RamView, October 4, 2012, Game #5: Rams 17, Big Dead 3, by Mike Franke
RamView, October 4, 2012
From Row HH
(Report and opinions from the game.)
Game #5: Rams 17, Big Dead 3
The Rams continue to find new ways to win, and exorcise an ugly demon, burying Bidwill's Birds with a barrage of NINE sacks for their first home win over St. Louis' old team in eight years. With their second division win in five days, these Rams have declared they are no longer the whipping boys of the NFC West.
Position by position:
* Defensive line/LB: They took about nine minutes to get going, but in the end, the Rams won this game with one of their most dominating defensive performances in memory. It looked like it would be a long night when Arizona held the ball 9:30 the first time they got it. They drove very efficiently, converting three 3rd-and-shorts, before James Laurinaitis broke up a deep pass, and Jo-Lonn Dunbar made a pretty breakup of a pass for Larry Fitzgerald, to force a FG. Little could Big Dead QB Kevin Kolb have suspected that was the last time his team would score, or of the Marc Bulger-class beating he was about to take. Next possession, Dunbar blew a sack after a delay blitz, but Bradley Fletcher got credit for stopping Kolb on the run. That's one. On 3rd down, Chris Long whipped Bobby Massie around end, and if Kolb could have dodged that, Laurinaitis would have had him on another middle blitz anyway. That's two. Rarely in recent years have the Rams so outplayed a team physically. Collapsing pockets forced repeated hurried throws from Kolb, leading him to miss a lot of open receivers. Teams are gaining more and more respect – or is it fear? - of the Rams' hitting ability. Witness William Powell's Myrna Loy-like effort on a 2nd-quarter incompletion with Laurinaitis lurking nearby. Kolb later blew an open bomb to Andre Roberts because Quintin Mikell was breathing down his neck. The Rams slowed down another 2nd-quarter drive when all four linemen beat their man, with Robert Quinn winning the race to Kolb. That's three. Dunbar came in untouched just before halftime and finished off a blitz properly this time. That's four. The Rams shut down the run, holding Arizona's admittedly-meager attack to 45 yards. Quinn started a 3-and-out after halftime by stuffing Ryan Williams for a big loss. Craig Dahl repeated that to start another 3-and-out. Long later stuffed a run by throwing guard Adam Snyder into the hole. Pass the red meat, please. Jermelle Cudjo got in on the fun by burying Kolb but getting a ticky-tack roughing call for it. That's still five. Quinn answered by spiking a screen pass, then whipping D'Anthony Batiste to drop Kolb again. That's six. After Quinn stuffed another run, that drive ended with coverage downfield forcing Kolb to eat the ball again. Laurinaitis got him on the blitz, but a key moment was Michael Brockers filling Kolb's throwing lane just when he thought he had a downfield target. Instead, that's seven. After the Rams took a 17-3 lead, and Darian Stewart opened the 4th by destroying Ryan Williams with an Oh-my-God hit, the D relaxed a little before shutting Arizona down near the goal line. That was just the pause before the final storm. With Arizona in close again, Dunbar lit up Fitzgerald to force an incomplete, and Cortland Finnegan blitzed in untouched on 4th-and-1 for sack number EIGHT. Much to Kolb's chagrin, Arizona got the ball back one last time, just long enough for Quinn to smoke Batiste for the millionth time and chop the ball away from the battered QB for a fumble, recovered by William Hayes. That's NINE! Nine sacks, as the Ram defense dominated Arizona for the last three quarters. Long and Quinn were in Kolb's face all night. Laurinaitis and especially Dunbar were all over the place. One small flaw was the number of times the DTs let Kolb step up and out of trouble. The Rams made up for that with relentless pressure from the edges and blitzes up the middle. Those poor suckers from out of town never knew what hit them.
full article: http://www.nflfans.com/rams2/article.ph ... 6203143299
RamView, October 4, 2012
From Row HH
(Report and opinions from the game.)
Game #5: Rams 17, Big Dead 3
The Rams continue to find new ways to win, and exorcise an ugly demon, burying Bidwill's Birds with a barrage of NINE sacks for their first home win over St. Louis' old team in eight years. With their second division win in five days, these Rams have declared they are no longer the whipping boys of the NFC West.
Position by position:
* Defensive line/LB: They took about nine minutes to get going, but in the end, the Rams won this game with one of their most dominating defensive performances in memory. It looked like it would be a long night when Arizona held the ball 9:30 the first time they got it. They drove very efficiently, converting three 3rd-and-shorts, before James Laurinaitis broke up a deep pass, and Jo-Lonn Dunbar made a pretty breakup of a pass for Larry Fitzgerald, to force a FG. Little could Big Dead QB Kevin Kolb have suspected that was the last time his team would score, or of the Marc Bulger-class beating he was about to take. Next possession, Dunbar blew a sack after a delay blitz, but Bradley Fletcher got credit for stopping Kolb on the run. That's one. On 3rd down, Chris Long whipped Bobby Massie around end, and if Kolb could have dodged that, Laurinaitis would have had him on another middle blitz anyway. That's two. Rarely in recent years have the Rams so outplayed a team physically. Collapsing pockets forced repeated hurried throws from Kolb, leading him to miss a lot of open receivers. Teams are gaining more and more respect – or is it fear? - of the Rams' hitting ability. Witness William Powell's Myrna Loy-like effort on a 2nd-quarter incompletion with Laurinaitis lurking nearby. Kolb later blew an open bomb to Andre Roberts because Quintin Mikell was breathing down his neck. The Rams slowed down another 2nd-quarter drive when all four linemen beat their man, with Robert Quinn winning the race to Kolb. That's three. Dunbar came in untouched just before halftime and finished off a blitz properly this time. That's four. The Rams shut down the run, holding Arizona's admittedly-meager attack to 45 yards. Quinn started a 3-and-out after halftime by stuffing Ryan Williams for a big loss. Craig Dahl repeated that to start another 3-and-out. Long later stuffed a run by throwing guard Adam Snyder into the hole. Pass the red meat, please. Jermelle Cudjo got in on the fun by burying Kolb but getting a ticky-tack roughing call for it. That's still five. Quinn answered by spiking a screen pass, then whipping D'Anthony Batiste to drop Kolb again. That's six. After Quinn stuffed another run, that drive ended with coverage downfield forcing Kolb to eat the ball again. Laurinaitis got him on the blitz, but a key moment was Michael Brockers filling Kolb's throwing lane just when he thought he had a downfield target. Instead, that's seven. After the Rams took a 17-3 lead, and Darian Stewart opened the 4th by destroying Ryan Williams with an Oh-my-God hit, the D relaxed a little before shutting Arizona down near the goal line. That was just the pause before the final storm. With Arizona in close again, Dunbar lit up Fitzgerald to force an incomplete, and Cortland Finnegan blitzed in untouched on 4th-and-1 for sack number EIGHT. Much to Kolb's chagrin, Arizona got the ball back one last time, just long enough for Quinn to smoke Batiste for the millionth time and chop the ball away from the battered QB for a fumble, recovered by William Hayes. That's NINE! Nine sacks, as the Ram defense dominated Arizona for the last three quarters. Long and Quinn were in Kolb's face all night. Laurinaitis and especially Dunbar were all over the place. One small flaw was the number of times the DTs let Kolb step up and out of trouble. The Rams made up for that with relentless pressure from the edges and blitzes up the middle. Those poor suckers from out of town never knew what hit them.
full article: http://www.nflfans.com/rams2/article.ph ... 6203143299