Rams rewrite the script, beat Seattle --PD

[RamBill]

Rams rewrite the script, beat Seattle
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_946dd744-cbbd-59a1-aedb-6fb535155c3a.html

With quarterback Russell Wilson carving up the Rams’ defense with his legs, his arm and his determination, the Seattle Seahawks had nibbled away at what once was an 18-point deficit.

That Rams’ lead had all but disappeared when it came down to a fourth-and-3 play at the St. Louis 18 with 2 minutes, 55 seconds to play. Clinging to a 28-26 lead, out came Johnny Hekker and the Rams’ punting unit. The surging Seahawks were poised to get the ball around their 40. A couple of first downs, and out trots kicker Steven Hauschka to boot the game-winning field goal for the defending Super Bowl champs.

You could almost visualize that finish.

The Rams, after all, blew a 21-0 first-half lead four weeks ago against Dallas in the Edward Jones Dome. On Monday, they squandered a 14-0 first-quarter lead against San Francisco — also at the Dome.

Here we go again, right?

Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. So coach Jeff Fisher called for a fake punt, right then and there.

As linebacker James Laurinaitis said, it takes a lot of guts to make that call.

Yes, it does. But Hekker took the long snap from Jake McQuaide, threw a strike to up-back Benny Cunningham, who had leaked out to the left flat, and Cunningham caught the ball for a first down and an 18-yard gain.

Since Seattle was out of timeouts, the Rams needed only one first down to run out the clock on kneel-downs. They got the first down, but only after a third-and-1 run by rookie running back Tre Mason ended in a fumble, and then a mad scramble for the football.

It wasn’t clear who recovered for the Rams, preserving their 28-26 upset victory. Although the angle was inconclusive, replays seemed to indicate it was the Seahawks.

So who came up with the ball?

“The Rams,” Fisher said, smiling.

Which player?

“An offensive player,” he replied.

“The ref (Brad Allen) called it our ball,” defensive end William Hayes added. “That’s all I can say. Hell, the calls have been going the other way a lot the last couple of games. So finally we got us a good call.”

According to Seattle coach Pete Carroll, cornerback Richard Sherman was on the ball for a while but couldn’t get flat to secure it. “Then the ball got moved around a little bit,” Carroll said.

Rams tight end Cory Harkey said he re-gained control of the ball at the bottom of a huge dog pile. Seconds earlier it had squirted out of his grasp chasing down the Mason fumble.

“Yeah, me and Mike (Person) were fighting for it under the pile,” Harkey said. “And we ended up with it.”

Person, a reserve offensive lineman, was in the game as an extra blocker because the Rams were in a “jumbo” formation.

One kneel-down later, the Rams (2-4) had found a way to close out a game. Barely.

Seattle, missing several starters because of injury and having traded wide receiver and return man Percy Harvin on Friday to the New York Jets, fell to 3-3 with its second consecutive loss.

“There’s a lot to learn from this,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “If anything, it kind of tells some of the guys, hey, we just won against the world champs in a situation where we didn’t play — I don’t believe we played — our best football.”

If not for the fake punt, however, it could very well have been another loss. Carroll certainly thought so.

“We didn’t think they would do it in this situation,” he said. “If they don’t catch the ball, we would have kicked a field goal and gone home. Very gutsy play by Jeff (Fisher), the kind of stuff he has done in the past and the way we anticipate him being. And we prepared for it.”

But who thought the Rams would fake it backed up at the 18?

Fisher said he told special teams coordinator John Fassel on first down of that sequence that the fake punt was on if the Rams didn’t convert.

“You guys saw the flow of the game, we were having a hard time stopping Russell (Wilson),” Fisher said. “There was too much time left on the clock right there, and I didn’t want to give the ball back to them. I thought it was our best chance to get a first down.”

Hekker had completed a pair of passes for first downs on fake punts as a rookie in 2012. But he misfired on his only fake punt attempt last season, in Dallas, to intended receiver Stedman Bailey.

So you might say Hekker, the team’s emergency quarterback, was due.

“We got the call on the sideline, and at first I’m thinking: ‘Are you serious?’ “ Hekker said.

Yes, Fisher was serious.

“That’s the confidence that he has in our special teams,” Hekker said. “We run through that scenario every single week multiple times. I make that throw plenty of times in practice, and Benny does a great job catching the ball.”

But it’s one thing to do it in practice, another to do so at a crucial point in a tight game. Cunningham was wide open on the play — almost too open.

“It was a little bit nerve-wracking how wide-open he was,” Hekker said.

Cunningham felt the same way.

“I’m thinking make the catch or I’m probably gonna be done,” Cunningham said. “This might be my last play in the NFL if I don’t make this catch. They’re gonna cut me, or my teammates, they’re gonna kill me.”

No drastic measures were needed. Cunningham caught the ball, helping the Rams win for only the third time in their last 19 tries against Seattle.

Special teams were vital to the victory. Although Seattle outgained the Rams 463 yards to 272 on offense, the Rams enjoyed an edge of 201 yards to 62 on punt and kickoff returns.

The Rams had to drive only 31 yards for their first touchdown, thanks to a 75-yard kickoff return by Cunningham. Their third TD, giving them a 21-3 lead, came on some punt return trickery when Bailey raced 90 yards for a score on a play that everyone in the Dome — except for the Rams — thought was going to Tavon Austin.

The Rams did manage a pair of long drives, both ending in Austin Davis TD passes. And in the end, they had their highest point total against Seattle since 2006.

“We wanted to finish the game in an offensive victory formation,” Davis said. “We did that.”

 

[RamBill]

Rams notes: Quinn breaks out 'The Bernie'
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_59fe064a-1645-5ddf-b7e1-aa22101df181.html

Robert Quinn had gone so long without a sack it looked like he’d forgotten how to do “The Bernie” — his trademark sack dance — after he finally got one midway through the second quarter Sunday.

“It was a full-action Bernie,” Quinn insisted after the Rams hung on for a 28-26 victory over Seattle at the Edward Jones Dome.

Perhaps, but it wasn’t as smooth as usual. Looked a little rusty.

“It’s taken a while,” Quinn said. “Once Aaron (Donald) started it off, we just kind of went from there. But me personally, to get (Russell Wilson) down for the first one of the year, it’s a great feeling. We’ve still got a few more games to go, so hopefully, it won’t be the last one.”

Given that Sunday was Robert Quinn bobblehead day, and his picture was on tickets for the contest, it was only fitting he broke the dry spell.

“On bobblehead day,” Quinn said, smiling. “I think they should’ve done that the first game of the season, so I wouldn’t have to wait so long to get my first one.”

After only one sack in their first five games, sacks came in bunches for the Rams in the second quarter. Donald, the rookie defensive tackle, dropped Wilson for a 5-yard loss with 9½ minutes remaining before halftime.

Two plays later, defensive end Eugene Sims dropped Wilson for a 9-yard loss to force a Seattle punt — a punt that was returned 90 yards for a touchdown by Stedman Bailey on a trick play.

On Seattle’s next possession, Quinn broke through for his 7-yard sack. He’s had at least one sack in his past five games against the Seahawks.

“We got three of those ‘S-words’ today, which was good,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “Those were hard to find there for a while.”

But that was all the Rams would get against Wilson, even though he absorbed several hits by the pass rush and was flushed out of the pocket on numerous occasions.

“This guy (Wilson) is hard to bring down,” Fisher said. “And Russell, all by himself, made this quite a game.”

En route to becoming the first player in NFL history with 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in the same game (according to Elias Sports), Wilson was almost unstoppable in the second half.

He accounted for 264 yards of offense and three TDs in the third and fourth quarters.

FUMBLE CALL

According to NFL spokesman Michael Signora, the Tre Mason fumble at the end of the game was reviewed in New York by Dean Blandino, the league’s VP of officiating.

Because there was no clear evidence of a recovery by either team, the call stood. That’s why the clock wasn’t stopped.

By rule, a fumble that occurs after the 2-minute warning can only be advanced by the player who fumbled, so the ball was returned to the spot of the fumble.

INJURY UPDATE

CB Janoris Jenkins (knee) and WR Kenny Britt (ankle) left the game briefly with injuries but were able to return. LG Rodger Saffold left midway through the fourth quarter with a knee injury and did not return.

But Saffold was ready to return if needed at the end of the game.

When asked if he’d be ready for next Sunday’s game at Kansas City, Saffold replied: “Oh, yeah. Absolutely.”

GIVENS PLAYS

After being placed on the pregame inactive list against Philadelphia and San Francisco, wide receiver Chris Givens suited up Sunday and made a key 30-yard reception on a third-and-6 play to set up the Rams’ final touchdown.

Replacing Givens on the inactive list was wide receiver Austin Pettis. Other Rams inactives: QB Case Keenum, CB Trumaine Johnson, S Maurice Alexander, CB Brandon McGee, C Tim Barnes and DE Ethan Westbrooks.

 

[RamBill]

Strauss: Fisher's gambling streak pays off
• Joe Strauss

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_88101208-647a-5593-a015-c683c084de8e.html

The Rams played Sunday at Edward Jones Dome and something entertaining broke out.

No, really.

Mayflower’s Team took down the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks by two points because a previously 1-4 bunch played with poise — albeit not always with defensive precision — and their gambler-head coach proved unafraid of his shadow.

The Rams had a chance to blink. They could have added another ignominious second-half collapse to a list including painful losses to the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers. They could have gone conservative and hoped for a gasping defense to somehow stymie a mobile quarterback on a roll. They could have adhered to convention on special teams instead of ordering a punt returned called “Mountaineer” that brought seven points in return.

The Rams entered 6 1/2-point home dogs and exited 28-26 winners. A season written in early scrawl achieved a fluid, legible, signature win.

Hounded this season by questions of underachievement, a delayed-impact draft class and absurd penalties, the Rams got big production from first- and second-year players while exhibiting rare discipline.

Most of all, coach Jeff Fisher reminded everyone that he has plenty of gamble in him.

The Rams led 21-3 in the second quarter but had to sweat out rookie running back Tre Mason’s final-possession fumble on what looked like a game-clinching third-down run. Fisher was so convinced the Seahawks had possession he was on the headset with defensive coordinator Gregg Williams when officials ruled Rams tight end Cory Harkey had stolen possession from Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman at the bottom of a scrum.

“When they gave us the ball, obviously, I was somewhat relieved,” Fisher deadpanned.

For all the stadium-related pessimism and self-inflicted wounds the Rams have absorbed this season, Sunday offered a glimpse at what is doable when they commit only two penalties, hold on to the ball and regenerate a pass rush. The Rams enjoyed better field position, lost fewer “hidden” yards and showed the sort of creativity downtrodden teams should chance more often against dominant ones.

“As long as we’re not hurting ourselves and creating negative field position and things like that we’re OK,” Fisher said.

This game was — dare we say? — fun.

Receiver Stedman Bailey transformed the first punt return of his career — high school, college, professional — into a second-quarter touchdown that would have made David Copperfield proud.

If punter Johnny Hekker fails to find Benny Cunningham on a fourth-quarter fake from his own 18-yard-line, Fisher is everybody’s bobo this morning. But it worked. And the credit goes to a coach willing to follow his well-researched hunch. Hekker, an accomplished quarterback at Bothell High in suburban Seattle, threw a high strike to Benny Cunningham, who pushed upfield for 18 yards.

“Coach Fisher’s a guy that’s known to roll the dice,” Hekker said. “When we prepare the way we do, it makes those gambles that much more sure.”

Fisher rated the odds of his punter throwing for a first down deep in his own territory as better than his defense keeping the visitors from a fourth consecutive scoring drive. The Seahawks dominated the yardage game after halftime, 303-161, and amassed nine more first downs for the game.

The heretofore missing Sack City pass rush at least re-established itself as Sack Village with three takedowns of Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in a span of five first-half snaps. (“All it takes is a little snowflake to start an avalanche,” mused sack-master rush end Robert Quinn, who got one along with opposite end Eugene Sims and rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald.) However, Williams’ technique-challenged defense wheezed to stop Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson as he threw for 163 yards and ran for 101 in the second-half alone.

“You guys saw the flow of the game,” Fisher said. “We were having a hard time stopping Russell. There was too much time left on the clock right there and I didn’t want to give the ball back to him.”

The Rams found positive reinforcement six days after frittering away a 14-point second-quarter lead against the 49ers on Monday night. They couldn’t even make it a single-possession game after suffering a last-minute, first-half, 80-yard lightning strike.

This time the Rams used daring to hold on to a lead constructed from ground-and-pound and guile. The locals scored three touchdowns in the first half with quarterback Austin Davis averaging 4.56 yards on nine completions (on nine attempts). Rookie back Tre Mason continued his emergence by rushing for 85 yards, many of them behind rookie left tackle and former Auburn teammate Greg Robinson.

“That’s my brother. Blood couldn’t make us closer,” Mason, referring to a friend he called “dominant” Sunday.

“He’s my brother. He did it in college and he’s continuing to do it,” Robinson said. “When he’s down I help him up. When I’m down he helps me up.”

This was Fishball at its best, minus the all-too-familiar preposterous penalties.

A bad penalty or a Davis interception might well have turned this game. Instead, the Seahawks lost 89 yards on 10 penalties. The Rams were whistled only twice for 20 yards, once for a delay before punting. The Seahawks’ renowned defense never created a sack.

Yet there were times Fisher might as well have stood on the other end of the tunnel connecting the dome to Lumiere Casino. He calculated, bet big and hit.

Bailey had never fielded a punt before Sunday, certainly not an over-the-shoulder job while retreating inside his own 15-yard-line against the defending world champs.

The Rams call the play “Mountaineer” because it hinges on the two former West Virginia teammates, Bailey and primary return man Tavon Austin. Austin sells the punt on one side of the field while Bailey gets the cheese. Three times special teams coordinator John Fassel ran film of the Chicago Bears working the decoy against the Green Bay Packers several years ago. With Devin Hester as decoy, the play worked to perfection — except for a Bears holding penalty that negated the trickeration.

Based on film study, Fisher set the odds of the Seahawks taking the bait at 90 percent.

Cha-ching.

With Austin waving for a phantom catch in an Oscar-worthy performance across field, Bailey corralled the punt at his own 10, spun to the far sideline and saw the sea parted before him.

“Go. Go. Go, go, go. Get to the end zone as fast as I can,” Bailey recalled of his first thought upon seeing open acreage before him.

This is how losing teams with uncertain destinies reach out to a jaded fan base.

No one can tease this cynical market with January football. But creative, disciplined and unpredictable might sell. Sunday’s announced crowd of 57,855 was rumor only. The Rams took down the Seahawks for the third time in their last 19 games. That’s gambler fact.

 

[RamBill]

'Mountaineer' special to Bailey
• By Joe Lyons

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_f2159430-b43c-5e6e-b222-9d7c5bdc1407.html

Rams receiver Stedman Bailey isn’t likely to forget his first career punt return. And neither will anyone else who watched it Sunday as the Rams defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-26 at the Edward Jones Dome.

With the Rams up 14-3 midway though the second quarter and Seattle punting from its own 49, Rams special teams coordinator John Fassel called for “Mountaineer.’’

“It’s a designed play that we actually put in this week,’’ Bailey explained. “Coach Bones (Fassel) saw the Bears try it a few years back — it worked for them, too, but it was called back on a penalty. He noticed that when (Seattle’s) punter tried to sky it, to pin us deep, the punt always ended up in pretty much the same spot.’’

So with almost all of the Rams, including return man Tavon Austin, racing toward the left sideline — and drawing the pursuit of the the Seahawks — Bailey peeled off from his spot on the opposite side of the field, came up with an over-the-shoulder catch, turned and raced 90 yards down the sideline for a touchdown that pushed the Rams’ lead to 21-3.

“Just a dream come true, really,’’ said Bailey, who had never fielded a punt in a game before. “Honestly didn’t think it’d work as well as it did, but our guys, especially Tavon, did a great job of selling it. They all went to the right and (the Seahawks) went that way, too.

“I caught the ball, turned around and saw a lot of green grass and a couple of our guys in front of me. Then I just ran for my life.’’

The misdirection could not have worked any better.

“We practiced it all week,’’ tight end and special teamer Cory Harkey said. “When the coaches dialed it up, we were all pretty pumped.’’

Running back and special teamer Chase Reynolds agreed: “When we watched the tape and saw everybody from the coverage team drawn away from the ball, it was crazy. It seemed like my guy was thinking about going to the left, so I really had to overplay to the right and he ended up following. Their guys just kind of followed the herd, I guess.

“It seemed like everything on that play came together for us and ‘Sted’ did the rest.’’

Rams coach Jeff Fisher said he discussed the play with Fassel on Wednesday, worked on it through the rest of the week and decided to give it a shot with 7:24 to play before halftime.

“It was an automatic based on field position,’’ Fisher said. “When they saw Tavon running over, they probably thought the ball was mis-hit. The down side was that (Bailey) doesn’t catch it, the ball goes in the end zone (and) it’s a touchback or it’s downed. The up side was we felt like if (Bailey) was able to field it, then we had a chance to probably put some points on the board.’’

Bailey credited fellow ex-University of West Virginia Mountaineer Austin for making the play work, while Austin deflected the praise to Fassel.

“I feel like we have the best special teams coach in the NFL,’’ Austin said. “He drew it up and got us to believe it could work. Everybody worked together to make it work and ‘Sted’ finished it off with a great return.’’

But the “Mountaineer’’ return wasn’t the only game-changing effort turned in by the Rams special teams on Sunday.

After Seattle opened the scoring with a Steven Hauschka field goal, Benny Cunningham returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to the Seahawks’ 31. Six plays later, rookie Tre Mason picked up his first NFL touchdown with a 6-yard scoring run.

“Tre got the first defender, giving me a chance to make a move, and the next thing I remember is Cody Davis making a block that opened up some more space. From there, I just took it as far as I could,’’ Cunningham said said. “Any time you can make play like that, a play that can provide a spark for the offense, it feels incredible.’’

Cunningham, who led the Rams in receiving with five catches for 46 yards, hauled in a 5-yard pass from Austin Davis for a second-quarter touchdown that put the Rams on top 14-3 and added a 18-yard catch on a pass from punter Johnny Hekker on a fourth-and-3 fake from the Rams’ 18 with just under three minutes left. That allowed the Rams to keep the ball and eventually close out the two-point victory over the reigning Super Bowl champs.

“You have to tip your hat to Coach Fisher for having the (guts) to make tough calls like that, knowing the game was on the line,’’ Bailey said. “He showed faith in us and we went out and we executed.’’

Cunningham said the pass from Hekker, with Bailey and Reynolds running clear-out routes, is one that is practiced regularly at Rams Park.

“Johnny and I stay after practice to work on that play — 10 reps, five to each side of the field,’’ Cunningham said. “I think it’s great that the coaches had faith in us to try something like that.’’

Cunningham felt like Sunday’s special-teams’ effort was owed to Fassel.

“It’s a proud moment when you can go out and make plays for a coach who works so hard for you,’’ the second-year pro from Middle Tennessee State said.