RamView game blog: Vikings 21, Rams 18 (OT)

(Updated) The 4-3 Rams will face the 5-2 Vikings today in a game with playoff implications that could be affected a lot by injury implications. Robert Quinn, T.J. McDonald and Rob Havenstein are all inactive. Eugene Sims will start for Quinn. Maurice Alexander replaces McDonald. Garrett Reynolds will kick out to RT to replace Havenstein; rookie Andrew Donnal will start at RG. Hoo boy. Sharrif Floyd and Eric Kendricks out for the Vikings on defense; this will be a war of attrition today.

The prediction: Todd Gurley will be difficult for the depleted Vikings to stop. Adrian Peterson will be harder for the similarly-depleted Rams to stop. Vikings 24-13

Today's referee: Ron Torbert. Rookie head referee last year, called two Rams road division losses, wasn't very good in either one.


Today's broadcasters: Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis for Fox.

KICKOFF AT HIGH NOON
Vikings win the toss and defer. Touchback starts Rams at their 20. Foles gets FOREVER to throw off double-play action, finds nothing and fires a sloppy, dangerous pass to Tavon Austin at the 20 that luckily hits the ground instead of a Viking defender. Charles Davis points out Foles had Kenny Britt streaking open deep. So why didn't he throw it? He had plenty of time for it. 1 for Gurley up the middle; no one blocked Anthony Barr. We're off to a typical Rams offensive start. 3rd-9. Foles has to rush a throwwith Garrett Reynolds getting beaten on the edge late; Austin is open for a 5-yard out but Foles fires it into the ground nowhere close. Johnny Hekker's punt is absolute crap, 25 yards, didn't even get the ball out of Rams territory!


The Rams are off to yet another amazingly shitty start. Play action rollout from Teddy Bridgewater to Rhett Ellison for 5. Brennaman says the Rams left Stefon Diggs wide open deep. It takes TWO snaps for the Rams to jump offsides. PENALTY #1 1st down Minn at the STL36. Ron Torbert took his sweet time making that call. Aaron Donald and Eugene Sims collapse AP's middle running lane; he has to bounce outside right for no gain. Teddy scrambles out of trouble and goes deep for Mike Wallace, who beat Mo Alexander by at least a step, but overthrew him. 3rd-10. 4-man rush doesn't get there, Teddy stands tall and drills one to Jarius Wright between Lamarcus Joyner and James Laurinaitis for 12. That's good coverage; the Rams have to take advantage of Teddy's risk-taking ways today. Ethan Westbrooks badly overshoots the 1st down handoff; AP follows G Mike Harris through the hole for 7 to the STL17. Teddy audibles to a handoff, but Laurinaitis fills the gap perfectly and flushes AP outside for a yard. Akeem Ayers tackle. 3rd-2. Vikings bizarrely go shotgun; AP does not appear to be on the field. Trumaine Johnson expertly jams Charles Johnson's slant route. Not only does Charles not get there, TruJo nearly picks it off. Blair Walsh puts the Vikings ahead. Vikings 3, Rams 0

The Ram offense needs to get their damn heads out of their damn asses. They start at their 20 again. Will they cross the 22? Foles drops the snap but still gets the handoff to Gurley, who goes off RT for 10. Good blocks by Reynolds and Corey Harkey among others. Foles has to throw a swing pass for Gurley high to get it over a blitzer and it's incomplete. Play-action to Gurley, and Brian Quick is open on an out route, but Foles misses him by 10 feet. Brian Robison was coming at him, but that throw shouldn't have been THAT far off. Foles' wheels aren't coming off; I think he drove to the stadium with four flats. 3rd-10, Barr shuts off the dumpoff to Gurley for 4. NICE tackle by Stedman Bailey holds Marcus Sherels to zip on the punt return. 49 net for Hekker that time.

I've spent most of the season blaming the Ram receivers for the anemic passing game, but Foles has CLEARLY been the problem so far this week. He's missing open receivers and spraying passes all over the place.

Vikings at their 20. Jenkins opens the drive with PENALTY #2 a DPI on Stefon Diggs. Held him all the way through a quick slant. Then PENALTY #3 A BULLSHIT offsides call on Brockers, who got back well before the Viking lineman reacted, but the idiot referees still claim he "made" the Viking player jump. BULL. SHIT. This is a stupid rule that needs to be reviewed. The D should have a chance to get back onside. AP false starts to even things out. 1st-10 at the 28. AP takes a draw left for 6, with Sims, Mark Barron and Brockers all failing to get off blocks. Soft zone does not go well when your DB stumbles, and CharJo beats a stumbling Jenkins for 25 to the Ram 41. I doubt Gregg Williams should wait much longer to start bringing more serious heat. Pretty simple cut by CharJo had Jenkins lurching drunkenly around. Rollout pass right to AP for 8, off a fake jet sweep to Cordarrelle Patterson, who disappeared off the face of the earth after scorching the Rams on that play last opening day. ANOTHER rollout pass right - you know, the play the Rams have NEVER run successfully, AGAIN beats the Rams D. Kyle Rudolph for 13. The whole Ram D bit on play action, Rudolph dragged and Barron was way late getting to him. Bridgewater hard-counts Nick Fairley offside PENALTY #4 offside by a mile, and the Rams are as composed right now as Bill Clinton at a cheerleader cosplay convention. From the 12, ANOTHER rollout pass right, to St. Louisan Mycole Pruitt down to the 5. Um, Gregg Williams, any thoughts? Nope. EASY TD, PETERSON sweeping right. Barron can't get there, and Harris pulls again and pancakes I believe Alexander. It's hard to tell because he's just a stain on the field after that. 10-0 Vikings

This game looks every bit the blowout right now. The Rams are doing NOTHING (except jumping offside) on either side of the ball.

Here's something new, the Rams starting at their 20. And now the 19 after Gurley loses a yard. Austin didn't even get in the safety's way and he shot the gap. I wonder if Gurley should have taken that right instead of left, though. Swing pass right to Gurley for about 5. AND HOLY COW A THIRD DOWN CONVERSION on a comeback route to Austin, who was split wide left, for 10. Good protection, good throw by Foles. 3rd-6, they were 7 yards off him. Throw that all day, please. Brilliant Torberg next tries to call Donnal for a false start on what's a legal maneuver for a guard pre-snap. At least he reversed the call. Gurley sweeps right for 3. Brian Schottenheimer returns to the booth and calls a handoff up the middle for Austin for 2. 3rd-5. Cignetti kicks out Schotty and tries the first play of the game again, a bomb for Britt off double-play-action, and Britt makes an EXCELLENT catch with Terence Newman smacking him in the helmet prior to the ball arriving. The ball goes through his arms but he pins it to his hip for a 54-yard gain to the Viking 6. The Rams have to use a timeout because Foles' headset stopped working. THE VIKINGS JUMP OFFSIDE WITH NO CALL, but Gurley plows down to the 1 off a Kendricks block and behind the mauling company of Tim Barnes and Jamon Brown. 2nd-goal, Gurley IS IN for the TD. He hurdled Cory Harkey's block, stuck the ball out dangerously and got slammed in midair, but bounced back and basically got shoved in by Brown, with Barnes also escorting him in.

The wind is apparently so much in Jeff Fisher's and our kicking team's heads that the Rams actually go for two after the TD, and fail miserably, with Gurley getting stuck by two Vikings at the 2. Is there a f*cking sharknado blowing in Minnesota today that the Rams aren't even trying god damn PATs? Donnal was on the ground for the 2nd straight play there, I'm sure he was supposed to be pull-blocking there. Vikings 10, Rams 6

The sharknado has apparently taken a full FIFTEEN YARDS off Greg Zuerlein's kickoffs; Patterson takes it at the 5. Good coverage by Cameron Lynch stops him at the 21. Good rush by Westbrooks flushes Teddy to dump off to Jerrick McKinnon for a couple. Quick out to Diggs defended well by Jenkins for a short gain to end the quarter.


SECOND QUARTER
FOX IS LATE coming back from commercial as Joyner draws PENALTY #5 DPI trying to breakup a quick pass to Wallace on a pivot route out of trips. 1st-10 at the 31. Donald's quick burst forces AP outside and AP lets Jenkins put him down with a no-wrap shoulder tackle for a loss. Matt Longacre (!) also there on the stop. Teddy gets forever off play-action and eventually slides for 5. That was Longacre (!) flushing him with an inside move on Matt Kalil. The Rams blitz on 3rd-4 out of an amoeba-look and Teddy overthrows Wright deep, with Davis and Brennaman calling Joyner for holding in the first 5 yards. Not Torbert, though, so send in the punt team. Austin brings the punt back 11 to set the Rams up nicely at their 35.

The sharknado is currently at the Rams' back, and that last Viking punt was a little short. Tre Mason carries the ball like a loaf of bread and cuts back for 2. Foles barely beats a safety blitz and lobs a back-shoulder throw to Britt, who wasn't expecting that kind of throw but neatly pirouettes at the sideline with a 22-yard catch. Brennaman somehow knows Foles is having headset problems again; the next play barely gets off, and Mason gets buried for a loss on a bubble screen. I swear this team is UNABLE to put together a decent play after any gain over 15 yards. 2nd-14. Mason gets 1 on a draw after Linval Joseph sheds Barnes. Foles beats a blitz and targets Jared Cook for the first time today down the right seam. Captain Munnerlyn hits Cook early and the ball's off Cook's hand. What a terrible place to hit a receiver, in one of his hands! Admittedly, though, Cook's plea for a penalty was valid, since he couldn't get his other arm up. And now... here's Zuerlein to try a 61-yard kick, because those have gone so well this year. What the f*ck is this? We'll try this but are too chicken-shit to even try a PAT on the other end?

...

...

Go go go go go go go.
We're all going to win with the sharknado.
FG bombs will flow, flow, flow.
Legatron and the sharknado.

Zuerlein drills it from 61, right down the heart of the uprights. It would have been good from 70. That's a team record! Vikings 10, Rams 9

Zuerlein then gets away with shanking a bouncing kickoff that Patterson has to kneel with anyway. So much for momentum, as Barron tries to run around one side of a double-team on Brockers but AP busts through the other side for 12. 2 more for AP; diving stop by Fairley. AP for another couple; Brockers stopped that by knocking the center down in the hole. 3rd-6. The Rams fake a big blitz over RT, only bringing 1 of 3, coaxing an early throw out of Teddy; Wallace is open for a quick out, but the throw isn't quite there. Neither was Wallace's route-running or effort. He dogged that. Dangerous return attempt by Austin, brought down immediately at the Ram 26.

Stupid handoff to Austin loses 1, with Joseph beating Donnal badly. If Austin is not on the move, he should not be getting the ball, OK? Bubble screen to Stedman Bailey for about 4, and Munnerlyn facemasks him for another 15. Put the Rams at their 43. Gurley off RT for a couple; Kenrick Ellis blew up Barnes or that might have been something. Gurley bobs and weaves and plunges for 6 off a fake Austin end-around. Good block upfield by Harkey. 3rd-2. AUSTIN DOES NOT GET THERE on a bubble screen. He bobbled the catch, which let Barr get there to stop him short. Roughly a 64-yarder if Fisher wants to try it. 4th-and-6-inches, Fisher goes for it instead. Tony Siragusa argues for trying to pin the Vikings with a punt. The Rams distract the Vikings by putting Austin in motion and Foles sneaks across for the 1st. Nice. Play-action, Foles pulls down a bomb attempt and hits Gurley on a wheel route up the sideline for 10. Too bad that throw was lofted high and behind him, he had room to run. Fox also shows Brian Quick screamingly open on a deep cross. No idea why Foles didn't throw that. He meant to. The Rams pull out a play I haven't seen since training camp for another 11. Fake handoff, Austin comes on an end-around and takes a backward pass. Wide open. Rams now at the MIN23. Gurley left for 1, stopped by Barr. Gurley up the middle for 5 more, bent awkwardly backward by Chad Greenway. 3rd-4. Nothing to like about the next play, a stupid 4-yard arrow route by Cook. Foles underthrows it, the Viking defender jumps it, incomplete. Play never had much of a chance. Zuerlein puts the Rams ahead from 35. Rams 12, Vikings 10

The sharknado now makes Zuerlein kick off with Rodney McLeod holding, and it's another crappy kick, fielded by Patterson at the 1, but here's Lynch again to shut him down at the 20. With the offensive line lined up clearly illegally - I've seen flocks of geese keep straighter lines - AP takes off for 15, off a Donald double-team and Barron whiffing in the hole. AP up the middle for 2 more, grabbed by Hayes and Donald. 4-man rush flushes Teddy - I guess I'll give the credit to Donald but I think Teddy panicked - and he fires a ball at wide-open Wallace's feet incomplete. The Rams get away with a 3rd-and-long blitz when McLeod shuts down Wallace on a drag route for a short gain. Vikings will punt at the 2:00 warning.

Vikings down the punt at the Ram 15. End-around right to Austin for 13 behind a sweet block by Lance Kendricks. Sweep to Gurley goes nowhere, though, with Griffen getting away from Kendricks and Greg Robinson. TO#1 Minnesota. Thanks for stopping the clock. Austin motions left, then doubles back for another end-around, cuts it inside, breaks a tackle at the 40 and gains 22 out to midfield. TO#2 Rams. Play-action to Gurley, fake end-around to Quick (!), and Kendricks is open over the middle for 20. Foles clocks it at 0:53. Frank Cignetti is running circles around Mike Zimmer right now. Actually, he's faking circles and running squares around him. Xavier Rhodes breaks up an ill-advised TD bomb for Britt. Too well-covered; Foles should know not to throw that. 3rd-10 at the MIN30, bubble screen to Bradley Marquez (!) (?) only gets 3. The Rams bleed the clock to :03 and bring Zuerlein in for a 45-yarder. He hits it. Halftime score: Rams 15, Vikings 10

HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS 
The Rams have done it again, fighting through a lousy start to actually take control of the game by halftime. The Vikings have shut down Gurley but the Rams have adjusted with all the misdirection to Austin. I'm not looking for a lot of change in the 2nd half. Stick with the power running game. The short passing game should open up with Minnesota concerned about Austin. They did not blitz much in the 1st half, so the Rams will get some shots at beating those with big plays.


Gregg Williams didn't blitz much in the 1st half, either; I expect him to turn that dial up and get Bridgewater in trouble with it. He hasn't been accurate or read the field very well today.

I'm curious to see if the Vikings defer after the half to take the wind in the 4th quarter. The Minnesota sharknado has been a big factor so far.

THIRD QUARTER
Nope, Minnesota takes the ball - sharknado will be behind them in the 3rd - and Patterson shoots up the sideline with ANOTHER crappy Zuerlein kickoff all the way to the 47. Good blocking sealed off Barron and Cody Davis and Marquez missed a diving tackle.

Play-action flare to Rudolph nets 14 after a Jenkins whiff. Play-action bomb next for Diggs in the end zone, but TruJo outwrestles him for the ball. They announce a flag has been thrown; I have no idea where it is. Is this an interception? After a long conference, Torbert calls DPI on TruJo, but it's barely out before he gets a tap on the shoulder from another official. Back to the staff meeting. In a much shorter amount of time, Charles Davis makes a strong case for a no-call. It's a ball they both have a right to. I thought TruJo grabbed Diggs' jersey before the ball arrived, but if you're not calling that, there's nothing about his catch that's pass interference at all. Ha! Torbert reverses the call to offensive pass interference. But then says first down Minnesota? No! It's an interception! Now he gets that right, Rams ball, super play, Trumaine Johnson.

After all that, Rams ball at their 20. Gurley loses 2 up the middle with Kendricks and Barnes getting beaten badly. Another flying start on offense. Play action on 2nd-12, no one picks up Andrew Sendejo's safety blitz until Harkey makes a diving block, but Barnes gets whipped by Joseph anyway to get Foles flattened for the first sack of the game for either team. 3rd-20. Somebody said Minnesota was going to bring more blitzing in the 2nd half... Foles hits Bailey at the 20 to send Hekker out into the DREADED WIND. Super punt by Hekker, though, he kept it low and lined it 52 yards. And never mind, PENALTY #6 on Jake McQuaide for holding will force Hekker to kick from his goal line, and replay showed him taking a real wallop on the previous play. Hekker gets a BIG bounce for a 57-yard punt, though, with a short return by Sherels to the 40. Two very big kicks by Hekker there.

AP churns out 4 through a hole Donald and Westbrooks originally closed. Jenkins continues to not be sharp, beaten by Diggs' out-and-up move for 35. Put those Hawaii tickets on hold. AP cuts a pitch back inside for 13 - that's his move! Be ready for it! - with Brockers blocked aside and Donald way overpursuing. They're at the Ram 14. McLeod temporarily saved a TD with an ankle tackle. AP sweeps right but Laurinaitis stops that for a loss. McKinnon all alone out of the backfield for 8 as the Rams are really putting no pressure on Teddy this half. That continues on 3rd-and-2 as Teddy runs a 7-yard TD in himself. Barron does not get there on the blitz, and when Sims is pushed deep and Matt Kalil flattens Donald, he has all the running room he needs. The Ram defense continues to disgrace itself as Westbrooks and Donald whiff while Teddy runs around right end and dives at the pylon to convert the 2-pointer. Vikings 18, Rams 15 That was one of the worst drives of Aaron Donald's young career.

Rams start again at their 20. Tons of time left, still over 8:00 to go in the 3rd. Gurley leaps Newman on a 90-flip to the ahhs of the Minnesota crowd but only gets 2. Davis pointing out Minnesota is blitzing every play now. UM, CALLED IT. 5 to Kendricks, immediately tackled by Barr. 3rd-3. The Rams fall to TWO FOR TEN on third down as Britt slips or trips trying to run an out route with Trae Waynes all over him. Clutch 3-and-out there, buddy. How do the Rams not know the Vikings will be blitzing when the clown blogger in Illinois could guess it?

Vikings at their 28 after the punt. Longacre holds AP to 2 on a play that was opening up for a lot more. Quick hitter to Diggs leaves 3rd-1. Bridgewater, a SECOND-year player, hard-counts William Hayes, an EIGHTH-year player, offside. PENALTY#7 First down Vikings at their 42. The Rams had stuffed the run. AP tries to bounce a run outside but Jenkins shut it down rapidly; another tackle for Longacre (!). 2nd-8. Donald whips past Brandon Fusco with a swipe move and just misses a sack of Teddy, who I assume had a receiver in the area of his obvious throwaway. Double-dog blitz on 3rd down has Teddy dumping off to Rudolph, who's stopped short by Akeem Ayers. Donald draws a hold, and the Rams take the penalty instead of the punt. Teddy can't do anything with the extra opportunity; Hayes nearly tracks him down a couple of times and forces a wild throw out of bounds. Also looked like Hayes took Teddy down late with a low hit, to the crowd's displeasure. Their outrage seems justified. Teddy's slow getting up and limps to the sideline. I don't know at what point he's considered a runner. It happened well out of the pocket but was still late. Austin returns the punt to the Ram 20.

STILL no running room for Gurley, 2 up the middle behind Brown and Harkey. AND FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, TAVON AUSTIN IDIOTICALLY DROPS A LONG BALL. Foles play-faked to Gurley, who made a nice block on Joseph to save a sack. Foles went long, Austin's beaten the safety by two steps, but the throw brings him back inside, he has to wait on it, then stupidly jumps for it when he doesn't have to, and misplays it for as stupid and as bad a drop as you'll see all year. Foles has a tendency to put way too much air under these, and did here. He completely underthrew it. Austin still has no excuse not to catch it. How much more of this garbage do we have to take?

Hilariously, the Vikings get a roughing-the-passer call for a late hit to Foles. Wasn't he out of the pocket? More great news, Austin limps off after the play. I'll hope that's just a second-degree sprain of his pride. 1st-10 at the 37. Again no room for Gurley, held to 2. Tackler got of Reynolds' block. Gurley stuffed again, with Joseph beating Brown to blow things up. The Vikings are now treating the Rams like the Rams treated the 49ers last week, jumping all over a woeful bubble screen attempt to Quick for a loss. The Rams can't run and Minnesota no longer has to believe they can. Hekker at least pins the Vikings at their 11 with a sweet 50-yard punt into the teeth of the sharknado.

Fairley nearly blows up the handoff; AP bounces it outside but I think Fairley drew a hold. 1st-15 at the 5. Barron takes AP down for a loss with a run blitz. That ends what seemed like a very long third quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
Austin is apparently out due to cramps. PENALTY#8 on TruJo lets the Vikings out of 3rd-and-long at their goal line with a holding penalty that neither Charles Davis nor I can see on camera. BRIDGEWATER HARDCOUNTS HAYES OFFSIDE AGAIN. PENALTY#9 This is getting downright idiotic now. AP up the middle for 4, caught by Sims. 2nd-1, the Rams give Bridgewater FOREVER to throw again, he scrambles for the 1st down, slides, and gets literally knocked out by Joyner, who's going to deserve all 15 yards of that PENALTY#10 and the fine probably already in the mail from the league as we speak. Every angle of every replay of that play, it looks like Joyner's trying to hit Bridgewater even though he's already well into his slide. Bridgewater enters the league concussion protocol, and OMG I JUST REALIZED THE MINNESOTA BACKUP QB IS SHAUN HILL, AND IF THE RAMS FIND A WAY TO LOSE TO SHAUN MOTHER F*CKING HILL, I AM GOING TO GIVE UP FOOTBALL. Yet what has Hill done his whole career? Torch the Rams. Including when he played for them.

And immediately, here comes EFFING Hill, hitting AP for 10. Ayers pokes the ball out! And Mo Alexander IGNORES IT TO GO HIT AP! What the effing eff?!?!? Diggs recovers at the MIN 49. AP fumbles AGAIN on a handoff but falls on it in the backfield. 3rd-3. Hill throws it away with Barron coming on a blitz. Nice rush by Longacre (!) again there. Austin's back for the punt, which the sharknado knocks down at the 26.

Austin looks OK now, squirting off for 20 with another end-around right. Kendricks and Britt got him blocks, but it looks like Britt might have gotten rolled up on. He comes out for Quick, but now here comes Gurley. Donnal and Barnes lead him out through the left side for 14. Gurley middle for only a couple - the Rams just can't budge the Vikings up front. Joseph beats Barnes again and hits Foles as he throws for a wild incomplete. Foles' headset is not working AGAIN. 3rd-8, Griffen smokes Robinson but good with a spin move and panics Foles into a dumb grounding penalty PENALTY #11.  Promising drive blows up on offensive line breakdowns. Hekker pins the Vikings at the 10 again. This is becoming a broken record.

Peterson immediately sweeps left for 12. Sims got blocked; Alexander whiffed in the hole. He hits a huge gap right for another 13 as Hayes and Brockers both got turned.

I appreciate Thom Brennaman defending St. Louis as a football city, but any time the Rams have done something like Joyner's hit on Bridgewater in games he's called in the past, he is nanoseconds-quick to call it a dirty play, and he clings to saying the Rams are dirty the rest of the game like a junkyard dog clinging to a tough steak. Neither Brennaman nor I know if Joyner made a dirty play or just a stupid play. I tend to think stupid is likelier. Take that burr out from under your saddle for future Rams games, Thom.

Brockers holds Peterson to 3. Hill throws a dying duck way over his receiver's head at the sideline. LOL. McLeod comes on the blitz; Sims hits Hill's arm as he throws to force an even duckier throw by Shaun than usual. Crowd wants DPI on Joyner against Wallace. I have fallen so far behind I can't rewind the TiVo, sorry.

Gurley bounces outside for 3 and loses a big gain to Rhodes' lucky shoestring tackle. He was on his way there. 2nd-7 after Viking LB Audie Cole is carted off with a knee injury. Quick screen to Austin for 4. Gurley splits wide on 3rd-3 but Waynes strips him on a quick hitch. Illegal formation on the Rams anyway. They're about 2-for-13 on third down now, and this is getting f*cking ridiculous.

Vikings at their 30, 6:48 left. Peterson sweeps right, cuts back for 5 as Fairley and Brockers can't get off blocks to pursue well. Quick slant on 3rd-4 is broken up by Jenkins. Davis acts like that was uncalled DPI on Jenkins when it absolutely wasn't.

Rams take over at their 35 as Brennaman continues to bang on the Joyner hit to Bridgewater and suggests there will be acrimony between the head coaches in the post-game handshake. Let. It. Go. Robison stays home well and trips up Austin for a loss on an end-around. Gurley sweeps left for 16 to midfield, mainly off a great block outside by Cook and one downfield by Austin. Save the next one for the highlight reel, as he goes right for 9, breaking a Joseph tackle in the backfield and running through a couple more. Gurley's wearing 'em down now, bulldozing left for 7 off a Harkey block. He gets a rest for Tre Mason, who gets nothing up the middle as Reynolds can't budge you know who, Linval Joseph. 2nd-9 at the MIN33 at the 2:00 warning. Barr blows up ANOTHER attempted end-around to Austin, who's lucky to lose only 1 when it could have been 6. THEY'RE RUNNING ON THIRD AND TEN, and Gurley goes up the middle for 4 to set Zuerlein up for a 48-yarder.

Zuerlein's kick inexplicably slices right and stays wide by a couple of feet. Siragusa says the wind caught it. Yeah, I know, no NFL kicker has ever had to make such a difficult kick with a wind at his damn back. Zuerlein's been hitting them straight and true all game - what the hell happened here?

The Vikings are insanely trying to roll out pass, but Alexander buries Hill for an 11-yard loss. TO#1, Rams. Then Donald nearly tackles Hill before he can hand off to AP. Sims and Ayers string it out well and Hayes tackles him for a loss. 3rd-22, TO#2 and the Rams have a good shot at getting the ball back. They just hand off to Matt Asiata, who gets a couple on a sweep, and the Rams will get the ball back with about 1:20 left. Austin gets near the Ram 40 with the punt. Here we go. 1:14.

Comeback to Britt for 9, well in bounds, clock runs. Foles goes to him again for a back-shoulder throw and Waynes interferes with him with a push at the MIN35. Nice pocket but Foles fires a very wobbly ball out of bounds. Foles vs. Hill is no quarterback clinic, that's for sure. Danielle (that's a MAN's name?) Hunter beats Reynolds to flush Foles out of bounds for a throwaway; worse yet, PENALTY #FREAKING 12 is on Reynolds for holding, backing the Rams up to the 45. Foles goes to Cook over the middle to get the 10 back. Quick has no clue what's going on as Foles throws an out route in hurry up mode, sending Zuerlein in to try from 53 this time. 0:17 left. Zimmer with the cheeseball freeze-the-kicker TO as Zuerlein hits his first try. The try that counts floats right down the middle to tie the game. Rams 18, Vikings 18

Alexander stuffs Sherels at the 17 on the kickoff, and we'll head to overtime.

OVERTIME
Both offenses look so bad right now they should consider just kneeling on the ball every play like Red Beaulieu tried that time in the Bourbon Bowl. Minnesota wins the toss and takes the wind, which shocks the Fox booth a lot more than it should. The new overtime rules encourage that decision in this kind of offensively-challenged game; I'd hope Jeff Fisher would have made the same call.

No running room right for Gurley, who tries a couple of cutbacks but loses SIX. Brennaman, whose wife apparently left him for Jeff Fisher, continues to harp on the Joyner hit and criticize Fisher for going for the 2-pointer early in the game. I'm not sure that had the effect he thinks it does. The Vikings stuff a screen to Austin and Foles overthrows Bailey on 3rd down - I think Bailey ran the route wrong - for an insta-punt. Hekker blasts it about 60 yards, but he shoots up the sideline off an uncalled block in the back on Harkey, who Davis keeps calling "Mike", for about 25 yards out to midfield.

Minnesota doesn't need much yardage from here to get Blair Walsh in FG range now. The rush nearly buries Hill, but Ellison beats Ayers to make it 3rd-1. Brockers gets manhandled in the hole to spring AP down to the 31. Need to start trying to strip the ball, guys. AP sweeps right for 5. Asiata gets to the 21 on a sweep left nearly again blown up by Donald off the snap. It sets Walsh up for a 40-yard game-winner.

Daren Bates makes a game run at it up the middle, but Walsh sends the fans home happy as Brennaman can continue to kiss my black ass.

Final: Vikings 21, Rams 18 (OT)

OK, Brennaman's right about that weird early decision by Fisher to go for two. Instead of kicking for an 18-18 tie late in the game, the Rams could have been kicking for a 19-17 lead. That second-guessing does not account for what the Vikings might have done differently on defense when a FG could have beaten them, but it's not unreasonable.

I say no need to sound the alarm in Rams Park just yet. That was a pretty competitive road game by a Rams team missing some very key pieces on defense. And yes, the offense was awful yet again, but the Viking defense isn't the Little Sisters of the Poor, you know.


We're on to Chicago.

-$-