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Rams' defense sets the tone in win
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_fc0bed2b-253f-5f6d-adec-27127af05c9c.html
For Rams middle linebacker James Laurinaitis, there’s no such thing as a perfect game. But Sunday’s 52-0 rout of the visiting Oakland Raiders came awfully close.
“Trust me, there are a lot of things I can think of. ... I’m a perfectionist,” he said. “I can think of a lot of things we can do better. I still think we can be better tackling in the open field. But goodness, I’m not going to nit-pick right now. I’m going to enjoy this for a solid 24 hours and then it’s on to the next one. We’ve got to learn in this locker room how to stack wins.
“But any time you can get a shutout in this league, it’s special.”
Keyed by a defensive effort that produced the Rams’ first shutout since Dec. 17, 2006 — when St. Louis won 20-0 in Oakland — and an offense that scored on its first six possessions, the Rams (5-7) took control from the outset and never gave the Raiders (1-11) an opportunity to challenge Sunday.
“Today, we got slapped. We got beat up,” veteran Oakland receiver James Jones said. The Rams “came out and played better than us in every phase. We got hit in the mouth and didn’t punch back.”
Facing a Raiders team coming off a 24-20 win over a Kansas City squad that thumped the visiting Rams 34-7 on Oct. 26, the Rams set the tone early Sunday by forcing the visitors into three-and-outs in each of their first three possessions.
“From a defensive standpoint, we tackled well, pressured the quarterback, stopped the run and got turnovers,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said.
And the offense capitalized with three first-quarter touchdowns while building a 38-0 halftime advantage.
“It’s something we talked about all week: starting fast and finishing strong,” rookie cornerback and Mizzou product E.J. Gaines said. “Everybody was working together and it paid off for us. The guys up front did their job by applying the pressure and we were able to make some plays at the back end.”
Added Laurinaitis: “Against Kansas City, (the Raiders) got it going early and built some confidence. They believed. Quite frankly, I’ve been 2-14 and 1-15. In that situation, the longer you hang around, the more you start to believe in your chances. We knew with a young quarterback, we had to come out strong and try and put some doubt in their minds. And we just kept pressuring. We were able to pin them down early and also created some takeaways.’’
Defensive end Robert Quinn, who had three of the Rams’ six sacks, forced fumbles on two of them. One of those fumbles was recovered by teammate Chris Long, the other by an Oakland offensive lineman. William Hayes also forced a fumble that was recovered by safety Rodney McLeod.
Gaines, who fell on a muffed Rams’ punt in the first quarter, came up with his second career interception, setting up a touchdown pass from Shaun Hill to tight end Cory Harkey that made it 35-0 midway through the second quarter.
Cornerback Trumaine Johnson had a pair of interceptions Sunday, giving him three this season and eight in three pro seasons. He picked off a second-quarter pass from Carr and returned it 22 yards to set up a Greg Zuerlein field goal that made it 38-0. Then, with the Rams up 45-0 late, Johnson snagged a pass from back-up quarterback Matt Schaub and raced 43 yards for the first pick-6 of his career.
“We were in zone coverage both times, I was in the right place at the right time,” said Johnson, who has come on strong after sitting out the first seven games after suffering a knee injury during the preseason. “I forgot what it was like to be in the end zone. My celebration was trash, but I’m just glad I caught it and put some points up for our team.”
Added McLeod: “We like to tease ‘Tru’ about his return-game skills, but he did a great job out there today. As a team, we did a great job of capitalizing on our chances today.”
According to the unofficial press box stats, the Rams received seven tackles from defensive tackle Michael Brockers and six apiece from from linebackers Laurinaitis and Alec Ogletree, defensive end William Hayes and cornerbacks Gaines and Johnson.
In his first action since undergoing foot surgery following the team’s season-opening loss to Minnesota, defensive end Long came off injured reserve to provide an emotional lift. He also contributed two tackles for loss, a quarterback hurry and a fumble recovery.
Hayes and rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald had the other sacks for the Rams.
“It was a full and complete team victory,” Johnson said.
Ogletree added: “We definitely showed up today — in all three phases of the game. We played fast and we played hard. We know what we’ve got in this room, the type of talent we have. It’s just a matter of going out strong like we did today and playing football the way we’re capable.”
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_fc0bed2b-253f-5f6d-adec-27127af05c9c.html
For Rams middle linebacker James Laurinaitis, there’s no such thing as a perfect game. But Sunday’s 52-0 rout of the visiting Oakland Raiders came awfully close.
“Trust me, there are a lot of things I can think of. ... I’m a perfectionist,” he said. “I can think of a lot of things we can do better. I still think we can be better tackling in the open field. But goodness, I’m not going to nit-pick right now. I’m going to enjoy this for a solid 24 hours and then it’s on to the next one. We’ve got to learn in this locker room how to stack wins.
“But any time you can get a shutout in this league, it’s special.”
Keyed by a defensive effort that produced the Rams’ first shutout since Dec. 17, 2006 — when St. Louis won 20-0 in Oakland — and an offense that scored on its first six possessions, the Rams (5-7) took control from the outset and never gave the Raiders (1-11) an opportunity to challenge Sunday.
“Today, we got slapped. We got beat up,” veteran Oakland receiver James Jones said. The Rams “came out and played better than us in every phase. We got hit in the mouth and didn’t punch back.”
Facing a Raiders team coming off a 24-20 win over a Kansas City squad that thumped the visiting Rams 34-7 on Oct. 26, the Rams set the tone early Sunday by forcing the visitors into three-and-outs in each of their first three possessions.
“From a defensive standpoint, we tackled well, pressured the quarterback, stopped the run and got turnovers,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said.
And the offense capitalized with three first-quarter touchdowns while building a 38-0 halftime advantage.
“It’s something we talked about all week: starting fast and finishing strong,” rookie cornerback and Mizzou product E.J. Gaines said. “Everybody was working together and it paid off for us. The guys up front did their job by applying the pressure and we were able to make some plays at the back end.”
Added Laurinaitis: “Against Kansas City, (the Raiders) got it going early and built some confidence. They believed. Quite frankly, I’ve been 2-14 and 1-15. In that situation, the longer you hang around, the more you start to believe in your chances. We knew with a young quarterback, we had to come out strong and try and put some doubt in their minds. And we just kept pressuring. We were able to pin them down early and also created some takeaways.’’
Defensive end Robert Quinn, who had three of the Rams’ six sacks, forced fumbles on two of them. One of those fumbles was recovered by teammate Chris Long, the other by an Oakland offensive lineman. William Hayes also forced a fumble that was recovered by safety Rodney McLeod.
Gaines, who fell on a muffed Rams’ punt in the first quarter, came up with his second career interception, setting up a touchdown pass from Shaun Hill to tight end Cory Harkey that made it 35-0 midway through the second quarter.
Cornerback Trumaine Johnson had a pair of interceptions Sunday, giving him three this season and eight in three pro seasons. He picked off a second-quarter pass from Carr and returned it 22 yards to set up a Greg Zuerlein field goal that made it 38-0. Then, with the Rams up 45-0 late, Johnson snagged a pass from back-up quarterback Matt Schaub and raced 43 yards for the first pick-6 of his career.
“We were in zone coverage both times, I was in the right place at the right time,” said Johnson, who has come on strong after sitting out the first seven games after suffering a knee injury during the preseason. “I forgot what it was like to be in the end zone. My celebration was trash, but I’m just glad I caught it and put some points up for our team.”
Added McLeod: “We like to tease ‘Tru’ about his return-game skills, but he did a great job out there today. As a team, we did a great job of capitalizing on our chances today.”
According to the unofficial press box stats, the Rams received seven tackles from defensive tackle Michael Brockers and six apiece from from linebackers Laurinaitis and Alec Ogletree, defensive end William Hayes and cornerbacks Gaines and Johnson.
In his first action since undergoing foot surgery following the team’s season-opening loss to Minnesota, defensive end Long came off injured reserve to provide an emotional lift. He also contributed two tackles for loss, a quarterback hurry and a fumble recovery.
Hayes and rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald had the other sacks for the Rams.
“It was a full and complete team victory,” Johnson said.
Ogletree added: “We definitely showed up today — in all three phases of the game. We played fast and we played hard. We know what we’ve got in this room, the type of talent we have. It’s just a matter of going out strong like we did today and playing football the way we’re capable.”