The young 1-0 St. Louis Rams football team ventured into the Georgia Dome in front of 70,000 fans this past Sunday, looking to build on the momentum gained from the season-opening win against the Arizona Cardinals. But, they came up short after flirting with the possibility of another magical 4th quarter comeback spearheaded by Sam Bradford.
There was no magic for the Rams, well at least not until it got later in the game when they deployed the no-huddle offense. And that’s when you saw the Rams move the ball effectively and quickly close a 21-point deficit.
But, why did it take so long for this to happen? The Rams are notorious slow starters, and that’s keeping the defense on the field much longer than they should.
Speaking of the defense, it would be nice to see some nastiness. Didn’t see much of a pass rush against the Falcons, other than the sacks by Rams defensive lineman Robert Quinn and Eugene Simms. The secondary didn’t have a good day. Falcons wide out Julio Jones blistered the Rams secondary with a career-best 181 yards. Of those, 81 yards came on one play while he was matched up against Janoris Jenkins in man-on-man coverage.
As a unit, the defense has given up almost 700 passing yards in just two games. Even though it’s still very early in the season, there should be concern about the play in the secondary. Sometimes it looks like miscommunication, as in that Julio Jones touchdown. Or it could be as simple as disrupting the timing of the receivers’ route, like when Harry Douglass was lined up in the slot,  he went untouched on all four of his catches.
Against the run, the Rams’ defense is solid. There are plenty of guys flying to the football. The Falcons only managed 36 rushing yards for 2.5 yards a carry.
The Rams’ running game wasn’t setting records either. Daryl Richardson had 10 carries for 35 yards and got knocked around. And on Isaiah Pead’s one and only carry, he ran into a pile of players only to be shot backwards on the turf.
The Rams don’t have much a running game. However, they do have plenty of speed on the outside, and already in the first two games we’ve seen what happens when the tempo is up. It’s time to turn this offense loose. This marks the fourth straight game Sam Bradford wasn’t sacked, and he’s averaged 300 passing yards in the first two games. He also made some plays with his legs. He threw a pick six, but Richardson has to catch that ball.
We already knew what to expect. This team is young, and all you can do is hope they learn and grow. Next week they go into Dallas. Will the young Rams secondary rebound and hold Tony Romo under 300 passing yards? Or will Sam Bradford come out of the gate firing passes, trying to a get an early jump instead of playing from behind?
