Rams/Panthers: Gray's Grades from the Carolina Catastrophe (101 ESPN)

[STL-Rams]

Shane Gray provides special Rams commentaries on 101sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ShaneGmoSTLRams.

Quarterback:

Prior to being lost for the year due to an unfortunate ACL injury, St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford was putting together a vastly underrated performance in Charlotte against the Carolina Panthers.

In spite of a myriad of miscues including a tripping penalty that brought back a beautifully thrown touchdown pass to wide receiver Tavon Austin, a bad drop on a perfectly tossed should-have-been score to Brian Quick and an ill-timed fumble by Austin as Rams were driving, Bradford posted some very solid statistics.

On the afternoon, No. 8 completed 70 percent of his passes (21 of 30) for 255 yards, a touchdown and a 93.1 rating. Had it not been for the out-of-his-hands mistakes mentioned above and others, those numbers would have looked much better.

The only big mistake came about by a tipped pass that likely would have resulted in a huge play had the pass protection held up better.

In short, Bradford did his part and more on Sunday. If not for a bewildering play call on fourth-and-goal from inches out and the aforementioned errors by those around him, this day could have looked much more like the outstanding day it really was from St. Louis’ now-injured offensive leader.

Grade: A-

Running Back:

The Rams put together a few nice runs on Sunday – including a 21-yard jaunt by starter Zac Stacy and a 10-yard pickup by backup Daryl Richardson – but failed to really sustain a consistent ground game overall. Stacy led the way with 53 yards on 17 attempts.

In total, St. Louis finished with just 63 yards on 21 carries for a three-yard-per-carry average. Obviously, that isn’t going to cut it.

(Hope you will enjoy the remainder of the article below and all the position analysis/grades):

http://www.101sports.com/2013/10/23/ram ... -carolina/

 

[Stranger]

Coaching: Grade: B

St. Louis went to Carolina to face a beatable 2-3 team but came up short, 30-15.

Other than failing to adjust to the Panthers’ passing attack and unsuccessfully attempting to calm down part of the roster after the initial skirmish that saw Long booted, the coaching seemed to be decent.

Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer called a second consecutive game that was more varied and creative than any season prior to that. Other than the questionable fourth-and-goal-from-inches-out pass play, he called another solid game.

The special teams again were able to play a clean game and avoided hurting the offense and defense.

If not for a handful of plays, this game could have and probably should have been a win. It was a wasted opportunity.

Grade: B

I agree with all of your grades except this one. It was the coaching staff's responsibilty to keep the players focused on execution, and they failed miserably at that, allowing all sorts of extracurricular activity to flourish. Hence, at best, coaches get a C.

 

[blackbart]

Wasted opportunity the most relevant point in the article.

 

[STL-Rams]

I agree with all of your grades except this one. It was the coaching staff's responsibilty to keep the players focused on execution, and they failed miserably at that, allowing all sorts of extracurricular activity to flourish. Hence, at best, coaches get a C.

I can understand that point and thought process, but the players were in position (Quick, Austin, etc) to make plays more so than some other recent weeks. In regard to the extracurricular, I can't argue there.

 

[rhinobean]

Another good report, Shane! Thank you!

 

[STL-Rams]

Another good report, Shane! Thank you!

Thank you!

 

[STL-Rams]

Wasted opportunity the most relevant point in the article.

Certainly was a wasted chance (as was Atlanta)

 

[Stranger]

I can understand that point and thought process, but the players were in position (Quick, Austin, etc) to make plays more so than some other recent weeks. In regard to the extracurricular, I can't argue there.

Shane, I don't know much about how the sport media works, especially in StL, but do you have access to the coaches? Can you ask them direct questions?