Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 2
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous 1 2 template Next
  • #1

    Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

    Well friends, there is a pulse, but the Rams came up short today to the Redskins losing 9-7. Aided but some spectacular defense in the red zone (specifically inside the 10 yard line), the Rams followed the projected script for the season (Pound the Big Boy, shorten the game, and pray on defense) to perfection, only to see a costly fumble by donnie avery midway through the fourth quarter cost the Rams a first and goal inside the 5. The Rams fought hard all game, but lousy offensive line play continues to make it very tough for the Rams to get the ball down the field and create big plays and we have little or no ability to pressure the qb, making it really tough on the secondary, even on third and long.

    The Good

    Another nice game for Laurent Robinson. Great pickup for the Rams. Nice catch on a beautiful td throw by bulger at the goal line. 6 catches for 54 yards.
    Terrific 58 yard run for Jackson, who wound up 17-104 and seemed to be picking up steam at the end. We were much more successful running in the second half as the game wore on. I was surprised that we didnt pound jackson twice at the end rather than trying the pass to robinson on 3rd and 2 when we were on the redskins 42 yard line.
    Donnie Jones must have felt like it was a day off as he had only 4 punts for a 43.3 average , with one nice one inside the 20.
    Bulger played with a lot of guts today, making some very tough throws under pressure. He had some drops (mcmichael and avery) which hurt him and we just dont have the protection to get the ball down the field. He checked off nicely time after time and wound up 15-28 125 yards and a td. Anyone miss ike and holt yet? Plenty of people will blame bulger again, but i dont personally see how. He moved nicely, didnt throw an INT (although he got lucky a couple of times) and got rid of the ball quickly to avoid the sacks. I am not suggesting he was great, but he isnt the problem. We need better offensive line play and better play from the receivers.
    James Hall recorded the Rams first sack of the year. One total sack in two games and i think we only hit campbell a couple of times. Lack of pass rush is killing us.
    We stopped the skins three times inside the 10 yard line to keep us in the game. Not a great game by the dline, but scoring is the name of the game and if we hold our opponents to 9 points a week, i am sure we will do better.
    Nice fumble caused by bartell.
    Two nice key catches by burton.


    The Bad

    Avery was AWFUL today. 1 catch for 4 yards (and he fumbled the ball on the five yard line after that catch which may have cost us the game). By my count, he had four drops, a fumble and a holding penalty. He dropped a pass on third down on the first series that was a little behind him but still hit him in the hands. He tries to run before he catches the ball which is obviously not good for a receiver.

    Our pass rush is non existent and along with our weak offensive line, explains for than anything why we are in full rebuilding mode.
    Will the Rams ever cover a tight end? 7 catches or 83 yards for cooley and many other catches over the middle of the defense.
    We struggle getting off the field on third down, but i think thats mainly due to no functional pass rush.
    Jason Smith got hurt today, goldberg played the second half. Announcer said knee, i have no idea how bad it is. Obviously, we need much improved offensive line play to give bulger and jackson a chance to make plays.


    The Ugly

    Our second half timeout management was awful, which may have cost us at the end. A timeout on a quasi fake punt when you want to take the five yards anyway? We still arent getting the plays in on time.
    The false start by Fells on 3rd and 1 was ugly and totally stupid.


    The Rams certainly didnt quit today, but the lack of talent on both sides of the line is painfully obvious and its where we need to improve and improve a lot to be a competitive team. The Packers are next, hope springs eternal.

    Ramming speed to all

    general counsel
    Last edited by general counsel; -09-20-2009, 01:36 PM.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

    GC I was about to steal your idea but you beat me to it. Instead of starting a new thread for the same idea, I hope you don't mind if I just respond to yours. I think you'll see we agree on a number of the same points.


    The Good
    -Red Zone D: The Rams allowed their share of yards defensively today, but they stepped it up to another level in the red zone. Washington fails to score a touchdown, the Rams forced a turnover, and then made a key stop on fourth down with less than two minutes to go.
    -Bulger: Marc finished 15/28 but a number of those passes were dropped. He had a nice fade pass to Robinson and threw very well despite being under a lot of pressure today. I counted maybe three poor throws/decisions on the day, which is to be expected from any QB. Bulger stood tall in the face of pressure, stepped up in the pocket, and showed a lot of zip on the ball. Tim Ryan might have said it best, "Marc Bulger did not forget how to play football."
    -Robinson: Can we officially say Robinson has become this team's #1 WR? Great acquisition, as Laurent had 54 yards and a touchdown today. That gives him 141 yards on 11 catches through two weeks. If he keeps this up, that production projects to be 1,128 yards on 88 catches this year. It looks like he's Marc Bulger's new favorite target as a wide receiver, and after he dropped a few passes in Week One, he was sharp against the Redskins.
    -Ramsey & Long: Ramsey was one of the few Rams to get some solid penetration with a nice bull rush on a couple of plays. Long made a nice play sniffing out a screen pass for an incompletion and was part of the pressure that nearly resulted in a safety. Still, need more consistent pressure from everyone though!

    The Bad
    -Pass Defense: The red zone D was good, but where was the defense between the 20s? Campbell completed nearly 66% of his passes and was sacked only once. Hardly any pressure on him all day. He found holes in the zone for easy completions quite often. Cooley was unstoppable with 83 yards.
    -Witherspoon: For those who didn't watch the TV coverage, let me tell you that typically when the Redskins ran for a nice gain in the first half, there was a replay of Witherspoon being blocked out of the way. He also was not particularly effective in coverage. He was less noticable in the second half, but for being one of our best defenders, needs to step it up. His deflection in the red zone was the only truly good play I remember from him today.
    -Little: You are this team's best pass rusher - in fact it's supposed to be your strength - but you have no sacks through two games and didn't get very much pressure today. Little is the old veteran on this line and needs to step up if the Rams are going to improve defensively.
    -Penalties: The Rams improved on last week's disaster, but still committed too many penalties (6 for 45 yards). A delay of game on the Rams' second drive turned 1st & 10 into 1st & 15, an illegal block trimmed 14 yards of Jackson's big run, one holding call on Barron negated a first down while another gave the Rams 2nd & 20, and a false start on Fells turned 3rd & 1 into 3rd & 6. Incognito was called for holding (his fourth flag this year) but it was declined.

    The Ugly
    -Avery: Held to one catch for four yards, Avery was a non-factor for the Rams but a big factor for the Redskins. His turnover at the Redskins five yard line completely changed the direction of this game. It's Avery's second turnover in as many games. He also had a few drops and was called for an illegal block on Jackson's big run. Not a strong start to the season.
    -Jackson: Don't get me wrong, overall Jackson had a very solid day. But Jackson still, on a handful of runs, does not seem to trust his line and tries to cut back outside when he should have rushed up the gut. This stood out most on the 2nd down run before Avery's turnover. Jackson had a big hole on the inside, maybe a first down or even a touchdown run in the making. But he bounced it to the right and gained nothing.
    -Coaching: Chris Cooley may be Washington's best pass catcher, but it seemed like the Rams had no answer for him. Steven Jackson touched the ball more this game, but 21 touches in a close contest still doesn't seem like enough. The Rams passed the ball out of the shotgun on 3rd & 2, a strange playcall. Then they tried some strange fake punt and waste their last timeout when Washington isn't drawn offsides.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

      I'll add a few things to this ...

      As spectacular as Robinson's end zone grab was, he even had a more spectacular catch on a third down conversion, snatching a ball about 1 foot from the ground. This guy has #1 potential ...

      LeJuan Ramsey was stout inside. He consistently moved his man, and almost came away with a sack. This guy might have been a steal ....

      Yes, Avery had a bad game, but his fumble is a moot point if Jackson runs through the MASSIVE, and I mean MASSIVE hole, that our stud FB opened up for him. Why Jackson cut back I'll never know ...

      Shurmur doesn't have the playcalling quite down yet, but he seems to have a plan. He methodically attacked the Redskins today, and it really flowed well at times. We need better pass protection to allow the ball to be thrown deep ...

      Bad pass protection of not, Bulger seems confident in this line. He stood in the pocket all day long and delivered at least 5 completions while being hit. Wasn't much he could do at the end of the game backed up like they were ...

      Defensively, we're giving up too much underneath, but the players believe in the system, and you can visibly see it, evidenced by the stops in the red zone. Any pass rush and this defense will consistently be able to hold it's own ...

      Burton showed up today, making two great plays, one a spectacular catch for a first down. The second was a comeback, in which he turned out and make a big gain. Watch that clip, and boy, does he look like a young Isaac Bruce ...

      How about Leonard Little dropping back into pass coverage? Very nimble ...

      Offensive line looks rough, and I mean the whole group. We need some cohesion. I really think Loney has to go. Too much talent for them to be as bad as they are ...

      Overall, nice effort, we should have won this guy. Costly turnovers, and some untimely penalties really killed us ....

      Green Bay looked really bad this week, we could stand a chance in Week 3....

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

        Ha! Ha!

        Laughable that there is no mention of Jackson not following a HUGE hole opened up by Karney on the play prior to the Avery fumble.

        If Jackson follows his big lead blocking FB then he scores an easy TD. What a bonehead decision by Jackson and you make claim that perhaps Avery cost us the game?

        Well, if you are going to put blame on individuals put some on Jackson. If he follows the block we are not discussing the Avery play!


        :helmet:
        Curly ~ Horns

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

          Originally posted by general counsel View Post
          Well friends, there is a pulse, but the Rams came up short today to the Redskins losing 9-7. Aided but some spectacular defense in the red zone (specifically inside the 10 yard line), the Rams followed the projected script for the season (Pound the Big Boy, shorten the game, and pray on defense) to perfection, only to see a costly fumble by donnie avery midway through the fourth quarter cost the Rams a first and goal inside the 5. The Rams fought hard all game, but lousy offensive line play continues to make it very tough for the Rams to get the ball down the field and create big plays and we have little or no ability to pressure the qb, making it really tough on the secondary, even on third and long.

          The Good

          Another nice game for Laurent Robinson. Great pickup for the Rams. Nice catch on a beautiful td throw by bulger at the goal line. 6 catches for 54 yards.
          Terrific 58 yard run for Jackson, who wound up 17-104 and seemed to be picking up steam at the end. We were much more successful running in the second half as the game wore on. I was surprised that we didnt pound jackson twice at the end rather than trying the pass to robinson on 3rd and 2 when we were on the redskins 42 yard line.
          Donnie Jones must have felt like it was a day off as he had only 4 punts for a 43.3 average , with one nice one inside the 20.
          Bulger played with a lot of guts today, making some very tough throws under pressure. He had some drops (mcmichael and avery) which hurt him and we just dont have the protection to get the ball down the field. He checked off nicely time after time and wound up 15-28 125 yards and a td. Anyone miss ike and holt yet? Plenty of people will blame bulger again, but i dont personally see how. He moved nicely, didnt throw an INT (although he got lucky a couple of times) and got rid of the ball quickly to avoid the sacks. I am not suggesting he was great, but he isnt the problem. We need better offensive line play and better play from the receivers.
          James Hall recorded the Rams first sack of the year. One total sack in two games and i think we only hit campbell a couple of times. Lack of pass rush is killing us.
          We stopped the skins three times inside the 10 yard line to keep us in the game. Not a great game by the dline, but scoring is the name of the game and if we hold our opponents to 9 points a week, i am sure we will do better.
          Nice fumble caused by bartell.
          Two nice key catches by burton.


          The Bad

          Avery was AWFUL today. 1 catch for 4 yards (and he fumbled the ball on the five yard line after that catch which may have cost us the game). By my count, he had four drops, a fumble and a holding penalty. He dropped a pass on third down on the first series that was a little behind him but still hit him in the hands. He tries to run before he catches the ball which is obviously not good for a receiver.

          Our pass rush is non existent and along with our weak offensive line, explains for than anything why we are in full rebuilding mode.
          Will the Rams ever cover a tight end? 7 catches or 83 yards for cooley and many other catches over the middle of the defense.
          We struggle getting off the field on third down, but i think thats mainly due to no functional pass rush.
          Jason Smith got hurt today, goldberg played the second half. Announcer said knee, i have no idea how bad it is. Obviously, we need much improved offensive line play to give bulger and jackson a chance to make plays.


          The Ugly

          Our second half timeout management was awful, which may have cost us at the end. A timeout on a quasi fake punt when you want to take the five yards anyway? We still arent getting the plays in on time.
          The false start by Fells on 3rd and 1 was ugly and totally stupid.


          The Rams certainly didnt quit today, but the lack of talent on both sides of the line is painfully obvious and its where we need to improve and improve a lot to be a competitive team. The Packers are next, hope springs eternal.

          Ramming speed to all

          general counsel
          not only do I miss Bruce and Holt,I miss the donut brothers and tom Nutten and those guys inside when we used to be able to run up the middle and Bulger played hard today,I don't think anyone can dispute his toughness.
          Last edited by Guest; -09-20-2009, 01:51 PM.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

            Lost to the Redskins.... the R e d - S k i n s ..... AGH!

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

              well put, one of the most important things to watch next week is how avery bounces back, and how spags lines up his defense for next week. the rams didnt blitz to much today but next week facing Aaron rodgers our pass rush better step up or else the score will be worse than the seattle game!

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

                Originally posted by jackson3909 View Post
                well put, one of the most important things to watch next week is how avery bounces back, and how spags lines up his defense for next week. the rams didnt blitz to much today but next week facing Aaron rodgers our pass rush better step up or else the score will be worse than the seattle game!
                GB was terrible today, Antawn Odom sacked Rodgers 5 times ....

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

                  Originally posted by JKramsfan View Post
                  Not only do I miss Bruce and Holt, I miss the donut brothers and Tom Nutten and those guys inside when we used to be able to run up the middle and Bulger played hard today, I don't think anyone can dispute his toughness.
                  No wonder it's said "Thanks For The Memories". Kurt Warner, Faulk -- in short, the GSOT. :ram:

                  My take on today's game which I did not watch...
                  Good: the uniform / Bad: defeated / Ugly: 7 points in 8 quarters. :mad:

                  :helmet: Still, let's see how we do at home. I'm with you Coach Spags! Growing pains and all.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

                    mistake free football would have done us well. I didn't see the game (Was in Church) but the D sounds good. maybe the Offense is a work in progress. We will see next week.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

                      Little: You are this team's best pass rusher - in fact it's supposed to be your strength - but you have no sacks through two games and didn't get very much pressure today. Little is the old veteran on this line and needs to step up if the Rams are going to improve defensively.
                      Biggest shock, is we can't get a pass rush with spags D!

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

                        Don't blame Spags, he's working with what he has.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

                          Don't blame Spags, he's working with what he has.
                          I'm shocked his scheme can't make up for what we have. Two games one sack, not very good IMO.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

                            Thanks for your comment regarding my writeup being laughable ferter. You are certainly invited to take a shot at it yourself once in a while instead of just taking a shot at me.

                            That said, you make a very fair point that jackson missed that hole. He absolutely should have hit it. No guarantee he gets in the end zone of course, but it should have been a big game. Jackson made several outstanding plays during the game and without him, we arent in the game. Avery was a disaster all game long with multiple drops in addition to the crucial fumble. I am sure it looks easy on the replay to hit the correct hole every time, and of course its not as simple as it looks.

                            As for scheme, spags is not a magician. You can scheme all you want, the players have to execute. Talent is still the key coaching alone wont do a thing. We lack the talent to get to the passer without blitzing, its that simple.

                            ramming speed to all

                            general counsel
                            Last edited by general counsel; -09-20-2009, 04:42 PM.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Redskins beat Rams 9-7; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

                              As for scheme, spags is not a magician. You can scheme all you want, the players have to execute. Talent is still the key coaching alone wont do a thing. We lack the talent to get to the passer without blitzing, its that simple.
                              I agree we can't get there with Little and Long.

                              Comment

                              Previous 1 2 template Next

                              Related Topics

                              Collapse
                              • general counsel
                                Rams beat Redskins to commence run for the playoffs; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
                                by general counsel
                                The Rams won a hard fought 19-17 victory on the road against a very solid Redskins team today, commencing their drive towards the 2008 NFL playoffs. While that may sound like a bizarre statement, i continue to believe that the NFC west is so weak that 8-8 may get a team into the playoffs. If we can survive the next couple of weeks and head into the easier part of the schedule with some real momentum, its not completely out of the question for this team to respond to Coach Haslett and wins a few games in a row. Likely? No. But not out of the question. If ever the axioum "any given sunday" was proven accurate today was the day. The eternal NFL lesson "never let an inferior team hang around into the 4th quarter" was also prophetic today.

                                Enough of the cliches. Haslett had the Rams ready to play defensively. We gave up plenty of yards rushing again and ran out of gas at the end, but we held a very very good washington offense to one real touchdown on the road (I am not going to fault the defense for allowing a td on the first drive when THe Big Boys fumble gave the skins the ball on our 2 yard line). We had four sacks (we had only 7 in 4 games coming in) against a quality offensive line. We pressured Campbell from time to time and with the exception of some pathetic secondary play out of Craft, got solid work from almost all of the starters. We bent but didnt break and caused three turnovers, which really was the key to the game, especially the td by the defense immediately before halftime. The offense still needs a ton of work of course (especially on the line), but a win is a win and we will take any win that we can get.

                                The Good

                                We have the best kicking tandem in the nfl. THe Bionic Leg had another huge week on the punting side (6 punts, 47.2 average, 2 inside the 20) and Josh Brown was 4-4 (51, 49,44 and 25) including the game winner from 49 which was good with 10 yards to spare. Brown's kickoffs were also excellent.

                                Anyone still have a problem with the Donnie Avery pick. The 43 yard catch was exceptional in the extreme. Speed and hands. What he needs is experience. He came back into the game after apparantly reinjuring his broken ass bone that he hurt in preseason. It was quite a sight on the sideline watching the trainers giving Avery the buttocks massage early in the game after the injury.

                                As mentioned above, although the defense game up 181 rushing yards (368 total), we caused three turnovers, scored a td and kept them out of the end zone until the very end with the exception of the 2 yard drive. 4 sacks and a very gutsy performance. Special mention to Pisa with 11 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble that led to the OJ td. Bartell had a strong game and had 7 tackles as well. Another sack and fumble by leonard little.

                                Steven Jackson had a strong game running between the tackles despite almost no blocking. He was hit in the...
                                -10-12-2008, 02:36 PM
                              • general counsel
                                The Start of the Sapgs era: The Good, the bad and the Ugly
                                by general counsel
                                A new era in Rams football began today, but the results looked about the same as our last couple of years. There were some positives today, specifically the play of Laurianitis (14 tackles, 10 solo), but on the whole, the Rams were undisciplined and made many crucial errors that cost them any chance of winning this game. Lousy offensive line play and no functioning pass rush were certainly at fault today, but the key today was 10 penalties for 85 yards, including an inexcusable 12 men on the field penalty that negated the blocked field goal for a td that would have tied the game at 7 just before half.

                                The Good

                                Laurianitis performed very well. In addition to the 14 tackles, he also recovered a fumble. We have our middle linebacker for the next several years.
                                Donnie Jones is just fantastic. What a weapon. 8 punts for a 50.8 average, two inside the 20, and one 60 yarder to the one yard line.
                                OJ had an INT and a fumble recovery
                                I thought wade played pretty well, especially given that we had no functional pass rush.
                                Vrboda had 8 tackles and looked fine.
                                Great blocked fg by ayu and runback by butler for the called back td

                                The Bad

                                Josh Brown missed an easy 37 yarder early in the game. No excuse.
                                No pass rush at all.
                                No functioning defense in the second half (see the 62 yard run and the 99 yard drive)
                                Lousy offensive line play. If you look at the stats for jackson (67 yards) and bulger (191 yards) and take out the yardage in garbage time at the end, you will see that there was very very limited production out of the offense. We cant get the ball down the field as bulger will get killed (although bulger threw a nice ball in the first half that robinson couldnt pull down when it hit him directly on the shoulder pads)
                                I have personally had it with incognito and his false starts and two personnel fouls. We arent even remotely good enough to give up yardage on stupid undisciplined penalties. I dont care anymore about his upset. This is a new era for the rams and i dont see cogs as a part of it.
                                Why didnt spags go for the 52 yard field goal early on? Josh Brown should make that kick in those conditions 4 out of 5 times. Too conservative.

                                The ugly

                                12 men on the field costing us a td? Ugly, ugly, ugly.
                                10 penalties (9 of which were in the first half when we had plenty of chances)
                                2-12 on 3rd down is very ugly and it wont cut it.
                                Allowing 8-15 on 3rd down to the other team is also ugly.
                                Whats a ram game without at least one run of over 50 yards allowed (62 for a td)
                                Less than 200 yards offense before garbage time at the very end
                                Fumble on the opening kickoff return of the season? I dont see avery back there when he didnt do it all preseason. Too risky injury wise.


                                Bring on the Redskins, the Rams have a long long way to go. Its...
                                -09-13-2009, 04:39 PM
                              • general counsel
                                Dolphins Edge Rams 16-12; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
                                by general counsel
                                In what can best be described as an incredibly boring game, the Dolphins beat the Rams today in front of what appeared to be a 2/3 filled Ed Jones Dome in St Louis. Nearly all of us have agreed that NFL games are won and lost on the line of scrimmage. Today, that was not really the case as both teams ran the ball pretty well and neither did any material damage in the air. The difference today was twofold. Turnovers and redzone performance. The Good news for Rams fans? We were not out of the game by halftime. The return of Steven Jackson (and Orlando Pace) sparked the Rams previously deceased running game into life and allowed us to control the ball in the first half. However, Jackson appeared to run out of gas down the stretch (he did not play much if at all in the last two drives) and Marc Bulger threw three interceptions while the Rams maintained their DEAD LAST IN THE NFL position in terms of TD conversion in the redzone to seal the loss (We were at 29.4% before our 0-3 today). From a scheme standpoint, the Rams abandoned the BEND AND BREAK defense that they have employed for the last three weeks and the 16 points we allowed today certainly reflected a massive improvement.

                                The Good

                                People should stop complaining about Steven Jackson. He is a superstar. He makes position yardage time and time again after the first hit. He drags defenders. He runs very hard and has good hands. I dont buy for a second that the injury was a result of missing training camp. The injury was a result of him being on the field at a point in the dallas game where he should have been on the bench. With any kind of blocking, Jackson shows burst up the middle that other backs his size can only dream of. He had a very solid day (and a great first half) with 21-94 (1 catch 16) but he was 15-72 at half. Did haslett overuse him in the first half or did he get reinjured? Impossible to say. All we know is that the Big Boy was not on the field for a number of two crucial third downs, was on the bench with the game on the line (in part because his pass protection skills still stink) and watched from the sideline while pittman dropped two well set up screen passes. The Rams are an entirely different team with Jackson. Without him, we are as bad as anyone in the nfl. There are many reasons whey we have looked so bad recently, but playing without The Big Boy is sure high on the list.

                                People should stop saying that Pace needs to retire and that he is done. Do we need to draft an offensive tackle? Absolutely. Is Pace nearing his physical limits? Of course. Is he done skill wise? Not a chance. He was one on one with Joey Porter today who came in leading the NFL in sacks. Porter never got near bulger and had one tackle all day. Ramming Speed to the Big Man!

                                OJ had 9 tackles, a forced fumble and a near diving INT. He needs to be signed (third week in a row i have said that)

                                Another good day...
                                -11-30-2008, 02:11 PM
                              • general counsel
                                Rams fall 23-16 to Patriots; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
                                by general counsel
                                Despite the absence of Steven Jackson and Adam Carriker and mid-game injuries to Ron Bartell (head) and Leonard Little (hamstring), the new Haslett-tough Rams battled valiantly on the road before dropping a tight game to Darth Hoodie and the Belicheats . This was indeed a gutsy performance by a team that bears no semblance of any kind to the pathetic squad in the horns under Scott Loserhan. The Haslett led Rams are risk taking fighters that play to win, rather than trying not to lose. They fight to the end regardless of adversity and one-sided officiating (9 penalties for 63 yards for the Rams and NO PENALTIES for the Patriots). They utilize the resources they have an are integrating rookies (Long, Avery, Burton) who will be core players for years to come. Like many NFL games, this one came down to a few critical plays separating the teams. A break here or there and this one could have gone the other way. Our failure to convert in the red zone was probably the difference between winning and losing today. Poor red zone performance along with an inability to get pressure on a young qb, coupled with the fact that we were missing by far our best weapon in The Big Boy, were simply a little too much to overcome today.

                                The Good

                                Haslett had the Rams ready to play again today and i expect that will be the case for the rest of the year. The fire in the team is obvious regardless of the game circumstances. Haslett boldly went for it on 4th and 1 on our own 40 early in the game and converted an onside kick to start the second half. I love the mentality of trying to win, rather than playing not to lose. I didnt love the running up the middle multiple times down by the goal line, i thought we should have tried harder to throw it into the end zone, but on the whole, i think you have to say "job well done" to Haslett today. Missing Jackson really limits his weapons and choices on offense.

                                For the second week in a row, i ask whether anyone still has a problem with the Donnie Avery pick (6 catches 163 yards and a td). We have the deep threat we have been missing since curtis left and there is no limit to Avery's upside as he gains experience and learns the hot reads (which he missed twice today). I love how he goes up in traffic to get the ball in addition to his ability to make guys miss after the catch. If this was the guy Linehan wanted, at least we can say that he did one positive thing for the team while he was here.

                                Marc Bulger had a solid game today and i thought the announcer (pearson) was far too harsh. Bulger was 18-34-301 yards, 1 td and 1 int (which came on what was basically a desparation throw at the end). When bulger had time, he was pretty deadly. Sure he missed a couple of throws and you know he isnt the most mobile guy in the world, but he made some great deep throws in addition to some terrific out routes. I think its easy to say "get rid of the ball and...
                                -10-26-2008, 02:20 PM
                              • general counsel
                                Rams Blown Out Again-The Good, the Bad and The Ugly
                                by general counsel
                                The patient has a pulse! Heading into a critical early season matchup on the road at seattle, the Rams closed to within a TD of the super bowl champion giants in the fourth quarter on a spectacular catch by torry holt before collapsing down the stretch and getting blown out 41-13. The fact that we ultimately got bombed shows why i never bet on football. My prediction of a victory was obviously mere wishful thinking.

                                While there are many negative things we can harp on, it shouldn't be lost on Rams nation that we have played two top caliber teams in the first two weeks. Sure we gave up 200 yards rushing today and our offensive line was once again awful, but we can not minimize the quality of the competition. We MUST keep in mind that the nfc west is mediocre at best and that there is a legit shot that 8-8 wins the division. Thus, the game next week vs seattle looms as the true test of whether we have a chance to play meaningful games this season or whether we truly are as bad as we look at this point.

                                The Good

                                The nfc west stinks. I have to keep telling myself that over and over. IT gives me hope that while its clear as day that we are not capable of playing with the nfl elite, we may still be a decent team, its just too early to tell.

                                Donnie Jones is truly a superstar. 57.6 yards per kick on 5 punts with two inside the 20.
                                Josh Brown. 2 54 yard field goals that were good with plenty to spare and strong kickoffs, that really helped the coverage. I think we have the best pair of kickers in the nfl.
                                The td catch by Holt (which i cant believe the giants didnt challenge) was truly spectacular (if he indeed did catch it). Rivals the td catch at the end of the seattle game a couple of years ago. This one will go on the hall of fame reel.
                                Chris Long. His first sack and four tackles overall. First of many solid pro days to come.
                                Pace. I thought pace played well. The pressure didnt come against him.
                                Steven Jackson. The numbers werent great, but he had some very nice runs and 7 catches, despite numerous plays on which he had no blocking at all. Jackson's blitz pickup attempts however look awful to me.

                                The Bad

                                The offensive line play stinks. 6 sacks allowed and bulger was hit and pressured countless times. People will pick on bulger again as he did miss some receivers, but the fact is that Bulger has no ability to get any kind of rhythm out there as he is constantly under seige and we have no ability to establish any kind of running game. There is also very very little separation by the wideouts and without avery in the game, we have no ability to stretch the field. Avery and Burton have to play. Dante Hall (huge drop on 3rd down) is not an answer at wide receiver and as much as i like looker, i would rather see burton and avery get a shot. The offensive line is not producing any holes for jackson and as a result,...
                                -09-14-2008, 02:15 PM
                              Working...
                              X