Defense takes a step back

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Alan

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http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_eb596497-3674-5957-9647-d1b4d6ab8fc7.html
STOP!
This is a BERNIE article so stop right here if you hate him because I'd like no negative BERNIE comments please. Disagree with his take on things all you want but just don't bash Bernie.

"Before I catch the early flight home to St. Louis, here are a few leftover morning-after thoughts following the Rams' 27-24 loss in San Diego.

1. After several good weeks the Rams' defense was disappointing, allowing 410 yards overall and giving up a 105-yard rushing day (Ryan Mathews) and a 104-yard receiving day (Keenan Allen). And after keeping QB Philip Rivers in check early, the Rams let him get going, and he took advantage of some questionable tactics.

2. The Rams harassed Rivers on the first series, and later burned him for the pick-six interception by cornerbackJanoris Jenkins. But on the Chargers' final possession of the first half, the Rams went into a shell, dropping defenders deep into coverage to make it easy for Rivers to play pitch and catch with his receivers in the wide-open spaces underneath.

Not counting a spike to stop the clock, Rivers completed 6 of 8 for 54 yards on a drive that began with 1:33 left in the first half. Picking his way down the field without encountering resistance, Rivers took the Chargers 54 yards in 10 plays for a field goal that cut the STL lead to 10-6.

3. And from that point on, Rivers was on his way. Beginning with that late second-quarter drive, Rivers put up ridiculous numbers: 20 completions in 23 attempts, 239 yards, one touchdown, and a 124.4 passer rating. He connected on 14 of 15 in the second half.

4. Rivers was smarter than the Rams and their coaches. When they played a soft "off" defense, Rivers threw short passes to pick up easy yards. When the Rams blitzed, Rivers knew exactly what do do. He had it all scoped out, ready to exploit the blitz with a three-step drop and quick-fire passes ... and effective little screen passes that the Rams struggled to chase down.

5. Rivers had slumped in his previous four games, and he slumped against the Rams for much of the first half. He's also playing with a painful rib injury. But once Rivers diagnosed the Rams' predictable strategies, he went to work, and made it look simple. The Rams had three sacks, with two coming early in the game. Rivers did what he wanted after that.


"Other than those three sacks, I wasn't touched today," Rivers said.

6. The Chargers' offensive tackles, King Dunlap and D.J. Fluker, came into the game ranked among the worst pass-blocking tackles in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus. But Dunlap made Rams' defensive end Robert Quinn disappear. According to the numbers kept by the stats crew in the Qualcomm press box, Quinn and left defensive end William Hayes combined for one tackle. That by Hayes. The Chargers' offensive tackles were very good, and Rivers' quick thinking and quick release took care of the rest. Rivers settled down and won his matchup against Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

7. After giving up hardly anything on the ground in their previous three games, the Rams yielded an average of 5.8 yards per rushing attempt on Sunday. Mathews averaged 8.8 yards on his 12 carries.

8. Rams rookie offensive left tackle Greg Robinson had a rough day. A very rough day. That's two in a row.

9. The officiating crew was a clown show that really took something away from the joy of watching a wildly competitive game that featured many twists and turns.

10. Stedman Bailey had seven catches for 89 yards and a touchdown. It was a nice game for him ... we enjoyed watching Tre Mason run the ball, and I wish the Rams would utilize him as a receiver, because he'd make those linebackers and safeties miss in the open field... it took nearly two full seasons, but the Rams' offensive staff finally put in some effective running plays for second-year wideout Tavon Austin.

11. Since their last winning season (2003) the Rams are 55-115-1 for a winning percentage of .325. The Oakland Raiders are the only NFL team with a poorer record since the start of the '04 season, going 50-121 for a winning percentage of .292. The teams will play each other Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome.

12. After the loss Rams guard Rodger Saffold said his team has "the best mentality in the league." Adding: "We always come back, ready to fight. This game, there were so many reasons for us to get blown out. But we just kept fighting, kept pushing ... we're not out of anything. I love this team."

13. Nice to see Rams executives out in the parking lots surrounding Qualcomm, having a good time with the team's Los Angeles-based fans. It's just what the Rams need to improve fan relations in St. Louis. (Rolls eyes.) I'll have more to say about this later in the week. "
 

Alan

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Rams and Gators appreciating the time saver:
Thanks for the warning, saved me a good 5 minutes (y).
No problemo!
 

junkman

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12. After the loss Rams guard Rodger Saffold said his team has "the best mentality in the league." Adding: "We always come back, ready to fight. This game, there were so many reasons for us to get blown out. But we just kept fighting, kept pushing ... we're not out of anything. I love this team."

That was totally true. I think earlier in the year, the Rams might have folded their tents and gone home after just a few of the bad ref calls. But despite under-performing all day, Rivers playing out of his mind, getting out-coached and adjusted, getting every bad break you could image, fighting the clown act of the ref crew (bad missed calls, bad made calls), the Rams STILL should have won. On the road. Against what really is at the end of the day a good team.
 

Robocop

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J.
the whole live and die by the blitz is really starting to piss me off. if the blitzing isn't working then STOP DOING IT! the words came straight from Williams mouth before the season started. he said he needed to trust his front 4. Im not seeing the trust! if you drop more guys in coverage Rivers has to hold onto the ball longer to find an opening you dont need a constant blitz. they were just bottling each other up at the line
 

rams2050

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At least they are fun to watch these days. At least I can watch the game and understand that progress is being made, that the players are better than they have been at any time since the GSOT years, that Coach Fisher has a vision (even if Coach Schotty doesn't), and that each and every time the team will be competitive. (At least until I write that; maybe that will inspire a meltdown next week? Gosh, I hope not!)

This team is a far, far cry from the pap we were being force-fed during the Linehan and Spagnuolo years. Remember, it takes a long time to rebuild a team that was the bottom dweller of the league, a team that had so many bad players that it was frustrating in the extreme.

This team is still finding its way. The drafting is light years over what it ever was -- or at least what it has been in recent memory, and who knows where we'll be with another good draft by Fisher-Snead?

Had we not been playing the schedule that we have been playing, had we not had to make numerous trips to the West coast, some in consecutive weeks (which I can't begin to explain how badly that messes us one's system), I think we would have been a play-off team.

That is, we would have been a play-off team if we didn't have to play the other guys AND the officials each week.

I'll tell you what, someone needs to start up a website where fans of NFL teams can nominate particular officiating crews each week as the "NFL Goat Crew of the Week!" Each person could write a small synopsis about why HIS or her crew is THE worst in the NFL for that week, and then fans could go there and vote. I think you could really sell advertising on a site like that. Too bad I'm so lazy or I'd do it myself.

And you know what? If a site like that became popular enough, you can bet the officials would sit up and take notice. No one wants to be thought of as a GOAT!

Plus, you could have the SUPER GOAT crew to coincide with Super Bowl Week.

The possibilities are virtually endless.
 

Sum1

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The defense came up big when they needed to on that last Chargers drive. It wasn't their best game of the year, but they did enough to give the offense (or special teams, but the officials took that away) a chance to win it.
 

Ramrasta

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Tyler
I actually agree with Bernie on our weak defense before halftime. We need to play like we normally do but with a safety deep just in case. Allowing the other team to nickel and dime us underneath let's them move quickly down the field and even gives them a better chance to break one for a score in the right situation. That definitely needs to change.
 

Sum1

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Why is Bernie beyond reproach, again?
He's not. What Alan is referring to is the childish responses that seem to happen no matter what the content is in Bernie's columns. The immature responses that go...

"I didn't even read it because he's fat idiot"...or "What was the point of this morons column"... Especially that if it was someone elses name on the piece you'd probably get a lot of the same people finding very valid talking points. Regardless of whether folks think Bernie has earned a reputation the responses of that nature are just silly and very much preconceived regardless of the content.
 

leoram

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The Chargers got two touchdowns by uncalled holding infractions. The Rams had too many missed tackles but played well enough to win. I'm not unhappy with this defense. Bernie only quotes stats here. Sometimes I wonder if he even watches the games.
 

Thordaddy

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Well guys IF Bernie can take shots at people in his article,and he does, then he's fair game .
And FWIW characterizing other posters as , "immature" or "childish" is NO WAY to sue for peace
 

Alan

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Ramrasta nailing it:
I actually agree with Bernie on our weak defense before halftime. We need to play like we normally do but with a safety deep just in case. Allowing the other team to nickel and dime us underneath let's them move quickly down the field and even gives them a better chance to break one for a score in the right situation. That definitely needs to change.
Exactly!

It never works for us. We were extremely lucky that despite amassing almost 400 passing yards (mostly on short passes given up by huge cushions) Peyton didn't throw for a bunch of TDs. We need to challenge them at the LOS and play man with a deep center fielder. That strategy gives our front 4 time to get to the QB and will allow far fewer receptions and more 3 and outs.

Of course that would require us to have a FS able to play center field. Something that I've been lobbying for ever since the days of Dahl and Mikell. We have guys like Jenkins, Tru, Tree and McD who can cover in man-to-man and prevent those completions. Our sack total would triple overnight. We play a version of the prevent defense most of every game and we pay for it almost every game. I'm so tired of seeing opposing QBs achieve 80% completion rates and almost always be successful marching down the field to score when needed. Who here has any confidence that when we have the leadin a close game with under 5 minutes to go that we'll keep it?
 

Sum1

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Well guys IF Bernie can take shots at people in his article,and he does, then he's fair game .
And FWIW characterizing other posters as , "immature" or "childish" is NO WAY to sue for peace
The responses are immature and childish. I don't believe the people making those responses are themselves childish or immature, but they can do better than that.
 

Thordaddy

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The responses are immature and childish. I don't believe the people making those responses are themselves childish or immature, but they can do better than that.
Can't we all ?including Bernie, who makes more than his share of immature and childish comments, i. e. the one about Rams execs. yucking it up with LA fans, they are fans and were headed in to cheer for our team, but he had to take that shot,just had to.

He's fanning the fires of discontent in St.L has been for a while,participates in the La v StL acrimony ,I just don't think when his comments are inflammatory he should be immune from conjuring what he says at the moment ,his past articles nor his overall persona which is at once pompous and adversarial towards this org. mainly because he doesn't get the access he believes his "elevated position" dictates.
 

Sum1

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Can't we all ?including Bernie, who makes more than his share of immature and childish comments, i. e. the one about Rams execs. yucking it up with LA fans, they are fans and were headed in to cheer for our team, but he had to take that shot,just had to.

He's fanning the fires of discontent in St.L has been for a while,participates in the La v StL acrimony ,I just don't think when his comments are inflammatory he should be immune from conjuring what he says at the moment ,his past articles nor his overall persona which is at once pompous and adversarial towards this org. mainly because he doesn't get the access he believes his "elevated position" dictates.
Super. Thank you for your response.
 

Ramathon

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the whole live and die by the blitz is really starting to pee pee me off. if the blitzing isn't working then STOP DOING IT! the words came straight from Williams mouth before the season started. he said he needed to trust his front 4. Im not seeing the trust! if you drop more guys in coverage Rivers has to hold onto the ball longer to find an opening you dont need a constant blitz. they were just bottling each other up at the line

Thank you!

I've seen all sorts of people ripping on Schottenheimer for the O play calling and at least some of that is warranted, IMO. But I'm dumbfounded at the # of fans just giving Greg Williams a pass on his D play calling yesterday. It became clear pretty early in the game that Rivers/Chargers were going to get the ball out quickly to negate the Rams' pass rush...yet Williams kept blitzing and blitzing and blitzing all game (or so it seemed). And Rivers took advantage of it.