- Joined
- Jul 31, 2010
- Messages
- 8,874
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #21
Rams look to erase memory of last time they played Vikings
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...ase-memory-of-last-time-they-played-minnesota
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- It's been approximately a season and a half since the Minnesota Vikings walloped the St. Louis Rams on the opening day of the 2014 season.
Much has changed for both sides since the Vikings' 34-6 shellacking of the Rams at the Edward Jones Dome. In football time, a season and a half is a long time, but a game like that isn't easy to remove from the memory bank.
"You really just have that taste in your mouth that the last time you went up against him, they punched us right in the mouth out of the gate," linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "I think it’s always good to go back and revisit those feelings because still when I watch the tape it gets under your skin a little bit."
The Vikings went on to a mediocre season while the Rams actually dipped to 6-10, but neither made the playoffs. As they prepare for Sunday's game at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, both teams are in much better positions. In fact, the 5-2 Vikings and 4-3 Rams are currently sitting in the sixth and seventh spots in the NFC playoff race. That means the loser would drop from that perch with the winner stepping into the last playoff spot with half a season to go.
So clearly there has been progress made on both sides, but that doesn't mean the Rams haven't taken a peek at a performance Laurinaitis called "embarrassing" earlier this week. In fact, defensive end William Hayes says there's plenty to learn from revisiting such an atrocious effort.
"You can learn the things that you don’t need to do on the football field," Hayes said. "It was bad football all phases. Minnesota has kind of had their way with us the past couple of years since I’ve been here so hopefully we can turn things around."
Turning things around should be a task made easier by some of the many differences in both teams since that meeting. The Rams entered the game not knowing what to expect from the quarterback position as Shaun Hill had just stepped in for the injured Sam Bradford two weeks earlier. Hill then suffered an injury of his own in the first half and was replaced by Austin Davis.
The Rams defense that had such high hopes did a solid job against running back Adrian Peterson but couldn't keep wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson from burning them with big plays. The Rams compounded their issues by committing 13 penalties for 121 yards.
"I just remember that overall they had too many explosive plays," Laurinaitis said. "I don’t think we tackled very well. We made Patterson look untackleable. He took a toss from the backfield and did speed sweeps, they did everything against us."
By the time it was over, the Vikings had outgained the Rams 355 to 318 and the Rams were minus-2 in turnover differential. The 28-point defeat tied the worst margin for a home opener in franchise history.
Hard to watch? Certainly. Important to revisit this week? Absolutely.
“Well, you look at it," coach Jeff Fisher said. "It’s no different than for example, us playing a division game, the second game. So, it’s recent. They game-planned us. We game-planned them. They made more plays than we did, so we gave up some big plays. We know (Vikings offensive coordinator) Norv (Turner) very well. He’s an outstanding coordinator and he’ll have them ready to play. So, we’re going to have to play really good on defense.”
And offense. And special teams.
Both teams now employ new quarterbacks with Minnesota turning to Teddy Bridgewater soon after last year's meeting and St. Louis trading for Nick Foles in the offseason. The Rams have also revamped the rest of the offense and added rookie Todd Gurley at running back. Minnesota has had a rookie emerge, too, in the form of wide receiver Stefon Diggs while Patterson has been relegated to spot duty.
One thing that didn't change is the head coaches, though the Rams do have a new offensive coordinator in Frank Cignetti.
“I think it can help both teams a little bit, because it’s a lot of the same systems, basically on both sides of the ball," Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer said. "But, as far as how we’re different, I think we have a better understanding of the systems right now. Obviously, the quarterback is different. We have different weapons at receiver. Defensively, I think our guys probably feel a little more comfortable, would be the way to say it. But, I guess that’s the two things I would say off the top of my head.”
When Hayes was first asked about the game from last year, he offered a simple response.
“I’d like to forget it,” Hayes said.
Hayes and his teammates will get their chance to wipe that memory away on Sunday afternoon.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...ase-memory-of-last-time-they-played-minnesota
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- It's been approximately a season and a half since the Minnesota Vikings walloped the St. Louis Rams on the opening day of the 2014 season.
Much has changed for both sides since the Vikings' 34-6 shellacking of the Rams at the Edward Jones Dome. In football time, a season and a half is a long time, but a game like that isn't easy to remove from the memory bank.
"You really just have that taste in your mouth that the last time you went up against him, they punched us right in the mouth out of the gate," linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "I think it’s always good to go back and revisit those feelings because still when I watch the tape it gets under your skin a little bit."
The Vikings went on to a mediocre season while the Rams actually dipped to 6-10, but neither made the playoffs. As they prepare for Sunday's game at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, both teams are in much better positions. In fact, the 5-2 Vikings and 4-3 Rams are currently sitting in the sixth and seventh spots in the NFC playoff race. That means the loser would drop from that perch with the winner stepping into the last playoff spot with half a season to go.
So clearly there has been progress made on both sides, but that doesn't mean the Rams haven't taken a peek at a performance Laurinaitis called "embarrassing" earlier this week. In fact, defensive end William Hayes says there's plenty to learn from revisiting such an atrocious effort.
"You can learn the things that you don’t need to do on the football field," Hayes said. "It was bad football all phases. Minnesota has kind of had their way with us the past couple of years since I’ve been here so hopefully we can turn things around."
Turning things around should be a task made easier by some of the many differences in both teams since that meeting. The Rams entered the game not knowing what to expect from the quarterback position as Shaun Hill had just stepped in for the injured Sam Bradford two weeks earlier. Hill then suffered an injury of his own in the first half and was replaced by Austin Davis.
The Rams defense that had such high hopes did a solid job against running back Adrian Peterson but couldn't keep wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson from burning them with big plays. The Rams compounded their issues by committing 13 penalties for 121 yards.
"I just remember that overall they had too many explosive plays," Laurinaitis said. "I don’t think we tackled very well. We made Patterson look untackleable. He took a toss from the backfield and did speed sweeps, they did everything against us."
By the time it was over, the Vikings had outgained the Rams 355 to 318 and the Rams were minus-2 in turnover differential. The 28-point defeat tied the worst margin for a home opener in franchise history.
Hard to watch? Certainly. Important to revisit this week? Absolutely.
“Well, you look at it," coach Jeff Fisher said. "It’s no different than for example, us playing a division game, the second game. So, it’s recent. They game-planned us. We game-planned them. They made more plays than we did, so we gave up some big plays. We know (Vikings offensive coordinator) Norv (Turner) very well. He’s an outstanding coordinator and he’ll have them ready to play. So, we’re going to have to play really good on defense.”
And offense. And special teams.
Both teams now employ new quarterbacks with Minnesota turning to Teddy Bridgewater soon after last year's meeting and St. Louis trading for Nick Foles in the offseason. The Rams have also revamped the rest of the offense and added rookie Todd Gurley at running back. Minnesota has had a rookie emerge, too, in the form of wide receiver Stefon Diggs while Patterson has been relegated to spot duty.
One thing that didn't change is the head coaches, though the Rams do have a new offensive coordinator in Frank Cignetti.
“I think it can help both teams a little bit, because it’s a lot of the same systems, basically on both sides of the ball," Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer said. "But, as far as how we’re different, I think we have a better understanding of the systems right now. Obviously, the quarterback is different. We have different weapons at receiver. Defensively, I think our guys probably feel a little more comfortable, would be the way to say it. But, I guess that’s the two things I would say off the top of my head.”
When Hayes was first asked about the game from last year, he offered a simple response.
“I’d like to forget it,” Hayes said.
Hayes and his teammates will get their chance to wipe that memory away on Sunday afternoon.
