Rams Report Card vs. Saints
Here’s one blogger’s grades for the St. Louis Rams after Sunday’s 28-23 loss to the New Orleans Saints:
*QUARTERBACK: Marc Bulger threw an ill-advised ball into the end zone that was picked off in the first quarter. But that was his only major miscue on a day in which he produced a season-high 298 passing yards and a solid 93.5 passer rating, despite losing WR Keenan Burton to injury in the first quarter. And Bulger, who hooked up with WR Donnie Avery for TDs of 29 and 19 yards, would’ve had even better numbers if not for a couple of drops. GRADE: B
RUNNING BACKS: On a day when he passed Lawrence McCutcheon for third place on the Rams’ career rushing list, Steven Jackson again was a force. He pounded out 131 yards on the ground on 26 carries, and added 45 yards on nine catches. GRADE: A
RECEIVERS: Rookie Brandon Gibson, forced into heavy action after Burton went down, was an instant hit. He finished with seven receptions for 93 yards, both season highs for Rams wideouts. Avery had the two scoring grabs, the first multi-TD game of his career. WR Danny Amendola had a bad drop on a slant that might’ve turned into a touchdown. TE Randy McMichael also dropped a ball. Nice outing for TE Daniel Fells, with three catches for 51 yards. Would’ve been even better if he could’ve held onto to the 2-point conversion pass in the final minutes. GRADE: B
OFFENSIVE LINE: Bulger was sacked only twice, although he scrambled out of trouble a couple of other times. Jackson generally was given enough room to build momentum. Final-play holding call on LT Alex Barron would’ve been a crusher had Bulger’s Hail Mary pass been completed. GRADE: B
DEFENSIVE LINE: The Saints averaged 7 yards per run, rolling up 209 yards on the ground. Pass rush was so-so. DE Chris Long got the only sack. DE James Hall had a team-high six tackles, according to the unofficial press-box stats. GRADE: D
LINEBACKERS: The Saints exploited the Rams on running plays that attacked the perimeter, where the LBs are supposed to help with containment. Even rookie MLB James Laurinaitis was quiet (four tackles). David Vobora’s hard hit on TE Jeremy Shockey jarred the ball loose, and S Oshiomogho Atogwe intercepted. GRADE: D+
SECONDARY: Atogwe got his first pick since the season-opener. He also slammed into WR Marques Colston near the goal line, causing a fumble that saved a touchdown. James Butler also had an interception. CBs Ron Bartell and Quincy Butler were pretty good in coverage against a dangerous passing team. Nickel back Justin King missed a couple of tackles. GRADE: B+
SPECIAL TEAMS: The 97-yard kickoff return by Courtney Roby for a TD opening the second half was a killer after the Rams had fought for a 14-14 halftime tie. Rams coverage overall was mediocre, as were their returns. Donnie Jones often was punting on a short field, so his gross average was down (36.0). GRADE: D
COACHING: OC Pat Shurmur got Jackson 35 touches — 26 carries and nine catches — and he produced 176 yards from scrimmage. Play-calling was a bit more creative. DC Ken Flajole played it fairly conservatively, choosing to defend the dangerous Saints passing game mostly with coverage. That strategy was generally effective, although the defense got caught in the wrong formation a couple of times. Rough day for special-teams coach Tom McMahon’s units. HC Steve Spagnuolo deserves credit for his having his team in position to win at the end. GRADE: B
Brandon Gibson looks like a nice pickup. He made a great shoestring catch on 4th down late in the game. I think Devaney gets +1 on this trade.
I counted 3 passes from Bulger that were not within 10 yards of a receiver.
This was my first trip to see the Rams live. It appears to me that while the Rams run the ball well, they lack a deep ball threat to take the pressure off of the ground game and off of the short passing game.
But if they play this hard against the other teams, they’ll win some more games.
The Rams look pretty good against this team and if you ask me should have won if not for a few drops and Mark Bulger’s interception once again in the endzone(wtf). I think the Rams are 4 players away from being a good team that will compeat(QB, Wide Reciever, Defensive tackel and end). Lets see what happens in the draft and free agency. Oh yeah ummmm sit Bulger on the bench and lets just see what Null has before the draft.
Steve, are you serious. I can say that I am not a Marc Bulger fan, but he has his best game of the year and you are complaining about 3 passes. Last time I checked, no QB in the league throws the ball perfect on every pass.
If the Rams play like this all year, they are a .500 team.
Funny, while you were counting that, I counted 4 flat out dropped balls, including the potential huge gainer to Almendola on third down, and the two point conversion to Fells. That would have been nice, huh, only needing 3 points at the end of the game?
By the way, one of those ten yard misses, to Gibson, was b/c he ran the completely wrong route. Thank you for publicizing your ignorance, we now all know to ignore your future comments.
Rookie Brandon Gibson played very well….. great hands…. finally landed a good one, good pickup !!!
Avery is playing much better even McDrop caught a few but let one drop……. me likey what me see !!!! GO RAMS
Bulger should have used the clock better on that final drive. He never spiked the ball once and may have been able to get further down the field. Is time management and the two minute offense that difficult? Bulger had the chance to win this game but ended up finding another way to loose.
My man said our two minute drill was pathetic.
Do they even practice time management ? Any QB with 1:30 to go at the position they were in would have done better.
Please practice the TWO MINUTE DRILL PEOPLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We can’t get on Steve. He obviously has some sort of axe to grind with Bulger. Only a person with a grudge would criticize Bulger’s performance today. He kept us in the game against the best team in the NFC.
It seems that Devaney has a good eye for talent after all. On this game alone Devaney’s players did very well: Avery 2 TD, Gibson looking great, Long getting the only sack, Laurinaitis a few takles and a broken up pass, Butler the pick, and the O-Line looking strong.
Based on the last 2 games, the Rams seem to be buidling a good foundation for the future.