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Rams' defense frustrates Manning, Broncos
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_2c58c956-9b8e-59ba-a72c-93c85c0ed644.html
Peyton Manning made his third — and probably his final — NFL regular-season visit to St. Louis on Sunday afternoon. It was one he’d probably like to forget.
Facing a Rams defense playing its best football of the season, Manning and the Denver Broncos simply never got it going in a 22-7 loss at the Edward Jones Dome.
“I give them a lot of credit,’’ Manning said. “I thought they played really well at all three levels: their front, their linebackers and the secondary. I thought we didn’t execute very well and just think I didn’t play very well.
“You’re disappointed. Certainly, any time you score seven points as an offense, you feel that you’ve let your team down. The defense did a good job, holding them to field goals. ... I didn’t feel like I carried my weight today.’’
Manning, a five-time league MVP, played for the Indianapolis Colts in his previous trips to St. Louis, losing 42-17 in 2001 and winning 42-9 in 2009. On Sunday, he completed 34 of 54 passes for 389 yards, topping the 3,000-yard mark for the 16th time in his career. With a 42-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders in the second quarter, he’s now thrown at least one scoring pass in 49 consecutive games. Only Drew Brees (54, 2009-12) and Tom Brady (52, 2010-13) have more.
But Manning’s NFL-record streak of 15 consecutive games with two or more passing touchdowns was snapped Sunday.
The Broncos, who are winless in three trips to St. Louis, moved the ball Sunday, finishing with 397 net yards to 337 for the Rams. But when Denver neared the red zone, the Rams’ defense stepped up.
“It’s one thing if you’re just three-and-out from the 20 every time, but we did have good starts to drives,’’ said the 38-year-old Manning. “I give them credit for executing their defense. I feel like I didn’t do my job well enough. ... We had a good red-zone plan and I don’t think we ever got to call any red-zone plays.’’
In fact, the AFC West-leading Broncos ran just 17 offensive plays in Rams territory, none in the red zone. In addition, the Rams got interceptions from Alec Ogletree and Trumaine Johnson and sacks from James Laurinaitis and Aaron Donald.
The Rams “practice and get paid, too,’’ Denver coach John Fox said. “That is a good football team. The last time they were here, they beat the defending world champions, Seattle. They also went out to San Francisco and beat them.’’
Injuries were certainly a factor in the Broncos’ offensive struggles Sunday. Julius Thomas, the first tight end in NFL history with back-to-back 12-touchdown seasons, went down after just two series with an ankle injury, and running back Montee Ball, the Timberland High product, aggravated a groin injury early in the second quarter.
Ball, the Broncos’ second-round draft pick in 2013, was hoping for a triumphant return home after missing his team’s previous five games.
“The toughest thing right now is the loss,’’ Ball said. “Personally, it’s been tough because I’ve never really been hurt before. It’s tough not being able to play, and it’s even tougher when your team loses.’’
Ball said he wasn’t sure about the severity of his injury.
“Groins can be tricky,’’ he said. “I felt good, I felt like I was ready to play again, but when I made a cut, I felt a pop.’’
But perhaps the most costly injury of the day for the Broncos was early in the second half when Sanders suffered a concussion on a big hit from Rams safety Rodney McLeod on a pass play down the right sideline. McLeod was called for unnecessary roughness on the play.
“We had a good drive going (when) Emmanuel gets injured,’’ Manning said. “You just hate to see that and I feel a part of that. I felt like I probably could’ve held the safety a little bit longer, kept him from getting a jump on the play.’’
At that point, Sanders had five catches for 102 yards and the 42-yard touchdown. With the penalty, the Broncos took over at the Rams’ 38. But the Denver drive stalled.
“I felt like we finally had a little rhythm going with the touchdown there at the end of the first half,’’ said wideout Demaryius Thomas, who finished with seven catches for 103 yards to extend his streak of consecutive 100-yard games to seven. “I really thought we were going to come out strong in the second half, take the lead and take control of the game. But it just didn’t happen.
“Their defense just played better than we did today.”
Veteran tight end Jacob Tamme, who replaced Julius Thomas, refused to use the unfortunate string of injuries as an excuse.
“We have guys across the board who can make play, guys who needed to step up today. And we just didn’t get it done,’’ he said. “Give the Rams credit — they outplayed us today — but the bottom line is, we have to be better, especially when it comes to finishing drives.’’
Manning agreed: “Certainly, you hate to see Julius and Emmanuel injured, but Bubba (receiver Andre Caldwell) and Jacob have made a lot of plays for this offense, and I have a lot of confidence in them. I’ve got to give them the chance to make plays.
“We had chances. We weren’t very good on third down (four of 12), had a lot of third-and-longs. But I’ve got to play better — it’s pretty plain and simple.’’