First-team offense awakens from 3-year nightmare
To borrow a phrase from former President Gerald Ford, “Our long national nightmare is over.”
Ford was referring to Richard Nixon’s resignation and the end of the Watergate scandal. We’re referring to the Rams’ first-team offense and the end of its 3-year-old touchdown-scoring drought in preseason games.
That’s right, it was 2005, when head coach Mike Martz was running the offense, that the first-teamers last found the end zone in exhibition play. Scott Linehan, Martz’s successor, was 0 for 2006, ‘07 and ‘08 until the second quarter of Saturday night’s 24-10 victory over the Ravens at the Edward Jones Dome. That’s when Marc Bulger & Co. scored not one, but two touchdowns.
The first came on a 4-yard pass to rookie wideout Keenan Burton that initially was ruled an incompletion. But Linehan challenged, and when the replay showed that Burton got both feet down inbounds, it was a TD. Some 5 1/2 minutes later, Bulger hit running back Travis Minor for a 1-yard score.
“We can’t get too excited about a couple of drives tonight; we still have to do it against Philly” in the regular-season opener Sept. 7, Bulger said. “We started out a little shaky the first week of training camp, but we just continue to get better. In our practices, we’ve looked great.”
Bulger didn’t look good at all in the first two games, but he was stout vs. the Ravens: 18 of 25 for 182 yards and the two TDs, with no interceptions. That produced a gaudy passer rating of 119.1.
Linehan insisted he wasn’t worried about Bulger. “It wasn’t my deal; it was your deal,” he told reporters. “I just think it was a matter of him going out, relaxing, having fun, and getting that smile back on his face. I saw that tonight.”
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Notes & quotes:
>>Rookie WRs Donnie Avery and Keenan Burton had some dazzling moments. Avery, a second-round draft pick, finished with five catches for a team-high 65 yards in his first preseason action after recovering from a pelvis injury. Burton, a fourth-rounder, had three receptions for 63 yards, and the TD.
>>Veteran WR Dane Looker caught five balls for 44 yards. Despite stiff competition, it’s hard to imagine that he hasn’t earned a spot on the 53-man roster.
>>For the second time in three games, neither T Adam Carriker nor E Chris Long was credited with a tackle in the unofficial press-box stats.
>>QB Brock Berlin continued his strong preseason, connecting on eight of 11 passes for 99 yards. He appears to be distancing himself from Bruce Gradkowski (three of five, 17 yards) in the battle for the No. 3 job.
>>Twelve Rams caught at least one pass.
>>Undrafted RB Lance Ball had a nice outing. He carried 13 times for 48 yards, scoring on a 5-yard run, and caught two passes for 14 yards.
>>S Todd Johnson turned in another solid performance as he fills in for starter Oshiomogho Atogwe, who has been sidelined since early in camp with a hamstring injury.
All for now . . .
Nice to see the offense punch it in. What’s up with Long and Carriker?
That was the best looking effort and execution I’ve seen from a Linehan team yet. Lookin’ up. Spring in my step.
As the first quarter ended, it looked to me like it was going to be another long evening! Linehan, or Al, made some questionable third and long calls, fortunately, Bulger put the bong down and was playing with a little tenacity! The play calling got better as the game progressed as well as the play from our starters! I was very impressed with the two rookie receivers, Burton and Avery! I will be the first to admit that I have been very hard on Bulger, but I concede that I did see a little resiliency from him on Saturday night! That’s not to say he’s off my crap list, I am just saying….it’s about god-damned time! Now let us see if that carries into the regular season!?
On a side note…..I am really hoping the “D” can step up this year! They have played ok in the past two “preseason games” but lets just hope the youngsters, as well as our aging vets can put together a mean defense, something that has been missing since the 99 season!