Nick's Rams/Lions Game Notes, Wagoner Style

FIRST QUARTER

-Nice pressure on third down by Green. Little nearly beat his double team.

-McDonald should not be returning punts until he learns not to run backwards.

-Steven Jackson, first run... 64 YARDS!!! Talk about some nice blocking and a good job finding the hole.

-Great run in by Marc Bulger to get the touchdown. Don't listen to John Madden, Marc. You may not be Mike Vick, but you're not exactly a statue in the pocket either.

-Furrey makes a nice shoe-lace ST tackle.

-Arch overpursues and is embarassed by Kevin Jones on a first down run. Ugh.

-Little once again "nearly" has the sack.

-Claiborne gets a nice sack after blowing past Kevin Jones. Very nice job after a couple miscues on D.

-Great third down stop getting pressure on the Lions offense. Jackson came in free after a blitz by Arch and another DB.

-Rams get the ball at their own ten, like always.

-Great pitch and catch by Bulger to Manu from the two tight end set. How you leave a 300-lb guy that wide open is beyond me.

-Toss that counter run from the playbook. Too long developing, and looked awkward.

-13 yard pass to Bruce, and Bulger was very well protected. Bruce ran perhaps the perfect comeback route.

-Jackson goes in motion and grabs a toss from Bulger that was thrown behind him. Nice grab!

-Heck of a draw by Faulk, and it didn't even look like he tried to break the initial tackle. He just did it.

-Another first down run by Marshall after another great run across the line. Very nice blocking to give him some lanes to hit as well.

-Nice inside run by Jackson, with solid blocking ahead of him. That's what the Rams have been missing in the red zone.

-Man, Terrence Holt, I hope your brother gives you a beatdown for not only jumping offsides during an extra point, but then running right into Jeff Wilkins' legs!

-Man, that kickoff runback toward the end of the first scared me. But knowing that the penalty was holding on Detroit makes me feel better.

-Say a prayer for Terry Fair. I don't say that to sound cute, but the man went straight to the turf after getting his head crunched by Kevin Jones. Really hope he's okay. Thumbs up is a great sign.

-Blitz after Fair's injury brings what looks like two guys, but can't get any of them free to the QB.

-Rams did a nice job collapsing the pocket on third down despite holding, and Hargrove coming around to sack Harrington is very good to see.

SECOND QUARTER

-McDonald fields another punt and, once again, runs sideways and backwards. DO NOT LET THIS MAN RETURN PUNTS UNTIL HE LEARNS TO GO FORWARD!!

-Great 8-yard run by Jackson after the penalty, especially diving forward to gain the most yards possible. He then follows it up with a nice run to the outside, bowling over someone head first at that.

-You're not going to see Pace miss many of those blocks, and because of it, Bulger was forced to the right and right into the defender.

-Nice spin by Faulk to make something out of nothing.

-Poor throw by Bulger, putting it too far ahead of Bruce and right into the hands of a Lion defender. I liked the read, but you've gotta be on target with that throw. Especially when another guy is open and you pass him up.

-Lions answer by protecting Harrington well and hitting a wide open Roy Williams.

-Great news on Fair having a neck sprain and having mobility.

-What a hit on Harrington from Michael Stone!! Good lord!

-On second down, Manumaleuna has to make that catch. He had his man beat after the play action, now just bring in that perfect pass!

-Marc, please, do not start holding your pinky in pain. We haven't had good experiences with that!

-Dre Bly, please, don't argue about what was clearly pass interference. I haven't seen a more blatant push in a long time.

-Great cutback by Jackson on second down to get the first

-First game back, not the kind of impression you want to make, Timmerman, with that hold.

-Talk about a perfect play!! Bulger to Bruce for a 31-yard touchdown pass! Bulger could have put it a bit more in front of Bruce, but hey, seven points is seven points.

-Looks like being benched lit a fire under Tony Hargrove's backside. Talk about manhandling a good LT in Jeff Backus!

-Nice defensive line stunt to force an early throw by Harrington which was nearly intercepted after Charles Rogers misses the catch.

-After Travis Fisher lost man-up against Mike Williams, the Rams did a nice job stuffing the middle on a Kevin Jones run.

-Man, if only Atogwe could have made that sack on the blitz. I'd like to see a replay to see if Harrington was still behind the LOS, but if Atogwe makes that sack, it wouldn't have been an issue.

-Nice pressure by Kennedy, but it's on a screen pass, so I guess that's to be expected. ;-)

-The Lions really helped the Rams out in that red zone defense with a lot of penalties, but the Rams looked successful playing bend but don't break and allowing the Lions to get short gains and then stopping them on third down.

-Rams have a minute to go with one timeout, and it looks like they're going for it. Great pitch and catch to Bruce for 12 yards.

-Marshall uncharacteristically bobbles and drops a pass.

-Coverage sack on Bulger on a play where he needs to throw the ball away after finding no one open.

-Overall, the first team looks sharp on both sides of the ball.

THIRD QUARTER

-Another poor return leaves the Rams inside the 20 to start their first drive. PLEASE Terry Fair, get better! At least as a returner you showed us something!

-Timmerman is not having a good game back. First a hold earlier, and now a false start. Get it worked out now, big man.

-Bulger with a great play action pass on second and long to Torry Holt! I love that in pattern.

-Nice pass from Bulger to Bruce for the first down, but Bruce coughs it up (!!!) and the Lions get the turnover. After the replay, it looked like a nice strip by Bly, but how many fumbles has Bruce had of recent?

-Pace gets a personal foul for pushing Bly out of bounds? How many times have we seen Ram players get nailed late? Ugh.

-Nice tipped pass on second down. On third down, a nice job by Archuleta stepping up and making the tackle to prevent a first. The Lions are going for it, but don't get it because Leonard Little makes the stop on the basic fullback dive. Nice stand, D.

-Looks like Bulger and the starting 'backs are done. Let's see how Martin does against the starting Lions D.

-Martin's first pass is a nice floater to Kevin Curtis, who has remained silent all game thus far.

-Great bootleg pass to Manu, who was completely open, and then great blocking down field by McDonald and Curtis.

-Martin has looked good tonight, but this second team rushing attack isn't impressing me.

-Nice rush up the middle by Claiborne (?) to get pressure on Garcia and force a bad shuffle pass that was called for intentional grounding.

-Wow, Ron Bartell got burned by Kevin Johnson on a fly route. Not burned as in he was no where to be seen, but clearly Johnson had a step. Thank goodness the pass was out of bounds.

-Goodbye Lion fans!! Talk about a mass exodus out of Ford Field.

-Harris looks unimpressive, though he doesn't have much blocking. Still, tripping in the backfield isn't going to win you a roster spot.

-Nice pitch and catch from Martin to Looker for a first down, and even better, nice job by Barron on his man on the left side of the line.

-Oh man, Arlen Harris just got leveled by Donte Curry! The man looked like a rag doll. Hopefully he didn't injure anything on that play.

-Man, now Jerome Collins drops a catchable pass. What's with our tight ends and not being able to catch anything when there's a guy remotely in their area?

-Trev Faulk made a nice play in the middle on a Lions run.

-Garcia just got sandwiched between Green and Parrella (?) in what continues to be a good night for defensive pressure, all things considered.

-Green looks sharp, but now it's against second team guys. Still, he got some good penetration earlier in the game. And now he's forced a fumble that's set up a Madison Hedgecock touchdown catch.

-Another good play by Trev Faulk, this time making a tackle on special teams.

-Mike Williams versus Kevin Garrett. Winner? Mike Williams. Somehow I'm not sure I see Garrett making the final roster. He made a risky play on the ball, and it cost him.

FOURTH QUARTER

-Now there's a punt return. Someone needs to tell McDonald that that's what happens whenever you run forward with the ball.

-Fitzpatrick's taking over for Martin, which suggests he has the lead over Smoker for the third string job. On third down, he hit McDonald perfectly for a first down.

-Great zip on a pass from Fitzpatrick to McDonald on 2nd and 24. 18 yard gain, right on target. I think it's about time to say goodbye to Jeff Smoker.

-Nice job by the special teams nearing the nine minute mark to keep the Lions inside their own 20 on the kickoff.

-Just when you thought Steven Jackson's dreads were out of control, Michael Stone embarasses Steven! Talk about a mop!

-Thank you Terrence Holt for giving the Rams credit for their play tonight, unlike Joey Harrington. I'll let you off for nearing breaking Jeff Wilkins' leg now.

-Wow, Dan Orlovsky's cadance really had the Rams second team defense jumping. Fortunately they got back before the snap.

-Six minutes left in the fourth quarter of a preseason game, so what can you say? It's nice to see that this is our first punt of the night. Oh wait, encroachment by the Lions, first down. Ha!

-Three and a half minutes left in the game, and there may be more players on the field than fans in the stadium. The Lions just got a nice punt return, but at least it was called back. Special teams have, overall, looked decent tonight.

-Missed tackle by Mike Furrey on a catch by Martinez. Not what you want to see if you're trying to show you have what it takes to be the starter at FS.

-New update saying Terry Fair's tests were all normal and the word is he'll be back in St. Louis tomorrow. Wow, talk about great news!

-Kevin Garrett misses a tackle on Steve Savoy. I'm glad it's the back-ups making these mistakes tonight and not the starters, but still, overall you'd like to see those tackles being made to reduce YAC as much as possible.

-Mike Furrey just avenged himself by making a nice tackle on a pass in the flat for a loss on the play.

-Lions score their first TD of the game with 52 seconds left. I can certainly live with that!

-The Lions kick out of bounds, and it should only be a kneel down or two before this game is over.