reporters & analysts do the last rites on the BUFFALO game

Rams Fall to Buffalo at Home, 30-19

Myles Simmons

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Rams-Fall-to-Buffalo-at-Home-30-19/49077acd-d048-429e-830e-e1ea7124e046

LOS ANGELES — With three starters inactive due to injury on the defensive line, the Rams could not overcome two turnovers that led to Bills touchdowns, falling to Buffalo 30-19. With the loss, the Rams are now 3-2 through five weeks of the season.

With Buffalo winning the toss and deferring, the Rams moved the ball effectively with running back Todd Gurley and wide receiver Tavon Austin both on the ground and through the air. On 3rd-and-2 from Los Angeles’ 29-yard line, Gurley lined up split out in the slot, and caught an out oute for the first down. Then he made a few men miss to speed down the sideline for a 24-yard gain.

Later in the possession, the Rams shifted their formation at the line of scrimmage to put Austin in the backfield. He received a carry on the play, gaining eight yards on first down.

The drive stalled after a false start penalty, but Los Angeles was still able to score on its opening possession for the third time in four weeks.

Los Angeles began the day with many of their regulars inactive due to injury, including starting defensive linemen Robert Quinn, Michael Brockers, and William Hayes. Those players being out appeared to have an effect on the early going of the game, as Buffalo rushed for 112 yards on just their first two possessions — both of which ended in touchdowns.

Quarterback Tyrod Taylor converted a 3rd-and-19 into a first down with a 22-yard scramble up the middle to keep Buffalo’s first drive alive. Taylor would finish the possession with a 4-yard touchdown pass to wideout Justin Hunter.

Following a Gurley fumble, McCoy burst through the middle for a 53-yard gain to put Buffalo on the Rams’ 5-yard line. Runnign back Mike Gillislee finished the possession on the next play, taking an option pitch from Taylor for the five-yard touchdown. With the blocked extra point, Buffalo had a 13-3 lead.

The Rams, however, scored 10 straight points to tie the game, led by the club forcing two three-and-outs defensively. Kicker Greg Zuerlein connected on a 32-yard field goal to make it 13-6. Then L.A. got a one-yard touchdown from Gurley to cap an eight-play, 64-yard drive.

Wide receiver Kenny Britt and wide receiver Brian Quick had receptions of 18 and 12 yards, respectively. And once Los Angeles reached the red zone, Austin carried the ball nine yards to set up a 1st-and-goal from the one-yard line. Austin ended the first half with six receptions for 55 yards, and two carries for 17 yards.

Everyone in the stadium knew the situation, but the Rams offensive line still got push on Buffalo’s defensive line to send Gurley into the end zone for the scoring strike.

With the score tied at 13, Buffalo completed a successful two-minute drive, as kicker Dan Carpenter hit a 23-yard field goal to put the Bills up 16-13 heading into halftime.

L.A. got back on the board with a 54-yard field goal to open the second-half scoring. But a critical third-quarter turnover gave Buffalo the lead.

On 2nd-and-14 from the Los Angeles 31-yard line, Keenum attempted to throw an out route to wide receiver Pharoh Cooper — who was active for the first time on Sunday. But cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman jumped the route and returned the pass to 41 yards to the house for a pick six. With the extra point, Buffalo jumped out to a 23-16 lead.

The Rams overcame a pair of delay-of-game penalties on a fourth-quarter drive to move down the field and inch closer on a Zuerlein field goal. A 31-yard pass to Quick moved Los Angeles to its own 44-yard line. And then a 26-yard screen pass to running back Malcolm Brown put the home team as the visitors’ 35.

A Gurley carry gave the Rams 1st-and-goal at the Buffalo eight-yard line, but the drive stalled from there. Zuerlein kicked a 22-yard field goal to cut the Bills lead to 23-19 with just about six minutes left.

Los Angeles’ defense held up its end of the bargain, forcing a three-and-out on the ensuing possession. But the offense also could not move the ball effectively, going three-and-out itself.

That’s when the Rams attempted some special teams trickery. With 4th-and-5 from the L.A. 23, wide receiver Bradley Marquez received a direct snap as the up man in a punt formation. But the Bills were ready, and tackled Marquez three-yards short of the first-down marker.

McCoy quickly moved Buffalo down to the Rams’ one-yard line with a 24-yard gain. And though an illegal formation penalty moved the Bills back, Taylor completed a touchdown pass to wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, giving Buffalo a 30-19 lead with just over two minutes remaining.

Bills knock off Rams 30-19 after fake punt misfires

Josh Alper

Bills knock off Rams 30-19 after fake punt misfires

LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 09: In one of the early games on Sunday, Jets coach Todd Bowles chose to punt trailing in the fourth quarter and found himself trailing by too much to recover from by the time his team got the ball back.

Rams coach Jeff Fisher went the other way against the Bills later in the afternoon, but he joined Bowles on the losing side of Week Five all the same. Fisher called for a fake punt on fourth-and-five from his own 23-yard-line with 3:47 left to play in the game, but wide receiver Bradley Marquez was stuffed for a short gain.

LeSean McCoy ran 24 yards to the foot of the end zone on the next play and Tyrod Taylor hit Marquise Goodwin for a six-yard touchdown a couple of snaps later to give the Bills breathing room in a 30-19 victory. The touchdown ended a frustrating half for the Bills offense, which moved well before halftime but produced nothing but punts come the second half.

The Bills still led, though, because cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman made the biggest defensive play of the game. Robey-Coleman jumped an out route and cruised into the end zone in the stadium he called home while at USC. That broke a 16-16 tie and buoyed the Bills’ chances while their offense scuffled.

Fisher’s aggressiveness with the fake punt wasn’t matched on the previous Rams drive. He opted to kick a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the four-yard-line and the decision appeared to work out when the defense forced another quick punt. Case Keenum, who finished 21-of-31 for 271 yards and another late Robey-Coleman interception, was incomplete to tight end Lance Kendricks on third down, however, and the Rams didn’t want to give their offense another chance to get the yards.

Credit the Bills defense with creating that situation, generally keeping Todd Gurley under wraps on his way to 72 yards on 23 carries and carrying the team in the second half. Linebacker Lorenzo Alexander and defensive tackle Adolphus Washington both made an impact up front over the course of the afternoon for Buffalo, which has now won three straight games for the first time since 2011.

They have the 49ers and Dolphins in the next two weeks, so that winning streak could go on for a while. McCoy ended up with 150 yards on 18 carries, although 111 came before halftime when the Bills were clicking offensively in a way they’d like to capture for a full 60 minutes in those upcoming games.

Here are the areas where the Rams fell short against the Bills

VINCENT BONSIGNORE

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rams-731681-game-bills.html

With a chance to move to 4-1, strengthen their hold on first place in the NFC West and hit the road for games in Detroit and against the Giants in London swirling in positive vibes, the Rams shot themselves in the foot Sunday in a 30-19 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

In the process, it exposed a couple predictable albeit frustrating truths.

• The Rams’ margin of error is nil. They don’t necessarily need a perfect performance to win, but close to it.

• And they certainly aren’t equipped to deal with a slew of injuries, critical turnovers and curious coaching decisions. All of which they dealt with Sunday.

Here are some observations:

FISHER GOT A LITTLE TOO CUTE

It was bad enough Rams coach Jeff Fisher opted against trying to tie the game with his team facing fourth-and-goal at the Bills’ 4-yard-line with just under six minutes to play. But trailing 23-16 he opted for the sure three points to make it a one-score game.

In retrospect, why not go for it and try to knot the score? Worst-case scenario you’ve pinned the Bills inside their 5 with plenty of time to get the ball back.

That decision was bad enough.

But then to call a fake punt at the Rams’ 23-yard-line down four points with just under four minutes left, with all three timeouts and the two-minute warning available to stop the clock, was just egregious.

The botched call cost the Rams dearly. The Bills easily snuffed it out, setting themselves up 24 yards from the end zone, and then quickly delivered the knockout punch to put the Rams away.

Not smart. At all.

“I wouldn’t have called it if I didn’t think it was going to work,” Fisher said. “That’s how those things are. We practiced it all week, we had the look, and it didn’t work. I’ll take that. They executed it in practice, but they didn’t execute it there. I thought if that thing works it’s good stuff, really good stuff – but it didn’t. They don’t always work, but that type of approach in special teams has taken us a long ways.”

Still a bad call.

KEENUM HAD A BAD DAY

No one is expecting Case Keenum to single-handedly win games for the Rams. He simply isn’t equipped to take games over in that manner.

But his job is to steer the Rams clear of negative consequences – in other words, don’t lose the game – and on Sunday he didn’t do that.

Keenum threw two interceptions – against zero touchdowns – and the second was an absolute back-breaker as it went for a touchdown that ultimately won the game for the Bills.

The Rams aren’t nearly talented enough to overcome those types of mistakes.

“I have to watch the film and I have to see what exactly happened. But, I can’t do that, I can’t do that – especially in this league, across the board there’s guys who will make that play,” Keenum said. “I can’t put my team in that situation, obviously. But, the game came down to one or two plays and that was one play that I want back.”

STILL LITTLE FROM GURLEY

Todd Gurley’s 72 yards on 23 carries represented a statistical improvement based on how much he’s struggled to start the season. But the Rams need more from their star running back.

With Keenum as limited as he is – and opposing defenses showing little respect in him to beat them – it’s on Gurley and his offensive line and coaches to figure out a way to get him untracked.

Gurley felt the running game was better Sunday.

“I felt like we did a pretty good job.” he said. “I felt like we did pretty good overall as an offense. We just got to not turn the ball over.”

Maybe. But as the Bills showed by getting 150 yards from LeSean McCoy, things sure come easier when a stout run game gets established.

RAMS SHOULD NOT SATISFIED

The following quote from Fisher is a bit revealing. Here is what he had to say about the Bills and his Rams:

“That’s a good football team. They’re on a roll, but we have every reason to be OK with where we are right now. I know there’s a lot of teams that would like to be 3-2.”

While it’s definitely OK to publicly support your team – that’s what a coach does – it sure seems over the top for Fisher to make reference to being OK with being one game over .500 when his teams over the last four years have epitomized average to mediocre football.

The Rams have not fielded a team over .500 in Fisher’s four years at the helm. And everyone is waiting for them – him – to prove they can make that improvement from 7-9 and 8-8 to 9-7 and 10-6.

So to say they have every reason to be OK where they are right now seems a bit dubious. And maybe even a little bit telling.