F’n youngsters.

placeholder, nm (it’s technical)

RAMS REPORT CARD – WEEK 5. SAME OLD SLOP

Jeff Gordon grades the Rams following their loss in Philadelphia.

http://www.stltoday.com/gallery/sports/football/professional/rams-report-card-same-old-slop/collection_c3a90daf-04bf-5416-a279-6ba3f823287c.html#0

Quarterback: B
Austin Davis keeps things interesting. He helped put the Rams into a 34-7 hold with two costly fumbles, including one the Eagles fell on for a touchdown. Then he rallied his team fiercely to cut that lead to 34-28 before running out of time and plays. He finished with 29 completions in 49 attempts for 375 yards and three TDs. He added 30 yards on three scrambles. Davis has physical limitations, yes, but his competitive drive is boundless. He continues to exceed expectations.

Running Back: C
Zac Stacy was better in the passing game (four catches, 36 yards) than in the running game (11 carries, 42 yards, one very costly fumble) before departing with a calf muscle injury. Benny Cunningham did his change-of-pace thing, producing 71 yards and a TD on 10 touches (seven runs, three catches). Trey Watts got the game’s first carry, interestingly enough, and also had two catches for 12 yards.

Receivers: B
Brian Quick’s breakout continued with five catches for 87 yards and two TDs. He got open, made nice adjustments on the ball and put his size to good use. Kenny Britt (three catches, 68 yards, TD) made some key downfield plays, too. Tavon Austin returned to active duty with two catches for 33 yards. His buddy Stedman Bailey (two catches, 20 yards) got his first offensive action of the season. But with the game on the line, Austin Pettis failed to hang on to two passes on the final Rams drive.

Tight Ends: C
The game started badly for the unit, with Lance Kendricks earning two early false start penalties with the help of Philadelphia’s crowd noise. And the enigmatic Jared Cook dropped one of Davis’ better throws, a deep ball up the right sideline. But Cook (four catches, 44 yards) and Kendricks (one catch, 22 yards) also made timely plays to extend possessions.

Offensive Line: D
The low point came when LT Jake Long whiffed on a block to allow Eagles LB Trent Cole to sack Davis. Then Long failed to corral the resulting fumble, letting Cedric Thornton get it instead for a TD. Ill-timed penalties on RG Davin Joseph (holding) and RT Joe Barksdale also hurt. C Scott Wells chiped in another high shotgun snap. The line allowed four sacks, two resulting in fumbles, and forced Davis to repeatedly scramble. The Rams’ pass blocking only improved after the Eagles decided to sit on their big lead and let Davis get into a rhythm.

Defensive Line: D
Once against the Rams failed to visit “Sack City”, despite facing a depleted offensive line. DE Robert Quinn came the closest, but he failed to haul down Eagles QB Nick Foles after getting hold of him. Quinn also prolonged a Philadelphia possession by jumping offsides. The Rams did pressure Foles periodically, forcing him to make some strange throws. The defensive front also stuffed the run at key times, forcing the Eagles to settle for two early field goals and then give the gall back at the end. DT Kendall Langford fell on an unforced Foles fumble.

Linebackers: C
OLB Alec Ogletree made a great play to strip Eagles RB LeSean McCoy of the football, freeing it up for E.J. Gaines. McCoy ran around aimlessly like he was lost in a video game and the Rams made him pay. Ogletree (seven solo tackles), MLB James Laurinatis (six solo) and Jo-Lonn Dunbar (five solo) were busy and effective against the run. If only the front seven hadn’t allowed a late 25-yard run by RB Darren Sproles that limited the Rams’ comeback opportunity.

Secondary: C-
The unit’s play ranged from tremendous (CB E.J. Gaines’ downfield interception) to hapless (nobody covering WR Jeremy Maclin’s 24-yard TD catch). T.J. McDonald earned 10 tackles, but he earned a pass interference call on a terrible Nick Foles pass. CB Janoris Jenkins had a nice break-up on third down, but he also let Eagles WR Riley Cooper outmuscle him for a TD.

Special Teams: F
A stunning blocking breakdown led to an early blocked Johnny Hekker put and the first Eagles TD. That blunder put the Rams into a hole they never could escape. Later special teams penalties on Ray Ray Armstrong (personal foul in coverage, after a 23-yard Darren Sproles return) and Chase Reynolds (blocking from behind on a return) cost the Rams important field position. Hekker was good when he got his punts off, pinning two inside the 20, but the Rams did little in their return game.

Coaching: D
Brian Schottenheimer came out attacking in the air. That didn’t work—due to Davis sailing some early throws—and soon the Rams were down13-0. Defense coordinator Gregg Williams lacked answers, too, as the Eagles raced to their 34-7 lead despite erratic QB play. The Rams mounted a late comeback, but Eagles coach Chip Kelly facilitated that by playing not to lose. Then there were the 10 Rams penalties for 82 yards coming off their extra bye week preparation. The Rams are as sloppy as ever in Year 3 of this regime.

from off the net

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Speed_Kills

Jim Thomas ‏@jthom1
On the Rams’ last offensive play of game, Brian Quick was running right play _ a post route. Davis didn’t throw to right spot.

He rushes his throws when that pressure is coming right at him. They are going to have to work on that. Obviously I’m not blaming Davis….he’s why the Rams got back in it. He made some gutsy throws staging that come back

What I am saying is I noticed that when that pressure is coming at him up the middle his mechanics breakdown. The Pettis drop on 2nd down is an example. Recall Pettis dropped a similar pass in that Tampa game. Now IMO he should have caught both but what I noticed is that Austin does not follow through well when he sees that kind of pressure. He does not have that problem when he is moving left or right to avoid pressure

The kid threw some great passes today….threw some bad ones too. The last pass to Quick was a miscommunication obviously. This time the QB throws to the wrong spot and it’s on 4th down no less. That gives your team no chance. So I won’t let Davis off the hook for that. I do know he’s young though and we are going to have to live with these kinds of mistakes unfortunately

I don’t know why people are commenting on Davis’ passes. I really don’t get it. Davis’ passes look like Drew Bree’s passes. What did the guy do to keep the Rams in the game? The answer a ton…. I don’t care about how wobbly his passes are

I mean seriously the guy is among the leaders in yards per pass attempt in the NFL.

Do I think he is the answer long term right now? No…and neither does anyone else. I think a lot of us are hoping he’s good but nobody is banking on it. Doesn’t mean people aren’t rooting for him to do it though’

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SunTzu_vs_Camus

I was [saying during the game] that if we just hit Foles/knock him down on every pass play….he’ll start throwin junk and make mistakes.

He looked very skittish compared to our intrepid Davis in just his 3rd start.
In fact, Davis’ play is starting to make me think he’s got staying power than I thot.

I’ve been waiting for the crazy mistakes I saw Davis make in the PS his first 2 yrs here… but it was Foles throwing up those ducks……….and NOT Davis!! Davis is playing some stellar football at the hardest position.
I’ve been waiting for him to come back to earth only because I have rarely seen such growth happen so fast for a QB. It’s hard for me to believe what I’m seeing…honestly!! Davis is NOT the same QB he has been for 2 years!!

WE had like 4 drops today, that if caught, might have been enough to win it!! Again, we are falling 1-4 plays away from WINNING these games….and that matters!!!! Cuz, it’s not like we’re missing by 20 plays or are being outclassed in talent. Hardly!!!

His pocket presence and mobility are getting to be very good!! Schotty called another great game. imo With all the mistakes….we still were right there in the end to WIN IT!!!!

I really enjoyed the progress and see some real hope as our 4 rookie defensive PT starters(Gaines, Joyner, Donald, Westbrooks) getting valuable experience that will bode well later in the season. Fun game to watch!! I love how Fisher had these guys fighting all the way to the end….and not give up down by 27pts. I don’t want to hear it was garbage time either…..cuz it wasn’t…it was EARNED!

If anyone has played the game of football and been in a huddle down by 27 pts….I’d be curious if you’d like to play with folks who pack it in too. I just know who I’d like to be in the huddle with being down and who would fight and who would just go thru the motions cuz the game is already decided by half-time.

The defense coulda helped more….once again! So funny how the defense is foundering!! I don’t know why! The truth may just be comfort level. The offense has been the same for 3 yrs and the defense – while being much the same – has had 3 diffrerent DCs for each of the last 3 yrs. Maybe there’s some discomfort there. I dunno. But the offense has been playing well enough to win….which is an amazing statement to make after playing a very young QB that was formerly a 3rd stringer and having only his 3rd start.

Once again, just a few plays away from winning….instead of 10-20 plays or just a huge lack of talent. The players that are making mistakes are relativley young and learning
(cept Reynolds & RayRay….those were just penalties that put you on the bench for a Qtr or two imo)

nittany ram wrote:

Why are the players still thinking too much three years under Fisher’s regime?

Well first remember that this same defense, last year, after it righted itself, was the best run defense in the league. They were also at the top in sacks. They obviously werent’ thinking too much THEN.

So one season later, why are the DEFENSIVE PLAYERS thinking too much (I don’t think that’s true of the offense).

Well, because, they have a new defensive coordinator who is putting more on them.

It has nothing to do with 3 years. They don’t know what WILLIAMS is asking of them at an instinctive level yet.

Why no pass rush? IMO? The front 7 bought their own press in the off-season and did not work as hard to get it. But because they WERE so good, entire gameplans are devoted to containing them–at precisely the point where they aren’t on the same “edge” they were last year. It’s also possible they are being asked to do new things they’re not used to doing.

If I had to guess what the coach’s part of this is? IMO it’s the same flaw we always see with Fisher. He overestimates his teams. I don’t know what effects that has, but we’ve seen it before. It could be that he thought you COULD put more and different things on them, and they would come through.

nittany ram wrote:

zn wrote:
We were talking about this in the chat.

I don’t see issues with preparation. I see issues with execution.

I see a team that keeps making critical mistakes, and that (to me) is in the collective heads of the players. That’s a team that’s pressing

You make this team confident with a big win and I bet they settle down.

I partially agree that some of the fault for poor execution is on the players. However, it’s the coach’s job to fix that. In three years it hasn’t been fixed. Same with the lack of discipline and the stupid mistakes.

This isn’t new, it’s been going on for three years and it’s not getting any better.

Watching the Rams is like being trapped in the movie, “Groundhog Day”.

But see, N, to me, when I was pointing at execution, AND beyond that putting execution issues on things like pressing and thinking too much, I was naming something coaches CAN’T fix. In my mind that’s not a coaching issue. In fact, when a team struggles that way, for those reasons, I have generally seen coaches realize there’s nothing they can do. The team just needs to crawl out from under its own doubts and believe in itself. I don’t think coaches can provide that.

PA Ram wrote:

I don’t see a good football team.

I do. Believe it or not.

I see a good, unestablished team making incredible strings of errors.

Some of that is coaching. That is, I think it’s true that Wms re-complicated the defense and they are not playing instinctively and making mistakes. It was the same with the McD offense in the first few games in 2011, IMO.

But I think a lot of it is the team “psyche.” Now I ain’t trying to name some kind of indefinite, mystical thing. But I do think confidence is a real thing, and I think this team just does not have basic team confidence in itself. In a lot of ways, I think that’s what one should expect from a team that’s on its 4th starting qb within the span of 14 games. Anyway, teams that actually have enough talent to win but aren’t confident press.

But I have been saying, give this year’s team a real confidence boosting win, and, I think they look completely different.

We were talking about this in the chat.

I don’t see issues with preparation. I see issues with execution.

I see a team that keeps making critical mistakes, and that (to me) is in the collective heads of the players. That’s a team that’s pressing

You make this team confident with a big win and I bet they settle down.

from off the net

—

SunTzu_vs_Camus

want to see a string of consistent production from Davis..So, that we can get a strong feel for his game. It’s the consistentcy I want to see.
I want to make sure he doesn’t LOSE games for us. He’s been doing great things…but has also had some mistakes as all young QBs have.

Everyone wants ADavis to take the reigns and RUN with it and take the starting job!!! ….and I’m a hardcore Bradford fan!!! I hope we sign Bradford and draft a young gun (Connor Cook?!) high in the draft…
and have all 3 fight it out for the starting spot next year.

I’m cautiosly optimistic!!! I’ve seen too many of the kid’s PS games where he kinda is too frenetic for my likes. However, he’s been very calm and playing within himself…and throwing some very good intermediate balls and playing strong in the 4th Qtr. So, I’m hopeful the “light” went on and Davis continues his smart style of playing…. and is less spastic!! lol

Week Five “Three and Out”

by Mike Florio
October 4, 2014

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/04/week-five-three-and-out/

Rams at Eagles

1. Why are the Eagles dealing with so many injuries?

Last year, Chip Kelly’s revolutionary approach to training and nutrition and just about everything else kept the Eagles healthy for most of the season. This year, not.

While it’s safe to say that Kelly’s ways haven’t suddenly made guys more susceptible to injury, it’s also clear that personalized smoothies won’t make the consequences of a violent game any less severe. Ultimately, luck has a lot to do with it, and the teams that have bad luck had better have plenty of depth. For the Eagles, the depth simply hasn’t been there on the offensive line.

The good news is that right tackle Lane Johnson returns after a four-game suspension for ingesting something far more potent than a smoothie.

2. What’s wrong with the Rams’ pass rush?

The absence of defensive end Chris Long is a factor, but the team still has enough talent elsewhere on the line, with Robert Quinn leading the way. Still, the Rams have only one sack through three games.

In part, the lack of sacks arises from an inability to stop the run. But even with a 21-0 lead against the Cowboys and Dallas having to throw the ball to get back into it, the Rams weren’t able to get to Tony Romo.

It’s gotten so bad that the players are now calling it a “sack curse,” and they’re looking to the luck of the ladybug to end it.

3. What’s wrong with LeSean McCoy?

No one really knows. It’s easy to blame the offensive line, but McCoy simply isn’t running like he used to. He’ll need to get back to his old ways soon, or the Eagles will have a hard time carrying his future salaries.

Through four games, he has only 192 yards on 70 attempts. That’s an average of 2.7 yards per carry. And that’s not good.

wv wrote:

If it holds up all year,
its the story of the year, in the NFL
i would think — 93 rating is only average now.

In a way it makes run defense all the more
important, i think. I mean, nobody
is stopping the pass, apparently.

w
v

I wish I knew a quick and easy way to find out if holding calls on offensive linemen are down from last year.

wv wrote:

His total QB rating is 15th btw:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/qbr

w
v

That’s his espn QBR. (They call it “QBR,” as distinct from “qb rating.”) I tend not to follow that.

In terms of just the old-fashioned QB rating it’s 17th, which is not that different. It’s 93.1.

Man with rule changes? And making the qb sack illegal? A 93.1 qb rating now ranks 17th.

More than half the league has qb ratings in the 90s or higher.

WV.

Yes WV.

I am calling you out.

You liked Davis back in 2012. You even at some points liked him more than Bradford. Now we all thought it was over in 2013, but that aside–now that he IS the starter, is it like you hoped?

GRANTED that we really don’t know going forward if he can sustain it…so, no one is setting you up for a later blowback. BUT…

…among the people I know, you were his earliest enthusiast. So I would just like to hear about that.

from off the net

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laram

I had a conversation with somebody this morning and the Whiners were reading Nick Foles audible signals. I was told when he audibled and put his hand up over his head, it was a run.

When they went to 11 and 21 personnel the Whiners stayed in their base defense and focused on the run and gave Foles the pass. He had some guys open too and missed badly. Foles doesn’t have the wide open guys running as freely this season and his accuracy has been suspect.

I think he’s like 1-12 over 20 yards. (note from me: that was from memory so I looked it up…he’s actually 1 for 14 over 31 yards, and 4 of 31 over 21…in the 21-30 range, he’s 3 of 17)

There is a LOT for the Rams to pick up from the Whiner game. No D-Jax so now you can drop a safety down. But I suspect the Eagles will be looking in the middle of the field against the Rams.