Previewing Week 10; The Rams host the Cardinals. Will Stafford play? From LA Rams Up

Welcome to Rams Up, an LA Rams podcast. We cover just about any Socal sports team, but our primary focus here is your Los Angeles Rams. You can also check out our YouTube channel for weekly video content. Our YouTube handle is at La Rams up. I'm your host mark. Let's get to it. Back Ram fans man. There is a lot to talk about with the Los Angeles Rams heading into week 10. We're going to have a preview of the rematch with Arizona Cardinals.  

Of course, lots of things going on with the Rams roster. We'll get to that in a minute. First, we're going to take a look back at last. Week Bobby Evans didn't have the best performance last week, week eight against San Francisco. He had a 15.5 pass blocking grade against Tampa Bay. 13.6 so it actually got worse. Evans actually fared worse against the box than he did against the 49ers, and this isn't going to make you feel any better. The Rams had 206 net yards against the Bucs take away. Cooper cuts productivity, RAM said. 79 yards of offense, 38 yards receiving without Cooper, Kupp van Jefferson. 5 targets 0 receptions. I want to put that game behind us real quickly and move on to some new stuff. What's going on with the Rams roster but? Had to share that with you as sad and depressing as it is. That gains behind us. Hopefully we all feel a little bit better about things. Probably not actually what a painful way to lose to the box and such an important game as well, but their rants will survive moving on coming back home. Play the Cardinals and what's going on with the roster. Lots of news. They waived Terrell Burgess, and I don't think Burgess ever really recovered from that injury in his rookie year. 'cause he started out pretty well. And just never got it going. Rams seemed to have lost faith in him, and they're clearly feeling a little bit better about rest E. So Burgess has gone and grants. Also waived for the second time this year. Kendall Blanton with Bryson Hopkins back in the fold Lanton expendable. So he moves on.  

But the biggest news? The elephant in the room, Matthew Stafford, in concussion prone. And his wife, justifiably, voicing some concern about her husband's health and. Stafford, I think is probably a long shot to play. This week is my guest this concussion stuff. The NFL is taking it much more seriously now, especially with what happened with Tua, so it's going to be John Wolford or Bryce Perkins and we may drop a video in the next day or two discussing. It should. And that should be pretty entertaining. I have some thoughts on that. Pros and cons of both guys. Bryson Perkins. Good for the run game, John Wolford. More likely to keep guys like Cooper Kupp involved and productive and be able to run this offense much more like Matthew Stafford did. But is that a good thing? Or maybe not? Maybe Perkins is what we need. Some mobility back there, but I'm not going to play my hand. I got to give this some thought anyways, but look for a possible drop on our YouTube channel that's at L. A Rams up that is the handle for our YouTube channel. It's easy enough to find and we'll definitely have a video drop the Rams. Path to the playoffs. We do that once a week until there's no point in doing it anymore. And hopefully that time will come when the Rams clinch a playoff spot as opposed to being eliminated. Other news, Coleman Shelton. Apparently likely back. That's a big boost for the offensive line now. I don't know where Shelton goes right guard with someone sliding over to replace Bobby Evans or do their Shelton take over at left guard? Who knows, we may not know till later in the week or possibly even game time. Brian Allen was has been held out, but he should be good to go and Kyren Williams could play. Travian Howard, Malcolm Brown, Aleric Jackson, Robert Rochelle, and Greg Gaines, all little banged up. It's just a guess right now. If any of those guys will miss the game too early in the week, we'll know more Thursday and Friday. 

On the Cardinal side, Kyler Murray is dealing with a hamstring issue. And if you've. Listen to this podcast for annually. At the time, Kyler Murray is a fine quarterback. If that's how you want to roll with a guy like. That good for you, but this happens every year. He gets banged up. It's an ankle. It's a hamstring. He becomes a very mediocre quarterback when he loses that mobility and that may be the case this week. Once again, we'll have to see, but Rahm seemed to have the cards number anyways, especially when the Rams are playing. Defense offense all bets are off in this game. The way the Rams offense has been playing and also Rodney Hudson. Perhaps their best offensive lineman. He has been held out and may not play as well. A special assistant pointed this out to me, he just realized. Last year, the Rams playoff opponents in order were Arizona, Tampa Bay and then San Francisco, and this year three in a row reverse order. We are playing San Francisco, Tampa Bay and Arizona. Last year in the playoffs we won all three. Of course this year. The regular season we're at risk of losing all three, but that's not going to happen right? And then after Arizona, we play the New Orleans Saints, the team we beat in the 2018 NFC Championship. OK, so some old friends coming back to haunt us before we get to our preview of the Rams Cardinals game. I've been doing this every week. Who am I counting out? Which NFL teams are done? Are now irrelevant and have no shot at the playoffs in week six I counted out the Panthers in the commanders for a moment there I thought I was premature with both of those teams, but I still felt pretty good about that. In week seven, I counted out the Lions and the Texans, and in week 8I counted out the. Jags and the Steelers. Anyone else joining that bunch? Let's go through these divisions, not counting anyone out from the AFC East. They actually might be one of the stronger divisions. Every team over 500 in the AFC S We've already counted out half the division. The Texans and the Jags. And I know I said Monday morning the Colts were done, but actually at three, five and one a new coach. Maybe some new direction, not quite ruling them out yet, but they're on the watch list that's for sure. In the AFC West. How about the Raiders two and six? Yes, I'm calling them done the seventh team. Done for the year it's over. Thank you for participating the Las Vegas Raiders. Don't tell that to a Raider fan. I can guarantee you 90% of Raiders fans will tell you they're going to find a way to get it done. They're going to the Super Bowl and we'll see them later on this year. That should be fun. AFC North. I've already counted out the Steelers. The Browns didn't play, so no change with them. And it's the east. I counted out the commanders in week six. The other three teams giants equals Cowboys all in the playoff hunt and the rest of them. You see, there's a budget teams that we need to keep an eye on. The Cardinals, bears, and Packers all at three and six. Yes, they are on the watch list. Those teams need to get a win here real quick and the other team that others would consider. Not me though. The Rams at three and five. Not quite yet. Gotta keep an eye on them. They need to get a win this weekend or they'll probably fall onto the watch list for sure, but they're still definitely alive and have a shot. So we're adding the Raiders. That's it. Seven teams are done. We'll come back and take a look at this again next week. One last reminder, look for YouTube drops. This week Could be two. Would definitely do the path to the playoffs and perhaps another one talking about Woolford and Perkins as potential starters this weekend. Yeah, you know what? I think. I'm definitely going to do that and I can't say I'm going to leave it as a surprise who I'm leaning towards. Because you know what? I'm not even sure yet in the preseason. If you listen to this podcast, you know I favored Woolford over Perkins, but with the way this offense has been playing, maybe Perkins gets a nod. You have to check in to see back in a minute with our Rams Cardinals preview followed by our ramps up straight up game pics.  

Your kickers lining up for an onside kick. The chances of regaining possession are slim. The stakes are high and attention is higher. He kicks and you watch as the ball lands. Make every play field this exciting with DraftKings Sports Book, an official sports betting partner of the NFL right now. New customers can make any $5 NFL bet and get $200.00 in free bets if your team wins. And check this out in addition to the usual bets, everyone can boost their winnings with draft kings stepped up. Same game parlays. Do I have a same game parlay for you this week? Hey, let's look at our own Los Angeles Rams. I'm going to tell you to take the over on the Rams rushing yardage. That's right, the Rams get Coleman Shelton back. Bryce Perkins might play, and even if he doesn't, I think the Rams are going to be much more productive in the run game. Maybe Kyren Williams plays point total. Take the under and Kyler Murray take the under on the passing yardage download the DraftKings Sports Book app now and use promo code Tip Pen. To get $200.00 in free bets if your team wins, just place a $5 bet on any football game only at DraftKings Sports book. Using code TPP. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details.  

So let's get into our Week 10 Game preview. The Arizona Cardinals visiting Sofi Stadium to play our Los Angeles Rams. Second time these two teams have met this year. Rams winning in Week 320 to 12 series record another team. The Rams have a big advantage over Rams. 48 wins, 39 losses and two ties in the series. Memorable games I already mentioned this back in the Week 3. Preview that was the 1975 playoff game. I still remember listening to that on the radio. The Jack Youngblood, Fred Dryer, Harold Jackson, John Cappelletti, Lawrence McCutcheon, Thomas Mack Rams. Beat the Dan Dierdorf Mel. Great Jim Hart Terry Metcalf, Roger Worley cards. That was the Saint Louis Cardinals. The score in that game, 35 to 23 Ron Jaworski the Polish rifle versus Jim Hart. Cardinals coached by Kliff Kingsbury, are we going to be saying that next year I'm starting to wonder? He's in his fourth year his. Record has gone something like this. Five wins and 10 losses in a tie in 2019, eight and eight and 2020, eleven and six in 2021 and three and six in 2022. Key players on offense, Kyler Murray, James Conner, the running back, Eno, Benjamin. I started to pitch in at that position as well. DeAndre Hopkins back from suspend. Zach Ertz the tight end two good offensive lineman DJ Humphries and Rodney Hudson. Now I don't know if you heard this, but Hopkins and Murray apparently getting in a pretty serious verbal confrontation on the sideline last week. Not sure if that wound is going to fester. And of course, their offseason acquisition. Marquis Hollywood brown. Out for this game and probably the year. On the defensive side, but a Baker or great safety, he's out suffered a high ankle sprain last week, so he'll miss this game for sure. JJ Watt is back, but I'm not convinced he's 100% Isaiah Simmons. A linebacker has started to make some splash plays, but this is a decent. Defense, but nobody on that side really scares you. I guess the exception would be what if he's healthy and he does have 4 1/2 sacks on the year? Team stats Cardinals kind of middle of the pack offense going up against a top 10 defense in the Rams. Probably a top five defense, depending on your metric, but in short, one of the better defenses in the league, notwithstanding how that Tampa Bay game ended on the defensive side, they're a middle of the road defense as well. You know, they're just pretty good. Against the run end against the past, they're going against a RAM offense that was second to last in yards per game, and it pains me to say that how far have we fallen? A Josh McVay offense with Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp? Just can't get anything done lately, just the occasional long catch and run by Cooper Kupp. That's about all we got. It seems like hardly anybody else involved, but the Cardinals are one team. If we're going to get it going, and this is the week I'm seeing an early spread of Rams by 3 1/2 that may hold it. May not. Should be a pleasant day in Los Angeles. Upper 60s. Low 70s Cardinals come in three and six. The Rams three and five. I've the Cardinals over the last four games they have lost to the Seahawks twice and sandwiched in between those two games. They beat the Saints and lost to the Vikings. So three of their last four have been losses. The Rams beat the Panthers and then came out of their bye with two straight losses to the Niners and Bucks my fearsome 4 keys to the game in Hunt. You've probably detected some real frustration on my part when it comes to this. The way the rants are planned on offense, you know, identifying keys to moving the ball. I mean, there's probably a bunch of them. Starts up front. We just need to move the ball period on a consistent basis. Couple of long drives run the ball a little bit. Hey, how about we score in the fourth quarter? I don't know if you're going to force the issue in demand that I identify 4 keys. It's probably. What the Rams have done in the past to beat the Cardinals. One contain Kyler Murray. We've been pretty good at that. Two, no catastrophic plays on offense or defense. It's more likely going to happen on offense. The way things are going. #3 move the ball on the ground a little bit. #4 put together some long drives and put the ball in. The end zone. It's kind of how you win any game, right? The way the Rams were playing, they got to get. Back to the basics. They got to show that they're a good football team once again, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Don't really have any issues with our defense. I mean the soft coverage and not getting the sacks because of the soft coverage. Those types of things. That's a strategy. That's a philosophy that they've adopted this year, and for the most part it has worked and we have to maybe back off as fans and podcasters and demand that they get to the quarterback. And play tighter coverage. It's not going to happen. This is the formula they have, they just need to execute it a. Little bit better. At certain times, at the end of the game, potentially when they're trying to protect a small lead. But really, it really comes down to the offense, offense. Just just. To play better. And if the offense just plays average, the way this defense. This plan we still have a chance to win a lot of games and it's got to start with the Cardinals. It's a team we've dominated. Ah, I'm not calling this a must win game, but. I think it might be a must win game to be honest with you to drop to three and six. Yeah, sure, maybe they can run off a few straight wins, but remember they have the Chiefs and Chargers coming up with them will be tough games. There are still potential WS out there, but this is. Where it has to. Start they have to win this game. And I'm going to go with. I was originally going to go with Rams three to nothing, maybe six to three, but I'll be a little more realistic. A little more optimistic here. I think it's going to be the RAM 17 in the Cardinal 16. Yes, the Rams will get in the end zone twice. They'll kick a field goal, you know. I actually think the Rams will put up. More points in this game, I think they'll get Matt Gay and range a few times and maybe pad that lead, but I'm going to roll with 17 points for the Rams A1716 win over the Cardinals.  

Time for our Rams up straight up game picks, Week 10. Let's get into it, but first. A look back at week nine, Lorenzo Reyes of USA TODAY went ten and three, as did Mike Florio of Pro Football talk. Pete Prisco and I both went nine and four, so the standings on the season Mike leads the pack with 88 correct Lorenzo 86. I am for Becker Lorenzo with 82 and Pete and Pete still bringing up the rear with 78 correct. Now what's been hurting me this season so far, especially recently, is the requirement that I picked the Rams every week and maybe picking with my heart a little bit when it comes to some other teams, notably Seattle, and I get dinged for that. Not a good betting strategy, but for my Rams that straight up game. Picks I will continue to pick the Rams every week from now until eternity, but this week I may have to lean on the Seahawks over the Bucks, but let's get into those picks for next week. Falcons at the Panthers. I will take the Falcons and the better football team. And Panthers had a spark there for a while. Remember, these two teams played just a couple weeks ago and that was that crazy overtime game. I think the Falcons went again here. Seahawks at the Buccaneers in Germany. Now this is a game I'd really like to see the Buccaneers win. I'd like to see the Buccaneers win that S division. And I'd love to see the Seahawks start racking up some losses. And I'll explain why in our upcoming weekly video, the Rams path to the playoffs. And yes, that path does still exist. Check out the YouTube channel for more details. That's coming up in. A couple of days. But in this one I'm going to have to take the Seahawks, pull up for the Bucs, but I'm taking the Seahawks. Vikings at the Bills. Not sure what's going on with Josh Allen. I still think the Bills win that lions at the Bears. Oh man, I I swore off the lions and this is a game I think they would probably win on most Sundays, but I don't know. I'm going with the Bears. Lions have just disappointed me too many times in Justin Fields. He could refer 200 yards against this defense. Jags at the chance. She should roll in that one Browns at the Dolphins. I'll take the Dolphins, Browns, or a team that you just can't count on. They could blow the dolphins out, or they could just look horrible, but. Taking the Dolphins Texans at the Giants, this is a game the Giants can't afford to lose at home against a weaker repo. On it still have a shot at the divisional title. Certainly a leading candidate for a wild card spot, so I'll take the Giants. They have a lot more to play for Saints at the Steelers. This is one of the worst standards teams I've seen in a while. Of course, they're missing their best player, TJ Watt quarterback situation is not there. I'll take the Saints Broncos at the Titans. I think the Titans are going to slap the Broncos around and win that pretty easily. Colts at Raiders. Colts undergoing some real changes there. They're not playing Matt Ryan. They fired their coach bring in Jeff Saturday and the Raiders. They're a bit of a shipwreck at this point, but Raiders at home. I'll take them Cowboys at the Packers now. If the Packers had trouble with the Lions. Since they're going to be in for a long day against this cowboy defense, I'll take the Cowboys Cardinals. At Rams, this is a team the Rams have dominated recently. They're at home. Tough loss last week. This is really going to test the Rams mental state. How they're feeling about themselves. If they're really geared up to make a playoff run or not. I'm taking the Rams chargers at 49ers. This could be the game of the week. Love to see the Chargers slimness but actually it may be to our benefit. If 49ers witness and eventually take over first place in the NFC West and the Rams knock off Seattle a couple times and then when the tiebreaker. For a wild card spot. Regardless of all of that, I think the 49ers are the better team and they come away with the win, especially at home. 49ers in that one commanders at the Eagles on Monday night. That'll be the Eagles time to shine. They're going to win that one, although the commanders certainly could put up a fight with that pretty good defense there. So that's my Rams up straight up picks. For Week 10, two big gains in the Rams perspective is. Let's see the Buccaneers knock off the seat. Hawks Rams get back in the win column. That would be a big step in the right direction. There's another few games that could help our cause slightly. Cowboys beating the Packers, reducing the chances of the Packers making a playoff run competing for a potential wild card spot with the Rams and Seahawks. If things pan out the way, I think. They need to pan out to the Rams benefit. I think we're going to get divergents on a lot of games this week. I could see split opinions on the Falcons, Panthers, Seahawks, Buccaneers, even the Lions, Bears, Colts, Raiders, Cardinals, Rams could see split opinions on all those games, but those are my picks. We'll check back in next week, hopefully. Make up some ground on Lorenzo and Mike that needs to start happening really quick and key to that for me is the Rams need to start winning because I'm picking them every week and so that's five in the wrong column for me. Just on Rams results.  

That's going to do it this episode. We hope you enjoyed it. Remember, you can reach us at Rams up podcast@gmail.com. Visitourwebsite@ramsup.com to find links to. All of our episodes as. Well, as transcriptions and don't forget about our YouTube channel, our handle is at La. Ramsup.com 'til next time it points up, stay safe, have fun out there.