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This was the game to see if the Rams domination last week was a fluke or not. The story was about the Defense and its dominance-AGAIN. After having a boatload of trouble in the early part of the season in all facets of the game and looking like the old Rams, the Rams begun to click for the second game in a row and demonstrated that the win last week was indeed no temporary whiff at success. After we started the game by the defense and stopped the Redskins turning the ball over to the offense, the offense sputtered and looked not-so-good. We had no running game to speak of in the first quarter, Hill was both over and under-throwing receivers, and the O-line began committing penalties enough to take us out of FG range. Out of nowhere, Zuerlein began shanking PATs and FGs to the horror of everyone. We didn’t score a point in the first quarter which is often not a good sign but the defense held Washington scoreless going into the second quarter. We then scored in the second and held the Redskins scoreless to set two more positive goals this year which was back-to-back wins for this season as well as two back-to-back shut-outs; the latter being the first time since 1945. After how we looked at the beginning of the season, this win was very satisfying and many of us reminisced about parallels between this Rams team and many of the past powerhouse teams.
On Offense. The Positives. Hill went 16/33 for 213 yards and 2 TDs and no INTs compared to McCoy’s 20/32, 199 yards and two picks. Mason went 20 carries for 66 yards, with the team generating 30 carries for 131 rushing yards. Tavon Austin had some great break-away runs which were great to finally witness. Cook had 4 catches for 61 yards and 2 TDs and the team generated 329 total yards compared to Washington’s 206. Our O-line finally began playing well after a slow first quarter and we dominated in time of possession and third down efficiency. We now have a PF to PA ratio of 0. Excellent.
On Offense. The Negatives. We were atrocious in the first quarter. Hill was over and under-throwing receivers. He fumbled twice, recovery one and losing one. We had no running game to speak of and the offense had 5 penalties of the team total of 8. The O-line had four in the first quarter alone. Joseph and Barksdale were getting beat on running and pass plays respectively and the O-line gave up 4 sacks for 15 yards. Hill spent much of the first quarter looking over his shoulder. Perhaps next year, we will have a new right side of the O-line. Maybe.
On Defense. The Positives. Two-shut-outs in a row, the first time since 1945 is pretty lofty stuff. We opened with the defense and they did not disappoint. Seven sacks today were accompanied by two INTs and two fumble recoveries. Excellence abounds. Laurinaitus and Quinn had 1.5 sacks each, Hayes, Donald, Sims, and Barron all had one each. McLeod and McDonald had one INT each. Trumaine Johnson was high man on tackles with 8 and Ogletree and Laurinaitus had 7 and 6 respectively. We were so dominate, we held Washington to under 130 yards total offense going into the fourth quarter. They finished the game with just 206. We held the entire Washington running game to 12 carries for a meager 27 yards. Damn, Ram tough!!
On Defense. The Negatives. There’s not much here except for Williams has to give up that prevent D that leaves a huge 10-yard hole right behind Laurinaitus. Washington exploited that today and it is not a good defense.
On Special Teams. The Positives. After signing a big contract extension this past week, Hekker continued his excellent play by nailing punts deep into Redskins territory and throwing a fake PAT for two points to Cory Harkey. As a whole, the STs played quite well. Austin had a great day as a returner and after three tries of good returns, he and the STs blew one open. Austin finished the day 4 carries on returns for 143 yards and 1 TD! Their techniques have substantially improved to avoid ref crews who are poignant at finding errors with our STs. Kudos to these guys, Hekker, and Coach Fassel.
On Special Teams. The Negatives. One player sums it up. Greg Zuerlein. Apparently he has developed some sort of mental obstacle because he shanked (wide right) three kicks in a row: One PAT, and two FGs. These errors cost us points and he finally hit a FG going 1/3 on the day. I hope this is not a trend with this guy.
We still have a slim chance to get into the playoffs. Next week is a big game against the Cardinals and I would like to see us dominate these guys. We owe them a humiliating loss just like the one they served up here in Arizona. We also have a chance to have our first winning season in nearly a decade. Some nice steps to a team that Snisher are bringing back from the brink of perpetual long-term disaster. Vita and SJ76have been right all along and a little patience was required of all of us to finally see this team realize its potential. Damn it is good to be a Rams fan!!!
On Offense. The Positives. Hill went 16/33 for 213 yards and 2 TDs and no INTs compared to McCoy’s 20/32, 199 yards and two picks. Mason went 20 carries for 66 yards, with the team generating 30 carries for 131 rushing yards. Tavon Austin had some great break-away runs which were great to finally witness. Cook had 4 catches for 61 yards and 2 TDs and the team generated 329 total yards compared to Washington’s 206. Our O-line finally began playing well after a slow first quarter and we dominated in time of possession and third down efficiency. We now have a PF to PA ratio of 0. Excellent.
On Offense. The Negatives. We were atrocious in the first quarter. Hill was over and under-throwing receivers. He fumbled twice, recovery one and losing one. We had no running game to speak of and the offense had 5 penalties of the team total of 8. The O-line had four in the first quarter alone. Joseph and Barksdale were getting beat on running and pass plays respectively and the O-line gave up 4 sacks for 15 yards. Hill spent much of the first quarter looking over his shoulder. Perhaps next year, we will have a new right side of the O-line. Maybe.
On Defense. The Positives. Two-shut-outs in a row, the first time since 1945 is pretty lofty stuff. We opened with the defense and they did not disappoint. Seven sacks today were accompanied by two INTs and two fumble recoveries. Excellence abounds. Laurinaitus and Quinn had 1.5 sacks each, Hayes, Donald, Sims, and Barron all had one each. McLeod and McDonald had one INT each. Trumaine Johnson was high man on tackles with 8 and Ogletree and Laurinaitus had 7 and 6 respectively. We were so dominate, we held Washington to under 130 yards total offense going into the fourth quarter. They finished the game with just 206. We held the entire Washington running game to 12 carries for a meager 27 yards. Damn, Ram tough!!
On Defense. The Negatives. There’s not much here except for Williams has to give up that prevent D that leaves a huge 10-yard hole right behind Laurinaitus. Washington exploited that today and it is not a good defense.
On Special Teams. The Positives. After signing a big contract extension this past week, Hekker continued his excellent play by nailing punts deep into Redskins territory and throwing a fake PAT for two points to Cory Harkey. As a whole, the STs played quite well. Austin had a great day as a returner and after three tries of good returns, he and the STs blew one open. Austin finished the day 4 carries on returns for 143 yards and 1 TD! Their techniques have substantially improved to avoid ref crews who are poignant at finding errors with our STs. Kudos to these guys, Hekker, and Coach Fassel.
On Special Teams. The Negatives. One player sums it up. Greg Zuerlein. Apparently he has developed some sort of mental obstacle because he shanked (wide right) three kicks in a row: One PAT, and two FGs. These errors cost us points and he finally hit a FG going 1/3 on the day. I hope this is not a trend with this guy.
We still have a slim chance to get into the playoffs. Next week is a big game against the Cardinals and I would like to see us dominate these guys. We owe them a humiliating loss just like the one they served up here in Arizona. We also have a chance to have our first winning season in nearly a decade. Some nice steps to a team that Snisher are bringing back from the brink of perpetual long-term disaster. Vita and SJ76have been right all along and a little patience was required of all of us to finally see this team realize its potential. Damn it is good to be a Rams fan!!!
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