- Joined
- Jul 31, 2010
- Messages
- 8,874
Turning point play: Shaun Hill's interception
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/11463/turning-point-play-shaun-hills-interception
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- With a new season upon us, it's a good time to try some new things for this corner of cyberspace. Some will work, some won't, so feel free to offer feedback on whether you want to see this continue or not. But I want to introduce a new Monday feature in which we'll look back at a play in the game that was instrumental in leading to its result.
Most weeks there will be more than one play to choose from but we'll try to pick the one that stands out most.
With the procedural stuff out of the way, here's a look back at the turning point play from the Rams' 34-6 Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings:
Hill
The situation: With 1:13 to go in the first half, the Rams trailed 6-0 and had the ball on second-and-16 at their 19. On the previous play, Minnesota defensive tackle Tom Johnson sacked Rams quarterback Shaun Hill, forcing a fumble that Hill fell on for a loss of 6. At the time, Minnesota had two timeouts remaining.
The play: With two receivers split to each side, Hill takes the snap out of the shotgun formation. In a common scene from the day, the Vikings rushed only four and created immediate pressure on Hill, particularly from both edges, forcing Hill to roll to his right. With tight end Jared Cook running a deep out from the slot, Hill forces a pass intended for Cook from his back foot into double coverage down the right sideline. Cook never had a chance to make a play on it, though, as cornerback Josh Robinson elevated for it and got his feet down in an athletic play for the interception at the Rams' 35.
The fallout: In a game in which field goals looked like the path to victory, Minnesota took advantage of the prime field position and scored the game's first touchdown four plays later to take a 13-0 lead into the locker room. It was also the last pass Hill threw on the day as the Rams announced he was dealing with a thigh/quad injury. Minnesota dominated from there.
After the game, coach Jeff Fisher said the Rams had hoped to go into the locker room at 6-0 and the interception was when things started to slip away.
“Our hope there was that right before we threw the interception, we would go in at halftime down six, regroup, take possession of the ball in the third quarter and go and make some plays," Fisher said. "This game was taking on the appearance of a 13-10 type of game prior to us going into the locker room down 13, and then obviously things just slipped away there."
Considering the Rams were going to get the ball first in the second half, that would be a perfectly logical approach were it not for the illogical execution of the idea. If indeed the Rams were content to go into the locker room down 6-0 after the sack and fumble nearly resulted in disaster, why then did they continue to throw the ball like a team looking to put a drive together?
Hill's decision to throw that pass was undoubtedly awful and the Rams paid for it but a strong argument can be made that he never should have been put dropping back to pass in the first place.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/11463/turning-point-play-shaun-hills-interception
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- With a new season upon us, it's a good time to try some new things for this corner of cyberspace. Some will work, some won't, so feel free to offer feedback on whether you want to see this continue or not. But I want to introduce a new Monday feature in which we'll look back at a play in the game that was instrumental in leading to its result.
Most weeks there will be more than one play to choose from but we'll try to pick the one that stands out most.
With the procedural stuff out of the way, here's a look back at the turning point play from the Rams' 34-6 Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings:
Hill
The situation: With 1:13 to go in the first half, the Rams trailed 6-0 and had the ball on second-and-16 at their 19. On the previous play, Minnesota defensive tackle Tom Johnson sacked Rams quarterback Shaun Hill, forcing a fumble that Hill fell on for a loss of 6. At the time, Minnesota had two timeouts remaining.
The play: With two receivers split to each side, Hill takes the snap out of the shotgun formation. In a common scene from the day, the Vikings rushed only four and created immediate pressure on Hill, particularly from both edges, forcing Hill to roll to his right. With tight end Jared Cook running a deep out from the slot, Hill forces a pass intended for Cook from his back foot into double coverage down the right sideline. Cook never had a chance to make a play on it, though, as cornerback Josh Robinson elevated for it and got his feet down in an athletic play for the interception at the Rams' 35.
The fallout: In a game in which field goals looked like the path to victory, Minnesota took advantage of the prime field position and scored the game's first touchdown four plays later to take a 13-0 lead into the locker room. It was also the last pass Hill threw on the day as the Rams announced he was dealing with a thigh/quad injury. Minnesota dominated from there.
After the game, coach Jeff Fisher said the Rams had hoped to go into the locker room at 6-0 and the interception was when things started to slip away.
“Our hope there was that right before we threw the interception, we would go in at halftime down six, regroup, take possession of the ball in the third quarter and go and make some plays," Fisher said. "This game was taking on the appearance of a 13-10 type of game prior to us going into the locker room down 13, and then obviously things just slipped away there."
Considering the Rams were going to get the ball first in the second half, that would be a perfectly logical approach were it not for the illogical execution of the idea. If indeed the Rams were content to go into the locker room down 6-0 after the sack and fumble nearly resulted in disaster, why then did they continue to throw the ball like a team looking to put a drive together?
Hill's decision to throw that pass was undoubtedly awful and the Rams paid for it but a strong argument can be made that he never should have been put dropping back to pass in the first place.
