Almost a Win

The St. Louis Rams almost pulled one out on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Rams ended up losing again 20-13. The Rams defense has been suspect all year long, especially against the run. 

With playoff aspirations, the Bengals came to St. Louis hoping the Rams would roll over. The Rams defense had a good game. They held the Bengals to just three points in the first half and actually lead at halftime 6-3. They let the Bengals get the best of them in the second half. The Rams did hold the Bengals to 283 total yards. The Bengals rookie sensation QB Andy Dalton to 15 of 26 for 179 yards,  an interception and no TD’s. 

The Rams also held the Bengals to only 110 yards on the ground. The Rams defense did their job, again they did it with smoke and mirrors.

Injuries have been a nightmare for this team. With the season winding down it will be an interesting off season for the Rams. 

The Rams have Pittsburgh this week. Pittsburgh got beat up by the 49er’s on Monday and they will be mad. They need to win for a better position in the playoffs. An almost win for the Rams does not look promising.

“See You On The Hit Side” #21  

Records

Well Rams fans, it is the same old song. The St. Louis Rams played the Arizona Cardinals in St. Louis on Sunday. The outcome was the same, another Rams loss, 23-20. 


The Rams defense again let the game get away from them. Arizona’s starting QB Kevin Kolb was still hurt so the Cardinals started John Skeldon. The Rams should have known that he was not the threat this week. They were right. Skeldon ended up 12 of 23 for 144 yards. The Rams picked him off twice and sacked him three times. That was the good news for the Rams defense. The bad news is even though they knew the Cardinals couldn’t pass they had to stop the run. Well that didn’t happen at all. Beenie Wells had a career day rushing the ball. He set a Cardinal franchise record in yards with 228 yards on 27 carries. That is 8.4 yards a carry, which high school teams are used to giving up, not pro teams. The Rams knew what was coming, but couldn’t come close to stopping it. 


The Rams special teams also didn’t fare well. They allowed another punt return for a touchdown from Patrick Peterson of 80 yards. That’s right, the same Patrick Peterson that returned one 99 yards in overtime for the win against the Rams a few weeks back. I guess you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. 


I did hear an interesting statistic on one of the pregame shows. They stated the Rams had 18 players on injured reserve. That’s one third of the Rams team. I can’t fault Spags for that, or the coaching staff. They are playing with what they have. I would hope that the Rams players start playing with a little more pride & enthusiasm. We’ll see what happens this week. I just wonder what records will be broken this week when the Rams play the 49er’s?

“SEE YOU ON THE HIT SIDE” #21

Defense Rules

The St. Louis Rams hosted the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday. As this season goes by, nothing is surprising any more for the Rams. They lost again 24-7. 


The Rams defense has played fairly well as of late and this game started out in the same fashion. In the first quarter, the Rams had two interceptions and a blocked punt. They only managed seven points on those turnovers. 


After the first quarter it was all Seattle. Their defense showed up big time. The Seahawks held the Rams to 185 total yards. The Rams had only 42 yards rushing for the game. This was the second worst offensive showing of the season. 


The Seahawks were all over Sam Bradford too. They picked him off once, caused two fumbles, and sacked him five times. The Rams had four sacks of their own, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Seahawk’s offense. The Rams defense gave up only 298 total yards, but Seattle made the most of their offensive possessions. They held the ball 35:00 to 25:00 minutes. The Seahawks defense made the Rams punt ten times. That is a terrible statistic. 


The Rams have the Cardinals this weekend and are going to be looking for some payback since their loss to them in overtime earlier this year. I just hope it’s the Rams defense that rules this weekend.


“See You On The Hit Side” #21