The Rams offensive line leaves no doubt against the Texans
The Los Angeles Rams battered the hapless Houston Texans by a final score of 38-22, pushing their record to 7-1. As expected, the Rams offensive line imposed their will throughout the contest and paved the way for a big day on offense.
Filling in for Andrew Whitworth, left tackle Joe Noteboom showed that he is a starting caliber blindside protector in the NFL. Combining this performance with his string of seven starts in 2020, Noteboom continued to drive up the price tag to retain his services once this season concludes.
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Joe Noteboom starting at LT in place of Whitworth. Noteboom’s situation will be an interesting one as he is due to become an unrestricted free agent.
Houston defensive end Jonathan Greenard (who played on both the left and right side during the game) is no slouch. He leads the Texans with seven sacks on the season, after getting backup quarterback John Wolford to the ground early in the fourth quarter.
However, this sack occurred only after most of the starters were pulled, as he was able to beat back up lineman A.J. Jackson with a nasty spin move.
Pass Protection: A
As previously mentioned, the lone sack on the day took place once the majority of the first string sat comfortably on the sideline. Prior to that, the big guys up front handled everything the Texans threw at them.
Stafford was afforded all day to throw, accumulating 305 yards in three quarters. He wasn’t sacked on the day and was barely touched by Texan defenders. We do have to take into consideration that the Texans are in the hunt for the top pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, but regardless of the level of competition, the pass protection on Sunday was elite.
Run Blocking: A+
Running backs Darrell Henderson and Sony Michel galloped through gaping holes from the first play of the day. Houston put up minimal resistance as the Rams running backs played the role of the hot knife and the Texans co-starred as butter.
If McVay and company wanted to try and get 200 yards on the ground, the Rams really could have done it against the Texans. L.A. threw the ball because they wanted to, not because they had to. Los Angeles gained 165 yards on 31 carries, averaging 5.3 per tote.
Penalties: A
The O-line committed one penalty on the day. On the last drive of the game, left guard David Edwards was guilty of moving prior to the snap, drawing a false start flag from the officials.
I can look the other way on this particular penalty. Dealing with a different cadence and voice inflections due to Wolford replacing Stafford in the blowout is a legit adjustment.
Honestly, I’m just making an excuse for him at this point. One inconsequential penalty so late in a beat down isn’t a huge deal. Overall, another good game by the offensive line.
Things have somehow gone from bad to worse for the Denver Broncos as they suffered one of the worst losses in NFL history in Week 3.
The Broncos were shellacked by the Miami Dolphins to the tune of 70-20, a 50-point loss that would make any fan do a double-take in case they thought it was a typo.
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Denver had no answers for Miami’s offense as the latter poured it on during every drive.
Sean Payton has been trying to get the most out of his players, but the entire team looked like it quit when it was apparent that they weren’t going to be able to catch up.
Although the Dolphins have one of the most exciting scoring units in the league, it doesn’t excuse the Broncos’ effort defensively.
Payton looked visibly frustrated after the loss and he got caught in a heated exchange with a reporter via Henry McKenna of FOX.
“What’s the question? What’s the question? I just finished telling you. Next question,” Payton said.
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Awkward exchange between Sean Payton and a reporter, who asked how the #Broncos coach feels about the historically bad loss.
"What's the question? What's the question? I just finished telling you. Next question," Payton said. pic.twitter.com/EwE55LvvLh
Payton doesn’t let the reporter finish asking the question before firing back, a clear sign that he wasn’t really interested in talking about such an embarrassing loss.
It’s hard to blame the Broncos head coach for being so upset, but his response was unprofessional and he should have to apologize for his behavior.
Payton and Denver are now 0-3 and facing the tough reality that they could be once again looking from the outside in when it comes to the playoff picture.
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Payton’s first year with the Broncos has been a disaster so far and it’s tough to know when the spiraling will stop.
Through two games of the 2023 NFL season, the Dallas Cowboys have looked like one of the best teams in the league though they found themselves in trouble against the Arizona Cardinals.
Despite the Cardinals coming in at 0-2 and massive underdogs, they’ve been a lot feistier than expected as they held leads in their previous two games.
Tired of losing, Arizona stepped up in a big way and found ways to bother Dak Prescott and the Cowboys’ offense.
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There have been a couple of upsets already in Week 3, and Arizona has done the same to Dallas.
With frustration mounting, Prescott was caught on video chirping at Cardinals defender Kyzier White via FOX.
The Cardinals would arguably be better off trying to lose games in order to secure a high draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but head coach Jonathan Gannon has other plans for his young roster.
The Cowboys don’t have any excuses for allowing themselves to fall to a team that’s projected to miss the playoffs, but it’s a good reminder that anything can happen in the NFL.
With Dallas suffering its first loss of the season, they’ll need to go back to the drawing board and figure out how they can avoid another letdown.