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Noise is a chief concern for Rams in KC
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_f792ab5e-d330-5244-a1b8-ff8ab79f4b50.html
He made hay in Tampa Bay. Nearly lassoed the Cowboys. Didn’t stink in the Linc.
He stared down the San Francisco defense for a half before stubbing his toe. And plucked the Seahawks with a little help from the Rams’ special teams.
The further adventures of young Austin Davis continue Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Welcome to the Sea of Red.
“It’s phenomenal,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “The Sea of Red is the Sea of Red. They’re loud and we appreciate that.”
In Davis’ first start of the season, he rallied the Rams to a 19-17 victory at Tampa Bay. But Raymond James Stadium is far from a daunting venue these days, given the recent troubles of the Buccaneers.
The Rams’ only other road game of 2014 came in Week 4 at Lincoln Financial Field, aka the Linc. It’s no library, but it’s not nearly as intimidating as its Philadelphia predecessor, Veterans Stadium. And on that Oct. 5 afternoon, Davis nearly rallied the Rams all the way back from a 34-7 deficit.
But in terms of crowd noise, nothing east of CenturyLink Field in Seattle compares to Arrowhead.
And the entire Arrowhead experience is unique. As the Rams’ team buses pull into the parking lot Sunday, sweet-smelling smoke from hundreds — and hundreds — of charcoal grills will be rising in the morning sky.
Shortly before kickoff, the KC Wolf, the Chiefs’ mascot, will commit unspeakable acts upon a likeness of Rampage, its St. Louis counterpart.
And with hands on heart, 76,000 red-blooded Chiefs fans will conclude the national anthem by singing:
“O’er the land of the free, and the home of the ... CHIEFS!”
And then the noise begins.
“As you all know, they have this personal thing with the ‘12th Man’ in Seattle,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “So they try to compete (to see who’s the loudest). That gives us some kind of indication of how difficult it is to play there because of the noise.”
As a college player for Southern Mississippi, Davis played his home games at M.M. Roberts Stadium, aka The Rock. It’s capacity is 36,000, or less than half of Arrowhead. The best comparison in college that Davis could come up with was playing at South Carolina.
“We opened there on a Thursday night,” he said. “They had a packed house, and it was rocking. So I’ve been in it before.”
But can he keep his cool? Will the players get the play calls coherently? Or will things degenerate into a mess of miscommunication and false starts? That’s the next challenge for Davis and the Rams.
“I’ve never been there before, but I’ve heard from various sources that it’s a great atmosphere,” Davis said during the week. “It’s very loud; it’s fun to play there. We’ll treat it the same as we always do on the road. We’ll use our silent cadence and plan on it not being a problem.”
The Rams have played only twice during the regular season in Kansas City since the move to St. Louis in 1995, and Arrowhead proved to be a house of horrors both times.
The Rams were 6-0 to start the 2000 season and at the height of their offensive prowess as the “Greatest Show on Turf.” Near the end of the first half, quarterback Kurt Warner suffered a broken pinkie finger on his throwing hand on a botched snap by backup center Steve Everitt. The Rams were hammered 54-34.
Two years later, the Rams lost 49-10 on a day when Chiefs return whiz Dante Hall scored touchdowns on an 88-yard kickoff return and an 86-yard punt return.
So much for sweet nostalgia. After an 0-2 start, the Chiefs have since won three of four games to even their ledger at 3-3. After a dramatic victory last Sunday in San Diego, the Chiefs are home for the first time in nearly a month.
They’re sure to get a warm welcome from the home crowd, even with the unexpected diversion of the Kansas City Royals playing in the World Series for the first time since 1985.
(But the Royals aren’t playing across the parking lot this weekend — they’re in San Francisco.)
Unlike most NFL coaches who pump in crowd noise in practice before a road game, Fisher has his team — just practice.
“We typically don’t put noise in practice,” Fisher said. “I think if you make a big deal over it, it becomes an even bigger deal. We respect it (the noise factor) by all means, and we’ll address it. We have to be smart.”
With a pair of speedy pass rushers at outside linebacker in Justin Houston and Tamba Hali, the Chiefs can take advantage of any glitches the Rams experience as a result of crowd noise.
“When you add that speed element there and you can’t hear, you’re going on silent (count), then it puts a lot of pressure on your tackles,” Fisher said.
And your quarterback.
“He’ll handle that,” Fisher said of Davis. “We’re not concerned about that. It’s one of those deals where it’s hard to be perfect in that environment. But he’ll make good decisions and we have to help him with different things here and there. I’m not concerned about his inexperience as it relates to crowd noise.”
There were times in the second half against San Francisco where Davis seemed flustered, leaving the pocket early and getting fixated on the deep ball even when he had receivers open underneath. But other than that, Davis has been the picture of poise in his five NFL starts since taking over for Shaun Hill. He has made big throws at clutch times, and most importantly has learned from his mistakes.
Although it was partly out of respect for the Seattle pass defense, Davis had the patience to throw more underneath passes in what was a conservative yet effective game plan in last week’s 28-26 upset victory.
And when the Rams needed to open it up in the fourth quarter, Davis completed four of five passes on the game-winning touchdown drive — including tosses of 19 yards to Brian Quick and 30 yards to Chris Givens.
“We got into a flow. ‘Schotty’ is doing a great job with Austin,” Fisher said, referring to offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.
Can the Rams get into a flow against Kansas City? Or will they drown in the din that is the Sea of Red?
“You play on the road in this league, you’re gonna have loud stadiums,” Schottenheimer said. “This place certainly is one of the best, if you will, in terms of crowd noise and fans being into it.
“We’ll have to communicate — a lot of it will be nonverbal. A trust-what-you-see type of deal. .. It’ll be fun to see how our guys do.”
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_f792ab5e-d330-5244-a1b8-ff8ab79f4b50.html
He made hay in Tampa Bay. Nearly lassoed the Cowboys. Didn’t stink in the Linc.
He stared down the San Francisco defense for a half before stubbing his toe. And plucked the Seahawks with a little help from the Rams’ special teams.
The further adventures of young Austin Davis continue Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Welcome to the Sea of Red.
“It’s phenomenal,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “The Sea of Red is the Sea of Red. They’re loud and we appreciate that.”
In Davis’ first start of the season, he rallied the Rams to a 19-17 victory at Tampa Bay. But Raymond James Stadium is far from a daunting venue these days, given the recent troubles of the Buccaneers.
The Rams’ only other road game of 2014 came in Week 4 at Lincoln Financial Field, aka the Linc. It’s no library, but it’s not nearly as intimidating as its Philadelphia predecessor, Veterans Stadium. And on that Oct. 5 afternoon, Davis nearly rallied the Rams all the way back from a 34-7 deficit.
But in terms of crowd noise, nothing east of CenturyLink Field in Seattle compares to Arrowhead.
And the entire Arrowhead experience is unique. As the Rams’ team buses pull into the parking lot Sunday, sweet-smelling smoke from hundreds — and hundreds — of charcoal grills will be rising in the morning sky.
Shortly before kickoff, the KC Wolf, the Chiefs’ mascot, will commit unspeakable acts upon a likeness of Rampage, its St. Louis counterpart.
And with hands on heart, 76,000 red-blooded Chiefs fans will conclude the national anthem by singing:
“O’er the land of the free, and the home of the ... CHIEFS!”
And then the noise begins.
“As you all know, they have this personal thing with the ‘12th Man’ in Seattle,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “So they try to compete (to see who’s the loudest). That gives us some kind of indication of how difficult it is to play there because of the noise.”
As a college player for Southern Mississippi, Davis played his home games at M.M. Roberts Stadium, aka The Rock. It’s capacity is 36,000, or less than half of Arrowhead. The best comparison in college that Davis could come up with was playing at South Carolina.
“We opened there on a Thursday night,” he said. “They had a packed house, and it was rocking. So I’ve been in it before.”
But can he keep his cool? Will the players get the play calls coherently? Or will things degenerate into a mess of miscommunication and false starts? That’s the next challenge for Davis and the Rams.
“I’ve never been there before, but I’ve heard from various sources that it’s a great atmosphere,” Davis said during the week. “It’s very loud; it’s fun to play there. We’ll treat it the same as we always do on the road. We’ll use our silent cadence and plan on it not being a problem.”
The Rams have played only twice during the regular season in Kansas City since the move to St. Louis in 1995, and Arrowhead proved to be a house of horrors both times.
The Rams were 6-0 to start the 2000 season and at the height of their offensive prowess as the “Greatest Show on Turf.” Near the end of the first half, quarterback Kurt Warner suffered a broken pinkie finger on his throwing hand on a botched snap by backup center Steve Everitt. The Rams were hammered 54-34.
Two years later, the Rams lost 49-10 on a day when Chiefs return whiz Dante Hall scored touchdowns on an 88-yard kickoff return and an 86-yard punt return.
So much for sweet nostalgia. After an 0-2 start, the Chiefs have since won three of four games to even their ledger at 3-3. After a dramatic victory last Sunday in San Diego, the Chiefs are home for the first time in nearly a month.
They’re sure to get a warm welcome from the home crowd, even with the unexpected diversion of the Kansas City Royals playing in the World Series for the first time since 1985.
(But the Royals aren’t playing across the parking lot this weekend — they’re in San Francisco.)
Unlike most NFL coaches who pump in crowd noise in practice before a road game, Fisher has his team — just practice.
“We typically don’t put noise in practice,” Fisher said. “I think if you make a big deal over it, it becomes an even bigger deal. We respect it (the noise factor) by all means, and we’ll address it. We have to be smart.”
With a pair of speedy pass rushers at outside linebacker in Justin Houston and Tamba Hali, the Chiefs can take advantage of any glitches the Rams experience as a result of crowd noise.
“When you add that speed element there and you can’t hear, you’re going on silent (count), then it puts a lot of pressure on your tackles,” Fisher said.
And your quarterback.
“He’ll handle that,” Fisher said of Davis. “We’re not concerned about that. It’s one of those deals where it’s hard to be perfect in that environment. But he’ll make good decisions and we have to help him with different things here and there. I’m not concerned about his inexperience as it relates to crowd noise.”
There were times in the second half against San Francisco where Davis seemed flustered, leaving the pocket early and getting fixated on the deep ball even when he had receivers open underneath. But other than that, Davis has been the picture of poise in his five NFL starts since taking over for Shaun Hill. He has made big throws at clutch times, and most importantly has learned from his mistakes.
Although it was partly out of respect for the Seattle pass defense, Davis had the patience to throw more underneath passes in what was a conservative yet effective game plan in last week’s 28-26 upset victory.
And when the Rams needed to open it up in the fourth quarter, Davis completed four of five passes on the game-winning touchdown drive — including tosses of 19 yards to Brian Quick and 30 yards to Chris Givens.
“We got into a flow. ‘Schotty’ is doing a great job with Austin,” Fisher said, referring to offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.
Can the Rams get into a flow against Kansas City? Or will they drown in the din that is the Sea of Red?
“You play on the road in this league, you’re gonna have loud stadiums,” Schottenheimer said. “This place certainly is one of the best, if you will, in terms of crowd noise and fans being into it.
“We’ll have to communicate — a lot of it will be nonverbal. A trust-what-you-see type of deal. .. It’ll be fun to see how our guys do.”
