If it wasn’t official already, now it is. The Rams have placed starting QB Matthew Stafford on IR for a neck injury he received two weeks ago, all but cementing the fact the defending Super Bowl champions season is over.
This was the only move the Rams could have made to secure a future for this current team. Ensuring that Matthew Stafford stays as healthy for as long as possible should be their only concern heading into the final stretch of the season, which is why they officially shut down the quarterback.
With the Rams offensive line utterly disintegrating due to injury, Stafford received the most punishment from opposing defensive lines this season since his Detroit Lions days as he was either getting sacked, hit, smashed, whacked, or a mixture of all on nearly every drive. Simply put, Stafford was at risk of getting seriously hurt if the Rams didn’t take this precaution and remove him from the starting lineup.
Now, that’s not to say that this current injury is not serious as any neck injury should be viewed at with the upmost care and concern.
There’s already been far too many sad, tragic cases of sports players, and especially NFL players, getting hit hard in the head/neck area and receiving permeant damage that ruins their career. And, given that Stafford is the reigning Super Bowl winning quarterback and is only 34 years old, it’s in the Rams best interest to keep him in their starting lineup for the foreseeable future.
Though, this decision now hands Bryce Perkins the starting quarterback role, which is revealing in its own right. I’m not saying that Perkins is bad or doesn’t deserve to be a starting quarterback, but I am saying the Rams won’t win many games with him under center. And especially not when he has to run for his life on every play and throw to either pylons or disinterested receivers.
This season will undoubtedly go down as one of the very worst Super Bowl defenses in NFL history as the Rams not only aren’t going to miss the playoffs, but they also are looking at being one of the Top-5 picks in the draft.
Not since the 2013 Ravens or the 2000 Denver Broncos has a defending champion been so bad in the following season, though those two teams had a legitimate reason in being horrible: they lost franchise icons the next year.
The Broncos lost NFL legend John Elway and the Ravens lost Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, who is the very best linebacker to ever play the game, in the years after they won their Super Bowls. So, I can see why they were dreadful the next season as they lost both on-field excellence and Hall of Fame experience, yet the Rams don’t have that excuse.
This Rams team lost Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. in the offseason, and those two were deadline acquisitions in the first place. The core of Cooper Kupp, Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Donald, and Matthew Stafford all started the season, but the Rams still ended up succumbing to the injury bug and Super Bowl hangover anyway.
Regardless, it’s kind of funny to see a team that has notoriously scoffed at the draft in favor of veteran players now staring down having a Top-5 pick because of their said veterans’ poor play.
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