Rams And Chargers Fight For Los Angeles
On Wednesday, August 9th, a hockey sized brawl broke out between the Los Angeles Rams and the new kid in town Los Angeles Chargers during a joint practice held at the Rams Training camp at UC Irvine.
How fitting is it that the rumble occurred on, “Throwback Day”. Rams legends took pictures with the devoted fan base, smiling for pictures and signing autographs with Hall of fame Running Back Eric Dickerson. The setting clashed with the built up tension; it was a warm afternoon with a cool ocean breeze in Irvine. All the buzz in the O.C. and across the nation focused on the captivating, street fight. Every fan giving a blow by blow account, miming the oversized gestures of battling giants. It was thrilling to view first-hand. In the beginning, the’rivalry’ was forced and contrived. The rivalry is personal now. The fans hollered with glee as Rams Cornerback Trumaine Johnson punched Chargers Wide Receiver Dontrelle Iman, with his helmet on.
This was the second time the Rams and Chargers have practiced this preseason. The previous Saturday, the team’s held a joint practice at the StubHub Center, the Chargers home stadium until the massive stadium being erected in Inglewood is complete. The hit that officially started,”The Battle For LA”, the clever slogan the Chargers PR department came up with actually has come to fruition. The signature highlight of this fight came from Keenan Allen.
Bolts Wide Receiver Keenan Allen was killing the Rams’ secondary, he cut across the field like butter. Leaving every Ram cornerback in the dust. Defending his teammate, Allen came swooping in and leveled the Rams’ Nickell Robey-Coleman. Kickoff is slated for 5:00 P.M.
The benches cleared, as Chargers Quarterback, Phillip Rivers talked a little playful trash. For those five minutes, Chargers Running Back Melvin Gordon explained, “There is real hitting, it’s competitive out there”. The Battle lines have been drawn: it’s time to choose a team. Rams or Chargers, who will come out on top? Find out on Saturday, August 26th at the Coliseum at 5:00 P.M. for round 3.
Rams Knock Off The Dallas Cowboys,13-10
FOOTBALL IS BACK IN L.A.! First, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 13-10 on Saturday night, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Rams Quarterback Jared Goff looked crisp while managing the offense in limited time, while rookie head coach Sean Mcvay earned his first W as head coach.
The Coliseum was decked out in Rams blue, the setting was gorgeous, straight from a postcard.
The slogan appearing all around the stadium, and jumbotron read,”Whose house is this?” The Rams faithful shouted, “Rams House”, every single time, willing them to victory in this defensive showdown.
The game was sloppy, complete with numerous fumbles (9 to be exact) and lacking in star power. I.E. Cowboys star power, the biggest storyline leading up to the contest was the suspension of Dallas Cowboys superstar, Running Back Ezekiel Elliott. On Friday, the NFL announced the leading rusher in the NFL will be suspended without pay the first six games of the regular season for domestic violence against a former girlfriend.
As a result, America’s team pouted like a spoiled child by resting their stars. There was no trace of Dak Prescott, Zeke, Dez Bryant or Jason Witten. The legions of Cowboys fans, a good 80% of the Coliseum, whole families all the way from grandparents to newborns were robbed by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and head coach Jason Garrett from seeing their heroes in action.
It was a disheartening move from the Cowboys front office, ironic given Jones rallied the other NFL owners to approve the Rams move from St. Louis to the City of Angels.
Capitalizing on a muffed punt, the Rams opened up the game with an early Touchdown. In the Red Zone, Goff threw a bullet to new addition, Robert Woods near the end zone. The ball was jarred loose, fortunately, Copper Kupp dove on the ball in the end zone, making it 7-0.
Jared Goff was three of four for 34 yards in limited action. Todd Gurley had four carries for two yards. The star of the game was rookie Justin Forsett from USC. The former Trojan knows how to make defenders miss in his old stomping grounds; quickly stopping on a dime fooling the Cowboys D for a 46-yard scamper down the sidelines. Davis gained 70 yards on 5 carries and will be a steady backup to Todd Gurley.
The Rams are built around defense. New Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is already working wonders. The defense is switching to a 3-4 scheme, only allowing the Dallas Cowboys 248 net yards on offense.
In the third quarter, Cowboys Tight End Rico Gathers caught a TD pass, evening the score at 10-10. Darren McFadden, Ezekiel Elliott’s backup carried the ball six times for 28 yards evening the score at 10 all. Sean Mannion drove down the field, and the Rams kicked a field goal, proving to be the difference. Final score: Rams 13 Cowboys 10.
The Los Angeles Rams are 2-0 this preseason thanks to a last-minute touchdown, defeating the Oakland Raiders, 24-21 on Saturday, August 19th.
The Rams drove down the field their first series, Rams QB Jared Goff rolled out of the pocket and threw a perfect rainbow to Wide Receiver Cooper Kupp for a 23-yard touchdown.
Goff threw the parabola pass with a Raider linebacker in his face. Goff is beginning to deliver and develop into a great, confident quarterback. He finished 16 for 20 for 160 yards, leading another TD drive that was capped by Todd Gurley’s 2-yard run and a field goal drive late in the first half.
After Oakland’s Connor Cook led a go-ahead drive capped by a 17-yard pass to Johnny Holton with 6:30 to play, Sean Mannion answered for Los Angeles and threw a game-winning 20-yard pass to Josh Reynolds with 1:11 remaining.
The Los Angeles Rams kick off the regular season on Sunday, September 10th. For our home opener, the Rams welcome Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts at 1:05 P.M. To purchase tickets, visit: www.therams.com/tickets
Chargers Are Crushed By The Seahawks
CARSON- “The Battle For LA”, got off to a disappointing start for the Los Angeles Chargers, as they were steamrolled by the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, August 13th at the Stub Hub Center. It was a deflating first impression, to say the least, it being the Bolts home debut.
The game began idyllically for the Chargers, QB Phillip Rivers drove them for an opening touchdown pass to Tight End Antonio Gates. The Chargers led 14-10 at the end of the 1st quarter. Rivers went 5-6, 56 yards and a touchdown.
Then the Seahawks onslaught occurred. Backup Quarterback Kellen Clemens threw two interceptions, including a pick six. Sidebar: I am coining the term,”SIX-erception”, patent pending. However, he hooked up with Travis Benjamin for a 74-yd ICBM for a TD on the next possession.
Seattle scored 34 unanswered points, the defense was non-existent. Even worse, only 21,000 people showed up. The transformed soccer stadium where the Galaxy play was unable to sell out the 27,000 capacity stadium.
It is too early to make any bold proclamations about the NFL, regarding the stacked AFC West in August- with the Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders as well as the Kansas City Chiefs fighting for the division
The Los Angeles Chargers are a young team on the rise, having ample time to change course and shock the critics and haters. Typically, I avoid the term,”Haters”, however, it is accurate in this situation.Still, this is a nightmare not being able to sell out on opening night.
The Los Angeles Chargers have already sold out every seat for their regular season games, so don’t put any stock in the Media hype, attempting to trash the Spanos family for the move. Or dissuade Charger fans from showing up. It was the right move for the Lightning Bolts to return to L.A., it will just take time.
The Los Angeles Chargers take on the Rams at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, August 26th at 5:00 P.M. DTLA Weekly prediction, keeping in mind preseason has no bearing on the regular season in any way. Rams 31 Chargers 28
