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Strauss: Feeble offense dooms Rams to 10th loss
• By Joe Strauss
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_6ef7c203-93bf-5286-bd49-3cec66ce1ab7.html
SEATTLE • Playing in the deafening caldron called CenturyLink Field, the Rams accomplished the statistically improbable Sunday before giving in to the entirely predictable.
For two quarters a team that three weeks ago entertained visions of a .500 finish led the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks 6-0 despite being outgained 189-66. They did this by recovering one of three home team fumbles and intercepting a Russell Wilson overthrow. The Rams didn’t gain a yard on one scoring “drive” and generated one play longer than 10 yards — a 12-yard catch-and-run by running back Tre Mason — before intermission.
In other words, the Rams attempted to work the same formula that produced their Oct. 19 upset of the Seahawks at the Edward Jones Dome.
Muck up the game with defense and hope something good happens at the end.
But counting on such good fortune leaves little room for error. The Rams too often showed themselves this season vulnerable to a cataclysmic play. Playing from behind isn’t their style.
Actually, Sunday’s 20-6 loss demonstrated why the words “style” and “offense” should never appear in the same sentence when discussing a 6-10 team that scored three touchdowns in its last three games.
Able to get the game they wanted, the Rams suffered a fourth-quarter meltdown reminiscent of their debacle against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 10.
The Rams played the Seahawks to a tie through three quarters before committing three ghastly turnovers, including quarterback Shaun Hill’s baffling throw into a defensive lineman’s midsection and a juggle-turned-Pick-Six that put the Seahawks up by two scores, otherwise known as the Rams’ point of no return.
The measure of a good team is the number of ways it can win.
The Rams can’t be considered a good team because it still takes longer to count the ways they can lose.
In a made-for-shootout NFL, the Rams have lost 19 straight when allowing 27 points and are 1-20 overall when allowing that threshold under the current regime.
“I think we’re better than a 6-10 team. I personally do,” coach Jeff Fisher said in the aftermath of his third season, the first in which the Rams have failed to reach seven wins. “I think we’re moving in the right direction. ... I think we’re building. I know we’re building.”
This was supposed to be the season the building came out of the ground. Instead, the Rams must ask themselves if injuries to their quarterback, an elite pass-rush end and an emerging receiver are enough to rationalize mediocrity and a damning inability to take a gut punch.
Fisher referenced a young team’s inability to “close” or “finish.” The Rams crafted a 10-5-1 first-half record. They hemorrhaged 14- and 21-point leads at home.
It’s too forgiving to say the Rams’ season was stillborn the night in Cleveland Sam Bradford suffered re-injury to his surgically repaired right knee. The offense did too little when the defense gave it a chance in late-season games against wounded Arizona and a surprisingly dull Seattle offense. Hill’s last-minute mistake in San Diego cost the team a chance at a near-miraculous comeback.
This team needed to demonstrate tangible improvement. At best, it stood in place as the franchise’s future grows murkier by the week.
Asked if this team left pieces of its season on the table, safety T.J. McDonald said, “I’m not going to tell you we didn’t. We’re going to look at Dallas, San Francisco, San Diego where we got a 21-0 lead and blew that. We were up 14-0 and blew that.”
“We’ve got to learn how to be more consistent,” said defensive tackle Michael Brockers, who also possessed total recall of the lost 21-point lead to the Cowboys. “We’re a young team. That’s not an excuse. It’s where we’re at. We beat that (Seattle) team this season. We beat Denver. We’ve beaten good teams. We’ve got to find a way when the other team gets momentum to shut it down.”
The Rams had to rally for two of their six wins. They never trailed by more than a single possession in either. The defense allowed 17 points or fewer in five wins while special teams proved invaluable in the sixth. The Rams yielded 17 points total in their last four wins; the season-ending three-game losing streak saw the offense average 13 points and score a touchdown in only one.
Divining the Rams isn’t difficult. They finished 5-0 when producing a positive turnover margin, 1-10 when break-even or at a deficit. Sunday’s flow proved a carbon of the big picture.
Trying to break a tie, the Rams were finally moving against the Seahawks’ stout defense when the first play of the fourth quarter irrevocably changed the game.
Hill, needing to throw the ball away on an abortive screen, instead threw into the gut of right defensive tackle Jordan Hill (no relation).
Five plays later, third-year cornerback Janoris Jenkins again became lost in coverage on a 31-yard pass play. Six plays later Marshawn Lynch scored untouched from 9 yards. The Rams fell into Least Mode the rest of the game. Five plays into the Rams’ next possession Lance Kendricks was stripped for what became an interception returned 49 yards by linebacker Bruce Irvin for a touchdown. It became the season’s 10th return for a score against a team ill-equipped to answer quick strikes.
Bruising only deepened when Benny Cunningham dribbled the ball through the end zone on the final play of a would-be 75-yard drive. Instead, it became the visitors’ third turnover of the period.
If the Rams aren’t in need of regime change, they could use a narrative change. Three years of building has left the franchise 20-27-1 under Fisher. The Rams enter another January confronting Bradford’s future. Yes, it is easier to say they squandered more games than they stole, so the record deserves to be better. Then again, isn’t that typically a losing team’s lament?
Let the Rams say 2014 wasn’t a lost season. But they’ll never convince me it wasn’t a hollow one.
• By Joe Strauss
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_6ef7c203-93bf-5286-bd49-3cec66ce1ab7.html
SEATTLE • Playing in the deafening caldron called CenturyLink Field, the Rams accomplished the statistically improbable Sunday before giving in to the entirely predictable.
For two quarters a team that three weeks ago entertained visions of a .500 finish led the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks 6-0 despite being outgained 189-66. They did this by recovering one of three home team fumbles and intercepting a Russell Wilson overthrow. The Rams didn’t gain a yard on one scoring “drive” and generated one play longer than 10 yards — a 12-yard catch-and-run by running back Tre Mason — before intermission.
In other words, the Rams attempted to work the same formula that produced their Oct. 19 upset of the Seahawks at the Edward Jones Dome.
Muck up the game with defense and hope something good happens at the end.
But counting on such good fortune leaves little room for error. The Rams too often showed themselves this season vulnerable to a cataclysmic play. Playing from behind isn’t their style.
Actually, Sunday’s 20-6 loss demonstrated why the words “style” and “offense” should never appear in the same sentence when discussing a 6-10 team that scored three touchdowns in its last three games.
Able to get the game they wanted, the Rams suffered a fourth-quarter meltdown reminiscent of their debacle against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 10.
The Rams played the Seahawks to a tie through three quarters before committing three ghastly turnovers, including quarterback Shaun Hill’s baffling throw into a defensive lineman’s midsection and a juggle-turned-Pick-Six that put the Seahawks up by two scores, otherwise known as the Rams’ point of no return.
The measure of a good team is the number of ways it can win.
The Rams can’t be considered a good team because it still takes longer to count the ways they can lose.
In a made-for-shootout NFL, the Rams have lost 19 straight when allowing 27 points and are 1-20 overall when allowing that threshold under the current regime.
“I think we’re better than a 6-10 team. I personally do,” coach Jeff Fisher said in the aftermath of his third season, the first in which the Rams have failed to reach seven wins. “I think we’re moving in the right direction. ... I think we’re building. I know we’re building.”
This was supposed to be the season the building came out of the ground. Instead, the Rams must ask themselves if injuries to their quarterback, an elite pass-rush end and an emerging receiver are enough to rationalize mediocrity and a damning inability to take a gut punch.
Fisher referenced a young team’s inability to “close” or “finish.” The Rams crafted a 10-5-1 first-half record. They hemorrhaged 14- and 21-point leads at home.
It’s too forgiving to say the Rams’ season was stillborn the night in Cleveland Sam Bradford suffered re-injury to his surgically repaired right knee. The offense did too little when the defense gave it a chance in late-season games against wounded Arizona and a surprisingly dull Seattle offense. Hill’s last-minute mistake in San Diego cost the team a chance at a near-miraculous comeback.
This team needed to demonstrate tangible improvement. At best, it stood in place as the franchise’s future grows murkier by the week.
Asked if this team left pieces of its season on the table, safety T.J. McDonald said, “I’m not going to tell you we didn’t. We’re going to look at Dallas, San Francisco, San Diego where we got a 21-0 lead and blew that. We were up 14-0 and blew that.”
“We’ve got to learn how to be more consistent,” said defensive tackle Michael Brockers, who also possessed total recall of the lost 21-point lead to the Cowboys. “We’re a young team. That’s not an excuse. It’s where we’re at. We beat that (Seattle) team this season. We beat Denver. We’ve beaten good teams. We’ve got to find a way when the other team gets momentum to shut it down.”
The Rams had to rally for two of their six wins. They never trailed by more than a single possession in either. The defense allowed 17 points or fewer in five wins while special teams proved invaluable in the sixth. The Rams yielded 17 points total in their last four wins; the season-ending three-game losing streak saw the offense average 13 points and score a touchdown in only one.
Divining the Rams isn’t difficult. They finished 5-0 when producing a positive turnover margin, 1-10 when break-even or at a deficit. Sunday’s flow proved a carbon of the big picture.
Trying to break a tie, the Rams were finally moving against the Seahawks’ stout defense when the first play of the fourth quarter irrevocably changed the game.
Hill, needing to throw the ball away on an abortive screen, instead threw into the gut of right defensive tackle Jordan Hill (no relation).
Five plays later, third-year cornerback Janoris Jenkins again became lost in coverage on a 31-yard pass play. Six plays later Marshawn Lynch scored untouched from 9 yards. The Rams fell into Least Mode the rest of the game. Five plays into the Rams’ next possession Lance Kendricks was stripped for what became an interception returned 49 yards by linebacker Bruce Irvin for a touchdown. It became the season’s 10th return for a score against a team ill-equipped to answer quick strikes.
Bruising only deepened when Benny Cunningham dribbled the ball through the end zone on the final play of a would-be 75-yard drive. Instead, it became the visitors’ third turnover of the period.
If the Rams aren’t in need of regime change, they could use a narrative change. Three years of building has left the franchise 20-27-1 under Fisher. The Rams enter another January confronting Bradford’s future. Yes, it is easier to say they squandered more games than they stole, so the record deserves to be better. Then again, isn’t that typically a losing team’s lament?
Let the Rams say 2014 wasn’t a lost season. But they’ll never convince me it wasn’t a hollow one.
