For a team that had something to play for Tampa sure didn't show it. While Winston may have padded some numbers when the game was out of reach, I have to say I was a little underwhelmed by him. He couldn't seem to move the ball with any efficiency, or convert on key plays. Granted, the Rams are a tough defense, but TB looked pretty bad.
I know it's a Thursday night, but did anyone notice just how empty the stadium was? It looked to probably be maybe 2/3 full, with huge blocks of empty seats. Here's the ugly part. Every day that goes by, I increasingly believe that Oakland and San Diego will both move to LA next year. This leave the Rams stuck in the Edward Jones Dome for maybe several more years. The city is going to have almost no motivation to spend more money if the team has nowhere else to go. But it will make easy pickins if a city like San Antonio or Portland decides to build an NFL ready stadium.
The one thing I am hoping happens is that the new LA teams have (or choose) new names, especially the Raiders. I realize all these teams played in LA before, so many fans will welcome them back. But the Raiders especially started in Oakland, and that brand seems to belong in that city. I'm not sure what rights (if any) the city of Oakland (or SD or St.L for that matter) has to the name, if they can keep the brand the way the Cleveland Browns did, but it's a hope.
Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com has listed his top 2016 NFL free agents, and most of them (no surprise) are on Denver. The best, actually only, QB on his list? Sam Bradford.
Speaking of Sam. If you look back in history, some trades seem to work great for both teams. Sort of the Clinton Portis for Champ Baily trade. Having said all that, I think the Sam Bradford for Nick Foles trade turned out to be bad for both teams. Foles has clearly disappointed in St.L, and is now benched behind Case Keenum, who has played fairly well, if inconsistent. In Philly, Chip Kelly was hoping that Sam would slice up the field and be able to run his fast paced offense. While Bradford has played fairly well, and only had minor injuries, he's really not much better than he was during most of his (average) career in St. Louis. Now, one might think what Kelly was really trying to do was load up players to trade up and get Marcus Mariotta, but the Titan's wouldn't bite.