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Reducing penalties tops Rams' to-do list
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/11446/reducing-penalties-tops-rams-to-do-list
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- An examination of what the St. Louis Rams must do after their 34-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings:
What must the Rams do to improve after that debacle of a season-opening loss? I'm not sure we have enough space to cover it all here, so we'll start with the most obvious: Cut down on the silly, field-position changing, momentum-killing penalties.
If that sounds like a familiar refrain, it's because it is. There was much consternation around the league about the increased amount of penalty flags raining down during the preseason. The Rams call that a normal Sunday afternoon. The United Nations building is the only place you can find more flags flying than your typical Rams game.
With both Monday night games still to be played, the Rams have been the most penalized team in the league in Week 1, racking up 13 infractions for a league-high 121 yards. And those were just the penalties that the Vikings accepted.
Seemingly every preseason we hear from coach Jeff Fisher about how most of the penalties come from players who won't be on the roster, then the season starts and nothing seems to change.
Against Minnesota, the Rams had eight offensive penalties, including an offensive pass interference against receiver Chris Givens and a face-mask penalty on fellow wideout Brian Quick that quickly put a halt to the team's most promising drive. Four of the five offensive linemen had penalties, and defensive end Robert Quinn picked up two of his own (though his roughing-the-passer infraction early in the game was questionable).
"The penalties were certainly an issue for us," Fisher said. "They killed drives, back-to-back penalties ... I could go on and on. I’m not going to single everybody out, but that’s what happened today."
But it didn't just happen Sunday. It's been happening for more than two years. Entering Sunday, no team has picked up more penalties than the Rams' 253 over the past two seasons. That's 17 more than the next closest team, the Atlanta Falcons.
Sure, there were some bad calls and non-calls made against the Rams by Ed Hochuli's crew in the opener, but at this point, the Rams have a reputation that precedes them. To fix this problem, they'll have to be even more diligent about coloring between the lines.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/11446/reducing-penalties-tops-rams-to-do-list
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- An examination of what the St. Louis Rams must do after their 34-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings:
What must the Rams do to improve after that debacle of a season-opening loss? I'm not sure we have enough space to cover it all here, so we'll start with the most obvious: Cut down on the silly, field-position changing, momentum-killing penalties.
If that sounds like a familiar refrain, it's because it is. There was much consternation around the league about the increased amount of penalty flags raining down during the preseason. The Rams call that a normal Sunday afternoon. The United Nations building is the only place you can find more flags flying than your typical Rams game.
With both Monday night games still to be played, the Rams have been the most penalized team in the league in Week 1, racking up 13 infractions for a league-high 121 yards. And those were just the penalties that the Vikings accepted.
Seemingly every preseason we hear from coach Jeff Fisher about how most of the penalties come from players who won't be on the roster, then the season starts and nothing seems to change.
Against Minnesota, the Rams had eight offensive penalties, including an offensive pass interference against receiver Chris Givens and a face-mask penalty on fellow wideout Brian Quick that quickly put a halt to the team's most promising drive. Four of the five offensive linemen had penalties, and defensive end Robert Quinn picked up two of his own (though his roughing-the-passer infraction early in the game was questionable).
"The penalties were certainly an issue for us," Fisher said. "They killed drives, back-to-back penalties ... I could go on and on. I’m not going to single everybody out, but that’s what happened today."
But it didn't just happen Sunday. It's been happening for more than two years. Entering Sunday, no team has picked up more penalties than the Rams' 253 over the past two seasons. That's 17 more than the next closest team, the Atlanta Falcons.
Sure, there were some bad calls and non-calls made against the Rams by Ed Hochuli's crew in the opener, but at this point, the Rams have a reputation that precedes them. To fix this problem, they'll have to be even more diligent about coloring between the lines.
