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Turning point play: Davis fumble turns into touchdown
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...-point-play-davis-fumble-turns-into-touchdown
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Here's this week's look back at the turning point play from the St. Louis Rams' 34-28 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles:
The situation: With 12 minutes and 25 seconds to go in the third quarter, the Rams had a first-and-10 at their 11 after getting a stop on the Eagles' opening possession of the second half. The Rams began in a difficult spot after a silly block in the back penalty on Chase Reynolds cost them 10 yards. At the time, the Rams had mostly weathered the early Eagles' storm and were trailing 20-7 with the game still seemingly in reach.
The play: The Rams lined up in a basic offset I formation with Cory Harkey at fullback and Zac Stacy in the backfield and Brian Quick split wide to quarterback Austin Davis' right with Kenny Britt split to the left. Tight end Lance Kendricks was attached to the line on the right side. The Eagles loaded up at the line of scrimmage with six defenders showing blitz pre-snap and both corners playing press-man coverage at the line. At the snap, the Eagles actually only rushed four with the edge defender on either side dropping into coverage.
Right end Trent Cole burst off the edge at the snap, made a quick inside move past left tackle Jake Long and hit Davis from behind as he prepared to throw. The ball fell to the ground where Long exacerbated things by failing to fall on it. It slipped through his fingers as Eagles lineman Cedric Thornton took it away and rolled into the end zone for a touchdown.
"[Long] knocked it out of my hand at first and I knew I was in the end zone the second time and I was just praying to God that I got a touchdown," Thornton said. "If I wouldn't have scored that, it would have been a tie game towards the end. I thought [Long] recovered it but he didn't and I came up with it and I was in the end zone."
It was one of a number of protection issues the Rams had on the day but the one that was felt the most in terms of its direct impact on the game.
The fallout: The Eagles took a 27-7 lead on the play and later added another touchdown off a turnover when Stacy coughed up another fumble that was recovered by Thornton. Those two scores were enough to keep the Rams at bay despite a late comeback attempt. There's no way to know how the game would have played out had it remained close. Perhaps the Eagles would've remained more aggressive defensively and the Rams wouldn't have gotten back into it as easily as they did but there's no denying that in a six-point loss, a touchdown in that spot made a major difference in the outcome.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...-point-play-davis-fumble-turns-into-touchdown
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Here's this week's look back at the turning point play from the St. Louis Rams' 34-28 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles:
The situation: With 12 minutes and 25 seconds to go in the third quarter, the Rams had a first-and-10 at their 11 after getting a stop on the Eagles' opening possession of the second half. The Rams began in a difficult spot after a silly block in the back penalty on Chase Reynolds cost them 10 yards. At the time, the Rams had mostly weathered the early Eagles' storm and were trailing 20-7 with the game still seemingly in reach.
The play: The Rams lined up in a basic offset I formation with Cory Harkey at fullback and Zac Stacy in the backfield and Brian Quick split wide to quarterback Austin Davis' right with Kenny Britt split to the left. Tight end Lance Kendricks was attached to the line on the right side. The Eagles loaded up at the line of scrimmage with six defenders showing blitz pre-snap and both corners playing press-man coverage at the line. At the snap, the Eagles actually only rushed four with the edge defender on either side dropping into coverage.
Right end Trent Cole burst off the edge at the snap, made a quick inside move past left tackle Jake Long and hit Davis from behind as he prepared to throw. The ball fell to the ground where Long exacerbated things by failing to fall on it. It slipped through his fingers as Eagles lineman Cedric Thornton took it away and rolled into the end zone for a touchdown.
"[Long] knocked it out of my hand at first and I knew I was in the end zone the second time and I was just praying to God that I got a touchdown," Thornton said. "If I wouldn't have scored that, it would have been a tie game towards the end. I thought [Long] recovered it but he didn't and I came up with it and I was in the end zone."
It was one of a number of protection issues the Rams had on the day but the one that was felt the most in terms of its direct impact on the game.
The fallout: The Eagles took a 27-7 lead on the play and later added another touchdown off a turnover when Stacy coughed up another fumble that was recovered by Thornton. Those two scores were enough to keep the Rams at bay despite a late comeback attempt. There's no way to know how the game would have played out had it remained close. Perhaps the Eagles would've remained more aggressive defensively and the Rams wouldn't have gotten back into it as easily as they did but there's no denying that in a six-point loss, a touchdown in that spot made a major difference in the outcome.
