RamView game blog: Ravens 16, Rams 13

Well, we'll see if the disappointing Rams can top themselves against the 2-7 Ravens in a couple of hours. Lineup changes galore: Robert Quinn is out. And with Jamon Brown's season ending last week, and Rob Havenstein out due to a calf injury, here's your starting offensive line: (Corrected from earlier)

LT - Greg "The Human Holding Penalty" Robinson
LG - Garrett Reynolds
C - Tim Barnes
RG - 6th-round rookie draft pick Cody Wichmann
RT - 4th-round rookie draft pick Andrew Donnal

Darrell Williams' season ended the SAME PLAY as Brown's did last week, with a wrist injury. That's how snakebitten the Rams are right now. Isaiah Battle was called up from the PS but is inactive, so the next lineman up is either Demetrius Rhaney or some guy the Rams just picked up this week.

And behind that group, Case Keenum. I wonder if Jeff Fisher would have changed QBs this week even if Nick Foles hadn't stunk up the Dome last week. This week's QB clearly is going to be on the run.

Update Chris Long is active; I don't know how fair it is to expect him to contribute a lot. Tre Mason is inactive. Don't tell me the Rams think they're going to get it done passing today?

The prediction: The Ravens have lost a lot of close games this season. This won't be one of them. The Rams have proven once and for all better at finding ways to lose than finding ways to win. Especially in DREADED NON-DIVISION games. 34-17 Baltimore. The Ram defense killed me in fantasy a few weeks ago with a huge game against Cleveland; they'll kill me this week by letting Joe Flacco go nuts.

For all my pessimism, one thing I will promise is a f-bomb-free live blog this week. My apologies for last week. Though I'm an amateur, that wasn't very professional.

The words "freaking" and "bloody" are still in play, though, and likely to be thoroughly used.

Kenny Albert and Moose Johnston will have the call for Fox today per 506 Sports.

And per Football Zebras, the game will be called by Tony Corrente's crew. Wow, actual decent refereeing for a Rams game! Maybe.

FIRST QUARTER
Rams win the toss, elect to receive and start from their 20. Play-action to Todd Gurley, good edge protection by the tackles, and Case Keenum hits Kenny Britt for 16. C.J. Mosley also appears to catch the ball but Britt won't let him take it away. Gurley burrows for a couple behind Andrew Donnal; Cody Wichmann didn't really budge his man. Very quick seeing-eye slant to Wes Welker for 9. No, 7, although Welker wasn't touched. 3rd-and-1. They try to go right up the middle behind Tim Barnes and Wichmann, who can't budge anybody. No gain. Another spectacular start by the Ram offense. Then again, last week's hot start didn't exactly matter. PENALTY #1 is a false start on the punt by up-men Chase Reynolds and Cody Davis. Bradley Marquez (!) makes a terrific sliding play to keep Johnny Hekker's punt in play, and Cody Davis makes a nice play to down it inside the 1. 61-yard net there.

The dreaded swing pass only gets 6 this week, to the Harvard fullback whose name I'm not going to worry about spelling right now. Let's just say Kyle J. And, hey, the Rams limited one of those to less than 80 yards!!! The Rams then play a handoff to Justin Forsett like a bunch of pansies. Brockers and Hayes are blocked out of the play and he drags Donald by his shirttail for about 10 yards. TruJo also whiffs. Awesome start, guys, way to keep them pinned in their end zone. EIGHTEEN MORE for Forsett off a simple off-tackle right run. It's a stupid Gregg Williams overshift, and he runs right through the gap after Hayes again gets taken out of the play. Brockers can't get there, Laurinaitis is blocked and useless. Barron also got blocked. His play's been a big reason teams have been able to run on the Rams lately. 5 to CHRIS GIVENS. Quick slant, covered by TruJo. 4 for Buck Allen; they're going to run at Hayes until he quits getting blocked 10 feet out of every play and until Brockers does anything to help him. Tackle by Donald. Forsett tears off for 26 around left end, but it comes back because of a ticky-tack tripping call on guard Ryan Jensen. A better call would have been holding on the TE who ripped T.J. McDonald down. I won't berate the Rams for that play. 3rd-and-6. 4-man rush, and Nick Fairley gets into Flacco's feet enough to affect his sideline throw for Kamar Aiken, which comes up short enough to look like a Nick Foles throw. The Rams have Tavon Austin AND Welker back to return the punt, which Welker brings to the 15.

Gurley for 6 off Austin motion left and a super driving block by Reynolds. Another 5 for Gurley inside a nice Wichmann block. So much for that momentum: PENALTY #2 false start because Barnes THE CENTER didn't know the snap count. FOCUS! Gurley left for 2 behind Cory Harkey. Keenum goes up top for Jared Cook, who's about as open as you or I would have been, though I'd like to think we would have at least stayed in bounds. Britt and Keenum are not on the same page or even the same book on the 3rd-down blitz adjustment. The throw would have been short of the 1st anyway. Poor 38-yard punt by Hekker starts the Ravens at their 39.

Play-action rollout to Crockett Gillmore for 20 to open the drive. McDonald bites as hard on this as he did the one to Jeremy Langford last week. Gillmore runs through his and Janoris Jenkins' poor tackling as it's abundantly clear the Ram defense did not come to play today. And what, Moose was talking about the TEs the RAMS can roll out? Does he actually ever watch Rams games? I don't think TE rollouts have worked for the Rams since Moose was still playing, and probably even before that.  Donald swallows Forsett whole for a five-yard loss. The Ravens are idiots if they think they're pull-blocking Aaron Donald. Donald slammed Forsett down hard and the RB stays down. We're spared a graphic replay but it's apparent Forsett's arm is broken. Jeremy Butler (?) gets 7 back on a screen out of the slot. It's not a blitz down, but Williams brings 2 over RT and nearly gets burned. Flacco hits Butler in the flat, he runs through another pathetic TruJo tackle, but luckily, Laurinaitis stops him a yard short. James nearly stole the ball from Butler in bounds but the Ravens send out Justin Tucker. No, Jeff Fisher wants to challenge the play first. McLeod knocked the ball loose, but I tend to believe Butler was down with it before Laurinaitis took it. Well, I'm not quite right; it's going to be scored a fumble out of bounds. The play changed, so no timeout charged to Fisher. Tucker surprises me by missing the FG wide right.

Still no score, Rams at their 41. While Mike Pereira filibusters about why the Rams weren't charged a timeout, Keenum rolls right, pump fakes to avoid a sack, pulls it down and fires deep for Cook, who has a step and draws DPI when Jimmy Smith runs over him trying to come back to the underthrown ball. Put the Rams at the 10! Keenum stepped across the line of scrimmage as he threw but Corrente and crew called it correctly that it was not an illegal forward pass. Keenum's back foot stayed just behind the line. John Harbaugh wants to challenge that. Replay confirms the call, and Baltimore loses the TO. Gurley behind Harkey and Reynolds for 4. Gurley powers down to the 1, led by Harkey again, with Robinson and Reynolds doing great work to turn the Raven edge back inside. 3rd-goal. Gurley takes it in from the 1 to put the Rams on top. Rams 7, Ravens 0 That was inside another strong block by Reynolds, criss-crossing with a strong block delivered by Donnal.

Poor tackling by Cody Davis lets the kick returner out to the 28. Hayes finally makes a run play and stuffs Buck Allen for no gain. 9 over the middle to Gillmore, who the Rams are making look like Earl Campbell in their inability to tackle him. Aiken turns a very quick out into about 10, but Maxx Williams is flagged for OPI for blocking too early. 4-man rush on 3rd-11, TruJo completely gets away with interference covering Givens. Bumped into him way early on his break out. Austin takes this return and gains very little out to the 29. I'm not really thrilled with the idea of concussion-prone Welker blocking guys coming at him at full speed, ya know?

Gurley cuts back for another 5 behind more outstanding work by Harkey and a good block by Barnes. The Forsett injury has been a big momentum-changer. Rams have had control of the LOS since.

SECOND QUARTER
Gurley up the middle for 4 more, but FREAKING HOLDING ON BLOODY GREG BLEEDING ROBINSON. Seriously, is Jason Smith available? 2nd-15 at the 23. Keenum gets grabbed by the foot but manages to throw a short pass away. Donnal down after the play. Holy cats. Does this mean Rhaney in and kick Reynolds out to RT? Reynolds immediately gets beaten at RT by Elvis Dumervil, but he takes down Keenum way late and draws a roughing-the-passer penalty. That was a stupid gift first down, but thanks. Rams at their 38 now. Gurley eludes Timmy Jernigan and gets outside left for 4. We just found out that Tre Mason and brilliant supplemental pick Isaiah Battle are inactive for missing the team bus yesterday. I freaking said Battle was going to be another freaking Claude Wroten, and here we go. I think Wichmann has moved to LT with Rhaney at RT. 2nd-6. Gurley cuts back, can only get 1. No push by anyone there. Quick hitch to Britt for 9 and a 1st, and wait a minute, Mason and Battle actually missed the team flight yesterday? And Mason's been missing meetings and treatment sessions this year? Why the hell does Moose Johnston know this, when he covers about two Rams games a year, and none of the Rams' reporters do? How the hell is Mason still on the team? Gurley's getting buried again now, no gain at midfield. Reynolds gets blown off the ball and Kendricks completely misses his block on Dumervil. Good protection lets Keenum go deep for Austin, but as usual, he's not remotely open. Cignetti needs to kibosh these deep throws; Keenum is underthrowing everything and that should have been picked by Lardarius Webb. The Rams lose a big play on 3rd down because of a block in the back on Britt and unnecessary roughness on Reynolds. PENALTY #3, #4. It's offsetting because they charged C.J. Mosley for a late hit on Bradley Marquez that was really the refs' fault for a late whistle. Denied Marquez about a 30-yard gain on what I'll call a sluggo route. That's a B.S. call, btw; had NOTHING to do with all the yards Marquez gained. Came right at the end. I don't know why this isn't marked from the spot and the personal fouls offset. 3rd-10 again. Poor sideline pass for Britt incomplete, never had a chance. Horrible 30-yard punt by Hekker to "pin" Baltimore at their 19. COME ON!

Quick slant to Aiken for 6. Flacco looking for Kyle J. all the way but the sideline throw is quite poor. Looks like Nick Foles is QBing both teams right now. Blitz on 3rd-4; Jenkins breaks up a short sideline throw for Jenkins. Nice play; very Rams-like possession there for the Ravens. Austin takes a big hit right at the sideline on the return, drawing a flag. Not really dirty, but still late; I'll take the free 15. The Rams, ER, Ravens, already have 99 penalty yards.

Rams out at their 43. Gurley gets 4 off a nick-of-time pancake block from Wichmann. Gurley gets another, very entertaining 5; running over useless Kendricks and classically leg-pumping his way through 3-4 defenders. 3rd-1 is a disaster, though; the whole world knows Gurley's getting the ball and Wichmann and Robinson get blown up as Brandon Williams drops him for a loss back at midfield. Robinson looked hurt after the play. Webb fair-catches the punt at the 11. PENALTY #5, illegal man downfield on Daren Bates, makes it the 16.

Holding by the center on Fairley moves the Ravens back 8. Corrente is literally hoarse from calling all these penalties. NON-CLUTCH DEFENSE IMMEDIATELY GIVES ALLEN A 17_YARD RUN. Fairley got swept aside, Donald got spun around by a double-team, Laurinaitis was poor overrunning the running lane, and Allen ran over McLeod for a bonus 5. PATHETIC.

This is strictly a contest today to see which team is less ugly. They are both garbage.

Allen squirts for another 4 and a 1st. Speaking of ugly, Flacco rolls left and throws a TERRIBLE pass that misses wide open Gillmore by a mile and is picked off by McLeod. The Rams take over at the Baltimore 42. Will they make it inside the 40?

Not yet. Nothing for Gurley as Robinson and Barnes get pushed way back. Chris Canty and blitzing Jimmy Smith don't buy a fake end-around to Austin at all and force Keenum to fire out of bounds. Donnal done for the game with a knee injury. Injuries were a big problem for him in college, weren't they? Another awesome pick. 3rd-9, Robinson gets whipped immediately by Courtney Upshaw, forcing Keenum to go on an Archie Manning-like scramble before another throwaway, and NO, THE RAMS DID NOT EVEN CROSS THE 40. Sploosh goes Hekker's stupid punt in the stupid end zone.

The Ravens resume this complete farce of a football team from their 20. Laurinaitis holds Allen to a couple with a decent hit. Overshift WORKS this time as Brockers trips Allen up for no gain. Brockers stays down hurt, though. He looks OK as he walks off. 3rd-8. Laurinaitis on a dog blitz, little pressure but Flacco floats a flaccid pass to Aiken on the sideline and Joyner holds him a yard short.

THE CLOWN SHOW CONTINUES AS AUSTIN MISPLAYS THE PUNT LIKE A DAMN IDIOT AND MUFFS IT BACK TO BALTIMORE. He knelt and reached for it, and predictably, it clanged off his hands. Poor technique = poor results. Jackass.

And now the Ravens have their best field position of the day. Allen drags Barron like a fallen water-skier for 7. Fortunately, Aaron Donald is Aaron Donald, shooting past the center to stuff Allen for a loss, along with Barron. 3rd-5. Blitz gets in Flacco's face, but Maxx Williams is open on a rub route against Joyner and gets down inside the 15. PENALTY #6, Rams had 12 on the field. Ravens inside the 10 at the 2:00 warning. Swing pass to Kyle J, but Barron blows that up for a 2-yard loss; excellent open-field play.  That play lost 4 but is somehow spotted as -2. Donald creates a bigger loss, though, splitting the LG and LT to SACK Flacco back at the 20. Obviously the Rams' first sack. Back-to-back clutch plays; the Rams need one more. Gillmore gets back inside the 10 on a bubble screen. No one's paying any attention to the clock whatsoever, and the Ravens are GOING FOR IT, 4th-and-3, as it ticks down to 5 seconds left in the half. Holy crap, TO Harbaugh with :02 left. I guess the Rams were ready enough to scare Harbaugh into going for the FG. Also, Baltimore gets the ball back after halftime. 7-3 Rams at the break

HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
I'll make the first adjustment and hide all sharp implements in my house, BECAUSE THIS GAME MAKES ME WANT TO GOUGE OUT MY EYES.

It's been working that Gregg Williams hasn't blitzed a ton in the first half, so I hope he doesn't overcompensate in the 2nd and get the Rams burned with all kinds of short stuff again. Baltimore has no credible downfield passing game, so I hope Williams will see that and stuff the box. They have to stop getting run over in the 2nd half.

Cignetti, as usual, got away from play-action too early. Bring it back to life. Also, time to quit faking end-arounds to Austin and actually run one or two. And let's get back to Gurley running behind Harkey, which worked in the 1st and disappeared in the 2nd. That'll set up play-action and should get Baltimore on their heels enough to get a FG drive or two. I wouldn't count on much more.

THIRD QUARTER
Ravens at their 20; Brockers does a good job to beat his block and stop Allen after 2. But TruJo COMPLETELY BLOWS a shoulder tackle and lets Aiken spin away with a smoke pass for 18. WRAP. HIM. UP. CLOWN! Matt Longacre (!) swims through a 2-TE formation and just misses sacking Flacco, forcing a throwaway. Brockers barely trips up Allen on a draw and holds him to 3. But Williams unnecessarily blitzes all three LBs on 3rd-7, and Butler gets behind Joyner off a very quick slant for 25. Dammit, Williams, CUT IT OUT! Ravens in FG position now at the Ram 32. Sims is obviously held the next play on an effective 4-man rush, though, and Corrente catches it. 1st-20. Screen to Maxx Williams over leaping Chris Long; Ethan Westbrooks CLOCKS him after 8. Williams nearly lost the ball. Laurinaitis and Brockers play a draw to Allen well and hold him to 1. 3rd-11. 4-man rush, and Flacco's 2-yard out route to Aiken is poor anyway. WTF was with that call? The Ravens haven't, and possibly can't, try anything downfield at all. Oh, wait, it gets DUMBER from the Ravens; they GO FOR IT on 4th-and-11 and throw a FIVE-YARD DUMPOFF to Kyle J. Laurinaitis is all over it; Rams ball. Good 4-man rush there.

By this point, I'm not sure why Harbaugh hasn't both benched Flacco and fired his offensive coordinator Marc Trestman. Rams fans think WE have it bad! Rams ball at their 28. Bomb for Britt off a fake Austin end-around is A MILE SHORT. The flag flies for a grab by Webb, but is picked up because the pass was ruled uncatchable. Well, it is when the DB tackles the WR trying to come back for it. Hey, it's Todd Gurley, up the middle for 3. Let's not forget him. Keenum throws a pass to Austin on an out route that is so bad it looks like it was tipped but wasn't. He's 0-for-his-last-7. Jesus Christ, warm up Foles again. Or Sean Mannion. Or let Hekker have another try back there. Keenum's making Steve Walsh look like John Elway. Punt time!

Great punt, 63 yards, chases the returner inside the 5 and Bates hammers him at the 11. Bad pass out of Gillmore's reach on 1st down. Flacco bombs for Aiken, but TruJo has very tight and pretty physical coverage and knocks it down. Ravens waste a TO because they had 12 on the field. You know, sometimes you really are as good as your record says you are. That's a 2-7 football team. Still an open question if the Rams can finish them, but that's a 2-7 team. Long ball for Givens is way off for a 3-and-out. Pass rush was good, but mainly the Raven passing game sucks as much as the Rams' does. Fair catch by Austin at the STL40.

Flare route to Jared Cook off play-action for 7. A COMPLETED PASS!!!!!

AND SO MUCH FOR THAT MOMENTUM. Keenum trips coming out of center, tries to make a diving exchange with Gurley, the ball hits the ground, Albert McClellan falls right on it for Baltimore.

I AM FREAKING SERIOUS. GET NICK FOLES IN THE GAME NOW.

Ravens ball at the Ram 42 as the worst football game in the NFL this season rages on. Play action to Allen, Flacco then goes to him in the flat, Ayers blows the hell out of the tackle, 12-yard gain.  Allen runs right into Donald and Longacre (!) for 1. And then the pathetic comedy of errors continues. It's a screen, but Maxx Williams doesn't seem to know he's the intended receiver. Hayes rushes Flacco into a floater that misses Williams by a mile and goes right to TruJo for a pick, and now the Rams have the ball across midfield.

I have seen more entertaining 4th quarters of preseason games than this fiasco.
I have seen more entertaining grade-school football games than this fiasco.
I have seen more entertaining Strat-o-matic football games than this fiasco.

Seriously, Corrente should just call this game right now. It is setting football back 100 years. Rams at their 48. TruJo naturally limped off after his pick. If either team had a competent QB, this game would be over by now, but the awful Keenum remains in for the Rams. Gurley gets a couple. They FINALLY actually run an end-around to Austin, and Kendricks leads him out for 16 with a decent block. And now Kendricks is ALL ALONE downfield for a 30-yard TD!!! This is a fake play-action rollout play. Instead of rolling out, though, Keenum pulled up and hit Kendricks wide open on the other side of the field. That's a win for Frank Cignetti, though now we're not sure if Kendricks actually made it in. Corrente says count it. 14-3 Rams

NO, 13-3 Rams, THEY GET THE DAMN EXTRA POINT BLOCKED. Zuerlein barely got it off the ground; it looked like it barely even cleared Robinson's head on the o-line. Looked like he shanked it. Freaking brilliant.



Baltimore starts at their 29; Fairley stuffs Allen for 1. Allen leaks out and runs through Jenkins for 8. Terrible call on 3rd-1, a toss right to Allen that Sims and Laurinaitis blow up and string out for a big loss. Looks like the Ravens are quitting on this one to me.

IDIOT AUSTIN signals fair catch and then attempts a return. PENALTY #7 That will bury them at the 13. He has as much mental focus today as Charlie Sheen at any porn star convention the past 30 years. 2 for Gurley with Barnes getting blown off the ball. 6 to the forgotten Wes Welker, who makes a nice grab. Excellent protection too. 3rd-2, with Reynolds getting pushed back into him, Keenum attempts a sideline lob for a well-covered Gurley. Corrente bails the Rams out with a DPI call on Webb away from the ball. Wait, there can be DPI away from the play? Wouldn't that be an uncatchable ball in most cases if it's not the intended receiver? Corrente's officiating this game about as well as it deserves to be. Mosley shoots unblocked behind Rhaney and buries Gurley for -1. Neither team distinguishing itself pull-blocking today. 2nd-11, BENNY misses a big cutback lane and gets stuffed. Nice gain if he bounces it left. 3rd-11, the Ravens successfully blitz a screen pass even though that ought to never happen. Benny got caught up, which left Will Hill a free run at Keenum, who had to lamely ground it while Hill took him down EXCESSIVELY late. No flag from Corrente this time. Moose also spots a missed personal foul on Upshaw shoving Welker down downfield. What the hell, Corrente?

There are a hilarious THREE penalties on Baltimore on the punt. Wasn't Harbaugh a special-teams coach? What a crisp-playing unit he has. Ravens at their 10. Screen to Allen gets 7. Allen knocks out another 5 with Fairley and Brockers getting moved. Gillmore's open in zone coverage but Flacco's pass is through his hands. It's like the Rams are playing a mirror image of themselves. Good 4-man pressure from Hayes and Sims, and Flacco misses a dumpoff to Kyle J. Good rush by Fairley, and Flacco underthrows Aiken's comeback route, looks like that was off his hands but a tough catch. Austin tries to sweep right with the punt but loses 4 back to the 30.

If the Rams can establish anything at all here in the 4th, you have to think this game is over. Let's put this one away.

FOURTH QUARTER
Quick screen to Kendricks, who shoots up the sideline for 13. And, so much for that. Rhaney gets smoked by Brandon Williams, who meets Gurley well behind the line and knocks the ball out. It bounces to Upshaw. The Rams are up 10 against a team playing the worst football I've seen any team play this season and are STILL trying to find ways to lose. GOD!

Ravens at their 42; McDonald THUMPS Allen in the hole; he maybe got 1. Donald hits Flacco as he throws, but he gets it off to Allen for 7. THE RAMS CONTINUE TO FAIL TO STOP SIMPLE DUMPOFFS OUT OF THE BACKFIELD as Allen gains 14 down to the 20. They can't get the ball downfield and have stopped even trying; WHY CAN THE RAMS NOT STOP THIS PLAY? Kyle J. up the middle for 1, stopped by Donald. Laurinaitis and Barron leave Gillmore open between them at the 10 and he carries them 5 yards down to the 3 with a 16-yard gain. Williams has turned the blitz spigot completely off, but I don't get what he thinks he's going to accomplish with soft zone coverage. Hayes stuffs Allen on 1st-and-goal. Now Williams blitzes, it doesn't get there, and Aiken beats a pretty clueless-looking MARCUS ROBERSON for the TD. What's Roberson even doing in there on the goal line? Roberson even held him and couldn't prevent the catch. He ran out of a stack/pick play that got McDonald into a big collision with Butler; my impression is McDonald might have been in position to prevent the catch otherwise.

Meanwhile, the Rams have let the Ravens play like complete sewage for over three quarters and still get back in the game. Rams 13, Ravens 10

Cook's wide open in the zone off play-action for 16. Another fake end-around; Keenum throws the screen pass away with Upshaw covering it well. No, they say Keenum actually threw a backward pass for a 7-yard loss. WHERE IS FOLES? This is an absolutely HORRID call by Corrente. Keenum threw from the 27, they're spotting it at the 29, how the HELL can it have been backward? 2nd-17. I still have no explanation how Keenum can throw a backward pass that traveled two yards forward. Incomplete pass behind Welker, 3rd-17. Good blitz pickup, but Keenum can only dump off to Cook for a few. Great, momentum is now turning in a game the Rams should have put away long ago.

Ravens at their 22, nice stop by Mo Alexander on the punt. Aiken WIDE OPEN down the seam for 17. What the hell has happened in coverage? Allen clangs out 8 with Brockers and Sims easily handled. From the BLT46, a blown coverage leaves Gillmore open in the flat for a FREAKING 46-YARD GAIN. GUESS WHAT GREGG WILLIAMS GOT CAUGHT IN. A BLITZ. Ayers should have been out covering Gillmore but blitzed instead and the Ravens caught them with a crossfield screen. Janoris Jenkins again gets blocked out of a big play. Gregg Williams has been more useless the past two weeks than a pine tree air freshener at a pig farm. Hayes stuffs Allen on 1st-and-goal at the 9. Barron prevents a TD for now by stopping an Aiken reception at the 1. The Rams are all over a rollout pass to Williams at the 1, though, to force 4th-and-goal. Good plays by Jenkins and McLeod. Harbaugh settles for a tie game with 5:12 left, which probably isn't a bad move given the incompetence of the Ram offense. 13-13

Way to blow the lead, clowns. Rams at their 20 and could use some plays by Welker and Cook to get in Zuerlein range. Gurley left for 6; good block by Robinson, effective lead-out by Kendricks. Draw to Gurley for another 7. I think Cignetti's catching Baltimore thinking pass. Gurley tries to follow Rhaney and drives for 3. Quick out to Cook gets 4 and leaves 3rd-3. Play-action this puppy, please. Well, that was weird, but it worked. Keenum rolled left out of shotgun, had nowhere to go, but threw a backside screen to Benny, who hustled off for a big 20 at the 2:00 warning. At the BLT39, they're on the fringe of FG position. About 15 more should do it. Gurley left for nothing; Rhaney got pushed back and Barnes got beaten inside. TO#2 for Harbaugh. Screen left to Austin off a fake screen right to Welker for 3-4. Third down and 5. 52-yard FG potentially, so don't get sacked whatever you do. Jimmy Smith holds the crap out of Austin on an attempted comeback and he can't get to the ball at the 25. What the hell, Corrente?

AND OF COURSE ZUERLEIN LEAVES THE FG WIDE RIGHT, putting Baltimore in beautiful field position with 1:42 still to go. 25 yards would give them the same FG Zuerlein just missed. They get most of that with the first pass, AND OF COURSE IT'S CHRIS GIVENS beating Jenkins for a 20-yard sideline catch. Kyle J. right for 3 to the STL35; timeout#1, Fisher.  Good rush by Hayes forces a pass behind Givens that SHOULD have been intercepted by McDonald or McLeod on the deflection. Dammit, people, MAKE A PLAY! Allen up the middle for 3 to eat another Ram TO. 1:18 left, Tucker in to try from 51. Yeah, the kick Zuerlein just missed. And hey, remember that blocked PAT?

The Find Ways To Lose Bowl stays tied after Tucker leaves the kick wide right. Rams at THEIR 41 now with 1:13 left, and a timeout. And NOW we get a drop, by Austin near midfield. 2nd-10, Dumervil jumps into the neutral zone, and unabated to the QB, I'm expecting a whistle. No, Corrente lets 'em play. Maybe that's correct. It doesn't work out well for Keenum. Jernigan beats Barnes badly with a hand fight and slings Keenum to the ground, on his head. Keenum's immediately grasping his head after the play. Barnes tries to pick him up but he is basically a rag doll. Wait, are they letting him walk it off? What the hell? After a quick chat with sideline personnel, KEENUM REMAINS IN THE GAME?!?! HOW?!?!? Isn't it mandatory to pull him out of the game? 2nd-5 at the 46. Keenum overthrows Welker at the sideline. 3rd-5 with 1:00 left, and OH, FOR CHRIST's SAKE, IDIOT ROBINSON pushes Upshaw RIGHT INTO Keenum, who, holding the ball low, gets it knocked out at the Ram 41. Baltimore recovers as the Rams prove superior at finding the way to lose.

Jenkins breaks up a slant to Givens and just misses a pick. But on a HANDOFF to Allen, he gets 8 as Brockers and Laurinaitis get blocked. About 5 more yards and Baltimore's good for another FG try. This would be another 51-yard try from here. Allen runs over Brockers and Donald for about 5 more, while Givens is idiotically jawing with McLeod and not getting lined up for the spike. They'll spike at the 29 to give Tucker a 47-yard attempt.

Good night, Baltimore, and good riddance worthless Jeff Fisher, after the Rams BLOW IT in a loss to the worst team they'll play this season besides the one that looks back from the mirror.

I have had it with this team and need to leave now to blow off the 10,000 f-bombs I've been holding back during this pathetic spectacle. This season is over, stick a fork in the Rams and stick a fork in freaking Fisher. I have had it.

-$-