In the St.Louis Rams’ third preseason contest against the Dallas Cowboys, the defense got gashed by Tony Romo. Romo threw the ball all over the place during the first half, completing 9 of 13 passes for nearly 200 yards. What made it look worse was that three of Romo’s favorite targets, tight end Jason Witten and wideouts Miles Austin and Dez Bryant, didn’t play. But Kevin Olgetree and Dwayne Harris did play and had their way with the Rams defense. Or was it just bad tackling by the Rams secondary?
That was just an awful display of tackling. Rookies Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson both encountered some spotty moments, as did Craig Dahl (but that’s nothing new). The Rams also didn’t get any help from the referees, who missed numerous holding calls. Sure there’s holding on almost every play and they are replacement officials, nevertheless the Rams have to play above that.
Sam Bradford was a ragged 6 of 17 in the game. He didn’t look good at all. He was either holding on the ball too long or wasn’t able to connect with his receivers when the offensive line gave him time. His performance was definitely a step back compared to last week’s sparkling performance.
Running back Darryl Richardson had an impressive outing with 51 yards on ten carries. He also did a great job moving the pile and he ran hard in between the tackles. Who knows, he may have moved himself into the #2 spot behind Steven Jackson. Isaiah Pead had some choppy moments running the ball, then settled down and put a couple of nice runs together. Pead also did a fine job in the kick return game. Both Richardson and Pead are getting plenty of playing time and you can see the potential in these two young backs and they are only going to get better.
Kicker Greg Zuerlein continued his strong preseason with field goals of 55 and 52 yards and you can see why the Rams parted ways with Josh Brown, who was making Pro Bowl money but was kicking worse than former Big Red Neil Odonohue.
The Rams wrap of the exhibition schedule with a matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. This is another chance for the Rams to work on a few more things before they get ready to take on the Detroit Lions on September 9th on the road.
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