Happy to get the win, but.....

I am of course thrilled with the must win, however, lest i throw some caution out there before anyone gets too excited.

I was not thrilled with the play of the defense tonight. I thought we gave up plenty of plays early in the game and did not close them out in the second half. Lets keep in mind that sf is a terrible, terrible team, playing without three starting offense lineman.

To me, it looked like every time rattay had time to throw he was pretty successful, killing us with the tight end. Our failure to get pressure all year has murdered us, and with seattle on the road coming off a bye week on the horizon, we are going to have to tackle and cover better if we want a shot to stay in the game.

The key positive for the defense was the two takeaways. That made all the difference. A key sack on the first possession was also a big play after they drove right down the field on us.

Offensively and special teams i thought we were great in the first half, but were unable to finish them off in the second half.

Again, i am not trying to be excessively negative, but we need to improve defensively and most importantly, continue to make plays and cause turnovers if we want a shot to beat seattle on the road.

At this point, even with a loss to seattle, we can stay alive if we beat tampa and miami before the bye. I just hope that the debacle against the saints doesnt bite us in the butt down the road.

Faulk and Bruce continue to prove their value to this team. I like steven jackson as well, but he just is not on the same level as faulk at this point in his career in my opinion.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[AvengerRam]

I thought Marmie did a good job making adjustments after the first drive. He had the DBs come up to the line and play bump and run and he blitzed more.


Next week will be a much tougher test, but its nice to see the Rams get back on track.

[RealRam]

Point well made, General. And well taken.

Next week will be our biggest test at this stage in the season. GO RAMS!

[Nick]

I was screaming when Butler gave up the TD on the slant. We need to be better at defending that. I didn't get a chance to watch the whole game, but what I did see of the second half, it looked like the ***** were able to find some wide open receivers fairly well. Can't let Seattle do that next weekend. Overall though, looked like a good win.

[AvengerRam]

Originally Posted by NickSeiler

I was screaming when Butler gave up the TD on the slant. We need to be better at defending that. I didn't get a chance to watch the whole game, but what I did see of the second half, it looked like the ***** were able to find some wide open receivers fairly well. Can't let Seattle do that next weekend. Overall though, looked like a good win.

Actually, after that TD, the Rams stopped the slant 3 times in the red zone.

The last couple of drives were basically the Rams playing soft and letting the clock run down. I wouldn't put too much stock in them.

With all due respect to the last comment, i dont think we were playing soft until the very end. We were blitzing and sending guys over and over, including coady on several safety blitzes, and we werent sacking rattay, despite their lousy line. We were getting some pressure on him, and i agree that the game was over at that point, but we are going to need to do better against seattle, and hopefully we will be able to do so. More than anything else, to beat seattle, we will need to make some plays on defense as we did tonight.

general counsel

[txramsfan]

I too think the Rams took some time off in the second half but why not? They have been banged up all year, and had the game. Why get hurt trying to shut out the whiners when they have to live again Sunday to play the real team in the division?

[RamDez]

Garrett is a loose cannon out there and needs help or taken off the field. The whiners picked on him all second half.

[txramsfan]

Same could be said for Butler too boss....he saved his backside with the INT but any receiver lined up across from him is open before the huddle breaks.

[thoey]

While I thought we played very well last night, I guess my NaySayer side is wanting to keep it in perspective. This was the 9ers. They suck.

Martz called a pretty decent game plan, Marc played well. Now, we got the taste of that win in our mouth. Let's see if we can put two in a row together. This for the division. Can't come out lax...

[HUbison]

Since this thread is all about perspective...

1. Offense --- We looked great. We did whatever we wanted to, whenever we wanted to in the first half. Some will say we stopped in the 2nd half, and I think even Martz would say, "yea, so?". We did all we needed in the 1st half. And how did we get the scoreboard rolling? By establishing a running game, which in turn, opened up our passing game. Thank you Coach Martz for coming to your senses. You balanced the gameplan, and it resulted in 24 points in the 1st half. And you did so against a solid run D. The niners front 7 is as good as we'll see until Carolina. However, the Hawks secondary makes the niners DBs look like a playground touch football defense. Our offensive scheme will be tested next week.

2. Defense --- The D looked good when they needed to (ie. the first half). They loosened up in the 2nd half, but again I don't think anyone should be too uptight about Anderson, Flowers, Lassiter & co. giving up 2nd half yardage to the niners. Rattay opened up in the 2nd half, but the ground game only managed 29 yards in each half.

3. Special Teams --- Landetta kicked well, the KO return team played well, Furrey did a decent return job. The coverage teams were good enough, but still nothing grand.

[evil disco man]

Originally Posted by general counsel

I am of course thrilled with the must win, however, lest i throw some caution out there before anyone gets too excited.

I was not thrilled with the play of the defense tonight. I thought we gave up plenty of plays early in the game and did not close them out in the second half. Lets keep in mind that sf is a terrible, terrible team, playing without three starting offense lineman.

To me, it looked like every time rattay had time to throw he was pretty successful, killing us with the tight end. Our failure to get pressure all year has murdered us, and with seattle on the road coming off a bye week on the horizon, we are going to have to tackle and cover better if we want a shot to stay in the game.

The key positive for the defense was the two takeaways. That made all the difference. A key sack on the first possession was also a big play after they drove right down the field on us.

Offensively and special teams i thought we were great in the first half, but were unable to finish them off in the second half.

Again, i am not trying to be excessively negative, but we need to improve defensively and most importantly, continue to make plays and cause turnovers if we want a shot to beat seattle on the road.

At this point, even with a loss to seattle, we can stay alive if we beat tampa and miami before the bye. I just hope that the debacle against the saints doesnt bite us in the butt down the road.

Faulk and Bruce continue to prove their value to this team. I like steven jackson as well, but he just is not on the same level as faulk at this point in his career in my opinion.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

I agree wholeheartedly, GC. The defense looked very soft at times, giving up ten yard plays one after another. I know the Rams practically had the game wrapped up by the fourth quarter, but I'd like to see our team finish strong. It just kills me when they give up stupid plays and trash points.

[Shadesofgrey]

I saw Hargrove come off the field in the game...How much did he play, and how did he do?

[evil disco man]

Originally Posted by Shadesofgrey

I saw Hargrove come off the field in the game...How much did he play, and how did he do?

I remember noticing him around the ball on a couple plays - one where Rattay rolled to the right and Hargrove was right there, leaping towards him and forcing him to throw a bad pass. He seemed to be pretty excited to be out there, jumping around and getting fired up.

Hargrove was flagged for roughing the qb on a lousy call. nice to see him working into the rotation. I am very impressed with bryce fisher to this point, but i think that hargrove will continue to see more time.

general counsel