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The NFL preseason is professional football of another distinction, a curious blend of impressive hints and giddy promise, followed closely by false reads and bland nothingness. It’s never wise to believe everything you see, but it’s also foolish to ignore so many fascinating things that are put right in front of your eyes.
So what do we cull from this new edition of the St. Louis Rams halfway through their 2013 preseason schedule?
As he sat in the still crowded Rams locker room after Saturday night’s 19-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers, quarterback Sam Bradford’s smile spoke almost as loud as his words. As crazy as it might seem after witnessing only one touchdown out of the Rams first-unit offense in two games, it’s fairly obvious that Bradford and this revamped offense really are headed in the right direction.
After four years laboring around here with sticks and stones in an NFL world where everyone else was playing with smart bombs, Bradford believes his offense has finally caught up in the arms race.
Exhibit No. 1 was a second-quarter grab by newly acquired free agent tight end Jared Cook. A 37-yard catch-and-run began with the 6-5, 254-pound receiver running a simple three-yard crossing route against a zone defense, twisting an outmatched linebacker into a knot as he stopped on a dime and turned up field to get open, then snatched a shoe-string catch in full stride, pulling away from two linebackers in pursuit, hauling away from a trailing defensive back, then stiff-arming a safety as he strided out of bounds.
“I haven’t seen anything like that in four years around here,” Bradford said as he finished putting on his street clothes. “Those are the sort of explosive plays that have been missing around here. But now we have guys who can do that. A lot of guys.”
A few minutes earlier, with the media horde surrounding him, Bradford was even more effusive. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen (a play like that) ... get out the door for 30, 40 yards,” he said. “I think that just shows the type of athlete he is, the type of speed he has, and his ability to create after the ball hits his hands. I hope that’s just a small sample of what we’ll see the rest of the season, and I’m excited to see him do it.”
It all does begin with Cook, the fast, athletic hybrid tight end who looks like a giant, runs like a gazelle and seems to be as good as advertised.
But what’s making it so intriguing as we impatiently wait for this regular season to begin is how it at long last seems like there are so many more explosive weapons in the Rams offensive huddle.
I tend not to get much definitive confirmation about an offense’s potential by numbers on the scoreboard. Remember that was Aaron freakin’ Rodgers over in the other huddle on Saturday night, and the best quarterback in the NFL put up zero TDs while he was on the field, too. And I bet no one in the NFL is thinking that the Pack is in trouble, are they?
What I do watch for are how key individuals and selective groups execute. And here’s what was rather apparent in observing the Rams first unit offense for two fascinating quarters: even operating with a scaled-back, incredibly vanilla playbook, you could see enough glimpses of what this offense is capable of. No, there weren’t any flashbacks to video-game, high-octane gadgetry of the Greatest Show on Turf. But you clearly saw enough of what’s truly possible now that Bradford has some dangerous toys at his disposal like Cook.
[hilite]“I wish we had a little more time to prove what the offense could do,”[/hilite]Cook said. “But I understand it’s a stepping stone and we’re still building. We've still got two more games left, so we’ll get ready for the regular season.”
These were the steps the Rams offense took against the Packers. Completing eight of 12 passes for 156 yards and a 109.7 pass efficiency rating, Bradford distributed the ball around quite nicely to all his offensive weapons.
There was that perfect 24-yard pass to running back Daryl Richardson rolling out of the backfield on a wheel route on the third offensive play of the night. I’m not sure which part of the play was most impressive: was it Richardson speeding down the sideline and jetting past an outmatched Green Bay linebacker, or seeing him stretch out to make a finger-tip grab? Or was it Bradford’s deft touch on a throw that arched nicely over the defender and fell out of the sky precisely at the right spot for Richardson to make the grab?
And for the second week in a row, Bradford and second-year wideout Chris Givens hooked up for another big play. This time it was Givens running a post route on another perfectly thrown deep ball from Bradford for 57 yards to the Packer four-yard line.
These were all perfect examples of the potentially explosive match-up problems this new Rams offense can pose to opposing defenses that it could hardly imagine doing a year ago. This was the hint of promise that we all need to see, the sort of wonderful tease that makes so many Rams fans hopeful that this season could be one of the most interesting seasons this franchise could produce in ages.
These were the tantalizing glimpses that will bring people back into the building in September when the games start counting for real.
What was so encouraging about watching the offense was seeing so many skilled, fast and athletic players running all over the place, and that wasn’t limited to the first unit either. Even though backup quarterback Kellen Clemens couldn’t get the ball in his hands, [hilite]we saw how much progress second-year receiver Brian Quick continues to make this summer. He caught one pass for 20 yards, but got deep on two other throws targeted to him, but Clemens either overthrew him or underthrew him.[/hilite]
I loved what I saw out of Bradford, the way he was able to drop delicate touch passes to Richardson, then look so effortless in dropping precise deep balls into Givens' hands for the second week in a row. I also liked seeing a rather mobile Bradford move around in the pocket, waiting patiently on Cook to work over a helpless defender (oh yes, that offensive line had a lot to do with that). It was nothing fancy. There weren't a lot of wild and crazy formations, but sticking to the basics, Bradford and his offense did move the ball.
The NFL preseason is professional football of another distinction, a curious blend of impressive hints and giddy promise, followed closely by false reads and bland nothingness. It’s never wise to believe everything you see, but it’s also foolish to ignore so many fascinating things that are put right in front of your eyes.
So what do we cull from this new edition of the St. Louis Rams halfway through their 2013 preseason schedule?
As he sat in the still crowded Rams locker room after Saturday night’s 19-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers, quarterback Sam Bradford’s smile spoke almost as loud as his words. As crazy as it might seem after witnessing only one touchdown out of the Rams first-unit offense in two games, it’s fairly obvious that Bradford and this revamped offense really are headed in the right direction.
After four years laboring around here with sticks and stones in an NFL world where everyone else was playing with smart bombs, Bradford believes his offense has finally caught up in the arms race.
Exhibit No. 1 was a second-quarter grab by newly acquired free agent tight end Jared Cook. A 37-yard catch-and-run began with the 6-5, 254-pound receiver running a simple three-yard crossing route against a zone defense, twisting an outmatched linebacker into a knot as he stopped on a dime and turned up field to get open, then snatched a shoe-string catch in full stride, pulling away from two linebackers in pursuit, hauling away from a trailing defensive back, then stiff-arming a safety as he strided out of bounds.
“I haven’t seen anything like that in four years around here,” Bradford said as he finished putting on his street clothes. “Those are the sort of explosive plays that have been missing around here. But now we have guys who can do that. A lot of guys.”
A few minutes earlier, with the media horde surrounding him, Bradford was even more effusive. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen (a play like that) ... get out the door for 30, 40 yards,” he said. “I think that just shows the type of athlete he is, the type of speed he has, and his ability to create after the ball hits his hands. I hope that’s just a small sample of what we’ll see the rest of the season, and I’m excited to see him do it.”
It all does begin with Cook, the fast, athletic hybrid tight end who looks like a giant, runs like a gazelle and seems to be as good as advertised.
But what’s making it so intriguing as we impatiently wait for this regular season to begin is how it at long last seems like there are so many more explosive weapons in the Rams offensive huddle.
I tend not to get much definitive confirmation about an offense’s potential by numbers on the scoreboard. Remember that was Aaron freakin’ Rodgers over in the other huddle on Saturday night, and the best quarterback in the NFL put up zero TDs while he was on the field, too. And I bet no one in the NFL is thinking that the Pack is in trouble, are they?
What I do watch for are how key individuals and selective groups execute. And here’s what was rather apparent in observing the Rams first unit offense for two fascinating quarters: even operating with a scaled-back, incredibly vanilla playbook, you could see enough glimpses of what this offense is capable of. No, there weren’t any flashbacks to video-game, high-octane gadgetry of the Greatest Show on Turf. But you clearly saw enough of what’s truly possible now that Bradford has some dangerous toys at his disposal like Cook.
[hilite]“I wish we had a little more time to prove what the offense could do,”[/hilite]Cook said. “But I understand it’s a stepping stone and we’re still building. We've still got two more games left, so we’ll get ready for the regular season.”
These were the steps the Rams offense took against the Packers. Completing eight of 12 passes for 156 yards and a 109.7 pass efficiency rating, Bradford distributed the ball around quite nicely to all his offensive weapons.
There was that perfect 24-yard pass to running back Daryl Richardson rolling out of the backfield on a wheel route on the third offensive play of the night. I’m not sure which part of the play was most impressive: was it Richardson speeding down the sideline and jetting past an outmatched Green Bay linebacker, or seeing him stretch out to make a finger-tip grab? Or was it Bradford’s deft touch on a throw that arched nicely over the defender and fell out of the sky precisely at the right spot for Richardson to make the grab?
And for the second week in a row, Bradford and second-year wideout Chris Givens hooked up for another big play. This time it was Givens running a post route on another perfectly thrown deep ball from Bradford for 57 yards to the Packer four-yard line.
These were all perfect examples of the potentially explosive match-up problems this new Rams offense can pose to opposing defenses that it could hardly imagine doing a year ago. This was the hint of promise that we all need to see, the sort of wonderful tease that makes so many Rams fans hopeful that this season could be one of the most interesting seasons this franchise could produce in ages.
These were the tantalizing glimpses that will bring people back into the building in September when the games start counting for real.
What was so encouraging about watching the offense was seeing so many skilled, fast and athletic players running all over the place, and that wasn’t limited to the first unit either. Even though backup quarterback Kellen Clemens couldn’t get the ball in his hands, [hilite]we saw how much progress second-year receiver Brian Quick continues to make this summer. He caught one pass for 20 yards, but got deep on two other throws targeted to him, but Clemens either overthrew him or underthrew him.[/hilite]
I loved what I saw out of Bradford, the way he was able to drop delicate touch passes to Richardson, then look so effortless in dropping precise deep balls into Givens' hands for the second week in a row. I also liked seeing a rather mobile Bradford move around in the pocket, waiting patiently on Cook to work over a helpless defender (oh yes, that offensive line had a lot to do with that). It was nothing fancy. There weren't a lot of wild and crazy formations, but sticking to the basics, Bradford and his offense did move the ball.