Why We Lost

[Goldenfleece]

Here are the main problems I would point to for our loss on Sunday:

1. Poor decisions by Bulger. Sometimes his passes were just off-target, but more often he just wasn't finding the open man. This was never more evident than in the redzone. When Jackson is open in the middle and Holt is open right on the goal line, you don't have to throw to Bennett in the back of the endzone.

2. Torry Holt not making the plays he is capable of. Bulger actually threw deep to Holt a few times this game. On one of these occasions deep down the sideline, it looked like Holt could have made the play if he would have jumped for the ball. The defender behind him did jump for the ball and almost came down with it. On another occasion, Bulger overthrew Holt a bit, but he still got a hand on it. On a good day, Torry might have been able to pull that one in. Both he and Bruce are dropping more balls than they usually do, but Torry is the one who is getting deep balls thrown his way.

3. Injuries. The situation is pretty grim...

QB - Bulger (ribs)
RB - Jackson (groin)
WR - Bruce (hamstring), Bennett (quad), Holt (knee still recovering)
LT - Pace (shoulder), Steussie (ankle)
LG - Setterstrom (knee)
RG - Incognito (ankle)
RT - Goldberg (knee)

DE - Little (knee), Hall (pectoral)
LB - Tinoisamoa (ankle), R. Smith (knee), McGarigle (groin)
CB - Hill (back)
SS - Chavous (pectoral), Carter (thigh)

Am I forgetting anyone? By the end of the game, Andy McCollum was the only reserve offensive lineman who had not been pressed into action. Sure, some of these guys can still play with their injuries, but my point is that even the stars who are still playing are banged up.

4. No pass rush. Romo had a lot of time to throw and never even really got flushed out of the pocket. He only ran when he felt like it. In previous games the pass rush has been inconsistent; this time it was nonexistant.

5. Lenny Walls. To paraphrase the announcers:
"Patrick Crayton isn't really feared for his speed, Troy. You don't see him outrunning people too often."
"That should give you an idea of where Lenny Walls stands in this league."
In all fairness, Walls is supposed to be our no. 5 cornerback, and when we played the nickel, he was out there "on an island" against Crayton. But what were we supposed to do? We had to double TO, and even Jason Witten the tight end was more of a big play threat than Patrick Crayton. Fortunately, Fakhir Brown will be back for us next week.

6. Defense wearing down or giving up late in the game. It's almost like at some point they all conferred and decided the game was out of reach. All of the sudden they started giving up stuff they wouldn't have earlier. On one play it looked like there were a couple of our guys just jogging with Marion Barber trying to decide if it was worth the effort of making the hit. They play valiantly for three quarters, and then it's just like they've got nothing left.

7. The play-calling? Eh. Maybe a little bit. I actually liked a number of calls on offense. We threw deep. We threw intermediate stuff. We threw to the middle. Sometimes we even threw on first down. The trouble with passing is those balls actually have to be caught. When your quarterback is only completing 45.8% of his passes (like he was in Dallas), it really limits how successful your offense can be. You can't run the ball effectively when the back gets hit multiple times in the backfield. Right now I'm sure the coaches are having trouble figuring out what exactly we are good at if we can't run the ball and we can't catch the ball down the field.

[jjigga3000]

It's clear the team isn't playing for Linehan,

[laram0]

What's clear to me is that the o-line is struggling. The d-line can't get any pressure on the opposing qb. The injuries have forced us to play L.Walls who should be El Cut.

[RAMFANRAIDERHATER]

Here are the main problems I would point to for our loss on Sunday:

1. Poor decisions by Bulger. Sometimes his passes were just off-target, but more often he just wasn't finding the open man. This was never more evident than in the redzone. When Jackson is open in the middle and Holt is open right on the goal line, you don't have to throw to Bennett in the back of the endzone.

2. Torry Holt not making the plays he is capable of. Bulger actually threw deep to Holt a few times this game. On one of these occasions deep down the sideline, it looked like Holt could have made the play if he would have jumped for the ball. The defender behind him did jump for the ball and almost came down with it. On another occasion, Bulger overthrew Holt a bit, but he still got a hand on it. On a good day, Torry might have been able to pull that one in. Both he and Bruce are dropping more balls than they usually do, but Torry is the one who is getting deep balls thrown his way.

3. Injuries. The situation is pretty grim...

QB - Bulger (ribs)
RB - Jackson (groin)
WR - Bruce (hamstring), Bennett (quad), Holt (knee still recovering)
LT - Pace (shoulder), Steussie (ankle)
LG - Setterstrom (knee)
RG - Incognito (ankle)
RT - Goldberg (knee)

DE - Little (knee), Hall (pectoral)
LB - Tinoisamoa (ankle), R. Smith (knee), McGarigle (groin)
CB - Hill (back)
SS - Chavous (pectoral), Carter (thigh)

Am I forgetting anyone? By the end of the game, Andy McCollum was the only reserve offensive lineman who had not been pressed into action. Sure, some of these guys can still play with their injuries, but my point is that even the stars who are still playing are banged up.

4. No pass rush. Romo had a lot of time to throw and never even really got flushed out of the pocket. He only ran when he felt like it. In previous games the pass rush has been inconsistent; this time it was nonexistant.

5. Lenny Walls. To paraphrase the announcers:
"Patrick Crayton isn't really feared for his speed, Troy. You don't see him outrunning people too often."
"That should give you an idea of where Lenny Walls stands in this league."
In all fairness, Walls is supposed to be our no. 5 cornerback, and when we played the nickel, he was out there "on an island" against Crayton. But what were we supposed to do? We had to double TO, and even Jason Witten the tight end was more of a big play threat than Patrick Crayton. Fortunately, Fakhir Brown will be back for us next week.

6. Defense wearing down or giving up late in the game. It's almost like at some point they all conferred and decided the game was out of reach. All of the sudden they started giving up stuff they wouldn't have earlier. On one play it looked like there were a couple of our guys just jogging with Marion Barber trying to decide if it was worth the effort of making the hit. They play valiantly for three quarters, and then it's just like they've got nothing left.

7. The play-calling? Eh. Maybe a little bit. I actually liked a number of calls on offense. We threw deep. We threw intermediate stuff. We threw to the middle. Sometimes we even threw on first down. The trouble with passing is those balls actually have to be caught. When your quarterback is only completing 45.8% of his passes (like he was in Dallas), it really limits how successful your offense can be. You can't run the ball effectively when the back gets hit multiple times in the backfield. Right now I'm sure the coaches are having trouble figuring out what exactly we are good at if we can't run the ball and we can't catch the ball down the field.

...and one more reason we lost on Sunday. The Cowboys have more talent across the board then the St. Louis Rams. :x

[Fargo Ram Fan]

Here are the main problems I would point to for our loss on Sunday:

3. Injuries. The situation is pretty grim...

QB - Bulger (ribs)
RB - Jackson (groin)
WR - Bruce (hamstring), Bennett (quad), Holt (knee still recovering)
LT - Pace (shoulder), Steussie (ankle)
LG - Setterstrom (knee)
RG - Incognito (ankle)
RT - Goldberg (knee)

DE - Little (knee), Hall (pectoral)
LB - Tinoisamoa (ankle), R. Smith (knee), McGarigle (groin)
CB - Hill (back)
SS - Chavous (pectoral), Carter (thigh)

Am I forgetting anyone?

PRETTY grim?? PRETTY grim?? Thats the UNDERSTATEMENT of the millennium.

You forgot the most glaring reason of all...this is simply a BAD FOOTBALL TEAM. Has been since the PRE-season. There are certainly a few good players ...but this is an AWFUL football TEAM.

[RamsInfiniti]

PRETTY grim?? PRETTY grim?? Thats the UNDERSTATEMENT of the millennium.

You forgot the most glaring reason of all...this is simply a BAD FOOTBALL TEAM. Has been since the PRE-season. There are certainly a few good players ...but this is an AWFUL football TEAM.

If healthy, we would not be an AWFUL team, we'd be a very competitiv team with a shot at the NFC west. I made the same mistake of calling this the worst Ram's team ever: it's not the worst team ever if we had a typical amount of injuries. In the current state, with 10 starters down or injured, we might be the worst Ram's team ever, but what team could sustain those injuries and not be decimated?

[Fargo Ram Fan]

If healthy, we would not be an AWFUL team, we'd be a very competitiv team with a shot at the NFC west.

Based on WHAT?? The names on the roster? Please. The team has to go out and execute to win...they havent done it under this coach and didnt do it under the last coach (during his final 2 seasons or so). AWFUL is what they are until they SHOW otherwise. The injury situation is horrible but the team looks LOST and not focused at all...which has been the story for about 3+ seasons now. Its stunning how some people refuse to give up the GHOST of the G.S.O.T., that ship has long since SAILED!

[AlphaRam]

For the record, the defense did not give up until there was abour 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter. They played pretty good for most of the first half. They were left on the field too much by our inept offense. I was at the game and was about 30 feet from the Rams bench. The defense tried hard and had heart.

By the way, the temperature down on and around the field was around 100 degrees. I bet I sweated off 5 pounds.

[RamsInfiniti]

Based on WHAT?? The names on the roster? Please. The team has to go out and execute to win...they havent done it under this coach and didnt do it under the last coach (during his final 2 seasons or so). AWFUL is what they are until they SHOW otherwise. The injury situation is horrible but the team looks LOST and not focused at all...which has been the story for about 3+ seasons now. Its stunning how some people refuse to give up the GHOST of the G.S.O.T., that ship has long since SAILED!

You watch the games right? If so, you've seen the improvements that our defense has made. They can seemingly play very solid football for 2.5 to 3 quarters or so, before they give out, either because they run out of gas, or they are just beaten mentally ...

So based on that improvement, you're telling me that you don't think this team would be improved over last year if we were playing offense even at the same level we were last year?

If we could put up 24-28 points, and let the defense get even more aggressive, I think the outcome would be nice for all of us to see ...

[Keenum]

I bet we woulda beat them if we scored more points than they did...

[UtterBlitz]

That is how is usually works Keenum. Points are needed. Special teams came up with 7, that was good... too bad the offense could not score.