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http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 0f31a.html
Just a friendly warning: if you have an aversion to "negative" commentary, then click away from this, and do it ASAP ...
* New England’s 45-7 wipeout was the first embarrassment for Jeff Fisher as Rams’ head coach. This was the first non-competitive performance, the first real blowout, the first time that you had a legitimate reason to question the coaching staff’s preparation. I wasn’t expecting a Rams’ victory, but I did expect the Rams to make a game of it. This was no competition; this was a humiliation.
* Well, at least the fellows had a nice vacation trip to New England. I wondered if it would help the Rams to go to London early in the week, as opposed to New England’s decision to fly in on Friday morning. I think we have our answer. One team made this a business trip, and a serious one at that. The Patriots worked hard at home, dropped into London and kicked arse.
* Patriots QB Tom Brady has received good pass protection this season; the Rams weren’t the first defense to have a difficult time getting past his bodyguards. That said, it isn’t impossible to harass Brady. Other teams have done it this season. Arizona and Denver each had four sacks of Brady. Seattle had a sack, four hits and 10 hurries. The NY Jets had 12 hurries last week; Tennessee had 14 hurries in the season opener.
* In this game, the STL pass rush was virtually nonexistent when it mattered. I don’t care if they put a little heat on Brady after the score reached 38-7. That’s like getting excited by your team hitting a solo home run when it’s trailing 11-1 in the 8th inning. New England offensive tackles Sebastian Vollmer and Nate Solder made Rams defensive ends Chris Long and Robert Quinn disappear.
* I can’t wait to hear/read the spin from Rams Park on how the London trip expanded the Rams’ “brand” in England and Europe. This feckless defeat will expand the Rams’ brand in England the way the 15-65 record (2007-2011) expanded the Rams’ brand in St. Louis.
* I am not claiming the Rams would have defeated the Patriots at the Edward Jones Dome. Probably not; I say this because of Bill Belichick’s domination of Jeff Fisher in their coaching matchups through the years. (I’ll provide details a little later in this offering.) But the fact is, Rams owner Stan Kroenke took this game out of St. Louis, and that undermined the players and coaches.
* Instead of having a home game, the Rams in effect played an extra road game. I say that because the Patriots are the NFL’s most popular team in England. All three Rams’ victories this season have been at home. They’re 3-1 at home, and in the one loss, they trailed Green Bay 10-6 at halftime. It’s a shame that Kroenke relinquished any shot the Rams had of gaining even the smallest advantage.
* The Rams have lost three in a row, and are 3-5. The bye week comes at a good time. But the Rams will return with a road game at San Francisco on Nov. 11. Their next home game isn’t until Nov. 18, vs. the NY Jets. Then the Rams go on the road again, to Arizona. San Francisco comes to St. Louis on Dec. 2. Bottom line: a young, rebuilding team will have played only one true home game from Oct. 28 through the end of November.
* It must be difficult for Brady to suppress a smile when the NFL schedule is announced and he sees that he’ll get a chance to carve up the defense of a team coached by Jeff Fisher. First the Tennessee Titans, now the Rams. Brady is now 4-1 in his career vs. Fisher’s teams. The loss, however, occurred in 2002, when Brady played the Titans for the first time. Since then Brady has destroyed Fisher’s defenses in winning the last four meetings. There was also a fifth win, in the postseason.
* In his four-game regular-season winning streak against Fisher’s defense, Brady has completed 84 of 124 passes for 1,128 yards, 12 touchdowns, and no interceptions. That’s 9.09 yards per passing attempt, a completion percentage of 67.7 percent, and a passer rating of 128.6.
* In his last four games against Belichick and Brady, Fisher’s teams have allowed 38, 40, 59 and now 45 points. That’s an average of 45.5 points per game. The Patriots have averaged 465 yards in the four wins. In the last two routs, New England has outscored Fisher’s teams 104-7.
* Rams QB Sam Bradford was OK, completing 23 of 31 yards for 205 yards with one TD and one INT. But for Bradford and the Rams offense the reality is this: they scored 7 points against one of worst and most porous pass defenses in the NFL. The Patriots had given up 21 points or more for five consecutive games until clamping down on the Rams. After scoring on their first possession of the game, the Rams were shutout in their last nine series. The Rams defense was terrible. But the offense wasn't much better if at all.
* The Rams need safeties. Yes, plural.
* Until now, I’ve been immersed in covering the Cardinals in the postseason so I’m out of date in terms of keeping up with the spin at Rams Park. So I’ll be curious to see what the latest explanation is for why the 33rd overall pick in this year’s draft, WR Brian Quick, is still a virtual non-factor halfway through the season.
* The other WR drafted, fourth-round pick Chris Givens, has been a home-run hitter. His 50-yard TD bomb was the only real highlight in Sunday’s disaster. That’s five consecutive games of at least one 50+ reception for Givens, who gives the Rams an exciting dimension in their passing game. Let’s hope Givens’ foot injury doesn’t slow him going forward. I know that Givens returned to the game, and he will be able to rehab and rest during the bye week. But when Givens isn’t in there, the Rams do little but peck away with short passes.
* Apparently the Rams never heard of Rob Gronkowski.
* The production game in garbage time, but at least the rookie RB, Isaiah Pead, finally did something to show why the Rams invested a second-round draft pick in him.
* Some things never change; Belichick continues to psyche out NFL officials. I give him a lot of credit for that. It gives his team an important advantage.
* Rams rookie CB Janoris Jenkins is a skilled and confident player. But teams are exploiting his inexperience now, and he doesn’t seem to be learning from his mistakes and getting better. I assume the coaches are working on this.
* In the immediate aftermath of this awful loss, Rams players were saying they didn't have answers to what the Patriots were doing on offense. They didn't have answers? Looked to me that the Rams didn't have a plan. Defensive players also said they made too many mental errors ... which reinforces my point about this being a vacation trip. The focus wasn't there.
* Brady, post-game: "It was a good day of playmaking football." You could say that. Sunday's game was undoubtedly the Patriots' best and easiest practice session of the season.
Thanks for reading …
Just a friendly warning: if you have an aversion to "negative" commentary, then click away from this, and do it ASAP ...
* New England’s 45-7 wipeout was the first embarrassment for Jeff Fisher as Rams’ head coach. This was the first non-competitive performance, the first real blowout, the first time that you had a legitimate reason to question the coaching staff’s preparation. I wasn’t expecting a Rams’ victory, but I did expect the Rams to make a game of it. This was no competition; this was a humiliation.
* Well, at least the fellows had a nice vacation trip to New England. I wondered if it would help the Rams to go to London early in the week, as opposed to New England’s decision to fly in on Friday morning. I think we have our answer. One team made this a business trip, and a serious one at that. The Patriots worked hard at home, dropped into London and kicked arse.
* Patriots QB Tom Brady has received good pass protection this season; the Rams weren’t the first defense to have a difficult time getting past his bodyguards. That said, it isn’t impossible to harass Brady. Other teams have done it this season. Arizona and Denver each had four sacks of Brady. Seattle had a sack, four hits and 10 hurries. The NY Jets had 12 hurries last week; Tennessee had 14 hurries in the season opener.
* In this game, the STL pass rush was virtually nonexistent when it mattered. I don’t care if they put a little heat on Brady after the score reached 38-7. That’s like getting excited by your team hitting a solo home run when it’s trailing 11-1 in the 8th inning. New England offensive tackles Sebastian Vollmer and Nate Solder made Rams defensive ends Chris Long and Robert Quinn disappear.
* I can’t wait to hear/read the spin from Rams Park on how the London trip expanded the Rams’ “brand” in England and Europe. This feckless defeat will expand the Rams’ brand in England the way the 15-65 record (2007-2011) expanded the Rams’ brand in St. Louis.
* I am not claiming the Rams would have defeated the Patriots at the Edward Jones Dome. Probably not; I say this because of Bill Belichick’s domination of Jeff Fisher in their coaching matchups through the years. (I’ll provide details a little later in this offering.) But the fact is, Rams owner Stan Kroenke took this game out of St. Louis, and that undermined the players and coaches.
* Instead of having a home game, the Rams in effect played an extra road game. I say that because the Patriots are the NFL’s most popular team in England. All three Rams’ victories this season have been at home. They’re 3-1 at home, and in the one loss, they trailed Green Bay 10-6 at halftime. It’s a shame that Kroenke relinquished any shot the Rams had of gaining even the smallest advantage.
* The Rams have lost three in a row, and are 3-5. The bye week comes at a good time. But the Rams will return with a road game at San Francisco on Nov. 11. Their next home game isn’t until Nov. 18, vs. the NY Jets. Then the Rams go on the road again, to Arizona. San Francisco comes to St. Louis on Dec. 2. Bottom line: a young, rebuilding team will have played only one true home game from Oct. 28 through the end of November.
* It must be difficult for Brady to suppress a smile when the NFL schedule is announced and he sees that he’ll get a chance to carve up the defense of a team coached by Jeff Fisher. First the Tennessee Titans, now the Rams. Brady is now 4-1 in his career vs. Fisher’s teams. The loss, however, occurred in 2002, when Brady played the Titans for the first time. Since then Brady has destroyed Fisher’s defenses in winning the last four meetings. There was also a fifth win, in the postseason.
* In his four-game regular-season winning streak against Fisher’s defense, Brady has completed 84 of 124 passes for 1,128 yards, 12 touchdowns, and no interceptions. That’s 9.09 yards per passing attempt, a completion percentage of 67.7 percent, and a passer rating of 128.6.
* In his last four games against Belichick and Brady, Fisher’s teams have allowed 38, 40, 59 and now 45 points. That’s an average of 45.5 points per game. The Patriots have averaged 465 yards in the four wins. In the last two routs, New England has outscored Fisher’s teams 104-7.
* Rams QB Sam Bradford was OK, completing 23 of 31 yards for 205 yards with one TD and one INT. But for Bradford and the Rams offense the reality is this: they scored 7 points against one of worst and most porous pass defenses in the NFL. The Patriots had given up 21 points or more for five consecutive games until clamping down on the Rams. After scoring on their first possession of the game, the Rams were shutout in their last nine series. The Rams defense was terrible. But the offense wasn't much better if at all.
* The Rams need safeties. Yes, plural.
* Until now, I’ve been immersed in covering the Cardinals in the postseason so I’m out of date in terms of keeping up with the spin at Rams Park. So I’ll be curious to see what the latest explanation is for why the 33rd overall pick in this year’s draft, WR Brian Quick, is still a virtual non-factor halfway through the season.
* The other WR drafted, fourth-round pick Chris Givens, has been a home-run hitter. His 50-yard TD bomb was the only real highlight in Sunday’s disaster. That’s five consecutive games of at least one 50+ reception for Givens, who gives the Rams an exciting dimension in their passing game. Let’s hope Givens’ foot injury doesn’t slow him going forward. I know that Givens returned to the game, and he will be able to rehab and rest during the bye week. But when Givens isn’t in there, the Rams do little but peck away with short passes.
* Apparently the Rams never heard of Rob Gronkowski.
* The production game in garbage time, but at least the rookie RB, Isaiah Pead, finally did something to show why the Rams invested a second-round draft pick in him.
* Some things never change; Belichick continues to psyche out NFL officials. I give him a lot of credit for that. It gives his team an important advantage.
* Rams rookie CB Janoris Jenkins is a skilled and confident player. But teams are exploiting his inexperience now, and he doesn’t seem to be learning from his mistakes and getting better. I assume the coaches are working on this.
* In the immediate aftermath of this awful loss, Rams players were saying they didn't have answers to what the Patriots were doing on offense. They didn't have answers? Looked to me that the Rams didn't have a plan. Defensive players also said they made too many mental errors ... which reinforces my point about this being a vacation trip. The focus wasn't there.
* Brady, post-game: "It was a good day of playmaking football." You could say that. Sunday's game was undoubtedly the Patriots' best and easiest practice session of the season.
Thanks for reading …
