Bradford struggles as Rams fall to Vikes ..

[MauiRam]

Associated Press

Sam Bradford took the field to a big ovation. Soon enough, reality sank in for the centerpiece of the St. Louis Rams' rebuilding effort.

The No. 1 overall pick had an early case of the jitters, short-arming a pitch and bobbling a snap the first two plays, looked poised while hitting four of his first five passes, then ended with an extended rough patch in the Minnesota Vikings' 28-7 preseason-opening victory Saturday night.

''It was fun to get out there, get hit a couple times, get hit, get knocked down, get back up,'' Bradford said. ''Just getting back into the flow of a football game was fun.''

Sage Rosenfels, chasing Tarvaris Jackson for the Vikings' quarterback job while Brett Favre waffles on his future, was a standout even though both starting wide receivers are out with injuries. Rosenfels threw for 157 yards and two touchdowns in the second quarter against the Rams' second-teamers and added a 71-yarder to Marko Mitchell in the third quarter, finishing 23 of 34 for 310 yards.

Rosenfels, 32, knew before the game he would be getting a lot of playing time.

''Mentally, I was going into the game thinking like it's a full game, it's not going to be one series or two series and out,'' Rosenfels said. ''I got more and more comfortable as the game went on. It's been a while since I've been out there, seeing real live action. A lot of guys did a lot of good things.''

Jackson started but wasn't out there for long, taking six snaps on the opening series while going 2 of 4 for 11 yards.

Vikings coach Brad Childress had no news on the Favre front.

''I didn't have a vision before the game. Nothing's changed,'' Childress said. ''You know, you can't have your cell phones with you out on the sidelines.''

Bradford completed only two of his last eight passes against Vikings second-teamers, finishing 6 of 13 for 57 yards while getting sacked four times. The Vikings gave the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner's surgically repaired right shoulder a battle test with Jayme Mitchell getting 1.5 sacks on consecutive plays in the second quarter.

''I took a couple, landed on the shoulder,'' Bradford said. ''It's not sore at all. We'll see tomorrow how it feels, but right now it feels great.''

Bradford's debut probably should be graded on a curve, given Pro Bowl running back Steven Jackson did not take a snap and the Rams were the NFL's puniest offense even with Jackson while going 1-15 last season. Jackson and Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson both dressed but only watched.

The Rams were handicapped the most, getting outgained 414-150, even though Childress took out all the starters except center Jon Cooper after the first series.

''In the first quarter, we did a decent job,'' coach Steve Spagnuolo said. ''After that, I think it's obvious we've got a lot of things to work on, both sides of the ball.

''We've got plenty of time; nobody's panicking.''

One of the players most victimized by the Vikings was right tackle Jason Smith, the second overall pick last year, who has been bothered by a broken toe much of training camp.

St. Louis is 6-42 the past three seasons, a big reason the Edward Jones Dome was officially only two-thirds full with announced attendance of 40,801.

Bradford is the backup for now behind veteran A.J. Feeley. But Feeley was shaky, narrowly avoiding interceptions on two passes that could have been returned for touchdowns while going 3 of 6 for 19 yards.

Danny Amendola scored on a 93-yard punt return for the Rams, but fumbled away his next chance at the Rams' 16 that led to Rosenfels' 2-yard touchdown pass to Logan Payne five plays later to tie it at 7. Garrett Mills whipped linebacker Chris Chamberlain on a 65-yarder the next series to put the Vikings ahead.

''Better now than in the regular season,'' Amendola said. ''Try to get the kinks worked out.''

Six Vikings offensive players did not play. Percy Harvin has missed all but two days of training camp because of migraine headaches and a funeral, and Sidney Rice has a hip injury.

Mills had four catches for 106 yards and a touchdown, Payne had seven catches for 52 yards and a touchdown and Mickey Shuler added a 2-yard grab from Joe Webb.

[laram0]

Associated Press

The Rams were handicapped the most, getting outgained 414-150, even though Childress took out all the starters except center Jon Cooper after the first series.

''In the first quarter, we did a decent job,'' coach Steve Spagnuolo said. ''After that, I think it's obvious we've got a lot of things to work on, both sides of the ball.

''We've got plenty of time; nobody's panicking.''

Lost 28-7 and the 7 came from a special teams play. Outgained 414-150?!!!!

"We've got plenty of time; nobody's panicking." ?????


Easy for you to say Mr. Spags!

[wart57]

I sure hope nobody is panicking after the 1st Pre-season game, worried, yes, panicking no.

[r8rh8rmike]

Bradford struggles? Considering the circumstances, he was solid and looked very composed. He didn't fumble, he didn't throw any INT's, he got rid of the ball when he needed to, he didn't stare down receivers and when given time, he made plays. If the OL can give him any amount of reasonable protection, he'll be the difference maker he was drafted to be. A more appropriate title for the article would have been "Those Around Bradford Struggle".

[LA Rammer]

The Rams were handicapped the most, getting outgained 414-150, even though Childress took out all the starters except center Jon Cooper after the first series.

Taking out your starters doesn't mean much especially when your backups could be starters for another team. Vikes defense is going to be sick this year. This was a great test for our offense. But to be perfectly honest our guys didn't look as well prepared as the Vikings. I'm looking forward to the Browns, who aren't a Superbowl contender, to see if we can boost our confidence as we draw closer to regular season.

[wart57]

I have not gotten to see tha game yet, but hope to watch it tonight. It sure sounds like the Rams were very unprepaired for the game, which seems to be a pattern in a lot of the Rams pre-season games. I can only hope it was just first gasme jitters.

[HUbison]

bobbling a snap the first two plays

Due to being handicapped with a Spread offense in college where he obviously took all his snaps in the shotgun.










Naaaaaah, I'm just playin'.

[Azul e Oro]

Due to being handicapped with a Spread offense in college where he obviously took all his snaps in the shotgun.









Naaaaaah, I'm just playin'.

LOL....I think I just heard atchris' head explode. Just what we need; another injury. You oughta be ashamed, HUB.

[rammiser]

Bradford struggles? Considering the circumstances, he was solid and looked very composed. He didn't fumble, he didn't throw any INT's, he got rid of the ball when he needed to, he didn't stare down receivers and when given time, he made plays. If the OL can give him any amount of reasonable protection, he'll be the difference maker he was drafted to be. A more appropriate title for the article would have been "Those Around Bradford Struggle".

Completely agree with you Bradford didnt struggle at all. This just shows you that the media either doesnt watch the game or skews the publics view of something without being truthful. ESPN did the same thing to Cambell for the Raiders. They only showed Cambells incomplete passes and he finished like 7-13 and one of the passes was a bomb that hit the wr right in the hands and was dropped. Same thing with Leinart for the Cards they only showed his bad plays but he was like 6 for 7. I thought Bradford showed poise under attack. He thre 2 balls away that were great plays for a rookie instead of taking a sack or forcing it to a covered wr. Bradford will be fine, the o-line on the other hand is another issue.

[nuclearman]

St. Louis is 6-42 the past three seasons, a big reason the Edward Jones Dome was officially only two-thirds full with announced attendance of 40,801.

That is a sad stat

Bradford will be very good. I try not to listen to all the doomsayers - too many sports journalists and not enough to talk about.

[Nick]

Bradford struggles? Considering the circumstances, he was solid and looked very composed. He didn't fumble, he didn't throw any INT's, he got rid of the ball when he needed to, he didn't stare down receivers and when given time, he made plays. If the OL can give him any amount of reasonable protection, he'll be the difference maker he was drafted to be. A more appropriate title for the article would have been "Those Around Bradford Struggle".

I would also disagree with the suggestion that Bradford struggled, but IMO, he did do some of the things you mentioned.

He was staring down his slot receiver on his first pass of the night, and may have been staring down Amendola on their third down completion in the same drive. He had some balls batted at the line; how much of that is on the linemen and how much is on Sam for finding throwing lanes, I don't know. According to the play by play, on one of his sacks, he actually did fumble the ball, though it bounced out of bounds.

That said, he also did a lot of things that were impressive. His strike to Robinson was a well delivered pass. On the Amendola play, he read the blitz coming from the right and knew to go to Danny on the left. He showed some elusiveness escaping the rush at times. He knew to check down to Ogbonnaya at one point when nothing else was available.

Sam's first outing was not fantastic, but certainly not a disaster either. There were goods and bads, which you'd expect from a player who is very skilled but also a rookie. I agree that, with better play from his supporting cast, he may have done better. Such has been the tale of Rams quarterbacks for a couple of seasons now, it seems.

[r8rh8rmike]

I would also disagree with the suggestion that Bradford struggled, but IMO, he did do some of the things you mentioned.

He was staring down his slot receiver on his first pass of the night, and may have been staring down Amendola on their third down completion in the same drive. He had some balls batted at the line; how much of that is on the linemen and how much is on Sam for finding throwing lanes, I don't know. According to the play by play, on one of his sacks, he actually did fumble the ball, though it bounced out of bounds.

Not sure about staring down receivers, but you're right about the fumble. Maybe I should have said he didn't fumble the ball away. Although I didn't mention the batted balls, I would put those on his lineman getting bullrushed and pushed back into the pocket.

Regardless, we obviously agree that characterizing his performance as a struggle is a big misnomer.

[lordwhttgr]

running for his life is how I would put it. He looked great when he had time.

[HUbison]

He didn't looked panicked. I think that's pretty important at this point. I expected to him to throw it away quicker, scramble quicker, and get out of the play quicker. But he didn't, which is good. He stayed in the pocket until it WAS time to get out. He made his progressions until it WAS time to launch it out of bounds.

Now it's just a matter of exploiting what the defense gives him.

[sosa39rams]

Lord's right, he looked great with time! Although he got to a point were his confidence level probably just dropped because of several incomplete passes and him running for his life.

Anyway, lets re-name this article shall we? To: The Rams Offensive Line struggles.