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Plenty to work on, but Rams’ miscues not significant
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_5b941c55-1109-5ff0-9ef4-820696148460.html
When coach Jeff Fisher threw out the red challenge flag late in the second quarter Friday night, there couldn’t have been many in the Edward Jones Dome who thought Rams cornerback E.J. Gaines had stopped Saints wide receiver Nick Toon short of the first-down marker.
Actually, neither did Fisher.
“No, I thought it was a good spot,” Fisher said. “I was standing right there.”
So why did he make the challenge?
Basically, Fisher was doing a favor for referee Carl Cheffers and his crew.
“(Friday) was the first time that this crew was gonna potentially communicate with New York,” Fisher said.
Last March, club owners approved a change in the replay system, allowing the league’s officiating headquarters in New York to have input on replay challenges to crews.
“So I just said if there’s anything close, I’ll go ahead and challenge it for you and see how it goes,” Fisher said, referring to Cheffers.
As expected, the call was upheld, the Saints got their first down, and as a result of the unsuccessful challenge the Rams were charged a timeout.
It’s a timeout the Rams could’ve used in the final 2½ minutes of the half with their offense on a drive that started at the St. Louis 8 and ended with a 45-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein as the half expired.
With an extra timeout in his pocket, the Rams might have had a chance for a touchdown. As if you didn’t already know, that replay challenge sequence further illustrated that August football isn’t the same as the brand of ball that takes place after Labor Day.
Normally a two-point loss in which you’ve missed two field goals in the final five minutes would be gut-wrenching. But it’s August, which also explains why Fisher, in summing up the Rams’ 26-24 loss to New Orleans, merely stated: “All in all, I think it was a good exercise.”
Exercise in the sense that the Rams ran around, worked up a sweat, played at a lot of players and kept it simple. No game-planning, no scheming; just block, tackle, catch, run.
(And in several cases missed blocks, tackles, catches, and running the wrong way.)
When all was said and done Friday, Fisher found plenty to work on after reviewing the game film, but nothing to stress out about.
“There were some good things,” Fisher said. “Some good effort, good plays. No turnovers. We got two (takeaways) on defense. ... We ended up with balance when all was said and done — we had 34 pass attempts and 32 rushes.”
On the downside, there were too many penalties, too many rushing yards allowed and too many missed tackles.
The Rams committed 14 penalties, most of them by players who won’t be on the 53-man roster in September. Those 14 resulted in 118 yards marked off, and Fisher said he agreed with all but two of the 14 flags.“We have to learn from them,” Fisher said. “Penalties became the common theme through the game after we subbed.”
A bevy of missed tackles helped the Saints rush for 123 yards and 5.1 yards per carry, including 83 yards on eight carries by Mark Ingram.
The Rams missed at least nine tackles in the first half alone by unofficial count, and several of them were missed by players who are expected to make the 53-man roster — including linebacker Ray Ray Armstrong and safety Cody Davis.
“Usually when the runs were popping, there was either nine guys doing their job and one guy (not),” Fisher said, “or the defense got cut. Or we just weren’t setting the edge. Or we had a couple tackles in the hole that we missed.”
But again, Fisher wasn’t overly concerned.
“We really didn’t load up to stop the run, or pressure,” Fisher said. “We got caught in a few pass stunts, which creates some seams in the defense. Obviously in a normal game situation, you don’t think this will happen.”
Exhibition openers frequently feature more missed tackles simply because nobody tackles in training camp anymore. But Fisher said the Rams do practice tackling form, so he wouldn’t use that as an excuse.
Fisher also gave credit to Ingram, who scored the Saints’ second touchdown on a 22-yard run late in the second quarter.
“Ingram’s a fine back,” Fisher said. “He’s gonna make some people miss and he’s gonna run over people. He’s been doing that since his college days.That’s not an excuse, but we did miss him a few times.”
But Ingram is no Adrian Peterson, and that’s whom the Rams will face in the regular-season opener when the Minnesota Vikings come to town Sept. 7.
Against New Orleans, nine of the normal 22 starters on offense and defense didn’t play because of injuries and other factors. All told, 18 of the 90 Rams on the training camp roster didn’t suit up.
“When you have nine starters that don’t play for whatever reason, you end up playing a lot of (backup) players earlier in the ballgame,” Fisher said. “And when that happens, some of the inexperience translates into penalties, and we had way too many penalties.”
With Green Bay coming to town for a 3 p.m. contest Saturday, things should get turned up a notch. For one, there should be a lot more familiar faces on the field because there won’t be 18 guys sitting out.
“This week, it looks as if we’ll probably get maybe 15 or 16 of them back,” Fisher said.
One of them will be quarterback Sam Bradford.
“I haven’t decided how much, but yeah, he’s gonna play this week,” Fisher said.
And here’s a safe bet: There probably will be no “courtesy” challenges this week.
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_5b941c55-1109-5ff0-9ef4-820696148460.html
When coach Jeff Fisher threw out the red challenge flag late in the second quarter Friday night, there couldn’t have been many in the Edward Jones Dome who thought Rams cornerback E.J. Gaines had stopped Saints wide receiver Nick Toon short of the first-down marker.
Actually, neither did Fisher.
“No, I thought it was a good spot,” Fisher said. “I was standing right there.”
So why did he make the challenge?
Basically, Fisher was doing a favor for referee Carl Cheffers and his crew.
“(Friday) was the first time that this crew was gonna potentially communicate with New York,” Fisher said.
Last March, club owners approved a change in the replay system, allowing the league’s officiating headquarters in New York to have input on replay challenges to crews.
“So I just said if there’s anything close, I’ll go ahead and challenge it for you and see how it goes,” Fisher said, referring to Cheffers.
As expected, the call was upheld, the Saints got their first down, and as a result of the unsuccessful challenge the Rams were charged a timeout.
It’s a timeout the Rams could’ve used in the final 2½ minutes of the half with their offense on a drive that started at the St. Louis 8 and ended with a 45-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein as the half expired.
With an extra timeout in his pocket, the Rams might have had a chance for a touchdown. As if you didn’t already know, that replay challenge sequence further illustrated that August football isn’t the same as the brand of ball that takes place after Labor Day.
Normally a two-point loss in which you’ve missed two field goals in the final five minutes would be gut-wrenching. But it’s August, which also explains why Fisher, in summing up the Rams’ 26-24 loss to New Orleans, merely stated: “All in all, I think it was a good exercise.”
Exercise in the sense that the Rams ran around, worked up a sweat, played at a lot of players and kept it simple. No game-planning, no scheming; just block, tackle, catch, run.
(And in several cases missed blocks, tackles, catches, and running the wrong way.)
When all was said and done Friday, Fisher found plenty to work on after reviewing the game film, but nothing to stress out about.
“There were some good things,” Fisher said. “Some good effort, good plays. No turnovers. We got two (takeaways) on defense. ... We ended up with balance when all was said and done — we had 34 pass attempts and 32 rushes.”
On the downside, there were too many penalties, too many rushing yards allowed and too many missed tackles.
The Rams committed 14 penalties, most of them by players who won’t be on the 53-man roster in September. Those 14 resulted in 118 yards marked off, and Fisher said he agreed with all but two of the 14 flags.“We have to learn from them,” Fisher said. “Penalties became the common theme through the game after we subbed.”
A bevy of missed tackles helped the Saints rush for 123 yards and 5.1 yards per carry, including 83 yards on eight carries by Mark Ingram.
The Rams missed at least nine tackles in the first half alone by unofficial count, and several of them were missed by players who are expected to make the 53-man roster — including linebacker Ray Ray Armstrong and safety Cody Davis.
“Usually when the runs were popping, there was either nine guys doing their job and one guy (not),” Fisher said, “or the defense got cut. Or we just weren’t setting the edge. Or we had a couple tackles in the hole that we missed.”
But again, Fisher wasn’t overly concerned.
“We really didn’t load up to stop the run, or pressure,” Fisher said. “We got caught in a few pass stunts, which creates some seams in the defense. Obviously in a normal game situation, you don’t think this will happen.”
Exhibition openers frequently feature more missed tackles simply because nobody tackles in training camp anymore. But Fisher said the Rams do practice tackling form, so he wouldn’t use that as an excuse.
Fisher also gave credit to Ingram, who scored the Saints’ second touchdown on a 22-yard run late in the second quarter.
“Ingram’s a fine back,” Fisher said. “He’s gonna make some people miss and he’s gonna run over people. He’s been doing that since his college days.That’s not an excuse, but we did miss him a few times.”
But Ingram is no Adrian Peterson, and that’s whom the Rams will face in the regular-season opener when the Minnesota Vikings come to town Sept. 7.
Against New Orleans, nine of the normal 22 starters on offense and defense didn’t play because of injuries and other factors. All told, 18 of the 90 Rams on the training camp roster didn’t suit up.
“When you have nine starters that don’t play for whatever reason, you end up playing a lot of (backup) players earlier in the ballgame,” Fisher said. “And when that happens, some of the inexperience translates into penalties, and we had way too many penalties.”
With Green Bay coming to town for a 3 p.m. contest Saturday, things should get turned up a notch. For one, there should be a lot more familiar faces on the field because there won’t be 18 guys sitting out.
“This week, it looks as if we’ll probably get maybe 15 or 16 of them back,” Fisher said.
One of them will be quarterback Sam Bradford.
“I haven’t decided how much, but yeah, he’s gonna play this week,” Fisher said.
And here’s a safe bet: There probably will be no “courtesy” challenges this week.