Rams Lose to Steelers, 12-6

Myles Simmons

http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Rams-Lose-to-Steelers-12-6/a46bf8e7-addc-4799-9c12-69ac48d41435

The Rams could not get anything going offensively on Sunday, and dropped a low-scoring, 12-6 contest to the Steelers.

“Six points isn’t going to win you a whole lot of games,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “We’re averaging eight points a game the last two weeks, and that’s not going to get it done for you. That’s my biggest area of concern.”

St. Louis had just 12 first downs and had only 258 offensive yards in the contest. Like last week, the offense made two of their 3rd-down chances, this time going 2-of-10. There were also a couple key false start penalties in the red zone, contributing to a seven penalties for 97 yards overall.

The Rams’ six points came on two field goals from Greg Zuerlein — a 49-yard strike in the second quarter, and a 27-yard kick in the fourth.

“With all due respect to Greg Zuerlein, I don’t want to see him on the field as much,” Fisher said. “We need to put the ball in the end zone. We’ve got to keep working on that because that doesn’t win you a lot of games that way.”

“Our defense did a tremendous job today,” quarterback Nick Foles said. “They gave us an opportunity — we’ve got to be able to score more. We’ve got to score more points than them in those situations.”

With many completions and run plays, the game had a quick pace throughout. In the first quarter, Pittsburgh’s first two possessions netted only nine points, but were 13 and 12 plays, respectively.

The visitors got returning running back Le’Veon Bell involved early, with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completing a short pass to him for 10 yards on the game’s first play. The Rams’ defense would eventually tighten up in the red zone, with defensive tackle Michael Brockers stuffing Bell for a 1-yard loss on 3rd-and-goal from the 2-yard line. The Steelers settled for a field goal, giving them a 3-0 lead.

“We fortunately held them to three, which was a big deal for us,” Fisher said.

The Rams did convert a third down on their first drive, but the possession petered out after only six plays. On 3rd-and-2 from the home team 48, tight end Lance Kendricks dropped a low pass from Foles that would have netted a first down.

Though Johnny Hekker got off a good punt, the Steelers came back with a 12-play, 92-yard drive to get back on the scoreboard. Pittsburgh effectively used its no-huddle offense to get down the field, and Bell took a 1-yard handoff into the end zone for a touchdown. The Steelers went for two, but did not get it with cornerback Trumaine Johnson coming away with the pass breakup toward the front of the end zone.

“Our ability to defend the two-point conversion gave us a shot,” Fisher said. “But, nonetheless, you’ve got to score points.”

Running back Todd Gurley made his debut on the next drive, taking a handoff and making a reception. But the rookie was largely ineffective for the whole game, gaining only nine yards on six carries and a 5-yard catch. The Rams, needing to sustain a drive, tried a fake punt from the Steelers’ 48. But the pass from Hekker to an open Stedman Bailey on the left sideline was underthrown and bounced into the wide receiver’s arms.

But the home team’s defense came through, with Janoris Jenkins coming up with a big interception. On 2nd-and-19 from Pittsburgh’s own 39, Roethlisberger attempted a deep pass to wideout Markus Wheaton. Jenkins didn’t bite on Wheaton’s double move, stayed over the top on coverage, and intercepted the ball near right sideline.

It was a significant play that set the Rams up to get on the board with a 49-yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein. The score cut the Steelers’ lead to 9-3, which held through halftime.

The third quarter looked like it could start well, but a key drop stalled the Rams’ first drive. After picking up a couple first downs, Foles dropped back for a play-action pass. Kendricks was open on the left side and the quarterback threw a ball right in the bread basket. But the tight end couldn’t handle it and the ball ended up incomplete.

“I saw the ball go up and I just lost it in the light. I couldn’t see it coming down at all,” Kendricks said. “Once it hit me, then I saw it, obviously. That’s why it kind of hit me in the facemask because I couldn’t see it. But no excuses — I’ve still got to find a way to catch it.”

“It’s hard. That’s hard,” Fisher said. “We had three drops today, and you’re in a field-position game like that where there’s potential swings, or potential additional first downs, those are hard to overcome. We didn’t drop them on purpose, but we needed to make that play.”

Foles was sacked on the next snap, which effectively ended the Rams’ scoring threat.

But that’s when defensive tackle Aaron Donald made a string of strong defensive plays. The Pittsburgh native came up with two TFLs and a big sack of Roethlisberger on the ensuing drive. But after that, the Steelers’ quarterback went out with a knee injury from an unintentional low hit by Mark Barron on a sack. Roethlisberger did not return, as veteran QB Michael Vick replaced him for the duration of the game.

“You never want to see a competitor and a guy like that go down,” Foles said of Roethlisberger. “I’ll be saying my prayers for him.”

The Rams again cut the lead in the fourth quarter with a long drive that resulted in a field goal. On 3rd-and-4 from the St. Louis 35, Kenny Britt induced a pass interference call from corner Antwon Blake that put the home team on Pittsburgh’s 24. On the next play, wideout Chris Givens took an end around 24 yards to the right side, giving the Rams 1st-and-goal at the 7. But a pair of false start penalties moved St. Louis back, and the club had to settle for three points, cutting Pittsburgh’s lead to 9-6.

“Penalties were at the wrong time,” Fisher said.

Though Bell broke off a 23-yard run to start Pittsburgh’s ensuing possession, the defense came through with a big stop. And with 3:09 left in the contest, Tavon Austin fair caught a punt at St. Louis’ 17-yard line.

But with a poor throw from Foles, the drive lasted only one play. Though Kendricks beat his defender off the line and had some space on him down the seam, there was a safety over the top. Will Allen intercepted Foles’ pass and returned it to the St. Louis 31, setting up a field goal to extend Pittsburgh’s lead to 12-6.

“It was a forced throw,” Foles said. “That’s on me. That’s something that I never want to happen. But the game goes on and we’ve got to keep playing.”

With 1:51 left and no timeouts, the Rams commenced their final drive from their own 21, with Foles promptly hitting Britt for a 13-yard reception. But on the next set of downs, a short pass and a pair of incompletions left St. Louis with a 4th-and-5. Though it initially appeared Britt made a catch to extend the drive, the call was reversed on a review. The referees said the ball hit the ground, and thus the pass was incomplete.

The Steelers took a pair of knees to run out the clock.

With the offense’s struggles, Foles said his mentality is to stay positive. The signal-caller said the unit is experiencing growing pains, but it is learning and growing together.

“We’ve got a bunch of young guys who go to work every day and they want to get better. And that’s what I see,” Foles said. “And that’s why I’m optimistic, because of the guys we have. My goal is to just keep grinding forward and by the end of the year, we’ll be where we want to be.”

“We’re 1-2. The world’s not ending,” Foles added. “We will figure it out.”

The Rams will be back in action next week when they face the Cardinals in Arizona.

Receiver Kenny Britt re-emerges for Rams offense

Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/21827/receiver-kenny-britt-re-emerges-for-rams-offense

ST. LOUIS — A look at three St. Louis Rams players who were “up” and those who were “down” in Sunday’s 12-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers:

UP

WR Kenny Britt — Aside from a 40-yard touchdown last week, Britt had been mostly quiet in the first two weeks, but he was the team’s lone reliable offensive contributor on Sunday. He finished with seven catches for 102 yards, re-establishing himself as the team’s primary receiving weapon.

DT Aaron Donald — It’s no surprise to see Donald in this spot, but he again wreaked havoc all over the field, living in Pittsburgh’s backfield and finishing with four tackles, a sack, three tackles for loss and a quarterback hit. Most importantly, he helped the Rams’ run defense improve drastically from a week ago, limiting Pittsburgh to 2.8 yards per carry.

LB Alec Ogletree — Ogletree followed his big effort of a week ago with another strong outing, including a pair of sacks, a tackle for loss and nine tackles overall. He continues to emerge as one of the Rams’ best young players.

DOWN

TE Lance Kendricks — Kendricks had two costly drops, one that would have gone for a first down and another that might have gone for a touchdown in the third quarter. The Rams can’t afford such mistakes with an offense that struggles to generate points.

TE Jared Cook — It wasn’t a good day at the office for Rams tight ends in general, and Cook joined the party. Despite a seemingly favorable matchup, he had just one catch for 7 yards and had a two-play sequence late when the Rams were driving for a potential game-winning touchdown that included a false-start penalty and a poor route on a ball thrown his way in the end zone.

The offensive line — The Rams again failed to get any push in the run game, finishing with 71 yards on 18 carries. Pass protection was a little better as Nick Foles was sacked just twice. But overall, the pocket was often shaky ground.

Blunders abound in Rams’ latest loss

Benjamin Hochman

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/benjamin-hochman/hochman-blunders-abound-in-rams-latest-loss/article_4fde4366-7dc3-5ab2-ac65-f299146a983b.html

Hey, um, Nick Foles … WHAT WAS THAT PASS?

That vile projectile was the worst play of the game, at the worst time in the game, in a game that should prove to be the Rams’ worst loss.

I can’t get over that play. Can you? Have you? Has Nick?

Sunday’s Pittsburgh-St. Louis game was the football equivalent of a Gerrit Cole-Michael Wacha pitchers’ duel. The final score was 12-6 Steelers, but with 3:02 left, the Rams trailed just 9-6. And the Rams’ defense forced a Pittsburgh punt.

This was Nick’s time. First-and-10 on his 17. Field goal ties it. Touchdown probably wins it. Orchestrate a drive. Make St. Louis come alive.

First play: interception.

“That ball was a forced throw, it was a bad decision by me,” he said after the game. “It’s on me.”

The pass was not only overthrown, but it appeared he didn’t even see the safety who made the pick. Foles didn’t have a terrible game, per se, but the ramification of this play for the Rams? Well …

St. Louis entered the day 1-1, and this was a winnable home game — the Steelers’ starting quarterback out with an injury, and the Rams with the ball with 3:02 to play. And let’s be honest. The Rams are already struggling for support in this town. Some fans are finding reasons not to care. So, if anything, a 2-1 record would’ve given the team a little momentum. Instead? Man. The Rams are now 1-2. Their offense is offensive. Next week’s game is at the Arizona Cardinals, who beat the San Francisco 49ers 47-7 on Sunday. And the following game is at the Green Bay Packers, who are good at football.

And so, I can only image the electricity at the Edward Jones Dome on Oct. 25, when the potentially 1-4 Rams host the Cleveland Browns, the same day the Cardinals could host Game 7 of the NLCS.

The intercepted pass was corralled by Steelers safety Will Allen, who at least for a few hours before the conclusion of the Pirates-Cubs game is the most-hated Pittsburgh center fielder here in town. Of the pass, Foles said, “It’s something that I had seen throughout the day and was just trying to take advantage of a middle-of-the-field shot. “

Nick, is it unfair to say the offense has taken a step back since its season-opening win against Seattle?

“I wouldn’t say a step back,” he said — though I would. “We’ve got to put points on the board. As an offense, it’s something that we’re learning, and it’s how do you learn from it? You’re positive about it. It’s early in the season, we’re 1-2, the world’s not ending, we will figure it out. I’m optimistic because of the guys we have, and by the end of the year we’ll be where we want to be.”

Los Angeles?

And that’s the sad thing. The world isn’t ending, but this loss sets up what we all feared: the toxic mix of both the Rams trying to leave and the Rams being bad.

The good news is that the Rams’ defense can keep them in games. This, of course, is a sentence you surely read or said a lot last year, too. But with a flimsy offensive line and Foles making a few noticeably poor decisions Sunday, well, let’s let Jeff Fisher say it:

“Six points isn’t going win you a whole lot of games. And we averaged eight the last two games. … Penalties — not a lot of them, but at the wrong times. … We won’t tolerate those things anymore. … And we had three drops today. And in a field position game like that, when there’s potential swings or potential additional first downs, those are hard to overcome.”

Sunday was a day of blunders at the Dome. Of course, the first one was when the Rams’ pregame pyrotechnics led to a small fire, their greatest low on turf. It was just so St. Louis Rams: In an antiquated arena that just looks slapped together — could the end zones look more plain? — a pregame firework cart not only malfunctioned but lit the playing surface on fire, postponing kickoff.

Then there was Nick’s beautifully floated deep throw in the third quarter, which receiver Lance Kendricks “just kind of lost it in the lights. I couldn’t see it coming down at all. It’s tough because those are the plays we’ve got to make to win the game. If I could take that back, I’d catch it 100 times over. … I saw it go up, but I couldn’t see it coming down at all. Once it hit me, then I saw it obviously. It kind of hit me in the facemask. No excuses though.”

Another contender for top blunder was when left tackle Greg Robinson was flagged for a false start … in the red zone! Because there were so many Steelers fans in the Dome, the noise forced the home team to go to a silent count.

And finally, there was the final dagger, the Foles interception, which very well may have altered the course of the season.

“I’ve gone through this before,” Foles said. “Every week you go into it optimistic and you’re working hard. … It’s early in the season. It’s not like the season stops today.”

Another chance at victory slips through Rams’ fingers

Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/another-chance-at-victory-slips-through-rams-fingers/article_3e1def23-4e6a-5130-bd79-d4758e245284.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

With just over a minute to play Sunday, Kenny Britt thought he’d just caught his eighth pass of the day, moving the chains and keeping hope alive that the Rams could pull off a late comeback.

“I think it was a beautiful catch, to tell you the truth,” Britt said later.

After a replay review, referee John Hussey concluded it was a beautiful near-catch.

The original verdict of complete pass was overturned, and instead of a Rams first down at the St. Louis 46, it was Steelers ball. With no timeouts left for the Rams, Pittsburgh merely had to kneel down twice to run off the remaining 1 minute, 15 seconds and walk out of the Edward Jones Dome with a 12-6 victory.

All the way up to that last replay reversal, the Rams had a chance to steal a victory from the highly regarded Steelers (2-1). Instead, they let a winnable game slip through their fingers for the second week in a row.

On a day when the Rams’ defense re-asserted itself, the offense proved to be a no-show once again. Pittsburgh was limited to 259 yards of offense, or 200 yards below its league leading average through the first two weeks of the season.

Even with the 2015 debut of star running back Le’Veon Bell after a two-game league suspension, the Steelers managed only 2.8 yards per carry on the ground.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was knocked out of the game with a knee injury in the third quarter, with the Rams sacking Roethlisberger and replacement Michael Vick a combined five times.

After ringing up the San Francisco defense for four pass plays of 40 yards-plus a week ago, Pittsburgh didn’t have a single pass play go for more than 20 yards Sunday.

You hold the Steelers to 12 points — or 20 points under their early-season average — you figure the chances of winning are pretty good.

“They have a lot of guys that are the real deal over there,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “Ben and Bell and (Antonio) Brown. Those guys are Pro Bowl players, and they’re cream of the crop.”

But when all was said and done, the Rams’ offense was punchless for the second week in a row, this time limited to a pair of Greg Zuerlein field goals.

“Well, six points isn’t going to win you a whole lot of games, and we’re averaging eight points a game the last two weeks and that’s not going to get it done for you,” coach Jeff Fisher said.

Not even the NFL debut of Todd Gurley could provide a spark for the Rams. In fact, a cynic might say he fit right into the Rams’ offense with six carries for only 9 yards, and one reception for 5 yards.

The Rams were pathetic on third down for the second week in a row, going two for 10 on conversions. For those scoring at home, that’s four f0r 22 on third down over the past two Sundays.

Rams running backs Gurley, Tre Mason and Benny Cunningham combined for only 37 yards on 16 carries.

Quarterback Nick Foles completed 19 of 28 passes for a modest 197 yards and threw a costly fourth-quarter interception. After another less-than-stellar day at the office, he wants the young offensive unit to show resolve and keep working.

“We’re 1-2,” Foles said. “The world’s not ending. We will figure it out.”

The Rams did have a few chances, at least enough to put up a couple of touchdowns. But a wide open tight end Lance Kendricks dropped what looked like a sure touchdown on a beautifully thrown deep ball from Foles early in the third quarter.

Kendricks said he simply lost the ball in the lights.

“But you’ve still gotta come down with it; it’s no excuse,” Kendricks said. “I saw the ball go up, I couldn’t see it coming down at all, literally, until it hit me in the face. … I’ve just got to try to get better.”

Pittsburgh was up 9-3 at the time, so it could have been a go-head touchdown.

In the fourth quarter, the Rams had to settle for the second Zuerlein field goal when a couple of false starts helped thwart a first-and-goal opportunity from the Pittsburgh 7. A good portion of the announced crowd of 52,433 were Pittsburgh fans waving towels, so crowd noise may have been a factor there.

Later in the fourth quarter, Kendricks got behind Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons on a deep post pattern down the middle. But Foles overthrew Kendricks and didn’t account for safety Will Allen, who swooped in for an interception with just under 3 minutes to play.

The Steelers blitzed off the edge on the play, and Foles had told Kendricks beforehand that if he got that look to try and beat the middle llinebacker (Timmons) down the field.

“That safety, he must have seen it coming,” Kendricks said. “He kind of played it over the top, so he got to the ball before I was able to get to it.”

Foles blamed himself. He thought Allen would go wide on the play, or toward the sideline, but that didn’t happen this time.

“It was something that I’d see throughout the day, and was just trying to take advantage of it with a middle post shot,” Foles said. “It was a forced throw. It was a bad decision by me. … It really was just a poor decision.”

Allen returned the ball 20 yards, leading to a key field goal by Josh Scobee for the game’s final points.

Even so, the Rams thought they were still in business on Foles’ fourth-and-5 sideline pass to Britt, who had caught seven passes for 102 yards at that point. The throw was high but catchable, with Pittsburgh cornerback Antwon Blake undercutting Britt with a hard hit on the play.

Britt thought he held on to the ball after he landed; Hussey though otherwise after the booth-initiated review under the 2-minute mark.

“I definitely feel like I had it. What about you? What did you see?” Britt asked a reporter.

When told the replay views looked inconclusive, Britt replied: “Then how’d they overrule it? I don’t make those calls. But it ended the game, ended a drive for us, and we’re kinda mad about that.”

Free time out

jeezus, a 2nd false start

quinn knocks the ball out with one hand and then gets the sack

quite a play

and steelers punt

Donald having a game

no! awful drop…Kendricks…then sack

Agamemnon wrote:

You can always click on the “Mothership” logo in my sig. for a chat room. It will open a link in your browser, Java thing.

Sincere thanks. But we’ll get one up. It’s tradition.

SOrry about the chat guys but we’ll get one up sometime, meanwhile an old-fashioned game thread ain’t so bad

Tavon not having a bad game

This drive by the Rams, the one with Gurley, has promise but they couldn’t convert the 3rd down

then they threw incomplete to Bailey on the punt

stay tuned