RamView, 9/13/2015: Rams 34, Seahawks 31 (Long)

RamView, September 13, 2015
Game #4: Rams 34, Seahawks 31 (OT)

WOW! The Rams open with a roller-coaster, thrill-a-minute, instant classic, and most importantly, A WIN, to kick the 2015 season off in style and win the kind of game they’ve been losing around here for a long time. When the games started counting, these Rams showed they’re not only ready, but ready for anything.

Position by position:
* QB: There’s something about Nick Foles (18-27-197, PR 115.8) the Rams have been missing, but I can’t seem to put my finger on it. Which is exactly that, his intangibles. How many times did he prevent a sack this game, or answer a negative play with a positive play? Seattle opened the scoring with a punt return TD, but Foles answered right back with the Rams’ first TD drive. He got sacked on 2nd down but hit Benny Cunningham to convert 3rd-and-15. A later run lost a yard but Foles followed with a 22-yard pass to Jared Cook to set up a TD. In the 3rd, after a botched shotgun snap let Seattle take a 13-10 lead, Foles answered right back with another TD drive. He scrambled for 9, hit Cook for another 30 and ran the TD in himself from the 2. The Rams took, and squandered, a 24-13 lead, and when Cary Williams hammered Foles to create a scoop-and-score fumble return TD that put Seattle ahead 31-24, and Foles appeared to be injured, a lot of bad Sam Bradford and Marc Bulger memories came flooding back. The starting QB’s done and the Rams are toast again. Not this week. Foles comes back. The Rams inch out to midfield with 2:00 to play. A penalty and a dropped pass make it 3rd-and-15, and the fat lady is clearing her throat. Sit down, fat lady. Foles, like he’s done much of the game, scrambles out of trouble and finds Kenny Britt for 21. A minute later on 3rd-and-5, Foles lofts a perfect bomb for a wide-open Lance Kendricks for a 37-yard TD. In OT, Foles threw a perfect 24-yard rainbow into Stedman Bailey’s shirt pocket to set up the game-winning FG. Nick Foles won this game with his arm and his legs and his brain and his guts. He saved plays by running out of trouble and making throws on the run, or just by getting out of the pocket and throwing the ball away. With the pocket collapsing all around him in the 4th, he kept a drive alive with a ridiculous shot put throw to Cunningham. Even after Williams clobbered him for the defensive TD, the Seahawk rush didn’t get in Foles’ head. He made accurate, clutch throws, of all distances, under all amounts of pressure. Nick Foles has already changed the tenor of the St. Louis Rams. He and Sam Bradford are very different QBs, drafted very far apart. Bradford may yet light the league up in Philadelphia. But in St. Louis, Foles looks more like the QB who can will an offense downfield. More like the QB who can hold up under withering conditions. More like the QB who will do whatever it takes to make a play. Nick Foles just knows how to win.

* RB: Forget it, the Rams have no chance of winning if they have to start Benny Cunningham at RB. Unless he turns into the Little Engine That Could and churns out a very determined 112 total yards, that is. Benny’s relentless effort really made the Ram offense go. He was especially clutch as a receiver (4-77). He kept the first TD drive alive by squirting past two defenders with a dumpoff pass on 3rd-and-15. Tavon Austin (4-17) has to belong to the RB group this week; his nifty inside fake and outside bounce on a pistol formation handoff got him to the end zone unopposed on a 16-yard TD run. Benny made a key blitz pickup on a Foles scramble that got the 2nd TD drive rolling in the 3rd. Up 24-21 in the 4th, he appeared to stick a dagger in the Seahawks with a 41-yard screen pass. Then, with Foles about to get buried by a blitz on 3rd-and-6, he hauled in a push pass and ran through Richard Sherman and Dion Bailey for another 1st down. Then, and I still have no idea why, Isaiah Pead (2-3) entered the game. He gained 4 yards and got stripped by Earl Thomas for a huge Seattle turnover when the Rams should have had the game in hand. Pead was also awful on kickoffs. As much as you want to root for his comeback from a torn ACL, all he did this week was start the Trey Watts Countdown Clock. Good thing the Rams had Benny. He started the game-tying late TD drive with a 9-yard juke left, then converted 3rd-and-short after slipping a couple of tackles in the backfield. Foles was the main offensive hero from there, but the Rams would never have won without Benny Cunningham’s determined running, johnny-on-the-spot receiving and hard work to break tackles.

* Receivers: Seattle has traditionally had trouble covering tight ends, well, besides Rams tight ends, that is. The Rams finally joined in on the tradition this week. Jared Cook (5-85) was a major beneficiary of the Rams’ play-action game, getting behind Seattle’s LBs several times for big gains. He had 20- and 22-yard catches on the Rams’ first TD drive and threw a splendid block on Bruce Irvin to spring Austin’s TD run. Jared Cook? Blocking? Well? Now I have heard it all. Cook set up Foles’ TD run in the 3rd with a 30-yard catch, again behind the LBs biting on play action. Down 31-24 late in the game, Kenny Britt’s (2-37) clutch 21-yard catch on 3rd-and-15 set up an even bigger play with 1:04 left. Lance Kendricks (2-42) split wide left, drawing single coverage from Dion Bailey, and after Bailey fell trying to chase Lance on a simple go route, Lance was all alone to cradle Foles’ pass inside the 5 and score a 37-yard TD, possibly the biggest of his career. Stedman was the better Bailey (3-58) in the clutch. In overtime, he caught a 24-yard rainbow from Foles on a corner route, beating Sherman and taking a big hit from Earl Thomas, but holding on, to set up the game-winning FG. Rams receivers spent too much of last season finding ways to not make plays. This week, when the Rams needed plays, they made them. Let’s keep this up a while.

* Offensive line: The Ram o-line is obviously still going to take a while to gel. Heck, after the disastrous opening series, it looks like it’s still taking a while just to learn the new zone-blocking scheme. The Rams’ first play of the season was a screen pass that LOST NINE after Greg Robinson didn’t block Cliff Avril at all. Benny was nearly stuffed for a safety the next play after Jamon Brown didn’t block Michael Bennett at all. These looked like cases of guys getting caught flat-footed because they’re not sure what they’re supposed to do. Right after Seattle’s punt return TD, Robinson didn’t look any better, giving up a sack after getting beaten badly by Bennett’s simple inside move. Benny’s determination and Tavon’s dash made that drive a success, though. (Tavon’s TD run wasn’t hurt by Brown’s backside pancake block, either.) Robinson’s holding penalty forced the Rams to settle for a FG after Trumaine Johnson’s INT. Tim Barnes seemed solid enough at center, at least until right after halftime. Brandon Mebane mauled him backwards 3 yards to bury Benny, and Barnes made out even worse the next play, snapping before Foles was ready and clanging one off his chest for a critical turnover. Barnes made up for some of that by leading out on Benny’s 41-yard screen in the 4th. The Rams could not put the game away, though, and let Seattle hang around long enough to take a 31-24 lead on Cary Williams’ blindside sack/fumble/TD in the 4th. It looked like that would have been Cory Harkey’s responsibility; I doubt he ever saw Williams coming, though. Not to dismiss the opponent or the result, but the Rams are going to need better line play. They’re getting beaten a lot by quickness and are still doing a lot of learning on the job. They did some good run-blocking, but Benny earned a lot of his yards on his own. Robinson looks good leading out on sweeps, but Bennett outquicked him repeatedly for pass pressures and run stops. It looks like he needs as much help as Rob Havenstein gets, and needs, at RT. There’s only so many bodies out there, though, and the Rams need Robinson to step up. Rodger Saffold helped Havenstein pretty well in pass pro but missed too many run blocks. Barnes fared better against Mebane than in past matchups, but with some big hiccups. Ultimately it’s going to take better play from Robinson to get the o-line over the top. Fingers crossed it’s a matter of getting used to the system and some of his problems with quickness come from having to think too much.

* Defensive line/LB: Suffice it to say the Ram pass rush, with six sacks, is off to a MUCH quicker start than last season. Aaron Donald got the Rams rolling on the opening possession, manhandling the guard while Will Hayes smoked TE Luke Willson to freeze Russell Wilson in the pocket for him. Run defense did not take a back seat, either. Right after the sack, Hayes tripped up Thomas Rawls to prevent him from hitting a big running lane, and Chris Long exploded into the backfield from wide-9 to blow up a shotgun handoff to Marshawn Lynch (18-73), who was only beastly at times this week. Donald exploded through J.R. Sweezy and center Drew Nowak to drop Lynch for a big loss early in the 2nd, and the Rams overcame an AWFUL roughing penalty call by pressuring Wilson into an INT. All four linemen were on top of Wilson as he threw in what looked like a really blown o-line call. A clutch sack by Lamarcus Joyner, blitzing in free from the left with Mark Barron blitzing in free from the right, pushed Seattle out of FG range once before halftime. Robert Quinn’s first sack, a hustle effort getting off of Russell Okung’s block, helped hold Seattle to a FG at the halftime gun. Hayes helped hold them to another FG after the botched snap turnover in the 3rd with a manly play to stand Lynch up in the hole on 2nd-1 inside the Ram 10. After the Rams went up 17-13, the D returned an emphatic 3-and-out. They did a fine job keeping Wilson in the pocket all day, which Long did on 1st down to force a throwaway. Long and Donald and James Laurinaitis stopped Lynch on 2nd down, and on 3rd, Donald whipped Justin Britt off the snap and took Wilson down almost before he could look downfield. At the end of the 3rd, Quinn literally leaped around Okung and hunted Wilson down for his 2nd, and the team’s 5th, sack. But Seattle rallied. Eugene Sims got stood up and Michael Brockers turned to open up a big hole for Lynch for 23. Wilson juked Alec Ogletree on a 3rd-down scramble to get inside the 10, and a blitz couldn’t stop him from hitting Graham for a short TD later on 3rd-and-goal. There was reason to worry when Wilson got the ball back with 0:53 left with a chance to win the game, but the Rams’ clutch play continued. Ogletree helped keep Jermaine Kearse in bounds to eat Seattle’s last timeout. A couple of plays later, the Rams sent all 4 DEs after Wilson; Quinn tied up two blockers while Sims stunted around him and sacked Wilson, the Rams’ sixth, to force overtime. Sims was done after that play due to a bad-looking knee injury, but the clutch defense was not. Seattle got to midfield quickly after the Rams took the lead in OT, but the D stopped them there. Long flushed Wilson on 3rd-and-3, with Donald and Brockers dragging him down a yard short. 4th-and-1 for the game: it’s a slant to Kearse, right? No, I think the Rams knew the ball was going to Lynch, and Brockers trucked RT Garry Gilliam to close the door on him, and Donald fought through Sweezy and Nowak again to slam it. Six sacks, solid run defense, more clutch plays than I can count… the Ram defense should have some kind of catchy nickname for this kind of play. Whatever you want to call them, this is playoff-level defense if they can keep it up.

* Secondary: The game was a triumph for the Ram secondary, which I am convinced is going to have a big season. The trend continues from preseason of teams not throwing at Janoris Jenkins. Seattle didn’t go at him any more than the Rams went at Sherman. Jenkins nearly picked Wilson off the first time Russell tested him. The Rams defended deep routes well all game. Wilson (32-41-251, PR 90.1) struggled to find receivers when he had time and settled for a lot of short passes. And the Rams defended those well. Lynch looked wide-open on a screen in the 2nd, but Rodney McLeod flew in and shut him down. When Wilson tried a quick sideline pass under pressure a few plays later, Trumaine Johnson jumped it for an acrobatic INT. TruJo suffered a concussion a little later to press Marcus Roberson into service, but the secondary didn’t slow down. On 3rd-and-2 at the 10 after a Rams turnover, T.J. McDonald flew in and submarined Jimmy Graham (6-51) in the flat to force a FG. Graham beat him for a TD later on a perfect throw by Wilson, but McDonald kept the all-pro TE in check. The Rams got a 3-and-out in the 3rd with McLeod again shutting down a short pass and Roberson breaking up a pass in the flat. Mark Barron had a heck of a game against the run and as a blitzer, and didn’t even get burned in coverage during a brief injury break for Joyner. Roberson was far from overmatched, shutting down several end zone fade routes, including one for Kearse that forced Seattle to settle for a FG. Roberson also kept Kearse in bounds in the final minute to burn Seattle’s last timeout. The guy was undrafted last year! Did the line help out the secondary, or vice versa? The Ram secondary was at the top of its game; I wouldn’t grade any of them below a 90.

* Special teams: Befitting a Rams-Seahawks game, the craziest swings of this game came on special teams. Johnny Hekker blasted a 55-yard punt right at lethal rookie returner Tyler Lockett in the 1st, and the Rams paid for that stupidity with a 58-yard TD. Hekker outkicked his coverage by 12 yards, and with the perfect blocking lanes the Seahawks set up, Lockett really only had to run 30 yards, fake out Hekker and score. That looked like early doom for the home team, but up 17-13 in the 3rd, they answered with a punt return TD of their own. This time Jon Ryan outkicked his coverage by 15 yards and stupidly kicked right to Austin, who ran to midfield untouched, faked inside and jumped outside around a wall made by the outstanding hustle of Jenkins and Bradley Marquez. Marquez then swung back for a big block while Austin tightroped the sideline and ran through a diving tackle attempt for a 74-yard TD. Seattle opened OT with an onside kick that Pete Carroll claims was a botched squib kick, possibly because not a single Ram fell victim to the play, with Marquez making one of the game’s big plays with a nice sliding (fair) catch. Greg Zuerlein put the Rams ahead to stay with a routine 37-yard FG that capped off a wild day on special teams.

* Strategery: This game was an auspicious debut for OC Frank Cignetti, who in one week out-called every game of the Brian Schottenheimer Era, and probably every game of the Brian Schottenheimer Career. Bobby Wagner is very possibly the NFL’s best linebacker, but never looked more befuddled, tentative and ineffective as he did this week at the hands of Cignetti and Foles’ play-action passing game. Though the first play of the game lost nine yards, the Rams’ early intent to get Austin the ball seemed to be Seattle’s biggest fear. Benny’s dogged determination certainly made the play-action game lethal. All of Cook’s big catches can be credited to play-action and/or Seattle being pre-occupied with Austin.

I could talk about this game plan all day. What a nice play mix on the first TD drive, for instance. Play-action to Cook. Handoff to Benny, short pass to Benny, home run ball for Austin (that SHOULD have been a DPI) off a half-roll. Screen to Benny, (audibled) handoff to Pead, deep sideline pass to Cook, wide open because Seattle was worried about Austin. The next play was pretty amazing. I’m calling it a pistol formation, with Cook to Foles’ right, Austin at tailback and Bailey reverse-motioning and settling outside LT. Bailey gets a chip, Cook gets a superb block, Austin fakes inside to get Wagner to bite and bounces outside almost unopposed for the TD run. What a sweet call. So, for three years, Brian Schottenheimer couldn’t think of this play? Cignetti opened the 2nd half with another sweet call, a corner route to Bailey off a fake end-around to Austin that sucked in the Seahawks and netted the Rams 29 yards. Foles’ TD was another sweet call; they lined up jumbo left, Benny brilliantly faked a dive into the line, and Foles, with Harkey, rolled out right with only Wagner left to stop them. (OK, that was a Schottenheimer favorite as well. Bradford would have strung it all the way to the sideline and thrown to Harkey.) And, of course, there was the balls-of-steel call to bomb away for Kendricks on 3rd-and-5, down 7 with a minute left.

The key to this whole game plan was the way it bedeviled Wagner. Screens, misdirection, persistent play-action and the real threat Austin represented had Wagner completely off-balance. Watch him if you get to re-watch this game. He’s guessing wrong and doubting what he’s doing all game. The Rams, for the first time in Wagner’s career, I expect, figured out how to scheme for him, and it was poetry. Brian Schottenheimer might have called three games this good in 48 tries here. Frank Cignetti? 1 for 1.

I’m so fired up about Cignetti’s game I have to short-change Jeff Fisher and Gregg Williams. The Rams were charged with only four penalties, weathered all kinds of adversity and didn’t fall for the onside kick to start OT. Williams got a big sack off a double-safety blitz, mixed in fake blitzes diabolically and stymied Seattle in the red zone with effective three-man rushes. In other words, boy did I ever get hustled by this team’s preseason performance. In August, they didn’t look like they belonged in the CFL. To start the real season, though, they looked as well-coached as they’ve looked in over a decade.

* Upon further review: Nothing but the finest from the clowns at NFL HQ; it took a whole week to burden the Rams with the shining beacon of officiating incompetence that is Jeff Triplette, and boy did he and his crew burn (not so) brightly again this week. Sherman got away with textbook DPI against Austin in the end zone in the 1st. He pinned both Tavon’s arms and never looked back for the ball. No flag. The next drive, Okung plainly false-started on back-to-back plays. No flag either time, but Triplette did flag Quinn for going to Wilson’s head, for, um, wrapping Wilson up around the chest and upper arm. The play was right in front of you! Meanwhile, on Foles’ TD run, Wagner obviously took him down by his facemask. NO CALL! They miss the obvious stuff, but Triplette can call Foles for illegal motion on the botched snap/fumble in the 3rd, a play we have seen happen many times without that flag being thrown. And Triplette tried to save his piece de resistance for the onside kick in overtime, deciding Seattle should get a do-over, for, of all things, Marquez calling an illegal fair catch. You can’t tell a QB’s head from his chest, but dig THAT call out of the deepest recesses of the rulebook? The crew got him to pick up the flag, ruling the fair catch legal because the ball was kicked off the tee, not into the ground, and I don’t care any more because the Rams won. But wouldn’t Jeff Triplette do better service to the NFL by working on the Play 60 project or something? Please, no more Rams games for this incompetent. Grade: F, and I’m being nice

* Cheers: First of all, great job, home crowd. They could be plainly heard on TV, drew a couple of Seattle penalties and they found another gear in overtime. The lower bowl looked full enough to guess a crowd in the 40’s, and they booed down an attempt by the visitors to start a “Seahawks” chant. Also a great job by the Fox crew of Kenny Albert and Moose Johnston. Moose was on top of his game breaking down plays, and he was spot on about Triplette’s poor calls. My favorite Moose observation was that Donald had dropped back in coverage on TruJo’s INT and had Jimmy Graham blanketed downfield. How awesome is that?

* Who’s next?: The Rams open the road portion of their schedule next week at FedEx Field against the Redskins, a team they’ve gotten the better of recently on and off the field. On the field, they’ve won five of the past seven meetings and two in a row, including last December’s 24-0 shutout in Washington. Off the field, the Rams still have five starters to show for the picks acquired in the trade for Robert Griffin III. Washington, meanwhile, seemed to be trying to get RGIII killed in preseason and succeeded, sending him to the sideline with a concussion in favor of 2012 4th-round pick Kirk Cousins.

So, Jay Gruden’s forced Griffin out, and Cousins in turn figures to force a lot of passes next week. The man is unafraid to throw into a crowd. Unsurprisingly, that puts him among the league leaders in INT% (1 every 23 attempts) the past two seasons. He didn’t get good reviews for his preseason work. He’s got a strong arm but not a lot of composure. His accuracy wasn’t consistent, he looked indecisive, stared down his receivers and forced a lot of passes. And, as in preseason, it doesn’t look like Cousins will have DeSean Jackson (hamstring) to target, though that may leave the Rams free to refuse to cover Pierre Garcon (9-95) like last year. The Ram d-line, though, could give Cousins nightmares if his offensive line continues its struggles. Washington’s trying to make like Dallas and build a dominating o-line, drafting Brandon Scherff in the Zach Martin role, but Scherff’s highlight so far has been getting Griffin killed. A lot of matchups with Aaron Donald could mean a long day for the rookie. The Redskin o-line did not mount a lot of push in the run game in the footage I’ve seen, especially in the middle, and Alfred Morris is not a RB who’s going to bounce a lot of runs outside. RT Morgan Moses struggles with speed and explosion off the edge, and Quinn got the better of LT Trent Williams last year. That was Williams’ first game back from an injury, and that this Redskin line has looked good picking up blitzes. But the Rams still have a big advantage on the LOS that should lead to bottling up the running game and forcing Cousins into forcing mistakes.

The Redskin secondary looks like 49ers East with Dashon Goldson and Chris Culliver back there, but it also looks like their plan now is to drop back to the Bay Area in coverage, with enough puny soft zones to make Tim Walton look like a bump-and-run guy. If Bashaud Breeland (knee) is out, David Amerson would likely play nickel; he looks terrified of speed, and Steve Smith turned him inside out in preseason. The Rams owe it to themselves to get Austin matched up on Amerson as often as possible, and it should result in a big game. (Foles threw for 325 and 3 TDs in Washington last year.) The Redskins seem much more built for taking on big WRs, but have not tackled well on the back end, which should make Britt and Cook productive after the catch. Washington looks like it’s relying on its pass rush to protect its secondary, and with their blitz setting turned way down from its previous setting of “Haslett”, Havenstein vs. Ryan Kerrigan will be the key matchup. Kerrigan earned a big new contract with 13.5 sacks last year. Joseph Barksdale could not handle Kerrigan’s elite quickness at all last year; the Rams will need a more effective plan for him next week. As for the rest of Washington’s pass rush, well, let’s just say they weren’t too proud to sign accused woman-beater Junior Galette, who’s out for the season anyway (torn Achilles; karma). They added a lot of beef in the middle by going out for Pot Roast (Terrance Knighton) and signing Stephen Paea. Knighton drawing double-teams makes Jamon Brown vs. Paea another key matchup. Paea looks like a good penetrator and shows a nice bull rush, but he can get moved in the running game. I’d love to see the Rams run left a lot behind Brown and behind Robinson swallowing Trent Murphy whole. Zuerlein’s meltdown in FedEx last year is a factor we can’t dismiss, but ON PAPER, the Ram defense sets up well to win this game at the LOS, and the offense can, too, if it keeps Kerrigan in any kind of check.

This was an excellent, major win for Jeff Fisher, and shows that this year’s team did “wake up sprinting”. The only problem now is if they go and lose to a pretty vulnerable Washington team, they’ll have sprinted into a wall. The Rams have hit a few peaks under Fisher, but have rarely sustained that momentum. That seems to have been his biggest challenge here. For the Rams to say they haven’t just peaked early, to truly exorcise the Jeff Fisher Slow Start ™, Washington’s where their momentum will have to prove itself.

— Mike
Game stats from espn.com

• This topic was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by mfranke.