Another game, another loss for the Rams. This loss was different, though, and I'm not just talking about the fact that I got to watch the entire game thanks to DirecTV's one week Sunday Ticket free preview. The 13-17 defeat at the hands of the two time NFC West Champion Arizona Cardinals gave me a little hope that this team may be headed in the right direction. Maybe not this year, but sometime soon.
Yes, it was the start of the Sam Bradford era in St. Louis, and yes, I thought he looked better than his numbers suggested (much better). But, let's start with that new STL pass rush. Wow! The Rams were all about bringing the heat on Derek Anderson and company, and they consistently kept bringing it. Delayed safety blitzes, bringing everyone into the box, and big time pressure on the new AZ QB all made for some fun on defense. Now, we must all remember that this is just the Cardinals offense, which is a serious downgrade from previous incarnations, but it was still exciting. The Rams got to Anderson twice, and knocked the ball loose 5 times, including 2 forced fumbles caused by Larry Grant. In all, Arizona fumbled the ball 7 times, turning it over 4. But, with 3 INTs and a fumble lost themselves, the Rams allowed the turnover margin to be even. However, it was clear that the Rams defense is much improved this time around.
In a game that featured blocked field goals, crazy turnovers, and constant shifts in momentum, the pace of the match had a hard time gaining traction. Despite throwing 3 picks (1 was on the final toss up at the end of the game), Sam Bradford looked (dare I say) great in his first actual NFL game (for a rookie, that is). 32 for 55 for 253 yards and a TD. This is the thing: he must have hit his receivers in the chest/hands on 15 of those 23 incompletions. It was just sad for the Brad. His accuracy, even when forced out on the run, was superb. The execution of the WR was not. Despite that, it was newbie and former Sam-Brad workout partner Mark Clayton making the biggest impact of the wide outs, finishing with 119 yards on 10 catches, including an impressive circus catch near the end of the game. Danny Amendola also seemed to be all over the field, finishing 6 for 67 and some nice return work. Steven Jackson had just 81 yards on 22 carries combined with 6 yards on 4 screen passes, and will obviously need to be a bigger part of the plan here as we move forward. Laurent Robinson snagged the lone Bradford TD pass as time expired in the first half to temporarily tie the game at 10.
With the Ramies marching to win at the end of the game, Bradford threw a pick that seemed to clinch the loss. But, Hightower, the Cards RB, fumbled on the next play and gave St. Louis the ball on Arizona's side of the field. Nothing was doing, though, and the Cards nabbed the pick to end the game on the last ditch TD toss up attempt by the Rams.
It was also an interesting play when the Rams stripped the Cards running back earlier in the game, a Rams defensive lineman was chugging toward the end zone and ended up being stripped of the ball as well, and the Cards recovered the ball in their own end zone for a touch back and a new set of downs. Seems like that rule needs to changed, because Arizona got completely handled on the play and ended up with a fresh set of downs on the 20.
So, we're 0-1 with 15 games to play. The division has Seattle and Arizona at 1-0 and San Francisco and us back at 0-1. We may have a better chance to get that big first win out of the way this Sunday, as we face off against the 0-1 Oakland Raiders. Brandon's boys (?) got busted up 13-38 last weekend by Vince Young and the Titans. Darren McFadden caught a short TD pass from Jason Campbell for the Raiders only touchdown late in the game. Campbell finished 22/37 for 180 and 1 TD/1 pick, and McFadden led rushers (95) and receivers (55). In our favor may be the Raiders bumbling fumbling problems (4 in their last game) and their amazing ability to give up sacks (4 as well).
Hopefully we can keep the pressure on Campbell and keep the pressure off of Bradford in this big time NFL-LSF showdown.
Bring it on, Beasy Bee.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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