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The Film Don't Lie: Rams
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/13304/the-film-dont-lie-rams-5
A weekly look at what the St. Louis Rams must fix:
No cliche in football carries more truth than the need to win the turnover battle, but never is it more true for the St. Louis Rams than this week against the Arizona Cardinals.
In last week's surprising 13-10 win against the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams managed to escape with the victory because their defense was able to come up with two key takeaways that helped nullify the two they gave away early in the game. The Rams scored their lone touchdown after one of those takeaways and ended the game with the second.
But turnovers have been a consistent issue for the Rams offense this season. Many of those issues can be pinned on quarterback Austin Davis. Against the Niners, Davis didn't get through his progression and missed an open target on a crossing pattern, which led to the first of his two interceptions. His second came later, when he scrambled and attempted to throw downfield on the run -- a throw he simply doesn't have the arm to make.
Those two interceptions both came outside the pocket, which made Davis the first quarterback since Christian Ponder in 2012 to throw two interceptions from outside the pocket in the same game.
For the season, Davis has thrown seven interceptions, three of which have been returned for touchdowns. He also has a fumble that was returned for a score. All told, the Rams are minus-3 in turnover margin, which is tied for 23rd in the NFL.
If Davis and Co. are going to pull off an upset in Arizona, they'll have to cut down on the mistakes. The Cardinals are second in the league in turnover margin at plus-10, with a plus-8 margin in the fourth quarter.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/13304/the-film-dont-lie-rams-5
A weekly look at what the St. Louis Rams must fix:
No cliche in football carries more truth than the need to win the turnover battle, but never is it more true for the St. Louis Rams than this week against the Arizona Cardinals.
In last week's surprising 13-10 win against the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams managed to escape with the victory because their defense was able to come up with two key takeaways that helped nullify the two they gave away early in the game. The Rams scored their lone touchdown after one of those takeaways and ended the game with the second.
But turnovers have been a consistent issue for the Rams offense this season. Many of those issues can be pinned on quarterback Austin Davis. Against the Niners, Davis didn't get through his progression and missed an open target on a crossing pattern, which led to the first of his two interceptions. His second came later, when he scrambled and attempted to throw downfield on the run -- a throw he simply doesn't have the arm to make.
Those two interceptions both came outside the pocket, which made Davis the first quarterback since Christian Ponder in 2012 to throw two interceptions from outside the pocket in the same game.
For the season, Davis has thrown seven interceptions, three of which have been returned for touchdowns. He also has a fumble that was returned for a score. All told, the Rams are minus-3 in turnover margin, which is tied for 23rd in the NFL.
If Davis and Co. are going to pull off an upset in Arizona, they'll have to cut down on the mistakes. The Cardinals are second in the league in turnover margin at plus-10, with a plus-8 margin in the fourth quarter.
