Rams Open Up, But Fall Short
The Rams knew they had to score points Sunday to hang with the explosive Saints. They knew they had to come out of their offensive shell to have any chance to hang with New Orleans.
And they did.
The Rams rallied from 7-0 and 14-7 deficits to tie the game 14-14 at the half. Then they rallied from a 28-17 fourth quarter deficit, scoring one touchdown and bidding for a second before finally running out of time.
The moribund Rams offense outscored the Saints offense 23-21.The Rams outgained New Orleans, too, 434-420.
But the difference in the Rams’ 28-23 loss came on special teams. Saints return specialist Courtney Roby opened the second half with a 97-yard TD return – and try as they might, the Rams could never quite overcome that big play.
They had the ball at the end with a chance to win the game, but their final drive made only halting progress down the field.
“The only thing that matters in this league is results,” Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “I’m having trouble with the result.
“But there was progress.”
Here were the signs of that:
Running back Steven Jackson bowled through the Saints as a rusher and a receiver. He rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown and caught nine passes for 45 more yards.
Quarterback Marc Bulger threw the ball downfield for a change. He connected on a 29-yard and 19-yard touchdown passes to Donnie Avery and spread the ball around to most of his targets, throwing for 298 yards.
Receiver Brandon Gibson caught seven passes for 93 yards, demonstrating why the Rams traded linebacker Will Witherspoon to the Eagles to get him and a draft pick.
On the defensive side, safety O.J. Atogwe picked off a pass and forced a goal line fumble that saved the Rams six points. Fellow safety James Butler also had an interception.
Considering that all this happened against one of the NFL’s powerhouse teams, it certainly looked like the Rams were getting better.
Does Spags agree?
“Based on what happened out there today, I’d say yeah,” he said.
The play calling in the 4th qtr and on the final drive was awful.
The Rams are starting to show some life, but their #1 need, by far, is a new QB. Bulger plays well at times but when you watch guys like P. Manning and Brees, you see how the QB position should be played. I think Bulger’s shoulder is not 100%. He has played with heart, but the Rams need a young gun they can develop into a top QB.
wow studebaker?? what bad plays were called?? can you say that??? they played fine!! the saints are probably the hardest team to beat in the nfc and look how the rams played… can you debate that?
Fire the Offensive Coordinator!!! He is Terrible!!! He is in Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay Over His Head as an NFL Play Caller!!!
Finally, we can see some light at the end of the tunnel.For the first time all season.Yes,there were a lot of ifs,shouldas and couldas.But overall,we just took the best team in the NFL all the way down to the wire.Take away the KO return TD and we win.I feel good about this game.So if any of you Ram-bashers plan to post a bunch of negative crap on this page,just keep it to yourselves.Take this game for waht it was…a BIG step toward respectability.
3rd down play calling and final drive play calling horrific…He seems to choke in pressure situations…Awful…
While Bulger had his best game of the season, by far, his decisions on the last drive are unforgiveable. You simply cannot throw to your check down with 20+ seconds to go and no timeouts, especially when your check down is in the middle of the field. That ball has to be thrown out of play so as to save a few seconds left on the clock. Then again, it really doesn’t help that the Rams could only field three wide recievers that last drive; that gave the Saints defense the ability to move up their safeties and double each wide-out.
Hey!What did I just say? Shut the f up haters.If you can’t see the positive in this game,quit calling yourself a Ram’s fan and get off this site! A-Holes!
The Players played hard…even Marc Bulger’s body language showed that it mattered to him today…commendable job by the players…Spags keeps the Defense playing hard despite one of the worse front 7’s (personnel wise) in the game…offensive line did a great job today…Steven Jackson is having a Pro Bowl Season…Happy with the direction the Rams seem to be headed…but the OC is killing this offense…It doesn’t take a genius to see how bad the play calling is offensively…
Sethut10,
If your a fan of the rams, then you know one of the reasons we have gotten to this point is the turnstile of offensive coordinators we have had. each coach, new playbook. all of em have been big names saunders ect, as is shurmur, or whatever his name is. Hang in there. Hope we draft some depth. and enjoy games like this when we can get em. Go rams! Looked good today.