Little consolation for the Rams/PD

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RamBill

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Little consolation for the Rams
• By Joe Lyons

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_415635d1-deb3-5abd-b929-fd337b798c31.html

Before they took an offensive snap Sunday afternoon, the Rams found themselves in a 10-0 hole.

And they never completely recovered, losing 37-27 to the New York Giants in their home finale at the Edward Jones Dome.

“It wasn’t us in any phase of the game — offense, defense or special teams,’’ tackle Joe Barksdale said. “I know it sounds cliche, but we have to be better. There’s no excuse....’’

Quarterback Shaun Hill felt the same way.

“To be honest with you, if I didn’t know any better and I saw what I’d just watched, I’d say this was a bad team,’’ he said. “But we’re not a bad team. We’ve beat some of the best teams in the NFL and we’ve been in almost every game we’ve played this season. Generally, we’re not a team that beats ourselves, but today, that’s exactly what we did.

“I know the makeup of this team, and that’s what makes a game like today so frustrating.’’

On offense, the Rams had their moments. They finished with 387 yards and had 23 first downs to just 19 for the Giants. Hill turned in a solid game, completing 24 of 32 passes for 290 yards with touchdown passes to tight end Lance Kendricks (23 yards) and wide receiver Chris Givens (47 yards). His passer rating was 110.2.

Rookie running back Tre Mason ran 13 times for 76 yards, averaging 5.8 a carry, and scored on a 10-yard run. Wide receiver Kenny Britt was targeted 11 times and finished with nine catches and 103 yards.

“The only number that matters is the final score and obviously we didn’t come up with the number we needed there,’’ guard Davin Joseph said. “It’s a team effort and we just didn’t get it done. We just made too many mistakes, and we always seemed to make them at the wrong time.’’

Mason added: “If you don’t get the ‘W,’ any other numbers are meaningless. We were mediocre and hurt ourselves with a lot of self-inflicted wounds.’’

After the Giants took a 3-0 lead, the Rams’ Benny Cunningham fumbled the ensuing kickoff. It was his first fumble of the season. Five plays later, New York was up 10-0.

“Being down, especially that early, I don’t think it changes the mindset,’’ Hill said. “Every possession, you’re looking to put points on the board.’’

The Rams did just that, getting a 51-yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein to make it 10-3. But on the Rams’ next possession, a Hill pass went off the hands of Tavon Austin. It was picked off by the Giants’ Kerry Wynn and led to a field goal and a 13-3 Giants lead.

The Giants were up 20-3 when Mason scored after taking a pitch around the left end for a 10-yard TD with just over two minutes to play in the first half. The Rams got the ball back and drove to the New York 2 before a high snap on third down threw off the play’s timing and forced Hill to throw the ball away. Zuerlein’s field goal as time expired made it 20-13 Giants at the half.

“Offensively, we didn’t have the ball much in the first half,’’ Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “But we felt good (at halftime). We had the ball (to start the second half); just needed to make some plays, get some points, create a turnover, maybe get to the quarterback.

“But those things didn’t happen.’’

With the Rams down 27-13, Hill threw a well-placed ball to Kendricks for a 23-yard touchdown. Less than a minute later, however, the Giants scored on an 80-yard bomb to re-establish control at 34-20.

“You’re not going to beat an NFL team when you’re making crucial mistakes at key times and that’s exactly what happened to us today,’’ Hill said. “I’m sure when we look at the film we’ll see guys who played well, who made plays, but right now, it’s hard to come up with a lot of positives.’’

The Rams trailed 37-20 when Hill found Givens for a 47-yard touchdown with 3:56 to play. The Rams’ Daren Bates blocked a field goal to give his team a final chance, but another errant snap went over the head of Hill. The Giants recovered and ran out the clock.

“I’ll have to get a look at the film and see what happened,’’ Hill said. Fisher noted that center Scott Wells “has been fighting through’’ an elbow injury.

Several Rams admitted to hearing the late-game boos in the home finale.

“This is a fan-driven league,’’ Hill said. “We like to give them what they pay good money to come see. At the same time, there’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears on our end. I can promise you that.

“We share their frustration.’’

The Rams close the season Sunday in Seattle against the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks.

“We’re gonna come back strong, no question about that,’’ Joseph said.