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Jeff Gordon
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 0f31a.html
Here are the grades for the St. Louis Rams after their ugly 23-6 loss Sunday afternoon to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.
QUARTERBACK: There was a glimmer of hope early on. Sam Bradford followed a Cortland Finnegan interception with a terrific deep ball to Brandon Gibson . . . only to see it dropped. From there it was all downhill for Bradford as he suffered six sacks, threw two interceptions and posted a dreadful 39.2 passer rating. With his line suffering massive breakdowns, he needed to get rid of the ball more quickly than he did. He also needed to avoid passing into heavy traffic. He regressed as the offense suffered a harrowing flashback to last season, producing just 160 yards total offense on 58 plays. GRADE: D.
RUNNING BACK: Steven Jackson missed practice all week with a strained groin muscle, then gave it a try Sunday. But advancing the ball down the field without blocking proved difficult. He rushed for just 29 yards on 11 carries and added just five yards on two catches. Rookie Daryl Richardson showed his usual burst while gaining 16 yards on four carries. Rookie Isaiah Pead got in the books for a pass catch so, yes, he is still on the team. Some pass protection breakdowns by the backs added to the fun. GRADE: C-minus.
RECEIVERS: Austin Pettis returned to active duty from his PED suspension and bumped rookie Brian Quick to the inactive list, causing quite a ruckus among Rams fans. When Gibson dropped the early home run ball to cost his team points, that didn’t help. A catch there could have sent this game moving in the right direction. The Bears kept track of Danny Amendola (five catches, 66 yards) and the other Rams targets didn’t give Bradford much to throw to. The Rams tried to get speedy rookie Chris Givens more involved but got just nine yards out of his two catches. GRADE: D.
TIGHT ENDS: Lance Kendricks (three catches, 18 yards) and Matthew Mulligan (one catch, 12 yards) offered only modest help in the passing game. Kendricks suffered a false start penalty with Bears pass rusher Julius Peppers on his side. If the tight ends helped much with their run blocking it wasn’t all that noticeable. GRADE: C.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Wayne Hunter moved into the starting left tackle slot vacated by the injured Rodger Saffold. Quinn Ojinnaka (left guard) and Robert Turner (center) started as fill-ins again. The makeshift unit played disastrously, failing to open holes for the running game and protect Bradford in the passing game. The unit’s best blocker, Harvey Dahl, sacked Sam once by stepping on his foot. The Rams rushed for just 59 yards and 14 of those came on two Bradford scrambles. Ojinnaka and right tackle Barry Richardson had some particularly tough moments. GRADE: F.
DEFENSIVE LINE: Defensive end Chris Long earned a couple of sacks and defensive Robert Quinn got an early hit on Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. The defensive front got the desired pressure and hassled Cutler into a mediocre performance. Chicago got 103 yards on the ground, but needed 34 carries to reach three figures. Subtract a 21-yard Cutler scramble from that total and the Bears rushed for 82 yards on 33 carries. This unit gave up a couple of big plays, but also forced a lot of third-and-long scenarios. GRADE: A.
LINEBACKERS: Middle man James Laurinaitis got caught out of the play here and three, but he also earned 11 tackles as the Rams defense hung tough while the offense provided no relief. Against all odds this was still a 10-6 game well into the fourth quarter. GRADE: B.
SECONDARY: In addition to his interception, Finnegan contributed a great past defense on a bomb to Alshon Jeffery. Cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Bradley Fletcher had some notable pass break-ups, too, as Cutler posted a dismal 58.9 passer rating. On the down side, Jenkins dropped an easy interception and safety Darian Stewart’s personal foul penalty on Cutler while blitzing gave the Bears an opportunity to score their first touchdown. GRADE: B-minus.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Mario Haggan’s ridiculous personal foul penalty on Bears punter Adam Podlesh gave Chicago a second chance on its first possession – and that led to Robbie Gould’s 54-yard field goal. On the other hand, Greg Zuerlein kicked field goals of 56 and 46 yards in windy conditions to prove he is one of the NFL’s most powerful place kickers. Johnny Hekker averaged 46.5 yards on six punts, but the Rams allowed Devin Hester to return three of those punts for 39 yards. GRADE: C.
COACHING: Jeff Fisher’s staff could not find enough bailing wire to repair the jerry-rigged offensive line on the fly. The Rams simply could not block the Bears and the coaches had no answers for that. A good running game would have gone a long way Sunday, but the Rams didn’t stay committed to it. What was with all the spread formations? All of this led to an ugly collapse in the second half. This team played a very sloppy game from start to finish, taking untimely and undisciplined penalties and suffering fundamental breakdowns – especially on the offensive side. In short, it seemed like Steve Spagnuolo was still working the sideline. GRADE: D.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 0f31a.html
Here are the grades for the St. Louis Rams after their ugly 23-6 loss Sunday afternoon to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.
QUARTERBACK: There was a glimmer of hope early on. Sam Bradford followed a Cortland Finnegan interception with a terrific deep ball to Brandon Gibson . . . only to see it dropped. From there it was all downhill for Bradford as he suffered six sacks, threw two interceptions and posted a dreadful 39.2 passer rating. With his line suffering massive breakdowns, he needed to get rid of the ball more quickly than he did. He also needed to avoid passing into heavy traffic. He regressed as the offense suffered a harrowing flashback to last season, producing just 160 yards total offense on 58 plays. GRADE: D.
RUNNING BACK: Steven Jackson missed practice all week with a strained groin muscle, then gave it a try Sunday. But advancing the ball down the field without blocking proved difficult. He rushed for just 29 yards on 11 carries and added just five yards on two catches. Rookie Daryl Richardson showed his usual burst while gaining 16 yards on four carries. Rookie Isaiah Pead got in the books for a pass catch so, yes, he is still on the team. Some pass protection breakdowns by the backs added to the fun. GRADE: C-minus.
RECEIVERS: Austin Pettis returned to active duty from his PED suspension and bumped rookie Brian Quick to the inactive list, causing quite a ruckus among Rams fans. When Gibson dropped the early home run ball to cost his team points, that didn’t help. A catch there could have sent this game moving in the right direction. The Bears kept track of Danny Amendola (five catches, 66 yards) and the other Rams targets didn’t give Bradford much to throw to. The Rams tried to get speedy rookie Chris Givens more involved but got just nine yards out of his two catches. GRADE: D.
TIGHT ENDS: Lance Kendricks (three catches, 18 yards) and Matthew Mulligan (one catch, 12 yards) offered only modest help in the passing game. Kendricks suffered a false start penalty with Bears pass rusher Julius Peppers on his side. If the tight ends helped much with their run blocking it wasn’t all that noticeable. GRADE: C.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Wayne Hunter moved into the starting left tackle slot vacated by the injured Rodger Saffold. Quinn Ojinnaka (left guard) and Robert Turner (center) started as fill-ins again. The makeshift unit played disastrously, failing to open holes for the running game and protect Bradford in the passing game. The unit’s best blocker, Harvey Dahl, sacked Sam once by stepping on his foot. The Rams rushed for just 59 yards and 14 of those came on two Bradford scrambles. Ojinnaka and right tackle Barry Richardson had some particularly tough moments. GRADE: F.
DEFENSIVE LINE: Defensive end Chris Long earned a couple of sacks and defensive Robert Quinn got an early hit on Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. The defensive front got the desired pressure and hassled Cutler into a mediocre performance. Chicago got 103 yards on the ground, but needed 34 carries to reach three figures. Subtract a 21-yard Cutler scramble from that total and the Bears rushed for 82 yards on 33 carries. This unit gave up a couple of big plays, but also forced a lot of third-and-long scenarios. GRADE: A.
LINEBACKERS: Middle man James Laurinaitis got caught out of the play here and three, but he also earned 11 tackles as the Rams defense hung tough while the offense provided no relief. Against all odds this was still a 10-6 game well into the fourth quarter. GRADE: B.
SECONDARY: In addition to his interception, Finnegan contributed a great past defense on a bomb to Alshon Jeffery. Cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Bradley Fletcher had some notable pass break-ups, too, as Cutler posted a dismal 58.9 passer rating. On the down side, Jenkins dropped an easy interception and safety Darian Stewart’s personal foul penalty on Cutler while blitzing gave the Bears an opportunity to score their first touchdown. GRADE: B-minus.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Mario Haggan’s ridiculous personal foul penalty on Bears punter Adam Podlesh gave Chicago a second chance on its first possession – and that led to Robbie Gould’s 54-yard field goal. On the other hand, Greg Zuerlein kicked field goals of 56 and 46 yards in windy conditions to prove he is one of the NFL’s most powerful place kickers. Johnny Hekker averaged 46.5 yards on six punts, but the Rams allowed Devin Hester to return three of those punts for 39 yards. GRADE: C.
COACHING: Jeff Fisher’s staff could not find enough bailing wire to repair the jerry-rigged offensive line on the fly. The Rams simply could not block the Bears and the coaches had no answers for that. A good running game would have gone a long way Sunday, but the Rams didn’t stay committed to it. What was with all the spread formations? All of this led to an ugly collapse in the second half. This team played a very sloppy game from start to finish, taking untimely and undisciplined penalties and suffering fundamental breakdowns – especially on the offensive side. In short, it seemed like Steve Spagnuolo was still working the sideline. GRADE: D.