Rams Report Card: Front Seven Aces Big Test

[r8rh8rmike]

Rams Report Card: Front seven aces big test

1 hour ago • By Jeff Gordon

Here are the grades for the St. Louis Rams after their 16-13 overtime victory over the San Francisco ***** at the Edward Jones Dome.

QUARTERBACK: Sam Bradford used his feet to rally the Rams at the end of the fourth quarter, scrambling for 14 and 11 yards on consecutive plays. “They were playing a lot of two-man (coverage), there’s no one accounting for me,” he said. Bradford completed 26 of 39 passes overall – despite the Rams' half-dozen dropped passes -- and he completed a critical two-point conversion pass to tight end Lance Kendricks. But on an ill-fated fourth-and-one play at the San Francisco 4, he forced a pass toward a well-covered Austin Pettis in the right corner of the end zone. GRADE: B.

RUNNING BACK: Steven Jackson found little running room in regulation time against the stout ***** defense and finished with just 48 yards on 21 carries spread over five quarters. “Tough day,” Jackson said. “It’s not about the stats at this point in my career. I want to win.” Jackson made that possible in overtime, rushing for 16 of the final 22 yards the Rams needed to position Greg Zuerlein to win the game. Jackson also gained 69 yards on five catches. On the other hand, rookie Daryl Richardson gained just 13 total yards on six touches. GRADE: C-plus.

RECEIVERS: Veteran Danny Amendola didn’t dress Sunday after playing hurt the week before. Rookie Chris Givens filled his possession receiver void by catching 11 passes for 92 yards. He ran excellent routes and made tough catches. “I think he’s gotten better each week,” Bradford said. Who saw this success coming in the summer? Back then, Givens looked like a speedster with suspect hands. The other receivers were not as stellar against the *****. Veteran Steve Smith suffered a critical third-down drop that preceded a missed field goal. Brian Quick and Pettis had notable drops, too, and on Quick’s one catch he failed to run his route to the first down marker. Veteran Brandon Gibson was a non-factor again. GRADE: C.

TIGHT ENDS: A marginal holding penalty on Matthew Mulligan wiped out a 17-yard Jackson run in overtime. That could have cost the Rams the game. Also, Kendricks had two bad drops and this position didn’t contribute much run blocking. But Kendricks caught the critical two-point conversion pass and had three other catches, including one for 20 yards. GRADE: C-minus.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Center Scott Wells contributed an early holding penalty as the Rams sputtered. Left tackle Rodger Saffold earned a false start penalty in the red zone and a disputed false start penalty on a two-point conversion try. The unit failed to create much running room through most of the game. On the other hand, the line did a nice job of protecting Bradford despite allowing two sacks. The Rams converted just 3 for 17 third- and fourth-down plays. Yeech. GRADE: C-minus.

DEFENSIVE LINE: The front four was fearsome. Defensive end William Hayes had one sack and shared another with outside linebacker J-Lonn Dunbar. Defensive end Eugene Sims also had a sack and defensive tackle Michael Brockers earned a tackle for loss. Robert Quinn sparingly coming off his concussion and got flagged for a dubious roughing-the-quarterback penalty. This front forced some key ***** penalties with pressure. The front seven also slammed the door on running backs Frank Gore (58 yards on 23 carries) and Brandon Jacobs (six yards on four carries). GRADE: A.

LINEBACKERS: Speedy quarterback Colin Kaepernick got loose for one huge 50-yard scramble, catching the Rams in a blitz. "We were in zone pressure and . . . they had perfect protection for the wrong call for us and he took off and made a play,” middle linebacker James Laurinaitis said. But Laurinaitis forced Kaepernick’s intentional grounding penalty that resulted in a safety. He chased Kaepernick out of bounds on two other third-down scrambles and had 10 tackles overall. according to the press box statistics. Dunbar had eight tackles (including two for losses) and two assists at outside linebacker. Rocky McIntosh, filling in for the injured Mario Haggan on the other side, had six tackles. GRADE: A.

SECONDARY: Rookie cornerback Janoris Jenkins had a down-and-up day. The ***** picked on him time and again and found cozy passing cushions, even in short-yardage scenarios. But Jenkins also scored the game-saving defensive touchdown, pouncing on a loose ball after the ***** butchered an ill-advised option play. The Rams mixed up their coverage schemes and appeared to confuse Kaepernick at times. GRADE: B.

SPECIAL TEAMS: This unit had another mixed day. Johnny Hekker’s 14-yard punt in overtime gave the ***** the ball at midfield and every chance to win the game. But ***** kicker David Akers missed the potential game-winning kick and the Rams got another chance to prevail. More bad news: Costly penalties on the first punt (on Craig Dahl) and the first punt return (on Jenkins) cost the Rams some field position. The good news: Zuerlein snapped out of his mini-slump to force overtime with a 53-yard field goal and win the game with his 54-yarder. Also, Hekker pinned the ***** at their own 1-yard line with a third-quarter punt. GRADE: B.

COACHING: Jeff Fisher outmaneuvered Jim Harbaugh when the game was on the line. Then again, Harbaugh outmaneuvered Harbaugh by getting cute in some critical late-game situations. Fisher played it straight for the most part and got a huge victory. Fans howled when the Rams deployed the Isaiah Pead Package on fourth-and-one at the San Francisco 4 – and rightfully so, since the empty backfield pass play didn’t work. Was that really the best play the Rams had for that critical scenario? In overtime Fisher went conservative and gave Zuerlein his chance to win the game. It worked. Also, credit Fisher and his staff for instilling the mental and physical toughness needed to outlast a very good ***** team. This was another step forward for this regime. GRADE: A-minus.

[gap]

Rams Report Card: Front seven aces big test

1 hour ago • By Jeff Gordon

Here are the grades for the St. Louis Rams after their 16-13 overtime victory over the San Francisco ***** at the Edward Jones Dome.

QUARTERBACK: Sam Bradford used his feet to rally the Rams at the end of the fourth quarter, scrambling for 14 and 11 yards on consecutive plays. “They were playing a lot of two-man (coverage), there’s no one accounting for me,” he said. Bradford completed 26 of 39 passes overall – despite the Rams' half-dozen dropped passes -- and he completed a critical two-point conversion pass to tight end Lance Kendricks. But on an ill-fated fourth-and-one play at the San Francisco 4, he forced a pass toward a well-covered Austin Pettis in the right corner of the end zone. GRADE: B.

RUNNING BACK: Steven Jackson found little running room in regulation time against the stout ***** defense and finished with just 48 yards on 21 carries spread over five quarters. “Tough day,” Jackson said. “It’s not about the stats at this point in my career. I want to win.” Jackson made that possible in overtime, rushing for 16 of the final 22 yards the Rams needed to position Greg Zuerlein to win the game. Jackson also gained 69 yards on five catches. On the other hand, rookie Daryl Richardson gained just 13 total yards on six touches. GRADE: C-plus.

Sorry C- isn't gonna cut it. I'd like to see him write his note for the articles with someone smacking the pen from the paper. Or maybe type notes on his laptop with someone closing the lid on his hands. It aint Jackson's fault when he is hit at or behind the LOS. I'd say C+ to B-.

RECEIVERS: Veteran Danny Amendola didn’t dress Sunday after playing hurt the week before. Rookie Chris Givens filled his possession receiver void by catching 11 passes for 92 yards. He ran excellent routes and made tough catches. “I think he’s gotten better each week,” Bradford said. Who saw this success coming in the summer? Back then, Givens looked like a speedster with suspect hands. The other receivers were not as stellar against the *****. Veteran Steve Smith suffered a critical third-down drop that preceded a missed field goal. Brian Quick and Pettis had notable drops, too, and on Quick’s one catch he failed to run his route to the first down marker. Veteran Brandon Gibson was a non-factor again. GRADE: C.

TIGHT ENDS: A marginal holding penalty on Matthew Mulligan wiped out a 17-yard Jackson run in overtime. That could have cost the Rams the game. Also, Kendricks had two bad drops and this position didn’t contribute much run blocking. But Kendricks caught the critical two-point conversion pass and had three other catches, including one for 20 yards. GRADE: C-minus.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Center Scott Wells contributed an early holding penalty as the Rams sputtered. Left tackle Rodger Saffold earned a false start penalty in the red zone and a disputed false start penalty on a two-point conversion try. The unit failed to create much running room through most of the game. On the other hand, the line did a nice job of protecting Bradford despite allowing two sacks. The Rams converted just 3 for 17 third- and fourth-down plays. Yeech. GRADE: C-minus.

I'd be a little more critical of their inability to open holes for Jackson or Richardson D+

DEFENSIVE LINE: The front four was fearsome. Defensive end William Hayes had one sack and shared another with outside linebacker J-Lonn Dunbar. Defensive end Eugene Sims also had a sack and defensive tackle Michael Brockers earned a tackle for loss. Robert Quinn sparingly coming off his concussion and got flagged for a dubious roughing-the-quarterback penalty. This front forced some key ***** penalties with pressure. The front seven also slammed the door on running backs Frank Gore (58 yards on 23 carries) and Brandon Jacobs (six yards on four carries). GRADE: A.

LINEBACKERS: Speedy quarterback Colin Kaepernick got loose for one huge 50-yard scramble, catching the Rams in a blitz. "We were in zone pressure and . . . they had perfect protection for the wrong call for us and he took off and made a play,” middle linebacker James Laurinaitis said. But Laurinaitis forced Kaepernick’s intentional grounding penalty that resulted in a safety. He chased Kaepernick out of bounds on two other third-down scrambles and had 10 tackles overall. according to the press box statistics. Dunbar had eight tackles (including two for losses) and two assists at outside linebacker. Rocky McIntosh, filling in for the injured Mario Haggan on the other side, had six tackles. GRADE: A.

SECONDARY: Rookie cornerback Janoris Jenkins had a down-and-up day. The ***** picked on him time and again and found cozy passing cushions, even in short-yardage scenarios. But Jenkins also scored the game-saving defensive touchdown, pouncing on a loose ball after the ***** butchered an ill-advised option play. The Rams mixed up their coverage schemes and appeared to confuse Kaepernick at times. GRADE: B.

SPECIAL TEAMS: This unit had another mixed day. Johnny Hekker’s 14-yard punt in overtime gave the ***** the ball at midfield and every chance to win the game. But ***** kicker David Akers missed the potential game-winning kick and the Rams got another chance to prevail. More bad news: Costly penalties on the first punt (on Craig Dahl) and the first punt return (on Jenkins) cost the Rams some field position. The good news: Zuerlein snapped out of his mini-slump to force overtime with a 53-yard field goal and win the game with his 54-yarder. Also, Hekker pinned the ***** at their own 1-yard line with a third-quarter punt. GRADE: B.

COACHING: Jeff Fisher outmaneuvered Jim Harbaugh when the game was on the line. Then again, Harbaugh outmaneuvered Harbaugh by getting cute in some critical late-game situations. Fisher played it straight for the most part and got a huge victory. Fans howled when the Rams deployed the Isaiah Pead Package on fourth-and-one at the San Francisco 4 – and rightfully so, since the empty backfield pass play didn’t work. Was that really the best play the Rams had for that critical scenario? In overtime Fisher went conservative and gave Zuerlein his chance to win the game. It worked. Also, credit Fisher and his staff for instilling the mental and physical toughness needed to outlast a very good ***** team. This was another step forward for this regime. GRADE: A-minus.

A- for Fisher is about right, but a C+ at best for Schotty. I would also say that the special teams coach gets high marks for having the special teams (sans the Punter, but who can control a kicker) guys ready to cover the kick and punt returns. The penalties weren't shown, so I benifit to the plays ast to whether they committed them or not.


gap

[RealRam]

"It’s not about the stats at this point in my career. I want to win." -- SJax

Got to love this man. Heart of gold RB.

Speaking of gold. Why does it seem to me that today's throwback unis looked "banana yellow" rather than a deeper sunset gold? Stadium lighting effect? Or maybe just my imagination. ^_^

Always glad to see our Rams rookies in these classic colors.

[NB Ram]

Speaking of gold. Why does it seem to me that today's throwback unis looked "banana yellow" rather than a deeper sunset gold? Stadium lighting effect? Or maybe just my imagination. ^_^

I also noticed the different, brighter shade of yellow on the unis. I totally knew that Nike would screw these up. Adding the pointy collar things to the jerseys was also horrible and unnecessary.

[sosa39rams]

[general counsel]

How in the world do you give Jackson a C plus? The guy had absolutely nothing that even remotely resembled a hole for more than 3/4 of the game. He came on pretty strong at the end and make some nice catches. He had another strong game as a blocker. What do you want from the guy, he dropped one ball, but other than that, how is his performance graded as slightly above average? Blame the line for not blocking, you can't run through a stone wall.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[NB Ram]

Thanks for showing the photo comparison Sosa. Nike RUINED the look of our throw-backs with that bright, canary yellow...IMHO.

[VegasRam]

Yes they did, unless it was a different throwback.