I’m going to try something new (Thanks to our Broncos  writer, Brenda.) by jotting down observations, big plays, and anything else that stands out during each quarter.

First Quarter

Rams offense’s stop and go is giving me motion sickness. Third down conversions compounded by a false start penalty (Robert Turner) is not helping the Rams’ cause. Dramamine anyone?

Continued chants of “Craig Dahl sucks” overflow my Twitter timeline as he whiffs on two open field tackles. What are Rams fans going to do when Dahl isn’t around next year as their punching bag?

Seattle’s Russell Wilson continues to show flashes of why Pete Carroll sat Matt Flynn in favor of the rookie quarterback. Wilson evades Rams defensive end Kendall Langford and gets a key first down.

Seahawks have a TD called back on a pushing penalty.

But the other Rams have been getting to Wilson. Jo-Lonn Dunbar, Chris Long, and William Hayes have all said hello to the rook in the Seahawks backfield.

Rookie punter Johnny Hekker is not having a good day. He’s not helping the field position game at all. You need to get it together kid. The team needs you.

First quarter ends scoreless. Rams have been so the last six first quarters.

Second Quarter

Sack number four on Wilson. This time Robert Quinn gets to him for a loss of two yards.

Steven Hauschka‘s 43-yard field goal gives the Seahawks the first points of the day.

» Continue reading “St. Louis Rams At Seattle Seahawks Quarter Quick Hits”

I guess I’m still a little hung over from the overtime victory from last Sunday. It was a game with highs and lows and acronyms from all over the emotional spectrum – WTH, LMAO, SMDH, and OMG!

It took the Rams ten quarters of gritty football and a bit of luck (another missed David Akers field goal) but they did the unthinkable – they beat the 49ers.

In the end the only three letters that really mattered were W.I.N.

RB Steven Jackson after the 49ers at Rams game. 12/02/12 (Personal Photo)

After the game the usually subdued Edward Jones Dome was the happiest I’ve witnessed all season. Rams fans were loud, proud, and whooping and a hollering.

A good sized crowd stayed long after to thank the players and the masses weren’t disappointed. Quarterback Sam Bradford, running back Steven Jackson, defensive end Robert Quinn, cornerback Cortland Finnegan and many others took time to sign autographs.

Fast forward a week to Sunday. Last week’s win is just that – in the past. This week brings its own unique challenges and a new team.

The Rams take on the Buffalo Bills – a team that they haven’t seen since the 2008 season where the Rams lost at home 31-14. The last time the Rams visited the Ralph (Wilson Stadium) was back in 2004 where they were defeated 17-37. The most recent Rams win over the Bills was in 1998 (34-33) at Buffalo.

Back to the present.

The biggest question heading into week 14 is can the Rams maintain that energy on the road in the “elements” and not have another let down game. The last thing fans want to see is a repeat of the Jets-Rams loss.

Week 14 marks an pivotal point in the St. Louis Rams 2012 season.

With a victory in Buffalo the Rams will have accomplished the following:

1) Get back to a .500(ish) record.

They are stoking an overall 5-6-1 record. A win in Buffalo will get them back to an equal number of wins and losses.

2) Three consecutive wins in a row.

The Rams haven’t won three games in a row since week 15-17 during the 2006 season where they bested the Oakland Raiders, the Washington Redskins, and the Minnesota Vikings. A very very long time ago from a season far far away.

3) Two consecutive road wins.

We don’t have to go as far back for this one. Look no further than weeks 12-13 at Denver and at Arizona in 2010, Rams quarterback Sam Bradford‘s rookie season.

» Continue reading “St. Louis Rams At Buffalo Bills Week 14 Preview”

Rams RB Steven Jackson: Probably the only player that got a passing grade in Sunday’s game. (Courtesy STLouisRams.com)

NFL analysts and Vegas had the Rams 3.5 point favorites coming off the almost win against the very stout San Francisco 49ers team. I should have known something was up when NFL LIVE’s Mark Schlereth and Tedy Bruschi sang the Rams’ praises. Even the NFL Network Gameday Morning crew picked the Rams to beat the lowly struggling New York Jets. Red flag alert!

For what it’s worth I had the game score at 14-30. The final score of the game was 28-13. I just had the teams wrong.

And then from my game preview.

If the Rams don’t beat themselves they’ll beat the Jets. The Rams have to eliminate the stupid penalties and they can’t allow this become the trap game that people are speculating it could be. They have to win against the teams they are expected to beat.

Key words here include:

1) Stupid penalties – How about that phantom-ish holding call safety Rodney McLeod that wiped out the 98-yard kick return TD by wide receiver Chris Givens?

Here’s what Coach Fisher said when asked what his thoughts were on the penalty.

To me, no? Did it like like that to you? No. We’re not good enough to overcome those kinds of things and the fact that it wasn’t a hold, but it’s just kind of the way it happens. You don’t know what happens with the momentum change in that game if that works.

Or the illegal motion penalty on wide receiver Danny Amendola that negated a key 17-yard reception by tight end Lance Kendricks? All in all the Rams committed less fouls this game – ONLY five penalties for 30 yards. It’s a vast improvement from last week’s 13 but those two specific flags came at very inopportune times.

» Continue reading “Rams Lose 28-13 To Jets In Flat Fashion”

Green Bay Packers at St. Louis Rams (Courtesy STLouisRams.com)

Was this a winnable game against a formidable elite NFL team? Yes. But as with just about any the Rams losses they were still in it in the fourth quarter. This a welcomed change from years past but it doesn’t make the defeat any easier to swallow. Especially when we don’t see improvement from week to week in certain areas.

Same song, different verse.

Rams dropped critical passes: Yes, I’m looking at you Brit Miller and Brandon Gibson to extend drives.

Rams failed to wrap it up: Bad tackling. I distinctly remember a missed tackle by Jo-Lonn Dunbar that lead to a crucial third down conversion for the Packers in the fourth quarter that lead to the last Packer touchdown.

Rams didn’t finish drives with touchdowns: i.e. continued red zone woes. I’m not counting the last minute garbage time touchdown from Sam Bradford to Austin Pettis. The game was more than over by then.

I counted three defensive false starts/neutral zone infractions, two on defensive end Chris Long and the other on Kendall Langford. Not to mention the offensive false starts, delay of game, and a very questionable unnecessary roughness call on cornerback Cortland Finnegan.

The Rams defense was able to pester Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers with three sacks by Michael Brockers, William Hayes, and Robert Quinn but failed to create those all important turnovers.

I liked that new offensive linemen Joe Barksdale and Shelley Smith came in and did a pretty good job today. They weren’t perfect – they let Clay Matthews III through for a sack on Bradford – but overall Matthews III had a relatively quiet night.

As expected Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein shook off last week and came back to easily make a 50-yard and 43-yard field goals. I never lost faith.

The Packers weren’t playing with a full deck (no WR Greg Jennings, DT B.J. Raji, CB Sam Shields, and LB Nick Perry) yet seemed to find a way to make plays when it mattered the most.

» Continue reading “Rams No Longer Perfect At Home, Lose To Packers 30-20″

Is anyone else having deja vu right now? Okay, maybe it’s just me. Remember back to week 8 of the 2011 season when the 0-6 Rams hosted the 5-2 New Orleans Saints. Drew Brees and his Saints were just coming off a smack down of ginormous proportions when they just demolished the Peyton Mannning-less Colts 62-7.

This is what New Orleans head coach Sean Payton said on how he kept the Saints on track and keeps them from taking the Rams too lightly:

You can’t play well one week and then not play well the next. Understanding that there’s never that perfect game, it’s not going to be without error, but it has to be with energy, it has to be with passion, it has to be with conviction, and an understanding that these games are all units. As you get towards the end of the season they all matter the same.

This was just days before the Saints came into the dome and got the shock of their lives. The Rams just manhandled them and kept the high flying Saints offense scoreless until the third quarter. The final score was 21-31 but it wasn’t as close as it looked.

Those 2011 week 8 Rams were inspired by the hometown baseball Cardinals presence at the dome and their leader Steven Jackson said, “We came out with a mindset we were going to fight.” And fight they did. Jackson went beast mode that game, let out a hair-raising primordial roar, and thundered his way to 159 rushing yards for two touchdowns.

This week the Rams take on Green Bay. The Packers their cheeseheads in tow went down to Houston and out played arguably the best team in the AFC and beat the Texans 42-24 on Sunday. Confidence has got to be high for them this week, even though Coach Mike McCarthy said the following:

We’re just working hard, focusing on our plan. I know we’re coming in there for a tough football game.

Could week 7 be the Packers’ over confident/let down game? We can only hope so.

The Five Things I’ll be watching for in Week 7

» Continue reading “Green Bay Packers At St. Louis Rams Week 7 Preview”

The Rams take their third road trip of the season to Miami this week as they try to win their first game away from Dome Sweet Dome. The Miami Dolphins are coming off their first road win as they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 17-13.

There they will face another rookie quarterback in Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill threw for 223 yards but none of them connecting on touchdowns. In fact, Tannehill has only thrown two touchdowns this season and six interceptions. He could be adding few to that latter stat by the end of week 6 and I don’t see him padding his touchdown stats either. His offensive line should have their hands full with the Rams front four.

Basically, the defense will have to carry the burden and much of the load for a Rams offense that has yet to score a rushing touchdown this season. They are the only remaining team to hold such infamous distinction since Tennessee Titan back up running back Jamie Harper vultured a touchdown from Chris Johnson owners on Thursday night.

With the Dolphins only giving up 61.4 yards per game, the best rushing defense in the league, don’t be surprised if the Rams go into week 7 still without a rushing touchdown. Their best bet is to change it up on the Dolphins rush defense by giving them calculating doses of Steven Jackson and Daryl Richardson. Will Isaiah Pead see many snaps? Your guess is as good as mine.

» Continue reading “St. Louis Rams At Miami Dolphins Week 6 Preview”

Arizona Cardinals QB Kevin Kolb sacked by Rams DT Jermelle Cudjo. 10/04/12 (Courtesy STLouisRams.com)

Isn’t that just a thing of beauty – from a Rams perspective, of course. If you’re Kevin Kolb this was the reoccurring nightmare that haunted him all night as he was sacked nine times at the Edward Jones Dome. In all, seven Rams defensive players took turns bringing Kolb to the turf. Only defensive end Robert Quinn recorded a hat trick for three sacks.

The Rams defense was more or less the story of the Thursday Night Football. They had their way with the Arizona Cardinals offensively scary offensive line. Poor Cardinal tackles D’Anthony Batiste and Bobby Massie had a long night. The only player who had a worse night - Kolb. Bloody lip, multiple hits, and as you can see from the photo above he had a 311 pound defensive tackle just flatten him. Say what you will about Kolb’s play but you can’t deny that he’s one tough son of a gun.

1) A Rams running man needs to show up.

 The Cardinals are giving up on average 101 yards on the ground which ranks them midrange (15th) in the league.  The collective efforts of Jackson, Richardson, and I’m hoping, Terrance Ganaway, will surpass the century mark.

Okay, so Ganaway didn’t see any action on the field but the Rams did manage to run more than 100 yards this game. Jackson managed to get some long runs during this game which helped set up the passing game. I sort of wondered how he’d play considering news of his contract changes had just come out. If this is indeed his last year playing as a Ram then he’s putting on a good show for future teams.

» Continue reading “Rams Beat Cardinals 3-17 To Stay Perfect At Dome Sweet Dome”

The St. Louis Rams have lost the last three of the four times they’ve met up with the Seattle Seahawks. Their last win came in St. Louis on October 3, 2010 during week 4 when they beat the Matthew Hasselbeck lead Hawks 3-20. That was also the last time the Rams started the season at 2-2.

Two years later both teams find themselves in similar situations. Seattle comes in at 2-1 and St. Louis finds itself at 1-2 heading into week 4. Rams running back Steven Jackson is nursing a groin injury again and is questionable for the game.  In 2010, Seahawks left tackle Russell Okung left the game with an ankle injury and finds himself in 2012 playing with a bum knee. Déjà vu isn’t just a song by Dionne Warwick, folks.

Despite his strained groin Jackson managed to play through the pain in 2010 and lead the Rams with a combined 126 yards rushing and receiving (70 yards rushing on 22 carries and 3 receptions for 54 yards.)

Jackson will have to have a repeat performance in order for the Rams to beat a much improved Seahawks in 2012.

———-

The Five Things I’ll be watching for in week 4:

1) Will running back Steven Jackson be effective?

I’ve already recapped what he did back in 2010 when he was dealing with that groin injury. Can he take the team on his shoulders or in this case his legs and take the Rams to a .500 record? Jackson didn’t participate in practices all week so there’s optimism that he’s healed up enough to give it a go on Sunday.

If Jackson can’t be effective then Coach Fisher has a back up plan.

Well, we’ve been splitting reps. They’re all ready to play, even (RB) Terrance (Ganaway) is ready to play. We’ve been splitting reps in the event that ‘Jack’ can’t go.

Last week the sixth ranked rushing defense (76 yards per game allowed) of the Chicago Bears held the entire Rams running game to 59 yards on 17 carries. The Seahawks are ranked second allowing a meager 58 yards per game. It’s not looking very promising at this point.

» Continue reading “Seattle Seahawks At St. Louis Rams Week 4 Preview”

QB Drills at 07/29/12 Rams Camp (Personal Photo)

Before heading out to Rams Camp I asked Rams fans who or what position they were interested in hearing about.  Most popular requests were Sam Bradford, WR’s, OLB, CB’s, and the O-line.  Less requested but equally as important are the special teams guys – kickers, kick return guys, and snappers.  No one asked for a punter preview which was disappointing because punters are (football) people, too.  Even the face of NFL Network, Rich Eisen, agrees.  (If you don’t know this about me already I’m a huge fan of Rich Eisen.  So this was a nice surprise.)

» Continue reading “Rams Training Camp Day One Notes”

Rams DE Chris Long Tebowing, 10/2/11 (Courtesy STLouisRams.com)

This is the second year the NFL Network has come out with their Top 100 Players as voted by the players.

The only Ram to make the 2011 list was starting running back Steven Jackson by landing at the #38 spot just one number short of his playing number, 39.

Things seem to be on rise for the Rams because they already have two players in the 2012 Top 100 and they’ve only unveiled #’s 80 – 100.  Newly signed free agent CB Cortland Finnegan lands at #93 and now DE Chris Long finds himself at #84.

As you can see he made a big leap in the number of sacks in the 2011 season.

» Continue reading “Rams DE Chris Long Is #84 On 2012 Top 100 Players”