RamView game blog: Rams 24, Browns 6

I don't know what the hell the Rams did to get so banged up during a bye week, but there are some unexpected questions heading into today's game with the Browns. Tavon Austin (hamstring) and Lance Kendricks (hand) are questionable; that's a couple of key offensive components. Tre Mason's (ankle) doubtful, he'd have gotten five touches at most anyway. Those may go to Trey Watts. Rodger Saffold is of course done for the second straight season (surprise!) due to shoulder surgery, different shoulders each year. Garrett Reynolds filled in nicely at RG in Green Bay, which leads me to question their move to flip the guards and start Jamon Brown at RG and Reynolds at LG today. It's called chemistry, people. On defense, Robert Quinn (knee, probable) barely practiced this week, Janoris Jenkins (also probable) barely practiced due to a concussion - when the hell did they get all of these injuries?!?!? - and "Christopher" Long (knee) remains out. Alec Ogletree, (ankle), too, naturally. I have never seen a team get so depleted in the course of a freaking bye week. Instead of rested-and-ready Rams, this looks like the week to catch them off-guard if you're going to do it, and in winning at Baltimore and taking 6-0 Denver to OT their past two games, Cleveland has shown they're perfectly capable of doing it.

Dashaun Gipson and Joe Haden are out for Cleveland; I consider their secondary the strongest part of their team, so those injuries are very notable.

Updated inactives: Mason, Kendricks and Jo-Lonn Dunbar - why did they even sign him? - are out. Austin is active. Justice Cunningham, who blocked well enough in preseason to make the main roster, steps in for Kendricks off the practice squad, as does Watts for Mason. 

Note the AFC opponent makes this a CBS game, which will be called by Brian Anderson and former Ram Adam Archuleta. It's a "C" team, but Archuleta is actually pretty good at color. Peter Morelli will referee; I believe the Rams tend to win games he calls, but lost the Giants game last year, which you'll recall had a bench-clearing brawl. No place for a lady, maybe, but as Jim Thomas has already mentioned, Sarah Thomas will be the line judge on today's crew.

The prediction: The Rams are favored by a whopping 6 points, but I (re-)learned not to trust this team as a favorite after the Washington game, so I won't do it today. The Browns can sneak up on people. Cleveland 27-24.

FIRST QUARTER
The Rams receive the opening kickoff, and run a reverse, with Benny Cunningham handing off to Stedman Bailey. The Browns nearly make Jeff Fisher look Chuck Pagano-dumb by getting to Bailey unblocked at the 10, but he broke the tackle and made it out to the 33. Phew. Kenny Britt gets both hands on the opening pass, a quick out, but can't hold it after the hit from local boy Pierre Desir. So we're off to an excellent start there. A sweep right for Todd Gurley is a total failure after Justice Cunningham can't budge Paul Kruger (who's no Haloti Ngata) at all and Cory Harkey whiffs badly on the edge. MINUS FOUR. Great freaking start, morons. Foles gets a little time on 3rd-14 until Jamon Brown gets beat by a late spin move by Randy Starks. Foles dumps off to Benny for a couple while getting drilled. Hekker yet again outkicks the coverage with a returnable (but 57-yard) punt, Travis Benjamin sweeps right with it and returns 25 to the 36, with Hekker having to make the tackle. The Rams were stumbling around on that coverage like Keystone Kops.

A week off and this is the start we get. Hard to feel like I haven't already called this one.

Our old friend Pete Morelli helps us out by calling a block in the back by Cleveland on the return, which will start them at their 7, costing them 29 yards of field position. Crowd sounds great early. But Isaiah Crowell goes up the middle for an easy 8. Aaron Donald got tied up, Will Hayes got dominated by the TE and the RT picked off Akeem Ayers at the second level. So, EVERYONE's off to a brilliant start today. After a week off. 4 more for Crowell up the middle.

Nope, somebody IS off to a brilliant start, and it's the Ram secondary! Cleveland tries a smoke route to Taylor Gabriel, but Janoris Jenkins puts his shoulder on the ball, blasts it loose, and it bounces directly to Rodney McLeod for the scoop and score! Rams 7, Browns 0

That's life as a Cleveland fan. You clearly outplay the opponent the first three minutes for what reward? To go down a TD. They'll try again from their 20. Ayers blows up a handoff that T.J. McDonald turns into a 3-yard loss after 3 missed tackles behind the LOS. But they then leave The Dreaded Gary Barnidge wide open over the middle for the 1st down at the 30. Duke Johnson beats a blitz for 4 as Eugene Sims gets dominated by Joe Thomas. Mark Barron blows up a pitchback to Duke for a 2-yard loss.

On third down, it's BIG PLAY ALERT again for the Ram defense! Ayers blitzes over center. It's slow getting there, but Josh McCown has no one open and can't escape the pocket. Hayes gets him for the sack/fumble, and Ayers makes the recovery to set the Rams up in scoring position!

Gurley up the middle for 5, down to the CLE20. Harkey took out two guys downfield; THAT is how you block a run. Nick Foles audibles to a sweep right for Gurley, which is again a disaster because Jamon Brown cannot handle Randy Starks at all. Seems like that's a big reason Brown should have been left at LG, eh? 3rd-8, Cleveland does a good job pushing the pocket back, and Foles, who looks scared, settles for a sideline dumpoff to Jared Cook for 3. The Rams are in danger of completely wasting a prime opportunity. They have 3 yards of total offense in two possessions. Remember this is a Cleveland secondary minus their two best backs. Greg Zuerlein at least splits 'em from 39. 10-0 Rams

Can't help but feel it should be more. Browns at their 20 again as I tip my hat to John Fassell for realizing the value of just having Zuerlein drill every kick out of the end zone. McCown rolls away from a blitz, fakes the crap out of McDonald and sprints for 9. Sims and Michael Brockers stuff Duke for no gain. Ayers blows covering Duke out of the backfield on 3rd-1, though, and McDonald blows a tackle, and he gets away down the sideline for 21, out to midfield. No excuse for the Rams not to be ready for Duke Johnson out of the backfield. Ayers and Brockers stuff Crowell for a 2-yard loss; no one buying the fake pass there. Short pass to Jim Dray in the flat for 5; nice open-field tackle by Trumaine Johnson. 3rd-7. The Rams vacate the middle of the field and blitz, which leads to a nice stop, except PENALTY #1 Robert Quinn idiotically offside. 3rd-TWO now. McDonald breaks up a short pass, but now HAYES jumps offside. PENALTY #2 Damn idiots. Browns at the STL37 now. Stretch handoff to Crowell gets nothing. Brockers shows up well again, along with Barron and James Laurinaitis. 4-man rush does nothing on 2nd-10, and Barnidge runs through McDonald and TruJo for 12. McCown barely avoids a sack by Donald and dumps off to Brian Hartline for 8. Strong initial edge pressure by Ethan Westbrooks at LDE. Jenkins trips up Hartline on a smoke route on 2nd-2 but McCown sneaks it across the 15 for another 1st. TruJo ends the quarter with a fine play, jumping a swing route to Duke for a 2-yard loss.

SECOND QUARTER
Quick slant to Travis Benjamin beats TruJo for 10. 3rd-2 at the 7. They line up trips left, but great pressure by Hayes and Quinn, who trucked Joe Thomas, flushes McCown right and he runs out of bounds with no gain. McCown gallantly avoids running over a Rams cheerleader, slips and drills his throwing arm into the wall behind his bench. The Rams hold Cleveland to a Travis Coons chippie while no good deed goes unpunished for the Browns. Johnny Manziel is suddenly scrambling around looking for his helmet. Rams 10, Browns 3

Benny returns another short kick to the 22, as, sadly, McCown seems to be OK on the sideline. Slammed his elbow into the wall; maybe he hit his funny bone. Foles fakes a jet sweep to Tavon Austin, pitches left to Gurley, and Todd hurdles a tackle while getting outside for 14. But Jamie Meder stuffs Harkey in the backfield out of I formation and Gurley runs into him for a 3-yard loss. Quick screen to Austin for 7, who does well to avoid getting stripped. Greg Robinson has made a couple of great outside blocks this drive. 3rd-6. The Browns blitz a couple, and whoever the back was that was supposed to pick up the blitz got the wrong guy, forcing a wild throwaway by Foles. Other than Gurley, the Ram offense continues to be a complete disaster. Hekker hits the punt poorly, but gets almost 20 yards of roll and Bradley Marquez and Trey Watts somehow manage to down it inside the 5 without getting it called a touchback. Marquez appeared to touch it at the 3 and then nearly slid into the end zone with it. Yeah, I saw that right. They spotted it at the 1 then moved it out to the 4.

Sims clobbers Crowell after a couple. The Rams come close to getting McCown on a blitz; he hits Gabriel in the flat but TruJo blows him up for 3. 3rd-5. Good blitz down here; Gregg Williams does. Sims nearly grabs McCown at the goal line. He hits Andrew Hawkins in the flat, but Lamarcus Joyner blows that up for 3. Austin jukes and returns the punt 11 yards to the Ram 49.

The TE rollout pass continues NEVER to work for the Rams; no one blocks Kruger and Cook can't stay in bounds with Foles' 2-yard throw. And now PENALTY #3 on Robinson for a false start. The Rams had TWO WEEKS and their offense is impossibly even shittier than it was in Green Bay. Foles gets a lot of time on 2nd-15 and dumps off to Gurley, mainly setting him up to take a big hit. Incomplete, 3rd-15. The whole line except Rod Havenstein, who gets beat late by Kruger, gives Foles forever to throw; he escapes Kruger, rolls right and throws a sideline bomb to Brian Quick, and I swear Brian Quick CAUGHT THAT BALL. Referee says incomplete, but I swear his feet are in. Brilliant effort by Quick if nothing else. I'm eager to see a replay.

Bah, screw it; Robinson would have been called for holding. Also, unaware of his surroundings as usual, Quick stepped out of bounds a couple of steps before his catch and would have been ruled an illegal receiver. Perhaps that's what the referee was calling, because he made the catch itself in bounds. Send in Hekker instead as the Ram offense continues to get impossibly worse from season to season and game to game under Fisher.

Hekker pins the Browns at their 9 with a 47-yarder. Crowell worms for 3 as Ayers stays down with an injury, arm or shoulder. Jenkins breaks up a slant for Benjamin out of the break. 3rd-7. The crowd draws a false start on Joe Thomas, 3rd-12. Stereo false start, RT Mitchell Schwartz this time. Good job crowd! Cleveland's back on their 3, 3rd-16. Donald and Hayes flush McCown into an 8-yard scramble to send the punt team back out. Austin tries to sweep left from his 40 but can't get any blocks. Will the Ram offense cross the 45?

Great play-fake to Gurley sets up a swing pass to Harkey (!) for 4. They made it to the 45! Can they make midfield? Gurley spurts for 6 AND AN ACTUAL FIRST DOWN. A big late hit by Harkey saved that run from being a loss. Rams at the CLE49. Can they make the 45? 3 for Gurley behind LG. Robinson gets a block, and Tim Barnes makes a great pull block, to spring Gurley for 15 more. The Brown secondary strings Benny out well on an attempted sweep right for a loss of 1. Fake draw to Benny, and Foles hits an actual big play downfield, at least 20 yards to Cook on a crossing route, so OF COURSE COOK FUMBLES IT AWAY to the justified BOOS of the home crowd. Donte Whitner stripped him from behind; ball was in the wrong arm! Cleveland ball.

BOO, Jared Cook. Just BOO. Browns at their 16. PENALTY #4, THE THIRD TIME TODAY A RAM HAS LINED UP IN THE NEUTRAL ZONE, on Sims. Pass would have been incomplete, and TruJo hurt himself putting a blast on Hartline. Barron gets fooled by Duke and gives up a 10-yard swing pass after dropping way off initially. Laurinaitis stuffs Duke for 2. Donald and TruJo get to McCown on 2nd down but he gets the throw off, incomplete. 3rd-8. Blitz does not get there and TruJo leaves Benjamin WIDE OPEN for 21 to the Ram 45. TruJo fell as Benjamin made an outside move, arguably a pushoff but allowable. Aaron Donald then makes an Aaron Donald play, nearly beating Duke to the handoff and dropping him for minus-5. They tried pulling the LG but Donald was in the backfield before Alex Mack could even turn to block him. Browns back to midfield at the 2:00 warning.

Quinn blows up a fake draw, the secondary keeps everything covered and McCown has to scramble out of bounds for a couple. The crowd draws a third false start to make it 3rd-18. Cleveland runs the we-give-up draw for 10, and are stunning me here by lining up to go for it on 4th-8. The ball is snapped but Cleveland apparently called a sideline timeout. That is a specialty of Jared-from-Storage Wars doppelganger Mike Pettine. And now the punt team comes in. Cody Davis doesn't miss blocking it by much; Austin fair-catches at the 12.

Gurley breaks an ankle-tackle while powering for 12 off another nice Barnes block. Timeout Fisher at 0:47. Now a perfectly-setup screen to Gurley, with a great kickout block by Barnes (again!) and Reynolds leading him upfield for 23. They let the clock run as another dumpoff to Gurley gets 7. Only 16 seconds now, and they're at the CLE45. Foles throws wildly for Austin while under some inside pressure. Robinson got beat, but Reynolds picked it up. Need more composure from Foles there. Austin has a LB leaning all over him and grabbing him on 3rd-3, but no call. This leaves Zuerlein to try his second 63-yard FG of the season, but it immediately drifts right and never had a chance.

Cleveland tries to go deep with one last play at the end of the half but McCown just takes a big shot from Ayers for his troubles. 10-3 Rams at halftime

HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
First of all, I hate fantasy football. I am going to lose this week because my opponent is beating me 34 to 2 at kicker and defense. First of all, thanks a load, Pittsburgh; second of all, kickers being worth anything in fantasy is bullshit.


Now for more important stuff, like this game. Superb first half by the Ram defense, without whom the team wouldn't even be leading at halftime. They're doing just about everything right so far. Cleveland's got two strengths, though, that they haven't tapped much so far: Barnidge and especially Duke Johnson as a receiver. Rams need to remain on their toes where those two are concerned.

And the offense has got to DO SOMETHING. They can start by remembering they have Tavon Austin. If he's healthy enough to run sweeps and decoy, do it, dammit. Open the offense up. Also, Foles I believe has not completed a pass to a WR today, or even been able to target them that much, when Cleveland's best cover corner and their all-pro free safety are out. This is inexcusable. Use some trips formations and rubs to get Bailey open. Throw Britt and Quick some slants. Protection hasn't been awful, just get Foles a damn target. I do like that they've thrown to Gurley a little bit but it is mandatory they get other people involved. Is Kenny Britt alive?

THIRD QUARTER
The Browns get it at their 20 to start the half. The Rams immediately leave Barnidge WIDE OPEN down the seam with soft zone coverage for 28. Robert Turbin emerges from obscurity to rip for 21 off RT, and this half is off to a miserable start. The fullback absolutely crushed Ayers in the hole to spring Turbin. TruJo, though, makes a nice play off the edge and goes through the fullback Malcolm Johnson and trips Turbin for a loss. Hayes puts a big hit on Turbin to hold him to 1, along with Laurinaitis. 3rd-10. Blitz nearly gets there but McCown hits Benjamin short for about 5. Cleveland settles for another FG, Coons from 44. 10-6 Rams

Benny takes a knee to start the Rams at the 20. Will they cross the 25? Will a WR catch a pass? Ha, Adam Archuleta and Frank Cignetti read my halftime notes. Bubble screen to Austin for 10. FIRST DOWN! Robinson continues to do well blocking these screens downfield. And, since it's the second half, HERE COMES TODD GURLEY. He squeezes through a not-there hole, slips two tackles, breaks into the open, crosses the field left to right, gets an INSANE EDGE BLOCK BY AUSTIN TAKING OUT TWO GUYS, and finishes with a 48-yard gain. Major energy change for the Rams out of halftime; they're at the CLE22. Benny grinds out 4 on a draw. He stays in for a perfectly-developed screen and takes it down to the 8, helped by Jamon Brown's diving block. Benny runs into a wall at the 9 to make it 2nd-goal. Brown missed the LB on that play. Brown continues to flail the next play, getting beaten badly by Randy Starks AGAIN. And AGAIN, how was it a good idea to move him to RG? Pretty simple rip move by Starks, then Brown idiotically shoved him right into Foles. Foles overthrows Cook at the pylon on 3rd down, though he wasn't really open. Nothing was open at the time, but I thought Foles had time to wait a beat, too. Several times today the pass rush has gotten into his head. Well, at least they moved the ball a little.

AND NOW GAGATRON BIFFS IT WIDE RIGHT FROM 35. It sliced on him, like his 63-yard attempt did a bit. Are these ridiculous record-length attempts screwing with his regular kicking game? Wonderful. Just freaking wonderful. It's not like this juggernaut offense can afford to throw away ANY points. 

Browns at their 25. We'll note here the field position game has helped the Rams a ton today. Another false start by Cleveland. I doubt the crowd drew this one, but they deserve it. Turbin cuts back for 10, but Westbrooks drew a pretty minute holding call on Barnidge. 1st-25 at the 10. Turbin draws for 4 as I'm kind of wondering where Duke Johnson went. Not that Turbin's been bad, but Johnson's just been a bigger threat. AND THE RAMS GIVE UP A FIRST DOWN ON SECOND AND 20. Westbrooks drills McCown, but Barron let Barnidge sneak open behind him, and he made an impressive tip play to himself for 32. The Rams spent how many millions on Jared Cook? And Gary F. Barnidge appears to be a better tight end in every aspect. Somebody lit a fire under Westbrooks this week; he stuffs Turbin for no gain, and I believe Donald drew a hold. 1st-20. Little doubt the Browns have been killing themselves so far today. McCown gets forever to throw but Jenkins breaks up a downfield pass to Benjamin. What a contract year Jenkins has had so far. Quick hitch to Barnidge - hey, Cleveland read my halftime notes, too - leaves 3rd-9. The Rams blitz - I disapprove - but they hit McCown as he throws. And McCown's long bomb to Benjamin is still caught. Despite getting his throwing motion interrupted and despite tight coverage by TruJo. Terrific footwork by Benjamin to get his back foot in for a 35-yard gain. Not sure why TruJo didn't get a hand up or hit Benjamin as the ball arrived. Read his eyes! First down, Browns at the Ram 22 as they've pulled a couple of great plays out of their ass. BUT NO, says Peter Morelli; holding is called on Joe Thomas, who I'm pretty sure ripped Robert Quinn down by the collar. Like me, the announcers were focused much more on that catch, so I don't know if that flag came out as late as it seemed like it did. Deflated like a Tom Brady football, the Browns, whose fans are all shaking their heads in unison, are back to 3rd-and-19. This is just the kind of shit that always happens to teams like theirs and ours. I feel bad for them. Replay shows the flag came out right away even though announcer Brian Anderson claimed it was late. You paid attention late, buddy, that's what happened. A dumpoff to Duke gets about 14 back but sends in the punt team. The Rams are doing some bullet-dodging today.

Rams at their 12 after Austin's fair catch, 4:09 to go in the 3rd. Yeah, I know, the game's probably over by now for real. Viva TiVo. Austin (hey!) is wide open at the far sideline off play-action for a quick 20. Gurley gets nothing diving off LT. I've been paying poor attention, but the Rams have gone no-huddle here. Archuleta mentioned earlier that they had picked up the offensive tempo. Foles gets a strong pocket and goes deep for little-known WR Ken Brett? Brict?, who draws a DPI from Desir to gain another 26. Oh, those big-play Rams! Foles gets even more outstanding protection the next play, and gets a deep completion to this unknown guy Brett down to the 1 yard line!!!! Who is this Ken Brett?!?!?!?

Better still, whose halftime notes begged the damn Rams to get the damn ball to Kenny Damn Britt? (and to Austin?) First and goal, Rams. Foles underthrew him a tick or it's a TD; he beat Desir by a step and Jordan Poyer was late getting over. Gurley strolls right off Harkey's MASSIVE edge block for his first career TD and a lead that looks very big from here. Rams 17, Browns 6

But now the Rams leave Hawkins wide open in the zone for 19, big hit by McLeod notwithstanding. Play-action rollout pass to Dray for 5. You know, the play that has never worked for the Rams in the history of the team. 2nd-5, McCown pumps, holds the ball too long, and Westbrooks sheds RT Schwartz for a BIG sack back at the CLE35. I think that's only the 2nd for the Rams. Westbrooks has been a live wire today, though. Archuleta points out the Rams' solid coverage of the screen forced McCown to eat it. 3rd-13. Quinn gets in McCown's face, but he hits Duke wide open on the sideline. Fortunately, Laurinaitis closed to hold him short. Duke was slow to get going, which makes me think he bobbled the catch a little. It leaves 4th-and-2 to start the 4th.

FOURTH QUARTER
I would say the Browns are almost obliged to go for it here; if they line up to punt, the Rams better be damn careful about fakes and not jumping offside.


I guess since it's still just two scores, Cleveland's happy to punt here. They blow a chance to down the punt at the 1, so they got a big 33 net yards out of that non-daring decision. Gregg Easterbrook made a career out of second-guessing this kind of decision for espn.com; no reason I can't try. And here comes Gurley. He surges for 5 off LT with a delayed handoff, then 2 more off LT. The Rams screen against a Cleveland blitz, but Karlos Dansby peeled off to drop Gurley from behind for a loss. 3-and-out only took 90 seconds off the clock there; NOT what we're looking for. Justified Pettine's punt decision, though. Hekker's punt here is much more effective, though; a perfect and unreturnable 53-yarder at the sideline. Browns at their 21.

Crowell up the middle for 2; do the Browns have any idea which RB they want to use already? It's been a while since a Ram jumped offside, so Aaron Donald does it, PENALTY #6 but it won't count because of PENALTY #7, roughing the passer on the Rams' second-most-useless player this season, Nick Fairley. I think that's for getting McCown off his feet and driving him to the ground, because it wasn't any later than any hit Foles has taken all season. Put the Browns at their 38. Benjamin gets open in the zone again on a cross for 20-plus, but McDonald and Barron force the ball loose by twisting him about in half. McDonald grabbed him high, but I think shoulder pad, not facemask. And who should happen on the loose ball but Fairley, who came about 20 yards downfield to get it before humorously taking off THE WRONG DIRECTION and crashing into Hawkins at the STL45. LOL, he was just looking for someone to hit. Maybe he'll get forward progress at midfield? Anyway, another big play by the Ram defense!

Fairley semi-officially loses six on the fumble return; Rams at their 44. And they're having fun, with a flip-back end-around right to Austin off a fake sweep left to Gurley. Cook lead out but really had no one to block; Austin goes up the sideline for 21. Gurley up the middle for a couple. Bubble screen to Austin for 7 behind Britt's block. Gurley goes for 3 off a Barnes double-block for the Rams' FIRST 3rd-down conversion of the game. BIG problems the next play, though; Foles appears to want Quick on a quick hitch, but he takes off downfield, and Nick's holding the bag when an unblocked Desmond Bryant buries him for their 2nd sack. Another case of Quick not having his head on straight hurting the offense. Underneath screen to Gurley gets the Rams back to the 20 for 3rd-and-8. Foles takes a big hit going for Austin on a flare route out of trips and the pass is incomplete, but line judge Sarah Thomas calls Cleveland for holding. I'm sure Sarah gets a lot of calls right, but this wasn't one of them. The DB didn't do a thing wrong and she couldn't possibly have seen any kind of grab even if there'd been one. Sorry not to be more chivalrous there; I do appreciate the help for the Rams, even as everyone at the Factory of Sadness again mournfully shakes their heads. Gurley pours salt in the wound, and salts away the game, cutting back a sweep right, getting blocks from Brown, Justice and another IMPRESSIVE downfield block by Austin, breaking tackles at the 5 and a double-tackle at the 2 to score a 16-yard TD as the home crowd chants his name. Rams 24, Browns 6. 

Apologies to Cleveland fans, but >mike drop<.

Browns might as well try the kick return from deep, but only get to the 13 thanks to Bradley Marquez's tackle from the ground. McCown is 22-for-26 right now? How do they only have six points? Turnovers and penalties, duh. I think we're in garbage mode now, so I'm not going to hold much of what happens here against the defense. A couple more completions to Duke Johnson get them near midfield, where Barron JACKS McCown after a 1st down pass. Archuleta thinks it's a penalty, but Morelli doesn't, and neither should any ref who's called a Rams game this season; Foles has taken plenty of those right after the pass. Jenkins did get PENALTY #8 for holding on the play to move Cleveland across midfield. Archuleta goes back to the Barron hit and calls it a borderline call, because Barron went to the facemask. NO, HE DIDN'T. He went to the collarbone. That's easy to see on replay, so I don't know WTF Archuleta is talking about. TruJo neatly breaks up a bomb for Gabriel, but it's spoiled by PENALTY #9 ANOTHER GODDAMN OFFSIDE on Joyner trying to time a blitz. That's at least FOUR of those today. But, two plays later, the Rams collapse yet another pocket on poor McCown, and Hayes knocks the ball out of his hand from behind as he's cocking to throw. I'm surprised that's not ruled an incomplete pass; McCown still has the ball in his hand and goes forward with it; that should be all it takes.

Nope, it's confirmed a fumble; give Sims the recovery and the Rams the ball at their 33. Gurley, who I'd honestly leave on the bench right now, right for 3. They're saying McCown didn't have possession of the ball when he made the throwing motion, so fine with me. He also got facemasked, badly, without a call. He's done for the day, holding his throwing arm, which I bet has been hurt ever since he hit the wall avoiding that cheerleader. Bailey's wide open for an 8-yard hitch on 3rd-and-5, but gets the BS facemask penalty for his stiffarm. 3rd-12, Benny cuts inside for a nice gain off a draw. The Browns decline PENALTY #10 on Robinson for holding. Send in Johnny Football! (if he's sober)

It's raining flags now as Hekker shanks a punt to ruin a fine day. PENALTY #11 is on Marquez for running out of bounds for about 20 yards before getting back on the field.

Johnny Football from his 45. Dumpoff to Turbin for 8. Quick drag to Gabriel for 5-6. Very short pass to Turbin. JF scrambles and jukes Maurice Alexander, but another holding call, on Joel Bitonio, at the 2:00 warning. Long throwaway with nothing open - Rams dropped back 8 - leaves 3rd-19. Ha, Gregg Williams blitzes here and Manziel hits Hartline near the sideline for 13. Brockers wins bigtime with a swim move and nearly sacks Manziel, but he slid too soon on his scramble to put the Rams in victory formation.

Do Rams fans dare hope to go over .500 next week with the 49ers visiting? We'll need the offense to start having better first halves, but I dare say the arrow is pointing up right now in Rams Nation.

Final: Rams 24, Browns 6

Hey, I did predict the Rams would score 24...