Things you might have missed from the Rams’ 17-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-cardinals-notice-20161002-snap-story.html

Here are a few things you might have missed from the Rams’ 17-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium.

FIRST QUARTER

Cardinals running back Chris Johnson’s weak block on Maurice Alexander led to the first sack of Carson Palmer. The quarterback spun to his left to fake a handoff to Johnson, but the back was on the other side eyeing a blitzing Alexander. His hit didn’t slow the safety, whose first sack of the year cost the Cardinals nine yards.

On Brian Quick’s 65-yard touchdown catch, the Cardinals secondary overran the receiver. Cornerback Marcus Cooper was airborne and reached out to slow Quick, but the 6-foot-3 receiver flew by. Safety Tony Jefferson over-pursued to the sideline and lost his footing as he tried to reverse direction.

SECOND QUARTER

The Rams nearly gifted the Cardinals with a touchdown after Johnson’s 18-yard run deep into L.A. territory. Mark Barron shoved Johnson after he was out of bounds and was flagged for unnecessary roughness, extending the gain by 15 yards. Johnson later rushed up the middle for an apparent 13-yard score, but the play was nullified by a holding penalty on tight end Jermaine Gresham.

On the same drive, nose tackle Michael Brockers came off the line of scrimmage to make a tackle on Cardinals running back David Johnson. Brockers’ quick feet kept Arizona in a third-and-long situation and the Cardinals were forced to settle for a field goal.

The Cardinals secondary experienced some confusion on Kenny Britt’s 34-yard catch, his longest of the game. Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu both stepped up to defend Tavon Austin, which opened space for Britt to make the catch. The play helped set up a Rams field goal for a 10-3 lead.

THIRD QUARTER

Greg Robinson had a difficult day. The left tackle did all he could to slow down Arizona’s Chandler Jones, including holding the pass rusher, but he couldn’t stop him from knocking the ball from Case Keenum’s hands and recovering it. Robinson also was flagged for holding and later was called for being an ineligible receiver downfield on what would have been a pass that moved the Rams into field-goal range. Instead, they had to punt.

FOURTH QUARTER

E.J. Gaines was the Rams’ co-leader in tackles (seven) in his first game back from injury. He got on the stat sheet with a tackle of David Johnson on third down that forced the Cardinals to settle for a field goal in the second quarter. Other highlights included a ball-popping hit on Gresham and stopping Darren Fells from getting out of bounds in the final minute.

zn wrote:

The kind of impact defensive tackle Aaron Donald is having snap-to-snap from his spot exclusively between the tackles is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

Donald keeps getting praise…and now people are upping the ante on it.

Hacksaw_64

Without sustaining any/many significant injuries. (Big knock on wood!) I have been wanting to post this but have been afraid it might curse us. The injuries have plagued us for so many years, we are really due for some good luck here

With as much as our defense flies around its a modern miracle someone hasn’t gone down to “friendly fire”.

– Big Exhale watching Robert Quinn shake it off…

– Our entire starting OL has remained intact for 4 games in a row (including Saffold)! This has to be some sort of new record of late.

– Brockers went down in all three of the first games and got back up and in the game. Did he go down again in game 4? I think he might have , can’t remember. But he’s still not out for the count. Thank god. Because there tends to be a gaping hole that we get gashed repeatedly when Cam Thomas #92 is in the game.

– I can’t confirm, but it looks like Gurley wasn’t 100 percent after game 1. He looked closer to form last game. I’m just guessing here. But especially with Benny out there’s a lot riding on keeping Todd healthy no matter what. Point being is that any form Gurley abuse should be considered a Capital crime in the State of California. I’m sure Brown will be just fine for power right runs at 9 man boxes for a gain of two. I would love to see Gurley get spelled at least a series in each half.

– I’ve seen Britt get up slow a couple times. He will lay out for a catch. He will try and get tough RAC yards and take extra contact (the polar opposite of Jarod Cook). Got to give him props. But he seems to pay for it every year. Our QB’s have made some throws to get Britt killed over the past couple of seasons. So far Keenum has put the ball on target over the middle for the most part on those slants and post routes to Britt. Those balls that are thrown late, high or behind a receiver are absolute killers.

– Tree has been a physically imposing force at MLB. He plays nasty and through the whistle, even when he’s not making a tackle. Did you see the play he came up and absolutely destroyed (blew up) Fitzgerald trying to run block? He hit Fitz like a mack truck and drove him 5 yards back into the hole forcing the RB to bounce the run outside. I’m suprised Fitz wasn’t on concussion protocol after that. Lets hope Tree’s body can hold up to that style of play over a long season. The good thing is that he seems to go that speed on every play. In my experience in football you don’t get injured when your playing 100% and physical through the whistle. The time you get injured is when you let up for a second…

-TJ McDonald went out. But another one that shook it off. We dodged the bullet again here. It looked like GW rotated Barron back to Safety and Forrest in at LB when TJ went down.

– Bennie is out. That’s bad. He knows “the chinese” offense. He’s our 3rd security blanket. Really bad week for it because the Bill’s defense brings all sorts of cleverly disguised and exotic twists, stunts and blitzes. Hint: quick draw play! My “suggestion” is to have an alternate kickoff returner when Benny returns healthy like Mike Thomas or Pharoah Cooper. The best suggestion is call “fair catch” and take the ball at the 25 yard line all the time.

Coaching Twilight Zone

Jeff Fisher ? Who is this guy? Throwing caution to the wind and going for the killshot on fourth down instead of Greg the leg and a 56 yard FG? Did Arians and Fisher switch bodies? Granted it didn’t work. But haven’t we all been begging for those type of calls? 7 times out of 10 that’s how you beat a team like Arizona on the road. TD’s in the fourth quarter not FG’s. Was it the right call? I don’t know. I sure questioned it the way the game was going. Was is a massive shift in philosophy? Sure was. I’m pretty convinced Fisher is got the memo about two things after last year. The importance of TD’s vs FG ‘s and converting 3rd downs. Which is one reason I think the Rams liked Goff so much. His red zone ability was unrivaled in college.

The Rams fans coaching carousel fan favorite Bruce Arians got jacked at home by Fisherball and Case Keenum.

GW called a nice game. Brought pressure early on Palmer. The key was the Rams were hitting Palmer. Palmer does fine with pressure, not with hits.

Saguaro

I listened yesterday to the Cardinals’ radio broadcast of the game.

Dave Pasch and Ron Wolfley do a great job. They’ve been working together for a while, and are smooth. Of course it’s a homer broadcast, but more than most I think they do a good job of crediting the other team when credit is due.

Wolfley is tuned in with the Cardinals and their coaching staff. He played for the Cardinals. When he says “the Cardinals want to do X” or “The Cardinals game plan is to do X”, I don’t think he’s speculating. He’s gotten it from the horse’s mouth.

And at the beginning of that broadcast, they both described the Rams as a one-dimensional offense where the whole key is to stop Gurley.
They talked about how the Cardinals were disappointed in their run defense against Buffalo, and how that had been a focus all week in practice.

Although they weren’t rude about it, it was very clear as the game began, that Gurley was the focus and that there was no fear or respect for Keenum. Then as the game went along, they began to acknowledge more and more that maybe Keenum was a little underestimated.

My point here is that other teams, at least until last Sunday, clearly still have the plan we’ve mentioned here multiple times. Stop Gurley. Maintain lane discipline. Make Keenum beat them. We’ve seen not just 8 but often 9 man boxes. At least once I saw Seattle with 10 men at the LOS and 1 safety deep.

This is to Gurley’s detriment and Keenum’s advantage. Not to take anything away from CK, but the defenses are handing it to him on a silver platter right now in an effort to deny Todd. That needs to be considered when evaluating their relative performances.

I think that if an opposing defense decided that the way to really stop the Rams was to stop Case Keenum, then things might be just a wee bit more difficult for him. Of course, that might open the running game in the way we’d like, which would help any QB on down and distance.

It’s just interesting when listening to that game on Card’s radio to hear the other guy’s perspective on our team. They respect the H*** out of the defense, especially Donald and Quinn. And they were certainly impressed again, I think, with TruJo. They definitely know that the Rams come to play physical ball. That Card offense got beaten up and down and they knew it.

This is the vid the original post is based on. Actually they spend more time discussing other things and the “DL in LA” remark was minor in their presentation:

http://www.nfl.com/videos/los-angeles-rams/0ap3000000714702/Schrager-Rams-are-the-furthest-thing-from-Hollywood

—

In the vid they do say having a strong DL is not very Hollywood. But they spend more time talking about Gurley and his clutch plays Sunday. They say the Rams draw up smart gameplans that take advantage of what defenses do to contain Gurley.

Rams force five turnovers, continue to dominate on defense

http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/31041/rams-force-five-turnovers-continue-to-dominate-on-defense

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Los Angeles Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson leaped in the end zone, intercepted a pass from Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer and gifted the football to his father in the stands.

“And that second interception,” Johnson said, “I gave it to my mother.”

Johnson was referring to a catch he made near the sidelines in what ended up being the final drive in the Rams’ 17-13 win from University of Phoenix Stadium. Officials initially ruled an interception after Johnson caught a pass from Cardinals backup Drew Stanton just before going out of bounds. But replay showed that the back of his foot might have touched the very edge of the sideline, prompting an overturned call.

Mom got the ball anyway.

“They’re not getting that ball back,” Johnson said. “That’s my mom’s. She’s taking that back to Stockton with her. Seriously. Y’all know that was a pick. Come on now.”

It would’ve marked the fifth turnover forced by the Rams’ defense on Sunday.

And on the very next play, they got it anyway, when T.J. McDonald caught Stanton’s desperation fling in the end zone as time expired.

It capped another dominant afternoon by the Rams’ defense, which has put its fingerprints all over the three-game winning streak that has kept the team in first place. There was also an interception by Mark Barron, his second in as many games. And a forced fumble by backup defensive lineman Dominique Easley. And a sack-fumble by Aaron Donald, who entered as the highest-graded interior lineman by Pro Football Focus despite not having recorded a sack in the first three weeks.

“It felt good,” Donald said. “Especially with a strip, too, to give it back to the offense. I know those plays are going to come. I just have to play my game.”

The Rams’ defense recorded six quarterback hits, three sacks — one of which gave Palmer a concussion that took him out of the game midway through the fourth quarter — and four tackles for loss. A vaunted defensive line continually created pressure, just like it did over the last two weeks. And a secondary that allowed 405 yards through the air last Sunday held its own against a menacing passing attack, benefiting from the return of cornerback E.J. Gaines.

“We responded,” Johnson said. “We kept everything in front of us. That was the whole plan this week.”

The Rams’ three wins have been defined by signature defensive plays.

In the 9-3 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2, there was the Alec Ogletree strip and fumble with the Seahawks 27 yards away from the game-winning touchdown. In the 37-32 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, there were two from Robert Quinn, a forced fumble that led to a 77-yard score and a game-ending tackle of Jameis Winston.

In Week 3, there were too many to single out.

“We’re a physical defense that’s swarming; a defense that has opportunities to make a lot of plays,” said Donald, who finished with 1 1/2 sacks and four quarterback hits. “It showed up today.”

Said one Rams assistant coach: “Wentz turns 24 later this year. Goff is 21. This is a lot to take in for a 21-year-old. We said in our draft meetings, if you had to play a guy right away, you’d probably take Wentz, cause he played in a pro-style system and is older. The whole point with Jared is that he doesn’t have to play right away. We love the kid.”

Interesting remark.

.

brownsugar

A bunch of stuff—21 Points from Ram-AZ game

1.Every single player appears to be offering something on defense:
Easley and Cam Thomas are doing their thing, EJ Gaines playing with big brains and good ability. Mo Alex didn’t seem to make a huge error this game, and creating terror. Cody Davis looks like he knows what he is doing—and he ain’t no Craig Dahl. TJ Mac looks to fit in better than ever before (& Williams is using his within his talent). Westbrook and LongAcre making some plays. IF Sims doesn’t rush hard and hit Palmer high, we may not be 3-1….he was doing his job with passion as usual—
2. Gurley no space, but made a key 1st down so we could TD, not a FG for a tie.

3. Case looked in command, though missed a few simple throws for
4. DBs look like they know what they are doing this year, and even though they are still 10 yards off the line, they know the system and it is working. I always knew they had the talent. I see why Greg Williams doesn’t them in 1 on 1’s too much.
Our D held AZ to a FG when they had first down on the 4…that is the game, right there. Awesome D with great moving parts. They are so unpredictable.

5. O line has problems in the run game because it is so obvious to the Defenses that the WRs can’t beat anyone consistently, so they aren’t afraid (giving up a 18 yard slant is no big deal once a half), and so defenses just play the run like it is 3rd and 1 every down. Arizona crashed down with LBs and the house a lot of the time. TE would help this a bit, I think. I know this is simplistic…maybe I am wrong. Also, I can’t think of a worse run blocking O line in the last 20 years (incl Colts crappy O line with no talent).
I believe in these lineman as run blockers, so hopefully this is worked out….so we can become a Fisher type of team (as long as he is coaching). Right now, all 4 games had very substandard run blocking most of the time.
6. Overcoming!—Despite so many penalties, the Rams still are winning these games.
All these guys: Brockers, Ogletree, Tavon, Barnes, Quick,GRob, TJ, Tru Jo are playing with 1-2 years of more intelligence and it is showing.

7. Quick was impressive on the fade, and he made that 65 yard TD. Without him, maybe we don’t win these last 2 games—Hard to believe.
8. Tavon got his finger tips on a long one. Keep throwing that to him. He is getting closer

9. Kendricks dropped 1….for our offense all these 6-8 yard patterns need to have a 100% catch rate, not 75%. When is Higbee gonna look like he did in that Dallas game. This year?
10. Britt is ok, but we still need a guy like Crabtree-relatively cheap veteran who can move chains.

11. This team really is a team; every guy is doing his role.
12. Greg the leg looks so much different. So many balls aren’t pounded. Like the difference between a wedge shot and and 3 iron from Tiger.

13. GROB- hmmm, don’t know what to say. Hasn’t cost a game this year, yet.
14. Goff was the 2nd QB again? It might not be this year if Case keeps doing what he is doing. Case is not the big problem….though his throws flutter so he can’t hit so many balls in tight coverage.

15. The end of the first half, 3rd and 3…..in the conservative world I run the ball….Gives AZ 35 less seconds…and keeps that TD a FG.
16. I like Mike Thomas’ patterns, maybe he can replace Britt next year. Higbee would really change some things, too.

17. Coaching- Usually a fan, through multiple viewings of 4-6+ games can predict his teams moves on particular down and distance. I can’t on defense at all….especially that last play of the game on the TJ Mac int. Williams can do this because the players know the system. Janoris Jenks would be a great player on this team, but we have so many guys who know the system, we don’t need him (and his $12 mill a year)….at least so far we don’t.
18. Aaron Donald looks better than any DT I remember. John Randle and Sapp are two of the great pass rushers (from last 30 years), and to my eyes Donald looks better. Don’t forget that guards, now, pass block a lot better than 20+ years ago. The game is all about throwing and having systems. Donald beats the system.

19. Quinn looks great, however I don’t see the inside move much…is his back 100%?
20. Barron, Ogletree, TJ Mac and Mo Alex maybe the best players as a group that Fisher has ever had at those positions…I don’t mean physically only, but knowing the system and attacking. I have watched some old 2002 Titans and this defense looks as physical, with much less 1 on 1 corner play, but much more chess players.

21. Ogltree, Mo Alex and EJ Gaines gotta be paid to stay, I think. EJ is still not all healthy, I am sure, but by the end of the year I hope he is.

All opinion, and not all is correct, I am sure

nittany ram wrote:

Oh to be able to play that 9’ers game over again.

At season’s end the Rams will be sitting at 15-1 and looking to make history but for that anomalous blip at the start of the year.

I know what you’re thinking, “14-2? Possibly. 13-3? Most assuredly. But 15-1?”

Bet the house.

15-1.

You know what’s looking like now with the SF game?

It was a wake-up call.

New team leadership. They acted dramatically on it, called a players only meeting, and they turned that game into a wake-up.

You know what it’s also looking like. The offensive changes were enough so that they were essentially learning it again. Less carry over from last year. Now they are picking it up and getting in stride. More 2nd nature.