The 5 O'Clock Club: Early Reactions to Rams game

The 5 o’clock club aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below.

Here are my quick thoughts (guiltily typed on my phone while my students work on a group exercise in class, so please excuse any factual errors or typos. Monday is the one 'club' post each week that is a big challenge for me to get out).

It's great to get the win!

Player of the game

I'm torn between 3 players:

• Chris Thompson
• Ryan Kerrigan
• Josh Norman

I was ready to nominate CT to the Hall of Fame until he dropped that pass in the middle of the field with nothing but green grass in sight.

Norman punched out two balls for fumbles, getting one turnover, and nearly tore all of his ligaments stretching to defend a ball & try for the pick near the goal line.

Kerrigan got another strip sack. The man's a machine!

The offensive line finally looked like the professional unit they should be. They weren’t perfect, but they were going up against a ton of talent in the Rams DL.

With 2 TDs, I think I'm going with Chris Thompson, and Mason Foster gets honorable mention for his game-sealing pick at the end.

Troubling trends

Pryor dropped another pass. That's 3 in the regular season, I think, to add to his (un)impressive preseason collection.

Hopkins hit the upright. It could have been costly. After last season’s struggles, I’m a bit worried.

Coaching

36 called runs and over 200 yards rushing. 'Nuff said. I’m not complaining about Gruden today, and I’m quickly becoming a fan of the defensive staff. The CBs, in particular, look completely different (in a good way) than they did last year. The transformation in Breeland back to the beast he showed in 2015 is huge, and Kendall Fuller is tackling well in the screen game & outside runs.

This game was fun to watch.

(I haven’t had the best track record this week in getting details right, so if I’ve done it again, please be kind in the comments, and I’ll try to fix any blatant errors. I’m on the run all day after not sleeping all night, so no time to fact check myself and my staff is on vacation [no TWSS jokes about my staff!]).

Bring on the Raiders!!

How are you feeling following the Week 2 contest against the Rams?

Are the Redskins ready to face two AFC West teams in the next two weeks?