Rams 24, Falcons 31, First loss.

[Retroram52]

Hey SJ76. I was thinking of you yesterday as Julio Jones served up a can of whoop-ass on Janoris Jenkins. You have been right all along about that pick two years previous.

You must have missed my comments on a thread here on Ramspages where I explained that as I watched Peyton Manning carve up his first opponent on a Thursday game last week and again yesterday, I was thinking out loud comparing some of the elite young and old QBs with Sammie and I arrived at similar conclusions that you did. So no, you are not the only person to watch that game and arrive at similar conclusions.

If you go to the game thread from yesterday, I made several comments that our offense for nearly three quarters was completely inept-3 plays, 5 yards, and 5 plays for 25 yards was routine until the fourth when Shottenheimer went to the no-huddle and then we scored.

As a mtter of fact, at the end of the first quarter we had 8 plays for 25 yards to Atlanta's 19 plays for 121 yards and they were already up 14 -0. You can not win many games with that kind of offensive production.

And although the O-line played quite well, Sammie was missing deep receivers left and right and throwing bullets to those ridiculous underneath routes that Shottenheimer has a stiffy for. At one point, I made the comment on the game thread that Shottenheimer looked just like Shitmur's play calling.

At any rate, we have the worst running game in the league and Pead is worst then tits on a bull. At some point, Sammie needs to get his head out of ass and start playing like a number one pick or else we wasted more than just 50 some million!!

 

[SJ76]

Retro,

I can see you are in a bad place brother.. lol I understand, I am sick of watching this offense stall.

But I liked Janoris' overall play yesterday. He's a 5'9, maybe 5'10 guy going 1 on 1 with Julio Jones at 6'4. lol I thought Janoris held his own, but had ZERO help deep and I think the weak link was the difference yesterday. McLeod?

Pead and Quick in the 2nd round 2 years ago.... how many snaps did they even get yesterday?

Overall, it was a struggle against perhaps the best team in the NFC. Hopefully we learn from it and I hope Sam wakes up and just makes quicker/better decisions. We need him to be confident, pull the trigger, and live with the results.

It's like Warner said back in the day... Throw it where the defenders are NOT! That saying has stayed with me to this day!

 

[Retroram52]

Thanks man. I remember Warner saying that because he got that from Martz who taught him how to make quick decisions and live with the results while getting rid of the ball as fast as possible. If I was Fisher, I'd hire Sammie a QB coach who has the same dynamics and thought processes as Martz because he really needs to see the error of his ways as a QB.

I still crack up everytime I see that sheep emoticon!!!

 

[SJ76]

The sheep is Bradford unfortunately. Until he proves otherwise. Sorry, but mop up TD's late in the 3rd quarter down 21 don't really mean alot ot me.


They have to watch that tape and just yell, THROW THE DAM BALL ALREADY.

 

[Clayton]

Alabama has better RB's than some Pro teams in the NFL.

In terms of the NFL, I think its important to note that Alabama might have a ton of prospects but that doesn't correlate to them actually being successful at the next level. Alabama routinely has the best oline in college so its hard to sell me on their RBs and QBs.

On the flipside, a guy like Clinton-Dix might get underrated on Bama because people will see that their secondary is their weakness and forget that he is the only good player back there. Thats why William Moore dropped to the 2nd round at Mizzou and probably why TJ McDonald dropped to the 3rd round.

So much of RBs is from the neck up these days, too. Vision, patience, versatility, conditioning.

 

[SJ76]

Oh trust me, I would take Alabama's 3rd stringer now. Drake is fast as hell and a little bigger than Richardson. Please don't tempt me.

And whoever the yayhoo was talking about Mark Ingram not making the team next year and Trent Richardson having 1 decent year is out of his tree. Eddy Lacy is pretty good too. But Trent has no QB = 8 in the box. Trent will bust out a few games this year. Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles all would start at RB for the Rams.

Period.

 

[SJ76]

Retro what is your opinion on why so many of Sam's short passes are getting batted down? He has to be telegraphing where he's going.

 

[Vitamike]

I'll start with the bitch sentiment that's caught some traction in this thread and then I'll move on.

So........ some here think this loss was ALL Sam Bradford's fault, huh? That Sam's a joke and shouldn't be the Rams starter, not good enough?

This sentiment is a joke!

Does he deserve some of the blame for this loss? Sure!

He made his share of mistakes in the game but I think he did enough, heading into the 4th quarter, to win the game vs a playoff caliber team on the road.

It was a one score game with 12 minutes remaining!

And the difference, as Retro said in the OP was the Pick 6.

Hey hows about a defensive score of our own to get it back?

Oh and by the way, that pick 6 was in no way Sam's fault, it was all on Daryll.

Richardson had eyes on Sam, then the ball the entire way and the ball hit him in the hands, both of them.

It's laughable to ask Sam to throw the ball easier, these are professionals who get paid to catch the ball. They know Sam's throwing style, so the velocity should come as no surprise to anybody slated to catch the ball. (Will anyone really argue this?)

Also I have no doubt that Sam is being coached to get the ball out quick and get the ball to the receivers so they can gain those important yards after the catch.

That's how it works fellas! You just don't coach around playing the game right because you need to worry about dudes not be able to catch an NFL QB's throw at this level. To say otherwise it just ..

Okay there's my rant and I'm sure I'll hear back from the Bradford haters, as weak as their takes will be.

Now, I tried to tell many of you that our youth (Youngest team in the NFL 2 years running and we are even younger than last year) would give us fits this year. And low and behold, here in our first road game these young guys dug a hole for our offense on ST on nearly every drive of the first half. I also mentioned our lack of a true running game would hurt us and sure enough we struggled to run the ball well enough when we needed to. We cant' handcuff ourselves deep inside the twenty over and over again. (Hey we couldn't run the ball well enough inside our 20 OR theirs for that matter) But of course then, I was blasted for making 'excuses' and labeled a Bradford apologist once again for such excuses even the season even started. Now that it is happening just the way I cautioned, it's Sam's fault for everything!

Okay I thought I was done!

Here I'll reboot!

Starting field position in the first half of this one KILLED us!

And this is a carry over from last years struggles.

Last year we finished in bottom of the league at starting field position on the year (If not the very bottom) and if we want to win on the road in the NFL we need to improve or we will continue to struggle to get enough road wins to make a playoff run for this year and many years to come.

Well that and penalties.

We also were at the bottom of the league suffering from stupid penalties that just kills drives on offense and extends our opponents drives on defense.

Just a half second delay on the vet in my avi and we stop them on their first possession with a 3 and out. Give our defense a rest and have their offense still guessing if they can move the ball on us or not.

As it was, they take the gift first down and stress our defense on the first drive and score.

Now on offense, a mere Tavon shifting of his back leg a half a second before the snap occurs killing our first red zone try and we must settle for the 21-3 score instead of 21-7.

And then there were all those ST penalties, good lord!

Mistakes like those will cause all kinds of grief, however young teams make mistakes and when they happen against a playoff team or a decent team on the road, those guys wearing the horns need to be near perfect to recover and have any hopes of winning the game.

Well, we never gave up and took advantage of the Falcons rushing only 4 men on most downs for most of the entire second half. (By the way, that's why we don't run the hurry up offense in the first quarter, got a kick out of those comments in the game thread. I know that y'all want to pick up the tempo however, passing every down when you are inside of your 11, is a recipe for disaster. Just like when we have 1st and goal, when pinned back like we were all during the first half, you need to run the ball effectively.)

In closing I'll say, I really think we are an improved team and we will win our share of ball games TY but we are going to need to clean up the penalties and put a focus on our average starting field position. We do those things and these post game threads will be a lot more fun!

 

[SJ76]

It was a one score game with 12 minutes remaining!

And the difference,
as Retro said in the OP was the Pick 6.

Hey hows about a defensive
score of our own to get it back?

Oh and by the way, that pick 6 was in
no way Sam's fault, it was all on Daryll.

Richardson had eyes on Sam,
then the ball the entire way and the ball hit him in the hands, both of
them.

This is a joke. ALL on D Rich? You obviously do not know what a touch pass is. EVERYONE I have talked to today (including Bradford supporters) think that pass to D Rich was a fastball.


Let me explain this to a rookie like yourself... A WR within 10 yards, you cannot throw a laser to... It's call a touch pass. Now a WR 20 yards away, yeah throw a seed and if he drops it then it's on him.

I guess that fastball to Kendricks was all on him too.

We had 3 points with 1:20 left in the 3rd quarter.

Honestly Vita, I thought more of you. You need to take those Bradford posters down, I know it's rough but c'mon man! How many batted balls? Maybe someone has no vision, I don't know but Sammie Boy is NOT WHO YOU THINK HE IS.

-Denny Green

WE HAD 3 POINTS WITH 1:20 TO GO IN THE 3RD MAN!

 

[SJ76]

Also I have no doubt that Sam is being coached to get the ball out quick and get the ball to the receivers so they can gain those important yards after the catch.

That's how it works fellas! You just don't coach around playing the game right because you need to worry about dudes not be able to catch an NFL QB's throw at this level. To say otherwise it just ..

SO THEN WHY THE HELL IS HE HOLDING ONTO IT FOREVER VITA?


LOL SERIOUISLY

 

[Vitamike]

This is a joke. ALL on D Rich? You obviously do not know what a touch pass is. EVERYONE I have talked to today (including Bradford supporters) think that pass to D Rich was a fastball.


Let me explain this to a rookie like yourself... A WR within 10 yards, you cannot throw a laser to... It's call a touch pass. Now a WR 20 yards away, yeah throw a seed and if he drops it then it's on him.

I guess that fastball to Kendricks was all on him too.

We had 3 points with 1:20 left in the 3rd quarter.

Honestly Vita, I thought more of you. (FU brother!! And you know you earned that one Junkie!) You need to take those Bradford posters down, I know it's rough but c'mon man! How many batted balls? Maybe someone has no vision, I don't know but Sammie Boy is NOT WHO YOU THINK HE IS.

-Denny Green

WE HAD 3 POINTS WITH 1:20 TO GO IN THE 3RD MAN!

IT WAS A 7 POINT GAME WITH 12 MINUTES TO GO IN THE 4th BROTHER!, on the road against a team that's been to the playoffs 4 out of the last 5 years in what was as near as a must win game as any for a team in Week 2!. That, and after all those penalties, the pick and a couple of brain farts on defense! What are you crying about a few passes thrown hard?? Sounds a bit pussified to me!

Look SJ, it's you with the blinders on. I said Sam had issues and was in part responsible for the loss. You make it sound like he lost the game for us single handley. God forbid he throw 7 picks in 2 games like 3 time Pro Bowl Eli Manning has done this year!

SO THEN WHY THE HELL IS HE HOLDING ONTO IT FOREVER VITA?


LOL SERIOUISLY

Seriously, first you say he thows it too fast then you say doesn't get it out fast enough and holds on to it too long. So what you are really saying is he needs to throw it fast but easy. Sounds like an oxymoron to me and again pussified!

If you haven't noticed, many teams in the NFL are more content to try and bat balls down rather then go for the sack, specially when they have a lead like the Falcons did. I know you know this too Junkie, teams practice this, you are making this into something that is is not and are still stuck on stupid ova the whole Suh thing, IMO.

We will never agree on this until Sam takes a good step forward or backward however until then, peace my brother!

 

[Vitamike]

By the way, if you have NFL rewind, go back and look at the Kendricks pass. Yes it wasn't thrown easy but it wasn't a riffle. Lance just turned his head before the ball ever got there, if he looks it in he makes the catch and gets a few yards. If Sam takes sumpin off, it goes for no gain.

Now the Richardson pass, brother you REALLY need to go look at it again.

GameDay: St. Louis Rams vs. Atlanta Falcons highlights - NFL Videos

Go to about the 20s mark, if you think that was a bullet then you are getting soft brother!

It really wasn't that hard of a throw, period!

If our RB's can't consistently make THAT catch, we are REALLY in trouble!

Now quit making excuses for Ram receivers!

 

[SJ76]

Maybe this will help... If Nolan Ryan was a QB, his WR's would be:

A) dead
b) dropping all passes at a short distance.


Magic Johnson didn't throw passes with zing unless it was full court man.


It's a feel thing. QB's have to have touch from inside 10 yards. I like your manly attitude, but it just doesn't work for passes like that. Which is why it bounced off D Rich and went WAAAY up in the air. LOL

It's called finess and there's nothing girl about it. Just ask Aaron Rogers.

You are still stuck on stupid ova the whole Suh thing, IMO

Vita you are my homey and are cracking me up. I can honestly tell you I want the Rams to win, Bradford to succeed, and don't care much about Suh anymore. It's just I am sitting on my couch and seeing this misery of an offense. Sure we were down 1 score with 12 minutes to go. Then ATL awoke from their nap and started playing again.

When you are down 21-3, teams tend to go into prevent to run out the clock. Many ATL fans and STL witnessed this. You can't get too excited about being down 21-3 and then being within 1 score in my book. JOY! It was never really a game.

 

[SJ76]

GameDay: St. Louis Rams vs. Atlanta Falcons highlights - NFL Videos

Go to about the 20s mark, if you think that was a bullet then you are getting
soft brother!

It really wasn't that hard of a throw, period!

If
our RB's can't consistently make THAT catch, we are REALLY in trou
ble!

YES! Go back and look at it. Bradford is 4 yards away on that throw and he has no business even throwing it! D Rich gets lit up and it's a 3 yards loss! Where is D Rich going EVEN IF HE CATCHES IT? Not to mention Sam looks off his WR's downfield IMMEDIATELY and gets it to a guy that will maybe get a 3 yard loss??? That's something Corky would do in a down syndrome football game man! No offense to people with Downs, but c'mon MAN!! That's exactly my point! Sam had plenty of time too. There is no cure for stupid and that was STOOOOPID!

Not to mention all the batted balls. What do you make of those? Whose fault were those? The ref was in the way?

Overall decision making. That throw should never even been made! Period end of story.

 

[SJ76]

I can look at that play 100 times and the same thing hits me in the head every time.

is he thinking?


I'm telling you, this guy is not consistent. He's up and down... I just don't think he has "it" and he hasn't had that tunnel vision you need as a QB since OKLAHOMA.

 

[Vitamike]

GameDay: St. Louis Rams vs. Atlanta Falcons highlights - NFL Videos



YES! Go back and look at it. Bradford is 4 yards away on that throw and he has no business even throwing it! D Rich gets lit up and it's a 3 yards loss! Come on Junkie, you know that's on Shots and he's playing cat and mouse trying to pull in the safety and lb's to open up the over the middle and deeper stuff, it was a 1st and 10 pass play. Where is D Rich going EVEN IF HE CATCHES IT? Not to mention Sam looks off his WR's downfield IMMEDIATELY and gets it to a guy that will maybe get a 3 yard loss??? That's something Corky would do in a down syndrome football game man! No offense to people with Downs, but c'mon MAN!! And I'm cracking you up, !
That's exactly my point! Sam had plenty of time too. There is no cure for stupid and that was STOOOOPID!Sam's a company man, I know the type, they say do this, he does this. Furthest thing from a Maverick you can think of.

Not to mention all the batted balls. What do you make of those? Whose fault were those? The ref was in the way?
I answered this...but okay... It's a tactic teams employ usually with a decent lead. It keeps the QB in front and since you are only rushing 4 dudes your chances are much greater to get a tip than a sack or even pressure, with those 4 on 6 odds.
Overall decision making. That throw should never even been made! Period end of story.

Company man, does what he's told. I'll guess, as his career develops this will change, for now he is putting all his trust in the 'system' after all, it's the first time he's been in one for more than a year so why the hell not give it a chance?

Look I gave you my take on the game and why it ended up 24-3 at the half, why don't you pick on some of those points?

OH I know, because you know they are TRUE, 100 PERCENT AND !!

Nice new sig by the way, very PC of ya!

 

[Clayton]

You can blame it all on Bradford all you want but the offense looks better when the RB just gets out of the way. Maybe some of that is on Bradford needing everything to spread out to avoid ball getting knocked down but he might just be a spread QB

 

[Retroram52]

Guys, Sammie did have plenty of time to go through his reads and throw the ball correctly because the O-line gave him great protection but there are two things operating here: One is that Sammie and his receivers are so new to each other that the nuances of running routes and the incorporation of hot-reads by both the recivers and Sammie have yet to become second nature. It took Manning a year to get his receivers on the same page and this year everyone is dynamite. Some of these offensive woes may cure themselves as the youngsters get older.

The other thing is that (sorry Vita, I have to agree with SJ76 on this one as I commented several times in the past about Sammie holding onto the ball too long) Sammie has a tendency to hold on to the ball too long due in part to the first idiom that is operating here (WRs).

If you compare Sammies hold time and decision making to Russell's, Manning's, Kaepernick's or even Carson Palmer's, Sammie has this tendency to slightly hesitate. Another factor is the conservative attitude of Shottenheimer and the insistence on throwing underneath. Because our running game is lame beyond belief, Shottenheimer has a whole series of underneath pass plays that just do not work the vertical game. Then when we need a deep ball, it usually is an incompletion. Deep balls are practiced and I have a feeling that again, the newness of everyone is not allowing for that.

SJ76, funny you should mention that outlet pass because Bradford has two pick sixes with the same play in two different games. I believe he is telegraphing the pass with his body. He looks off the deep receivers with his eyes but he does not turn to the side of the outlet quick enough allowing the D-lineman to get too close and deflect the pass or in the case of yesterday and last week, INT the thing for a Pick-6.

Again, he is holding on to the ball too long. That thing should be two steps, look off the deep receivers, one step, pass it with the right amount of touch. 1-2, turn, 3 pass. If Richardson is covered, throw it away. Just that quick. But again watching the other QB's, they execute quicker and Sammie is not doing that at the same quickness level.

Again, I think Fisher should hire Sammie a QB coach and work on mechanics. His arm strength is good but I think the majority if this is between the ears. We shall see.

 

[Clayton]

I haven't fully looked at it to see if he is holding on to the ball too long but it does take too long to get the ball to the running back on these dump off passes and if the dump off isn't there, there doesn't seem to be a plan B.

The problem is that no team is going to bite on our play action passes at all. Richardson is decent but not good enough to make good defenses even sweat.

 

[SJ76]

HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY SAY THAT PLAY IS ON THE OC? DID SHOTTY COME IN AND PLAY QB THAT PLAY?

Because #8 (whoever he was) had plenty of time and looked off those WR's IMMEDIATELY! LOL THEN, (stay with me I know I'm moving fast) he dumps it to D Rich who was clocked for what would have been a 3 yard loss.


Go watch it again. If you don't get it by then, I cannot help you.

SO.... first it was a lack of WR's and weapons, then it was the O-line, then it was a NEW OC every year, then it was the WR ran the wrong route...

Now it's the OC's play calling, WHICH I might add has a few options on every play and I am certain didn't want Sam to immediately look off his downfield targets to then dump to D Rich for a loss.