I had a feeling after watching the game last night that there would be alot of negativity on the
ClanRam site this morning. Although I haven't read all the new threads and posts attached to them, I've read enough of them. I'm left scratching my head in a total state of confusion. Folks this was a "PRESEASON" game.
A few other interesting Week 2 Preseason final scores:
Vikings 37 @ Jets 20
Titans 27 @ Patriots 24
Texans 24 @ Cardinals 20
At Lambeau Field:
Packers 48 Seahawks 13
Again, we are still in the "PRESEASON".
MY TAKE ON OUR GAME: Focusing on the 1st Half
First of all, no LaDainian Tomlinson and no
Steven Jackson. "PRESEASON GAME"
Week 2 of the "PRESEASON" is generally a good look at the starters for most teams. Usually playing the entire 1st half. That held true for the most part in our game.
Our first look at Dante' Hall in the HORNS. Dante' makes a nice return to the 35 yard line only to have it called back on a holding penalty. Later in the game Dante' returns a punt for a solid 12 yards. I don't know about the rest of you but I'm excited about Dante' Hall and his potential effect on our special teams return units.
Our starting offense looked great. It will take a while to get used to the dink and dunk approach. We took the ball and marched downfield on 2 long drives and the turnover bug got us. The Hedgecock fumble or non-fumble was a case of Hedgecock battling for extra yardage and a great strip by the San Diego defender. Bulger's interception was a poor decision on Marc's part. I'm guessing that after dinking and dunking the Chargers defense for 2 impressive drives Marc thought he could catch the Chargers secondary cheating in a bit and burn them long. He was wrong,
Torry Holt was double covered one defender short and one long. Still, It's the "PRESEASON" nows the time to make those kind of mistakes and have time to correct them. The O-line did a decent job of pass protecting.(1 sack allowed) The running game wasn't all that impressive (Brian Leonard is no
Steven Jackson). Leonard reminds me of a Rocky Bleier/Jim Kiick type of back. He's a grinder with good hands. Having said that, the combination of the short passing game and grinding running game was working fine.
The starting defense was shaky at best in the secondary. Look the Chargers are a running team. Our front seven did a nice job of clogging up the line and pressuring the quarterback. On the other hand Philip Rivers was picking us apart with his no-name receivers. We had 2 issues that stood out in my mind. Poor pass coverage and missed tackles.
Obviously the punt return against for a Touchdown was very disappointing. "Missed Tackles" all over the place!!!
Let me finish by saying the Chargers played a near perfect game. "ZERO TURNOVERS"
Other than having 7 penalties called against them and a missed extra point the Chargers played a solid game.
BUT
The Chargers only had a total of 258 total net yards on offense for the entire game. The killer was that there quarterbacks were 17/24 passing combined.
Last nights game showed us all exactly what we've all been talking about this off season. Our Offense is going to be great and put a lot of points on the board. Our run defense looks better but we need improved play from the secondary and on our special teams coverage units. Our special teams return units are going to be alot better thanks to Dante' Hall.
I will say it again. After enjoying the "Greatest Show On Turf" it will take a while to get used to Linehan's methodical safe grind it out approach to the offensive side of the ball.
I would like to see a little more risk taking on the offense. Stretch the field more. A happy medium between Mike Martz and Scott Linehan if you will?
All in all my outlook on our Rams hasn't changed. I'm expecting nothing less than a 9-7 regular season record with the potential to be an NFC WEST DIVISION CHAMPION. Last nights game has not affected my predicition. That being we have a solid playoff bound team.