Previewing the Los Angeles Rams vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Rams News & Notes; and another round of Who's Pumped, Who's Pissed, and Who's Perplexed; from LA Rams Up

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Welcome back everybody Season 2 Episode 53 of Rams up your Los Angeles Rams podcast. It's get better week for the L. A Rams and their fans. Hopefully the Rams travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were also reeling a bit. Three and five who would have ever thought that bucks and Packers would both be three and five and the Rams would be three and four? And maybe some people saw it coming. I didn't. I need this is going to be a tough year for the Rams just based on their schedule. Losing some key guys, but I thought they'd be in a better position than they are at this point in the season three and four hitting the road traveling across the country to take on the Bucks, and we're going to have a preview of that game coming up shortly. We are also going to have another one of our who's pumped who's ****** who's perplexed segments. Checking in on fan bases across the league and of course our Rams up straight up gain picks, but we'll get through some news here first. The Rams did not make a trade at the trading deadline. That surprised a lot of RAM fans. A lot of rain fans. Extremely disappointed, but hey, we don't know how hard they tried to make a trade. You know it takes 2 to trade. You need a trading partner that's going to accept your offer, so I suspect less need in the Rams. Tried to make some trades. It just wasn't happening, and if that's the case, hey, it is what it is. Rams are going to roll with what they have. We know they made a run at Christian McCaffrey wasn't good enough. They also made a run at Brian Burns. We know that according to Albert Breer, the Rams offered multiple first round picks and Cam Akers for burns, the edge rusher and Panthers trimmed it down. So what are you going to do? Criticize the transfer not making a trade? A lot of RAM fans saying how could we have not gone after an offensive lineman, myself included. But you know if we get Coleman Shelton and or David Edwards back anytime soon, our offensive line might be in OK shape. There were a couple of trades worth noting. The Lions sent TJ Hockenson to the Vikings of divisional rival, and I thought the Lions could have got more for him and the Vikings at a really good weapon, making a push for survival in the NFC playoffs and Miami trades for Bradley Chubb. Perhaps the best. Edge rusher on the market. A guy the Rams might have shown some interest in and included in that trade was one of the picks the Dolphins got from the 49ers when the 49ers moved up to grab Trey. Lance, the Dolphins got three first round picks from the 49ers in that trade. And they have used those 3 picks to move up and draft Jaylen Waddle to trade for Tyreek Hill and now to trade for Bradley Chubb.  I think the Dolphins win that trade so far. Going to get through a look back at that dismal RAM 40 Niner game. Really just a dismal quarter and 1/2 after we through the third quarter. Rams are leading 14 to 10. Had the ball. Had to punt and it was all downhill from there but there were some good things that come out of that game. Got some Pro Football focus. Great for you Rob haven. Stein graded out 88.5. Allowing only two pressures and 0 sacks, he was on his game Cooper Cup, of course, 77.8 Stafford had a good game 74.9. Brian Allen welcomed back into the fold and he played well. 67.9 in Allen Robinson 66.2. Now those were our five highest graded offensive players, and those scores are not really anything to write home about as a group. But Havenstein Cup and Stafford all had good games on the defensive side. Leonard Floyd was a standout 85.2. Not a lot of great grades after that. Some decent ones. Ramsey 70.6 Gregg Gaines 70.2 Justin Holland 64.6. And Aaron Donald 64.5. So again, some OK scores. But you need better than that if you're trying to beat a divisional rival that's fighting for their life. Big game for Floyd finally breaking through gets his first two sacks of the year. Finished with nine tackles, that's four tackles plus 5 assists. Derion Kendrick as I mentioned. Earlier led the team in solo tackles. And who struggled tight in Bryson Hopkins 54.4 and Higbee 47.5? I've van Jefferson just 50.3. I guess they're grading him on his ability to get open, did not have a target, Malcolm Brown, just a 44 point. Oh Bobby Evans. Yikes. 42.3 with a pass blocking grade of 15.5 something's Gotta give. That left guard for the Rams. The poor grades on the defensive side. Marquis Copeland 52.1, Derion Kendrick as I mentioned in our last podcast, he struggled 49.6 Bobby Wagner, an uncharacteristic low grade 43.3. I'm going to have to go back and look and see what happened here. According to Pro Football focus, he was exploited in pass coverage, allowing 5 catches for 65 yards only five times. The guy he was covering was targeted. So Wagner struck out on those opportunities and I mentioned. Prior to the season starting, that would be Wagner's Achilles heel. He struggled in coverage at times last year, and I wondered if they would even pull him off the field on passing downs. And then I heard he was going to be the defensive play caller. So he's going to be out there all the time, and the 49ers took advantage of him. Roy Hill, just a 42.9 score. Terrell Lewis really struggling to get to the quarterback 41.6 overall grade. The Rams first injury report out this week. Brian Allen, swelling in the knee. That's a little troubling. Did he come back too soon? I hope not. Man, just getting our hopes up that the offensive line is going to get pieced back together and we get that news. Van Jefferson also limited Cooper Cup. They held him out. But he is expected to play on Sunday and the Cam Akers saga continues. Apparently, the Rams turned down multiple trade offers. Didn't work out. And now McVay says they're trying to get him back into the fold, trying to reconcile acres with the team. So we'll see how that goes. In my opinion, if Kyron Williams is coming back and hopefully hey, maybe he'll play this week. You know, maybe we don't need Cam Akers at this point. Don't need the drama. Need to move on? Let's see what Karen Williams can get done. You know I used to do a section on, you know, correcting my mistakes. And hey, I hardly make any mistakes right? So I got away from that, but last week I made two. Running back Travis Etienne, I mentioned him and I butchered his name and the other mistake I made, and I corrected this. Depending on when you listen to the podcast, I said the Rams could be in first place in their division, barring tiebreakers. Of course, if Seattle loses and the Rams win, but that's not. True, and they would still be half game behind Seattle in two weeks, though they could definitely be in first place again, probably not looking pretty when it comes to tiebreakers having lost the 49ers twice. But those are two mistakes I made last week, so I apologize for that. And before we move on, I wanted to add to my list of whose teams seasons are over, whose teams can kiss this season goodbye we already had. Who did we already have? We already had, let's see week six. We counted out the. Panthers and the commanders may have been a little hasty on both of those, but no one ringing the bell when I say they're done. They're done wake seven. We counted out the Texans in the line. And week eight, we have two more teams. Who are they the Jacksonville Jags? The team I showed a lot of love or early on. They are two and six upcoming on their schedule are the Chiefs, Ravens, Titans and Cowboys. Yes, I'm saying goodbye to my beloved Jags. They are done. And who else is done as of week eight, the Pittsburgh Steelers, also two and C. Thanks, I'm calling them done. They're going nowhere. Mike Tomlin is going to finish under 500 for the first time ever. The Steelers are also done. Thank you for participating Jacksonville and Pittsburgh. Better luck next year. No one else to rule out at this point. The Bears at three and five are on my watch list. The Raiders are two and five bringing up the rear and AFC West, but their schedule suggests they could run off a few wins. But we may be talking about them next week and that's it. Those are the teams we're keeping an. Eye on so. We get six teams that are done irrelevant. Looking forward to next year already. We'll check in on this every week. Moving forward Next up our preview of the Buck Rams game followed by who's pumped? Who's pist who's. Perplexed and our ramps up straight up game picks.  

Let's preview this week nine game to Los Angeles Rams visiting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Rams lead the series 19 to 9 the last time they played, oh. What a great memory that was. The NFC Divisional Round and Epic game. The Rams 130 to 20. That was the game where the Bucks made that great comeback. And then Stafford took up as time runs out to set. Up the game winner. These two teams have three memorable games. In my mind, all three playoff games and in all three instances the Rams went onto the Super Bowl the 1979 playoffs. Rams shut the Bucs out went on to lose to the Steelers in the Super Bowl in 1999 playoffs. That was the game with the Ricky Proehl catch. Rams went on to beat the Titans in the Super Bowl and just last year I already mentioned it. Stafford cup. Rams beat the Bucks and go on to beat the Bengals in the Super Bowl 1 bad memory that 2019 game. The Bucks in Jameis Winston beat the Rams 55 to 40. Just one of those games that came out of nowhere. Kind of like the Rams lost to The Jets, just didn't see it coming. Head coaches Todd Bowles, key players. Tom Brady and Mike Evans on offense. Those are the two main dudes. Leonard Fournette, who has not had a good year on defense Lavonte David Invita Villa. They are one of the best in the league. In the trenches there on the defensive side, another one of their key guys on defense outside linebacker. Shaq Barrett is on injured reserve and will not play in this game. I'm not certain how their draft picks have worked out. They had two second round picks. Defensive lineman Logan Hall and guard Luke Goedeke fifth round pick. Cornerbacks Diane McCollum is a guy I liked for the Rams. Some stats to pay attention to. On offense, the Bucs are averaging 330 yards per game. They are dead last. Running the ball. And the Rams right behind them are the second worst at running the ball. From a defensive perspective, the Rams are the 7th best at defending the run while the Bucs are given up 132 per game. So something may give here is this the game where the Rams can move the ball on the ground a little bit. Hope so I could make a big difference. Boxer favored by 2 1/2 weather. It looks like it's going to be pretty. Warm in the high. 80s usually not as humid this time of year, as during the summer. That's for sure. Team records bucks come in three and five Rams. Three and four. The Bucs opened up with wins against the Cowboys and Saints. Then they got edged by the Packers and they lost to the Chiefs. They beat the Falcons and now they have lost two straight against two teams. Everyone expected them to beat the Steelers in the Panthers. The Rams of course had that win over. Carolina a bye week and then last week they lost the 49ers. My fearsome 4 keys to the game man, you know this team is driving me crazy. I'm going to start sounding like a broken record here, but the one thing you gotta do against the box, my fearsome key number one is don't let Brady stand back there like he's Jimmy G. All day long, finding receivers got to get some pressure on them. Now I've seen some Twitter action on this. Very subject where the Rams are actually winning the pass rush battles. The soft coverage is allowing guys to get open. That's the Rams defensive philosophy and has been for a while. Maybe they clamp down a little bit on the coverage against Brady. Allow the pressure to get to him. We have to see it's a dangerous game. You played with Tom Brady, but he's not the same player. He was two or three years ago. It's just not the same guy, but still there's some key number one got to get to Brady and if that means tightening up the coverage a little bit, so be it. For some key #2 that hey run the ball. In past weeks, against some opponents I would say. Don't get obsessed with trying to run the ball play action on 1st down. Get the pass game going and then maybe that'll open up some run lanes for you in this game. I think we've got to try to move the ball on the ground, and I think we can. There's some key #3 when a turnover battle just warrants. Couple takeaways would be nice. We are just in this rut of coming oh so close to having takeaways and there's just too many cases where we should have had it. Could have had it and we didn't get it. Now I know some of that's luck, but off layer luck will change for some Kenyan before I think this is going to be a low scoring game. Just make sure you get points when they have the opportunity. If it means a 48 yard field goal when you're 4th and one, that means you don't go for it and take the field goal. And this is the game to do that, I think couple field goals a couple touchdowns will win this game. Take the points when you have the opportunity. Don't walk away with no points. Now red zone efficiency is always important. You get those. Touchdowns instead of field goals? Yeah, your chances of winning goes up, but. Take the points in this game. Take the points. My prediction Rams 20 bucks 17 is going to be low scoring close game enough of this mediocre Rams play. This is a team they should beat, and every time they've played A-Team they should beat. They have won. And that'll be the case this week. Rams 20 bucks 17.  

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Well, with the trading deadline now passed us and eight weeks of the season behind us, I think it's a perfect time to get back to our who's pumped. Who's pyst? Who's perplexed segment taking the pulse of fan bases across the league? This is always a lot of fun. I have 5 fan. Case is who got to be pumped right now. How about the Seattle Seahawks fan base? Do you know Smith tearing it up while Russell Wilson is still struggling in Denver? Had a better game in London, but man was at a cringeworthy video of him talking about the flight over here. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but the Seahawks fan base has to be flying high right now. The offense is playing really well with those two young cornerbacks got a bunch of draft picks next year as well. Five and three atop the NFC West. I still think they're going to come back to Earth a little bit, but they gotta be pumped right now. They gotta be stoked. And sadly, another fanbase. It's really pumped. Is the 49er fan base? They come into. That game last week against the Rams three and four. Some of their best players out, including Debo, Samuel and Dre Greenlaw. They just added Christian McCaffrey a lost there would have been devastating. Fall to three and five even though they have this new acquisition, that's going to help them get to the Super Bowl potentially. And then what do they do? They rally and dominate the Rams in the second-half. Improved to four and four Christian McCaffrey scores, touchdowns, running and receiving and also throws a touchdown pass. I mean, it's like the ideal scenario coming out of that game for the 49ers. Beating their arch rivals, improving to four and four. And kind of get healthier too. And scarier, 49er fan base? It's gotta be palm. And the Minnesota Vikings. Those fans up north have to be stoked. No one is talking about the Vikings that I can see. They're six and one three wins better than the Packers and the Bears. And they just add it TJ Hockenson so that Arsenal now includes hockenson Justin Jefferson and Dalvin Cook. The Vikings have almost already written their playoff ticket. I think they're going to win that division going away. And getting better with TJ Hockenson on board. Atlanta Falcons fans have to be pumped. They pull off that win in overtime to improve to four and four atop the NFC S who would have thought? I mean, most people were picking the Saints in the box to compete for first place in that division and the Falcons I I don't know if it's going to last, but I really like the Falcons. I like what they're doing. And they had a couple of possible winds slip away on them as well. So Falcons fans are pumped again. Not sure if they're going to end up winning that division, but they. Got to be happy right now. And how about the Miami Dolphins already? One of the most exciting teams in the league with Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle Tide for 2nd place with The Jets in that division. It's going to be a scramble for a wild card spot in that conference. It's going to be crazy going down the stretch. But the Dolphins will be in the mix, and they added Bradley Chubb and that's what Dolphins fans are pumped about. That defense just got a whole lot better, and the Dolphins primed for a playoff run now to us. Gotta stay healthy. Tyreek Hill having a magical year Jalen Waddle with the best touchdown celebration. Dolphins fans are pumped. 3 fanbases I identify as being ******. One is the Carolina Panthers fan base. They trade McCaffrey and they pick up a win the following week and then this past week Walker hits DJ Moore for what looked like the go ahead, touchdown more terrorists his helmet off while he's celebrating and. Gets penalized, pushes the point after back 15 yards and they miss it and they lose in overtime. But they're doubly ******. It's not just that it's the fact that. That probably shouldn't have been a penalty after all. DJ Moore was not on the field of play when he took his helmet off. I didn't realize this. I was watching this when it happened and it didn't even cross my mind that hey, they're not going to call this penalty. He's not on the field. That's a big loss of divisional loss to the Falcons Falcons in first place now, and the Panthers wondering what if? And the Raiders fan base has to be ****** that the thing about the Raiders is. This happens to them a lot. There's always a lot of excitement around the Raiders, whether it's warranted or not. Their fan base gets excited pretty easily. Kind of put them in the same category as Cowboys fans. I don't think they're very realistic. A lot of times, and it's happening to them again where they really thought they were going to make a run at the playoffs and then they just get thumped last week by the Saints to continue a pretty dismal year. They have to be ******, but then again, maybe they're not because they're Raider fans. And who else is ******? I kind of threw this team in, maybe I don't know if their fan base is really ******, but maybe they're more perplexed. But the Bengals fan base. That offensive line continues to struggle. They lose to marchas, they lose to a divisional rival, the Browns, who they have trouble with. But they probably shouldn't be having so much trouble. And it's looking like the Bengals have a bigger hangover than the Rams, really, but losing Jamar Chase? That's really got to hurt. They got to be kind of ******. 3 fanbases that are perplexed. One is the Lions fan base. 75% of every game they look like a really good team and the the rest of the other 20. 5% is just enough for them to find a way to lose now that Patriots game probably doesn't count. That was just an anomaly. They got hammered, but all these other games I've watched they look really exciting and competitive. Their defense obviously has some issues, but they're a team on the rise. They really are. At least I think they are. Maybe they'll make a change at quarterback next year. But then they trade TJ Hockenson. I'd be perplexed by that. If I was a Lions fan, Jared Goff, favorite weapon, a proven quantity at tight end. One of the better tight ends in the league and I don't think they got enough for him either. And on top of that, they traded him to a divisional rival. I'd be perplexed. And Denver Broncos fans. They go to London and they finally get a win. And then they come. Back and they trade one of the best players, Bradley Chubb. I'd be perplexed by that. I'd also be perplexed by Russell Wilson, period. I've been perplexed by that guy for years, and I think Broncos fans are probably figuring it out. But Broncos fans, the Broncos fan base definitely perplexed. Probably giving up on the year by now. Prob this this Chubb trade might be enough for them to say hey maybe next year and last but not least yours truly. The Rams fan base has to be a little perplexed. I know I am. I'm perplexed by a lot of things. I'm perplexed by the offensive genius. Sean McVay not being able to figure things out, not figuring out how to get to 2 that well involved. How how Van Jefferson can finally return and not get a target? How we cannot figure out how to run the ball and protect Matthew Stafford on a consistent basis. How we can allow Jimmy G to look like the best quarterback in the league over and over again? I'm also a little perplexed. We didn't make a move, but I kind of understand it and I'm sure less need was trying. To make a trade. It takes 2 to tango. We've talked about that that offer they made for Brian Burns a little over the top. In my opinion, it would have been great to have him now. They were making the effort to bring guys in. Just wasn't happening, but I'm perplexed as a RAM fan for a lot of reasons, but I'm still hopeful they can get this turned around and this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to drop a video on our YouTube channel in the next few. Three days that is going to explain how the Rams get to the playoffs. It's not out of reach, that's for sure, and I'm going to explain how and by the way, Speaking of that YouTube channel Cool News, we finally have our YouTube handle. It's a new thing. YouTube is doing our handle not too hard to figure out LA. Rams up, So what you do is go to www.youtube.com forward slash at La Rams up and there you have it you'll be on. Our YouTube channel. But that's it for our who's pumped, who's pyst? Who's perplexed? Checking in on the fan bases across the league back in a minute with her ramps up straight up game pics. 

 Let's get into our ramps up straight up game picks for week now. Nine, first I look back at last week and I didn't do too well. And actually it wasn't that I did awful or anything. I was nine and six, but all three of my competitors were two better than me. And where did I go wrong? I was the only one that picked the Rams. Nothing I can do about that. That's just in my nature, but just about every other game that had divergence and picks the Panthers Falcons, the Raiders Saints. The Colts commanders. I got him all wrong and then there are a couple games we all got wrong that Browns beating the Bengals and. The Broncos beating the Jags. We are all wrong on both of those, so let's move on to next week, Week 9. See if I can do a little bit better and make up some ground without going out on the Lam. There are few games that are going to get some split opinions. I think not the first one. Eagles will beat the Texans. Chargers at the Falcons charges coming off their bye. You see what happened to the Rams coming off their bye Falcons in first place in the AFC S at home Chargers got to travel across the country. I'm taking the Falcons. Dolphins at the Bears bears. Are going to put up a fight. But the Dolphins they just cut so many weapons now with Waddell and Hill, I'll take the Dolphins in that one Panthers at the Bengals man Bengals did not look good on Monday night. Really missing, Jamar, Chase, but I think they'll beat the Panthers at home. Packers at the Lions. You know, I'm tempted to take the lions. They can put up so many points, and the Packer is really struggling on offense. But I swear the lions off not going to do it. I'm taking the Packer. Raiders at Jags. You know the Raiders looked so dismal last week against the Saints. The Jags just can't close games. Where do you go with this game? I'm taking the home team. I'll take the Jags, Colts at the Patriots culture in trouble. You going nowhere. Fast patriots are in the hunt four and four playing pretty good football. I'll take Bill and the Patriots over the Colts and the Bills at The Jets. This is a big game. Jets I'm going to take the bills in this one that would really be going out on a limb to take The Jets in this one, but The Jets could put up a pretty good fight keep. An eye on that game. Vikings at the commanders Vikings just flying underneath the radar cruise in in first place in the NFC North. Not a lot of stress on them, they'll beat the commanders Seahawks at the Cardinals. Now the public money is going to go on the Seahawks in this one. They're going to start getting a lot of love. But I'm going to take the Cardinals in this one, going to be a high scoring game. I think Seahawks come back to Earth a little bit and the Cardinals get the win Rams at the Buccaneers. What am I going to do with this game? I'm going to take the Rams. Of course I don't feel super confident about it. But the Rams have done pretty well against the box, especially recently, and against Tom Brady as well, so I'll take the Bucs Titans at the Chiefs. I'll take the Chiefs, the Titans third tough team. One of the better defenses in the league. One of the better defenses against the rush. Actually, they might be the best. But I'm going to take the Chiefs at home. That's going to be a brawl in Kansas City and the Ravens at the Saints Saints lights out against the Raiders offense. Last week, Ravens offense is a different beast, though I take the Ravens to get the road through losing my Rams up straight up. Picks for a week nine of the 2022 season. That's going to do it for this episode. Remember you can reach us at Rams up podcast@gmail.com. You can visit our website at ramsup.com. You'll find links to all of our episodes and a link to our YouTube channel and you can also leave us a voicemail from our website. Don't forget to subscribe and give us that. Five star rating. It's really appreciated and remember, keep. The horns up. Stay safe and have fun out there. 

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