The St. Louis Rams’ 30-15 loss to the Carolina Panthers could be classically categorized as the good, the bad and the ugly. In this case let’s just stick with bad and ugly.
Sam Bradford’s first throwing attempt was tipped, intercepted and then returned for a touchdown. On his last play of the game (and the season), he was hit as he was going out of bounds by Carolina Panthers safety Mike Mitchell and left writhing in pain.
As Bradford continued to lie on the sidelines, visibly in pain, Mitchell decided to celebrate only to be quickly confronted by Rams offensive lineman Harvey Dahl. Dahl was so enraged he charged Mitchell again after seeing the pain his quarterback was in.
Dahl wasn’t the only Rams player enraged. Chris Long lost his cool and got ejected for throwing a punch after a scuffle on the field. Then you have another on-field battle between second-year Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins and Steve Smith of the Panthers. Jenkins didn’t come out on the good end of this battle. Not only did Smith take him to school, but he caught his 800th career catch against Jenkins.
Smith was still so riled up after the game he told the Charlotte Observer that Jenkins was a notch on the bedpost. What really had him incensed was that Jenkins went over the line with personal comments about his wife. Smith said if he sees Jenkins on the streets he will punch him in the (expletive) mouth. No surprise here. He’s fought three teammates, and in two of those fights he broke someone’s nose.
This game was poorly officiated. The referees didn’t do enough to calm this thing down the moment things started to get a little funky out on the field.
At the same time, the Rams have got to do a better job playing smart and keeping their composure. Brian Quick got hit with a penalty as the Panthers knew to mess with him and get his mind off the game. I hated seeing the ball hit his hands perfectly in the end zone, only to be dropped.
Bradford was in crutches after the game. Coach Jeff Fisher tried to sound optimistic, but he had to know what he was facing – the rest of the season without Bradford. Now he turns to Kellen Clemens, who is just not very good but all the Rams have left at quarterback.
Just when things started to turn around, starting with the commitment to run the ball more in order to set up the pass. It had worked and was very encouraging to witness. How quickly things can change.
