The good and the bad

[CGI_Ram]

The good:

Sam showed nice touch on the deep ball to Givens and the outside floater to D Richardson.

D Richardson keeps showing why he's the starter.

Jared Cook... oh just think what he can bring to an offense.

We got a glimpse of what Austin can do.

Pead had more good blitz pickup.

I like the 4th down calls, even though they didn't work. Test stuff. It's preseason.

William Hayes made a few nice plays

Sack by Quinn

I heard Pointer's name quite a bit last night. Dude had a good night.

The bad:

Jeepers miss by Bradford to Austin at the goal line. Sam's look after the throw says it all.

Chris Long jumping offside at a HORRIBLE time.

Can we start building the confidence of GZ instead of always trotting him out for 50yd bombs?

Dropped passes continue to plague this team.

The depth along the oline looks waaay behind.

Kellen Clemons wasn't very good on this night.

The blah:

Pettis hasn't done anything... there is a thread up on this.

Pead as a kick returner does nothing for me.

Outside of his first run, Pead didn't do much running the ball

What did I miss?

 

[CGI_Ram]

I grabbed this "hidden" piece by Memento in the Game Day Thread:

<a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.ramsondemand.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15774&start=80" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15774&start=80</a>

I'm going to look at the positives in this game. We'll probably discuss a lot of negatives in the coming week, so I want to send some positive vibes.

Ray-Ray Armstrong. Oh - my - goodness. That kid can flat out play. Even his coverage on the Stoneburner touchdown wasn't that bad; he got turned around a bit, but he still made a nice break on the ball. Just couldn't come up with the deflection. He was literally all over the field, made great stops, pressured the quarterback, played excellent special teams, and had the biggest freaking hit I've seen from a Rams player this preseason. He more than earned himself a backup slot at the very least.

I loved how Quinton Pointer played. In my opinion, he's the most unheralded player on our team right now. Nobody's talking about him, and he deserves to be talked up. He had fantastic coverage for the most part, and he made some nice defensive and special teams plays.

Rodney McLeod, Cody Davis, and Matt Daniels made some pretty nice plays. I liked how Daniels made the sure tackle and wrapped up on third down instead of trying to blow the guy up. Davis' blocked kick was impressive. Wish it would've gone our way. McLeod never had the interception (it hit the ground first), but I think he played his way into the starting safety spot opposite McDonald. I know he's one of our best special teams players, but the guy has the talent to start...and I'm sure that Daniels, Davis, and Pointer can pick up the slack.

Jared Cook's catch-and-run was a thing of beauty. If we can do more of that during the season, we'll be in good shape. Brian Quick may have had only one catch, but it was a good one, and if we had, say, Bradford throwing to him on his other two targets, I think he'd have a lot more than that.

Justin Veltung on that one punt return was incredible, and I thought that his drop was more along the lines of defensive pass interference than it being his fault. I'd love to see the Rams try him out on kick returns, actually. Andrew Helmick was great at getting the first down, just like Amendola used to do for us. I want to keep them both, to be honest. If you put one of them on the practice squad, he's getting snatched up.

Gerald Rivers flashed a lot. Showed a lot of athleticism. Mason Brodine also flashed a fair bit of potential. Both of them could be practice squad candidates.

Austin Davis owes Terrance Ganaway a lot for that touchdown pass; he would've gotten killed if the protection wasn't there. Personally, I thought Ganaway was the best back for us on the field not named Daryl Richardson. He didn't get any carries, but he still made his presence known by his excellent pass-protection. Davis may have gotten sacked and pressured a lot, but it sure as hell wasn't Ganaway's fault. I want to see a lot more of him in the next preseason game...with the first team offensive line.

If anyone else wants to add anything to this, feel free.

 

[Guy Mansworth]

Missed tackles have plagued this team. That and drops are really my only 2 concerns.

 

[Thordaddy]

What did I miss?

I think Pead had a good day running the ball,IMO on the play where he got caught for a loss, someone missed the blitz terribly , we had a FB and Pettis that needed to see that so his YPC suffered and the play where he got face masked I think he gets to the one or even scores.
The sad thing for Pead is that DR is so damned good and he's gonna have to just play within himself and not worry about how DR is doing.

"nice touch" on the deep ball to Givens is a GROSS understatement, that ball went 58 yards in the air and was on the money, GB's Db made a hell of a play to be there to save the touchdown

Sam was so on the money I saw one bad throw and ya know THAT throw to Quick,Pettis,Cook,Kendricks ,Lutz or possibly Bailey is a TD, I think Tavon Austin is not going to be much of a goal line rec for us unless it's a pick play or just a stop to the wide side and he gets isolated and just makes the guy miss. ALTHOUGH I will say he is a willing blocker and it's hard to see how anyone is going to juke him.

Of course my new favorite player, Gerald Rivers acquitted himself pretty well, he has the ability to add 15 to 20 pounds ,he's that lean, the only d lineman I saw at practice whose veins on his arms stood out while at rest, and then could end up a clone of Robert Quinn.I can't wait to see what he can become in an NFL weight training program.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Of course my new favorite player, Gerald Rivers acquitted himself pretty well, he has the ability to add 15 to 20 pounds ,he's that lean, the only d lineman I saw at practice whose veins on his arms stood out while at rest, and then could end up a clone of Robert Quinn.I can't wait to see what he can become in an NFL weight training program.

Good call. I think Gerald Rivers is going to be a nice find. He "showed" well in camp and we're seeing it in the games too.

 

[CGI_Ram]

I think Tavon Austin is not going to be much of a goal line rec for us unless it's a pick play or just a stop to the wide side and he gets isolated and just makes the guy miss. ALTHOUGH I will say he is a willing blocker and it's hard to see how anyone is going to juke him.

We've not put Tavon into space yet, like on a screen, etc. That is definitely something I'm looking forward to seeing.

 

[bluecoconuts]

Sam was so on the money I saw one bad throw and ya know THAT throw to Quick,Pettis,Cook,Kendricks ,Lutz or possibly Bailey is a TD, I think Tavon Austin is not going to be much of a goal line rec for us unless it's a pick play or just a stop to the wide side and he gets isolated and just makes the guy miss.

I'm thought the same thing when I watched that play about anyone else and that's a TD. Quarterbacks are creatures of habit, I'm not sure that Bradford had has anyone as small as Austin as a receiver (although fans of him in college can correct me on that), it looks like out of habit he was just throwing it higher but at the last second tried to lower it. It wasn't a great throw obviously, but I feel like it's just one of those things that happens with new weapons until they get more playing time together. I wouldn't expect to see something like that happen very often anymore.

 

[bskrilla]

Sam was so on the money I saw one bad throw and ya know THAT throw to Quick,Pettis,Cook,Kendricks ,Lutz or possibly Bailey is a TD, I think Tavon Austin is not going to be much of a goal line rec for us unless it's a pick play or just a stop to the wide side and he gets isolated and just makes the guy miss.

I'm thought the same thing when I watched that play about anyone else and that's a TD. Quarterbacks are creatures of habit, I'm not sure that Bradford had has anyone as small as Austin as a receiver (although fans of him in college can correct me on that), it looks like out of habit he was just throwing it higher but at the last second tried to lower it. It wasn't a great throw obviously, but I feel like it's just one of those things that happens with new weapons until they get more playing time together. I wouldn't expect to see something like that happen very often anymore.

This is what I thought too, but he has spent 3 years almost exclusively throwing to Amendola who only runs 2 inches taller than Austin. I think the throw just got away from him. It's unfortunate, but considering the rest of his nights work, nothing to worry about.

 

[bskrilla]

I think Tavon Austin is not going to be much of a goal line rec for us unless it's a pick play or just a stop to the wide side and he gets isolated and just makes the guy miss. ALTHOUGH I will say he is a willing blocker and it's hard to see how anyone is going to juke him.

We've not put Tavon into space yet, like on a screen, etc. That is definitely something I'm looking forward to seeing.

I'd bet that this is where the "vanilla" nature of the offense is the most obvious. They don't want to show the different ways they are going to get the ball to Austin. Right now he's running pretty standard routes. I do think the play where Sam overthrew Austin was a flash of the type of plays they want to use to get Austin the ball though. A little pick route that gets him the ball in space.

 

[A55VA6]

I think Tavon Austin is not going to be much of a goal line rec for us unless it's a pick play or just a stop to the wide side and he gets isolated and just makes the guy miss. ALTHOUGH I will say he is a willing blocker and it's hard to see how anyone is going to juke him.

We've not put Tavon into space yet, like on a screen, etc. That is definitely something I'm looking forward to seeing.

This is where he earns his money.

 

[DegenR(g)ambler]

missed points: my favorite player Ray Ray flying around the ball whenever he is on the field! and missed tackles were brutal to watch.

you covered everything else though, thanks i enjoy reading these posts.

 

[bwdenverram]

If there is a time to get the stupid penalties out of the way it's preseason. If I had to say the biggest glaring issues thus far:

1) Penalties
2) Missed tackles and or coverages
3) Dropped passes
4) Backup OL play-Some of these guys just aren't very good, at least from what I can see.
5) Clemens-Aside from a couple moments here and there, he just isn't a good #2.
6) Not overly concerned, but the lack of overall penentration by the DL even in preseason makes me a little uneasy. Hopefully just because they're playing a little vanilla.

On the plus side:

1) Bradford-He just looks so much more confident with some good receivers and an inproved OL
2) Offense in general-I cannot wait to see the 1st unit in for four quarters. So much damn speed.
3) Given, Givens, Givens. I think the dude is going to have a killer year.
4) Pead and Richardson catching balls out of the backfield-With all the speed we have at WR this is going to open up a lot of room.

Overall and to my surprise, I'm more excited about the offense right now then the D. I think they are going to be really fun to watch .

 

[Rabid Ram]

Someone needs to tell Tru to quit going for the big hit and just fucking wrap up smh. And pead needs to quit dancing and turn up field on broken plays

 

[Memphis Ram]

What excites me most:

- Darryl Richardson is electric and I love that they are getting him the ball out of the backfield.

- Jared Cook run after the catch gives this team something they haven't had at the position since........

- Vanilla or no, the defense has gotten surprised and exposed so that these guys won't be resting on their laurels.


What concerns me most:

- Seems to me that the only starter in secondary that can be counted on to tackle is Finnegan.

- Both Ogletree and McDonald should have had to fight for their starting roles. McDonald, in particular, REALLY struggles to break down and make tackles in the open field. And Ray Ray Armstrong seems to make more plays than Ogletree.

- Vanilla or no, where is the push from the DTs? Maybe I'm missing it, but I haven't seen anything in Conrath yet to where he deserves to be considered safe.

- Oline injuries will call for this team to pick up players not currently on the roster. I don't even see a practice squad candidate after the top 8-9 players.

- Isaiah Pead seems to clearly be a 3rd down back, but to justify his spot, they've got to find something else for him to do on special teams besides returning kicks.

 

[F. Mulder]

What excites me most:

- Darryl Richardson is electric and I love that they are getting him the ball out of the backfield.

- Jared Cook run after the catch gives this team something they haven't had at the position since........

- Vanilla or no, the defense has gotten surprised and exposed so that these guys won't be resting on their laurels.


What concerns me most:

- Seems to me that the only starter in secondary that can be counted on to tackle is Finnegan.

- Both Ogletree and McDonald should have had to fight for their starting roles. McDonald, in particular, REALLY struggles to break down and make tackles in the open field. And Ray Ray Armstrong seems to make more plays than Ogletree.

- Vanilla or no, where is the push from the DTs? Maybe I'm missing it, but I haven't seen anything in Conrath yet to where he deserves to be considered safe.

- Oline injuries will call for this team to pick up players not currently on the roster. I don't even see a practice squad candidate after the top 8-9 players.

- Isaiah Pead seems to clearly be a 3rd down back, but to justify his spot, they've got to find something else for him to do on special teams besides returning kicks.

Another good post Memphis.

 

[mr.stlouis]

Bradford had to lob that one over a DE, still sucked.

I like Cunningham.

Helmick flashed what everyone was talking about.

 

[Ebonemalone]

Missed tackles have plagued this team. That and drops are really my only 2 concerns.

Those are my main two as well. 3rd I'd say is red zone efficiency