reporters etc. autopsy the GIANTS game

Rams are no-shows in loss to Giants

By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-are-no-shows-in-loss-to-giants/article_f970a96f-583f-52b5-9eb4-583d540c61a2.html

The big question entering the day was whether the Rams could keep their focus and motivation after losing any chance at a playoff berth or a winning record the week before against Arizona.

The answer was a resounding “No” as the Rams’ secondary was scorched by quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in a 37-27 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome.

Fan Appreciation Day proved to be just another slap in the face to fans now assured of their 11th consecutive non-winning season by the 6-9 Rams. On this day, the best hits by the Rams defense seemed to come on late hits well out of bounds.

Meanwhile, after snapping out of a seven-game losing streak, the Giants (6-9) have now won three in a row.

Manning threw for 391 yards and three touchdowns, and Beckham (148) and Rueben Randle (132) both had over 100 yards receiving. It was a brutal day for cornerback Trumaine Johnson in coverage. As for the Rams’ pass rush, it was a step slow all day.

The offense showed an ability to move the football, but holding penalties and missed blocks by the line were an issue all day. As a topper, it was not quarterback Shaun Hill’s most accurate day. He missed wide-open receivers Kenny Britt and Jared Cook on deep balls that probably would’ve been touchdowns.

This was a day when the Rams’ defense was a no-show. With the help of two Rams turnovers, Manning and the New York offense raced to a 20-3 first-half lead.

The St. Louis secondary, particularly Johnson, struggled in coverage as Manning threw for 200 yards on 16 of 18 passing in the half.

Beckham Jr. ended the Rams’ streak of 12 quarters without allowing a touchdown pass with 9-yard grab with 8:24 left in the first quarter. It was as strange choice of coverage by the Rams. Johnson lined up across from Beckham Jr., but then dropped into zone coverage as Beckham ran by.

That left Beckham Jr. isolated with safety T.J. McDonald — and 95 times out of 100 a wide receiver is going to win a matchup with a safety, particularly a wideout as talented as the Giants’ rookie phenom.

That made it 10-0 Giants, who had kicked a field goal earlier. The Rams got on the board with a 51-yard field by Greg Zuerlein on their next possession. One play before Zuerlein’s kick the Rams had a manageable third-and-4 from the New York 28, but right guard Davin Joseph was beaten by Jason Pierre-Paul for a sack, forcing the field goal attempt.

The Giants scored that touchdown after Benny Cunningham — on a kickoff return — fumbled for the first time in 126 touches this year, a total that includes catches, carries, and returns. New York recovered on the St. Louis 21.

The lead grew to 13-3 Giants early in the second quarter on a field goal by former Rams place-kicker Josh Brown on a series that followed another St. Louis turnover. Hill threw a quick screen to Tavon Austin, but the ball caromed off Austin’s hands and was picked off by Giants defensive lineman Kerry Wynn and returned seven yards to the New York 44.

After a Johnny Hekker punt the Giants drove 80 yards with unheralded running back Orleans Darkwa scoring on a 12-yard cutback run. So it was 20-3 Giants with 4:49 left in the first half.

But a bench-clearing scuffle that began with a late hit on Beckham Jr. by linebacker Alec Ogletree seemed to snap the Rams out of their slumber. Ogletree hit Beckham well out of bounds after a short reception near the New York bench.

Beckham Jr. responded by throwing the football at Ogletree. Ogletree shoved back, the Giants’ bench came to Beckham’s aid, and then the Rams came to help Ogletree. After referee Pete Morelli and his crew restored order, defensive end Damontre Moore and wide receiver Preston Parker of the Giants had been ejected. Defensive end William Hayes of the Rams also was ejected.

The Rams forced a punt after the fracas, then scored on a 10-yard run by Tre Mason on the ensuing possession to narrow the Giants’ lead to 20-10. A 20-yard field goal by Zuerlein to close the half made it a one-score game — 20-13 — and the Rams got the ball to start the second half.

But the Rams ended up punting to start the third quarter, and the Giants and Manning continued to pick apart the St. Louis secondary, with TD passes to Rueben Randle and Beckham Jr. to help stretch the Giants’ lead to 37-20 midway through the fourth quarter.

RAMS VS. GIANTS REPORT CARD – WEEK 16

http://www.stltoday.com/gallery/sports/football/professional/rams-d-earns-an-f/collection_27938da7-d033-56f6-944e-160b049edbab.html#0

Just when you thought the Rams had assembled an elite defensive unit, Gregg Williams and his charges are outclassed by the Giants. Jeff Gordon hands out the grades after a dismal day at the Dome.

Quarterback: B
Well, Shaun Hill tried. He kept heaving the ball down the field with the Rams in catch-up mode. He completed 24 of 32 passes for 290 yards and two TDs. His one early interception went right through the hands of Tavon Austin, although that throw did sail on him. Hill wasn’t great on third down but what more can you expect from this guy?

Running Backs: A
Tre Mason broke off big gains outside and punched out some solid gains between the tackles. He averaged 5.8 yards on his 13 carries. He scored on a 10-yard run despite nearly having his head ripped off with a facemask foul. Too bad he didn’t get more touches against the NFL’s worst rushing defense.

Wide Receivers: B
Kenny Britt tore up the Giants with nine catches for 103 yards. He could have had a bigger day, but he misjudged one underthrown deep ball that was there for the taking. Chris Givens appeared from the mist to catch a 47-yard touchdown pass. Tavon Austin had a 19-yard run and a 15-yard catch. He needed more touches in this game—even though he let that one pass go through his hands for a deflection interception.

Tight Ends: B-
Jared Cook finally asserted himself with the Rams in desperate catch-up mode. He caught five passes for 41 yards and broke free for what could have been a big passing play down the field . . . only to see Hill sail the throw. Lance Kendricks stopped by long enough to catch a 23-yard TD pass along with a 12-yard throw.

Offensive Line: F
It was only fair that the final Rams offensive play was another terrible shotgun snap by C Scott Wells. He has been playing hurt, true, but his untimely mishaps have undermined this offense game after game. Missed blocks (G Davin Joseph!) and costly penalties (OT Greg Robinson!) damaged possession after possession and offset some nice stretches of run blocking and pass protection.

Defensive Line: F
The Rams seldom applied pressure on Giants QB Eli Manning: their only sack came on a safety blitz. They suffered some untimely breakdowns in their rush defense as well. The Giants are no offensive juggernaut and they trampled the Rams for 514 yards. New York converted eight third-down plays and kept the ball for nearly 35 minutes. It’s hard to believe this was the same defensive front that helped hold three consecutive opponents to no touchdowns.
Linebackers: F

OLB Alec Ogletree made eight unassisted tackles, one for a loss, and started one sideline riot on a busy day. MLB James Laurinaitis was active as well, but at the end of the day the unit couldn’t make the big plays or timely stops to turn the game. The Rams blitzed here and there, but never really disrupted the Giants.

Secondary: F-
It’s hard to imagine defensive backs ever doing a worse job than the Rams did in this game. WR Odell Beckham Jr. clowned them for eight catches, 148 yards and two TDs. Play after play after play Manning had wide-open targets to hit. There were too many disasters to recount in this space. The Rams got lost and stayed lost as Manning threw for 391 yards, three TDs and a 148.8 passer rating.

Special Teams: D
Benny Cunningham spit up a kickoff fumble on his first return attempt, handing the Giants a TD and a quick 10-0 lead. Improbably the Rams earned an offside penalty on a punt to extend a key Giants possession. A blocking-in-the-back penalty took yardage off one of Austin’s outstanding punt returns. The Rams stood idly by while a great Johnny Hekker punt rolled into the end zone. Such blunders offset big plays like Austin’s 41-yard punt return, Greg Zuerlein’s 51-yard field goal and Daren Bates’ blocked field goal bid.

Coaching: F
The Rams had to win this game to prove progress is really occurring in Year 3 of the Jeff Fisher Regime. Instead, the Rams played sloppy, undisciplined football from start to finish against the Giants. The Brian Schottenheimer offense failed to make the key third-down plays to keep the Rams offense on the field. The Gregg Williams defense had exactly zero answers Sunday. The special teams made one mistake after another. When will our suffering end?

Little consolation for the Rams

By Joe Lyons

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/little-consolation-for-the-rams/article_415635d1-deb3-5abd-b929-fd337b798c31.html

Before they took an offensive snap Sunday afternoon, the Rams found themselves in a 10-0 hole.

And they never completely recovered, losing 37-27 to the New York Giants in their home finale at the Edward Jones Dome.

“It wasn’t us in any phase of the game — offense, defense or special teams,’’ tackle Joe Barksdale said. “I know it sounds cliche, but we have to be better. There’s no excuse….’’

Quarterback Shaun Hill felt the same way.

“To be honest with you, if I didn’t know any better and I saw what I’d just watched, I’d say this was a bad team,’’ he said. “But we’re not a bad team. We’ve beat some of the best teams in the NFL and we’ve been in almost every game we’ve played this season. Generally, we’re not a team that beats ourselves, but today, that’s exactly what we did.

“I know the makeup of this team, and that’s what makes a game like today so frustrating.’’

On offense, the Rams had their moments. They finished with 387 yards and had 23 first downs to just 19 for the Giants. Hill turned in a solid game, completing 24 of 32 passes for 290 yards with touchdown passes to tight end Lance Kendricks (23 yards) and wide receiver Chris Givens (47 yards). His passer rating was 110.2.

Rookie running back Tre Mason ran 13 times for 76 yards, averaging 5.8 a carry, and scored on a 10-yard run. Wide receiver Kenny Britt was targeted 11 times and finished with nine catches and 103 yards.

“The only number that matters is the final score and obviously we didn’t come up with the number we needed there,’’ guard Davin Joseph said. “It’s a team effort and we just didn’t get it done. We just made too many mistakes, and we always seemed to make them at the wrong time.’’

Mason added: “If you don’t get the ‘W,’ any other numbers are meaningless. We were mediocre and hurt ourselves with a lot of self-inflicted wounds.’’

After the Giants took a 3-0 lead, the Rams’ Benny Cunningham fumbled the ensuing kickoff. It was his first fumble of the season. Five plays later, New York was up 10-0.

“Being down, especially that early, I don’t think it changes the mindset,’’ Hill said. “Every possession, you’re looking to put points on the board.’’

The Rams did just that, getting a 51-yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein to make it 10-3. But on the Rams’ next possession, a Hill pass went off the hands of Tavon Austin. It was picked off by the Giants’ Kerry Wynn and led to a field goal and a 13-3 Giants lead.

The Giants were up 20-3 when Mason scored after taking a pitch around the left end for a 10-yard TD with just over two minutes to play in the first half. The Rams got the ball back and drove to the New York 2 before a high snap on third down threw off the play’s timing and forced Hill to throw the ball away. Zuerlein’s field goal as time expired made it 20-13 Giants at the half.

“Offensively, we didn’t have the ball much in the first half,’’ Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “But we felt good (at halftime). We had the ball (to start the second half); just needed to make some plays, get some points, create a turnover, maybe get to the quarterback.

“But those things didn’t happen.’’

With the Rams down 27-13, Hill threw a well-placed ball to Kendricks for a 23-yard touchdown. Less than a minute later, however, the Giants scored on an 80-yard bomb to re-establish control at 34-20.

“You’re not going to beat an NFL team when you’re making crucial mistakes at key times and that’s exactly what happened to us today,’’ Hill said. “I’m sure when we look at the film we’ll see guys who played well, who made plays, but right now, it’s hard to come up with a lot of positives.’’

The Rams trailed 37-20 when Hill found Givens for a 47-yard touchdown with 3:56 to play. The Rams’ Daren Bates blocked a field goal to give his team a final chance, but another errant snap went over the head of Hill. The Giants recovered and ran out the clock.

“I’ll have to get a look at the film and see what happened,’’ Hill said. Fisher noted that center Scott Wells “has been fighting through’’ an elbow injury.

Several Rams admitted to hearing the late-game boos in the home finale.

“This is a fan-driven league,’’ Hill said. “We like to give them what they pay good money to come see. At the same time, there’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears on our end. I can promise you that.

“We share their frustration.’’

The Rams close the season Sunday in Seattle against the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks.

“We’re gonna come back strong, no question about that,’’ Joseph said

Ten Takeaways from Rams’ 37-27 Loss to Giants

By Randy Karraker

http://www.101sports.com/2014/12/22/ten-takeaways-rams-37-27-loss-giants/

On a day that the Rams clinched their eighth straight losing season, but did earn ESPN’s top play with Darren Bates’ spectacular blocked field goal in the fourth quarter, there were more negatives to discuss than positives. And here are 10 takeaways from the Rams 37-27 loss to the Giants…
alec ogletree

Ogletree’s late hit on Beckham Jr. started a brawl in the first half

1) The Rams clearly have some fight. We saw that during the late second quarter rumble as Alec Ogletree roughed up Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. out of bounds. William Hayes got involved trying to defend Ogletree, who had been kicked by Beckham. T.J. McDonald and Rodney McLeod, along with James Laurinaitis and Janoris Jenkins and the rest of the defense, got into the heated battle. It happened last season in Carolina and in Seattle at the end of the season. The Rams have passion and desire and will defend their mates to the end, but sometimes that comes at the expense of team success. I love the passion, but I hope it can be lassoed and utilized as a force for good on the field, rather than a mechanism that results in a street brawl.

2) It was a terrible day for the defensive backs. Eli Manning was an astounding 25-32 for 391 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, resulting in a 148.8 passer rating. He was 16-18 for 200 yards and a score in the first half. Certainly, Manning couldn’t miss. But it was rather remarkable how often he had receivers running free down the field.

The Rams didn’t have an interception, and came close to just one pick. He came into the game with thirteen interceptions and had been sacked 27 times, going only two games (at Dallas and Tennessee) without being sacked. Nobody in the front seven had a sack, with T.J. McDonald recording the only one for the Rams. Once again a miscommunication left an opposing receiver wide open for a long touchdown, and ultimately poor pass defense let the Rams down.

3) Where was the defense vs. the run? Jeff Fisher and his regime have drafted and signed defensive players to play in the NFC West and stop guys like Frank Gore and Marshawn Lynch. And indeed, the Rams have been sensational against the run for most of the second half of the season. But on this day, Giant running backs ran 30 times for 131 yards. The defense certainly didn’t slow the run down. The Giants were able to dictate to the Rams defense, which is something that shouldn’t happen with so much physical talent on that side of the ball.

4) Why was Scott Wells playing, anyway? Wells had a high snap that caused quarterback Shaun Hill to panic and overthrow Stedman Bailey late in the first half, then delivered another high snap that went over Hill’s head and caused a fumble that snuffed any Rams comeback chances. The Rams came into the game with a record of 6-8, out of playoff contention. They used a 4th round pick on center Barrett Jones last year, and Fisher admitted that Wells has been fighting through some elbow issues. Why isn’t Jones getting an opportunity? With all due respect to Wells, he turns 34 on January 7 and has not played to the level expected when he signed a free agent contract with the Rams before the 2012 season. If he’s hurt, or is going to play like that, why not give Jones a chance to see if he can play next year? I’d like to see Jones and Brandon Washington…although you might not want to play them at Seattle, either. I think Fisher and his staff missed a chance to see some young talent against the Giants.
odell beckham jr

Beckham Jr.’s antics drew several penalties against the Rams.

5) The Rams were easily offended by Odell Beckham Jr. When asked why the Rams were jawing with Beckham Jr., Fisher said “I don’t know. Someone said he said came out and said he was going to set an NFL record today against the defense early this morning. I was told that, I don’t know. But he’s an outstanding player. He’s a very, very good player and he’s going to be hard to stop over the years.” Seriously? A rookie says he’s going to set a record and your feelings are hurt? Are you kidding? That’s ridiculous. After T.J. McDonald took a taunting penalty because of his involvement with Beckham late in the first half, Mark Barron came out during a time out to calm him down. The Giants scored on their next play. Beckham’s taunt after his first touchdown most certainly helped cause the fracas in the second quarter, when Ogletree manhandled him. If receivers know they can get into the Rams head with antics like that, the Rams are going to see that every week.

Apparently this group didn’t spend enough time with and learn enough from Cortland Finnegan.

6) The Rams and their fans have now suffered eight straight losing seasons. Even the Raiders have had a couple of 8-8’s in that time. The gold standard of late for St. Louis has been the Scott Linehan/Jim Haslett club that went 8-8 in 2006. Do we know bad football? The last team to have a streak this long was the St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals, who had nine straight losing years between 1985-1993. Of course, 1985-’87 were their last three years in St. Louis. So in our last 23 seasons of NFL football in St. Louis, we’ve had four winning seasons, and seventeen losing ones. And folks wonder why people don’t want to spend their hard earned money on going to the Dome.

7) Kenny Britt had a huge play and a great day. With 4:13 left in the first half, Hill was flushed from the pocket, rolled right, and appeared to throw the ball away. But Britt appeared from nowhere to make a brilliant, 27 yard sideline catch and help set up a Rams touchdown moments later. He finished with nine catches for 103 yards. Britt leads Rams wide receivers with 44 catches for 710 yards. He deserves a contract for next year.

Cool There were more devastating penalties. The Rams committed “only’ nine penalties for 76 yards…compared to the Giants 12-149. McDonald’s penalty was tough. But with 10:28 to go in the game and the Giants ahead 30-20, they lined up to punt on a 4th and 1 from the Rams 46. Incomprehensibly, veteran Kendall Langford jumped offsides, giving the Giants a first down that led to their final touchdown and a 37-20 advantage. Even though the volume of penalties is down a bit, their effects are still as great.
jeff fisher

Fisher’s job is likely safe heading into 2015.

9) Is Fisher on the hot seat? I got question on Twitter a couple of times. No, and he shouldn’t be. A good franchise simply can’t continue to churn through regimes every three years and hope eventually it’s going to work out. The Giants should be a model for the Rams. So should the Steelers.

Fisher took over an untenable situation in which nearly half the players on the roster he took over didn’t even make it to a training camp the next year. He heads into year four of the project. Are things perfect? Certainly not. But this is a franchise that needs stability on the football side. Giants fans have wanted Tom Coughlin fired several times, before the team won Super Bowls. I would have to believe that many Cowboys fans wanted Jason Garrett fired after they finished 8-8 for the third straight year last year, but now he’s working out pretty well at 11-4 and as NFC East champs.

I don’t think Fisher’s seat should be hot…or even warm…heading into the off-season.

10) To fill up the stadium, the Rams need their product to be better. As has been mentioned, the Rams have eight straight losing seasons and finished 3-5 at home this year. This after they went 5-3 at home last year. Fisher is 11-12 at the Dome (one home game was in London) and 20-26-1 overall heading into week seventeen. While that’s a dramatic improvement over the 15-65 before he got here, reality is that NFL teams need to win to fill the stadium. If the Rams can reach a deal to remain in St. Louis, they need to know that the novelty of a new edifice lasts only so long. Eventually, if you’re going to be selling a product, that product needs to be of quality for people to buy it…even if it is the only game in town. If the losing persists, people aren’t going to buy…wherever the team plays. The Cardinals and Blues have learned this; the Redskins, Raiders and Buccaneers know it too. Winning sells.

Rams DBs are exposed against Giants

By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-dbs-are-exposed-against-giants/article_d01e990c-65f6-518b-a0a7-f7110c4825c8.html

Just a week ago, the Rams’ secondary looked like the most improved unit on the team this season. With everybody healthy, second-round draft pick Lamarcus Joyner — who hasn’t played badly at all when healthy — couldn’t even get on the field.

So the starters were improving, the depth was good, and looking forward there was the thought that maybe the Rams didn’t need to add much to the secondary for 2015.

Then came the abomination otherwise known as the New York Giants game. There were botched or misplayed coverages, what appeared to be a lack of communication on some plays, and soft coverage that consistently had Rams cornerbacks lining up seven to 10 yards off the line of scrimmage.

As a topper, it didn’t look as if the Rams did anything special scheme-wise to counter the hottest receiver in the NFL in Odell Beckham Jr.

At the end of the day it added up to 391 yards passing, three touchdown throws and a passer rating of 148.8 by Giants quarterback Eli Manning.

“I’ll credit Eli,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “He really played an outstanding game and was in control. Didn’t have much

difficulty on the line of scrimmage getting in and out of things. And he made some big-time throws.”

All true, but the Rams gave Manning plenty of help. For one, it wasn’t the best of days for the front four in terms of the pass rush. And with rare exceptions, the blitzes dialed up by coordinator Gregg Williams were ineffective.

But the secondary made things way too easy for Manning, whose passing total was the most against the Rams since Drew Brees of New Orleans threw for 393 in a 27-16 loss to the Rams on Dec. 15, 2013.

Giving away “freebies” in the passing game is a defensive sin, one that the Rams had seemingly gotten past. But in this season of giving, the freebies returned in droves Sunday, including three plays where Giants wideouts found themselves isolated on Rams safeties.

That’s asking for trouble, creating a matchup that the wide receiver should win the vast majority of times. Three such plays resulted in two touchdowns and 138 passing yards for the Giants.

• Play No. 1: On the fourth play of the game, cornerback Janoris Jenkins was lined up over New York’s Rueben Randle, giving Randle a 7-yard cushion. In what looked like zone coverage, Jenkins followed Randle nearly 25 yards down the field — to about the St. Louis 45 — but then dropped coverage, turning back in the direction of running back Andre Williams, who was in the flat way back at about the New York 30.

That left Randle isolated on free safety Rodney McLeod, who was in pretty good position to make a play but got boxed out. The result was a 49-yard gain to set up a Giants field goal.

• Play No. 2: On the Giants’ next series, Manning threw a 9-yard TD pass to Beckham. Cornerback Trumaine Johnson dropped coverage on the play, which left Beckham isolated on safety T.J. McDonald. Beckham got free by faking inside and then heading out to the right corner of the end zone.

The play gave New York a 10-0 lead before the Rams had run their first offensive play. Fisher said Johnson, who was playing zone coverage, should have been deeper on the play.

“Yeah, he was supposed to sink (into coverage) and have that ball go to the flat,” Fisher said.

Had the lanky Johnson been even a few feet deeper, he probably would’ve been able to tip the ball away.

• Play No. 3: This was the back-breaker play in the game. With the St. Louis offense gaining momentum, the Rams had made it a one-possession game, 27-20, on a Lance Kendricks TD catch late in the third quarter.

But on the third play after the Giants received the kickoff, Manning threw an 80-yard TD pass to a wide open Beckham. This was another coverage bust. With Randle and Beckham lined up wide right, Johnson and Joyner both took the player running the underneath route (Randle).

That left Beckham wide open with only a safety to beat down field — again an unfair matchup. One move later and Beckham was by safety Mark Barron move for a 34-20 Giants lead.

It was a brutally tough day for Johnson, who until Sunday had played well since coming back from a preseason knee injury. Even though he had played only seven games entering the New York contest, Johnson leads the team with interceptions including a 43-yard “pick 6” against Oakland.

But Johnson was so off his game against the Giants that Fisher was asked if Johnson was healthy.

“He’s working through some things,” Fisher said. “I don’t know if he’s 100 percent, but I don’t think anybody was at 100 percent (Sunday). He needs to play better. His technique was poor at times. He gave up uncharacteristic plays. He gave up plays that you would expect him to make.”

All told, Johnsonallowed nine receptions for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Four other completions resulted in third-down conversions.

“We didn’t execute, we didn’t finish, and that’s including myself,” Johnson said. “It starts with me. I put a lot of things on myself. All I can do is go back and fix them throughout the week.”