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Rams are zeroed in
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_03cff8c6-d3df-56a7-8591-f17d62609f5a.html
LANDOVER, MD. • The Rams are playing so good defensively these days, even they can’t believe it. After Sunday’s 24-0 victory over Washington at FedEx Field, free safety Rodney McLeod was told the Rams have posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 1945.
“Damn — 1945? Wow!” cornerback Trumaine Johnson exclaimed from the next locker stall over.
It’s true. They were known as the Cleveland Rams back then, defeating the Chicago Cardinals 21-0 on Sept. 30 of 1945, and the Chicago Bears 17-0 on Oct. 7.
But that’s not all. For the second week in a row, and the third time in the last four games, the opposing offense did not run a single play in the red zone (inside the Rams’ 20).
“Oooh!” Johnson responded, causing McLeod to chuckle.
It’s not supposed to happen like that in the NFL, a place where shutouts — and domination — don’t come easy.
“It’s not,” said McLeod, who snuffed out one of only two Washington scoring threats with a first-quarter interception. “It just goes to guys being focused on each and every snap. We’re just working together, and having fun, and making plays.”
Granted, the shutouts have come over 1-11 Oakland and 3-10 Washington. The Raiders, by the way, beat San Francisco 24-13 Sunday for their second victory of the season.
But for those keeping score it’s now 76-0 Rams over the past two Sundays. The Rams’ defense allowed a season-low 206 yards, while registering seven sacks and two interceptions.
“The young guys are maturing,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “We’re getting a lot of positive plays out of a lot of people right now. The secondary’s playing good, and they’re challenging people. They’re coming up with the interceptions.
“When you get sacks and takeaways, and you’re not giving the ball up offensively, you get a chance to win a lot of games.”
For the fourth time this season, the Rams did not commit a turnover, and they are 4-0 in those games.
As dominating as the defense was, there were other stars Sunday.
Wide receiver, punt returner and ball carrier Tavon Austin piled up 203 total yards, with 14 yards receiving on two catches, 46 yards rushing on five carries, and 143 yards on four punt returns, including a 78-yarder for a touchdown. That return, which came with 1 minute, 36 seconds left in the third quarter, gave the Rams a 24-0 lead and shut the door on Washington.
Austin flirted with breaking a couple of other punt returns earlier in the game, with returns of 37 and 28 yards in the second quarter.
As safety T.J. McDonald put it: “He was dancing all around them boys today. That’s just what he does.”
McDonald, by the way, snuffed out the only other potential Washington scoring drive with an interception with 5:25 left in the fourth quarter after Washington had reached the St. Louis 21.
The offensive star was tight end Jared Cook, who caught two touchdown passes from quarterback Shaun Hill, both coming after he left the field with a possible concussion midway through the first quarter.
Washington safety Ryan Clark was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the play after hitting Cook high on an incomplete pass. Cook was brought into the locker room for an on-site “inspection” by an independent neurologist, who cleared Cook.
“They brought me in, asked me a few questions, asked me to repeat the months (of the year) backwards a little bit,” Cook said. “I don’t think anybody can do that.”
Cook must have done pretty well because he said, “They kind of stopped me halfway through it.”
Once he was cleared, Cook proceeded to grab a 35-yard TD pass with 12:19 left in the second quarter, and a 1-yard TD with 3:52 left in the third quarter.
He was wide open both times.
On the first one, Cook said, “I don’t know if somebody busted coverage, but I think they just went plain old Cover 2. The middle parted like the Red Sea, Shaun gave me a good ball, and I just kind of fought my way in.”
The second TD came after a 36-yard catch-and-run by Stedman Bailey on third-and-12 from the Washington 37.
“I actually thought Lance (Kendricks) was gonna pop on that one,” Cook said. “It was like a cross play, and the linebacker bit down on Cory Harkey going to the flat, and I ended up in the back of the end zone. They just dropped me.”
The two TD passes were part of a day in which Hill only had to throw 22 times. He completed 16, for 213 yards, and finished with a 133.3 passer rating. Hill is 3-1 as a starter since replacing Austin Davis as the starter vs. Denver.
“He’s taking charge of that offense,” Fisher said. “He certainly took charge at halftime with the guys. I think he settled Joe (Barksdale) down a little bit, and that’s just his nature. He’s really into it.”
Barksdale had some trouble with Washington outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan, who had two sacks. One of Hill’s most impressive throws came late in the second quarter, when scrambling to his right, he completed a 41-yard pass on the run to Kenny Britt.
Nothing came of that play in a first half marred by sacks, penalties and missed kicks by the Rams.
Place-kicker Greg Zuerlein missed his first extra point in 91 NFL tries following Cook’s first touchdown. He then missed his first field goal attempt of fewer than 30 yards in 17 pro attempts with 5:32 left in the second quarter. The half ended with Zuerlein missing from 38 yards as time expired, so the Rams led by only 6-0 at intermission. All three misses went wide right.
“I want you all to know that in our closed-door locker room (after the game), I had Johnny Hekker hold the ball,” Fisher said, smiling. “Put a ball down, and Greg hit the locker. That was what he was aiming for. So he’s OK. Greg’s gonna be fine.”
So that actually happened postgame?
“It did,” Fisher said. “I said, ‘Hit the locker.’ And he hit it. So he’s good.”
It’s always easier to joke around after a victory, and the Rams (6-7) have now won two in a row for the first time since Games 14 and 15 of last season.
“That makes you feel really good,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “I think it’s a huge step.”
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_03cff8c6-d3df-56a7-8591-f17d62609f5a.html
LANDOVER, MD. • The Rams are playing so good defensively these days, even they can’t believe it. After Sunday’s 24-0 victory over Washington at FedEx Field, free safety Rodney McLeod was told the Rams have posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 1945.
“Damn — 1945? Wow!” cornerback Trumaine Johnson exclaimed from the next locker stall over.
It’s true. They were known as the Cleveland Rams back then, defeating the Chicago Cardinals 21-0 on Sept. 30 of 1945, and the Chicago Bears 17-0 on Oct. 7.
But that’s not all. For the second week in a row, and the third time in the last four games, the opposing offense did not run a single play in the red zone (inside the Rams’ 20).
“Oooh!” Johnson responded, causing McLeod to chuckle.
It’s not supposed to happen like that in the NFL, a place where shutouts — and domination — don’t come easy.
“It’s not,” said McLeod, who snuffed out one of only two Washington scoring threats with a first-quarter interception. “It just goes to guys being focused on each and every snap. We’re just working together, and having fun, and making plays.”
Granted, the shutouts have come over 1-11 Oakland and 3-10 Washington. The Raiders, by the way, beat San Francisco 24-13 Sunday for their second victory of the season.
But for those keeping score it’s now 76-0 Rams over the past two Sundays. The Rams’ defense allowed a season-low 206 yards, while registering seven sacks and two interceptions.
“The young guys are maturing,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “We’re getting a lot of positive plays out of a lot of people right now. The secondary’s playing good, and they’re challenging people. They’re coming up with the interceptions.
“When you get sacks and takeaways, and you’re not giving the ball up offensively, you get a chance to win a lot of games.”
For the fourth time this season, the Rams did not commit a turnover, and they are 4-0 in those games.
As dominating as the defense was, there were other stars Sunday.
Wide receiver, punt returner and ball carrier Tavon Austin piled up 203 total yards, with 14 yards receiving on two catches, 46 yards rushing on five carries, and 143 yards on four punt returns, including a 78-yarder for a touchdown. That return, which came with 1 minute, 36 seconds left in the third quarter, gave the Rams a 24-0 lead and shut the door on Washington.
Austin flirted with breaking a couple of other punt returns earlier in the game, with returns of 37 and 28 yards in the second quarter.
As safety T.J. McDonald put it: “He was dancing all around them boys today. That’s just what he does.”
McDonald, by the way, snuffed out the only other potential Washington scoring drive with an interception with 5:25 left in the fourth quarter after Washington had reached the St. Louis 21.
The offensive star was tight end Jared Cook, who caught two touchdown passes from quarterback Shaun Hill, both coming after he left the field with a possible concussion midway through the first quarter.
Washington safety Ryan Clark was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the play after hitting Cook high on an incomplete pass. Cook was brought into the locker room for an on-site “inspection” by an independent neurologist, who cleared Cook.
“They brought me in, asked me a few questions, asked me to repeat the months (of the year) backwards a little bit,” Cook said. “I don’t think anybody can do that.”
Cook must have done pretty well because he said, “They kind of stopped me halfway through it.”
Once he was cleared, Cook proceeded to grab a 35-yard TD pass with 12:19 left in the second quarter, and a 1-yard TD with 3:52 left in the third quarter.
He was wide open both times.
On the first one, Cook said, “I don’t know if somebody busted coverage, but I think they just went plain old Cover 2. The middle parted like the Red Sea, Shaun gave me a good ball, and I just kind of fought my way in.”
The second TD came after a 36-yard catch-and-run by Stedman Bailey on third-and-12 from the Washington 37.
“I actually thought Lance (Kendricks) was gonna pop on that one,” Cook said. “It was like a cross play, and the linebacker bit down on Cory Harkey going to the flat, and I ended up in the back of the end zone. They just dropped me.”
The two TD passes were part of a day in which Hill only had to throw 22 times. He completed 16, for 213 yards, and finished with a 133.3 passer rating. Hill is 3-1 as a starter since replacing Austin Davis as the starter vs. Denver.
“He’s taking charge of that offense,” Fisher said. “He certainly took charge at halftime with the guys. I think he settled Joe (Barksdale) down a little bit, and that’s just his nature. He’s really into it.”
Barksdale had some trouble with Washington outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan, who had two sacks. One of Hill’s most impressive throws came late in the second quarter, when scrambling to his right, he completed a 41-yard pass on the run to Kenny Britt.
Nothing came of that play in a first half marred by sacks, penalties and missed kicks by the Rams.
Place-kicker Greg Zuerlein missed his first extra point in 91 NFL tries following Cook’s first touchdown. He then missed his first field goal attempt of fewer than 30 yards in 17 pro attempts with 5:32 left in the second quarter. The half ended with Zuerlein missing from 38 yards as time expired, so the Rams led by only 6-0 at intermission. All three misses went wide right.
“I want you all to know that in our closed-door locker room (after the game), I had Johnny Hekker hold the ball,” Fisher said, smiling. “Put a ball down, and Greg hit the locker. That was what he was aiming for. So he’s OK. Greg’s gonna be fine.”
So that actually happened postgame?
“It did,” Fisher said. “I said, ‘Hit the locker.’ And he hit it. So he’s good.”
It’s always easier to joke around after a victory, and the Rams (6-7) have now won two in a row for the first time since Games 14 and 15 of last season.
“That makes you feel really good,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “I think it’s a huge step.”
