Another bitter Rams loss puts season on brink
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/another-bitter-rams-loss-puts-season-on-brink/article_76afdc46-65fa-58e6-ae60-5822f501bf60.html
BALTIMORE • In a rapidly crumbling season, the Rams couldn’t move the football with any consistency, couldn’t hold on to the football and couldn’t hold a late 10-point lead.
The result was another numbing defeat, a 16-13 loss to a 2-7 Baltimore team on a game-ending 47-yard field goal by Justin Tucker.
For the second time in three games, the Rams have lost on a last-play field goal. Sandwiched between a 21-18 overtime loss to Minnesota two weeks ago and Sunday’s bitter setback was that 37-13 humiliation to Chicago.
So what was once a promising 4-3 season now sits at 4-6, casting doubt on the ability of coach Jeff Fisher, general manager Les Snead and executive vice president Kevin Demoff to get an organization that hasn’t had a winning season since 2003 over the hump.
Under normal circumstances, Sunday’s loss at M&T Bank Stadium is the kind of defeat that helps get coaches and GMs fired. But with Rams owner Stan Kroenke preoccupied with trying to move the team to Los Angeles, these are far from normal circumstances.
The organizational signals at the outset of the season were that only a disastrous 2015 campaign would lead to a coaching and/or GM change. After squandering a 10-point fourth-quarter lead Sunday, and with a road game next week against a formidable Cincinnati squad, this may rapidly become a matter of semantics. Namely, what constitutes a disaster?
“Well, that one was a hard one,” Fisher said after the Rams lost for the sixth time in seven games this season against a non-NFC West foe. “Probably one of the hardest I’ve been around since I’ve been here. It’s difficult when you lose that way, in a game that we somewhat controlled or dictated. Gave up the lead.
“But nonetheless, it’s hard to overcome four (turnovers) against a Super Bowl-winning quarterback.”
The Rams lost four fumbles on a chilly, windy afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium — leading to 13 Baltimore points.
The last fumble, on a sack of quarterback Case Keenum, gave the Ravens the opening they needed to pull out the victory. On third-and-5 from the St. Louis 36, Baltimore linebacker Courtney Upshaw got around Rams left tackle Greg Robinson, knocking the ball loose from Keenum.
Ravens defensive end Lawrence Guy recovered at the St. Louis 41 in a 13-13 game with 54 seconds left to play. The Ravens were out of timeouts but didn’t need any. After an incomplete pass, two runs by Javorius Allen produced 12 yards and a first down.
Quarterback Joe Flacco, the one-time Super Bowl MVP, finished out the game despite what was a season-ending knee injury. He spiked the ball with two seconds left and out came Tucker to kick the game-winner.
He had missed a 51-yarder with 1:13 to play, wide right. Rams counterpart Greg Zuerlein had missed a 52-yarder just 28 seconds earlier, wide right.
“I don’t think I hit it as well as I could have,” Zuerlein said. “I could feel my foot scrape the ground a little bit before I hit it. And then I should’ve picked a better target, really; little bit more inside (to adjust for the wind).”
Keenum apparently suffered a concussion two plays before his sack fumble, on a play where he was sacked by defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan. That sack didn’t count because of an offside penalty on Ravens linebacker Elvis Dumervil, but Keenum was clearly shaken up on the play — the second-to-last Rams offensive play of the game.
Fisher didn’t mention the concussion during his postgame news conference and sounded as if he were unaware of the injury.
Because when asked what else could be done to address the Rams’ offensive struggles, Fisher replied: “I’m gonna give Case a good week of practice. I expect him to do better than he did today. You can see he’s mobile, he can move around, he can do things.”
It was more than 25 minutes after the game that Rams officials said Keenum would not be available to reporters because he had been diagnosed with a concussion. The league had no comment Sunday night, but it’s standard policy for the league to look into all procedures when a player suffers an apparent concussion.
Keenum struggled for most of the day, completing 12 of 26 passes for 136 yards on a day when the Rams lost another offensive line starter — rookie right tackle Andrew Donnal — to what looks like a season-ending knee injury. More often than not, Keenum was under pressure as the Rams’ patchwork and inexperienced line struggled to protect him.
The Rams managed only 213 yards against the league’s 20th-rated defense. Running back Todd Gurley scored a touchdown for the fifth consecutive game but was held to 66 yards rushing on 25 carries. In addition, he lost one fumble and was part of another on a botched exchange with Keenum.
“At the end of the day, we put the ball on the ground four times,” Gurley said. “That’s never a good sign.”
(The other Rams fumble came on a muffed punt by Tavon Austin late in the second quarter — a turnover that set up the first of three Tucker field goals.)
“The fumble wasn’t Todd’s fault,” Fisher said. “That was defensive penetration; that was a problem up front. He hadn’t got his hand on the ball. It’s penetration that created the exchange problem, too, inside (on the botched exchange).”
Keenum tripped and lost his balance on the botched handoff.
“That’s what I said — it’s penetration,” Fisher said. “The (Baltimore) defensive line got penetration and pushed our guys back, and that’s where he tripped.”
Keenum’s 30-yard touchdown pass to wide-open tight end Lance Kendricks with 6:14 to go in the third quarter seemingly put the Rams in control. Even when Zuerlein’s extra point was blocked, the Rams led 13-3. The Baltimore offense, which lost running back Justin Forsett to a broken arm in the first quarter, was having trouble stringing together first downs.
But the Ravens started nibbling at that lead. A Gurley fumble on the second play of the fourth quarter resulted in Baltimore’s only TD of the day. Two Tucker field goals followed, and that 13-3 lead became a 16-13 defeat.
“It stings. It hurts,” safety T.J. McDonald said. “You never want to lose in this type of fashion. The fact that we did, it sucks.”
“It just really hurts the way we gave it up in the fourth quarter like that defensively,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said.
In seven seasons with the Rams, Laurinaitis has played for teams that are 34-71-1. So he’s endured plenty of losses, but this one may have stung the worst.
“Just the way it happened, and the fact that the whole game you feel like they can’t move the ball on you a lot,” Laurinaitis said. “And then the fourth quarter. ... Yeah, this one hurts like none I can remember.”
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Hochman: What a horrible display by the Rams
• By Benjamin Hochman
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/benjamin-hochman/hochman-what-a-horrible-display-by-the-rams/article_3377e423-456d-547f-a7c8-35c95d28e4c0.html
BALTIMORE • Hey, obnoxious Los Angeles Rams fans who take shots at St. Louis and vociferously advocate a move … be careful what you wish for.
We want the Rams to stay in St. Louis. We are an NFL city, unequivocally. Shoot, we’ll buy the Rams a couple stadiums to prove it.
But that means St. Louis will continue to embrace the suffering. Which it does. Annually. Because the St. Louis football team is an embarrassment.
The loss Sunday was disgusting.
This was a fulcrum game, and with the Bengals and Cardinals next on the schedule, the season is now on life support.
The unbalance is unfathomable — how can the defense be this good and the offense be this bad?
“We’re asking a lot out of our defense right now, and we’re not getting anything out of our offense,” said coach Jeff Fisher after the 4-6 Rams lost to the Ravens 16-13 in Sunday’s offensively offensive game featuring stupendously stupid penalties (and that was just by the winning team!).
What a waste of a stalwart defense (yet again). In that regard, the Rams are like their college counterparts in Columbia, Mo.
“It’s definitely hard putting all that pressure on the defense,” running back Todd Gurley said, “knowing that they’re doing (well) and fighting, and we keep putting them in those situations.”
Now, before we go any further with the Rams offense, here’s the obligatory line about the line: They’ve had many injuries and are frighteningly young and inexperienced.
OK.
But as I was told multiple times in the losing locker room — they’re still NFL players. And, hey, the Rams could’ve signed another veteran lineman at some point. And on Sunday, the Rams quarterback played uphill (or even “Shaun Hill”) most of the day. And the Rams were three for 13 on third downs. And to quote the manager in the movie “Major League” – Hey, Greg Robinson, don’t give me this ol’ (stuff)!
NFL analyst Brian Billick, who of course won a Super Bowl coaching the Ravens, tweeted in the first half: “I wonder how good Todd Gurley could be if the #Rams OL could actually block somebody?” (I must say, there is something weird about a tough-nosed ball coach going out of his way to put a hashtag in a tweet.)
The reality is — Gurley wasn’t that good overall. He’ll be fine, he’ll be fine. Maybe it was just the offensive line. Maybe it was the run-stuffing Ravens. Maybe it was the less-talked-about Sports Illustrated regional cover jinx. But Gurley fumbled the football, averaged 2.6 yards a carry and, for the first time, was part of the reason the Rams lost — as opposed to when the Rams have lost in spite of his successful play.
Sure enough, the man who forced the fourth-quarter fumble was from the St. Louis area. Brandon Williams plays nose tackle for the Ravens, and he looks like he ate Festus. After the two-win Ravens held the Rams to 82 ground yards, Williams said: “I take it personally every time I step on the field to stop the run. … We respect (Gurley) as a back, but we were ready for him.”
The Rams’ offense looks hopeless. Nick Foles was a lemon. Case Keenum is more mobile and can make some plays, but he clearly wasn’t in command. It’s mid-November, and the offense is somehow regressing, which, come to think of it, is an amazing accomplishment for a unit that scored six points at home against Pittsburgh.
Lance Kendricks, who caught Keenum’s lone touchdown pass, was asked if he was surprised the offense is taking this long to get it together.
“I think we all are,” he said. “I don’t know if to call it waiting, but we’re all just looking for an opening looking for somebody to make a play. We need to make it happen ourselves, we can’t really point fingers.”
It’s all so depressing.
James Laurinaitis, the proud linebacker, stood at his locker and tried to sell us on his mindset: it doesn’t matter how few points your offense scores, the defense must allow fewer points.
It’s a noble mentality.
But at some point, to hold a team to 16 points … on the road ... even though your team turned the ball over four times … is impressive, regardless of the game’s outcome.
“This one might be one of the hardest over the last seven (years), maybe the hardest,” Laurinaitis said. “Just the fashion of it, the fact that it was a real pivotal game in the season from an overall outlook, a chance to get back to .500 and make a push. Being 4-6 …”
He then took a long, pensive breath and said: “... you have zero room for error. You always take it week to week, but when you’re around seven years you kind of look at the overall picture, and this stings on multiple levels. This might be the hardest one to swallow.”
When it was over, Aaron Donald wore a hoodie over his head.
He walked toward the locker room door, and all one could think is – what a waste. This specimen is special. He doesn’t tackle; he assaults. A week before, the defensive tackle accumulated five quarterback pressures in, according to Pro Football Focus, his best graded game of the season. And then on Sunday, he tallied a sack and a team-high 10 total tackles, including a play in the first quarter, when he pulverized Justin Forsett to the ground, breaking the running back’s arm.
Donald talked about the defense and disappointment in the locker room.
It’s got to be such a tough feeling, I said.
“Yeah, it suck.”
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Rams lose another offensive lineman to injury
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-lose-another-offensive-lineman-to-injury/article_bebb199b-22f0-5248-a5da-29f67967560b.html
BALTIMORE • For the third time in two games, it looks like the Rams have lost a rookie offensive lineman to a season-ending injury.
Andrew Donnal, who started at right tackle in place of the injured Rob Havenstein, suffered a knee injury on a second-quarter passing play in Sunday’s 16-13 loss to Baltimore.
“We’ll know (Monday), but it’s the knee,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “I’ll just say it doesn’t look good, unfortunately for him. He was playing well.”
Donnal, a fourth-round pick from Iowa, was making his second NFL start, having started at left guard two weeks ago in Minnesota.
Last week, the Rams lost starting guard Jamon Brown (fractured leg) and backup tackle Darrell Williams (wrist) for the season, with both injuries occurring chasing Chicago linebacker Willie Young on an interception return.
Yet another rookie, sixth-round pick Cody Wichmann of Fresno State, made his first NFL start Sunday — at right guard.
When Donnal went out, the Rams switched starting left guard Garrett Reynolds to right tackle, moved Wichmann to left guard and brought Demetrius Rhaney off the bench to play right guard.
“It made it a little more difficult for us, just because we were throwing guys in there — guys that hadn’t practiced that position all week,” center Tim Barnes said. “We just had to do the best we could.
“We know that’s why the guys are on the team — because they can do it. It just made it a little more adverse for us. We just gotta make sure we finish.”
MASON BENCHED
Running back Tre Mason, the team’s leading rusher as a rookie last season, was benched for Sunday’s contest. Mason was a surprise member on the team’s pregame inactive list.
“He violated team rules (Saturday),” Fisher confirmed in his postgame news conference.
He did not elaborate. After leading the Rams in rushing with 765 yards as a rookie last season, Mason has become nearly a forgotten man this season. He had a chance to establish a foothold in the backfield early in the season, before rookie Todd Gurley was fully recovered from last season’s knee surgery while at the University of Georgia.
But Mason was slowed by a preseason hamstring injury, missed the opener entirely because of that injury, and hasn’t been a factor so far this season. He has 44 carries for 129 yards, averaging 2.9 yards a carry, getting much of that work in mop-up time against Chicago and San Francisco.
Minus Mason, the Rams went with just three running backs against the Ravens: Gurley, third-down specialist Benny Cunningham, and special teams core player Chase Reynolds.
QUINN SITS
For the second time in three games, the Rams were without two-time Pro Bowler Robert Quinn at defensive end. Quinn was ruled out on Saturday because of a hip injury, and thus was among the Rams’ pregame inactives for Baltimore.
“He’s dealing with a hip and a knee,” Fisher said. “The knee is OK. I think the knee’s good enough for him to play, but he’s dealing with some other things now.”
Eugene Sims started once again in Quinn’s place, and undrafted rookie Matt Longacre of Northwest Missouri State provided depth, playing in his second NFL game.
Other Rams inactives were QB Sean Mannion, S Christian Bryant, TE Justice Cunningham (finger), OT Isaiah Battle, and Havenstein (calf). There were unconfirmed reports that Battle also was benched for disciplinary reasons, but he may have been a pregame inactive anyway.
LONG PLAYS
After missing four games with a bone fracture following a knee-to-knee collision in Green Bay, defensive end Chris Long returned to action. William Hayes got the start at left defensive end, but Long was part of the defensive line rotation.
Long was frustrated with the loss and frustrated with his play.
“I just wish I could’ve helped us more,” Long said. “I felt OK, I just played like a (bleep). I can’t wait to hopefully play up to my standards, and next week help us win more.”
RAM-BLINGS
With Sunday’s loss, the Rams are 14-23-1 under Fisher in non-division games. They are 10-10-1 against NFC West foes.
• All 10 Baltimore games this season have been decided by eight points or less, the longest such streak to begin a season in NFL history.
• Gurley didn’t have his best game, but with 775 yards in just eight contests, he has the fourth-most rushing yards by a Rams rookie in franchise history.
• To combat Baltimore punter Sam Koch’s directional skills, the Rams deployed both Tavon Austin and Wes Welker as returners on most punts.
