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Rams fall flat in opener
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_6d502baa-2da0-5bf8-be20-b1fa5d4fd0c5.html
It has been nearly seven weeks since the Rams gathered in Earth City for the start of training camp. Over 40-plus days, there were countless hours spent in the meeting room, on the practice field, studying the playbook, getting ready for this moment — the season opener against Minnesota.
And what was the sum of all that preparation Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome?
A 34-6 embarrassment against the Vikings. It matched the worst loss in a home season opener in Rams franchise history. One must go all the way back to the inaugural season of Rams football, 1937, when the franchise was based in Cleveland, to find an opener this bad at home.
That would be coach Hugo Bezdek’s Rams squad, which lost to Detroit 28-0 that day in Cleveland, with the 28-point margin of defeat matched only by Sunday’s disaster.
“We didn’t play very well today,” coach Jeff Fisher said in the understatement of the day. “I wasn’t anticipating that.”
Who was?
One of the most penalized teams in football a year ago, the Rams were in midseason form Sunday, with 13 for 121 yards. They paid so much attention to Adrian Peterson, they forgot about Cordarrelle Patterson.
The get outkicked, outcoached and outclassed by a Minnesota team coming off a 5-10-1 season and breaking in a new head coach in Mike Zimmer.
By the start of the second half, the Rams were down to Austin Davis at quarterback, who was No. 4 on the depth chart for much of the preseason. No disrespect to Davis, but that hardly ever is a good thing.
“This is the exact opposite of our expectations,” guard Rodger Saffold said. “Period, point blank. And the thing that makes it most frustrating is that we had some of the best practices that we’ve ever had the last three days. Nobody was unprepared. Nobody didn’t communicate. Nobody was out there just making mistakes (on purpose).”
Nonetheless, there were a lot of people out there making mistakes.
Working backwards:
• Davis’ pass over the middle with 3 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the game was intercepted and returned 81 yards for a touchdown by Harrison Smith, giving Minnesota a 34-3 lead. Davis led tight end Jared Cook with his throw; trouble was, Cook slowed down and settled into an opening in the Minnesota coverage.
• Less than five minutes earlier, on fourth and 4 from the St. Louis 42, one of the Rams’ special teams core players — Chase Reynolds — was flagged for roughing the punter.
The resulting first down set the Vikings up at the St. Louis 28, and they were in the end zone three plays later on a 7-yard pass from quarterback Matt Cassel to tight end Kyle Rudolph, who beat free safety Rodney McLeod on the play.
• With the Rams still within striking distance, trailing 13-3 late in the third quarter, Patterson — the second-year wide receiver — lined up in the backfield, took a handoff to his right, cut back to the middle, then zigged and zagged his way 67 yards for a TD.
Five Rams missed tackles on the play, which gave Minnesota a 20-3 lead.
• Near the end of the first half, Rams starting quarterback Shaun Hill threw into double coverage for Cook, only to have Vikes cornerback Josh Robinson make an athletic leaping interception and come down with his feet in-bounds with 1:09 to play.
When savvy veteran Greg Jennings got behind rookie E.J. Gaines in the back right corner of the end zone three plays later for a TD, Minnesota took a 13-0 lead into the locker room at the half.
Before the Hill interception, Fisher said, “This game was taking on the appearance of a 13-10 type of game. ... And then obviously things just slipped away there.”
Or as defensive tackle Michael Brockers put it, it was more like an avalanche.
“Nobody saw this coming,” Brockers said. “It was like a snowball going downfield. It just kept rolling on ...”
Until it crushed the Rams.
That interception turned out to be the last pass of the day for Hill, who started in place of Sam Bradford, who’s out for the year with a knee injury. Davis took over to start the second half after the team announced that Hill had a thigh injury.
Fisher said the injury took place on the series before the interception and stiffened up on Hill. With that in mind, Hill was asked if that had any effect on the throw that resulted in the INT.
“No reason to make any excuses, that’s for sure,” Hill said. “The leg’s a long ways from the head. That’s a play I should’ve done something different.”
Hill said he should’ve thrown the ball away.
Two years ago in St. Louis, Peterson rushed for 212 yards, including runs of 82 and 52 yards. The Rams fared much better this time, holding him to 75 yards and 3.6 yards a carry.
But Patterson killed them with 102 yards on just three carries. Besides that 67-yard touchdown run, a pair of first-quarter “jet” sweeps by Patterson helped set up the game’s initial points, on a pair of Blair Walsh field goals.
“Yeah, I think our focus was on stopping Adrian Peterson, and when you’ve got a guy like that, he’s gonna get most of the attention,” Brockers said. “We just kinda forgot about Patterson, even though he’s a great player. We looked at him (during the week’s preparation). Great speed. Good with the ball. Good vision.”
Then he added, shaking his head, “I don’t know.”
The Rams didn’t have many answers Sunday but must put their frustrations aside and get ready for a Week 2 matchup with Tampa Bay.
“Frustration is putting it lightly,” defensive end Chris Long said. “I know everybody watching it was frustrated. You can multiply that by about 10, 100 — whatever you want to do. That’s how frustrated people are in this locker room.”
No more frustrated than the crowd of 55,919 at the Dome, who have borne the brunt of 10 straight non-winning seasons, who are faced with the prospect of their team being free to relocate after this season and paid hard-earned money to watch Sunday’s non-performance.
Now that’s frustration.
By the end of the game, it was difficult to discern who was louder — the boos from Rams fans or the chants of “Let’s go Vikings!” by Minnesota fans.
“That’s their right (to boo),” Long said. “They paid money for their tickets and they didn’t get their money’s worth. So that’s their prerogative. We’re just gonna come back and work hard.”
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_6d502baa-2da0-5bf8-be20-b1fa5d4fd0c5.html
It has been nearly seven weeks since the Rams gathered in Earth City for the start of training camp. Over 40-plus days, there were countless hours spent in the meeting room, on the practice field, studying the playbook, getting ready for this moment — the season opener against Minnesota.
And what was the sum of all that preparation Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome?
A 34-6 embarrassment against the Vikings. It matched the worst loss in a home season opener in Rams franchise history. One must go all the way back to the inaugural season of Rams football, 1937, when the franchise was based in Cleveland, to find an opener this bad at home.
That would be coach Hugo Bezdek’s Rams squad, which lost to Detroit 28-0 that day in Cleveland, with the 28-point margin of defeat matched only by Sunday’s disaster.
“We didn’t play very well today,” coach Jeff Fisher said in the understatement of the day. “I wasn’t anticipating that.”
Who was?
One of the most penalized teams in football a year ago, the Rams were in midseason form Sunday, with 13 for 121 yards. They paid so much attention to Adrian Peterson, they forgot about Cordarrelle Patterson.
The get outkicked, outcoached and outclassed by a Minnesota team coming off a 5-10-1 season and breaking in a new head coach in Mike Zimmer.
By the start of the second half, the Rams were down to Austin Davis at quarterback, who was No. 4 on the depth chart for much of the preseason. No disrespect to Davis, but that hardly ever is a good thing.
“This is the exact opposite of our expectations,” guard Rodger Saffold said. “Period, point blank. And the thing that makes it most frustrating is that we had some of the best practices that we’ve ever had the last three days. Nobody was unprepared. Nobody didn’t communicate. Nobody was out there just making mistakes (on purpose).”
Nonetheless, there were a lot of people out there making mistakes.
Working backwards:
• Davis’ pass over the middle with 3 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the game was intercepted and returned 81 yards for a touchdown by Harrison Smith, giving Minnesota a 34-3 lead. Davis led tight end Jared Cook with his throw; trouble was, Cook slowed down and settled into an opening in the Minnesota coverage.
• Less than five minutes earlier, on fourth and 4 from the St. Louis 42, one of the Rams’ special teams core players — Chase Reynolds — was flagged for roughing the punter.
The resulting first down set the Vikings up at the St. Louis 28, and they were in the end zone three plays later on a 7-yard pass from quarterback Matt Cassel to tight end Kyle Rudolph, who beat free safety Rodney McLeod on the play.
• With the Rams still within striking distance, trailing 13-3 late in the third quarter, Patterson — the second-year wide receiver — lined up in the backfield, took a handoff to his right, cut back to the middle, then zigged and zagged his way 67 yards for a TD.
Five Rams missed tackles on the play, which gave Minnesota a 20-3 lead.
• Near the end of the first half, Rams starting quarterback Shaun Hill threw into double coverage for Cook, only to have Vikes cornerback Josh Robinson make an athletic leaping interception and come down with his feet in-bounds with 1:09 to play.
When savvy veteran Greg Jennings got behind rookie E.J. Gaines in the back right corner of the end zone three plays later for a TD, Minnesota took a 13-0 lead into the locker room at the half.
Before the Hill interception, Fisher said, “This game was taking on the appearance of a 13-10 type of game. ... And then obviously things just slipped away there.”
Or as defensive tackle Michael Brockers put it, it was more like an avalanche.
“Nobody saw this coming,” Brockers said. “It was like a snowball going downfield. It just kept rolling on ...”
Until it crushed the Rams.
That interception turned out to be the last pass of the day for Hill, who started in place of Sam Bradford, who’s out for the year with a knee injury. Davis took over to start the second half after the team announced that Hill had a thigh injury.
Fisher said the injury took place on the series before the interception and stiffened up on Hill. With that in mind, Hill was asked if that had any effect on the throw that resulted in the INT.
“No reason to make any excuses, that’s for sure,” Hill said. “The leg’s a long ways from the head. That’s a play I should’ve done something different.”
Hill said he should’ve thrown the ball away.
Two years ago in St. Louis, Peterson rushed for 212 yards, including runs of 82 and 52 yards. The Rams fared much better this time, holding him to 75 yards and 3.6 yards a carry.
But Patterson killed them with 102 yards on just three carries. Besides that 67-yard touchdown run, a pair of first-quarter “jet” sweeps by Patterson helped set up the game’s initial points, on a pair of Blair Walsh field goals.
“Yeah, I think our focus was on stopping Adrian Peterson, and when you’ve got a guy like that, he’s gonna get most of the attention,” Brockers said. “We just kinda forgot about Patterson, even though he’s a great player. We looked at him (during the week’s preparation). Great speed. Good with the ball. Good vision.”
Then he added, shaking his head, “I don’t know.”
The Rams didn’t have many answers Sunday but must put their frustrations aside and get ready for a Week 2 matchup with Tampa Bay.
“Frustration is putting it lightly,” defensive end Chris Long said. “I know everybody watching it was frustrated. You can multiply that by about 10, 100 — whatever you want to do. That’s how frustrated people are in this locker room.”
No more frustrated than the crowd of 55,919 at the Dome, who have borne the brunt of 10 straight non-winning seasons, who are faced with the prospect of their team being free to relocate after this season and paid hard-earned money to watch Sunday’s non-performance.
Now that’s frustration.
By the end of the game, it was difficult to discern who was louder — the boos from Rams fans or the chants of “Let’s go Vikings!” by Minnesota fans.
“That’s their right (to boo),” Long said. “They paid money for their tickets and they didn’t get their money’s worth. So that’s their prerogative. We’re just gonna come back and work hard.”
