Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
znModeratorhttp://ramblinfan.com/2014/12/08/quick-thoughts-st-louis-rams-win-washington-redskins/
According to Pro Football Focus, Aaron Donald is the No.2 overall graded defensive lineman in the league this season, trailing only likely Defensive Player of the Year, J.J. Watt.
December 10, 2014 at 12:53 am in reply to: stats from the Washington shut-out & more stats too #13540znModeratorfrom off the net
==
aeneas1
fwiw, through week 14 teams have been penalized an average of 6.7 times per game – the rams were penalized an average of 9.5 times per game over the last two outings yet beat the living snot out their two opponents by a combined score of 76-0.
last year the seahawks were the most penalized team in the league and won the super bowl. the year before the ravens were the 3rd most penalized team and won the super bowl. currently the 10-3 packers, the 10-3 broncos and the 9-4 seahawks make up three of the four most penalized teams through week 14.
i hate penalties as much as the next guy but way, way too much is made of them. all told, 95 out of 100 plays are not penalized in the nfl, i.e. 95% of the plays run and defended each week are penalty-free.
the rams haven’t been a bad team because they’ve been penalized a lot, they’ve been a bad team because they’ve been ineffective with the 95 out of 100 penalty-free plays they’ve run and defended. but, thankfully, that seems to be changing!
–
a few more stats:
> the rams rank tied for second in opening drive tds.
> they’re also tied for 9th in opening drive scoring (tds & field goals)
> teams have deferred 70% of the time this year.
–
znModeratorThis has officially become a political post. Time to move it i think.
I think you’re right…there were several posts in a row that did not even mention the Washington team name issue, and were more about race fractures in the USA today.
For the time being I compromised, and moved those posts to a new thread in the Public House forum. It actually reads as a free-standing, coherent, distinct and separate thread. —>
http://theramshuddle.com/topic/race-issues-depressing/
What remains is at least about the Washington team name issue. It is still an open question whether that belongs on this board or the Public Forum.
..
znModeratorfrom off the net
XXXIVwin
I feel like a lot of fans see Hill as a 13 year vet who had never been “the guy”– the conventional wisdom being “Hill’s a career backup for a reason.” However– when I look at his career, I see a guy who has (perhaps) been CONSISTENTLY under-appreciated — and maybe due to some circumstances beyond his control–never got the chances he perhaps deserved. If Hill hadn’t been stuck on teams with good QB’s ahead of him on the depth chart–such as Dante Culpepper, Alex Smith, and Matthew Stafford– his career path might have been totally different.
Let’s take another look at Shaun Hill’s career… and try to keep an open mind.
2002-2005 Minnesota Vikings
For 2002, 2003, and 2004, Shaun Hill was stuck behind Daunte Culpepper, who was winging it to Randy Moss. In 2005, Brad Johnson took over for the injured Culpepper and had a terrific season. So Hill didn’t get his chance behind Culpepper and Brad Johnson…. understandable, if you ask me .
2006 49ers
The prior year, in 2005, the 49ers selected Alex Smith with the overall #1 pick. When Shaun Hill went to the 49ers in 2006, Hill did not get a single snap.
RECAP so far: in five NFL seasons, Shaun Hill never gets a chance to show his stuff– he does not attempt a single pass. Given that he was stuck on the depth chart behind Daunte Culpepper (Vikes) and Alex Smith (49ers), I think this has more to do with the quality of QB’s ahead of him more than anything else.
2007-2009 Still with 49ers
In 2007, Shaun Hill finally gets his chance. In my opinion– sounds like he played exceptionally well for a bad team.
The Niners are pitiful in 2007– they start the season 3-9. In the Niners’ Week 14 game vs. the Vikings, Trent Dilfer is injured (concussion) and Hill FINALLY gets his chance. Hill finishes that Vikings game 22 of 27 for 181 yds and 1 TD with no INT. Hill makes his first career start the following week in week 15 (win against CIN) and posts the W. Hill follows that up with a win in week 16 vs. TB, but is injured by a late-hit in the back and cannot go for the season finale in week 17. To RECAP Shaun Hill’s 2007: Niners are 3-11 in all other games, but with Shaun Hill as the full-game starter they are 2-0. Hill’s numbers for 2007: 54 of 79 for 501 yds, 5 TDS and 1 INT for a gaudy passer rating of 101.3. A very promising start.
2008 49ers Season
Here’s where things get, well, a little weird. Our good friend Mike Martz is brought in as the OC for the Niners in 2008. To open the 2008 season, Martz has pre-determined that he wants his hand-picked guy JT O’Sullivan to be his QB. (There’s even some weird Machiavellian behind-the-scenes stuff that Hill is supposed to have a “tired camp arm” so that the job can be “won” by O’Sullivan by default… Martz did have his quirks). In a recent radio interview, Martz says this was a huge mistake; Martz says, “looking back, Shaun Hill should have been our starter all year.”
Key talking points from Martz: Hill “demonstrated what a winner he was… and a tremendous leader”…. that Hill “should’ve been the starter all year”…. Hill “struggled in practice but played exceptionally well (in games)”… Hill was a “tough competitor” and Martz was “surprised by how well (Hill) sees things on the field”…Martz was impressed by Hill’s “speed of delivery and decision making” in games…. and ultimately Martz regrets that he “underestimated Shaun Hill’s ability.”
In 2008, the 49ers under JT O’Sullivan are a mess. They start out 2-6. So Martz and the Niners decide to hand the reins over to Shaun Hill. Hill goes on to have a terrific second half of the season; the Niners go 5-3. (Let me repeat that: without Hill, Niners 2-6; with Hill, Niners 5-3. See a “winner” pattern here?) He is (unfortunately) named NFC Offensive player of the week against our beloved Rams, and in 2 of his losses– he brings the team to within a yard of upsetting Kurt Warner’s Cardinals, and passes for over 300 yds in a loss vs.the Cowboys. His stats look pretty darn good to me: 13 pass TD (along with 2 rush TD), 8 INT, 2046 pass yds, and a respectable 87.5 QB rating. But to me, the glaring thing is his W-L record: in 2 seasons, 49ers are 5-17 without Hill as the starter; with Hill as the starter, 49ers are 7-3. WOW.
2009 49ers season
Entering 2009, it’s Shaun Hill vs. former-#1-overall draft pick Alex Smith for the starting QB job. (Martz is no longer with team, Singletary has taken over as HC).
Shaun Hill wins the job in preseason, and starts 2009 out great– Hill goes 3-1 as a starter (with wins over our beloved Rams, Hawks, and Cards) with his only loss being on the road vs. the undefeated Vikings, where Hill was 15 of 25 with 2 TD and 1 INT and marched the team to a lead late in the game, only to have Brett Favre pull it out for the Vikings (memorably) with a 30 yard TD with 2 seconds on the clock. Hill’s career so far: not many early opportunities, but despite playing on some BAD teams, he amazingly has a career won-loss record as a starter of 10-4.
And then… Hill posts a clunker for a game-and-a-half. (Hey, he’s human, OK?)
Hill does not play well in a loss to the Falcons, nor in the first half vs. the Texans; he’s pulled at the half for Alex Smith, who goes on to resurrect his career. Still, Hill was 3-2 as the full-game starter; otherwise, the Niners were 5-6.
2010- 2013 Detroit Lions
The 2010 Detroit Lions had a sloppy 6-10 season (saddled with Scott Linehan lips are sealed smiley as OC and Tim Walton confused smiley as secondary coach). Due to various injuries, the Lions rotated QB’s between Matthew Stafford, Shaun Hill, and Drew Stanton. After Stafford went down to injury late in Game 1, Hill rallied the team and threw what “looked” like the winning TD pass late in the game, but was overturned because possession was not maintained “through the end of the catch”– what later became referred to (because of this play) as “the Calvin Johnson rule.” With Hill as the full-game starter, Lions go 3-6; otherwise Lions go 3-4 (this is the only season where team has a better W-L record without Hill rather than with him).
And Hill was never going to be “the guy” in Detroit with Matthew Stafford around. Hill played hardly at all in 2011 and 2013; but in spot duty in 2012, Hill posted a 157.9 passer rating (OK, so I’m emphasizing the good stuff here).
THE BOTTOM LINE
OK, so I’ve taken the time to go through Hill’s career stats. Hill has played on some decidedly mediocre teams. And here is the stat that really gets me. In the years Hill had the opportunity to play complete games– 2007, 2008, 2009 [49ers], 2010 [Lions], and 2014 [Rams]– here is the W-L record:
With Shaun Hill as the full-game starter, his teams are 16-12.
Without Shaun hill as the full-game starter, his teams are 16-33.
WOW. The dude is a W-I-N-N-E-R.
(The splits, for those who are amazed–understandably– by this stat: 2007, 2-0 with Hill vs.3-11 without; 2008, 5-3 with Hill, 2-6 without; 2009, 3-2 with Hill, 5-6 without; 2010 3-6 with Hill, 3-4 without; 2014, 3-1 with Hill, 3-6 without). In fairness, I included Hill’s W-L record ONLY for the games where Hill stats both starts and finishes– if Hill was pulled at halftime, or came on for an injured player, I put those games in the overall “team” W-L category.
If Hill is your full-game starter, your teams go 16-12. You gotta lose 21 STRAIGHT GAMES to get to the “without Hill as full-time starter” 16-33 mark.
So I just hope Rams fans don’t take Hill’s 2014 W-L record for granted– this is a PATTERN in his career. IF the Rams beat the Cards, and then the Giants– don’t just give all the credit to the Rams resurgent D– keep your mind open to the possibility that maybe, just maybe, Hill is a winner who knows how to help his team win games. And his teams miss him when he is not in there.
I understand that some people will never be convinced by Hill, no matter what. But I for one would be really disappointed if the Rams let Hill walk in 2015. The guy is an under-appreciated, under-valued QB who WINS GAMES for you.
December 9, 2014 at 8:27 am in reply to: reporters etc (including Warner) preview the ARIZONA game #13476znModeratorRams have little time to prepare
By Jim Thomas
Win, lose, or draw, the time-honored custom in the NFL is that players, and coaches for that matter, get 24 hours to celebrate or stew over that week’s result before moving on to the next challenge.
But the “24-hour rule” has been scrapped this week at Rams Park. With the Arizona Cardinals coming to town for a Thursday night game at the Edward Jones Dome, there’s not even a “24-minute rule” this week.
“There’s no minutes,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said Sunday about 20 minutes after the Rams’ 24-0 victory at Washington. “It’s already Wednesday of game week — you’re already preparing for first- and second-down run and play-action and all that stuff. So hop on this plane here and start rolling the tape.”
Normally tape review comes Monday, and the players don’t get any semblance of the game plan until Wednesday, which under a normal schedule is the first day of the practice week.
But with only three days to get ready, that schedule gets condensed this week. Through the wonders of the iPad, players and coaches watched game film of the Washington contest, plus got a head start on Arizona on the flight home Sunday night.
“We watched the (Washington) game on the airplane last night,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “The coaches got together and got as much done as they possibly could.”
Before the flight back to St. Louis, quarterback Shaun Hill said he planned to watch the Washington tape, plus at least one or two Arizona games before calling it a night.
“You know, that’s kind of the way these Thursday night games work,” Hill said. “I mean, it’s long hours up until game time. You’ve got to get everything in in a shorter period of time. But we’ll do that, and we’ll handle it well.”
After playing four consecutive games outside the division, at least the Rams have the benefit of playing an NFC West opponent, Arizona, who they faced just 30 days ago in Glendale, Ariz., in a 31-14 loss.
“Luckily it’s a familiar opponent,” Laurinaitis said. “So we’ve got to hunker down and really focus on getting the body right. It’s hard because it’s a short week and you just want to kind of turn your mind off a little bit. But let’s go get this. Let’s get in the cold tub. Let’s get the body right.”
At a team meeting Monday, Fisher told the players that the keys to success during a short work week are recovery and preparation. Recovery meaning the process of getting the body right through treatment, including, as Laurinaitis said, hopping into the cold tub. Preparation means making the most out of somewhat limited time for film study, time in the meeting room and time on the practice field.
Because of the 7:25 p.m. kickoff, Fisher has adjusted the daily schedule to get the players’ body clocks acclimated to a night schedule. For example, the team held a walk-through Monday at 5 p.m., to go over the first- and second-down portion of the game plan for the Cardinals.
Today, the Rams will work from 4:30-6 p.m., with a combination walk-through and practice.
On Wednesday, the on-field work will be a combination of what the team does on a normal Friday and Saturday. “We’ll do a little bit more than we would ordinarily do on the day before,” Fisher said.
And then that’s it — time to play a Big Red squad that at 10-3 shares the best record in the NFL despite losing two of its last three contests.
“Familiar opponent that’s playing well,” Fisher said. “They’re a good football team. Drew (Stanton)’s playing well. They went down and had a rough day in Atlanta and rough one at Seattle, which everybody does.”
Those were road losses on the last two Sundays of November. But the Cardinals rebounded Sunday at home, squeaking past Kansas City 17-14 to give them 10 victories for the second consecutive season.
“They’re playing well at home,” Fisher said. “That was a big win for them (Sunday).”
The Cardinals are 7-0 at home this season but only 3-3 on the road. So the short week is even tougher for them, because they’ve got to prepare quickly and then travel.
Fisher is 1-1 in Thursday night games since being hired as Rams coach in 2012, with both previous Thursday nighters played in St. Louis. The Rams defeated Arizona 17-3 on Oct. 4, 2012 following a home game the previous Sunday against Seattle.
Last season, the Rams were embarrassed 35-11 by San Francisco in another early-season Thursday night contest played Sept. 26. The Rams were coming off a road loss to Dallas before that one.
Fisher said he’s never played a Thursday night game so late in a season, even dating back to his days with Tennessee. “You know, almost mid-December,” he said.
The 6-7 Rams are hoping to post their fourth consecutive victory at the Dome, and their third victory in a row overall after posting back-to-back shutout wins against Washington and Oakland.
“We can’t get complacent because this offense we’re going against is powerful,” Laurinaitis said. “Coach (Bruce) Arians is a good football coach, so we’ve gotta be ready.”
znModeratorc1ram wrote:
Hill is pretty decent at QB. Problem is he’s backed up Stafford and everyone forgot his effectiveness at SF (once playing under another defensive HC – Singletary).I am not sure how effective he was with SF. In four years he started a total of 16 games for them. The most in any one year was 2008 when he started 8 games. Hill’s best year was 2010 with Detroit when he started 10 games, threw for 2,686 yards and threw for 16 TDs. Hill is a career backup quarterback. Nothing more.
In an interesting side note, Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller on Sirus NFL radio this morning said that Hill was a bad practice quarterback. They said that a team cannot have a bad quarterback even though he plays well on game day because it makes it very difficult for the OC to game plan. I had not heard this before but Pat Kirwan is the football commentator that I respect the most.
“Shaun Hill will be fine. When I was in SF, I underestimated his ability. As time went on, he demonstrated what a winner he is.”- Mike Martz
http://theramshuddle.com/topic/mike-martz-on-shaun-hill/
And Kirwan has never watched Hill practice so he is speaking abstractions–he has no idea if Hill is so poor at that that he throws off gameplanning. I say that watching Hill play, he is better in this offense than a “backup.” He’s playing better than several current starters. Sometimes a guy is in the right place at the right time, and defies expectations and exceeds what he has done in the past.
BTW in Detroit, Hill had no running game and the defense was bottom 12-level mediocre.
znModeratorTen Takeaways from Sunday’s 24-0 Win Over Redskins
http://www.101sports.com/2014/12/08/ten-takeaways-sundays-24-0-win-redskins/
Randy Karraker
The Rams finally won a second consecutive game on Sunday in Washington, becoming only the fifteenth team since the merger to turn in back-to-back shutouts in a 24-0 whitewash of the Washington Redskins. Now the Rams have a chance to get to .500 on Thursday when they host Arizona, despite numerous setbacks during this 2014 season. With that, 10 takeaways from a winning Sunday in Landover, Maryland…
Gregg WilliamsGregg Williams’ defense has shut out opponents for two weeks straight.
1) On some levels, it’s amazing what the defense has done. When you think about the fact that the Rams set a record for the fewest sacks through five games (with one), it is remarkable that they are now tied for seventh in the NFL with 35 sacks. With 34 sacks in their last eight games, the Rams pace over their last half-season is 68. The 1984 Bears have the all-time record with 72 sacks.
The Rams back-to-back shutouts are also historic, as they became the fifteenth team since the merger to record shutouts in consecutive games. Jeff Fisher’s 2000 Titans turned that trick…as did the two best defenses of the last 45 years, the 1985 Bears and the 2000 Ravens. Notably the two teams to record THREE straight shutouts are the 1970 St. Louis Cardinals and the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers. This defense appears to have turned the corner toward living up to its hype.
On the turnover front, the Rams have fifteen takeaways in their last seven games, after recording just seven in their first six contests.
2) The quarterback again exhibited strong game management. Shaun Hill once again handled the game exceptionally well. With this defense, the key is to not turn the ball over. Sure enough, Hill was 16-22 for 213 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Since re-entering the lineup four games ago, Hill has thrown just two interceptions, not coincidentally in his only loss at San Diego. Hill is showing what a QB that doesn’t throw interceptions can do while the rest of the team lives up to what Jeff Fisher wants. If they run the ball and play defense, it’s just a matter of winning the turnover battle. If the Rams win that, they win the game.
3) The Rams were able to overcome a bad day by the kicker. Whatever happened to Greg Zuerlein as he missed an extra point and two field goals wide right was troubling. The Rams were able to overcome it, and Fisher was able to pass it off and express his confidence in Zuerlein after the game, but you sure wonder what happens when the Rams get into a big game. At this point in his career, he hasn’t had to kick in a game that had major implications for the Rams. Hopefully he’ll be able to work through some of his inconsistency before the Rams reach that point of regularly playing big, meaningful games.
4) Jared Cook is holding on to the ball. After leading NFL tight ends in drops last season with eight, Cook has only three this season. On Sunday, he was targeted five times and caught four passes, including two for touchdowns. Cook is evolving into the weapon the Rams thought they were getting when they gave him a five year, $35 million contract before the 2013 season. Using him down the seam like Hill did for Cook’s first touchdown was the ideal use of the big guy, who leads the team in receptions with 41.
Rams utility man Tavon AustinTavon Austin has three touchdowns in the last four games.
5) They’ve finally figured out how to use Tavon. Finally, in the last three games, the Rams have gotten away from running Austin into the line, between the tackles. It seemed logical to utilize him on the perimeter with jet sweeps and smoke screens, but that didn’t happen much in the first half of the season. His use in the offense appears to be affecting Austin’s confidence as a punt returner, too. From the day he was drafted, Austin has had the ability to be a game changing weapon. But the Rams had some problems figuring out how to deploy him. In the last four games, Austin has three touchdowns and has utilized his speed to set the Rams up in good field position numerous other times.
6) The offensive line still presents protection issues. Hill was sacked four times and was under siege for much of the afternoon. The Rams have allowed 39 sacks this season, and just six teams have allowed more. Certainly, there have been issues with the quarterback hanging onto the ball too long, and not all sacks are the fault of the offensive line.
But against Washington, there were too many instances in which Hill didn’t have time to make a play. Greg Robinson is still learning, sure. But at right tackle, Joe Barksdale appears to have trouble with 3-4 outside linebackers, and Davin Joseph and Scott Wells aren’t as stout as the best linemen in the game. They need to be a little bit more rugged for this offensive line to reach the level of Baltimore, Cincinnati and Philadelphia.
7) The Rams had to have Johnny Hekker throw, and he was great at it. When the Rams signed punter Hekker to a six year contract extension on Friday, the headline of their release read “PUNTERS GET PAID LIKE PEOPLE, TOO-Rams sign NFL’s completion percentage leader to six-year extension.” So of course they had to use him as a passer right away. Hekker’s pass to Cory Harkey for a two point conversion in the third quarter was perfect. He has completed all three of his pass attempts this season (with Sunday’s being on a two point conversion) and has a perfect 158.3 career passer rating. Hekker is a great part of the team, and signing him was a smart move on the part of the franchise.
johnny hekkerHekker is three for three in pass attempts this season.
8) Jeff Fisher has really coached this team up. Fisher hasn’t used being the youngest team in the league as an excuse for its inconsistency, and I don’t think it IS an excuse. That being said, this team is playing much better as the season unfolds. Clearly, they are being coached at a high level. They remind me of the 1986 Buccaneers, who won five of their last six to finish 6-10, then started out 5-0 the next year on their way to the playoffs. Or the 2002 Panthers, who won four of their last five to get to 7-9, then began the next year 5-0, and went 11-5 and to the Super Bowl. That’s the sort of trajectory I see for the Rams down the stretch and next year.
9) The Rams can get to .500 despite a decimated roster. The Rams can get to the .500 mark on Thursday with Arizona in town. This despite losing quarterback Sam Bradford, left tackle Jake Long, and top receiver Brian Quick. If the Rams are ever able to stay healthy, they have a chance be a scary proposition in the NFC West and in the NFC overall in years to come.
10) For fans of the draft, the Rams have messed up your choice. There are five teams in the NFL with just two wins. If the draft were held today, St. Louis would hold, at best, the twelfth selection. And with as hot as the defense is, you kind of figure they’ll have more than the six wins they currently have. The thing to think about is the first .500 season here since 2006, and worry about the draft after this season is over.
znModeratorfrom off the net
==
Rams and Gators
Tackle For Loss in a season by a DT since 1998 according to Pro Football Reference:
znModeratorRams the team no one wants to play
By BARRY WILNER
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/rams-team-no-one-wants-play-202437292–nfl.html
The end of the NFL season can be like the climax of a horror film. Many postseason contenders look at their December schedule, see an opponent and say: ”Not Them!”
That team to avoid this year is St. Louis.
Sure, the Rams (6-7) have a minuscule chance to still make the playoffs, even though they’d probably run away with the NFC South. Naturally, making the playoffs should still be their goal, despite the long odds.
But the reality is that the Rams are making it very uncomfortable for anyone they line up against. And in two of the next three weeks, they will line up against the Cardinals and Seahawks, the teams vying for the NFC West title – and potentially home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs.
St. Louis comes off consecutive shutouts. Yes, the Rams blanked Oakland and Washington, and these are not quite the John Madden Raiders or Joe Gibbs Redskins.
But the defense has become, to use a once-familiar adjective for the franchise, fearsome. The previous time the Rams shut out two straight opponents was 1945. Not even their Deacon Jones-led Fearsome Foursome managed that feat.
”1945? We’re about to shut out three!” defensive tackle Michael Brockers said. ”When’s the last time we shut out three?”
Never.
But as Arizona comes calling on Thursday night – that would be banged-up Arizona now without its top running back, Andre Ellington – who’s to say the Rams won’t make history?
”I am really excited for the guys. Back-to-back shutouts are pretty impressive. I’ve been told it hasn’t happened since the ’40s in our organization,” said coach Jeff Fisher, who also should be excited for himself and his staff.
Fisher’s nearly three decades of NFL coaching have been highlighted by several rebuilding projects. He’s in Year 3 with the Rams, and things looked bleak early in the schedule.
Indeed, there were critics who believed Fisher was on the hot seat when St. Louis was 1-4.
The truth is, he hasn’t had his full roster for nearly his entire tenure in St. Loo. Fisher still doesn’t know who will be his quarterback going forward in the league’s best division.
What he does know, and what the rest of the league is recognizing, is that the former defensive back with the great Chicago Bears of the 1980s has a defense to avoid.
”It has a lot to do with the health and familiarity of the guys,” Fisher said after Sunday’s win at Washington. ”Guys are maturing and we are getting a lot of positive plays out of a lot of guys. The secondary is playing well and they are challenging people. When you are getting sacks and takeaways and you aren’t giving away the ball on offense, you have a chance to win a lot of games.”
The Cardinals and Seahawks are very aware of that. They also might shudder when they hear Fisher add: ”I look at this saying, ‘We can play better.’ ”
On defense, that’s difficult to imagine. They had seven sacks among six players against the Redskins, and tend to get pressure from everyone in the rotation, led, of course, by Robert Quinn.
After a horrendous start, with no sacks in his first five games, he has 10 1-2. The fourth-year defensive end, along with fellow DE Chris Long, tackles Brockers and rookie Aaron Donald, and linebacker James Laurinaitis, form the youthful foundation of a formidable unit.
That unit is getting the hang of intense coordinator Gregg Williams’ schemes, making it almost a match for the other strong defenses in the division. It might already be better than injury-damaged San Francisco’s D.
Fisher’s teams always have had standout running games, and he’s searched for the right ball carriers since Steven Jackson left in 2013. It appears they have the answer in big-play rookie Tre Mason.
It all might add up to only a .500 season or worse this year for the Rams. But it makes them Public Enemy No. 1 for the Cardinals and Seahawks, division rivals with big aspirations that Fisher’s ”guys” just might deflate.
znModeratorHoward Balzer @HBalzer721
Notable stat: Taking out return TDs from points against, Rams defense is ranked No. 2 in NFL with 222. Seattle at 221 only team better
znModerator(If this doesn’t work, feel free to delete the post).
Got it. Just directly put the URL right in the post.
znModeratorFirst, I don’t think anyone makes that trade.
Second, I like Bradford + Hill + new qb to be named later over Eli.
I would rather have 2 guys who know the system (Bradford & Hill) than one possibly descending qb who doesn’t.
znModeratorA closer look at Greg Zuerlein’s missed kicks
By Nick Wagoner | ESPN.comhttp://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/14449/a-closer-look-at-greg-zuerleins-missed-kicks
WASHINGTON, D.C. — St. Louis Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein has had some rough days in the NFL. There haven’t been many but none worse than what took place in the first half of the team’s 24-0 win against the Washington Redskins on Sunday.
In those first 30 minutes, Zuerlein missed an extra point and field goal attempts of 28 and 38 yards. Entering the game, Zuerlein had never missed an extra point or a field goal attempt inside 30 yards in his nearly three year career in the NFL.
Earlier this season, Zuerlein had a rough day against Kansas City, missing a 38-yard field goal and mis-hitting a kickoff that led to a 99-yard return for a touchdown by the Chiefs Knile Davis.
But something was clearly off Sunday as Zuerlein pushed all of his misses to the right. Even when he course corrected a bit in the second half, his kicks were still moving to the right.
So what, exactly, was the problem? Was it just a case of the yips?
“Yeah, I think so,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “It happens every once in awhile. He had a great week. He spent a lot of time outside on the grass in the weather and outside and he just had something wrong with the mechanics and the swing.”
I didn’t get a chance to catch up with Zuerlein after the game because the visitors locker room divides the offense and defense and I was spending most of my time catching up with defensive players after their second consecutive shutout. By the time I got back to the offensive side, Zuerlein was gone. To be clear, Zuerlein didn’t avoid anything and he never has. He’s always been a standup guy.
So we turned to quarterback Shaun Hill to get his perspective on if there was anything he could offer that might further explain Zuerlein’s struggles.
“The elements probably didn’t look that bad out there but the grass was long and the field was soft, the wind was blowing,” Hill said. “It’s a rough place to kick today out there for him and really a tough place to throw at times, too.”
That might just sound like a team captain doing what he should and sticking up for a teammate but I can actually vouch for Hill’s assessment of the field conditions. Redskins reporter John Keim and I walked on the field after to shoot our game balls video and it was obvious that the field was in horrible shape.
That’s not really an excuse for Zuerlein, who still has to at least make extra points and there’s little doubt that the first miss probably led to some mental block that led to the others. But it’s still worth noting.
For what it’s worth, Fisher expressed confidence in Zuerlein during and after the game.
“I told him we were going to need him and probably need him to win this game for us,” Fisher said. “So forget what happened and just hit it between those two poles that are at the end of the field. You want to hit them between them, you don’t want to hit them outside.”
Zuerlein’s job appears safe for now but if his problems continue Thursday night against Arizona, the Rams will have no choice but to take a closer look.
znModeratorRamsrule
Published on Dec 8, 2014
I decided to film the TD pass to Cook and subsequent fake PAT….. you can hear my calling for the play right before the snap. LOL!
After missing two chip shot field goals and a PAT, I call out Legatron as the Redskins best player of the day, and also call for the fake PAT seconds before it happens. LOL.
The entire section of Redskins fans I was sitting with laughed like hell after it happened….. they were good sports! They liked that I was calling GZ the Skins’ best player……..
December 8, 2014 at 12:13 pm in reply to: stats from the Washington shut-out & more stats too #13390znModeratorfrom off the net
==
aeneas1
ej gaines
it’s impossible to say enough about this kid, a 6th rounder no less, who has played 98% of the rams defensive snaps thru week 14. in fact ej is only one of two 2014 6th rounders on pace to start every game this year. moreover only 6 of the 676 6th rounders taken from 1990-2013 were listed as starters every game their rookie year, and all but ej were olinemen.
znModeratorbiggame1190
Published on Dec 8, 2014
Rams AT Redskins compilation video
znModeratorFan-posted vid of Quinn celebrating with Rams fans after the game.
View: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153495858253484
znModeratormy favorites:
—Look at the Rams. Young at key positions, well disciplined. Well coached. Smart, quick football team getting better through the season. Then look at this group of ****wads wearing the burgundy and gold. **** you Snyder. **** you
Remember the days when we lost to the Rams but we went into the game actually THINKING we’d beat them?
It’s gotten so bad I almost read a book today.
A book.
December 8, 2014 at 11:15 am in reply to: stats from the Washington shut-out & more stats too #13379znModeratorfrom off the net
==
LMU93
Rams defense- last 6 games….
9.0 PPG allowed
29 QB sacks
309.2 yards/game allowed
58.7 rushing yards/game allowed
3.26 yards/carry allowed
15 turnovers
27.3% (24/88) on 3rd and 4th downsThat’s as impressive as it gets…..
znModeratorPeter King
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/12/08/jj-watt-houston-texans-mvp-nfl-week-14/7/
Bryan Burwell: A good man, and a model for future journalists.
Washington honored Burwell in the press box for Sunday’s game against St. Louis. (Twitter.com/Redskins)Washington honored Burwell in the press box for Sunday’s game against St. Louis. (Twitter)Bryan Burwell, a longtime newspaper columnist, TV reporter, talk-show host and web trailblazer, died at 59 on Thursday, just two months after being diagnosed with liver cancer. He packed a lot of life into 59 years, and his death really hit me hard. Hit a lot of people hard, particularly in St. Louis, where he was an esteemed sports columnist and web personality for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
I last saw Bryan at Rams training camp in August. He had a tripod with him, and as we talked, he connected his smart phone to the tripod, and plugged in a microphone with an “stltoday.com” mike flag on it. We talked about how his job and all of our jobs in the media have changed.
“My job used to be 100 percent writer,” he said that day. “Now it’s 75 percent web stuff, 25 percent writer.”
This is why young journalists should learn from Burwell. Fifty-nine years old, and re-inventing himself with a smart phone and tripod and microphone, setting it up for an interview for his daily segment on the paper’s website called “Upon Further Review.” There’s another reason why Burwell’s a heck of a model for young media people: On this day, he was excited about talking to the seventh or eighth defensive lineman on the roster, an undrafted rookie named Ethan Westbrooks from West Texas A&M.
Who gets excited about talking to the 51st guy on the roster? On this day, Burwell was that guy. Two reasons: Because Ethan Westbrooks was a story to Burwell; every player in camp was a story to him. And Westbrooks was the player who might keep Michael Sam from winning a spot on the active roster. (Turns out Westbrooks, indeed, beat out Sam for a spot.) That made the story more interesting. But I can tell you this: Burwell was excited about speaking to him. It was a Wednesday in August, a dog day of training camp, and this former HBO correspondent and New York columnist and well-traveled media guy who counted Magic Johnson as a trusted source, was excited about interviewing a bottom-of-the-roster player using his phone and tripod contraption.
Now that’s an admirable person in our business.
On Friday, I spoke to Chris Long, one of the only veteran Rams, about Burwell, and his words confirmed what I believed people he covered thought of him.
“I never hung out with Bryan,” Long said. “But after I heard about what happened, it really hit home. He was a personable, cool guy. I liked his demeanor. You know, there are good football players and bad football players, good media people and bad media people. But you just like people who do their job with respect for other people. When I first got here, we were a pretty bad team, and he’d write about us and he knew the story—there was no sense killing us because he figured it out, that we had a long way to go. He was always very even-keeled. He’d talk to me, and I never really knew if it was on the record or off the record, but I didn’t really care. Because I trusted he got it—he got the big picture.
“Then, yesterday, to see all the outpouring from everywhere about him. I saw what Mike Wilbon said about him on Twitter and Facebook—and Wilbon’s one of the greats. I never, ever realized how big Bryan was. That’s because he never let you know it. He wasn’t one to talk about himself, or what he’d done.”
Over the weekend I went back to see his interview and report on Westbrooks from August. It’s a five-minute video, with an enthusiastic but professional Burwell smoothly intro-ing the interview with Westbrooks at Rams camp, letting it run two or three minutes, then coming back to talk about the strange face tattoo Westbrooks has—a tiny happy face/sad face near his left eye.
“I had to ask,” Burwell said on the video, breaking into a grin. “‘Dude! Was this just the result of a regrettable wild weekend in college, or did you really think this through?!’” And he told the story of Westbrooks and the tattoo, as well as pointing out early in the video that this is the man who could be the roadblock to Michael Sam. This is one big way today people are consuming news: through storytelling on video. Lots of people in the business—the vast majority young and flexible and smart—are making their mark this way. Bryan Burwell made his mark in so many ways, and it’s fitting the last way I saw him make his mark was smart, cutting-edge, informative and fun. Make him a lesson in journalism class, college professors and high school newspaper advisers. It’ll be a lesson your students will remember, a 59-year-old professional still learning at 59. I’ll miss the journalist, and the man.
znModeratorfrom off the net
==
Son_Dee
Washington’s longest play of the day was 22 yards. And it came when their RB fumbled and Santana Moss picked it up and ran with it!
Also, that came in the 4th quarter when the game was basically out of hand. In fact, half of Washington’s top 10 longest plays came in the 4th quarter.
znModeratorTwo officials bump fists after Broncos TD, NFL says nothing wrong
After Denver Broncos running back C.J. Anderson scored against the Buffalo Bills, two officials very clearly bumped fists.
If you’re a Bills fan or player, that’s not what you want to see after a 24-17 loss.
There’s no way that two officials (line judge John Hussey and umpire Carl Paganelli, as identified by the Associated Press’ Eddie Pells) were celebrating a Broncos score in broad daylight, but Buffalo defensive back Aaron Williams was not amused.
Aaron Williams @ajwilliams23
No excuse for my performance but can’t win playing 16 vs 11 thought I seen it all SmhThe fist bump was bound to draw an overreaction, and the NFL put a stop to it right away by saying that there was nothing wrong with what happened.
“It was an acknowledgment of good mechanics between the two officials involved in making the call,” NFL spokesman Michael Signora told the AP.You can see on the video at the top that the two officials communicated to make the right call of if Anderson got across the goal line, which he did. It was obviously just two guys working, just like the players, to do their jobs well, and being happy they got the call right.
But since it’s a lot more fun to create conspiracy theories on social media, it’s a big deal. And, at least, you can see why the Bills wouldn’t be all that thrilled to see it.
znModeratorBernie: Rams finally show how good they can be
Bernie Miklasz
LANDOVER, Md. • This is the football team we’ve been waiting for. Talented, tough and all attitude. Young but maturing. Not quite complete, but progressing in an eye-opening way. Growing in stature and confidence. A team that can strut into an opponent’s stadium and clear the place out by dominating and turning the home crowd against the home team.
These are your St. Louis Rams. They are behind schedule in their arrival to respectability — but hellbent on making up for lost time. A team that has pulverized Oakland and Washington on consecutive Sundays, scoring 76 points and allowing none. Back-to-back wins. Back-to-back shutouts. Back-to-back demonstrations of how good they can be.
After the Rams shooed the Redskins and their fans out of FedEx Field during the course of a 24-0 victory, their locker room had the kind of positive, energetic vibe that’s been missing for too long. A happiness that’s been suppressed by so many depressing, losing seasons.
“There’s nothing like this feeling right here, after a win, in an NFL locker room,” Rams linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “It’s addicting.”
Granted, the Rams manhandled Oakland and Washington during this two-game winning streak. It’s not as if the Rams just got done ripping Green Bay and New England apart. That’s all duly noted. But I’m not fussing over the minor details. When the Rams rise up and drop a 52-0 on Oakland, and come back and wallop Washington 24-0, this catches attention and earns respect.
And this isn’t a two-week deal; the Rams have gone 5-3 since losing four of their first five games. They’re 4-2 in their last six. They’ve delivered a 3-1 record since coach Jeff Fisher reinstalled Shaun Hill as the starting quarterback.
Were it not for Hill’s unfortunate interception at the end of the game in San Diego, the Rams would be toting a four-game winning streak into Thursday night’s home game against 10-3 Arizona.
The Rams are playing their best all-around ball since Fisher became coach in 2012.
And if you say that isn’t true, then here’s my response: two games, two wins, 76-0, and the first consecutive shutouts for the franchise since the CLEVELAND Rams did it in 1945.
What have we learned here?
Let’s rephrase that: What have the Rams learned?
“It’s about finishing games,” said Rams tight end Jared Cook, who caught two touchdown passes Sunday. “I think that’s something we struggled with at first, but now we’re putting it all together and finishing. It’s something that you wish you would have had a few weeks prior, and we’d be in better position. But we’re playing great football right now. Everybody is playing collectively as a team, and it’s a pretty awesome feeling.”
Thursday’s assignment against the Cardinals doesn’t seem as impossible now. Arizona leads the NFC West with a 10-3 record, and the Rams are 6-7. And for a couple of reasons that 6-7 still gives me pause. If the Rams get blown out by the Cardinals, it’s a step back. And a loss would probably mean another losing season.
The best the Rams can do is go 9-7 by winning their final three games – home against Arizona and the NY Giants and the closer on the road at Seattle. And that 9-7 would be the organization’s first winning season since 2003. But if the Rams can win two of three, they’d at least have their first 8-8 mark since 2006. That’s progress.
Winning at Seattle is hard to do, but the Rams can still lose there and finish 8-8 by defeating the Cardinals and Giants at home. No one should treat this team like it’s just about to win a Super Bowl. The Rams’ advances — until the last two outrageous wins — have been modest and methodical. But winning is a new thing for this group, and it’s imperative to build on this instead of falling back again.
“After last week (Oakland), Coach Fisher said ‘Let’s keep this thing going’ and we focused really well during the week,” Laurinaitis said. “And I think he’s going to challenge us to focus really hard the next three days (for Arizona.) We’ve got to just really lock it in, and keep this thing going. There’s definitely momentum right now, but now we just have to keep fighting and keep stacking wins. But I thought it was huge to get two in a row.”
Hill is playing very well. The running game has life. Wideout Tavon Austin is making plays as a runner, receiver and returner and gave the Rams the jolt of 203 all-purpose yards in Sunday’s win. The highlight was his 78-yard punt return for a touchdown.
The Rams’ defense is the No. 1 reason for the revival. Two shutouts in a row? That hasn’t happened in the NFL since the Dallas Cowboys did it in 2009.
If the Rams’ defense continues to disrupt and deny opponents, then the team has a shot to win its final three. Over the last six games, the Rams’ defense has allowed six touchdowns from scrimmage, has 29 sacks and 15 takeaways, and has given up a mere 3.2 yards per rushing attempt. And offenses have converted only 29.6 percent of third downs against the Rams’ D.
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is building a beast. His system still works. The players just needed to get acclimated to it.
“It’s just everyone getting comfortable and playing faster and not thinking so much,” Laurinaitis said.
Added defensive end Robert Quinn: “Guys are out there having fun, selling out, making plays, and creating turnovers. Guys are playing lights out right now. And hopefully we can keep going.”
Yes, please keep it going.
It’s fun to watch a winning NFL team.
In St. Louis, we’d kind of forgotten what it’s like.
The Rams aren’t true winners just yet; they’re still 6-7 on the campaign. But a two-game winning streak — marked by the rare achievement of two consecutive shutouts — is an emphatic way to start. In two weeks the Rams have gone from nothing … to 76 to nothing. You could say that’s progress.
znModeratorIt has GOT to be more fun to write these when they win convincingly.
znModerator
Bernie Bytes: Rams love that winning feelingBernie Miklasz
LANDOVER, Md. – Some notes on my flip card following the Rams’ 24-0 victory over the Redskins on Sunday afternoon at FedEx Field. And pardon my typos:
* I realize the Rams have pounded a couple of dysfunctional teams over the last two weeks. We’re talking about the Raiders and Redskins here, two of the lesser NFL outfits. I get it; the Rams didn’t trigger back-to-back wins over the Patriots and Packers. But really, I don’t care about that.
The Rams have been stuck in a depressing cycle of losing for such a long time, I’m not going to sit here and shrug like it’s no big deal to see them demolish the Raiders 52-0, and follow up with a 24-0 smothering of the Redskins. Two shutout wins by a combined score of 76-0? The first consecutive shutouts for the franchise since the CLEVELAND Rams did it in 1945? Are you kidding me? That’s just crazy – and in a good way, for a change.
* Coach Jeff Fisher and his players something going now, and it’s almost surreal to enter a happy Rams’ locker room. Smiling, bright-eyed players slinging good-natured insults at each other. You can feel the energy. And the team’s increased confidence is obvious.
“There’s nothing like this feeling right here, after a win, in an NFL locker room,” Rams linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “It’s addicting.”
* The Rams have won two consecutive games for the first time since taking Games No. 14 (New Orleans) and No. 15 (Tampa Bay) on their 2013 schedule. But this has been brewing for a while now. After starting the season 1-4, the Rams are 5-3. And they’ve gone 3-1 since Fisher reinstalled quarterback Shaun Hill in the starting role. Were it not for Hill’s unfortunate interception at the end of the game in San Diego, the Rams would be taking a four-game winning streak into Thursday night’s home game against Arizona. The Rams are playing their best all-around ball since Fisher became coach in 2012.
* The Rams (6-7) can reach .500 by defeating Arizona. And I won’t be a phony here; I thought this team was burnt pie after losing the heartbreaker in San Diego. The painful loss left the Rams dragging with a 4-7 record, and there was nothing to get revved up about. But Fisher and his staff and the players wouldn’t give in to the frustration, and the Rams worked hard, sharpened their focus and bounced back by wiping out the Raiders and the Redskins. This team’s competitiveness should never be questioned. The Rams make too many mistakes, and they’ve given some games away, but it’s never been because of a lack of intensity. Unlike, say, the Redskins … the Rams’ effort is always there.
* Hill was 16 of 22 for 213 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions Sunday. Hill has a 96.0 passer rating in his four starts since the benching of Austin Davis. In the three victories, Hill has completed 67 percent of his passes, averaged a healthy 8.4 yards per attempt, and passed for five touchdowns without an INT. The passer rating in the three wins is 116.0. And Hill’s veteran leadership has become a positive factor. After the Rams made a mess of mistakes in Sunday’s first half – taking a too-small 6-0 lead to the locker room – Hill had a few things to say. He challenged the offense to clean it up and do better.
“He’s taken charge of that offense,” Fisher said. “He was really adamant about their play, and he took charge at halftime with the guys … that’s just his nature. He’s really into it.”
* The Rams out-rushed the Redskins 131 yards to 27. Ballgame. Without a running game Sunday the Redskins had no chance. Quarterback Colt McCoy was stalked and hounded all afternoon, with the Rams diving in fr seven sacks and two interceptions. The Redskins went 3 for 15 in converting third and fourth downs.
* Over the last six games, the Rams are 4-2, and the defense has absolutely led the way. In this disruptive six-game stretch, the Rams’ defense has allowed six touchdowns from scrimmage … and an average of only nine points per game from scrimmage … and has 29 sacks and 15 takeaways … and has given up a mere 3.2 yards per rushing attempt … and has allowed opponents to convert only 29.6 percent of their third downs. The Gregg Williams system: working.
“It’s just everyone getting comfortable and playing faster and not thinking so much,” Laurinaitis said.
“Guys are out there having fun, selling out, making plays, and creating turnovers,” defensive end Robert Quinn said. “Guys are playing lights out right now. And hopefully we can keep going.”
* Wideout Tavon Austin had 203 all-purpose yards for the Rams here Sunday, with 143 coming on punt returns, and that included his 78-yard runback for a TD. Austin was very effective as a runner, with five carries for 46 yards. In other words: this is what Fisher and GM Les Snead envisioned when they traded up to select Austin No. 8 overall in the 2013 draft.
“I think you saw him today, how special he is,” Fisher said.
* Rams tight end Jared Cook was at the center of controversy last week. Cook and four teammates set off a firestorm of debate and indignation with their “Hands Up” gesture in support of Ferguson. The five Rams had plenty of support for choosing to exercise their first amendment rights. But they drew heavy criticism. Cook became the designated spokesman for his teammates, which left him exposed to even more criticism. But as we saw Sunday, the controversy did not distract Cook or any of the Rams. They went back to work to prepare for the Redskins. And they dominated the game, with Cook contributing two touchdown catches in Sunday’s win.
“Once we get on the practice field, it’s all about business,” Cook said. “And that’s what you’ve got to do. No matter what’s going on, you’ve got to handle your business. That’s what you do as a man.”
* The Rams close with games against Arizona (home), the NY Giants (home) and Seattle (away.) The best they can do is finish 9-7 for their first winning season since 2003. If the Rams win two of three, then it’s an 8-8 record … and their first .500 finish since 2006.
znModeratorThe differences are many, including improved health at every level of the defense but perhaps nothing is more instructive than the Rams’ ability to adapt to the defense and spend more time identifying what the offense is doing rather than worrying about individual jobs from down to down.
You know there were hints of that coming from Rams players a few weeks ago. Some were saying, we have had all these extra meetings learning the defense, it is now time to spend that energy to study film and scout opposing players.
If called upon I can even find that stuff on the board.
znModeratorRams defense earning all ‘A’s’ right now
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/14421/rams-defense-earning-all-as-right-now
for the second time in as many weeks and the third time in the past four games, coordinator Gregg Williams’ defense didn’t allow an opponent to run a single play from inside their 20-yard line
znModeratorRams defense earning all ‘A’s’ right now
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/14421/rams-defense-earning-all-as-right-now
EARTH CITY, Mo. — After his team pitched a shutout for the second consecutive week Sunday against the Washington Redskins, St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris Long sounded like a hard man to impress.
The Rams’ 24-0 win against Washington was their second shutout victory in as many weeks, a feat only the 1945 Rams accomplished. For perspective, the Rams played in Cleveland then.
“I don’t think you’ll find anyone in here who is shocked by it,” Long said. “We’re pleased by it but we’re not shocked. There’s still things we could do better. That’s the crazy part. I don’t feel like we even played our best game on defense today.”
OK, well, how about the fact that for the second time in as many weeks and the third time in the past four games, coordinator Gregg Williams’ defense didn’t allow an opponent to run a single play from inside their 20-yard line?
“Now that right there is pretty cool,” Long said. “It doesn’t surprise me that we can shut two people out in a row, that red zone stat is pretty cool. Coach Williams is a doing a great job, the defense is doing a great job playing team defense, buying in.”
Call it buy-in, call it adapting to the scheme, regardless of your chosen platitude, you won’t find a defense in the NFL playing better than the Rams right now. Including Sunday’s domination of the Redskins, the Rams have now gone 128 minutes and 20 seconds without allowing an opponent to score. According to ESPN Stats and Information, the Rams are the first team since the 2009 Dallas Cowboys to have consecutive shutouts and the fifth to do it since 2000.
The Rams limited Washington to 206 yards of total offense, coming up with seven sacks and a pair of interceptions in the process. Redskins running back Alfred Morris finished with 6 yards on eight carries and was hit in the backfield on five of those eight rushing attempts.
That the Rams are playing good defense right now isn’t really breaking news. Since setting the NFL record for futility in sacks over the first six weeks, the Rams have become the pass rushing tour de force many expected them to be entering the season. Since week 7, the Rams now have 34 sacks, that’s the most in the league in that time.
The differences are many, including improved health at every level of the defense but perhaps nothing is more instructive than the Rams’ ability to adapt to the defense and spend more time identifying what the offense is doing rather than worrying about individual jobs from down to down. Nowhere is that more evident than when the Rams blitz.
To the surprise of no one, Williams is the most blitz happy coordinator in the league but now his group is starting to get home. He dialed up 22 blitzes against Washington quarterback Colt McCoy, bringing the heat on exactly half of Washington’s drop backs. The Rams, led by middle linebacker James Laurinaitis, got five of their seven sacks on those blitzes. That matches the five they had when bringing the heat last week.
And it’s not just a function of bringing the blitz but where it’s coming from. The Rams have been making a habit of attacking the “A” gaps (the space between the center and guard) with greater frequency in the past seven weeks, creating pressure up the middle which allows ends like Robert Quinn, Chris Long, Eugene Sims and William Hayes to run free to the quarterback.
“We knew with a guy like Colt McCoy, he’s a smaller guy so we said ‘Hey, you have to attack the A and B [gaps],’” Laurinaitis said. “When you do that you flush him out to your ends. You attack the A gaps, the quarterback will escape out and they escape out to Chris and Will and Eugene and Rob.”
Laurinaitis, who makes all of the defensive checks at the line of scrimmage, has even found a niche. He has three and a half sacks in the past six games after setting a career high of the same number in 2013.
“I love blitzing, I love it,” Laurinaitis said. “The good thing about blitzing is you don’t have enough time to think, you just go. A lot of times you let your instincts kind of take over. We’re working really well right now as a unit of showing one thing, doing another. Showing blitz, playing coverage and just understanding the whole defense. I think that’s our youth growing up in the back end and like I said getting guys healthy. Now we’ve got to continue to do it.”
znModeratorSome other teams’ defenses give up points.
Seriously, it’s true.
What’s more, from what I was able to gather they do it routinely.
By that I mean every week.
Frankly, I don’t know how fans of other teams manage to stomach such nonsense.
To me, it’s enough that other teams’s defenses give up points when playing the Rams.
As for the rest of the teams in all the non-Rams games? Enh. Whatever makes them happy.
znModeratorRAMS VS. REDSKINS REPORT CARD – WEEK 14
Jeff Gordon grades the Rams’ performance in their victory over the Redskins.Quarterback: A
Shaun Hill sailed a couple of throws, muffed one center exchange and spit up a sack fumble that could have proven hurtful. But otherwise he took good care of the ball while completing 16 of 22 passes for 213 yards and two TDs. That added up to a sterling 133.2 passer rating and another career-boosting victory as Sam Bradford’s stand-in.Running Backs: B
Washington generally stuffed the run, holding speedy rookie Tre Mason to just 66 yards on 20 carries. But Benny Cunningham got loose while rushing (w0 yards on three carries) and receiving (five catches, 28 yards) to gain some critical first-down conversions. Former starter Zac Stacy was limited to a brief appearance as a short-yardage decoy.Wide Receivers: A
Tavon Austin became the team’s best running threat, gaining 46 yards on five sweeps. Kenny Britt broke open down the field for a 41-yard catch and Stedman Bailey split the Washington secondary for a 26-yard catch-and-run play. This wasn’t the Greatest Show on Turf, but it was more explosiveness than we saw from previous Rams teams.Tight Ends: A
Jared Cook shook off a vicious hit to catch two touchdown passes, one on a 35-yard lightning strike right down the middle of the field. Overall he caught four passes for 61 yards. Lance Kendricks chipped in with an 11-yard catch and Cory Harkey atoned for a costly blocking penalty by catching a two-point conversion pass off a fake extra-point attempt.Offensive Line: C
The unit opened just a few inside seams for the running game and it struggled in protection, allowing four sacks and six QB hits. Hill had to scramble out of trouble way too often. C Scott Wells earned costly penalties for blocking to the face and holding, and he and Hill botched one snap exchange. OT Joe Barksdale had a tough time containing Ryan Kerrigan. And yet he Rams controlled the ball enough to win comfortably.Defensive Line: A+
This front throttled the Washington running game, holding RB Alfred Morris to just 6 yards on eight carries. The line maintained steady pressure on QBs Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III, earning four of the team’s seven sacks and splitting a fifth. Des Robert Quinn, William Hayes, Chris Long and Eugene Sims were especially disruptive, along with rookie DT Aaron Donald.Linebackers: A
Fans have complained about MLB James Laurinaitis and his inability to make more plays at or behind the line of scrimmage. He had no such problem against Washington, earning one sack and sharing another. He also had one tackle for a loss, two QB hits and a pass defense during his strong showing. OLB Alec Ogletree had a nice downfield pass break-up along with two solo tackles and five assists.Secondary: A
S Rodney McLeod had an early interception and S T.J. McDonald had a late pick to help lead the shutout bid. S Mark Barron was highly visible, too, earning one sack and one tackle for loss on blitzes. The cornerbacks yielded some space to WR Pierre Garcon, who caught nine passes for 95 yards, but they prevented big plays. Washington converted just three of 15 first-down bids on third and fourth down.Special Teams: B-
Greg Zuerlein suffered a first half breakdown, pushing an extra point try and two field goal attempts well wide to the right. That was the first missed extra point of his career and his first missed FG bid from inside of 30 yards. But Tavon Austin had 143 punt return yards, including a 78-yard touchdown spring, and P Johnny Hekker put down three of his four punts inside the Washington 20. Hekker added a two-point conversion pass on a fake extra point kick.Coaching: A
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has produced back-to-back shutouts, breaking down Oakland and Washington in consecutive games. This game could have been really ugly—perhaps Raiders ugly—but for some costly Rams penalties, ill-timed protection breakdowns and those head-scratching Zuerlein misses. But 24-0 on the road was impressive enough. -
AuthorPosts
