Rams offense shows up in loss to Colts
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_f1079185-e5c9-5482-af2d-9f6571507ee8.html
Well, it took nine series to get there, but Nick Foles and the Rams’ first-team offense finally got into the end zone.
And even though the Rams made enough mistakes and committed enough penalties to give them plenty to work on next week, the offense showed signs of life in Saturday’s 24-14 loss to Indianapolis.
Only 37,460 tickets were distributed for the Rams’ preseason home opener.
“I think we’re improving,” Foles said. “We still have a log ways to go, but I was really proud of the guys. We were moving the ball. We had a couple of good drives. We have to stop getting penalties on ourselves, but I think we’re stepping in the right direction.”
Despite spotty, at best, blocking by the offensive line, Foles easily was the sharpest he’s been in the preseason, completing 10 of 11 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. His passer rating was 145.5.
“It looked like Nick was very precise,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “His numbers were good, he knew where to go with the ball. We had a couple protection issues which I think you attribute to preseason. He knew he was gonna get hit and he took the hit. He got back up and kept playing.”
That first touchdown came as a result of good field position, compliments of the special teams and defensive units.
After Isaiah Pead downed a Johnny Hekker punt, Indianapolis was pinned at it’s own 5-yard line to start a second-quarter possession. Three running plays later, the Colts were punting from their 1 thanks to stout run defense by defensive tackles Michael Brockers and Aaron Donald, who dropped Colts running back Daniel Herron for back-to-back losses.
“That’s kinda the play that we expect, or that I expect, out of our defense,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “It’s like people got upset and decided to just take it to another level. Our D-line fired off, big time.”
The Rams took over at the Indy 44 following a Colts’ punt, and struck quickly. Using play-action that included a fake end-around, Foles seemed to temporarily freeze the Indianapolis defense then threw deep to a streaking Chris Givens, who ran under the ball for a 44-yard score.
It was the second big play for Givens in as many games. Against Tennessee, he scored on an 80-yard TD pass play from backup QB Case Keenum. This one came with 10 minutes, 18 seconds to play in the first half and narrowed Indy’s lead to 10-7.
“It definitely feels good,” said Givens, who has been the Rams’ most impressive wide receiver this preseason. “It felt a lot better too hook up with Nick and make a good play for our team when I felt like we needed it the most.”
Even prior to the Givens’ score, the Rams’ offense showed signs of life but self-destructed on two occasions because of penalties:
• On the opening series, Foles connected with Tavon Austin for a 25-yard gain that was wiped out by an offensive pass interference call on Austin. Austin did extend his arm as if to push off, but his jersey also was grabbed briefly by a Colts defender. All in all, it should have been a no-call.
• On the Rams’ second series, the Rams overcame a facemask call against center Barrett Jones, but couldn’t overcome a facemask call against right guard Demetrius Rhaney deep in Indy territory. A sack by Erik Waldenn, who got around right tackle Rob Havenstein, took the Rams out of field goal range.
“Tonight’s a great illustration of if you turn the football over and you have costly penalties at the wrong time, it can cost you the ballgame,” Fisher said. “We’ve got to get the penalty thing under control.”
The Rams were penalized 10 times for 83 yards and have been guilty of 29 penalties for 229 yards in their three preseason games — all losses.
After the Given’s TD, the Rams reached their 44 before stalling after failing to pick up a well-executed Colts blitz, leading to another sack of Foles.
Defensively, the Rams were able to shut down the Indianapolis running game in the first half, limiting the Colts to just 28 yards on 15 carries — or 1.9 yards per carry. It should be noted that Pro Bowl running back Frank Gore, the former 49er, did not play.
“We always want to start fast,” safety T.J. McDonald said. “We didn’t do that this game, but we bounced back. That’s one thing that we always talk about is responding. I think we responded real well. We have some stuff that we’ll go over in the film room and get better.”
Converting on a pair of third-down plays, the Colts did put up three points on an Adam Vinatieri field goal on their opening drive. They then fooled the Rams on an onside kick, with Indy’s Clayton Geathers outscrapping the Rams’ Cody Davis for the loose ball.
Quarterback Andrew Luck then got a freebie. A busted coverage left Andre Johnson, the longtime Houston Texan and seven-time Pro Bowler, open deep down the seam. Cornerback Janoris Jenkins had a chance to bring him down at the 7-yard line but whiffed. The result was a 32-yard TD and a 10-0 Colts lead with 7:45 to play in the opening quarter.
Luck came out to start the third quarter, but a botched handoff by running back Josh Robinson resulted in a fumble on the first play from scrimmage of the second half. Rookie linebacker Byrce Hager recovered for the Rams at the Indianapolis 17.
With Keenum in at quarterback, the Rams needed just three plays to reach the end zone — two runs by Trey Watts sandwiched around an 8-yard reception by Cory Harkey. Watts’ second carry was a three-yard TD run off right tackle in which he scored untouched.
The extra point by backup kicker Michael Palardy gave the Rams a 14-13 lead with 13:28 left in the third — their first lead of the preseason since Greg Zuerlein’s field goal on the Rams’ first possession of Game 1 in Oakland.
But the lead didn’t last long, with Indianapolis converting a Sean Mannion interception into a TD (and 2-point conversion) and Vinatieri added a third field goal late.
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Rams notes: Mason leaves with hamstring injury
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_d49accf7-1c11-5ffd-8d13-a87a338b4ec1.html
The Rams didn’t escape injury Saturday night in their third game of the 2015 preseason. But all things considered, they got by much easier against Indianapolis than in the third game of the 2014 preseason.
In that game, in Cleveland, now-former Rams quarterback Sam Bradford was lost for the season with a knee injury. And starting cornerback Trumaine Johnson was lost for half the season with a knee injury.
Against the Colts, running back Tre Mason left late in the first quarter after suffering a hamstring injury. (He had missed time earlier in training camp with a similar injury.)
“It was just a little tweak,” Mason said. “It’s nothing too bad. It’s just tight. It got a little sore, so got out of there.”
Rams athletic trainers immediately applied ice to Mason’s right leg. Even if the injury isn’t serious, the team closes preseason play in just five days against Kansas City, so Mason won’t be seen until at least the season opener against Seattle.
With Todd Gurley not expected to play in the regular season opener, it’s obviously important to have Mason ready for the Seahawks.
He carried four times for 12 yards and caught two passes for 19 yards before he left. His last play was his longest gain of the night — a 14-yard gain on a screen pass from quarterback Nick Foles.
“You’ve got to get those yards first, then you can get out,” Mason said, laughing.
Rookie offensive guard Jamon Brown suffered an injury to his right ankle in the second quarter. Brown walked off the field on his own, got the foot examined and taped, but did not return to the game. But since he didn’t even put ice on the foot, it doesn’t appear to be a serious injury.
“It appears to be just a lateral ankle,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “When you’re talking high ankle, you’ve got problems. When you’re talking lateral, they’ll come back really fast. He wanted to come back in the game, we just kind of held him out.”
Lateral ankle sprains usually sideline a player for maybe a week or two.
LINE SHUFFLING
Brown actually started at left guard Saturday instead of his usual right guard spot. Demetrius Rhaney, who had worked at left guard all week in practice, started instead at right guard.
When asked why Brown suddenly showed up at left guard, Fisher said: “He played quite a bit on the left side in college and we wanted to get him some work there.”
Barrett Jones got the start at center. When Brown left the game with his injury, he was replaced by Garrett Reynolds, who was picked up from Detroit during the offseason via free agency.
SITTING IT OUT
Left guard Rodger Saffold sat out his second consecutive preseason game with a shoulder injury, so if he’s going to get any additional preseason work, it will have to be in Thursday’s preseason finale against Kansas City. Saffold tweaked the shoulder on the fourth play of the preseason opener against Oakland.
Also sitting out Saturday’s game: Gurley (knee), CB Brandon McGee (foot), LB Darren Bates (knee), LB Korey Toomer (ankle), OT Andrew Donnal (finger), TE Brad Smelley, DT Doug Worthington, and DT Nick Fairley.
Fairley has some soreness in the collarbone area.
LANGFORD RETURNS
Kendall Langford started 36 games for the Rams at defensive tackle from 2012 through 2014. But he lost his starting job to rookie Aaron Donald after four games last season, with his playing time decreasing as the season progressed.
Released at the end of February in a salary cap move that saved the Rams $6 million, Langford signed with Indianapolis two weeks later. His four-year deal with the Colts is worth $17.2 million, but with only a modest $2.5 million guaranteed.
So far this training camp and preseason, Langford has been the best defensive lineman on the Colts’ roster. That’s somewhat of a relative term, because the Colts aren’t nearly as talented athletically on their D-line as the Rams.
After three seasons playing tackle in a 4-3 front in St. Louis, Langford has returned to playing end in a 3-4 alignment for Indy. That’s the position he played during his first four years in the league, with Miami.
LOCAL LINE
The Indianapolis roster includes Missouri State offensive guard David Arkin and three former University of Illinois players: offensive guard Hugh Thornton, wide receiver Ryan Lankford, and cornerback Vontae Davis. Thornton did not play Saturday because of a knee injury.
Former Rams assistant coach Rick Venturi, who spent several years as a radio analyst in St. Louis once his coaching career was done, is now doing radio and TV work in Indianapolis. He was the color analyst Saturday for the Indianapolis telecast of the Colts-Rams contest.
LAST TIME (IN AUGUST)
Saturday’s meeting was just the fifth preseason contest between the teams. The most recent contest opened the 2012 exhibition season, marking Jeff Fisher’s Rams coaching debut. It was also Indy quarterback Andrew Luck’s pro debut, with the Colts winning 38-3 and Luck throwing two TD passes.
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Gordon: Foles shines in preseason home debut
• By Jeff Gordon
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_602f179c-72db-5d38-a82d-355c6a1d1e1f.html
Worry not about new Rams quarterback Nick Foles.
He looked just fine during the 24-14 loss to the Indianapolis Colts Saturday night before a small, widely-scattered and not-so-intimate gathering at the Edward Jones Dome.
Foles nailed his home debut after accomplishing little during preseason losses at Oakland and Tennessee. “We moved forward today as a team,” Foles said. “We still have a long ways to go.”
Progress was essential because this was the final full dress rehearsal for the regular season. The Rams will be in injury prevention mode while playing their preseason finale Thursday against the Kansas City Chiefs.
“We need to put more points on the board and help the defense out,” Foles said. “Baby steps right now, but proud of the guys for the effort they’re having.”
He moved well inside and outside of the pocket, eluding pressure time and again to make plays. For instance, Foles rolled deftly to his left to complete an early 14-yard pass to Kenny Britt.
“That was not a surprise to me to see that,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “He has the ability to extend plays.”
Foles threw a 44-yard TD pass in the second quarter, heaving a long ball that speedy receiver Chris Givens ran under in the end zone. “He’s one of those guys who’s just gifted with extreme speed,” Foles said. “He did a great job getting out there and going to track down that ball and getting it.”
Earlier, Foles lost a nice 25-yard completion to receiver Tavon Austin on a dubious offensive pass interference call.
Austin ran a terrific pass route to get wide open. He got so open, in fact, that he had ample room to run after making the catch. Alas, Austin was also so open that he also drew a flag from the skeptical officiating crew.
“Really unfortunate he got that pass interference call,” Fisher said. “We could have done some things with that drive.”
Foles played the entire first half and finished 10 for 11 for 128 yards, the TD pass to Givens and a shiny 145.5 passer rating.
“I felt there was improvement,” Foles said. “I expect more from myself and more from this offense.”
There was nowhere to go but up after unsightly losses to the Raiders and Titans. He completed just three of seven passes for 18 yards and a “pick six” interception during the dismal Rams performance at Tennessee.
Overall he was just six for 12 for 87 yards and the interception during the previous two preseason games.
Two plays at Oakland — a pass to Lance Kendricks and a catch-and-run by Austin — produced 51 yards. On the other 25 plays the Rams’ top unit ran during the first two games, it generated just 52 yards.
Foles sailed one pass to Britt and absorbed two sacks against the Colts, but otherwise he took good care of the ball while working around his teammates’ sundry mistakes.
“We were moving the ball,” Foles said. “We had a couple of good drives. We have to stop getting penalties on ourselves, but I think we’re stepping in the right direction.”
Now the bad news: The Rams’ offensive line inexperience reared its ugly head early and often against the sturdy Colts defense.
Starting center Barrett Jones earned a 15-yard facemask penalty, as did fill-in right guard Demetrius Rhaney. (With veteran Rodger Saffold sidelined by his latest shoulder injury, rookie Jamon Brown moved from right guard to left and Rhaney moved over from his natural center position.)
“The big thing is we have to clean up the penalties,” Foles said. “Those are drive stoppers.”
Rookie right tackle Rob Havenstein was an easy mark for the Colts, to nobody’s surprise. Linebacker Erik Walden dusted him once on a speed rush and once in a blitz package, leading to the two Foles sacks.
“It’s a process,” Foles said. “Every day you have to keep working on it. They are coming along. They are getting better and better.”
On the touchdown pass to Givens, Brown, one of the team’s preseason stalwarts, suffered an ankle injury. But he eventually got up and left the field under his own power, to the team’s considerable relief. The preliminary diagnosis is an ordinary sprain.
The starting offensive line didn’t open many running lanes. The Rams rushed for just 28 yards on 12 first-half rushes with mostly starters playing. Seldom-seen Isaiah Pead (!) got loose for a 13-yard run, but otherwise the ground game went nowhere against the top Indianapolis defenders.
On the other hand, Rhaney, in particular, got downfield to make crushing blocks that turned little passing plays into big gainers.
Other than the long strike to Givens, those pass plays provided the Rams’ offensive highlights. Running back Benny Cunningham had a couple of 16-yard receptions and Tre Mason caught two passes for 19 yards before exiting with an apparently minor hamstring strain.
“We took a step forward to get better,” Mason said. “We’ve got to learn from this loss, but from here on out we’re going to figure out ways to get better and put in the pieces of the puzzle.”
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Rams' Givens continues to make big plays in the preseason
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_fe49534a-32b1-5c7b-bf11-8392c86304ee.html
Every time he takes the field, Rams wide receiver Chris Givens feels like he has something to prove.
“You know how people say they have a chip on their shoulder? Well, I say I’ve got a potato on mine, a big old Idaho spud,’’ the fourth-year pro from Wake Forest said following the Rams’ 24-14 loss to the Indianapolis Colts Saturday night at the Edward Jones Dome. “Every day, I just want to make sure I’m in the right place at the right time. I want to show all my quarterbacks and my coaches that I’m a guy they can rely on.’’
Givens, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2012 draft, has been one of the Rams most consistent performers in the preseason. On Saturday, he caught a pair of passes, including a 44-yard touchdown strike from Nick Foles, and finished with 63 receiving yards. He also had a 6-yard run.
In an 18-3 loss at Oakland to open the preseason, he caught four passes for 36 yards and added a 16-yard run on an end-around. Against Tennessee in a 24-14 Week 2 loss, he hauled in an 80-yard bomb from Case Keenum for the Rams’ first TD of the preseason and added a 22-yard kickoff return.
“I’m just trying to make plays and having a great time,’’ the 25-year-old said.
The Rams trailed 10-0 early in the second quarter Saturday when the defense, led by starting defensive tackles Michael Brockers and Aaron Donald, forced the Colts to punt from their 1-yard line.
On first down from the Indianapolis 44, Foles lofted a pass for Givens, who ran a deep crossing pattern and made a sliding catch for the starting unit’s initial touchdown of the preseason.
“I knew how (Foles) was going to throw ball given the coverage and once I saw the ball, my eyes got big and I knew I just had to go and get it,’’ the 6-foot, 203-pound Givens said. “It was the perfect ball and the perfect situation.’’
It was the first touchdown pass of the preseason for Foles, who completed 10 of 11 passes for 128 yards on Saturday.
“Chris did a great job of tracking the ball and showing his athletic ability,’’ Foles said. “I have a trust factor with all my guys ... when the ball’s in the air, I know they’re coming down with it.’’
Rams coach Jeff Fisher added: “When (Givens) gets an opportunity, he makes a play. It was a great throw. Nick threw him open and he went and got the ball, which was good to see. He’s had a good camp.’’
Givens likes what he’s seen of Foles, who was acquired shortly before the draft in a trade that involved Sam Bradford going to the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I’m seeing the same thing (from Foles) that I’ve seen since OTAs,’’ Givens said. “Nick’s a real good quarterback, a guy who always makes the right decisions. And it’s starting to show more and more. We’ve struggled at times — we’ve gotta stop shooting ourselves in the foot with the penalties and other mistakes — but we’re an explosive offense that’s just going to keep getting better.’’
Early in the third quarter Saturday, on a third-and-3 from the Rams’ 15, Givens caught a short pass from Austin Davis and turned it into a 19-yard gain. On the next play, he took a handoff around left end for a 6-yard gain.
Givens started his NFL career with a bang. In 2012, he set an NFL rookie record with five consecutive games with at least one catch of 50-plus yards. That season, he caught 42 catches for a team-leading 698 yards and scored three touchdowns.
Givens made 34 catches for 569 yards but did not score in 2013. Last year, he had just 11 receptions for 159 yards, including a 47-yard TD catch.
Once regarded as simply a deep threat, Givens has worked hard to make himself a more complete receiver. He has focused on learning the finer points of the Rams’ offense and now feels he can effectively play and contribute in any receiver spot.
“I’m staying positive and most importantly, staying consistent and just coming to work every day and blocking out all of the distractions,” he said. “I’m just really at a point where I’m just trying to show the world what I can do and I’m just excited to get the opportunity to do that.’’
