would come out, you know, to use the stupid cliche, you know, frothing at the mouth and, you know, all the They didn’t they they came out kind of like, yeah, all right, let’s, you know, Ravens are missing a bunch of their guys. Let’s see what happens. I would like to see them come out in London again because like you said, Doug, against Jacksonville. Jacksonville, I know, I know you see the uniforms, you see the you see the name on the schedule, you’re like, “Oh, they’re going to be a a garbage team.” They’re not. I I don’t think they’re a great team, but they don’t stink the way that they typically do. So, they need to be ready to go. And uh all those things you mentioned, the puka injury, the special teams, they gota they got to get a lot of that squared away or or they’re not going to beat anybody that’s that’s ready to go and really good. Oh, yeah. That’s going to be the big question for this Rams team is what is this offense if Puka is limited? Yeah. And we’re going to get an update on Pukaku. We’re going to talk about that next and we’re going to talk about special teams. That’s coming up next on Lock on Rams. You know the saying, look good, feel good. The problem is is that most dress clothes only check one of those boxes. They look sharp, but they feel stiff, they’re hot, they’re highmaintenance. That’s why there’s Mizen and Maine. Mizen and Maine makes classic men’s wear with performance fabrics. So, it’s effortless to look sharp and feel comfortable. They actually invented the performance fabric dress shirt over 10 years ago and they’ve perfected it ever since. Their shirts, they’re stretchy, they’re moisture wicking, they’re wrinkle resistant, and machine washable. So, how good is this? No ironing and no dry cleaning. 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This week’s moment that move the game forward is, and maybe not exactly what you’re thinking of, Shawn McVeyy’s decision to go for it on fourth and three from the six-yd line rather than kick a field goal. that would have made it a three-score game because they needed to move forward from their special teams unit. They needed to move away from it as fast as they possibly can and move forward to getting that thing squared away because without it, they’re going to be stuck on the side of the road. And when you follow what moves you, the unexpected is only the beginning. And just like there’s more to every highlight, there’s more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda move and be moved. And we are off and running here on Locked on Rams. Thank you for making lockdown on Rams your first listen every single weekday free and available revenue your podcast. Locked on Rams part of locked on podcast network your team every day. Big shout out to those every listeners out there by the way watching listening to every single episode of Lockown Rams. Cannot thank you enough. And now’s the time of the year. You got to join that every listeners club. We got a trade deadline coming up and we’re already pretty deep in the season at this point. So join that everyday listeners club and then you won’t miss a thing about your Los Angeles Rams. All right, Travis. So for me, even if the Rams lost yesterday to this Ravens team by 50 points and Shawn McVey was saying about Puka Puka that he was just uncertain if he’s going to play against the Jags, meaning it’s nothing season ending, meaning it’s nothing extremely significant. I would still consider yesterday a win because clearly we saw what this offense looks like when Puka is compromised. And yes, they have to figure out a way to get Devonte Adams to be Devonte Adams and catch the ball. I mean, four catches on nine targets, a couple key drops. I mean, one the end zone was a little high, but the one earlier in the game, I mean, there was some clear drops in there. But the fact that Pukanakua doesn’t look like he suffered something serious, I don’t know. I saw the Rams season flash before my eyes yesterday when he couldn’t put weight on his ankle after going down. It was a ball right sideline jumps for it and it’s weird because you didn’t see him roll underneath anyone and looked like very non-cont which always scares me. What were your initial thoughts? Were you as freaked out as I was when I saw him getting walked off into that locker room putting no way on that ankle? Look, Matthew Stafford is guy number one, right? that with if Matthew Stafford is upright, you always got a chance because he’s that good. But followed closely with guy number one A is Puka Nua. And you you saw what it looked like afterwards. And look, I I I do think that the Adams and Stafford connection will continue to get better. I think that, you know, having Dvonte Adams on your team could, you know, at least soften the blow of losing a player like Nua. But we saw it when they had to have it. They go to number 12. They They go to Puka over and over and over again when those got to have it moments. And without him, they’re a totally different team. I’ll tell I’ll tell you something else that went through my head, Doug, that who was inactive yesterday. Tutu Atwell and and Tutu not being there. And again, this is coming from me, right? 22 Atwell not being there was was important yesterday because once Puka went out, you’re basically Devonte and we’ll, you know, we’ll figure it out from there. Jordan Whittington caught a few balls, but you know, if if you’re going to have your number one guy out and your number three guy out, that puts an inordinate amount of um attention on on on Adams. But I’m with you. Puka is everything for this offense that’s not named Matthew Stafford. And we know how the part that scared me the most, DMAC, like you said, was he jumps, he falls, it it wasn’t a bad fall. Like we’ve seen falls like that a bunch of times, and he got up and then he went right back down. And you could tell he was in agony like and Puka is about as tough as they come. So for him to be lying on the ground and have a grimace on his face like that, you could tell he was in a great deal of pain. And he did come back. He played a little bit. He wasn’t a huge factor. And I was really surprised to see him out there in the second half. But I think that speaks to his level of toughness. And it it did make me feel better that moving forward, even if he misses the Jacksonville game, you got the buy uh on the backside. So you could give him a solid two weeks to get right if you need to. Um I I’m I’m curious but I’m not particularly pessimistic. Yeah, that’s a really good point right there is just how much weight do you put into that Jaguars game because you got to travel. It’s in it’s a game where even if you lose, you’re 4 and three heading to the buy and for a team that started 1 and four and three and three and like all these these either you’re under 500 at 500 last couple of seasons you would take four and three versus those but still I think like as you mentioned like he is absolutely essential to the success of this offense and that either speaks to how good I think it really speaks to more how good he is now because he’s legitimately an MVP level talent really for as a receiver as his overall production is out of this world. And I do think that that combined with Devonte Adams not necessarily hitting his stride as of yet. You mentioned 22 Atwell, it’s like the meme I accidentally became important at my job and it’s ruining my life, right? With 22 Atwell, you’re like, “Where the heck is Tutu? Get what’s wrong with the hamstrings? He’s active. What the heck out there?” Yeah, exactly. I mean, never feared two twos here, right? So, yeah. I mean, that’s that definitely is a good thing for him. But the the numbers just reflect though that’s that this is not something that is sustainable for for Matthew Stafford in this offense. I mean, you look at some of the numbers. He’s Matthew Stafford’s complete 83% of his passes with a 97 QBR to Puka. Receivers not named Puka. You’re looking at a 58% completion percentage and a QBR of 40. So, yes, that is not crazy for a quarterback to have his numbers better with his best player, but when it’s that dramatic, it’s concerning. I think it speaks to the trust, right? That you you go back a few seasons ago and the the trust or the the numbers that you just read off, I think, would be similar for a player like Cooper Cup where when he went to Cup, the numbers go through the roof. When he went to other people, they would come down a significant amount. And I think that Puka has kind of slid into that Cooper Cup role, which is they’re reading each other’s minds like that. We we were talking about it on the postgame show yesterday and Sula Cravens, who’s my new partner on on on the Rams postgame show, was talking about how it’s just one of those I don’t have to think about where he’s going to be. I know where he’s going to be. I can let go of the ball before he actually comes out of his breaks. I know that he is going to be exactly where he needs to be, where I think he’s going to be. They see football the same way. He’s still working on that with Devonte Adams. It’s just not there yet. Devonte’s a great player. Stafford’s a great player, but they don’t have that mind meld together quite the way that Cup and Stafford did and the way that that Stafford and Puka Nakua do. So, he will be missed. And until you get that other connection, you know, operating at that same high level, I’m not surprised that that that gap in those numbers at all. Pu Puka and Stafford are are like this. They are just absolutely in sync. And you could see it because when it gets hard, when it gets tight, when it’s in a got to have it situation, it’s almost always to puga. I agree for sure. And I’ve seen people, oh, it’s because Stafford and Devonte Adams didn’t practice together and it’s going to take time for them to build that chemistry. I don’t believe that at all. Like I I I I look at the just the cold hard facts of this all. The truth of the matter is is that even heading into yesterday, Devonte Adams had a 12% drop rate heading into the game. And with the more drops coming in that game, this is the worst drop rate that Devonte Adams has had since 2015. And yes, there’s chemistry. Yes, there were some balls from Matthew Stafford that were a little high. But at the end of the day, a receiver like Devonte Adams, even if he’s not saying it after the game, pre or postgame, even though he’s not saying it, he knows those are balls that he’s caught for the majority of his career. And if he catches those balls that were good enough to catch and they were well thrown balls for the most part, no one’s talking about Matthew Stafford’s fault in all this, right? No one’s talking about, oh, it’s Matthew Stafford. Oh, so now what is Matthew Stafford to do? Run the ball and hand it off to him, right? Like, let’s just call this what it is. Devonte Adams needs to be better. Yeah, I think so, too. And that one in the back of the end zone was not a great pass, but it’s a pass Adams should have caught, right? The one in the corner that it’s a catch. It’s a It’s a pass that the Devonte Adams of the world catch. Yes, 100%. I I I agree with you. And the one in the corner, the little fade that they had, that was just not I I think that’s a better example of them not being totally in sync because that ball was in a slightly different spot than where Adams was going to be. So, I think there’s that. Then, we just saw the one that was just a flatout drop. I thought that there was an interesting moment early in the third quarter when Stafford hits Adams and Adams instead of having his hands out front and with a hands catch, he bodies it, right? he kind of catches it up and you can just tell I think that’s one of those things where a receiver is is kind of, you know, struggling with his confidence a little bit and and it’ll come back where he’s trying to, you know, body catch it as opposed to get his hands out front and catch it like that. Um, they’ll get there, but I’m with you. You know, Dvonte Adams, I I think this is both encouraging and a little headscratching simultaneously. He’s been pretty good, but he hasn’t been Devonte Adams. And and so the the question is why has he not been Devonte Adams? And then I think the the optimistic part is will he get there? I believe that he will. I believe that Stafford will figure it out. I believe McVey will figure it out. I have no doubt about the talent level of Devonte Adams. It’s just why have they played six games and they haven’t quite been able to get there? The good news is they have 11 more games to figure it out and I think that they will. Yeah. And I just want to say too, this probably sounds like I’m being tough on Devonte Adams, but the truth of the matter is is I’m not waking up at 3:30 in the morning in a cold sweat worrying about Devonte Adams. I have all the confidence in the world that he’s going to be, as you said, Devonte Adams because you can fix drops so easily. All you have to do is catch the ball, right? That’s all you have to do. You just squeeze it and catch it. And we’ve seen him do it throughout his career. But what you can’t fix, what you can’t bring back is a receiver that can’t get in out of his brakes anymore. a guy that’s lost the step, a guy that’s still not being defended by CB1’s and having to draw a lot of attention. The truth is all the things that you wanted to see from him where if the question was, oh, is Dvonte Adams washed? Is Devonte Adams past his prime? The answer is no. The guy can still move. And I hate to be that guy to bring up Cooper Cup, but having watched Cooper Cup last year and see it’s not about the drops of cup. It’s like, oh, the dude can’t get open regularly. The guy can’t lose his defender regularly. Devonte Adams has still got it. He really, really does. I mean, we always talk about just watching the offensive line and watch the defensive line and not following the ball. Follow Devonte Adams and you’re still seeing a guy that’s creating space that’s attracting top level talent on defense, too. So, I’m not worried about it. It’s as simple as if he catches the ball, he’s playing a Pro Bowl level already. Yeah, I I I’ll simplify it. He’s open. You know what I mean? It’s not It’s not like he can’t get open. He’s open. he’s just not catching the ball or Matthew Stafford’s not finding him yet or Stafford’s not putting the ball in exactly the right spot. But this is not a hey man, we can’t throw him the ball because he can’t shake anybody. He’s open the way you would expect Devonte Adams to be open. And look, it’s Dvonte Adams. He’ll catch the ball. This This is more frustrating than it is concerning because you know he’ll get it squared away. Yeah, we were talking about too. I mean, some tempo I think would benefit him if Puka does have to miss some time. Being his primary target, I think could be a plus as well. A silver lining and all that. But coming up next, lots of unpack in this one. And we’re going to finish the show talking about some special teams. 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Because you don’t love to see this. Let me let me change the question here a little bit. What do you think that Shawn McVey thinks about the kicking issues? Let me run back a situation that happened yesterday. I’m sure he’s not happy about it. He had a pretty blunt response about it. Fourth and three from the sixyd line in a 14-point game. Kick a field goal there. It’s a It’s a three-score game. The game is over. It would have been a 29yd field goal. They opted to go for it. That tells you all you need to know about where they are with their specialty. I would be stunned, stunned if Josh Cardi is in London at some point. I I I just don’t think I think Shawn McVey showed his hand. I think when they decided to go for it right there, he basically said, “We’re done with this. We are not doing this anymore.” That the one that went off the upright was a short makeable easy kick. The one that he squeaked in by the skin of his teeth was a knuckle ball that barely went in on the left side, barely cleared the crossbar. It was an atrocious kick. And oh, by the way, you saw what happened on their punt team, right? They had a punt uh a penalty on their punt coverage for an illegal man downfield. So, they had to repunt it. They kicked it back from out of their own end zone, gave up a 38 yard return on that next play. So, that was another special team scaff that took place. I I I would not be super comfortable if I were Chase Blackburn at this time because this is a problem. We are six weeks into the season. It hasn’t gotten fixed. The kicking’s gotten worse. The punting game has been affected. And you know this, Doug, as well as anybody that you have to be good in or you at least have to be mediocre in special teams, if not better than that. And the Rams are flat bad in every aspect of it. And I don’t think you’re going to see it continue much longer. Yeah. And I love you bring up that punt because that was probably as damning really. I mean, let’s be honest here. I mean, because this is the thing I I I feel you bring up bring up Chase Blackburn and just kind of sitting on it for one night. I was thinking to myself, look, Josh Mccardi has talent. I mean, he really really does. He’s proven that in this league and you mentioned the 36 y that barely gets in and the snap looked a little high, but still he gets it in on the 26 y too. That was just a bad kick. But I for before I move on from Josh Mccardi and before I move on from Ethan Evans, who of course you’re not going to move on from, I move on from Chase Blackburn. I really do because I think the special teams coaching has not been good enough. And you you use draft capital on on Joshua Cardi, right? And I think that it’s not some guy you just brought off of the street and they were trying out guys every week like some teams do. No, you scouted this guy, you developed this guy, you he’s young, he should be the kicker of the future. And I would really consider moving on from Chase Blackburn before I move off with Joshua Cardi. I fine. I I sure I I don’t I don’t disagree with you. But the fact of the matter is I think it’s in his head. I I think that he’s he’s lost whatever confidence he had at some point. Maybe a coaching change could bring that back around. But I I I think you saw what McVey thinks about it with his decision to go for it on fourth and three from the six-yd line. And I get it. One of the things that the Rams are are very good at is is even when they have spent some draft capital, even after they’ve paid some guys, if you’re not doing the job, they move on. And under no world could you look at this and think that Josh Cardi is doing the job. And I I get it. You you have to make your kicks in this league. Like they’re they’re foregoing short kicks for fourth and threes when you could put the game away. That’s just not an option in this league. So I I and that’s the thing too like so that’s what I was screaming about in the the postgame show was yeah you got to make that a three-score game. I mean just because that Ravens team is not going to score that many points right you’re not going to score 17 points in that stretch. If I’m Shawn McVey, I still kick it there and if it misses, I’m looking over at le saying, “I tried. Now we have to.” If you if he misses that kick, it’s like it’s like it’s like James Franklin going 0 and three, right? Losing Northwestern. It’s like it becomes to a point where you have to fire a guy. You have to move on from a guy. And if I’m a head coach, I put him in that situation and either two things happen. either he starts to gain some confidence back and you feel good about something to end a game or it’s he’s struggling and it’s continuing and you’re saying okay now we got to look elsewhere. So I’m so I’m really shocked they didn’t kick that field. I really am. I I I was stunned but I again I I think that was you know to your point you could be like okay this is the last one. See what do you want me to do here? I think that’s what he did by going for it on fourth and three from the six. I mean, that is an insane decision. Only when it happened, everybody’s like, “Yeah, dude. Card’s going to miss it anyway. Might as well.” Like, that’s how bad it’s gotten to where chip shot field goals have been a no, no, no, we’re not going to. I mean, they played a second half of an NFL game without a kicker. They they they basically just said, “All right, forget it. We’ll just go out there and do what we can do.” And thankfully, they were playing a Baltimore team that couldn’t do anything offensively, and it wasn’t that big of a deal. But they got real teams coming up, real opponents coming up, division games coming up. And I mean, shoot, anybody that watches football knows this. These games are The Rams would be 6 and0 if they could make kicks. And it’s not like you have to make a bunch of 55 yarders. Just make the easy ones and they’re six and0 and they can’t do it. Yeah. The red flags are there. The sirens are going off. And if they don’t fix it and either you fix the internal options and you fix it with Chase Blackburn or you bring someone ex externally, the warning signs are there to the point where they’re setting themselves up for, oh, you knew that you needed to replace your kicker and you didn’t do it anyway. Let’s see how the Rams respond. So, I’m just happy the fact that there’s enough evidence out there, enough history to where they have to act on something. They can’t just hope is not a strategy. I hope Josh Car make his cakes. They got to do something different now. No, it’s not like anybody would be surprised or or or I don’t think anybody that’s a Rams fan, if the announcement came that Blackburn, Cardi, or both were gone, they’d be like, “Oh, whoa, whoa. He didn’t give him enough time.” I Yeah, there’s been enough time. The evidence is there. And look, Josh Cardi may go somewhere else and make a bunch of kicks and be a good kicker. That’s That’s the weird part about kickers. They’re like relief pitchers. They go to a new place and all of a sudden they get unlocked and they’re good again. And you may go through a a cycle where you’re looking for a guy for, you know, a long time, but that you have to make kicks in this league and he’s not making kicks. 100%. But the Rams get the win. Best start since their Super Bowl winning season. Lots to still feel good about. We’re going to talk about tomorrow, winners and losers, more takeaways, and we’re going to look ahead to the Jacksonville Jaguars. But that’s going to do it for this episode of Locked On Rams. My name is Doug McCain. You can follow me on X and Instagram at dmac_la, and you can follow the people’s channel, Mr. Travis Rogers at Travis Rodgers and watch his show DeMarco and Travis in the afternoons on ESPN LA. I’m sure they’ll be talking a lot of Rams Day like they always do on Mondays. How about a 4 and0 weekend for the football teams here? I mean, yeah, rank UCLA, you cowards. The best four lock team in history. Okay, can I real quick before we before we put a button on this episode of Locked on Rams? Is it safe to say that Deshawn Foster is the single worst hireer in the history of organized sports? Can we have can we stamp that as officially true? Only thing is that’s worse would be you hiring Martin Gar as athletic director, but I think it’s a close second. Yeah, but shout out to Jared Newheel for saving our lives in He’s our absolute king. Tim Skipper, let’s go. Yeah, Tim Skipper, man. Hey, it’s a crazy story honestly, but uh that’s going to I said yesterday they should hire Jerry Newheel to be the Rams red zone offensive coordinator. You know what I mean? Like from the 20s. Give it to Give it to Jerry. New is a wizard. All right, that’s it for this episode, guys. Hit the subscribe button, hit the notification, hit the like button for your Los Angeles Rams. Until next time, whose house locked on Ram’s

D-Mac and Travis break down the Rams 17-3 week 6 win over the Ravens. Sean McVay gives the latest on Rams receiver Puka Nacua who left the game with an ankle injury. Plus, do Davante Adams and Puka Nacua have chemistry issues, and more!

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