The second half of the season for the Rams ended in a 24-24 tie with the San Francisco 49ers this past Sunday. And I’m going to be perfectly honest with you. After the game was over, I felt nothing. Well, maybe I’m not being honest. That was an irritating game to watch.
It was irritating because the Rams jumped out to a 14-0 lead against the 49ers and knocked out their starting quarterback Alex Smith for the game. And the Rams also outgained the 49ers by 117 yards, had almost a five-minute differential when it came to time of possession, converted more first downs, and had a much better conversion percentage on third down (44 to 18 percent).
The Rams put up impressive numbers all across the board. However, the stat of the day and what is has been a microcosm for this young St. Louis Rams teams are penalties, dropped passes, and mental errors.
The Rams had 13 penalties for 85 yards in the 24-24 tie. And a couple of those 13 penalties were extremely costly. Just take your pick which was the most costly penalty. Was it the block in the back during Danny Amendola 62-yard punt return? Was it the 80-yard pass in overtime that was wiped out because of illegal formation? Or was it the delay-of-game penalty on the potential game-winning field goal in overtime?
Where is the discipline? I know this is a young team; however, there are still plenty of veterans on this roster that know better. Especially, wide out Brandon Gibson, who was guilty of not lining up in the right spot. I didn’t even mention the dropped pass he had. (Okay, now I did.)
Brandon Gibson has some potential to be a solid receiver. He is such a tease. He can make the spectacular catch with ease. But, if it’s third and short he either runs the route short of the first down marker or just flat drops the ball. Gibson has got to play better.
And what gives with the coaching staff? Brian Quick scores the first touchdown of the game and yet he is never heard from again. But, you can target fullback Brit Miller?
What about the clock management? Some openly questioned Jeff Fisher not using up more clock before Rams scored late in the fourth quarter. However, I thought the clock management was atrocious in overtime with the Rams having the ball last. How do you just let 30 seconds tick off the clock and not have Sam Bradford spike the ball at the line of scrimmage?
Can someone please explain why on third and 18 you are rushing three defensive linemen in what looked like a cover 6 zone or prevent and give up 17 yards? Had the Rams taken it that easy on Washington Redskins’ Robert Griffin III and Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson, the Rams may only have one win this season.
Oh, I forgot throw in a tie with that.
