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Rams vs. Vikings: Shane Sounds Off on the St. Louis Loss
by Shane Gray
Let’s not pull punches regarding the Vikings’ 34-6 shellacking of St. Louis in the season opener at the Edward Jones Dome.
(Fisher eyes the scoreboard during Sunday’s game)
-It was tremendously disappointing for fans to not only watch the Rams lose on opening day, but to see the home team get absolutely waxed to kick off the 2014 campaign.
A season-opening beatdown like this is particularly rough on a fan base that has endured the NFL’s worst record over the last eight years and hasn’t witnessed a single winning season or postseason appearance in a decade.
On top of that, St. Louis fans sit under a cloud of ever-intensifying relocation rumors.
-Of course, it wasn’t just the fans who were dismayed by the results from Sunday’s action. The players and coaches, as expected, were also discouraged by the Week 1 performance.
“I’m just disappointed,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “It seemed throughout the game that different players took turns making drive-killing mistakes or allowing drives to continue.
“I told the team that this is not going to define our season. It’s just the opener. It’s unfortunate that it ended the way it did here at home with the enthusiasm that our fans brought to the game.”
“It is embarrassing,” said middle linebacker James Laurinaitis.
Laurinaitis called the Rams’ performance “embarrassing.”
“We put a lot of work into this preseason, and we had a great week of practice, personally and defensively. To come out here and play the way we did in front of the home crowd for the opener is embarrassing.”
Finally, wide receiver Brian Quick summed up the defeat in this manner:
“Yeah, it hurt, but this doesn’t define us,” Quick said. “We’re going to come in tomorrow and make corrections and we’re going to get better. We’re not going to forget it. We just need to build off of it together.”
-Speaking of Quick, the 6-foot-4, third-year pass-catcher put together a stellar outing, racking up seven receptions for 99 yards. Quick had a terrific rapport going with starting quarterback Shaun Hill in the first half, so one has to wonder if “Quickie’s”day might have been even bigger had Hill not left the game with an injury at the half.
Either way, it was a terrific start for Quick – a player with the size, athleticism and movement skills of future Hall of Famer Terrell Owens.
“I just have to build on today and get better for my team,” Quick said after Sunday’s contest. “My yards and my individual efforts are not really (important) after a loss. I’m going to come out and get the ball, come out in practice and get better for next week.”
If Quick can get some consistently good quarterback play – and that seems to be a big if – he could push towards a 70-reception, 1,000-yard campaign. If a season like that transpires, all those ready to tag Quick with bust labels will need to hang on to their stickers for use on someone else.
(For many, more observations and much more analysis on the Rams week 1 loss, including thoughts on "sack city", the offensive line, Tavon Austin, etc., please check here for the full column. Thank you very much and I hope you all enjoy the read):
http://www.101sports.com/2014/09/08/rams-vs-vikings-shanes-soundoff-st-louis-loss/
by Shane Gray
Let’s not pull punches regarding the Vikings’ 34-6 shellacking of St. Louis in the season opener at the Edward Jones Dome.
(Fisher eyes the scoreboard during Sunday’s game)
-It was tremendously disappointing for fans to not only watch the Rams lose on opening day, but to see the home team get absolutely waxed to kick off the 2014 campaign.
A season-opening beatdown like this is particularly rough on a fan base that has endured the NFL’s worst record over the last eight years and hasn’t witnessed a single winning season or postseason appearance in a decade.
On top of that, St. Louis fans sit under a cloud of ever-intensifying relocation rumors.
-Of course, it wasn’t just the fans who were dismayed by the results from Sunday’s action. The players and coaches, as expected, were also discouraged by the Week 1 performance.
“I’m just disappointed,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “It seemed throughout the game that different players took turns making drive-killing mistakes or allowing drives to continue.
“I told the team that this is not going to define our season. It’s just the opener. It’s unfortunate that it ended the way it did here at home with the enthusiasm that our fans brought to the game.”
“It is embarrassing,” said middle linebacker James Laurinaitis.
Laurinaitis called the Rams’ performance “embarrassing.”
“We put a lot of work into this preseason, and we had a great week of practice, personally and defensively. To come out here and play the way we did in front of the home crowd for the opener is embarrassing.”
Finally, wide receiver Brian Quick summed up the defeat in this manner:
“Yeah, it hurt, but this doesn’t define us,” Quick said. “We’re going to come in tomorrow and make corrections and we’re going to get better. We’re not going to forget it. We just need to build off of it together.”
-Speaking of Quick, the 6-foot-4, third-year pass-catcher put together a stellar outing, racking up seven receptions for 99 yards. Quick had a terrific rapport going with starting quarterback Shaun Hill in the first half, so one has to wonder if “Quickie’s”day might have been even bigger had Hill not left the game with an injury at the half.
Either way, it was a terrific start for Quick – a player with the size, athleticism and movement skills of future Hall of Famer Terrell Owens.
“I just have to build on today and get better for my team,” Quick said after Sunday’s contest. “My yards and my individual efforts are not really (important) after a loss. I’m going to come out and get the ball, come out in practice and get better for next week.”
If Quick can get some consistently good quarterback play – and that seems to be a big if – he could push towards a 70-reception, 1,000-yard campaign. If a season like that transpires, all those ready to tag Quick with bust labels will need to hang on to their stickers for use on someone else.
(For many, more observations and much more analysis on the Rams week 1 loss, including thoughts on "sack city", the offensive line, Tavon Austin, etc., please check here for the full column. Thank you very much and I hope you all enjoy the read):
http://www.101sports.com/2014/09/08/rams-vs-vikings-shanes-soundoff-st-louis-loss/
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