RamView, August 8, 2014
From Row HH
(Report and opinions from the game.)
Preseason Game #1: Saints 26, Rams 24
Preseason at its bipolar best: the Rams
should have won if not for poor penalties late in the game by players
who won't be here in September, deserved to lose for their poor
tackling, couldn't have won in real life because they had to sit
almost half their starters.. but it was the best preseason opener
they've played under Jeff Fisher. Progress? Bad omen? August.
Position by position:
* QB: While
the Rams kept Sam Bradford in mothballs, starter Shaun Hill (5-7-84,
2 TD) ran the offense pretty well, leading two TD drives in just
under a half of play. Bradford's not the only Ram QB who looks for
Jared Cook when he's in trouble. Hill and Cook connected for 24 to
get the Rams out of an early hole, and Hill, like a veteran QB
should, quickly recognized an opportunity and ended the opening drive
with a swing pass to Cory Harkey (!) for a 16-yard TD. Hill led the
Rams to a quick 2nd
TD in the 2nd,
a sweet back-shoulder TD pass to Stedman Bailey (!). The night didn't
go nearly as well for the Rams' other backup QBs. Garrett Gilbert
(6-11-53) played like the stage was much too big for him. He brutally
missed several open throws on simple routes. He forced at least a
couple of throws that should have been picked off. A well-disguised
blitz buried him in the 3rd.
He'll have to learn how to diagnose those before the snap, and then
do better after the snap than running back 14 yards and eating the
ball. Protection was a big part of the problem for Gilbert. He put
together a decent 2:00 drive for a FG at the end of the first half,
but with the threes in after halftime, the offense sputtered to a
halt. Austin Davis (10-16-134, 1 TD) popped on several plays. An
underthrown 32-yard pass for Chris Givens drew a DPI that set up a
15-yard TD fastball to Austin Franklin to bring the Rams within two.
He hit Emory Blake with a nice back-shoulder pass for 29 to set up a
(missed) FG attempt. And thanks to a LB fooled into thinking dumpoff
when the Rams had completed one pass to the RBs all night (so much
for my brilliant “the Rams are going to throw to the RBs more”
theory), he fired to Alex Bayer (!) down the seam for 42 to get the
Rams in game-winning FG range. Davis hasn't looked any better as a
Ram. When time came to actually win the game, though, Davis got in
the way. After a Saints timeout, I can only imagine Davis got
surprised by the game clock quickly restarting and took a bad
delay-of-game penalty. He still got the Rams in FG range with 11
seconds left, and all he has to do is properly execute a spike to
kill the clock and win the game. Sigh. He botches the snap, and
without proper possession of the ball, turns the clock-killing play
into a game-killing grounding penalty. Not the veteran-quality kind
of play I think he needs to have any chance of getting ahead of
Gilbert on the depth chart.
* RB: Several
of the Rams' best runs were 3rd-and-a-mile draw plays, but there was
still enough to like. Zac Stacy (4-22) bumped past and ran through
tackles like he was in regular-season form. Benny Cunningham (5-24)
set up Bailey's TD in the 2nd
by getting out of trouble on 3rd-and-1 with an impressive spin move
and darting downfield for 19. Running room got less and less as the
game went on, which did not work to Tre Mason's (15-51) benefit, but
he shows so much lateral quickness that you know he's going to be
tough to stop when he does get some blocking. You saw that quickness
at work when he cut a run back up the middle for 20 in the 4th,
but another nice run the next play was wiped out by a hold. Any
ability to block future Hall-of-Famer Tyrunn Walker at all would have
helped when Mason couldn't convert on 3rd-and-1 or 4th-and-1 in the
3rd.
Mason's big rookie issue has been blitz pickup. He has improved to
the point he's not clueless what to do. On the goalline sack of
Gilbert, Mason did a good job picking up the middle blitzer. The
Saints just brought more people than the Rams could block. The
question shifts now to whether Mason is actually strong enough to
hold up against a blitz. He really got knocked backwards picking one
up in the 2nd
half. Stayed enough in the way to let the QB throw, though. If the
Rams can couple the RB talent they have now with better, healthier
blockers, they'll be able to do what Jeff Fisher wants to do on
offense.
* WR: I don't know if Kenny
Britt has already influenced the WRs this much, or, heaven forbid,
Ray Sherman actually coached them up on something, but I don't recall
them winning contested balls as well as they did in this game.
Several times, they got late separation with what I've been calling a
“ward-off” move to make a big catch against tight coverage. It's
a push, but not big enough to be called a push-off. Britt's been
doing it all camp; here, you had Stedman Bailey (1-24) doing it to
get open for a nice TD catch on a back-shoulder throw and Emory Blake
(3-41) doing it late in the game for a big 29-yard gain on another
back-shoulder throw. Britt himself and Brian Quick barely even made
cameos. Yeah, not like Quick needs the reps or anything. Hill threw
his way once, deep down the sideline, and he was blanketed. Training
Camp Quick better show up to at least one of these preseason games.
Best route of the night was the post route UDFA Austin Franklin
(1-15) ran for his TD. He also got a shot at returning kicks and
showed some initial quickness, so don't rule him out for WR6 yet.
That race also involves Austin Pettis (1-21), who made a neat
over-the-shoulder basket catch for a 1st down, and Chris
Givens, who was 0-0, but returned kicks and drew a long DPI to set up
Franklin's TD. Givens also didn't play a quick screen very well in
the 3rd. It was defended well, but he should have gone to
it and tried to cut back inside with it instead of waiting for it and
letting the play get broken up. If the next level continues to elude
Givens this preseason, chances are it'll do so for good.
* Tight ends: I'll
try breaking TEs out separately this year, but I'm not sure how long
it will last. (Hey, I never had to even think of such a thing during
the Mike Martz years.) The receiving star of the game was UDFA Alex
Bayer (5-71). He was a favorite checkdown option for Garrett and
Davis and struck late in the game with a big 42-yard catch-and-run
that should have set up a game-winning FG. The LB who should have
covered Bayer switched off to Mason coming out of the backfield
instead, leaving Bayer wide open behind the defense. Combined with
Justice Cunningham's (1-5) bad night, I have to call Bayer TE4 right
now. Justice tweaked his ankle, limped around the rest of the game
and dropped a pass where it looked clear he was thinking about his
ankle more than the ball. He also looked woeful getting whipped by
Ronald Powell, who would have gotten more resistance from a practice
dummy, for the Saints' 4th
sack. Cory Harkey (1-16) opened the scoring with the simple old
leak-out-of-the-backfield play that's always burned the Rams. Nice to
be on the other side of that for a change. Curtis Lofton kept his
eyes on Stacy in the middle and didn't get out on Harkey until it was
way too late. Jared Cook (1-24) not only had the big play (nice
catch, too) to keep the chains moving on the Rams' first scoring
drive, he also delivered the most solid blitz pickup of the night
early. I'm hopeful that Cook's (new-found) interest in blocking so
far this summer is a sign that he's getting the focus he needs to
become the sleeping giant we all thought we had last season.
* Offensive line: Mainly general
impressions here because I botched recording the game and wanted to
get this out before Tuesday. With Long, Wells, Saffold and Barrett
Jones all still out, it was still the makeshift camp line of Mike
Person at LT, Greg Robinson LG, Tim Barnes C, Davin Joseph RG and
Joseph Barksdale RT. Robinson played well, based on the looks I got
of him. He blew his assignment to let Brodrick Bunkley walk in and
sack Hill in the 1st, but I didn't see him get beaten
physically. In pass pro, he met challenges well at guard and didn't
let anyone by. Had a pancake block on one play but the Rams weren't
running behind him then. D'Marco Farr kept saying on radio that
Robinson is still finding his way at guard, but he still looks like
he'll be more than fine there to me. Robinson and Person flipped
positions later, and Robinson didn't look bad at LT, either. If the
Rams carry a 4th tackle, Person should be miles ahead of
anyone else on the roster for the job. Farr called Sean Hooey out
repeatedly for poor protection, and there were times where he just
didn't look physically capable of staying with an NFL pass rusher.
R.J. Dill (INCOMING! OBVIOUS JOKE ALERT! INCOMING!) put himself in a
real pickle for a roster spot with three dumb 4th-quarter penalties
that shot down the Rams' comeback efforts as much as anything else.
He held on the first play of one drive and, showing all the
brilliance of Richie Incognito, took a gain away a couple of plays
later with a piling-on penalty. A clumsy false start at the beginning
of the final 2:00 drive didn't help his cause any, either. At guard,
Travis Bond's cause was not helped when somebody called Tyrunn Walker
whipped past him for a near-goalline sack of Gilbert. Can't be
thrilled with the scrubs for turning Walker into a Pro Bowler for a
night, with 6 tackles, a sack and three run stuffs. There wasn't much
running room all night, especially for Mason behind the scrubs. The
travails of the scrubs make it all the more important the Rams start
getting back the guys I mentioned at the start of this section.
* Defensive line: The
d-line played mostly with one hand tied behind its back. Aaron Donald
and Alex Carrington started instead of the regular DTs, and Robert
Quinn was used very sparingly as a 3rd-down pass-rush specialist.
Donald “stayed blocked” against the Saints a lot more than he
ever did in camp, but also had a fair share of flashy plays,
including a running play where he flashed into the backfield and
flushed Travaris Cadet over to Eugene Sims for a huge loss. That was
unfortunately an outlier play where run defense was concerned. The
back seven was the bigger culprit, but it all starts up front, and
the Ram DEs were not very sturdy against the run. Of the
non-starters, the best was probably Michael Sam, and that's not his
forte. Sims overran so many plays – I guess he just wanted to
pass-rush – he'd have done just as well to stay home, figuratively
or literally. First play of the game, he overpursues, gets turned by
the tackle, and Mark Ingram (8-84)
runs by for a big gain. The
Saints ran at, er, by, Sims a lot. Sammy Brown also had a tackle for
loss but I can't even consider him competition for a DE spot when he
gets engulfed every time I watch him on run defense. For his part,
Sam pressured Ryan Griffin into a couple of throwaways and shot a gap
to stuff Khiry Robinson for no gain. I think it's fair to say Sam has
a very good motor, and he continues to fight through traffic well.
But Chris Long said it himself (though I didn't see him as part of
the problem) in an in-game interview: the Rams have to do a better
job of setting the edge. Long made the defensive play of the game on
the opening series, anticipating a quick screen and leaping up and
pulling Griffin's pass down for an INT. The Rams did not record a
sack, – New Orleans' offensive pace doesn't help there – but
appeared to play with good tempo. Stopping the run may not get the
d-line in the league headlines, but they're going to have to step up
at it if they want the team to get into league headlines.
* Linebackers: Not
that it should be a big surprise with James Laurinaitis (ankle) still
out, but linebacking was a bit of a mess. Jo-Lonn Dunbar slid over to
Mike and Ray Ray Armstrong took the weak side. Armstrong stayed there
with the twos with Daren Bates at Mike and Phillip Steward strong
side. One takeaway for me is that Armstrong is no threat yet to
Dunbar for the starting Will role. Armstrong's a fine athlete who can
get anywhere on the field he needs to be in time, and I'm thrilled he
actually managed to participate in a regulation NFL game without
committing a penalty. But now, he needs to finish off the plays he
gets there to make. Armstrong had more whiffs this game than Clayton
Kershaw; that and not being able to get off some blocks helped Ingram
to his big night. Armstrong also blew a sack in just-ugly fashion,
but he wasn't the only LB swinging and missing. Dunbar whiffed on one
of Ingram's carries (all of which were big plays) and got blocked and
filled poorly on another. Steward whiffed on Ingram's first 22-yard
run. (Yes, sadly, there was more than one.) Too much arm-tackling.
Too many desperation dives at RBs' ankles. There were also some big
coverage breakdowns, with Saints superstar TE... Jeremy Hill? burning
them twice for 71 yards and setting up 10 points. Bates missed his
assignment on one of those by blitzing instead of dropping back into
coverage. Laurinaitis' injury has really scrambled things up; missed
assignments are going to happen. But your linebackers absolutely
cannot be bad tacklers, certainly not like the Rams were in this
game. On the high side, local boy Aaron Hill made good with a nice
pass defense to help 3-and-out the Saints trying to run out the
clock, and Johnny Millard, who's been injured all camp, caught a
deflected pass for an INT late in the game to give the Rams a chance
to win. Getting Armstrong straightened out will be a key if
Laurinaitis is going to miss any regular season action. He tackled a
lot better than this last preseason, so we'll hope that Frank Bush
can get him calmed down.
* Secondary: Talk about one hand
tied behind your back; the Rams did not play either of their starting
corners or Brandon McGee, making starters out of, yes, 6th-round pick
E.J. Gaines and 2nd-year UDFA Darren Woodard. But, also using their
starters lightly, and Drew Brees not at all, the Saints didn't attack
the green backfield as effectively as you might have feared. Gaines
had a make-the-team game, making six tackles, showing willingness to
hit and nearly forcing a Saint fumble at the goal line. He was all
over the place. Lamarcus Joyner made a superb play to hold the 2nd
Saint drive to a FG, closing like lightning from at least 10 yards
away on an initially wide-open screen to Rugrats, er, Nick Toon, and
stopping him short on a 3rd-and-5. Unfortunately, both Gaines and
Joyner got completely embarrassed on Brandin Cooks' 3rd-quarter
25-yard TD. Cooks cut back inside instantly after the catch, leaving
Gaines flapping in the breeze and Joyner flailing to catch up to him.
I'd feel better about that play if Cooks weren't also a rookie and
the Rams' secondary didn't practice against Tavon Austin every day.
I'd also feel better not having to watch Cody Davis attempt to defend
against the run a whole lot more. Davis played like little more than
a Faster Craig Dahl, with terrible whiffs on both of Ingram's 22-yard
runs. Add a face mask penalty to that, too. Maurice Alexander was a
lot better and looked really good stringing out several outside run
attempts in the 2nd half. All the shoulder tackling by
Jarrid Bryant and Marcus Roberson made it amazing the Rams didn't
miss more tackles than they did. I'm not sure Bryant even knows
you're supposed to use your arms when you tackle. Roberson, though,
made a big run stop to help force a 3-and-out to start the 4th.
But considering how deep they had to dip into the depth chart, the
Rams didn't fare too badly, and Joyner, Alexander and Gaines give a
good feeling that the Rams will have a young and deep secondary for a
good while.
* Special teams: OK, who picked
Chase Reynolds for star of the game on special teams? Reynolds
stopped the opening kickoff inside the 20 and took off with a fake
punt (!) for 38 yards in the 3rd. The Rams also well to
contain Cooks on punt returns, with Bailey and Joyner combining to
stuff him for a loss in the 1st. Several different players
auditioned as returners; Chris Givens looked the best on kickoffs
(ha! may be the only way he makes the team), while Greg Reid showed
interesting elusiveness on kicks and punts. The kicking game itself
was a letdown. Johnny Hekker had a boom (52) or bust (36, downed at
midfield, helped give the Saints a FG) game. We need Pro Bowl Hekker
by September, not Rookie Year Hekker. The game was still in Greg
Zuerlein's power to win, and no, I don't mean the 59-yarder he just
missed at the gun, I mean the 46-yarder he Vanderjagted into the
woods earlier in the 4th. Snap and hold were good, that
was just an inexcusable kick. What do these guys do all day at
training camp, screw around? Oh.
* Strategery: I mocked myself
earlier for my thought the Rams would throw to their RBs more this
season, which was based on what I saw in training camp. Brian
Schottenheimer did use backs very effectively as decoys, though, on
Harkey's TD and Davis' big completion to Bayer. So that's cool, even
if it was about the trickiest thing he tried all night. Nice use of
crossing routes on the Franklin TD, too. Helped freeze the DB. Gregg
Williams brought plenty of blitzes, especially of the linebacker
variety. Big surprise: Gregg Williams blitzes getting burned by
completions to TEs. (Vernon Davis says hello) Another big surprise: a
Jeff Fisher Rams team committing a TON of penalties. Try 14 for 118
yards. Even taking Davis and Dill out leaves 9 for 83. Even though
the fake punt warmed the cockles of my heart – it's just not
preseason unless Fisher calls one of those – the Rams took exactly
one week to get on an awful penalty trend and need to get it under
control post-haste. It will undermine the whole season if Fisher
doesn't get that fixed.
* Upon further review: Carl
Cheffers and crew seemed to be in much better than regular-season
form, highly unusual for referees. Along with most of the fans,
Marshall Faulk wanted a grounding call on Ryan Griffin in the 1st;
I thought Cheffers got it right that Griffin was out of the tackle
box, though it was much closer than I thought. They got a challenged
spot (by Fisher) right and were spot on with personal foul calls and
pass interference calls, though by Farr's commentary, the Rams got
away with more in pass defense than they should have given the
league's emphasis on defensive holding this year. There were the
usual misses: a clear block in the back at the start of one of Greg
Reid's punt returns, and Ray Ray got held pretty good on one of
Ingram's long runs. The intentional grounding on Davis' blown spike
play was interesting; I don't think I've ever seen that call. But by
all accounts, Cheffers got it right. Surprising grade: B+
* Cheers: Crowd was about 30,000
and only got even a little loud late in the game to encourage some
defensive stops. Other than the sound system works now for the first
time in 20 years, I didn't note much new about the Dome. I will
object that we didn't get the referee's video feed on replay
challenges. Even with a rookie (Joyner) nicknamed “Frisbee Dog,”
the halftime show, as always, was pee wee football.
* Waiver bait: Dill
left a bad taste, Hooey was phooey, and nobody named Davis showed
they have staying power. But let's talk Isaiah Pead for a second.
With Reynolds getting some 4th-quarter carries and starring on
special teams, is there any reason to think Pead's going to beat
Reynolds out to “make the club from the tub?” Right now, the only
thing that keeps Pead employed in football in 2014 is if that hand
injury lands him on the I.R. The Saints' biggest waiver bait was WR
Brandon Coleman, who led the nation in dropped passes last year at
Rutgers and had two awful drops in this game, one of which clanged
over to Millard for his INT. With such skillets for hands, Coleman
really should consider culinary school.
* Who’s next?: A very weird
Saturday afternoon game is next for the Rams, who'll host the Packers
for the second straight preseason, and this one may not go well. The
Packers schemed for last year's game like it was the regular season
while the Rams served large scoops of vanilla, and the Packers won
fairly easily, 19-7. My notes from that game say the Rams also did
not tackle well early last preseason, and WOW, shouldn't Jeff Fisher
teams be better at tackling than they are right now? With another big
Alabama RB, Eddie Lacy, in the backfield next week, we're sure going
to hope the Rams tackle better. On offense, I would hope to see at
least a couple of series out of Bradford, and hope that they can get
the big WRs going a little bit. It's still going to be hard to get a
line on this team, though, until they can suit up most of the players
they plan to start on either line. At this rate, and to overstate the
obvious, we're on track for the most meaningless preseason in Rams
history. Still 67 bucks a game, though.
-- Mike
Game stats from nfl.com
Photos from espn.com
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