Why Rams’ Last Loss Isn’t As Bad as It Seems
It's never a good feeling to lose a game when you were the heavy favorites, especially when it's against your divisional rival and everyone else in the NFC West loses that week. The
The defending champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, were expected to make it back to another Super Bowl in 2025. However, after dropping back-to-back games against the Denver Broncos and New York Giants, the NFC looks wide open, and the Rams must distinguish themselves from the rest of the other contenders.
Week 6 Power Rankings
Thomas Valentine is a sports writer for Pro Football Focus, and he
"A tough beat for the Rams, who entered Thursday night as overwhelming favorites against a battered and bruised 49ers team. Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan always go blow-to-blow and give us a fun game, and it’s usually the team that shouldn’t win that ends up taking the spoils in these matchups",
The Rams were able to sweep the 49ers last season, but it's expected that it won't happen again two seasons in a row. The 49ers are talented, even if they were missing their most impactful players against the Rams.
They're still coached by Kyle Shanahan, who, surprise, is great at scheming his players open and knowing how to set up his players for success. It took a vintage Christian McCaffrey
"Would things have been different if Kyren Williams hadn’t fumbled at the goal line? Maybe, but c’est la vie. The Rams are 3-2, a top-10 team in EPA per play on both sides and remain a squad to watch closely down the road".
The Rams are currently in 2nd place in the NFC West, and with a depleted Baltimore Ravens team standing in their way, week six is a perfect opportunity for them to bulldoze an inferior opponent and get their get back. Expect
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New Celtics free agent addition flashes intriguing potential in Grizzlies win
The Celtics bet on players with untapped upside with many of their offseason moves this summer and saw some encouraging returns out of their gate in their preseason opener Wednesday night. One of the promising highlights in Boston’s 121-103 win over the Grizzlies came from reserve forward Josh Minott. Boston signed the 23-year-old to a two-year deal back in July after he spent the first three years of his career largely buried on the bench in Minnesota. Opportunity in Boston helped Minott land with the Celtics in free agency and he started to show the promise of a potentially increased role on Wednesday night.
Minott stuffed the box score with eight points, seven rebounds, three rebounds, three steals and a block in a team-high 26 minutes off the bench in the 18-point win. He struggled from the 3-point line in the victory (0-of-3) but left his fingerprints all over other aspects of the game with constant energy on the defensive end or hitting the boards.
“He just has a knack for the situation or play on both ends of the floor,” Joe Mazzulla told reporters in Memphis. “Whether it’s getting offensive rebounds, a couple steals, a couple blocks. He has some good versatility, but he has a knack for the ball and a knack for being in the mix. He was able to generate some steals an deflections tonight and obviously some offensive rebounds.”
Minott has never played more than 20 minutes in a regular season game during his three years in Minnesota on a stacked playoff roster so Boston’s wing rotation should open the door for some opportunity for him. Beyond Sam Hause and Jaylen Brown, there’s no one who is a lock for big minutes at the position as the likes of Minott, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh and Hugo Gonzalez will battle for minutes off the bench. All of those players acquitted themselves well at spots in Wednesday’s win but it was Minott and Gonzalez that stood out from the pack with their defense and motor.
The Celtics gave Minott a two-year deal (with a team option) this summer so this bet has the potential to produce big dividends when Jayson Tatum returns to the fold next season if Minott can establish himself as a rotation player. The Celtics have not had a player that brings his athleticism and energy off the bench for a few years now and it’s evident that uptempo is the style that Joe Mazzulla wants this team to have as its identity. Minott played well into that a reserve in the blowout win.
“At both ends of the floor we played with the right intentions,” Mazzulla told reporters in Memphis. “So we’ve got to continue to do that. Of the 48 minutes, I’d probably say 32 to 34 of them were at the pace we wanted to play with at both ends of the floor. We just have to work to maintain those habits.”
Minott’s role in the rotation will be worth watching on Friday night as Payton Pritchard, Anfernee Simons and Neemias Queta return to the lineup after getting the night off in Memphis. It’s possible other starters are rested for the matchup but Minott did enough on Wednesday night to warrant another long look from the coaching staff.
