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By Stats Doctor
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[wrapimg=left]http://101sports.com/images/authors/medium/sdoctor.jpg[/wrapimg]The Rams and Bills met last Sunday on what was also the first day of Hanukkah. In honor of the holiday and the game, I brought along a traditional dreidel or spinning top that looked like a football. The four Hebrew letters on the sides of the dreidel stand for the words that translate as “A great miracle happened there,” referring to the Temple oil that somehow lasted eight days. Now, there were portions of last Sunday’s game that seemed to take eight days. But, when it was over, you almost had to feel something miraculous had taken place there in Buffalo.
To say the game was ugly early on might be considered an insult to anything that is ugly. The Rams offense had three three-and-outs, three punts, and three yards of total offense even though they enjoyed an average starting field position at their own 36-yard line. The Bills opened with two three-and-outs of their own before former Rams quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick completed five-of-six passes for 62 yards to set up a Rian Lindell 35-yard field goal. At this point, the Rams seemingly had Buffalo right it where it wanted them as the Rams have now amazingly improved their record to 5-1 when the opposition scores first compared to a 1-5-1 record the team has when scoring first.
The situation could have worsened dramatically, but Michael Brockers forced a Fred Jackson fumble in the red zone that James Laurinaitis recovered on the last play of the first quarter. The Rams defense had forced a turnover in the red zone for the third time this year and the first since the season opener in Detroit. Buffalo, for its part, had its fifth red zone turnover this year (four fumbles, one interception) and the Rams were only down 3-0 after the opening 15 minutes. The Rams have now gone scoreless in the first quarter of their last three games, but have three wins.
The St. Louis offense did not cross midfield until after the two-minute warning of the first half. The Rams have scored 40 of their 56 second quarter points in the last 2:00 of the half and had a chance to get in position to tie the game at the half. However, Stephon Gilmore interecepted a Sam Bradford pass on third-and-five and returned it for an apparent touchdown. The touchdown was wiped out perhaps miraculously by a holding call on the return, but the Bills almost in spite of themselves and some mysterious clock management managed to get into position for a Lindell 40-yard field goal and a 6-0 halftime lead.
The Rams offense in the first half was anemic and in need of some type of blood transfusion. The 71 yards total offense was the second lowest half of yardage this year as only the 58-yard first half against the Bears was worse. Bradford’s passer rating of 14.6 was lower than the wind chill index at Ralph Wilson Stadium. And yet, what could have been a 17-0 deficit was still a one-possession game.
The Rams had won the toss and deferred, thus allowing a chance to open the second half on offense and they came alive. Bradford equaled his first half total on the opening drive with five completions, the Rams were two-for-two on third down while the Bills contributed a penalty first down on the other third down play, and the Rams were in the red zone after back-to-back Bradford to Brandon Gibson pass plays. When Steven Jackson scored on a one-yard run, the Rams not only had the lead, but they had scored a red zone touchdown in the third quarter for the first time this year. Jackson tallied the Rams first rushing touchdown since the first quarter of the first game against San Francisco, a mere 19 quarters of football (there were two overtime periods mixed in for good measure) and 294:40 ago. The Rams now were back to having more rushing (4) than return (3) touchdowns and Jackson had cracked the top ten in Rams career scoring with his 55th rushing touchdown and 382 points surpassing Frank Corral.
During a three-game losing streak mid-season, the Rams defense had allowed touchdowns on the opening drives of the second half by Miami, Green Bay, and New England. It seemed like a bad omen when the Bills came right back with a 75-yard touchdown drive to regain the lead at 12-7. But, maybe not so much, after a botched snap from center turned into Lindell doing his best Garo Yepremian imitation by heaving the ball somewhere in the direction of the end zone. The ball ricocheted off a few players as though beach volleyball had somehow come to Buffalo and fell incomplete.
If you thought something strange was going on after the missed extra point/two-point conversion, you had to be convinced after the opening play of the fourth quarter. In what had to have been the greatest punt for zero yards I had ever seen, Johnny Hekker kept his wits, if not his health about him. He recovered a fumbled snap and somehow avoided either getting tackled or having the kick blocked as it traveled in the vicinity of the line of scrimmage. Even though the Bills started from their own 49-yard line, they could have easily had much better field position or even a score if Hekker had not sent that zero yard punt into the rain and sleet.
The Rams defense held, allowing only one first down on the next three Buffalo possessions, including two three-and-outs that used up less than 2:00 each. This set the stage for a most memorable, and maybe miraculous game-winning drive that started at the Rams 16-yard line with but 4:55 to play. The 84-yard touchdown drive was all the more amazing because the Rams gained no yards on each of the five first down plays of the drive. Bradford was 0-4 passing and Jackson had one carry for no gain. Just imagine how this drive happened while averaging no yards on first down and your quarterback completing five-of-ten passes. For the quarter, the Rams averaged 0.4 yards on nine first down plays. But, Bradford was 3-4 for 44 yards on second down plays including the game-winner to Gibson from 13 yards out and Jackson had a key nine-yard gain to give the Rams 53 yards on five second down plays (a 10.6 yard average). The Rams were 2-3 on third downs in the drive and then converted the one fourth down play on a sublime catch by Austin Pettis. The drive was 14 plays and 84 yards and it took 4:07 off the clock
For good measure, the Rams followed the two-point conversion card and went for two with the lead at 13-12. When Bradford found Chris Givens for the extra points, the Rams were now a gaudy 4-5 on two-point conversions and ahead by three. Just to give you an idea how impressive those numbers are, the Rams have converted 30 of their 54 two-point tries since the NFL allowed two-point conversions in 1994. That 55.6 percent success rate is considerably better than the overall 45 percent success rate for the league during that time. Converting 80 percent of your two-point conversions is a bit like making half of your three-point attempts in a basketball. The fourth successful conversion now ties a Rams team record for most two-point conversions in a season that has been done three times previously.
Buffalo still had a chance to tie the game and force yet another overtime. A 19-yard pass from Fitzpatrick to Scott Chandler on the first play of the drive gave the home crowd some hope. But, that was quickly dashed when the next three plays resulted in an incompletion, a nine-yard sack, and a Jo-Lonn Dunbar interception. In the last 2:00 of the fourth quarter, the Bills have now allowed 42 points while not scoring a single point themselves. The Rams defense allowed only two first downs and 32 yards on 14 fourth quarter plays (2.3 yards average). Fitzpatrick’s passer rating in the fourth quarter was a miniscule 5.6 after having a 113.7 rating for the first three quarters. The Rams had managed to win for the third time this season when trailing after the third quarter. They are 3-5 in this department for the year after having a 2-59 record the last six seasons when behind after the third quarter. The Rams are also 4-5 when trailing at the half, just a bit better than the three wins in 54 games the last six years when down after two quarters.
The Rams have held the lead only 5:59 in the last two games and have trailed for 87:33; yet, they won both games. The game-winning touchdown pass came with 48 seconds remaining, making it two consecutive wins coming in the last minute of play as Greg Zuerlein’s overtime field goal against the 49ers came with only 26 seconds left. The last time the Rams had a game-winning touchdown drive this late in regulation was on November 26, 2006 when Marc Bulger found Kevin Curtis for a five-yard touchdown pass with 27 seconds to play for a 20-17 win over San Francisco at the Edward Jones Dome. The game-winner was the latest in regulation on the road since September 20, 1998 when Tony Banks ran two yards with 11 seconds to play for a 34-33 win at, of all places, Buffalo. The drive summary was quite similar to last Sunday as the Rams went 80 yards on 11 plays in 3:46 with the scoring play occurring in the same end zone where the Rams won it Sunday! That day, the Rams sacked Buffalo quarterback Rob Johnson nine times with our own D’Marco Farr recording two sacks.
The Rams have allowed only 42 points in the last three games—three fewer points New England scored against the Rams in London. And how about this one as the Rams had only two penalties for 17 yards. The last time the team had fewer penalties was December 7, 2008 when only one penalty was called in a game at Arizona. Plus, there were no false starts called for the first time this season and the first time since Game 14 last year against Cincinnati.
The 15-12 final score was unusual and the Rams have won by this score only once in the 1,094 regular and post-season games played by the team. The Rams defeated the Bengals 15-12 in 1972 as both teams had scored on a safety, touchdown, PAT, and field goal before David Ray made the game-winning field goal. The Rams have won two other games when scoring 15 points—a 15-14 squeaker over the Giants in 2001 and the 15-14 win over the Redskins in the 1945 NFL Championship Game played in frigid Cleveland. The key play in that game was Sammy Baugh’s attempted pass from his own end zone that hit the goal post for an automatic safety! The Rams have lost a 15-12 game and that occurred in 1997 against San Francisco.
So, the Rams have their first three-game winning streak in six years. It has been nine years since the Rams have won four in a row (seven-game winning streak in 2003) and they will have that opportunity when hosting the Vikings this Sunday. Maybe, just maybe, we will see Steven Jackson rush for the 71 yards needed to become the 27th player in NFL history to have 10,000 rushing yards. Hopefully, it will happen along with a victory to keep the Rams in the hunt for some January football.
http://101sports.com/category/sdoctor-b ... e-heroics/
[wrapimg=left]http://101sports.com/images/authors/medium/sdoctor.jpg[/wrapimg]The Rams and Bills met last Sunday on what was also the first day of Hanukkah. In honor of the holiday and the game, I brought along a traditional dreidel or spinning top that looked like a football. The four Hebrew letters on the sides of the dreidel stand for the words that translate as “A great miracle happened there,” referring to the Temple oil that somehow lasted eight days. Now, there were portions of last Sunday’s game that seemed to take eight days. But, when it was over, you almost had to feel something miraculous had taken place there in Buffalo.
To say the game was ugly early on might be considered an insult to anything that is ugly. The Rams offense had three three-and-outs, three punts, and three yards of total offense even though they enjoyed an average starting field position at their own 36-yard line. The Bills opened with two three-and-outs of their own before former Rams quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick completed five-of-six passes for 62 yards to set up a Rian Lindell 35-yard field goal. At this point, the Rams seemingly had Buffalo right it where it wanted them as the Rams have now amazingly improved their record to 5-1 when the opposition scores first compared to a 1-5-1 record the team has when scoring first.
The situation could have worsened dramatically, but Michael Brockers forced a Fred Jackson fumble in the red zone that James Laurinaitis recovered on the last play of the first quarter. The Rams defense had forced a turnover in the red zone for the third time this year and the first since the season opener in Detroit. Buffalo, for its part, had its fifth red zone turnover this year (four fumbles, one interception) and the Rams were only down 3-0 after the opening 15 minutes. The Rams have now gone scoreless in the first quarter of their last three games, but have three wins.
The St. Louis offense did not cross midfield until after the two-minute warning of the first half. The Rams have scored 40 of their 56 second quarter points in the last 2:00 of the half and had a chance to get in position to tie the game at the half. However, Stephon Gilmore interecepted a Sam Bradford pass on third-and-five and returned it for an apparent touchdown. The touchdown was wiped out perhaps miraculously by a holding call on the return, but the Bills almost in spite of themselves and some mysterious clock management managed to get into position for a Lindell 40-yard field goal and a 6-0 halftime lead.
The Rams offense in the first half was anemic and in need of some type of blood transfusion. The 71 yards total offense was the second lowest half of yardage this year as only the 58-yard first half against the Bears was worse. Bradford’s passer rating of 14.6 was lower than the wind chill index at Ralph Wilson Stadium. And yet, what could have been a 17-0 deficit was still a one-possession game.
The Rams had won the toss and deferred, thus allowing a chance to open the second half on offense and they came alive. Bradford equaled his first half total on the opening drive with five completions, the Rams were two-for-two on third down while the Bills contributed a penalty first down on the other third down play, and the Rams were in the red zone after back-to-back Bradford to Brandon Gibson pass plays. When Steven Jackson scored on a one-yard run, the Rams not only had the lead, but they had scored a red zone touchdown in the third quarter for the first time this year. Jackson tallied the Rams first rushing touchdown since the first quarter of the first game against San Francisco, a mere 19 quarters of football (there were two overtime periods mixed in for good measure) and 294:40 ago. The Rams now were back to having more rushing (4) than return (3) touchdowns and Jackson had cracked the top ten in Rams career scoring with his 55th rushing touchdown and 382 points surpassing Frank Corral.
During a three-game losing streak mid-season, the Rams defense had allowed touchdowns on the opening drives of the second half by Miami, Green Bay, and New England. It seemed like a bad omen when the Bills came right back with a 75-yard touchdown drive to regain the lead at 12-7. But, maybe not so much, after a botched snap from center turned into Lindell doing his best Garo Yepremian imitation by heaving the ball somewhere in the direction of the end zone. The ball ricocheted off a few players as though beach volleyball had somehow come to Buffalo and fell incomplete.
If you thought something strange was going on after the missed extra point/two-point conversion, you had to be convinced after the opening play of the fourth quarter. In what had to have been the greatest punt for zero yards I had ever seen, Johnny Hekker kept his wits, if not his health about him. He recovered a fumbled snap and somehow avoided either getting tackled or having the kick blocked as it traveled in the vicinity of the line of scrimmage. Even though the Bills started from their own 49-yard line, they could have easily had much better field position or even a score if Hekker had not sent that zero yard punt into the rain and sleet.
The Rams defense held, allowing only one first down on the next three Buffalo possessions, including two three-and-outs that used up less than 2:00 each. This set the stage for a most memorable, and maybe miraculous game-winning drive that started at the Rams 16-yard line with but 4:55 to play. The 84-yard touchdown drive was all the more amazing because the Rams gained no yards on each of the five first down plays of the drive. Bradford was 0-4 passing and Jackson had one carry for no gain. Just imagine how this drive happened while averaging no yards on first down and your quarterback completing five-of-ten passes. For the quarter, the Rams averaged 0.4 yards on nine first down plays. But, Bradford was 3-4 for 44 yards on second down plays including the game-winner to Gibson from 13 yards out and Jackson had a key nine-yard gain to give the Rams 53 yards on five second down plays (a 10.6 yard average). The Rams were 2-3 on third downs in the drive and then converted the one fourth down play on a sublime catch by Austin Pettis. The drive was 14 plays and 84 yards and it took 4:07 off the clock
For good measure, the Rams followed the two-point conversion card and went for two with the lead at 13-12. When Bradford found Chris Givens for the extra points, the Rams were now a gaudy 4-5 on two-point conversions and ahead by three. Just to give you an idea how impressive those numbers are, the Rams have converted 30 of their 54 two-point tries since the NFL allowed two-point conversions in 1994. That 55.6 percent success rate is considerably better than the overall 45 percent success rate for the league during that time. Converting 80 percent of your two-point conversions is a bit like making half of your three-point attempts in a basketball. The fourth successful conversion now ties a Rams team record for most two-point conversions in a season that has been done three times previously.
Buffalo still had a chance to tie the game and force yet another overtime. A 19-yard pass from Fitzpatrick to Scott Chandler on the first play of the drive gave the home crowd some hope. But, that was quickly dashed when the next three plays resulted in an incompletion, a nine-yard sack, and a Jo-Lonn Dunbar interception. In the last 2:00 of the fourth quarter, the Bills have now allowed 42 points while not scoring a single point themselves. The Rams defense allowed only two first downs and 32 yards on 14 fourth quarter plays (2.3 yards average). Fitzpatrick’s passer rating in the fourth quarter was a miniscule 5.6 after having a 113.7 rating for the first three quarters. The Rams had managed to win for the third time this season when trailing after the third quarter. They are 3-5 in this department for the year after having a 2-59 record the last six seasons when behind after the third quarter. The Rams are also 4-5 when trailing at the half, just a bit better than the three wins in 54 games the last six years when down after two quarters.
The Rams have held the lead only 5:59 in the last two games and have trailed for 87:33; yet, they won both games. The game-winning touchdown pass came with 48 seconds remaining, making it two consecutive wins coming in the last minute of play as Greg Zuerlein’s overtime field goal against the 49ers came with only 26 seconds left. The last time the Rams had a game-winning touchdown drive this late in regulation was on November 26, 2006 when Marc Bulger found Kevin Curtis for a five-yard touchdown pass with 27 seconds to play for a 20-17 win over San Francisco at the Edward Jones Dome. The game-winner was the latest in regulation on the road since September 20, 1998 when Tony Banks ran two yards with 11 seconds to play for a 34-33 win at, of all places, Buffalo. The drive summary was quite similar to last Sunday as the Rams went 80 yards on 11 plays in 3:46 with the scoring play occurring in the same end zone where the Rams won it Sunday! That day, the Rams sacked Buffalo quarterback Rob Johnson nine times with our own D’Marco Farr recording two sacks.
The Rams have allowed only 42 points in the last three games—three fewer points New England scored against the Rams in London. And how about this one as the Rams had only two penalties for 17 yards. The last time the team had fewer penalties was December 7, 2008 when only one penalty was called in a game at Arizona. Plus, there were no false starts called for the first time this season and the first time since Game 14 last year against Cincinnati.
The 15-12 final score was unusual and the Rams have won by this score only once in the 1,094 regular and post-season games played by the team. The Rams defeated the Bengals 15-12 in 1972 as both teams had scored on a safety, touchdown, PAT, and field goal before David Ray made the game-winning field goal. The Rams have won two other games when scoring 15 points—a 15-14 squeaker over the Giants in 2001 and the 15-14 win over the Redskins in the 1945 NFL Championship Game played in frigid Cleveland. The key play in that game was Sammy Baugh’s attempted pass from his own end zone that hit the goal post for an automatic safety! The Rams have lost a 15-12 game and that occurred in 1997 against San Francisco.
So, the Rams have their first three-game winning streak in six years. It has been nine years since the Rams have won four in a row (seven-game winning streak in 2003) and they will have that opportunity when hosting the Vikings this Sunday. Maybe, just maybe, we will see Steven Jackson rush for the 71 yards needed to become the 27th player in NFL history to have 10,000 rushing yards. Hopefully, it will happen along with a victory to keep the Rams in the hunt for some January football.
