Case Keenum quiets critics with record-setting day
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/keenum-732343-rams-game.html
DETROIT – Case Keenum can warm up a little this week. There’s no longer an ominous Jared Goff-shaped shadow following him.
Days ago, the topic de jour regarding the Rams involved how much longer the struggling Keenum could hold off Goff and remain the Rams’ starting quarterback. Keenum just didn’t have it, pundits said, and perhaps the time for a change had arrived.
All of that got quieted Sunday. The Rams, in general, weren’t pleased with their 31-28 loss to Detroit, but they couldn’t have asked for much more from Keenum, who completed 27 of 32 attempts for 321 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, albeit a costly one late in the fourth quarter.
“Case did a great job,” tight end Lance Kendricks said. “He was poised. He was confident. We knew the game plan very well. We knew what we wanted to do.”
Keenum had been inconsistent at best in his first five games, and took criticism after last week’s loss to Buffalo, in which he threw for 271 yards but had zero touchdowns and two interceptions.
Keenum started well Sunday, and led the Rams on a first-quarter touchdown drive. On the first play of the second quarter, Keenum threw incomplete. Then he completed 19 consecutive passes and broke the franchise single-game record set by Jim Everett in 1989.
The 19th completion, a 9-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Britt, gave the Rams a 28-21 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Keenum then finished 1 for 4, including Detroit’s clinching interception.
“We didn’t score enough,” Keenum said. “Have to go back and look at the film, but there’s definitely some plays to be made that we didn’t.”
Keenum made a lot, though. He certainly had rapport with Britt, who caught seven passes for 136 yards, but Keenum completed passes to seven different receivers and to all areas of the field.
Certainly it helped that the Lions were without top defensive lineman Haloti Ngata, but Keenum did fine on his own merits.
“Case was feeling good,” Coach Jeff Fisher said. “He was feeling good, slowed down for him, made some big-time throws and guys caught the football, as well. I was pleased with the way Case played, but still we need to win a football game.”
MAKING PROGRESS?
Rams running back Todd Gurley gained 58 yards on 14 carries, and his production remains far below expectations, but it could be argued that Gurley is making progress.
On the Rams’ first drive, a touchdown drive, Gurley rushed four times for 29 yards. That, of course, means Gurley gained only 29 yards on his next 10 carries, but the Rams, clearly noticing Keenum’s hot hand, turned Gurley into a secondary option for most of the game.
Gurley failed to convert on the fourth-and-goal play at the Detroit 1 at the end of the first half, but he is increasingly involved in the pass game, and on Sunday he caught four passes for 39 yards.
“We had a pretty good job,” Gurley said, “but when it really counted at the end of the game that’s when we should’ve come through.”
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