- Joined
- Jul 31, 2010
- Messages
- 8,874
Rams offense gets going but mistakes lead to loss
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_f9963114-b671-51ba-bc66-a3e80f39ff97.html
The Rams did a lot of the things they wanted to do against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday afternoon at the Edward Jones Dome.
Except win.
The home team moved the ball on the ground and through the air, finishing with 448 net yards to 340 for Dallas. The Rams had 26 first downs — the Cowboys had 19 — and the Rams also won the time-of-possession battle 32:50 to 27:10.
But Dallas came away with the 34-31 victory.
“No matter the situation, any loss is tough to take,’’ Rams running back Zac Stacy said. “Overall, I thought we did a pretty decent job of executing today. But at the end of the day, especially after being up 21-0, we have to be able to finish.
“It was just a couple of miscues and some miscommunication that killed us.’’
Benny Cunningham, another second-year back, agreed: “The really frustrating thing about today was that we were so close to closing out the game at so many different points and just couldn’t get it done.’’
The Rams’ opening drive was a thing of beauty. Moving down the field with a mix of runs and pass plays, they went 80 yards on 15 plays and took nearly nine minutes off the clock while grabbing a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard pass from Austin Davis to tight end Lance Kendricks.
Making his second NFL start, Davis completed 6 of 7 passes for 40 yards on the drive while Stacy picked up 24 yards on four carries and showed some elusiveness with a 14-yard pickup after hauling in a short pass from Davis.
“It’s always good to open (with) a drive like that,’’ Stacy said. “It’s just a matter of execution, whatever play is called, we try to execute to the best of our abilities. We want to have that mentality each and every week.’’
The Rams’ defense halted Dallas’ first drive as linebacker Alec Ogletree ran down the Cowboys’ DeMarco Murray from behind on a pass play and stripped the NFL’s leading rusher of the ball. Cody Davis recovered the fumble.
Six plays later, on the initial snap of the second quarter, Davis hooked up with Brian Quick on a 51-yard bomb down the left side to make it 14-0. The lead went to 21-0 with about 6 minutes to play in the first half when the Rams’ Janoris Jenkins picked off a Tony Romo pass intended for Dez Bryant and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown.
The Rams were up 21-7 and driving late in the first half when center Scott Wells botched a snap and Dallas recovered the fumble. A late Dallas field goal cut the Rams’ halftime lead to 21-10.
After the Cowboys scored again to make it 21-17 early in the second half on a blown coverage that resulted in a 68-yard Romo-to-Bryant touchdown pass, the Rams were moving again when Kenny Britt came up inches short after catching a Davis pass on a third-and-three from the Dallas 17.
On the fourth-and-inches try, the Cowboys stuffed Stacy.
“The defense made the play,’’ Stacy said. “That’s a must-have situation and we didn’t get it done.’’
Rams coach Jeff Fisher added: “We got stuffed inside. ... We were knocking them off the ball consistently today.
“We needed the points against this football team. If I had to do it all over again, we’re going to go on fourth-and-inches. Running teams make those plays.’’
For the most part, the Rams’ run game was solid on Sunday. Stacy, who fell just 27 yards short of reaching the 1,000-yard mark as a rookie last year, ran for 67 yards on 12 carries (5.6 a carry) and added five catches for a career-best 54 receiving yards while Cunningham rushed nine times for 29 yards and added a 5-yard reception.
Rookie Trey Watts, an undrafted free agent from Tulsa, saw his first action from scrimmage this season and finished with 24 yards on five carries. As a team, the Rams ran 30 times for 121 yards, averaging 4.0 per carry.
The Rams ran 22 times for 72 yards (3.3 per carry) in the season-opening 34-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings and followed with 119 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries (4.1 per carry) in last weekend’s 19-17 win over the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“We controlled the line of scrimmage and kept our quarterback clean for the most part,’’ guard Rodger Saffold said of Sunday’s loss. “We moved the ball, we picked up good yardage and we got first downs. We were physical on both sides of the ball and the overall effort was positive.
“It’s disappointing because we had chances to make big plays and put this game away. But again, we just keep finding ways to beat ourselves.’’
The Rams head into their bye week at 1-2. They return to action Oct. 5 in Philadelphia against the Eagles, who will carry a 3-0 record into next weekend’s game at San Francisco.
“It was a tough loss and we’re pretty down right now,’’ Cunningham said. “But I know this team — we’re a bunch of fighters — and I expect we’re going to take this loss as motivation and come together and hopefully find a way to close out the next one.’’Stacy added: “We’ll watch the tape and we’ll move on.’’
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_f9963114-b671-51ba-bc66-a3e80f39ff97.html
The Rams did a lot of the things they wanted to do against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday afternoon at the Edward Jones Dome.
Except win.
The home team moved the ball on the ground and through the air, finishing with 448 net yards to 340 for Dallas. The Rams had 26 first downs — the Cowboys had 19 — and the Rams also won the time-of-possession battle 32:50 to 27:10.
But Dallas came away with the 34-31 victory.
“No matter the situation, any loss is tough to take,’’ Rams running back Zac Stacy said. “Overall, I thought we did a pretty decent job of executing today. But at the end of the day, especially after being up 21-0, we have to be able to finish.
“It was just a couple of miscues and some miscommunication that killed us.’’
Benny Cunningham, another second-year back, agreed: “The really frustrating thing about today was that we were so close to closing out the game at so many different points and just couldn’t get it done.’’
The Rams’ opening drive was a thing of beauty. Moving down the field with a mix of runs and pass plays, they went 80 yards on 15 plays and took nearly nine minutes off the clock while grabbing a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard pass from Austin Davis to tight end Lance Kendricks.
Making his second NFL start, Davis completed 6 of 7 passes for 40 yards on the drive while Stacy picked up 24 yards on four carries and showed some elusiveness with a 14-yard pickup after hauling in a short pass from Davis.
“It’s always good to open (with) a drive like that,’’ Stacy said. “It’s just a matter of execution, whatever play is called, we try to execute to the best of our abilities. We want to have that mentality each and every week.’’
The Rams’ defense halted Dallas’ first drive as linebacker Alec Ogletree ran down the Cowboys’ DeMarco Murray from behind on a pass play and stripped the NFL’s leading rusher of the ball. Cody Davis recovered the fumble.
Six plays later, on the initial snap of the second quarter, Davis hooked up with Brian Quick on a 51-yard bomb down the left side to make it 14-0. The lead went to 21-0 with about 6 minutes to play in the first half when the Rams’ Janoris Jenkins picked off a Tony Romo pass intended for Dez Bryant and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown.
The Rams were up 21-7 and driving late in the first half when center Scott Wells botched a snap and Dallas recovered the fumble. A late Dallas field goal cut the Rams’ halftime lead to 21-10.
After the Cowboys scored again to make it 21-17 early in the second half on a blown coverage that resulted in a 68-yard Romo-to-Bryant touchdown pass, the Rams were moving again when Kenny Britt came up inches short after catching a Davis pass on a third-and-three from the Dallas 17.
On the fourth-and-inches try, the Cowboys stuffed Stacy.
“The defense made the play,’’ Stacy said. “That’s a must-have situation and we didn’t get it done.’’
Rams coach Jeff Fisher added: “We got stuffed inside. ... We were knocking them off the ball consistently today.
“We needed the points against this football team. If I had to do it all over again, we’re going to go on fourth-and-inches. Running teams make those plays.’’
For the most part, the Rams’ run game was solid on Sunday. Stacy, who fell just 27 yards short of reaching the 1,000-yard mark as a rookie last year, ran for 67 yards on 12 carries (5.6 a carry) and added five catches for a career-best 54 receiving yards while Cunningham rushed nine times for 29 yards and added a 5-yard reception.
Rookie Trey Watts, an undrafted free agent from Tulsa, saw his first action from scrimmage this season and finished with 24 yards on five carries. As a team, the Rams ran 30 times for 121 yards, averaging 4.0 per carry.
The Rams ran 22 times for 72 yards (3.3 per carry) in the season-opening 34-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings and followed with 119 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries (4.1 per carry) in last weekend’s 19-17 win over the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“We controlled the line of scrimmage and kept our quarterback clean for the most part,’’ guard Rodger Saffold said of Sunday’s loss. “We moved the ball, we picked up good yardage and we got first downs. We were physical on both sides of the ball and the overall effort was positive.
“It’s disappointing because we had chances to make big plays and put this game away. But again, we just keep finding ways to beat ourselves.’’
The Rams head into their bye week at 1-2. They return to action Oct. 5 in Philadelphia against the Eagles, who will carry a 3-0 record into next weekend’s game at San Francisco.
“It was a tough loss and we’re pretty down right now,’’ Cunningham said. “But I know this team — we’re a bunch of fighters — and I expect we’re going to take this loss as motivation and come together and hopefully find a way to close out the next one.’’Stacy added: “We’ll watch the tape and we’ll move on.’’