Sour homecoming for Fisher
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_bb08cf68-988c-545b-bf5c-bb1bad125a99.html
NASHVILLE, TENN. • The Jeff Fisher video tribute came early in the first quarter. The applause was loud and heartfelt, with some in the crowd at Nissan Stadium standing in appreciation of the 16 years Fisher led the Tennessee franchise as head coach.
Fisher said Thursday he wouldn’t look at the scoreboard — he’d be too busy coaching. But when it happened Sunday, Fisher heard the applause, peeked at the scoreboard and waved to the fans.
“I have to extend my appreciation to the entire Titan organization for honoring me like they did,” Fisher said afterward. “It was moving.”
It was a true warm and fuzzy moment. Then the Tennessee Titans went about the business of beating in the brains of the Rams in a nationally televised preseason game that ended in a 27-14 defeat for St. Louis.
“Football-wise, we played like we hadn’t played in 10 days,” Fisher said. “I felt like we were a little sloppy. Got some unnecessary penalties. We kept it basic, and that’s not an excuse. You’ve still got to play better. ... We’ve got some work to do this week.”
The Rams couldn’t block, couldn’t tackle and couldn’t score in the first half against the Titans. They even had trouble punting and kicking, with Pro Bowler Johnny Hekker shanking a punt for 23 yards and Greg Zuerlein sending a 53-yard field goal wide right.
“In the preseason, you really just continue to grow together, working together, seeing different things, different looks,” quarterback Nick Foles said. “It’s one of those things where all of these are learning opportunities. You can’t take it too hard.”
Maybe so, but while the Rams were stumbling, the Titans were blocking, tackling and scoring. Not to mention intercepting. On Foles’ second pass of the evening, he threw a “pick 6” to cornerback Perrish Cox, the former 49er.
Foles stared down his target on the play, and there appeared to be some confusion on the route by wide receiver Kenny Britt. The result was a 24-yard return by Cox for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead for the Titans with 8 minutes, 3 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Britt needed to flatten out the route. But Foles blamed himself, saying he needed to throw the ball away in that situation.
The Titans proceeded to score on three of their next four possessions to take a 20-0 halftime lead. First came a Ryan Succop field goal on a drive sparked by a 35-yard reception to tight end Craig Stevens — whom no one on the Rams’ defense bothered to pick up.
Then came a 3-yard TD reception by former Missouri star tight end Chase Coffman, on a fastball squeezed between two Rams defenders by strong-armed backup QB Zach Mettenberger.
A missed tackle by cornerback Marcus Roberson, who has moved up to the fourth corner role following E.J. Gaines’ season-ending foot injury, turned what should’ve been a 7-yard gain by Hakeem Nicks into a 40-yard advance on the drive.
To close out the half, Mettenbeger led the Titans on a 43-yard field goal march, a drive that included three catches for 32 yards by former Mizzou star wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham.
Foles and the Rams’ starting offense were on the field for four series but managed only 37 yards. All told, Foles completed three of seven passes for 18 yards and a meager passer rating of 10.7.
“Tonight, we needed to get the ball in the end zone,” Foles said. “We didn’t do our job. We need to get some points on the board but it’s one of those things where there’s a lot we can learn from. Everything out here is fixable, and we can fix it.”
Fisher wanted to run the ball better Sunday, but Tre Mason, Benny Cunningham and Isaiah Pead combined for only 33 yards on 12 carries in the first half. Once again, first-round draft pick Todd Gurley warmed up before the game but did not play. Fisher said last week that Gurley would not play in the preseason while he finishes up his rehab from knee surgery at the University of Georgia.
In the first quarter, the Rams were outgained 100 yards to 28. And by halftime it was almost as lopsided, with the Titans amassing 226 yards and 13 first downs to the Rams’ 84 yards and four first downs.
When asked about the play of the starting defensive unit, end Chris Long replied: “Not good enough. Not sharp enough. A couple of people were out of gaps. A couple of things we need to fix. They’re not big deal issues, but we need to fix them ad that’s what preseason is for.”
You can talk all you want about the meaning of preseason games, and that it’s foolish not to read too much into what transpires. But two games into the preseason, the Rams haven’t been close to competitive against Oakland and Tennessee franchises that were near the bottom of the league in 2014.
That was particularly the case in the first half against Tennessee, when almost all of the players on the field were either starters or backups who will make the 53-man roster.
Quarterback Marcus Mariota, the No. 2 overall pick by Tennessee in the draft last spring, didn’t look overly stressed by the Rams’ highly touted defense during his three series. He completed five of eight passes for 59 yards and an 84.9 passer rating before giving way to Mettenberger.
The Titans managed only a field goal in those three possessions, but Mariota had a touchdown pass dropped by Dexter McCluster in the end zone before that initial field goal.
With Case Keenum taking over for Foles, the Rams finally got on the scoreboard with 5:38 to play in the third quarter. Reminiscent of his big-play prowess as a rookie in 2012, wide receiver Chris Givens got behind the Tennessee secondary and hauled in a well-thrown deep ball by Keenum. No one could catch Givens, one of the fastest Rams, and the result was an 80-yard touchdown that narrowed Tennessee’s lead to 20-7.
It took nearly seven quarters to get there, but the Rams finally had their first touchdown of the preseason.
The Rams got their second touchdown in the final minute of the game on a pass play from Sean Mannion to Malcolm Brown that went 54 yards.
