Preseason Game #2: Rams v.s GreenBay

[ksudodger]

I was not totally deflated watching this game. The defense, while giving up a few big plays, held the Pack to 1 TD and 4 FG's. Offensive positives were (can't believe I am going to say this) Isaiah Pead. He looked comfortable with the 1's on offense. News flash... Jared Cook is a BEAST and Tavon Austin and Chris Givens are really REALLY fast. Next week is the key week... lets see what the 1's on both sides do with the Broncos for 3 quarters. I think they will hold their own with them on offense and our defense will be better. I think we all know we have not even seen 50% of what the offense has planned yet, so do not fret over the lack of scoring.

 

[ANGELAKERAMS]

I watched the replay on NFL Network today.

A couple of things stood out to me: 1) the defense is taking a long time to get up to speed. Normally, the defense is ahead of the offense at this point in the preseason. They are missing a lot of tackles and not getting much pressure/push. Other than the one sack, Quinn was held in check by a rookie tackle. Johnson missed some tackles early that turned into big plays. And, I know he is a rookie, but Ogletree was supposed to improve the LB coverage of the TE with his speed. At least 2 of Finley's long completions, Ogletree wasn't even covering him but was 5-10 yds back. That's not good.

The offense looks pretty decent other than run blocking which needs to improve. They still need to work on their red zone scoring. I didn't mind them going for the 4th downs because we all know what The Leg can do. Might as well work on the offense in those situations when the games don't matter. Tavon needs to be more decisive and quit dancing around. This is the NFL, you are not fooling anyone at this level.

Pead looked decisive and quick which is a huge improvement. Nick Johnson looked good, but don't think the Rams can keep that many WR's. Davis looks better than Clemens as I posted before. Radway can't catch and will be cut. Ray Ray is coming along in his position change.

Overall, I'm not too worried about the offense at this point. But, the defense is a little concerning. If they don't get it together, it's not going to matter how dynamic this offense can be because the defense can't get off the field.

 

[Vitamike]

Anybody have a good summary for the game? I ended up busy most of the day and literally the only thing they showed on ESPN was lots of Eddie Lacy.

Saw this....

Only two more of these fake football games to go y'all.


Preseason football is so preseason. The Rams lost to the Packers in a very slow and sluggish game. The Rams looked flat, especially on offense, the whole night. It wasn't vanilla. It was bad.
General thoughts from the game.

• Aaron Rodgers made the Rams first team defense look very mediocre. The Packers hurry up obviously disturbed the Rams, and the Rams linebackers were biting hard on play action.
• Eddie Lacy looked good for the Packers. He was breaking tackles and even made a play in the passing game.
• Darian Stewart played horribly for the second week in a row. It's the preseason, but his tackling is terrible. It's no surprise he lead the league in that category in 2011. Rodney McLeod (who had reps with the first team) and Cody Davis both were much more impressive for the Rams. If Darian doesn't improve, he may lose his starting job.
• Ray Ray Armstrong played great. He got pressure on the QB a few times, and also had a huge hit late in the 4th quarter. I don't see a way he doesn't make the roster, especially with Jo-Lonn Dunbar's suspension.
• Sam Bradford looked good. The only blemishes were a bad throw to Tavon Austin that should have been an easy TD, and a fumbled snap on 4th and goal. Other than that, Bradford looks solid. He hit Chris Givens for another perfect deep ball this week.
• It was great to see Jared Cook make a play. He may take over Danny Amendola's role as Sam Bradford's security blanket.
• Kellen Clemens is horrible. No this isn't Bernie Kosar speaking. It's just a fact. Kellen Clemens is not a good backup. Austin Davis isn't much better either. Backup QB is a huge need for the Rams.
• Isaiah Pead got the start, and he played better than last week. The run blocking didn't do him any favors, so his stats weren't impressive, but he carried the ball with more confidence. He also did very well in pass protection. He may end up as the Rams 3rd down RB.
• Daryl Richardson runs with more juice than Pead. It looks like it may be Richardson on 1st and 2nd downs, and Pead on 3rd with a nice sprinkling of Zac Stacy and possibly Benny Cunningham.
• Gerald Rivers, an UDFA out of Auburn, played very well. He got extended playing time this week with Eugene Sims out. He saw time with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd team units. He made a few plays that were Robert Quinn like, and I had to double take on Rivers' 99. Great game for him.
• Chris Williams and Shelley Smith were both working with the 2nd team offensive line after Smith got the start at left guard. Williams played right tackle while Smith remained at guard. This battle is very close, but I think Shelley Smith has looked better. We'll see how this ends.
• Penalties. The Rams had way to many. Fix this guys.
• Tackling was bad. I think this will be a constant theme for the rest of the pre-season.
• Mason Brodine jumping over the Packers' blocking to almost block a field goal was a wow moment. Guys that large aren't supposed to be that athletic. I hope there's a place for him on the team.
• Thank God the Rams scored. I couldn't take all the articles about how the Rams were shutout.

To end, I'll leave you with a reminder that this is pre-season.

 

[shopson67]

As far as giving the Rams' defense respect for not allowing the Packers any TDs with the first team, remember that both of their starting WRs were out injured. They would be a much more dangerous team with Cobb and Nelson out there.

 

[Clayton]

Backup QB is something that should be addressed.

 

[SJ76]

However.... With our Red Zone issues the past few years and the fact that we don't have a RB as of now that can punch it in from the 2-3 yardline, I like Austin Davis and his speed to get to the endzone.

One thing that has changed dramatically in the NFL is QB's being a threat from inside the 20 to RUN. When you have a QB that has that ability, defenses have to respect it and cannot just focus on the RB's running the ball to get in the end zone.

The key in the NFL RIGHT NOW is have many different dimensions to your offense. AND THAT is why we have struggled in the red zone. Because Sam will not take off, our RB's are being predictable. Hopefully our O-line can buy the time necessary for Bradford to pass it to a RB, WR, or TE.

That is all