Rams Vs. Broncos: Shane’s Select Seven

Shane Gray

http://www.insidestl.com/insideSTLc…5401/Rams-Vs-Broncos-Shanes-Select-Seven.aspx

While the St. Louis Rams finalized a daunting three game road trip last week and will return to home action this weekend for the first time in a month, the Denver Broncos remain road warriors as they conclude their own three game road trek with a matchup at the dome.

The Broncos stand alone atop the AFC West with a 7-2 season record. The Rams, on the other hand, sit in the solitude of the NFC West’s cellar with a 3-6 mark.

Help From Hill

After posting strong ratings of 98 or above in four of his first five starts, quarterback Austin Davis came back to earth in generating 75.4, 44.6 and 62.6 ratings in his last three outings.

With Davis struggling of late, Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher felt it was prudent to reevaluate the quarterback position and, in doing so, decided it was time to lean on veteran Shaun Hill, 34.

“We looked at things Monday night and I had lengthy discussions with the offensive staff and just felt that the best thing to do, at this point moving forward, was to lean on the experienced quarterback,” Fisher explained. “I told the team today in front of Austin (Davis) how much I appreciated Austin and his work ethic and his poise, his dedication and the tireless effort that he put in to prepare himself to play. He’s much better now than he was when he started, but made the decision to go ahead and play with Shaun (Hill).”

“We’re moving forward with an experienced quarterback that for all intensive purposes lost his job because of injury,” Fisher continued. “You all understand why we went that way because of the production that we got earlier out of Austin. Again, I don’t want to present anything that appears to be cloudy, but this is in my opinion and the offensive staff’s opinion, what’s best for this football team right now.”

According to Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, the decision to demote Davis was most influenced by his recent propensity for turnovers. In his first five starts, he threw a total of three interceptions. However, in just his last three games, Davis has racked up five picks.

“Obviously, we went back and looked at things and Austin (Davis) has played really well for the most part,” Scottenheimer said Wednesday. “I think the big thing for us was the turnovers. It’s hard to win in this league when you’re turning the football over.”

While Davis has handled his return to the backup role in the classy manner that one would expect of the Southern Mississippi product, Hill is understandably excited to step back into the lineup after a 10-week hiatus.

“Obviously there’s some excitement that kicks in and things like that,” Hill admitted. “Now it’s kind of back to business as usual. I’m just 1/11th on offense. You go out and you prepare the best you can for Sunday.”

While Hill is happy to be back on the field, many wonder how much rust he will need to shake off after a two-and-a-half month layoff from live action on the gridiron.

Schottenheimer, however, does not seem overly concerned about that and feels Hill will be ready.

“He looked really good out here,” Schottenheimer said of Hill’s practice outings this week. “He’s been preparing. He’s a pro. He’s been in this role before. We were teasing a little bit that he looked a little out of shape and maybe had too many snacks over the last couple weeks, but he’s looked really pretty good and done a nice job. The ball’s coming out of his hand well. He’s making good, clean decisions. I don’t see the rust.”

In 27 career starts, Hill has compiled a 13-14 career record. He and the Rams hope he reaches the .500 mark Sunday in St. Louis.

The St. Louis Secondary

The extremely green St. Louis secondary has struggled against the pass for much of the season while also dealing with injuries to the likes of Trumaine Johnson, Janoris Jenkins and LeMarcus Joyner. The stats bear out the difficulties they have had in dealing with opposing air attacks, with the Rams giving up the highest completion percentage in the league (69.6) and the fourth highest passer rating (102.6).

While the St. Louis defensive backfield is the youngest in the NFL overall, Fisher credits his youthful group of safeties with helping to hold things down while dealing with the aforementioned injuries to several of the defense’s cornerbacks.

“I think T.J. (McDonald) is playing the safety position right now as good as any safety in the league,” Fisher asserted. “The last couple weeks I think that his play and body of work speaks for itself. He’s making plays. He’s all over the field. He’s going to continue to do that. We got production out of Mark (Barron) last week in a package. Rod’s (Rodney McLeod) been playing very well. These guys have been holding the corners together because we’ve been rolling the young corners. Obviously, now that (CB Trumaine Johnson) Tru’s back and (CB Janoris Jenkins) Jenks is back, (CB E.J. Gaines) E.J.’s going to get some work inside because (CB) Lamarcus (Joyner) looks doubtful for this week. Those guys (at safety) have pretty much been the glue in the secondary.”

This week against future first ball Hall of Fame QB Peyton Manning, that glue and this group is going to face perhaps its stiffest test of the season. Entering this game, Denver is second in points per game, third in offensive yardage per contest, second in passer rating, third in yards per pass attempted and fifth-best on third downs.

Measuring Manning

Coaches have used almost every adjective and cliche imaginable in attempting to desribe the dynamic and other-wordly production of 13-time Pro Bowler and seven-time All-Pro Manning over his illustrious career.

During a mid-week question and answer session with reporters, Fisher compared Manning to playing against a computer. Yes, a computer.

“I’ve said this before, it’s like playing a computer,” Fisher said. “That’s what he is. He runs that offense. He’s going to put them in the best possible position. He’s nearly impossible to fool and is hard to get down. If you rush more than four, the balls coming out and he’s not going to take the hit. That’s just how he is. He puts that offense in the best possible position every snap. If the run’s not there, then he’s going to pick it up and he’s going to change and he’s going to put the ball down the field. He’s prepared. He’s prepared week after week, year after year.”

Fisher went on to explain that he feels that Manning’s career is just now reaching its pinnacle state.

“There’s no doubt, Peyton’s playing his best football right now,” Fisher continued. “Faced him many, many times. He’s playing his best football. It’s amazing the things he’s doing with the football. The cast that they have surrounded him with is outstanding. It really tests your defense. It requires patience. You have to run the football and get their punter on the field. I’m trying to simplify things for you, but you run it on offense and your goal is to get their punter on the field. Then you have a chance.”

In looking at the numbers, it is tough to argue strongly against Fisher’s notion, what with Manning having 29 touchdowns as compared to just seven interceptions to this point in the campaign. His 112 rating this fall is the third-best of any in his career and his QBR is his second best ever.

According to Denver Head Coach John Fox, it it his preparation and adaptability that sets him apart from almost all other NFL signal callers.

“I just think the way he prepares himself, whether it’s physically or whether it’s mentally,” Fox stated. “He has a ‘raise all boats’ type of approach. It’s been huge for our offense. I think what he’s accomplished kind of speaks for itself. Coming off a year of not playing football, stepping into a new organization after being with one team for so long and the same teammates for so long. His ability to adjust and change and do it in a new place is pretty remarkable in my estimation.”

Obviously, Fisher has a long history of facing Manning after coaching against him at least twice per year while with the Titans in the AFC South. With that considered, Fisher readily realizes the difficulties his defense will face this week against the future first ballot Hall of Famer.

“It’s a tremendous challenge,” Fisher said. “One of the biggest challenges I’ve been associated with a staff is defending him and his offense.”

All that said, Fisher maintains he has high expectations for Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams’ unit.

“We’ve had some success (against Manning),” Fisher said. “And we’re expecting to again. That’s the way you go into it.”

Considering the Clock

Sometimes, the keys to success in a football game are so simple they get overlooked by the masses. In facing Manning and the Broncos bold offensive arsenal, the most basic approach is the best: keep the football out of his hands as much as humanly possible.

Schottenheimer explained why this is important on Thursday.

“Every time that Peyton’s (Manning) on the bench that certainly is important, and their offense is on the bench,” explained Schottenheiemer. “Certainly have played him a lot of times. The times we’ve played well against him, going back to the days with the Jets in division playoff games and stuff like that, you win the time of possession battle. You stay on the field.”

“Again, part of that is getting into third down and manageable, converting third downs and sometimes avoiding third downs with explosive plays,” Schottenheimer continued. “It’s a rhythm thing. Again, I think the big thing for us this week because of time of possession is going to be running the football and throwing completions.”

Against a dynamite Denver defense, though, winning the time of possession battle may be easier said than done.

Denver’s Defense

Even though it’s the Broncos boisterous offense that gets most of the credit throughout Colorado and the broader pro football world, the defense has managed to become a top-tier unit while flying primarily under-the-radar.

On the year, the Denver D has been the league’s best in allowing just 3.2 yards per garry and 67 rushing yards per game. The longest run they have given up all season is a 25 yarder. Facing such a strong ground defense is highly problematic to the St. Louis offense as they need to run the ball effectively to use clock and keep the Broncos’ prolific offense off of the turf.

In addition to their dominance in run defense, Denver has the fifth fewest defensive penalties, ranks seventh in interceptions, seventh-best on third downs, tenth in sacks, ninth best (or lowest) passer rating allowed, tenth best (or lowest) passing completion percentage against and fourteenth in passing yards per game relinquished even while leading big in many of their contests.

“They’re awfully good, yeah,” Fisher said. “What happens typically when you have an offense that’s so potent and making so many big plays and has a scoring average per game that’s so high. The opposing offenses are playing catch-up. Those yards…you don’t want to call them garbage yards, but the defense is going to soften a little bit, give up some plays to win the game.

That happens to an outstanding defense. They are very difficult to run against. Both the edge rushers are outstanding and they get inside push. They’ve done a great job rebuilding their secondary, which was obviously a focus. I think they’ve got a great group of linebackers. We’re going to have to play very well.”

As good as the Denver defense has been, former All-Pro linebacker Von Miller feels they are only going to continue to improve.

“I feel like we still haven’t got to playing the type of football that we know we’re capable of playing,” Miller said. “I feel like we’re getting better and better every week. Our run defense is probably our identity right now. A good first- and second-down defense makes a good third-down defense. I think we’re just starting to get better, preparing for this stretch that we’ve got coming up.”

Dynamic Duo

It isn’t often that we find ourselves halfway through November and find one team touting two of the top 10 indivual sack artists.

In Denver, though, three-time Pro Bowl linebacker Von Miller has nine sacks while seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Ware has eight—good for sixth and tenth in the NFL, respectively.

The duo doesn’t spend its time competing or trying to top the other in production, though, but instead works hard to help each other be the best they can be.

We’ve got a healthy work-minded relationship,” Miller said in a conference call with Rams reporters Wednesday. “Every day he (Ware) pushes me. I go out there and push him. It’s all healthy and it’s helping our team. I enjoy DeMarcus. I love coming to work every single day, being around him and watching the way he prepares and I think it’s helped me with my game as well.”

Schottenheimer is certainly well aware of the problems the carnivorous combo will present to his offense.

“They create a lot of problems and they play really hard,” Schottenheimer suggested. “It’s a little bit of a benefit obviously, playing them at home, not having to go into the noise. The guy that’s really jumped out just because they move him around quite a little bit is Von (Miller). He’s just really explosive, great spin moves, but we certainly respect them both and they’re really, really good players. Nothing surprising there. You’ve got to do things to keep them off balanced and we’ll certainly try to do that, but it will be a long day if we can’t control those guys.”

“In most of the passing situations he’ll (Miller) be on our right going against (RT) Joe (Barksdale). DeMarcus (Ware) will be on the left. Again, two elite pass rushers, not only are they great rushers, they have great technique and they play extremely hard. They don’t give up and a lot of the sacks they get are second effort plays.”

Obviously, the St. Louis pass protection better be on its collective “A” game come noon Sunday. If not, it will likely be a long day for Hill and the Rams air attack.

Home Sweet Home

After a three-game stretch away from home, St. Louis returns to the dome on Sunday for some home cooking. While away, the Rams were competitive, but won just one of those three contests outside of the Gateway City.

This week, Fisher and the Rams are excited to be playing back under the mighty shadow of the Gateway Arch.

“It’s been an eventful three weeks,” Fisher said. “This young team’s learned how to travel, but you can’t beat playing at home.”

This week, however, a relatively nearby Denver club comes to town with a 7-2 record.

That, along with the pressing stadium issue, the current 3-6 record and a decade-long run of futility may make the dome feel more like a neutral-crowd atmosphere.

Either way, the Rams will have a lot more fans pulling for them this week at home than they have in any of the games they have played in roughly a month.

That alone should be helpful to this still young Rams roster. It just may not be quite as helpful as it would be under more ideal conditions.

This is good stuff.

Keep an eye out for the “in gifs” threads, they’re always good.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-report-team-works-outdoors-on-friday-ready-for-broncos/article_bf7743f5-2ef1-5feb-ad4a-fa11a29f40a0.html

INJURY REPORT

Cornerback Marcus Roberson, who suffered an ankle injury in the Rams’ road victory over San Francisco two weeks ago, has been ruled out of Sunday’s game.

Others sitting out Friday’s workout were linebacker Daren Bates (groin), defensive back Lamarcus Joyner (groin), wide receiver Damian Williams (hamstring) and defensive tackle Alex Carrington (quadriceps). Carrington is listed as questionable for Sunday while the rest are doubtful. Linebacker Will Herring (foot) was limited in practice Friday and is probable.

Also listed probable are starting middle linebacker James Laurinaitis (foot) and starting defensive end William Hayes (fibula). Both were full participants in Friday’s workout.

With starting running back Ronnie Hillman out with a foot injury, the Broncos’ Montee Ball could see some action Sunday in front of the hometown fans. Ball, who starred at Timberland High in Wentzville, has missed the last five games with a groin injury but has practiced this week and is listed probable for Sunday.

Hillman leads the Broncos with 378 rushing yards and has scored four touchdowns. Last week, second-year back C.J. Anderson enjoyed a career day when he rushed for 90 yards and added 73 receiving yards. It was his thrilling 51-yard catch and run for a touchdown late in the first half that helped the Broncos erase a 10-6 deficit and go on to a 41-17 rout of the Raiders in Oakland.

Ball, the team’s second-round draft pick in 2013, ran for 559 yards with four touchdowns as a rookie. This season, he started three of the first four games, rushing for 172 yards and a touchdown with nine receptions for 62 yards.

Tight end Virgil Green (knee) did not practice and is doubtful for Sunday. The rest of the players on the Denver injury report _ tackle Ryan Clady (groin), tackle Paul Cornick (shoulder), guard Orlando Franklin (knee), safety Quinton Carter (knee), linebacker Steven Johnson (ankle) and running back Juwan Thompson (knee) _ practiced on Friday and are probable for Sunday.

Brian Schottenheimer points to turnovers leading to QB change

By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/13698/schottenheimer-points-to-turnovers-leading-to-qb-change

EARTH CITY, Mo. — If it wasn’t already clear why the St. Louis Rams decided to go back to veteran Shaun Hill at quarterback this week, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer offered further explanation this week.

Simply put, Austin Davis’ propensity for turnovers, not just the sheer volume but the way in which they seemed to turn into immediate points was the driving force behind the decision.

“Austin has played really well for the most part,” Schottenheimer said. “I think the big thing for us was the turnovers. It’s hard to win in this league when you’re turning the football over. We brought Shaun here to be the backup. Austin kind of kept the job because he was playing so well, but now that Austin’s struggling a little bit we just feel like Shaun’s a guy that’s played. Obviously, has the experience. He’s been in this situation before and will go out there do some things and give us just some energy and things like that.”

More than energy, the Rams hope that Hill can cut down on the type of crushing mistakes that have dotted Davis’ time as the starter. In his eight starts and nine games, Davis threw four interceptions and coughed up two fumbles that were returned for touchdowns. Five of those six returns for touchdown have come in the fourth quarter.

Considering the Rams’ knack for starting fast and finishing slow, they can’t afford those types of costly giveaways with the game on the line. With Hill back in the mix, the Rams won’t ask him to take over games and throw it all over the field. Instead, they’ll hope that Hill can be the steady veteran hand they signed him to be and hoped he would be when he initially replaced Sam Bradford.

After a couple of days of watching Hill get back to work in practice, Schottenheimer said he doesn’t expect there to be much rust to knock off.

“He looked really good out here,” Schottenheimer said. “He’s been preparing. He’s a pro. He’s been in this role before. We were teasing a little bit that he looked a little out of shape. Maybe had too many snacks over the last couple weeks, but he’s looked really pretty good, done a nice job. Ball’s coming out of his hand well. Making good, clean decisions. I don’t see the rust.”

2 from off the net

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laram

The “Big Nickel” or Buffalo as Spags called it sure looks different with TJ or Barron playing the hybrid lb than it did when Dahl was playing it.

I use to hate this alignment with Dahl because he couldn’t hold up and the Rams would get gashed in the run game.

Both Barron and TJ are stout in the box.

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BonifayRam

after last weeks game against the Cards sure makes me feel real good about this trade. Barron is 6-2 213 & McDonald is closer to 6-3 @ about 220 pounds himself, sure will make our opponents pass catchers roaming around our secondary some serious concerns. With our starting CB’s off the injury list finally & Gaines sliding into the Nickel & Barron, McLeod & McDonald on the field at the same time that should be a new look for our Rams & for Manning.

PFF Preview: Broncos @ Rams

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/11/14/pff-preview-broncos-rams-week-11/

Coming off a blowout win against the Oakland Raiders, the 7-2 Denver Broncos will travel to St. Louis to take on Jeff Fisher’s 3-6 Rams.

As displayed many times this season, Peyton Manning’s receiving weapons are incredibly dangerous and difficult to defend. Denver’s wideouts are a very important cog in the team’s offensive machine. Demaryius Thomas ranks third among wide receivers with a +11.6 overall grade, and leads the NFL in yards after the catch (459 yards). Thomas is tops at his position in Yards per Route Run as well, posting a stellar 2.96 average. Fellow receiver Emmanuel Sanders has been equally effective in 2014: his quarterbacks have a 126.4 rating when targeting him in 2014, while his catch rate on Deep Passes (20 yards or more) is a solid 55.6, which is third at his position.

The Rams will have a tough time defending Denver’s receivers, but their secondary may be up to the task. Rookie cornerback E.J. Gaines has a strong +4.4 coverage grade and is tied for third at his position with seven passes defended. Gaines is also allowing only 1.01 Yards per Coverage Snap, which ranks him inside the Top 15 cornerbacks for that stat. Free safety Rodney McLeod has also graded positively in coverage this season (+2.4) and has only allowed 44 total yards after the catch. St. Louis’ secondary will certainly be targeted often seeing how much Manning trusts his receivers, so how they hold up to this test will be a telling indicator of the game’s ultimate outcome.

Here are three more notable numbers for each side:

Denver Broncos

Von Miller – leads all outside linebackers with a +23.9 pass rush grade, 32 quarterback hurries and 50 total pressures.

C.J. Anderson – has forced 14 missed tackles in only 38 touches this season, earning him an elusive rating of 100.7 (third among running backs with at least 30 touches).

Chris Harris Jr. – ranks first among cornerbacks with 0.52 Yards per Coverage Snap, while opposing quarterbacks have earned a 44.0 rating when throwing at him.

St. Louis Rams

Aaron Donald – the rookie leads all defensive tackles with a +13.8 run defense grade and is second with a 12.3 Run Stop Percentage.

Jared Cook – ranks at eighth among tight ends with 1.81 Yards per Route Run.

William Hayes – despite the attention that teammate Robert Quinn receives, Hayes ranks inside the Top 10 4-3 defensive ends in Pass Rush Productivity (10.8) and Run Stops (13).

Chris Long is no longer a ‘ghost’

By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/chris-long-is-no-longer-a-ghost/article_9794904c-30a1-5bb5-a668-2969b8d4f5c1.html

When you’re sidelined by injury for a lengthy period of time, it’s almost like you disappear in an NFL locker room.

Rams defensive end Chris Long, who played in 97 consecutive games to start his career, never experienced that feeling until he suffered a foot injury in the season opener against Minnesota. Surgery was necessary to repair two torn tendons in his left foot, and then the long rehab process began.

“I’m telling you, it’s weird when you’re walking around without a helmet and a jersey for seven, eight weeks,” Long said. “You feel like a ghost sometimes.”

It has actually been nine-plus weeks since the injury. But Long’s time as a ghost are over. He returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since the injury. It’s very doubtful he plays this week against Denver, but he could be starting a new consecutive games streak after that.

“There’s a lot you don’t take into account when you’re coming off a surgery and you’ve got to rehab and strengthen,” Long said. “So it was great to get back out there with my teammates. It was just really exciting to have a jersey on. I felt like I was part of the team again.”

Long’s participation in practices this week has been limited to individual periods, when the defensive linemen do drill work on their own. The next step, of course, is “team” — or 11-on-11 work — followed by returning to game action.

Long was hesitant to pinpoint exactly when he might return to game action from the injured reserve/designated for return list. He has a maximum practice window of three weeks before the team must decide whether to put him on the 53-man roster or keep him on IR for the rest of the season.

On Wednesday, coach Jeff Fisher expressed confidence that Long would return prior to the completion of the three weeks. So most likely, his first game back will either be the Nov. 23 game at San Diego or the Nov. 30 home contest against Oakland.

“You never know, but I can’t make predictions on how I’m gonna feel one day to the next,” Long said. “It’s a process, and I’m just heavy into the rehab still, while I’m trying to get out there on the practice field. It just felt good to be out there with my teammates.”

The feeling was mutual.

“It’s great to see our brother back out there on the field,” defensive tackle Kendall Langford said. “He’s looking good. He’s feeling good. So we’re hoping for the best.”

Being sidelined for more than two months wasn’t easy, so much so Long nearly drove himself nuts during his down time.

“You know, I was really worried about that,” he said. “And there’ve been some tough times. But the toughest is knowing you can’t help your teammates, and I just want to help us win.

“Even if I can’t help my team win on the field, I like to be able to help off the field and just be available to my teammates and my coaches, because it’s important to me.”

But as the weeks rolled by, one indication that Long was growing stir crazy came on Twitter. Namely his always interesting tweets on @JOEL9ONE got even more “out there” than usual.

For example, he has power rankings of flightless birds, months of the year, and sharks.

By the way, the bull shark was No. 1, and he teased his rankings on months of the year by tweeting, in part: ”There are some surprises.”

He established playoff seedings for athletes with flattop haircuts, and had random tweets such as:

• “Ever forget what year it is? Me neither.”

• ”Listening to ‘Seminole Wind’ in the bat cave with my bulldogs.”

“I’m an ‘out there’ guy,” Long tried to explain. “You’re bored. I’m not as tired as I usually am from work so I’ve got a lot of energy I’ve gotta get out.”

Did he ever have a moment of self-awareness, where he realized his tweets were getting out of hand?

“Yeah, when I started power-ranking like the months of the year, and stuff,” he said. “You just start losing your mind on there. My Instagram posts got weirder and weirder. I did a lot of photo-shopping and stuff like that.

“I spent a lot of time in the training room, so you just sit there and you tweet, and it can get monotonous so you get a lot of stupid ideas in your head.”

But as Long gets closer and closer to playing, things will return to “normal” soon on Twitter. He should join his teammates on the field on game day some time this month. It might just be enough to push November to the top of the power rankings.

Among qualifying quarterbacks, only Colin Kaepernick had a higher sack rate than Davis’ 9.3 percent this season.

It’s higher than 9.3%. PRF lists it as 9.3%, which is doubtless where he gets the number from, but it’s actually 29 sacks on 284 attempts, which is 10.2%.

Off the top of my head, it looks like 10.2% is the worst sack percentage of any starting Rams qb since they kept the numbers on this. Bradford was at 9.2% in 2011, but that was 2011 and all that implies. Even in the OL Injury Apocalypse of 2007, Bulger was at 8.3%. Kyle Boller in the Third OL Injury Apocalypse of 2009 was at 8.8%.

10.2% is worse than Clemens behind more or less the same OL, and Clemens had issues handling pressure too.

Bernie: Hill move the right way to go

Bernie Miklasz

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/bernie-hill-move-the-right-way-to-go/article_a5eb2a2b-407d-5a6d-bcae-f3d5c78e191f.html

Rams coach Jeff Fisher made the right move in calling veteran righthander Shaun Hill out of the bullpen to relieve the frazzled young starter, Austin Davis.

Fisher had to stop the bleeding. Davis has been overrun and overwhelmed as of late, and the low-scoring Rams can’t afford to have a quarterback who serves as a slot machine for opposing defenses. You know: Pull the arm, hear the cha-ching of a turnover and collect your winnings.

With the Rams defense cranking it up and tormenting quarterbacks in a manner befitting a unit coordinated by the überaggressive Gregg Williams, it’s imperative for the Rams to have an efficient (if not exciting) offense.

Davis provided an early boost, enlivening the inherent dullness with energy and big-play jolts. But defenses adjusted, the pass protection unraveled, and the quarterback’s play deteriorated. The mishaps included six defensive touchdowns on interception and fumble returns.

That’s damaging for any offense, but it’s a downright disaster for an offense that frequently malfunctions on a good day.

The turnover count is usually the tipping point that determines the outcome of NFL games. And this is all you need to know: In their three wins the Rams gave the ball away three times, total. And in their six losses, the offense coughed up 13 turnovers.

The Rams aren’t going to win any point-scoring shootouts, but at minimum must avoid shooting themselves in the football.

In theory, Hill has a better chance to cut back on the number of donations made to the opposing defense. But really now … how do we know?

Hill hasn’t experienced a lot of live action over the last five seasons, starting one regular-season game since the end of the 2010 campaign. That start was made in this season’s opening game against Minnesota, and Hill threw an avoidable and costly interception late in the first half. He had an awful 47.3 passer rating before departing with a strained quad.

Let’s face it: The identity of the starting quarterback has become increasingly irrelevant at Rams Park. Since the new regime of Fisher and GM Les Snead took charge of the program in 2012, the Rams have dragged near the bottom of the NFL in offensive points scored from scrimmage. (That doesn’t include points scored by the St. Louis defense or special teams on returns.)

The Rams ranked 28th in offensive points in 2012, averaging 16.3 a game. That improved slightly in 2013, when the Rams ranked 22nd at 19 points a game from their offense. But they’ve regressed this season, ranking 30th with an average of 16.5 points.

This offense hasn’t moved forward with Brian Schottenheimer as the offensive coordinator. That isn’t an opinion. It’s a fact.

Sam Bradford’s record as a starter under Fisher is 10-12-1. Kellen Clemens was 4-5 as the injury replacement for Bradford last season. And Davis was 3-5 as a starter after taking over for Hill. In terms of bottom-line record and point totals, the difference among the three quarterbacks is marginal.

That’s why I’m reluctant to write Davis off. He demonstrated an ability to play in this league. He may not be what this team needs or wants for a full-time starter. I’m not disputing that.

But the 2014 Rams have a shaky offensive line and a below-average running game, and haven’t established a receiver who can consistently wreck a defense.

I’m not sure why we’d expect Davis, after eight NFL starts, to overcome the disorder that surrounds him.

The issues are more significant than the game-to-game performances of Austin Davis.

The Rams rank 30th in the NFL in pass-protection efficiency by the analysts at Pro Football Focus. Rams quarterbacks have been pressured 113 times in nine games, the league’s fifth-highest total.

Davis has been under pass-rush pressure on nearly 43 percent of his dropbacks this season – tied for the highest percentage of pass-rush heat endured by a regular NFL quarterback.

That represents a big jump – in the wrong direction – for the O-line. According to PFF, Bradford was under pressure 33 percent of the time in 2012, and Bradford and Clemens faced pressure on 36 percent of their dropbacks in 2013.

Because of the faulty pass protection, Davis was at more of a disadvantage than Bradford or Clemens in past seasons. I’m not saying Davis handled the pass rush as well as he should have – obviously he didn’t – but a team can’t realistically expect positive results when the quarterback is setting up under extreme duress.

Hill, 34, isn’t as mobile as Davis. So how will Hill hold up physically when swarmed by the pass rush? Hill should be able to do a better job of getting the ball out on time, and to the right receiver. But even if Hill can stay on the field without getting maimed, and even if he plays reasonably well, he doesn’t project as the starter for 2015.

The problem isn’t that Fisher must decide between Hill and Davis.

The real problem is that the choice came down to Hill or Davis.

The Rams failed to adequately address the QB position after losing Bradford to knee surgery after seven games in 2013. Snead and Fisher disregarded Bradford’s extensive injury history, which dates back to his final season of college ball at Oklahoma. And sure enough, the same knee blew up again during the third preseason game this year.

There was also Bradford’s contract status; going into the 2014 cycle he had two years remaining on his exorbitant six-year rookie deal. One way or another, the Rams soon would face a tough decision regarding Bradford’s future.

Instead of spending an early-round draft choice to select a QB who could be developed to succeed Bradford, the Rams waited until the sixth round to draft SMU’s Garrett Gilbert. A wasted pick. With extra draft choices in hand, the Rams passed on the opportunity to find a future passer.

The Rams have Hill lined up to face Denver on Sunday at The Edward Jones Dome.

Problem is, the Rams don’t know who will line up at quarterback in 2015.

Unless the franchise wants to invest another year and $15 million in the rehabbing Bradford, the Rams will be starting over at the position.

And the seemingly endless rebuilding project will continue.

Some follow-up. Saguaro on watching Davis in that game.

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Saguaro

I got caught up in the game and fell into just watching the ball most of the time on offense. My impression, however, is that the Cardinals’ game plan was to cover the short stuff, not allow Davis any quick, easy throws, knowing that when the pressure started to come, he would pull his eyes down, and/or make a wild throw. They weren’t worried about getting burned deep.

Time after time, watching Davis, I was begging him to just throw the ball already! Even if you have to throw it away, just get rid of it, don’t start flailing around in the pocket! One reason that becomes more evident maybe in the stadium than on tv, is that a pass thrown away is a good play for the defense, but ho-hum. A sack gets that whole place just charged up and buzzing, players and fans.

I haven’t looked at the game on rewind yet. I suspect that at times there were receivers open that Davis just didn’t see.

On the other side of the coin, although overall I was happy with the defensive effort, one thing that bugged me was the passing lanes they left open. On Stanton’s one big drive, it just seemed to me that the pass rush sprawled out wide and left him big openings to see downfield. Would rather that they had kept in tighter and had Brockers with that height in his face.