Rams report card vs. Cardinals
Here’s one blogger’s grades for the Rams after Sunday’s 34-13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals:
QUARTERBACK: Rough day for Marc Bulger, who threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown and lost a fumble that led to an Arizona field goal. Bulger often had little time to set up and throw, which showed in his meager passing stats: 16 of 33 for 186 yards, and a 60.9 passer rating. He did pass for two TDs and, believe it or not, was the Rams’ leading rusher, getting 32 yards on three scrambles. GRADE: D
RUNNING BACKS: Steven Jackson’s sore thigh obviously robbed him of his burst. He probably should’ve sat another week. Antonio Pittman offered little in relief, although neither back got much help from his blockers. Combined, the two mustered a mere 1.7 yards per carry, and the Rams produced just 61 yards on the ground. Also, Dan Kreider’s missed block was responsible for the sack on which Bulger fumbled. GRADE: D-
RECEIVERS: Torry Holt, who didn’t get a pass thrown his way in the first half, had six second-half catches, including a 3-yard TD, but accounted for only 58 yards. Donnie Avery got just 26 yards on his three catches. Derek Stanley’s first career reception was a dandy: an 80-yard first-quarter TD that put the Rams up 7-0. GRADE: C+
OFFENSIVE LINE: The run-blocking was abysmal, and the pass protection wasn’t much better. Bulger was sacked just twice (one was Kreider’s fault), but he often was hurried. GRADE: D-
DEFENSIVE LINE: James Hall had a strong outing, and recorded the Rams’ only sack (on a three-man rush). Victor Adeyanju and rookie Chris Long also had some good moments. Nice goal-line stand on Cards’ first series. But the Rams didn’t get much pressure on Warner, and they were gashed for 177 yards on the ground by a team that ranked third-to-last in the league in rushing coming in. GRADE: C-
LINEBACKERS: Chris Draft and Will Witherspoon each had a tackle for lost yardage. Pisa Tinoisamoa was active. Overall, an average outing. GRADE: C
SECONDARY: S Corey Chavous was strong against the run, but CBs Ron Bartell and Fakhir Brown both missed tackles. Coverage was pretty good against the Cards’ talented WRs. CB Jonathan Wade should’ve picked off the ball that WR Jerheme Urban nabbed and took to the end zone. GRADE: C
SPECIAL TEAMS: Donnie Jones rebounded from a mediocre showing last week to average 50.4 yards on seven punts. No field goal tries for Josh Brown. Rams didn’t get much on returns. Coverage was very good. GRADE: B
COACHING: This game looked more like the first month of the season than the three previous games since Jim Haslett took over. Despite the high stakes, the team didn’t have much jump, even after Stanley’s scintillating TD provided a 7-0 lead. Dubious play-calling, at times: How do the first three passes of the day go to Joe Klopfenstein, Kreider, and Daniel Fells? GRADE: D+
A D at QB? F+ is the realistic grade. The only big pass that was completed was more on the WR then Bulger. The QB was directly responsible for the first 10 points scored by the Cards.
Maybe if Bulger showed a little emotion on the field, instead of looking like it’s the last place he wants to be, his team would rally around him.
First off I want to apologize to Marc Bulger. He gets hammered. The OL, RBs, and TEs cannot consistently give Bulger adequate time. I blamed Bulger for the lack of offensive punch but he doesn’t know if his protection is going to hold up from one play to the next. Warner stood in there confidently knowing his protection would hold up and it did more times than not. The Rams OL was terrible at run blocking as well. Jackson was hurt and still gave it a go. Thats a courageous leader. Jacob Bell is not getting it done as the free agent savior for the OL. So I’ve come full circle. The Rams have some good skill pos players in Jackson, Holt, Bulger and Avery. They have a young hustling defense, but they will go no where until they get some superior atheletes on the OL. Grade for Rams front office - F.
I actually agree with the grades this week. Positives=Stanley’s catch. Negatives=every other single snap that occurred in the game. This will show Haslett’s true coaching skill, and I got a feeling that hes not the aw shucks guy Linehan was. THE PLAYERS SHOULD DREAD PRACTICE THIS WEEK. One last thought. If we can’t run block, and get Jackson back to 100% soon it doesn’t matter who’s calling the plays we won’t win. P.S. I guess I still like you Bulger, but please show some veteran leadership when things go bad (this is an emotional game no one will hate on you if you show some heart).
Please… Bulger just plain stinks; For 65 Million he gets no free pass; I’ve got heart disease and could possibly do better that that chump with one artery tied behind my back…… GRRR he makes me sick
Grades were a little generous on the offense overall. Bulger looks like a scared little kid who hates the game. Do him and everybody watching a favor and out Green in. The O-line was horrible, can they block anybody? I think my 90 year old grandma could have had a tackle for loss today. The receivers can’t seem to hold on to anything thrown their way, how can you complian about not getting the ball when balls are bouncing out of your hands (Holt & Jackson).
Is anybody else tired of watching Dante Hall run in circles on returns? Does this guy actually scare any team anymore? I hope he’s happy with 12 career returns, because there aren’t anymore in his future…
It only took 4 games for the players to quit on Haslett! I guess they don’t want to play for him either! The only grade I disagree with is the coaching. I give them a D-.
You can’t win games in this league with grades of C and D that’s for sure! This team has so many holes to fill it will take a couple years to get back to respectability,(that’s assuming both Zgymut and Shaw are gone after this year).
Regarding the offensive play calling. If Saunders is such a great coordinator, how come he seems to be looking for a new job every year or two? The play calling I’ve seen isn’t much better than the people he’s replaced .
In fairness, it’s the players on the field that determine the success of the team overall but excellent and creative coaching and play calling can bring the best out of the mediocre!
For so many years we had the worse special team in football. Now that we have solved that problem, we can’t get the rest of the team playing. I was there yesterday and I have decided that I will not use the rest of my tickets this year. Bulger is just too bad to watch. Everyone is talking about Holt not getting any action. If you were there to watch him, you would see why. He could not get open very often. He is slow compared to those covering him. Bulger couldn’t find anyone because he is to busy looking out for his own butt. It’s time to stop living in the past. Bulger and Holt are history. It’s time for new blood. Green is not the answer but it would be hard to get any worse than Bulger.
I agree with Tom, I decided not to use my remaining tickets. I am not going to throw good money after bad (parking, gas, a beer or two). I am pulling for Chicago to win until they come here and hopefully someone will pay over face value for my tickets and I can recover some of my money. The rest I’ll try and give away, but I doubt I have any takers. I have not jumped on the bash Bulger bandwagon but I have one foot on the wagon. He walks around like his dog just died, doesn’t appear to have any leadership skills and is gun shy. I won’t say he is done but it is going to take quite a bit of time before he is back. The O-line needs improvement and the recieving core needs to stay healthy (Jackson, McMicheal, Bennett).
Another upsetting this is our ‘homefield advantage’. I go to every game and am amazed at how our fans don’t show up until midway through the first quarter. It’s actually embarassing. I always wonder what the Rams and other teams think when they see the dome half empty at the opening kickoff. I look at other games on TV and the stadiums are packed at the beginning of games. Most people leave early in the 4th quarter too. I’m not saying it makes any difference on the field, but why can’t people get to the game by noon?