I watched the game on Replay. I may have to watch it again,
cause I was being distracted by a large squirrel and a blue jay,
but what I did take away from the game was:
1 The Rams and Cards play Steeler-Raven level,
brutal, hard-hitting, old-school football.
Man, what a brutal game. I must say, I enjoy
hard-hitting football. I’m a cave-man, i guess.
It would not surprise me, if both teams are feeling a bit
‘beat-up’ going into their next game.
My favorite plays from the game were not the TD’s or Long runs,
but the Hits. TJ’s hits especially. Even Janoris was hitting
hard. (the JJ INT was awesome, of course — is that guy finally
playing up to his potential? He seems to be playing smarter so far)
2 All the usual Ram weaknesses were on display in that game. The defense got
gouged by the Run and the pass. The offense was abysmal for most of the game.
I was not impressed with a lot of what i saw in the first OR
second half. But the one thing that ‘was’ indeed new was — Gurley.
He may very well change the dynamic a bit. He may be
the difference between 7/8 wins or 9/10 wins. BUT, he’s gotta
hold on to the ball.
3 I was impressed with the way Foles avoided any game-killing
mistakes and he did make some killer throws. He is NOT
Kellen Clemens or Austin Davis. He’s no Carson Palmer, or Russel Wilson
but he’s not a second-stringer either.
4 I would say the key to the game was simply the Rams Defensive
speed and pressure. It seemed to throw the Cardinal offense off,
‘juusssssst’ enough for a few passes to be rushed and a few passes
to be dropped. I mean, the Cards were obviously game, and not intimidated,
but the Ram D rattled them just enough to cause a few mistakes, in the
cardinal machine. The best example was Palmers last pass — the WR was
open and it would have been an easy pass to complete, and the WR was
well within winning-Field-goal range — but Palmer was just a bit off.
That was the game.
5 I’d love to see this defense have Gaines and Ogletree. But I ‘think’
they can still be a top five D without them. I think.
6 Every-time a defender was around Tavon, the defender was taking aim
at the ball, trying to strip it. I was holding my breath watching
the slo-motion replays.
7 Normally, I’d say Aaron Rogers is just gonna torch the Rams,
but…there is the Gurley factor, now. Maybe, just, maybe
he can shorten the game…. I dunno.
w
v
