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St. Louis Rams suffer 17th loss in a row
By Chris Lee/P-D)BY JIM THOMAS
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/26/2009
After being knocked to the canvas by a couple of Peyton Manning lightning bolts, the Rams picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and hung in there — kind of — for nearly three quarters.
But then Marc Bulger threw what looked like a late sideline pass toward Keenan Burton. Indianapolis rookie cornerback Jacob Lacey guessed right, jumped the route, and made his first NFL interception a memorable one.
Lacey raced 35 yards for a touchdown, giving Indianapolis a 28-6 lead with one minute to play in the third quarter. You could almost hear a collective sigh from the St. Louis bench after that one.
On the ensuing kickoff the Rams marched 51 yards to the Indianapolis 11, when Bulger threw a second interception — this one in traffic — on a fourth-down pass intended for Burton.
The fans, even the thousands of happy Colts fans on hand at the Edward Jones Dome, headed to the exits. The Rams seemed to check out as well, particularly on defense. Gridiron psychology is tricky business, but it had all the looks of a fourth-quarter letdown — the first time anything like that has happened under rookie head coach Steve Spagnuolo.
And that's what most disappointed the beleaguered Spagnuolo after Sunday's 42-6 loss to the mighty Colts.
"The first three quarters I thought we battled really hard against a good football team," Spagnuolo said. "That team over there is good. We all know that. They've got skill everywhere. They've been doing it for a long time. But (for) three quarters I think we all felt and believed we could possibly pull that thing off and win the game."
Wishful thinking? Probably. But at least the Rams were in the same ZIP code as the Colts on the scoreboard for three quarters.
"Now the fourth quarter was different," Spagnuolo said. "It was disappointing. They made some plays. Things kind of fell apart."
Publicly at least, Spagnuolo has said nary a discouraging word about his winless team, trying to accentuate the positive. So in that context, his fourth quarter "critique" was very telling, the first sign perhaps that the losing is starting to wear on the team.
Referring again to the fourth quarter, Spagnuolo said: "That's not us. We haven't seen that before. We've got to get back to what we're doing, which is just battling and playing hard."
Until Lacey's "pick six," Bulger had thrown only one interception in 125 passes this season. Beginning with Lacey's interception, Bulger threw two INTs in a span of seven throws.
The second interception, by cornerback Kelvin Hayden, took some life out of the Rams. Indy drove 93 yards after that turnover, with Manning completing his third TD pass of the day — this time to wide-open slot receiver Austin Collie.
That give Indy a 35-6 lead. After the Rams went "four-and-out" on their next series, going for it unsuccessfully on fourth and 1 from their 31, third-string tailback Chad Simpson raced 31 yards around left end — untouched — for yet another touchdown and a 42-6 lead with 2:29 to play.
On the Simpson run, cornerback Jonathan Wade and defensive end Chris Long were neutralized by Indy blockers, leaving no one on the perimeter. That play was particularly galling for Spagnuolo.
"It's hard to take it when somebody runs the ball," Spagnuolo said. "That's my nature."
Rams players didn't dispute Spagnuolo's fourth-quarter assessment.
"We just didn't fight as hard in the fourth quarter as we had in the previous three, which is a little disappointing," safety Oshiomogho Atogwe said.
"You're getting paid to play," cornerback Ron Bartell said. "You have a responsibility to one another to play hard every play. I just don't think in the fourth quarter we can let what happened happen."
But at the end of the day, the result was predictable. The irresistible force (Indy) got the best of the movable object (St. Louis).
The Colts are 6-0 this season and have won a franchise-record and current league-best 15 consecutive regular-season games. The Rams are 0-7 this season and have lost a franchise-record and current league-worst 17 consecutive games.
For St. Louis that means next Sunday's game at Detroit — against a Lions team that has lost 22 of its last 23 games — is shaping up as the Stupor Bowl. It might be the Rams' best chance to win a game this season.
"We're playing good football here and there; we have spurts of it," said Steven Jackson, who rushed for a season-high 134 yards but is still without a touchdown in 2009. "We have to learn how to put four quarters of good football together, go back to the drawing board and learn how to win games. That's what the biggest issue is right now. We don't know how to win a game right now."
Not even close, at least on most Sundays this fall.
By Chris Lee/P-D)BY JIM THOMAS
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/26/2009
After being knocked to the canvas by a couple of Peyton Manning lightning bolts, the Rams picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and hung in there — kind of — for nearly three quarters.
But then Marc Bulger threw what looked like a late sideline pass toward Keenan Burton. Indianapolis rookie cornerback Jacob Lacey guessed right, jumped the route, and made his first NFL interception a memorable one.
Lacey raced 35 yards for a touchdown, giving Indianapolis a 28-6 lead with one minute to play in the third quarter. You could almost hear a collective sigh from the St. Louis bench after that one.
On the ensuing kickoff the Rams marched 51 yards to the Indianapolis 11, when Bulger threw a second interception — this one in traffic — on a fourth-down pass intended for Burton.
The fans, even the thousands of happy Colts fans on hand at the Edward Jones Dome, headed to the exits. The Rams seemed to check out as well, particularly on defense. Gridiron psychology is tricky business, but it had all the looks of a fourth-quarter letdown — the first time anything like that has happened under rookie head coach Steve Spagnuolo.
And that's what most disappointed the beleaguered Spagnuolo after Sunday's 42-6 loss to the mighty Colts.
"The first three quarters I thought we battled really hard against a good football team," Spagnuolo said. "That team over there is good. We all know that. They've got skill everywhere. They've been doing it for a long time. But (for) three quarters I think we all felt and believed we could possibly pull that thing off and win the game."
Wishful thinking? Probably. But at least the Rams were in the same ZIP code as the Colts on the scoreboard for three quarters.
"Now the fourth quarter was different," Spagnuolo said. "It was disappointing. They made some plays. Things kind of fell apart."
Publicly at least, Spagnuolo has said nary a discouraging word about his winless team, trying to accentuate the positive. So in that context, his fourth quarter "critique" was very telling, the first sign perhaps that the losing is starting to wear on the team.
Referring again to the fourth quarter, Spagnuolo said: "That's not us. We haven't seen that before. We've got to get back to what we're doing, which is just battling and playing hard."
Until Lacey's "pick six," Bulger had thrown only one interception in 125 passes this season. Beginning with Lacey's interception, Bulger threw two INTs in a span of seven throws.
The second interception, by cornerback Kelvin Hayden, took some life out of the Rams. Indy drove 93 yards after that turnover, with Manning completing his third TD pass of the day — this time to wide-open slot receiver Austin Collie.
That give Indy a 35-6 lead. After the Rams went "four-and-out" on their next series, going for it unsuccessfully on fourth and 1 from their 31, third-string tailback Chad Simpson raced 31 yards around left end — untouched — for yet another touchdown and a 42-6 lead with 2:29 to play.
On the Simpson run, cornerback Jonathan Wade and defensive end Chris Long were neutralized by Indy blockers, leaving no one on the perimeter. That play was particularly galling for Spagnuolo.
"It's hard to take it when somebody runs the ball," Spagnuolo said. "That's my nature."
Rams players didn't dispute Spagnuolo's fourth-quarter assessment.
"We just didn't fight as hard in the fourth quarter as we had in the previous three, which is a little disappointing," safety Oshiomogho Atogwe said.
"You're getting paid to play," cornerback Ron Bartell said. "You have a responsibility to one another to play hard every play. I just don't think in the fourth quarter we can let what happened happen."
But at the end of the day, the result was predictable. The irresistible force (Indy) got the best of the movable object (St. Louis).
The Colts are 6-0 this season and have won a franchise-record and current league-best 15 consecutive regular-season games. The Rams are 0-7 this season and have lost a franchise-record and current league-worst 17 consecutive games.
For St. Louis that means next Sunday's game at Detroit — against a Lions team that has lost 22 of its last 23 games — is shaping up as the Stupor Bowl. It might be the Rams' best chance to win a game this season.
"We're playing good football here and there; we have spurts of it," said Steven Jackson, who rushed for a season-high 134 yards but is still without a touchdown in 2009. "We have to learn how to put four quarters of good football together, go back to the drawing board and learn how to win games. That's what the biggest issue is right now. We don't know how to win a game right now."
Not even close, at least on most Sundays this fall.
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