I give him an “incomplete” until the end of the season. I think final grades should be withheld until the end of a coach’s third season.

Yeah, I think Hill would be better coming off the Bemch.

Figuring out who should start is gonna be a tough decision for Fisher.

I bet it involves a lot of algebra.

Eternal Ramnation wrote:

I took some advice from Steve Savard who is a lot brighter than I gave him credit for. He said go back and watch it again. This time with no unrealistic expectations it didn’t look near as bad.There is some good stuff there. I didn’t mind Shotty’s play calling but the design of the TA plays still bother me.Both Gaines and Donald are going to be good to great.TJ is looking good.Quick is on his way. Hill was trying to get rid of the ball and didn’t have the legs to get it there.Up until that point he was doing good. The D held AP in check and how do you practice for stopping Patterson? Obviously you have to wrap up and hold on your not going to throw him down with arm tackles but the dude is a freakish runner who will continue to scorch many teams this year.

I agree with you for the most part. The Rams were in the game as long as Hill was under center. My only caveat is that it shouldn’t have been a “tough close game”. The Rams should have dominated a team like the Vikings at home. They shouldn’t have struggled against the Vikings while Hill was in the game if they are truly improving under Snisher. I think that is a valid criticism,

But I certainly don’t buy into Bernie’s reactionary, over-the-top Chicken Little act.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by nittany ram.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by zn.

zn wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>nittany ram wrote:</div>
Covering up brain injury info, bounty gate and now this…the NFL is making Haliburton, Big Tobacco and BP look good.

The difference being, public disapproval COULD lead to Goddell being replaced and at least a portion of a change in the culture.

Those other corporations? Yeah good luck.

We complain that the NFL is too corporate.

The actual corporations think it’s not corporate ENOUGH.

.

Yeah, at least public opinion can have some impact on NFL policy.

But even if Goodell takes the fall for his role in all of this, the ultimate responsibility rests with the owners. Goodell is their representative. They will remain untouched by the fallout though.

Read somewhere that the CFL has joined the NFL in the banning of Ray Rice.

Rams embarrassed by Vikings 34-6

By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/article_23c2ce3b-3328-5e04-ba63-fe19931ef47a.html#.VAzJJpdj4Ts.twitter

If you wanted to pick the worst possible way to open a season, it would be difficult to top the performance put on by the Rams Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome.

They committed silly penalties. Couldn’t stop the run. Got outplayed on special teams. And couldn’t really do anything on offense. Seven weeks of build-up led to one of the worst Rams season openers in years — an embarrassing 34-6 loss to Minnesota to open 2014.

Any time you start a season with your third-string quarterback in there to start the second half, you’re in trouble. Such was the case Sunday. Quarterback Sam Bradford obviously is out for the season with a knee injury. His replacement, Shaun Hill, was done by halftime with a thigh injury. So that left Austin Davis in charge when the Rams started the third quarter down 13-0.

For the most part, the defense did its part in the first half, keeping Adrian Peterson in check and making quarterback Matt Cassel throw the ball downfield at his own risk.

But the Rams’ offense was basically non-existent in the first half. Yes, Brian Quick established himself with several early catches, but he also took the Rams out of a scoring opportunity, being called for a facemask penalty for getting his hand in the grill of Vikings cornerback Captain Munnerlyn after a 21-yard catch.

The 15-yard penalty midway through the second quarter backed the Rams up to the Minnesota 46. They appeared to get the first down back a couple of plays later on a 14-yard catch by Chris Givens. But Givens was called for offensive pass interference, so the play was called back from what would’ve been the Minnesota 27 to the Rams’ 49.

The result was a punt.

Wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson was the Vikings’ top runner in the first quarter, doing his damage on the “jet” sweep, plays where the wide receiver goes in motion and then takes the handoff as he passes the quarterback in motion.

A 13-yard gain on a jet sweep by Patterson, coupled with a dubious roughing the passer call against Robert Quinn by referee Ed Hochuli helped the Vikings take a 3-0 lead on a 52-yard field goal by Blair Walsh.

The Rams missed a chance to tie the game on their second possession when Jeff Zuerlein’s 50-yard field goal sailed wide left with 1:09 to play in the first quarter.

Facing a fourth-and-1 from the Minnesota 31, Fisher opted for a field goal instead of going for it. Taking over at their 40 after the miss, the Vikings needed only one play to get in Walsh’s range — a 23-yard jet sweep by Patterson, who was aided by two missed tackles by the Rams on the play.

The result was a 46-yard field goal by Walsh and a 6-0 Minnesota lead 44 seconds into the second quarter. The Rams’ defense kept Minnesota in check for much of the second quarter, but after taking over at their 25 with 1:38 to go in the half, a scrambling Shaun Hill — running to his right — threw into double-coverage towards the right sideline.

Vikings cornerback Josh Robinson made an athletic, leaping interception, keeping his feet in-bounds as he came down.

Minnesota took over on the St. Louis 35 with 1:09 to play in the half. This time the Vikings didn’t settle for a field goal. On second-and-1 from the St. Louis 8, veteran Greg Jennings got behind rookie E.J. Gaines for a touchdown on a throw from Matt Cassel and a 13-0 lead with 21 seconds left in the half.

Austin Davis took over in the third quarter at quarterback, replacing starter Hill, who left with a thigh injury. Davis led the Rams to a 56-yard field goal drive, cutting the lead to 13-3. But the Rams had to punt after their second possession of the half.

Patterson applied a dagger on the very next play after the Rams’ punted. Lining up in the backfield, Patterson did his best Peterson impression by taking a handoff to the right, cutting back towards the middle and then zigging and zagging his way to the end zone for a 67-yard TD.

Rams defenders fell like bowling pins along the way. No less than five Rams had a chance to bring Patterson down on the play and whiffed on tackle attempts.

The Rams couldn’t recover from that, as feeble as their offense was Sunday. Davis had trouble getting the ball out quickly, and the Vikings’ front four could ignore the run and just head upfield in the direction of the quarterback.

A roughing the punter penalty by Chase Reynolds in the fourth quarter set up Minnesota for yet another touchdown, on a seven-yard pass from Cassel to tight end Kyle Rudolph, who beat free safety Rodney McLeod. That made it 27-3 Minnesota, with 6:27 to play.

But wait, it gets worse. The Rams were down near the red zone, threatening to finally reach the end zone, when safety Harrison Smith stepped in front of a Davis pass and returned an interception 81 yards for a TD. Davis led tight end Jared Cook on the play, but Cook settled in the middle, giving Smith the opportunity.

So with Smith’s “pick 6” it was 34-3 Vikings and hard to tell which was louder — boos from the Rams’ fans or shouts of “Let’s go Vikings” by the Minnesota faithful on hand.

I hate Sack City.

I like “Sack Louis”.

It’s reminiscent of the “Blitzburgh” nickname Pittsburgh used in the 90’s – early 00’s.

Dak wrote:

I concur.

Hmm, I wonder, and here me out … I wonder, possibly, if there’s some kind of double-standard in play here. You know, because he’s an owner. Just throwing it out there. I’m probably WAAAAAY off.

Yeah, right. Like being a rich white man get’s you any special privileges in this country. Dream on.

I think it will be Long, Joseph, Wells, Saffold, Barksdale.

Mackeyser wrote:

I love it. The league is underestimating us.

We’re poised to roflstomp the league in part because I really and truly think there will be teams and staffs that think like this. They’re human and part of these rankings are informed by interviewing league personnel and performing casual polling.

The idea that the Rams are thought of so casually is great for the Rams. It can take a full year for teams to really wrap their heads around that a team isn’t as weak as they thought…

Well, I can’t say for sure where the Rams truly belong in the power rankings…but there’s no f’n way there are 23 teams better than them. I think at worst they are an average team which would put them somewhere in the 14 – 18 range. I think they are a little better than that though.

You’re right though. It’s much better for the Rams to be under everyone’s radar right now. I think teams will not be ready for the defense they will see. Similar to how they were unprepared for Martz’s offense in 99.

wv wrote:

Thanks for all the info
over the years,
rambill.

w
v

So what are tying to say?

That Rambill is old?!

Rude.

I can see victories on the road against Tampa Bay, Washington and San Diego. Given San Fran’s troubles, there’s no reason to think the Rams can’t beat them in St Louis at least.

Agamemnon wrote:

If he isn’t starting, he might as well get ready to replace Jake Long.

I would agree, except I think the Rams expect him to crack the starting lineup at some point this season. I doubt he rides the pine all season long.

Overall would it be accurate to say Robinson has been the most disappointing draft pick? We knew there would be issues with his pass blocking but according to PFF his run blocking hasn’t been exactly stellar either. The talent is there and there’s no reason to panic yet – but everyone had him penciled in as the opening day starter.
It’s got to be a little disheartening when the number two pick in the draft can’t crack the starting lineup.