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Cardinals Romp Over Rams in NFC West Battle 34-13

Sat, 2 Nov 2008 22:40:14 GMT

posted by Cartman

The St. Louis Rams lost their sixth game of 2008 in Week 9 at home against the Arizona Cardinals. The Rams were coming into the game hoping to beat the Arizona Cardinals and become players in the NFC West. But, the Rams came out flying on offense and were able to hold the Cardinals on a fourth and goal on the 1 yard line. The Rams kept the high flying Cardinals offense off the scoreboard in the first quarter and things were looking good for the Rams.

However, as the first quarter turned into the second quarter, so did the Rams fortunes turn from good to bad. Marc Bulger threw an interception to Antrelle Rolle that was returned for a touchdown and everything went the Arizona Cardinals way after that. With about 5 minutes left in the first half, the Cardinals only lead 10-7 and got the ball on their own 8 yard line.

One would think that the game is now in the Rams favor, but the Cardinals drove down the field in only 5 plays for a touchdown. The Rams were unable to get a first down or run any time off the clock. Consequently, the Cardinals went down the field in only two plays, getting all their yards on a 56-yard touchdown to Jerehme Urban.

The pass to Urban was under thrown and Jonathan Wade, the Rams fourth corner was able to make a play on the ball and should have caught it. But, this was not the Rams day and after Wade got two chances at the ball it bounced into Urban’s hands and he ran for a touchdown. That, as they say, was that.

The Rams offense was stifled by the less than stellar Cardinals defense and never could find their rhythm. Steven Jackson returned from injury, but was unable to be effective and must have still been feeling the remnants of his thigh injury. Jackson also coughed up a crucial fumble deep in the Rams own territory. The Rams also went for the first down on 4th down deep in their own territory, just like they did successfully last week against the New England Patriots. If you can sense a theme here, the Rams did not pick up the first down and did not get back to the end zone until garbage time in the fourth quarter.

There were a few highlights for the Rams. One, Derek Stanley can play. He can effectively replace Dante Hall as the primary return man with no drop off and probably some marginal improvement. Stanley also made a highlight reel catch on the Rams only good play of the day, an 82-yard TD pass. The Rams have a lot of good plays to look forward to in their “teen squad” of Stanley, Avery and Burton. Avery and Burton are rookies and Stanley is just off the practice squad.

This loss may effectively end the Rams chance to win the NFC West crown and their playoff chances. They may be still mathematically alive, but they have very long odds.

Week 9 Preview: Arizona at St.Louis

Wed, 30 Oct 2008 16:41:21 GMT

posted by Cartman

The St.Louis Rams two-game winning streak was snapped on Sunday in New England vs the Patriots, but the team still played a tough game without star RB Steven Jackson, and will look to take that momentum with them this week at home when they host the Arizona Cardinals. At 2-5, the Rams still have a shot to make an impact in the NFC West, but if they want to do that it needs to start with a win on Sunday.

The Cardinals are 4-3, and just like a season ago they are struggling badly on the road. They won their opener on the road at San Fran, but since then are 0-3 away from home, inclduding last Sunday’s bad 27-23 loss to the Panthers, this after they lead that game 17-3 in the third quarter. Whatever holds them back on the road, they had better figure it out if they want to stay atop the NFC West.

Arizona needs to run the ball more before Kurt Warner’s arm falls off. Last week at Carolina, Edgerrin James and Tim Hightower combined for 20 total yards on 13 carries, and rushed just five times in the second half even when they had the lead. The Rams can be had on the ground, and they should do what they can to test that on Sunday when they meet up. Most of the second half the team ran 4 and 5 WR sets.

The Rams missed some chances on Sunday on the road, but still are playing way better than earlier in the year when Scott Linehan had his thumb on the team during their 0-4 start. They should get a boost this week when Jackson is back, and his leading ground game with 508 yards and four TD’s will for sure help Marc Bulger and the offense.

Both the Rams and Cards defense is nothing special, so look for a lot of points and a lot of back and forth. Anytime that Warner plays in St.Louis, he always looks for a big game against the team that he was once NFL MVP on. The Rams will look to shut him down, but that will not be easy for a D allowing 233.9 yards per game.

Expect an offensive display of fireworks, and it could very well come down to what team has the ball last. At home though, the Rams are coming off a big win two weeks ago over the Cowboys, and the Cards simply don’t play the same away from home, so look for the Rams to move to 3-4 with a big home victory.

G-Men 2-0 as They Roll Over Rams 41-13

Sat, 14 Sep 2008 23:29:30 GMT

posted by Cartman

The St. Louis Rams lost their home opener in 2008 to drop their season record to 0-2. The Rams again could not get their offense on the same page and could not stop the Giants when they needed to. The Giants tagged on two late 4th quarter touchdowns to make the final score 41-13.

The Rams offensive line could not contain or control the vaunted defensive line of the Giants and the Rams could not stop the Giants running backs or receivers. The Rams defense for the second time in as many weeks gave up over 400 yards offense. It is difficult to win on any Sunday when giving up 400 yards of offense, but nearly impossible when the Rams only put up 201 yards of offense.

The offense sputtered again for the second straight week with pass protection and gave up 6 sacks to a Giants defensive line without Osi Umenyiora. The interior of the Rams line could not handle the speed or strength of Justin Tuck and Fred Robbins, who each had two sacks. Justin Tuck also added an interception and touchdown when he batted down a pass and caught it after to bounced back to him off of Adam Goldberg, who could not contain Tuck all day.

The Rams pulled within a touchdown at half and then again in the fourth quarter when Torry Holt made an impossible touchdown catch on his back after the football was batted up in the air. Another high point for the Rams was Chris Long’s first NFL sack. Chris split a double team and brought down Eli Manning to force a punt. However, the low-lights out numbered the highlights for the Rams at the Edward Jones Dome.

The Rams week 2 effort will draw more comparisons between their 2007 effort as the Rams hung tough in the first half but were blown out in the 2nd half. The Rams will now have to bounce back and try to turn around a already rough season in Week 3 against division rivals Seattle Seahawks at Qwest Field.

When it Comes to the Giants: Body Shot’s Kill … Eventually

Mon, 16 Sep 2008 03:04:21 GMT

posted by Cartman

Well, the UN-Sexy, NY Giants did it again yesterday in St. Louis, punching the crap out of the lowly Rams, 41-13, en route to their 12th straight road win (counting SB-XLII). And, as usual, they did it the way a really good heavyweight fighter beats the snot out of a not so good heavyweight fighter. They wear the guy down with body shots until he just can’t answer the bell. They pound him with Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw, running behind a big, nasty ‘O’ line — to the tune of over 203 yards — and, defensively, they pummel him with Tuck and Robbins and Cofield and Pierce and their DBs who blitz from everywhere.

The Giants are body punchers who force their opponent to drops his arms to protect his body and thus expose his jaw. But, then, for some reason, the Giants just continue to punch away at their opponents arms. What the Giants don’t do — and what may come back to bite them down the road when they face Dallas and Philly and Pittsburgh — is they don’t go for the knockout early enough. Yesterday, as usual, they got the opponent to drop his arms and expose his jaw - but they didn’t seem able, or even eager, to take a shot at the jaw and, thus, the game was actually still close, 20-13, with 7:18 remaining the 4th quarter. Then, as if the Giants suddenly realized they could KO the Rams, they threw three ‘Haymakers,’ ripping off 21 unanswered points. But, for more then three quarters, it seemed like they were content to simply pound on the Rams until the clock ran out.

Of course, 2-0 is certainly better than last years 0-2. And the Giants looked really good when they wanted to. Eli was 20 of 29 for 260 yds, three TDs and no Ints. The three running backs combined for over 200 yds. They had 441 Yds on Offense while the ‘D’ held the Rams to 201 yds. Burresss and Toomer and Smith and Hixon were very effective against a pretty bad Ram secondary. And, frankly, the one TD the Rams got — a 45 yard pass from Bulger to Torry Holt — could just as easily have been a ‘pick’ for the Giants or at least a ‘defensed pass’ by rookie Kenny Phillips. I’m still not so sure Holt really came down with the ball.

The Giants are really a very good team — not slick, not sexy, not hip — but a very, very good team; the World Champions, actually! Unfortunately, they seem to play down to the level of their competition and let bad teams hang around a little too long. That could be a problem in the future. On the other hand, if that’s their style, maybe they’ll play UP to the Cowboys and Eagles and Steelers when they meet … kind of like they played UP to their competition on the road to Super Bowl XLII.

Rams Ride Past Ravens 24-10 in St.Louis

Sun, 25 Aug 2008 00:33:59 GMT

posted by Cartman

When the Baltimore Ravens hired new head coach John Harbaugh, they envisioned he would work closely with the special teams given his position as the special teams coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1998 thru 2006. What they Ravens’ officials did not expect was that the special teams play would be the strongest point of their team so far in 2008. The latest loss to the St. Louis Rams on Saturday night again displayed the ineptitude of the Ravens’ offensive and defensive units.

Harbaugh was smart to hire Jerry Rosburg as his special teams coordinator to oversee the kicking game but little did Rosburg realize that his unit would be the mainstay of the team. One of the most consistent parts of the Ravens’ games to date has been returner Yamon Figurs. Whether returning kickoffs or punts, he put the offense initially in great field position by returning his first kickoff 37 yards. Additionally, SS Tom Zbikowski partially blocked a punt that went out of bounds on the Rams’ 20-yard line which eventually led to a PK Matt Stover 22-yard field goal.

The Ravens’ offense had four starters who did not play against the Rams: QB Troy Smith, TE Todd Heap, RB Willis McGahee and OT Jared Gaither; while the Ravens’ defense was also without four starters: CB Chris McAlister, DT Kelly Gregg, FS Ed Reed and DT Haloti Ngata.

Offensively, Smith was a game-time scratch due to a stomach virus that forced rookie QB Joe Flacco to make his first NFL start since QB Kyle Boller’s shoulder was not 100%. Flacco played the entire game completing 18 of 37 passes for 152 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and two sacks for a 68.8 QB rating after going 4 for 13 for 33 yards and a 40.2 QB rating in the first-half. His ability to move around in the pocket enabled him to complete all four passes for 61 yards to veteran wide receiver Derrick Mason, on a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive culminating in a 15-yard touchdown pass to Mason, the first touchdown pass this preseason for any of the three Ravens QBs.

Further, the Ravens employed a jumbo backfield on occasion when they paired FB Le’Ron McClain with newly signed FB Lorenzo Neal, cut by the San Diego Chargers. McClain lined up as the RB and had a team high 24 yards on 4 carries in the first-half and generally showed ball-carrying ability as a RB in addition to his blocking and pass-catching duties as a FB.

Defensively, for the second straight game as starters reserve CBs Corey Ivy and Frank Walker performed poorly. They were severely tested by Rams QB Marc Bulger who completed 18 of 25 passes for 182 yards,two touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 119.1 QB rating, going 15 of 19 passes in the first-half alone, as the Ravens allowed 411 yards of total offense.

On a positive note, SS Zbikowski further enhanced his night’s work when he intercepted a reserve Rams QB Bruce Gradkowski pass and returned it 21 yards into Rams’ territory. Both Zbikowski and fellow rookie safety Haruki Nakamura have made plays defensively this preseason for the Ravens under the watchful eye of veteran SS Jim Leonhard who has started every game this preseason in place of Ed Reed. Unlike the CBs, the Ravens safeties have generally comported themselves admireably for the third consecutive game.

The QB competition continues another week with the next stop in this epic struggle on Thursday with the Atlanta Falcons game. Best guess is that Troy Smith will start in Atlanta if healthy and barring a complete collapse on his part in that game he will then be named to start the season at home the next week against the Cincinnati Bengals. Assuming no injuries, Joe Flacco’s best chance to start will not occur until the bye week 10 on the NFL schedule if he starts a regular season game in 2008 at all.