When I think of the Los Angeles Rams at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, I harken back to the blue and white days of Roman Gabriel throwing to Jack Snow or handing off to Dick Bass and the Fearsome Foursome dominating the trenches.
That was when I only watched the Rams take on the Green Bay Packers battling for supremacy in the NFL's Western Conference during the Vince Lombardi glory years.
Even before that, the Packers would annually finish their season with the back to back West Coast trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles from the early 1950's into the early 60's.
By the time I started covering the Rams, they became a nomadic franchise, moving first to Anaheim, then to St. Louis and eventually, back to Los Angeles.
Now the Packers and Rams meet again at the fabled Coliseum in a pivotal game for the visitors against the NFL's best team so far in 2018.
The Rams have become a speeding train to the top in just a couple of years. They drafted Jared Goff number one in 2016, hired 32 year old Sean McVay as Head Coach last year. That tandem clicked from the start and the Rams made the playoffs for the first time since the Greatest Show of Turf ruled St. Louis.
General Manager Les Snead then went full speed into free agency this off-season. He signed his two stars, Todd Gurley and Aaron Donald to long term deals, acquired Brandin Cooks from New England to add more speed to the receiver corps, brought in Ndamukong Suh to tandem with Donald and restocked the secondary with signings of Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters and former Packer Sam Shields.
Don't look now but the Rams have sped to the top of the league as the only unbeaten team this year.
The muddling Packers stand 3-2-1 coming off the bye and oddsmakers don't like their chances, pegged as 9 point dogs, the biggest spread ever against an Aaron Rodgers-led Green Bay team.
Can Mike McCarthy's team turn into gladiators and leave the Coliseum victorious?
Only if they follow a Hollywood type script like this:
ACT 1 Scene 1
Score first. It took until the 49ers game for the offense to generate first quarter momentum with 17 points but the unit sputtered until they absolutely had to make plays late for the walk-off win. Aaron Rodgers may still need the brace on his left knee but he has all of his weapons back. Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison got their hamstrings right during the week off. Having the veterans back could allow the Packers to jump into the no huddle or hurry up offense when they want to rather than when they need to. Look for an early no huddle series to produce points to let the Packers play from in front.
ACT 2 Scene 1
Slow down the Hurley Gurley show. Todd Gurley has supplanted the AWOL Le'Veon Bell as the league's top back. He's number one in rushing with 686 yards, tops in total yards from scrimmage with 936 and he's already scored 14 touchdowns. If Gurley gets going, the rest of the combination formations, distracting motion and play action scheme of McVay ramps up. That's when the Rams become their most dangerously explosive.
ACT 2 Scene 2
Staying with the defense, the locker room chatter from coordinator Mike Pettine to defensive back Tramon Williams was all about eye discipline. With all of that movement in the Rams offense pre-snap, it's easy to get distracted and chase a decoy motion man or see ghosts away from where the football actually is. All eleven must handle their play to play responsibilities, trust their eyes and prevent big plays.
ACT 3 Scene 1
The Donald and a boy named Suh. Aaron Donald is the most disruptive interior defensive lineman in the game. From his tackle spot, he's piled up 8 sacks, getting four last week in San Francisco. Now he's joined by public enemy number one for Packer fans. Suh has riled up the Packers for years with hits on Rodgers or stomping on Evan Dietrich-Smith's arms in his Lion days. The Packers offensive line is much better pass blocking than run blocking and they will be challenged. With Rodgers improved mobility and pressure coming from the middle, look for more keeps and rolls from McCarthy's play sheet.
Final Act
Will this Hollywood script be a comedy? A tragedy? A horror flick?
I expect the Packers to put up a very game fight. McCarthy is 9-3 coming off the bye in his career and he needed the two weeks to whip up a game plan for this Rams squad. This may turn out much like L.A.'s last home game, against the Vikings a month ago, a 38-31 shootout. I just think the Rams have a bit too much ammunition on both sides of the ball.
I like the old blue and white in this one, 34-30.