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The young Rams don’t win this game earlier in the season. No, they would have blown up their chances with knucklehead penalties, a loose defense and foolish play-calling on offense.
That was before the Rams figured out who they were. That was before they established, then sharpened, a team identity. That was before they began taking firmer steps.
On the surface, Sunday’s a 23-13 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was nothing special. The Rams hunkered down, got physical and beat up on a lesser team.
Which is exactly the point: The Rams did what they were supposed to do. And that hasn’t happened enough around here in recent years, with the Rams repeatedly allowing mediocre opponents to escape with wins.
A team that aspires to become a consistent winner can’t stumble into traps and get taken down by lesser teams. The Rams lost such a clunker earlier this season, losing 28-21 to Tennessee at home on Nov. 3. When measured against that setback, Sunday’s methodical win over Tampa Bay could be interpreted as a sign of newfound maturity for the NFL’s youngest team.
“It’s all starting to come together,” Rams defensive end William Hayes said. “We were just young earlier in the season. And everybody’s playing the way they’re supposed to play right now. We get it right now. Everybody gets it.
“We know you’re going to go through growing pains. We’ve got to be able to handle that adversity and overcome it.”
The Rams redefined themselves after returning from the bye week. In their last game before the break, they were humiliated at home by San Francisco, clobbered 35-11 and getting booed out of the Edward Jones Dome.
That’s when coach Jeff Fisher reshaped his thinking and his offense. The Rams junked a malfunctioning, poor-fit passing game and returned to earth, determined to win games on the ground.
“We made a change,” quarterback Kellen Clemens said. “That’s our blueprint. We’re going to run the football. We’re going to get completions when we can and play good defense.”
That’s the formula.
It’s working, with the Rams having gone 4-2 in their last six games. And in the 11 weeks since reverting to the run-first strategy, the Rams are 6-5. That includes a 6-2 record in their last eight games played outside the badlands of the NFC West.
The change in philosophy was dramatic.
Over the first four weeks the Rams led the NFL with an average of 46 passing attempts per game. It was an overly ambitious strategy, because the young skill-position players weren’t ready for a wide-open offense.
So Fisher adjusted and had his offense muscle up.
Over the last 11 games the Rams have averaged 26 passing attempts; only two NFL teams have thrown the ball fewer times during this stretch.
The Rams are engaged in the full ground and pound mode, averaging nearly 31 rushing attempts and ranking second in the NFL in yards rushing over their last 11 games.
The Rams’ more anchored approach on offense has helped the the defense. With the Rams’ offense cranking out drives, games tend to be less helter-skelter now, and the defense has more of a chance to settle in and battle under more normal circumstances. The defense is also taking advantage of having more leads to protect.
Over the last 11 games, the Rams’ defense ranks sixth in the NFL by allowing an average of 19.6 points, and they're second in the league in rushing defense.
By stopping the run to win so many first and second downs, the Rams’ defense is frequently putting quarterbacks in predictable passing situations. And that’s when the pass rush heats up. The Rams rank No. 2 in the league in sacks (40) and No. 1 in takeaways (24) over the last 11 games.
“Our defense has done a great job getting us turnovers, getting us short fields,” Clemens said. “And once we can get a little bit of a lead, we can turn those two war daddies (loose) off the outside.”
Clemens was referring to Rams defensive ends Robert Quinn and Chris Long, who have combined for 25.5 sacks. The crazed Quinn had three more sacks Sunday to set the unofficial franchise record for most sacks (18) in a season. That was part of the defensive mayhem that included seven sacks of battered Bucs quarterback Mike Glennon.
After the game, Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano seemed astounded by the Rams’ ability to invade and destroy his team’s pass protection. His anti-Quinn plan failed.
“I am anxious to watch the tape,” said Schiano, who compared Quinn to Lawrence Taylor earlier in the week. “I want to see how, with some of the things we had in place, why it didn’t slow them down more than it did.”
The Rams' special teams were excellent Sunday. Defensively, the Rams limited Tampa Bay to a scant 170 yards. On offense, the home team fed rookie running back Zac Stacy 33 times and saw him fight for 104 hard yards.
Stacy is a crucial part of the new-look Rams. In his 11 games as a starter Stacy has rushed for 954 yards and seven touchdowns. Banging out fierce yards after contact is not a problem for Stacy _ well, at least not until he wakes up Monday morning and feels like he's 80 years old.
“When you’re playing at this level, you have to be tough,” Stacy said. “Regardless of what the situation is, what game, what opponent you are playing. It all starts up front, in the trenches. We emphasize being physical. We emphasize being dominant, week in and week out.”
Stacy came to the Rams from Vanderbilt in the SEC. That makes sense, because after trashing the early-season flag football strategy, the Rams have gone into an SEC football mode.
Be physical and run the ball.
Be physical and stop the run.
Be physical and hunt down quarterbacks.
“I tell people all the time — the SEC was a great internship for me,” Stacy said. “Just playing against all of those NFL-type bodies in that league. From my standpoint this is like playing Alabama week in and week out.”
Well, at 7-8 the Rams won’t be playing in the upcoming BCS championship.
And they’ve already been eliminated from NFL postseason contention.
That said, they have a chance to go 8-8 for the first time since 2006.
And the Rams have gotten stronger, and better. Some perspective is necessary. Remember, Fisher took over a sorry, sad-sack Rams program that had coughed up the worst five-year record (15-65) in NFL history.
If the Rams win Sunday in Seattle, Fisher will have as many wins in two years (15) as the franchise had in the five seasons preceding his arrival.
As is, Fisher’s 14-16-1 mark represents the best two-year record by the franchise since 2005-2006. More than anything, Fisher has given the young Rams a defined form. We know who they are and what they stand for now.
“Run the football, play good defense, and then the other things happen,” Fisher said. “They stem off those things. You play good defense, you rush the passer, you get off the field on third down, and run the football, and then good things happen.”
And ultimately, winning happens.
The young Rams don’t win this game earlier in the season. No, they would have blown up their chances with knucklehead penalties, a loose defense and foolish play-calling on offense.
That was before the Rams figured out who they were. That was before they established, then sharpened, a team identity. That was before they began taking firmer steps.
On the surface, Sunday’s a 23-13 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was nothing special. The Rams hunkered down, got physical and beat up on a lesser team.
Which is exactly the point: The Rams did what they were supposed to do. And that hasn’t happened enough around here in recent years, with the Rams repeatedly allowing mediocre opponents to escape with wins.
A team that aspires to become a consistent winner can’t stumble into traps and get taken down by lesser teams. The Rams lost such a clunker earlier this season, losing 28-21 to Tennessee at home on Nov. 3. When measured against that setback, Sunday’s methodical win over Tampa Bay could be interpreted as a sign of newfound maturity for the NFL’s youngest team.
“It’s all starting to come together,” Rams defensive end William Hayes said. “We were just young earlier in the season. And everybody’s playing the way they’re supposed to play right now. We get it right now. Everybody gets it.
“We know you’re going to go through growing pains. We’ve got to be able to handle that adversity and overcome it.”
The Rams redefined themselves after returning from the bye week. In their last game before the break, they were humiliated at home by San Francisco, clobbered 35-11 and getting booed out of the Edward Jones Dome.
That’s when coach Jeff Fisher reshaped his thinking and his offense. The Rams junked a malfunctioning, poor-fit passing game and returned to earth, determined to win games on the ground.
“We made a change,” quarterback Kellen Clemens said. “That’s our blueprint. We’re going to run the football. We’re going to get completions when we can and play good defense.”
That’s the formula.
It’s working, with the Rams having gone 4-2 in their last six games. And in the 11 weeks since reverting to the run-first strategy, the Rams are 6-5. That includes a 6-2 record in their last eight games played outside the badlands of the NFC West.
The change in philosophy was dramatic.
Over the first four weeks the Rams led the NFL with an average of 46 passing attempts per game. It was an overly ambitious strategy, because the young skill-position players weren’t ready for a wide-open offense.
So Fisher adjusted and had his offense muscle up.
Over the last 11 games the Rams have averaged 26 passing attempts; only two NFL teams have thrown the ball fewer times during this stretch.
The Rams are engaged in the full ground and pound mode, averaging nearly 31 rushing attempts and ranking second in the NFL in yards rushing over their last 11 games.
The Rams’ more anchored approach on offense has helped the the defense. With the Rams’ offense cranking out drives, games tend to be less helter-skelter now, and the defense has more of a chance to settle in and battle under more normal circumstances. The defense is also taking advantage of having more leads to protect.
Over the last 11 games, the Rams’ defense ranks sixth in the NFL by allowing an average of 19.6 points, and they're second in the league in rushing defense.
By stopping the run to win so many first and second downs, the Rams’ defense is frequently putting quarterbacks in predictable passing situations. And that’s when the pass rush heats up. The Rams rank No. 2 in the league in sacks (40) and No. 1 in takeaways (24) over the last 11 games.
“Our defense has done a great job getting us turnovers, getting us short fields,” Clemens said. “And once we can get a little bit of a lead, we can turn those two war daddies (loose) off the outside.”
Clemens was referring to Rams defensive ends Robert Quinn and Chris Long, who have combined for 25.5 sacks. The crazed Quinn had three more sacks Sunday to set the unofficial franchise record for most sacks (18) in a season. That was part of the defensive mayhem that included seven sacks of battered Bucs quarterback Mike Glennon.
After the game, Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano seemed astounded by the Rams’ ability to invade and destroy his team’s pass protection. His anti-Quinn plan failed.
“I am anxious to watch the tape,” said Schiano, who compared Quinn to Lawrence Taylor earlier in the week. “I want to see how, with some of the things we had in place, why it didn’t slow them down more than it did.”
The Rams' special teams were excellent Sunday. Defensively, the Rams limited Tampa Bay to a scant 170 yards. On offense, the home team fed rookie running back Zac Stacy 33 times and saw him fight for 104 hard yards.
Stacy is a crucial part of the new-look Rams. In his 11 games as a starter Stacy has rushed for 954 yards and seven touchdowns. Banging out fierce yards after contact is not a problem for Stacy _ well, at least not until he wakes up Monday morning and feels like he's 80 years old.
“When you’re playing at this level, you have to be tough,” Stacy said. “Regardless of what the situation is, what game, what opponent you are playing. It all starts up front, in the trenches. We emphasize being physical. We emphasize being dominant, week in and week out.”
Stacy came to the Rams from Vanderbilt in the SEC. That makes sense, because after trashing the early-season flag football strategy, the Rams have gone into an SEC football mode.
Be physical and run the ball.
Be physical and stop the run.
Be physical and hunt down quarterbacks.
“I tell people all the time — the SEC was a great internship for me,” Stacy said. “Just playing against all of those NFL-type bodies in that league. From my standpoint this is like playing Alabama week in and week out.”
Well, at 7-8 the Rams won’t be playing in the upcoming BCS championship.
And they’ve already been eliminated from NFL postseason contention.
That said, they have a chance to go 8-8 for the first time since 2006.
And the Rams have gotten stronger, and better. Some perspective is necessary. Remember, Fisher took over a sorry, sad-sack Rams program that had coughed up the worst five-year record (15-65) in NFL history.
If the Rams win Sunday in Seattle, Fisher will have as many wins in two years (15) as the franchise had in the five seasons preceding his arrival.
As is, Fisher’s 14-16-1 mark represents the best two-year record by the franchise since 2005-2006. More than anything, Fisher has given the young Rams a defined form. We know who they are and what they stand for now.
“Run the football, play good defense, and then the other things happen,” Fisher said. “They stem off those things. You play good defense, you rush the passer, you get off the field on third down, and run the football, and then good things happen.”
And ultimately, winning happens.