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| St. Louis Rams runnning back Marshall Faulk (28) is held to a 2-yard gain by Chicago Bears' Barry Minter (92) in the first quarter Saturday, Aug. 21, 1999, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Fred Jewell) |
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Overall I think the offensive line looks very solid
from top to bottom, all the way acroos and right on through the second string. If I
was to nitpick, I would point to Nutten failing to pick up his assignments at times in the
running game and forcing Harris to make blocks he shouldn't have to make at the
line. Derrick was another guy who blocked very well and I think he and Roland were
the two guys who were the most refreshing surprise.
It's not always easy to tell just who's responsibilty certain defensive players are
because Martz uses an awful lot of trapping back by the guards and tackles and also
pulling down the line to the opposite side by the interior linemen. Timmerman in
particular is excellent pulling to the left side like this. Pace and Nutten counter
to the inside and then Harris or the tight end pick up the defensive end and Timmerman
flies down the line and levels a linebacker or safety in the secondary.
It worked beautifully on Watson's long touchdown run in the first half and I believe it
was basically the same play that sprang Faulk for his longest run of the day, a 7 or 8
yard gain on first down during his final series. The pass blocking was solid
throughout the game, although Miller got beat and gave up a sack on one play when he was
matched up against a smaller quicker linebacker and couldn't get into to position to get
his feet set. Pace had a holding penalty or two as well. But noteworthy is
that all of the problems in pass protection occurred after Green took a seat on the bench
and I believe Warner still takes too long back there and puts a lot more pressure on the
line.
The 2nd string offensive line played pretty well also. Ryan Tucker looks very
natural at RT and I think he eliminates the need for a 4th tackle or a tenth
lineman. I'm ready to make my cuts now... the starting 5 along with Chanoine,
McCollum, Tucker, and Spikes. Then put either Curtis McGhee or Willie Jones on the
practice squad in case a tackle goes down.
One thing that has impressed me in both preseason games by the Rams offense has been the
blocking downfield. On Holt's long catch and run that was really beautiful (except
for the fumble at the end)--it came out of the two tight end set--both Williams and
Robinson as well as Ricky Proehl made key blocks in the secondary. That was all by
design and it always amazes me how well planned out these routes are by Martz.
Green finds the holes in the coverage masterfully, but even Kurt Warner seems to starting
to get a feel for the timing. He threw a ball that was almost intercepted early in
the second half when Tony Horne was held coming into his break... Warner threw that ball
to a spot and then the very next play was a quick slant to Horne across the middle...
Horne dropped the pass, but even Jackie Slater noticed what was going on as the two
receivers to the right cleared out the zone for Horne coming across the middle.
I also really like that play where they drive the coverage down the field with two
guys and then slip a third guy across right underneath the coverage. They can run
that same play all over the field at varying depths and I think RamBill made note of the
same thing on one of Ike's long receptions in the Raider game.
On the TEs. I've seen some criticisms that I don't think are altogether accurate from my
amateur eyes. One that comes to mind was someone criticized Roland Williams' run
blocking. Just the opposite, I thought--Roland had a very solid game in that
regard. I watched him very closely and he almost always managed to lock his man up
and neutralize him. More often, when the running game broke down, the problems were
coming from the tackles allowing penetration underneath... both Miller and Pace had this
problem a couple of times.
The WRs. It's pretty clear that Ricky Proehl isn't going anywhere I guess. He had a
pretty good game and only dropped one pass... that's pretty good for Ricky recently.
Hakim dropped a touchdown as well on Green's nice scramble down at the goalline.
Trent split two defenders after avoiding the rush and hit Az in the hands. Also, I
agree that Mac Cody appears to have sewn up the 6th WR spot and along with what Horne has
done, I'm pretty confident about that 6 man WR corps from top to bottom. Throw any
one of them in there and they can make plays in this offense. I'd put Small or Knox
on the practice squad.
Defense. The starting defense played very well until the final drive of the half when
McNown was able to find the backs and tight ends underneath to get down the field. I
wouldn't blame Billy Jenkins--he played good coverage throughout and imho he had as much
to do with the Rams 2nd interception as Keith Lyle. He was all over the TE like a
glove and all McNown had available was to lead him deep... (oops...there's Keith:)
Then we saw Devin Bush missing arm tackles in the 2nd half--I don't even think there's a
competition at this position anymore. Chalk it up. Jackie Slater at least
agrees with me. He said "Billy Jenkins is making a very strong statement at
strong safety. He's had an excellent camp and everything points to him being a star
at that position for several years."
The linebacker play was pretty spotty. No one really stood out, although the run
defense was very solid throughout the game. On the Bears first touchdown after Green
set them up at the four, the Rams were in a semi-goalline set with 4 LBs and 4
downlinemen. Styles and Collins were paired up on the right side. Collins
over-pursued into the backfield and Styles bit on the play action to the other side of the
field, pursuing down the line, leaving McNown an unabated view of the endzone. The play
was designed to go to the TE after the rollout, but Mike Jones had him covered well.
On the line, I don't know if anyone else noticed, but Gaylon Hyder got an awful lot of
minutes. He was rotating with Sears alongside Agnew as early as the 1st
quarter. Hyder always hustles, he gets occasional pressure on the QB, and he holds
up fairly well at the point of attack unless double teamed. I think he's established
himself as the 5th DT well ahead of Weaver and English and although I keep hearing that
the Rams are scanning the waiver wires for big DTs, I don't see why... I think the much
greater need is at end. Williams is a journeyman and Barnes is completely
inexperienced and both of those guys are hurt, so we watched Barry Mitchell, Brian Lytle,
and Kendrick Gholston get almost zero pressure on the QB in the 2nd half.
That was the Rams biggest problem with the 2nd team defense. When they did get
pressure, it came from Little or Pelshak blitzing from the OLB position or Hyder inside.
Dre Bly didn't get picked on much, but he made plays whenever the ball came his way.
He made a nice special teams tackle and strip of the ballcarrier late in the game as
well. Nonetheless corner depth is a concern if anyone gets hurt. Taje Allen
has regressed and he looks just horrible in coverage. I'm sick of watching
him. The starters though... woowhee they are sweet.
Todd and Dexter are the strength of this defense and they should allow Giunta to get
creative with this defense at minimal risks. Lyght's INT was just a great physical
play on the ball and it took a perfect pass from McNown and catch by Brooks to beat him
for the late TD.
On Lyght's INT--It was 2nd down and goal from about the 7 yard line following Green's
fumbled snap. McNown dropped back fairly deep... Wistrom and Carter collapsed the
pocket pretty quickly from both ends... McNown looked right and then turned back and threw
it into the back left corner of the endzone for Bobby Engram.
It was one of those high fade passes that is either a touchdown or incomplete out of
bounds because the corner has to front the receiver in the endzone so there's very little
danger if it's thrown correctly--only one man can catch it.
McNown threw this one JUUUST a bit shallow however, and Lyght skied in the air
to intercept it with his fingertips in front of Engram. He was way up there...
he came down on one foot and regained his balance before kneeling it down instead of
running it out because he could see he wasn't going to make it to the 20.
That's about enough time to devote to this ugly game. Cut down on the penalties,
they are the only thing I've really seen that can stop this offense with Green at the
helm.