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Rams still struggle to close the deal
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_d32fff53-6f6f-570e-b205-e00314a75cf6.html
In many ways, the numbers coming out of Thursday’s 12-6 loss to Arizona weren’t surprising.
In their first meeting this season, the Cardinals held the Rams to a season-low 70 yards rushing on Nov. 9. The Rams rushed for a new season-low of 69 yards on Thursday at the Edward Jones Dome.
Rushing yards are always hard to come by against the Cardinals, who rank sixth in the NFL in rushing defense. They crowd the line of scrimmage with defenders and dare quarterbacks to beat their blitzes by throwing against a very talented secondary. But the Rams couldn’t pass protect well enough to make that happen.
It’s difficult to score against Arizona in the red zone. The Cardinals rank second in the NFL in red zone defense, allowing only 15 TDs in 37 trips inside the red zone by opposing offenses this season, or 40.5 percent.
The Rams saw first hand how hard it is to score a touchdown against the Arizona defense on Thursday. The Rams went 0-for-2 inside the 20 Thursday, and they were deep inside the 20 on both of those penetrations. Both drives ended with field goals, at the 6 and the 1.
So Arizona merely played to form in rushing defense and red zone defense, much to the Rams’ chagrin.
At the end of the day, just one contrast explains why the Cardinals are 11-3 and have the best record in football — and why the Rams are 6-8 and are mathematically out of playoff consideration once again:
• The Cardinals are 5-0 in “one possession” games — games decided by seven or fewer points.
• The Rams are 3-4 in the same situations.
Thursday’s six-point loss was just another on the list of near-misses. Had the Rams been able to turn around just a few more of those close losses, they’d be sitting at 8-6 and very much alive in the playoff race.
“We’ve had a number of those games this year,” defensive end William Hayes said. “And it’s getting old. We’ve just gotta find a way to win those games.
“Because this is a very, very talented football team. But we just can’t have the mental breakdowns. And when we get our opportunities to make plays, we’ve gotta make ’em.”
Along those lines, two glaring plays come to mind — the two red zone failures in short-yardage situations.
On the Rams’ opening possession of the night, they faced a third-and-1 at the Arizona 7. But Benny Cunningham, running off left tackle, was stopped about half a yard short of the first-down marker.
Later, with a little more than 6 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, the Rams were on the doorstep, facing a third-and-goal at the Arizona 1. The Rams didn’t even try a running play this time although they lined up in a tight running formation.
Instead, quarterback Shaun Hill rolled to his right only to find — nobody. As in nobody open. Tight end Lance Kendricks, who has been effective in the red zone this season, tried to sneak out to the right after initially blocking at the line of scrimmage.
Not only did the Cardinals have a defender right over Kendricks, they had one to his outside. That left Kendricks with nowhere to go, and Hill ended up throwing the ball away in a deflating moment for the Rams and the fans in attendance at the Dome.
It was a two-score game at the time, 12-3, so it wasn’t surprising that coach Jeff Fisher took the points and kicked the field goal.
It was surprising, however, to see Fisher not go for it during the red zone sequence in the first quarter. The Rams were only a foot or two shy of a first down after Cunningham was tackled.
“I’m not second-guessing any call whatsoever,” Fisher said Friday.
There was no fourth-quarter collapse this time, as was the case in a 31-14 loss at Arizona. Even so, Thursday’s bitter defeat illustrated how important the little things are when playing a high-level opponent such as Arizona.
“Absolutely,” Hill said. “That’s what was lacking for us (Thursday), was the details. You can’t beat a good team without hitting those details and being dialed in on those. Yeah, that’s where we came out short.”
Offensively, Rams blockers appeared mesmerized at times by the Arizona blitz schemes. Cardinals safety Jerraud Powers caused havoc time after time by coming in clean on blitzes. It’s as if the Rams were unaware he was on the field; nobody picked him up all night.
“We’ve just got to pick up (the blitzes),” left guard Rodger Saffold said. “Things are gonna happen, but when the bullets are flying, we can’t lose our composure, which I thought we did a couple of times.
“It all comes down to technique and execution. When it came down to those types of plays, we didn’t do it well. So we forced bad throws or impossible grabs.”
At the end of the day, the Cardinals found a way to scratch out a close one. The Rams didn’t. The Cardinals are going to the playoffs; for the 10th year in a row, the Rams aren’t.
No matter what happens in the playoffs, the Cardinals will have a winning record this season. For the 11th season in a row, the Rams won’t.
“Very frustrating,” Hayes said. “I’ve been with Fisher my whole career, and he deserves (better). He’s putting us in position to win games, and we’re just not finishing. When this year’s over with, we’re gonna turn around and we’re gonna say there’s five or six more games we should’ve won.
“But at the end of the day, as a coach, I’m pretty sure you’re gonna get tired of saying ‘should’ve.’ ”