 FAST EDDIE Racks One Up- (Sept 13) |
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THE GAME. The crowd was
great. I've been critical of the crowd at the dome before but they are very excited
about football this year. Jeff Gordon was roaming amongst the tailgater's before the
game and he stopped and talked to my friends and I for about 20 minutes. He said the
St.Louis football fans would not weather another bad season and the Rams did what they did
in the offseason in order to avoid the sort of apathy that he saw in Detroit for the last
preseason game. He tried to get us excited about the chances of going 8-8 and I
wouldn't have any of that. With this schedule this team can be 10-6 and I want the
playoffs now. During the game, the fans were very loud at the right times. I
think St.Louis is finally becoming educated about football. When the defense was on
the field, the crowd played a big part and they were at their loudest on 3rd and long rush
situations and when Mitchell had to audible at the line. What can you say about Grant Wistrom, Kevin Carter and the entire defensive line. They were ferocious. Wistrom's effort against Ogden should convince everyone that size is not a factor in his play as Zack has been saying. I was amazed at how effectively Grant was able to stand Ogden up on the run plays and then simply overpower him with the bull rush. He had a hurry and then a sack on Baltimore's first posession and that kind of pressure set the tone for the entire game. Kevin Carter, of course, was even better. He got stronger as the game wore on and by the fourth quarter, after Warner's fumble gave the Ravens a chance to tie the game, he completely destroyed RT Harry Swayne. On that posession that began near the Rams 30, Carter got pressure on 3 consecutive plays, he had a sack and he put a hit on Mitchell after every play. On both subsequent possessions, the Ravens looked like they'd been beaten into submission. Mitchell was so beat up that he just dropped back and threw the ball away. Great job by the defensive line and Agnew and Farr got their share of pressure as well. On the other side, I was most impressed with Kurt Warner's fearlessness in the face of the Ravens' rush. The Rams offensive line did a pretty solid job against a very aggressive front seven, but when they did get through, Warner hung in the pocket boldly and got the ball off under control, at other times he made some very nifty moves to avoid the rush. He does not play like a first year quarterback at all. You can just see the confidence and the effort from this team all over the field. On Warner's first interception down in the red zone, he threw on target to Proehl, but didn't see Ray Lewis coming from behind the play. What impressed me was how hard both Warner and Proehl ran back down the field to save the touchdown. You see linebackers running back touchdowns on those sorts of plays every week, and it isn't Ricky Proehl's job to chase a guy 60 yards down the field to save a touchdown, that's not his responsibility, but that's the kind of hustle guys make when they want to win so badly. Them the defense held up and the Ravens got zip. I thought the key to the game was the awesome defensive stand following McAllister's interception. Credit the groundskeeper for raising the 10 yardline just enough to trip him up:) Fletcher made a great read, slid off a block and stuffed the run on first down. But the Rams really didn't shut down Preist Holmes in that game. Seriously though, why doesn't Billick run the ball up the middle three times? In fact, why do you put the ball in Mitchell's hands and let him drop back and rollout and things like that when he's been running for his life all game long? That's baffling playcalling. The fans gave the Rams defense a standing ovation when they held them to a field goal despite the drive starting at the 5. On the Rams side, Martz' playcalling was very imaginative. He spread the field and didn't allow the Ravens to blitz the way they wanted to. I loved the way he found ways to get the ball into Hakim's hands in the broken field where he is very dangerous, such as the shovel passes. I'm not all that concerned about the lack of running game. The Rams took what they gave them. Though I don't believe that Robert Holcombe is as effective leading the play as we were seeing from Derrick Harris in the preseason. It isn't from lack of effort--- Robert will put his head down and lay some wood almost everytime---but I didn't think he was always making the right decisions on who to pickup. He needs to get into the hole and take on a linebacker further upfield and give Faulk a chance to spring something rather than helping out with a lineman at the line of scrimmage every time. Marshall Faulk came close a couple of times to breaking out. Most of all I think he'll leave that game very very happy that he doesn't have to see Ray Lewis anymore this year! Torry Holt's excitement after scoring that final touchdown gave me goosebumps. He's such a sincere and exciting player. He made that TD happen with the great fake of the slant which Brent Jones pointed out. Then he spiked the ball and proceeded to jump all over every Rams player on both sides of the ball after going back to retrieve it. It was great to see the defensive guys like Agnew and Fletcher running out onto the field to congratulate Torry as well. Bruce is excited. He's smacking people and smiling from ear to ear after his touchdown and it just looks like the Rams have a very tight knit team in the lockerroom. Then you see London Fletcher shaking everything he's got to James Brown. It's a great feeling. Also I loved what Martz did on the first touchdown to Roland Williams. They overloaded the right side with three patterns to that side. Holcombe went in motion and took the safety out into the right flat. Bruce ran a quick little buttonhook and set down right on the goalline drawing double coverage. When Warner saw the defensive backs close on his primary option at the goalline, he floated it over the top to the tight end in the corner of the endzone. It looked like a chalk board. You see things like that and you feel like they are successful for a reason---they thought it out and they outcoached them, they didn't win by accident. Great game. The Rams will have to run the ball and defend the run better in order to beat Atlanta. But they can. NUTTEN AND SPIKES. I still think Tom Nutten, while he's doing a good job in pass protection, is a liability in the running game. He allows penetration so Faulk has no time to read the holes at the line. Vermeil said the offensive line didn't give Faulk the opportunities he needed. I want Spikes. Though with Spikes there's a bit of a tradeoff. He's no doubt a better drive blocker than Nutten right now, much bigger and stronger. He's probably considerably behind in pass protection, however at this point, although the upside is tremendous. Still I think he'll be the starter by midseason because Nutten is very limited and he's not going to get any better, whereas the sky is the limit for Cam. THE NEWEST ROSTER MOVES. I'll add Harris .to my list of dumb roster cuts by the Rams in recent weeks. The way they've handled the tailback and fullback positions in particular baffles me. Harris was their best blocking back. Balzer says this is all part of Armey's plan to turn over the bottom part of the roster and get a look at many different players. I still disagree with cutting Harris, but it must mean that they were happy with Holcombe's play on Sunday and they like Hodgins' abilities on special teams and as a blocker. I don't think Holcombe was as good as Harris has been leading the way for Faulk, but he did show the ability and the willingness to lower his shoulders and lay some hard blocks. So he should improve with each game at the new position and he does give them more options and allow them to spread the field and open up the offense the way they want to. The DT the Rams signed is Nate Hobgood-Chiddick. He was with the Colts and the Rams liked what they saw of him during joint practices this summer. He is 6'3 290 24 years old in his 2nd year out of North Carolina. My guess is that they are happy with what Hyder is doing with significant minutes and so they are looking for someone with more upside than Grasmanis as their 5th DT, since he's not likely to see much playing time anyway. I also get the feelings that both Harris and Grasmanis were salary cap cuts. The Rams picked Grasmanis up off waivers, so he would have cost the same salary he cost the Bears which was almost $1 million this year I believe. The Bears originally cut him for the same reason. I'm not sure what Harris' cap number was, but it was probably close to $500 K I'm glad they resigned Carpenter. He is a solid backup at safety and could have an impact on special teams. I'd expect them to put Crosby on the practice squad since they only have four corners now. On the positive side, it must mean that they are counting on Dexter being healthy for Atlanta. Also, LB Bryan Jones, who was added to the practice squad last week, was cut. They will probably replace him with Crosby when he clears waivers on Wednesday. LEE. I would say Amp's the single back when Faulk lines up in the slot. They did that quite a bit Sunday with Robert Holcombe. Amp is much more dangerous in this role. I feel sorry for the poor group of linebackers that has to contend with Faulk and Lee on the same field, while their safeties are trying to help double cover Ike Bruce. ISN'T VINNY WORTH 6 GAMES? I just heard Chris Mortenson on ESPN and he says not to count the Jets out of the Super Bowl hunt simply because they lost Testaverde. He says Mirer is in the same boat as Vinny was last year... Rick Mirer!!! And these are the same experts who said losing Trent would cost the Rams 6 wins? I know one thing... I'd take Kurt Warner 8 days a week over Rick Mirer. (That's twice on Sundays if you're keeping score.) Oh yeah... he also said that there were rumors this weekend that the Rams were interested in Bubby Brister, but he spoke with Vermeil and he said there is no truth to them. He's very high on Kurt Warner right now. He says he's this year's Trent Green. |
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