He looks pretty good in the clutch to me. He only lost 2 games he started last year.

In the Eagles 1st loss against the 9ers with the eagles down 26-21, Foles led the offense to the 9ers 1 before he threw two incomplete passes after the 2 minute warning to bring an end to the comeback. Before the last 2 incomplete passes, he was 6/10 for 94 yards.

In the 2nd loss to the Cards, Foles led the Eagles to a fg that put the Eagles up 20-17 with less than 2 minutes in the game. The Cards responded with a quick 75 yard td pass. Foles then led the offense from the 20 to the Cards 16 in 1:30 or so & two timeouts before running out of time.

In the 2013 playoff game, Foles last possession was a td drive that put the Eagles up by 1 with 5 minutes left. Brees led the Saints to a game winning fg drive and the Eagles never saw the ball again.

Here’s Flipper 336’s ol from his top 50. I’ve not seen many talk about one of his top guards, Harrison. But that guy had an excellent performance at the combine. He weighed in at 6’4″ 330 and moved well with a 7.51 3 cone drill & 4.6 short shuttle. He looks like he would be an excellent choice in round 2 for the Rams.

With guys like Scherff, Erving, Harrison, and Kuandijo the Rams should be able to address the interior line this year. When’s the last time the Rams actually had two good starting guards?

OT
+ T.J. Clemmings, Pitt
Andrus Peat, Stanford

Close….
Jake Fisher, Oregon

OG/C

Brandon Scherff, Iowa
La’el Collins, LSU

Close….

Arie Kouandijo, Alabama
Jarvis Harrison, Texas A&M

I’m gonna go with:

5. Rams 16 – Niners 13 in 2012. That was a really good Niners team and they kicked the Rams offense’s ass. But the Rams defense was awfully good, too. It was a lotta fun rooting for SJ back in 2012.

4. Rams and Broncos from this year. Great seeing the defense step up against Manning and the Broncos offense.

3. Rams 38 – Colts 8 in 2013. Just a dominating performance and complete surprise. I was (and am) a big fan of Tavon, so it was nice seeing him play so well.

2. Rams 15 – Bills 12 in 2012. The offense had a hard time in Buffalo, but they somehow managed to get the W. This put the Rams at .500 and set up what seemed like a meaningful December game at home against Minny.
And

1. Rams 17 – Cards 3 in 2012. Loved seeing the Rams dominate with the pass rush and they had 9 sacks that day. I think that was also the last time the Rams were over .500 after a couple of weeks in the season.

Hill has a day to remember

By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/hill-has-a-day-to-remember/article_3cdf77ce-70b8-50f6-a476-56a657e6b22a.html

At about the same time that Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning addressed Denver reporters wearing a fancy suit after a stunning 22-7 loss, Rams counterpart Shaun Hill walked into his news conference wearing a plaid flannel shirt and blue jeans.

Now, that’s what you call low-key.

“This is about as fancy as I get,” Hill shrugged.

Then again, what do you expect from a humble Kansas native and avid fisherman who has his permanent residence in the Lake of the Ozarks?

OK, deduct a couple of points if you must for wardrobe. But other than that, Hill was pretty close to flawless as the Rams (4-6) toppled the defending Super Bowl runners-up Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome.

A thigh injury in the season opener against Minnesota all but derailed Hill’s season. But eight games later, he finally got another chance to play, and he made the most of the opportunity.

Granted, Manning threw for nearly 400 yards Sunday, but it took him 54 passes — two of which were intercepted — to get his 389 yards. Hill threw only 29 times but completed 20 for 220 yards, a touchdown, and a passer rating of 102.7 — to Manning’s 75.3 rating.

In his 13-year career, it was the first time Hill had gone head-to-head with Manning in a starting role. His father, who passed away in January 2011, wasn’t there to see it. But Hill’s 9-month-old son Theodore, who is named after Hill’s father, was in the Dome.

“Coincidentally, this is the first win I’ve had since the last game he was alive — my father,” Hill said. “A lot of emotions went into this one for sure.”

Young Theodore, or Theo as Hill calls him, obviously won’t recall what happened Sunday. But it is, after all, preserved on video.

“This is the first game he’s been to that I’ve started and finished,” Hill said. “That was kind of important, too, for me when I was coming into the season.”

He wanted Theo to have some pictures, some video, of himself playing NFL football after Theo was born. At 34, Hill doesn’t know how much time he has left in the league, and after the injury ended his day after two quarters against Minnesota, it looked like that might be all the 2014 football for Hill.

“It was important for me to come back and be able (to play) some during his life,” Hill said.

But coach Jeff Fisher decided to switch from struggling Austin Davis to Hill last week, so now Theo watched one of the most memorable Rams games since the team moved to St. Louis in 1995 and certainly one of their biggest upsets. OK, Theo won’t remember it unless he’s some kind of baby genius, but he can watch the film in a few years.

“Not only did Shaun find Kenny (Britt) and make big plays to Kenny, but he extended some drives,” Fisher said. “Time of possession is so important, and to find the back and find the check-down (is important). And then the guys — we didn’t have any drops per se.”

The Rams had a time-of-possession advantage of nearly 12 minutes: 35:50 to Denver’s 24:10. They ran 65 plays, their highest total in five games. And although they weren’t great on third-down conversions (six of 17), it was their best conversion rate since the 28-26 upset over Seattle on Oct. 19.

“Shaun played a hell of a game,” defensive end William Hayes said. “He showed he had guts. He hit a couple of passes where he knew he was gonna take hits, and still delivered the ball.”

Hill’s best delivery came late in the first quarter, when he threw a deep strike to Britt for a 63-yard touchdown. It was the longest completion of the season for the Rams, and Britt’s longest reception since the 2011 season with Tennessee.

It was a post pattern to Britt, a pass that he had dropped during the practice week.

“I told him, ‘It’s Friday and you drop a pass, that’s OK. But if you do it on Sunday I’m going to kick your tail,’” Hill said. “Obviously, I was just joking.”

Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said during his weekly Thursday media session that he thought the Rams would have some chances for deep shots in the passing game. And so it was. Britt was the recipient of 33-yard and 21-yard completions, and the 63-yarder — all in the first half.

One reason the Broncos are first in the NFL in rushing defense is that their safeties frequently play close to the line of scrimmage. On the long TD play, the Rams used Tavon Austin as a decoy, and when a Denver safety came charging up to the line of scrimmage to defend Austin on the 63-yard TD play, Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby had no help after Britt got behind him.

Britt’s 128 yards came on just four receptions. It was the first 100-yard receiving game for a Ram this season.

“Hey, it looked like Shaun’s been hitting the weight room in his off time, to tell you the truth,” Britt said, laughing. “It really showed in practice. Every deep ball was on the money.”

Hill has been called a lot of things over his career: Gritty, industrious, smart. Cannon-armed has never been part of the description.

“Compared to most guys in the NFL, it’s nowhere close to strong,” Hill said. “So it’s just kind of funny to hear that.”

Britt’s TD gave the Rams a 10-0 lead with 1 minute, 10 seconds to go in the opening quarter. It was the only touchdown of the day for the Rams, who went zero for three in the red zone. But they got five field goals by Greg Zuerlein — a single-game career high — and that was enough to hold off Manning and the Broncos.

Rookie running back Tre Mason’s first 100-yard day (29 for 113) in the NFL helped the Rams stay balanced and control the clock.

And when things got a little chaotic, Hill’s steady hand helped calm down the huddle.

“He keeps his composure,” Britt said. “When we got caught up in the moment, he came into the huddle and said, ‘Hey guys, Relax. Calm down.’”

And that apparently is what happened. Undoubtedly, both Theodore Hills would approve.

ME: Man, I wish Fisher would have pulled the plug on the Davis experiment sooner. JT seemed to draw attention to Hill’s toughness and composure.

I thot that quote from Hayes was very intriguing–I wonder if there was a lot of moaning and groaning about Davis’s lack of toughness in that locker room.

This just proves it has been a fake injury all along.

Fisher: “Yeah–we’re checking out Shaun’s shoulder to see if he can go.”

Schefter: “I thought it was his quad?”

Fisher: “Uh…yeah–quad..shoulder…either one.”

Uh…no.

Didn’t you know that you check a qb’s shoulder TO check the quad. See if the qb can step up and throw without pain in the shoulder, then the quad is good to go.

Guys, this is football 101 stuff. I swear the lack of football knowledge on this board is embarrassing sometimes.

TrenchRam wrote:

A run D without Brockers or JL is a very different beasts than what I hope to see in September. Last week, at least, it seemed to me that I saw at least as many plays where whoever was supposed to be in the hole just wasn’t there as plays where they lost a battle with a blocker. I’m starting to look at JL55 as a guy who has to be on the field for them to be competitive.

William Hayes will also make the run defense a different beast. Behind Brockers he may the best defender against the run on the d-line. The Rams need him healthy.

You need some guys who can just overpower o-line men & without those two guys I don’t know if the Rams have any one who can do that.

I’m not too concerned about the running game as long as Brockers and company are healthy by week 1.

I, however, have little confidence in the secondary. They were helpless against Rodgers. There just isn’t anyone with pro-bowl level talent back there.

And even with a great front 4, a team with a good passing game will destroy the defense with a quick, efficient passing game.

I watched a little of the Ravens vs. 9ers game and I thought heard the announcers say that J Smith hasn’t suited up for practice yet.

He didn’t play at all in the first game.

I can’t wait for age to catch up with that guy. He’s kicked the Rams asses over the years.

I had a little smile on my face watching GRob. His arms are humongous!

I’m looking forward to seeing him in action Friday.

The secondary is the bigger concern for me, by far. Once Saffold moved to guard last year the ground game looked great. Saffold, in particular, makes me optimistic about the o-line. I know his injury history is a concern, but I do believe that playing inside will help him be healthier.

Before Saffold’s play last year how long has it been since the Rams have had pro-bowl level play from a guard? Timmerman back with the GSOT? Then, you add a guy like Joseph who sounds like a good pick-up and the potential of Robinson?? That depth and potential has me excited for the year.

The secondary scares me a little. They were dominated at times last year. They looked helpless against Boldin in the 2nd 9er game. I don’t have much confidence that JJ or Tru will ever be good corners.

Good stuff Jimi!

It’s nice to hear Britt is looking good. When he was healthy in the beginning of his career he was putting up some good numbers. In his 3rd year he had two monster games to start the season. Then boom! he was done for the year with the ACL. It’d be great to see Britt remain healthy and provide Sam with a good option at WR.

I can’t wait to see Donald in action surrounded by the others guys on this d-line. Donald made the draft for me. I was all-in for Sammy so I was a little disappointed to see GRob as the pick.

Thank goodness Donald was still on the board at 13. He makes it easy to accept the GRob pick. A Watkins and Donald first round would have added some excitement, but with the Rams’ previous holes on the o-line & in the secondary it would have been disappointing coming out of the first two rounds without adding some talent to the o-line AND the secondary.

I hope Bailey has enough athleticism to make plays in the NFL. Without the PEDs.

That’s what he was busted for, right? PEDs not pot?