The St. Louis Rams shut up one of their harshest critics, which is myself, in a 24-22 road win against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Rams needed that win, especially with the way this season has begun. Rams rookie RB Todd Gurley went off with a career day thus far in his young career with 146 rushing yards including a long of 52 yards that set up a touchdown. Rams head coach Jeff Fisher stuck with Gurley, and it paid off huge. Gurley played up to the hype and wasted no time running through daylight provided by this young Rams offensive line.
What helped open up the running game was the Rams giving WR Tavon Austin a steady dose of touches. Austin caught 6 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns, and had 2 carries for 20 yards. He had the Cardinals’ attacking defense on its heels all afternoon long and played big because the Rams were limited, since they traded away Chris Givens and Kenny Britt has a bum shoulder.
The Rams’ offense has a much better look when Austin gets the ball more. The offense needs to revolve around him. I can see how both he and Gurley give the Rams a legit home run threat, and that’s been lacking for a very long time.
QB Nick Foles had a good day throwing with 3 touchdowns and no picks. Foles also hooked up with WR Stedman Bailey for an 18-yard touchdown – his first score of the season. Foles is off to a great start stat-wise for the Rams; he has 5 touchdowns, 1 interception, 815 passing yards with a QB Rating 96.5, which isn’t bad. You can only wonder how much better his numbers would be if it weren’t for the drops.
The Rams’ defense piled up 4 sacks, one interception by Janoris Jenkins and forced two fumbles, one by Rodney McLeod, the other by middle linebacker James Laurinatitis.
Their defense lost a key member in outside linebacker Alec Ogletree, who will most likely miss the rest of the season with a broken fibula. His leg got rolled accidentally by a Rams teammate. The Rams really count on Ogletree, who has become one of the team’s most active tacklers and has a penchant for forcing fumbles.
The Rams are thin in that area. The Rams were already using SS Mark Barron in a nickel linebacker hybrid mode; I expect to see him playing more. Since arriving in St. Louis in a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he’s been one of the better blitzing safeties in the league and came close several times to recording a sack.
The Rams’ next challenge is another road contest against the high-powered Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. I’m very curious to see how the Rams come out in this game. Consistency has been the Achilles heel for the Rams for such a long time. There is no better time for a statement win for the Rams than now. I’m really curious to see what adjustments both the offense and the defense will have.
The Rams always play division opponents tough, yet they tend to struggle in non-conference games since Fisher has become head coach. The Rams’ record in non-conference games is 12-19 since 2012. However, a win against the Pack would give the Rams a 3-2 record with a chance to go 4-2 heading into a bye week.
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