OK,,, It's preseason, but...

[FLramFAN]

For those of you who simply said you wanted the Rams to walk away with no injuries against the "pack" and that would make you happy: Are you really happy?

In previous posts I'd mentioned some areas of improvement that I'd hoped to see and few area looked any better this week from last.

I'm certainly not "doom and gloom" over a preseason game but there are some things that just look like a repeat of previous years and even worse than previous years, for whatever reason.

- Can a Ram receiver just win ONE contested catch, on occasion. Seems like if Sam doesn't just groove in to the chest, to a totally open receiver, they aren't holding on to the ball for him. (Yes, Bradford had an easy play to TA down by the goal line and over-threw him) How many catchable balls have been dropped in the first two games?

- Do the Rams have any decent 2nd string OL players? I know the packers blitzed a ton, but after the first team OL left the field, Ram QBs were simply scrambling for their lives.

- Missed tackles... 2nd game in a row where the D seems to think they can either arm tackle, hit without wrapping or just generally be close to the ball carrier and that get the job done. Wrong!

- Can anyone explain why the team told Greg the Leg to take the off season away from Kicking and then have only asked him to boot FG of 50 yards or longer in the preseason.

- How many penalties in the first two PS games? Crazy!

I could go on with negatives. And... there were a few good things.

Here's to massive improvement in the next two PS games!

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I agree with everything you said.

 

[-X-]

Sure I would have rather seen better execution, better tackling and better discipline. But I think I'm gonna go ahead and not worry about this practice game and focus on the positives I saw. The rest will sort itself out when the coaches get in there and work on the things that need to be worked on. These preseason games are for evaluation purposes only, and the first two are nothing more than fully padded scrimmages.

I'm reading a few boards tonight, and the reactions were inevitable. I even got caught up in a little during that redzone trip that yielded a turnover with Bradford under center. But then I remembered how encouraged I was by the 2011 preseason and what came to pass when the games started to count. I don't think we're really seeing anything that will translate when the season begins. These were just a few plays out of the book that weren't very well executed, but this can be fixed.

Looking forward to these next two games. We'll know much more after those.

 

[A55VA6]

Not worried. We're still so vanilla that you almost get beat just because of that.

I'm worried about our 2nd string OL and our backup QB spot. Everything else, I know we'll be fine.

 

[fearsomefour]

Having a kicker take the entire off season off from kicking because he had a tired leg is stupidity plain and simple. This is the same level of ignorance displayed when baseball coaches insist pitchers take months off of throwing. Unless a guy is injured the absolute best way to ensure a weakness (which is what a tired arm is in a pitcher and a tired leg is in a kicker) continue is to have a guy not work on said weakness. You can deload the kicking but taking time completely away is just silly.

No, I dont think we have decent backup lineman. This is part of the process of building the team. Barnes is the only guy who looked passable to me in week 1....havent seen the second game yet. Either Williams or Smith stands to be solid as depth once a starter is settled on and Barksdale can have good moments. Washington, Ty and most of the rest look like they cant compete at the NFL level. At least not yet.

The WRs as a group are not great yet. There is a lot of talent, but, they are showing their youth. Givens gives every indication of being a difference maker. The rest have shown little. Doesnt mean they wont and the talent is certainly not diminished, but, this is one of the main reasons I thought the O would maybe start slowly. When all of you WRs and RBs are 25 or younger, there will be stuggles. This is the main reason I dont think the Rams would move Pettis at this point for a back QB or line depth. He may not be exciting like the others but he at least has made some catches in real games.

I dont know if the tackling is jus a side effect of the NFL culture now. Not a lot of tackling in practice.

To me the Rams so far look like a young team that will hover around .500 this year. That wont be a failure. It is a process that is well on the way. I would like to see the starting O get 2 or 3 quarters in the next game....including whoever is in at LG. Make a decision already. Need to get some rhythem in the running game and get the WRs some catches.
With so many games in the NFL being decided by tiny margins the Rams could easily have some more growing pains this year. Patience may be required.

 

[fearsomefour]

I'm reading a few boards tonight, and the reactions were inevitable. I even got caught up in a little during that redzone trip that yielded a turnover with Bradford under center. But then I remembered how encouraged I was by the 2011 preseason and what came to pass when the games started to count. I don't think we're really seeing anything that will translate when the season begins. These were just a few plays out of the book that weren't very well executed, but this can be fixed.
Looking forward to these next two games. We'll know much more after those.

Agreed. I did read the first comment (not on this board....Im not going anywhere from now on, like going from a great family restaruant to the dollar drive thru menu) from a supposed Rams fan declaring Austin a bust.
The main things I want to see the next couple of weeks is solid tackling, better catches and no injuries.

 

[-X-]

Agreed. I did read the first comment (not on this board....Im not going anywhere from now on, like going from a great family restaruant to the dollar drive thru menu) from a supposed Rams fan declaring Austin a bust.
The main things I want to see the next couple of weeks is solid tackling, better catches and no injuries.

Yeah, I think the jugs machine is gonna short-circuit this week with all the action THAT thing's gonna get. Tackling (or lack thereof) was a bit of an issue, and the penalties need to be cleaned up, but this is the time to do it. If you're gonna suck, there's no better time than now. Just address it, work on it, and make better plays next week. We've got some young players trying to get acclimated with the speed of the game, but we've also got some very good coaches who can help them along.

Let's just move it along quickly, yeah?

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

it was a great game because there were no injuries.

bradford looked good again except for that one awful overthrow to austin.

pead was ok, drich really looks like a bonafide nfl rb.

too many drops by the wrs again.

the oline looked good but need to stay healthy the whole year because there's nothing behind them.

the d was ok. bent but didn't break. alot of missed tackles, which is pretty much all you can take out of a preseason game, so alot of work to be done there.

but that's what preseason is for, to get the rust out of your system.

.

 

[fearsomefour]

If you're gonna suck, there's no better time than now. Just address it, work on it, and make better plays next week.

True enough. I remember that year with Linehan (gag) when the team started 3-0 or 4-0, I remember telling any Ram fan that would listen it was a phony fast start. The team hasnt looked great in any phase so far....but, much, much more confident that we have the players and coaches to get it going when it counts.

 

[MTRamsFan]

Guys, I'm not going to argue about this being pre-season and the bland (vanilla) offense, defense and special teams play over the first two games. Where I am concerned is that we need to start building some confidence and momentum. We can all agree that this young team will continue to make mistakes and we will endure some additional growing pains. But I am concerned when veterans are making mistakes on crucial plays. Fundamentals are the basis for any team's success. If we can't block, tackle, catch, etc., all the game planning in the world will only try to cover up the fundamental flaws which will eventually be exposed. Am I about to hit the panic button? Hell No! Over the next two weeks, I really want to see this team start gaining confidence and building momentum so we can enter the regular season with a fury.

GO RAMS!

I do hope that my son and me bring some good karma to the RAMS in Denver next weekend! :bg:

 

[Mojo Ram]

Just finished watching it. I'm going to dig really deep into this game. :ww:

The Good: Special teams

The Bad: Pead as a KR

The Ugly: Aaron Rodgers' mustache

 

[Selassie I]

Maybe it was just me,,, but I thought that pass at the goal line to Austin was tipped, and that was the reason it sailed too high for a catch. :idk:


Rogers definitely looks like a douche with that stache :lmao:

 

[CGI_Ram]

I saw some good things and some bad things... Stuff to refine and stuff to improve upon.

Exactly what you expect in preseason.

Anyone think Green Bay walked away excited getting 6 points out of their first team offense?

 

[Mojo Ram]

I saw some good things and some bad things... Stuff to refine and stuff to improve upon.

Exactly what you expect in preseason.

Anyone think Green Bay walked away excited getting 6 points out of their first team offense?

They scored zero points last week too. I seriously doubt there's any panic in G.B. :lol:

I'm not panicking with our offense,but i do think that there are some speed bumps ahead,as this offense finds a rhythm and an identity. IMO whenever this team makes a play on offense they appear to be overachieving still...
i hope that makes sense. I'm not ragging on them,but i've seen worse teams look more comfortable making those same plays.

 

[F. Mulder]

First let me emphasize I am NOT a Debbie Downer. However, there are things that carried over from the Browns game that continue to concern me:

1) Tackling. Way too many missed tackles and they all aren't on the rookies. I see veterans missing badly too.

2) Defensive speed- this is twice teams seemed to come right out of the gate and just playing at a quicker pace/tempo than the Defense. Green Bay may have settled for 6 points but I frankly had the feeling that in regular season they would have put some pretty decent points on the board if they played 4 quarters.

3) Discipline- Again, some of this is younger players or guys who won't even make the team but how many times does the D get suckered on the fake handoff rollout before it recognizes it? Seattle and other teams will run that to death if they don't do a better job containing and staying at home. This is in reference to the first team defense BTW. Same with lining the Eff up. I know these are new guys/formations but surely they can get more than 6 guys on the LOS offensively. Just little crap like that annoys me like crazy.

4) Off Line depth. I had high hopes for Washington but he'd be one of my first cuts. Williams and Smith are inconsistent at best. Barksdale seemed ok. I don't know, other teams seem to have their way with their scrubs vs our 2nd/3rd units while we seem to struggle vs. theirs.

Like I said, glad there have been no injuries. The Offense has shown sparks but are still not completing drives. I just want to see them tighten things up a heck of a lot more than we've seen. At the risk of sounding cruel I am always glad after the first big chunk of cuts. Let's start looking more at guys with a legit chance and let the battles for positions such as 4th RB/6th WR/backup Safety/ and backup LBer play out. One last thing. Kellen C sucks. He always has. It's one thing to "know" the offense its another to "execute" it

Carry on. :|

 

[Mojo Ram]

First let me emphasize I am NOT a Debbie Downer. However, there are things that carried over from the Browns game that continue to concern me:

1) Tackling. Way too many missed tackles and they all aren't on the rookies. I see veterans missing badly too.

2) Defensive speed- this is twice teams seemed to come right out of the gate and just playing at a quicker pace/tempo than the Defense. Green Bay may have settled for 6 points but I frankly had the feeling that in regular season they would have put some pretty decent points on the board if they played 4 quarters.

3) Discipline- Again, some of this is younger players or guys who won't even make the team but how many times does the D get suckered on the fake handoff rollout before it recognizes it? Seattle and other teams will run that to death if they don't do a better job containing and staying at home. This is in reference to the first team defense BTW. Same with lining the Eff up. I know these are new guys/formations but surely they can get more than 6 guys on the LOS offensively. Just little crap like that annoys me like crazy.

4) Off Line depth. I had high hopes for Washington but he'd be one of my first cuts. Williams and Smith are inconsistent at best. Barksdale seemed ok. I don't know, other teams seem to have their way with their scrubs vs our 2nd/3rd units while we seem to struggle vs. theirs.

Like I said, glad there have been no injuries. The Offense has shown sparks but are still not completing drives. I just want to see them tighten things up a heck of a lot more than we've seen. At the risk of sounding cruel I am always glad after the first big chunk of cuts. Let's start looking more at guys with a legit chance and let the battles for positions such as 4th RB/6th WR/backup Safety/ and backup LBer play out. One last thing. Kellen C sucks. He always has. It's one thing to "know" the offense its another to "execute" it

Carry on. :|

I see all that too. Good post.

One thing about Tavon,why does it appear that he can't get any separation? It could be a few different factors at work here besides TA...but he's been covered like a blanket with the exception of that 3rd and a mile catch he made with the DB's playing way behind him. He did get open at the goal line when Sam missed him,but he got open there from a pick(a pretty blatant WR pick i might add :lol: )

He could still be adjusting the NFL game speed i guess. I know its early blah blah,..just saying that out of all our receivers,he shouldn't be having to work so hard at getting even just a little space with his quickness.
I expected him to struggle with route running,drops etc...but he should be getting more separation from the slot than he has thusfar.

 

[F. Mulder]

Regarding Tavon- I think even with blinding speed it's hard to get separation at the NFL level unless your routes are precise. I have the feeling he wasn't required to run precise routes at WV. However, I look for him to get a lot of short/moving stuff once the season begins. Bubble screens, quick slants, flairs coming out of the backfield, stuff that he runs more to a shorter area and the ball doesn't have far to go ; from there the Rams are hoping he is matche up with a Safety (or even LBer) and can get the ball quickly and make people miss in the open field.

 

[max]

You guys can slam this as much as you want but I don't blame Kosar for sticking to his evaluation of Clemons and the Rams WRs.

Sure, he said it in a jerky fashion, but outside of Givens does any Rams WR know how to run a route correctly?

And Clemons is just flat out not an NFL QB.

Is it the talent or the WR coach or both. I don't know but they don't look like what I've been seeing from other WR squads in the preseason.

The fact that Kosar raved about Bradford and bashed the rest of the passing game means more than just Kosar is a jerk.

 

[A55VA6]

We gotta continue to look at the 1st team offense. We've played 2 games, and early on in those games Bradford has completed passes of 59, 57, 37, and so on. The offense is already more explosive, more often even with just basic offensive plays and no gameplan. Chris Givens just cannot be covered. On the other side, our defense looks kind of weak right now, but this defense is too good to not perform well in the regular season. There were alot of positives and alot of negatives. I think they'll be just fine though.

Some of the bad: VERY bad backup OL play, missed tackles, Kellen Clemens, etc. But I really like what I saw from Ray Ray Armstrong. Flying around all over the place, getting in the QB's face, and that hard hit was just beautiful. Our special teams really stood out yesterday. Great job by coach Fassel.

I've been dying to see Tavon Austin get the ball and thus far I'm not ecstatic but not disappointed. I thought he had a pretty good game. Caught 4 balls and a near TD.. he did have another drop, but I think those will go away with time. The catches and running around a little bit allows him to have some confidence now. I just want to see him dance around just a tad less and get up field quicker.

 

[DegenR(g)ambler]

We gotta continue to look at the 1st team offense. We've played 2 games, and early on in those games Bradford has completed passes of 59, 57, 37, and so on. The offense is already more explosive, more often even with just basic offensive plays and no gameplan. Chris Givens just cannot be covered. On the other side, our defense looks kind of weak right now, but this defense is too good to not perform well in the regular season. There were alot of positives and alot of negatives. I think they'll be just fine though.

Some of the bad: VERY bad backup OL play, missed tackles, Kellen Clemens, etc. But I really like what I saw from Ray Ray Armstrong. Flying around all over the place, getting in the QB's face, and that hard hit was just beautiful. Our special teams really stood out yesterday. Great job by coach Fassel.

I've been dying to see Tavon Austin get the ball and thus far I'm not ecstatic but not disappointed. I thought he had a pretty good game. Caught 4 balls and a near TD.. he did have another drop, but I think those will go away with time. The catches and running around a little bit allows him to have some confidence now. I just want to see him dance around just a tad less and get up field quicker.

noticed this last night on one of his kick returns. granted he was near the far sideline directly from where i was sitting but it looked like he may have been able to get the ball up field a few yards instead of dancing around....