LA Rams 25, Minnesota Vikings 27 - Recap

It’s just the preseason.

It’s just the preseason.

It’s just the preseason.

IT’S JUST THE PRESEASON.

And then it’s not.

For four weeks, we’ve told ourselves that none of this matters. That it’s all excusable. That the good things that happen will carry over to September. That the bad things will evaporate into the past tense.

You have nine days to use those excuses. Use them with aplomb.

If last week the early action in the preseason game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Denver Broncos offered their best performance, tonight’s finale between the Rams and the Minnesota Vikings was likely their worst early on.

Make no mistake. The difference between the best and worst of Fisherball is tenuous. To ask QB Jared Goff to take over the league’s worst offense in yards gained from a year ago without RB Todd Gurley and WR Tavon Austin and make diamonds is...well, that’s kind of how the Rams roll. The results, therefore, aren’t all that surprising. Meanwhile, the defensive line continues to churn up opposing offensive lines leaving quarterbacks in their wake and asking far too little of the secondary behind them.

And yet, here were the Rams, up 7-0 early but surfing a 7-13 deficit into halftime and down 10-27 midway through the second half. It was an uncomfortable end to the preseason for 2016, a season begging for hope with a new home, a new audience to play to and a new set of excuses to roll out.

They’re locked and loaded. The excuses, that is, not the Rams. They are too, but we know what’s coming out screaming first.

The regular season begins a week from Monday in San Francisco against the cross-state rival San Francisco 49ers. On Monday Night Football. On national television. To offer the first meaningful definition of what Los Angeles Rams football means to the larger NFL dictionary.

Roster decisions on Saturday.

Practice next week.

Bring on Fisherball...