Rams 23, Jets 20: New era starts off right

by Ryan Van Bibber on Aug 14, 2009 10:28 PM CDT in 2009 St. Louis Rams preseason

And so the first game of the Spagnuolo Era of St. Louis Rams football is a win. That's right a Rams win.

In way, this was the perfect game to usher in the new era for St. Louis Rams football. Not the most well-played game, but a scrabbly effort that got results.

Some of the big stories we saw tonight:

The first game of the Spagnuolo Era is a win! Come on, preseason or not, it's enjoyable to see that.
Marc Bulger and the West Coast Offense: so far, so good.
The run blocking is solid. Four running backs had runs of 10 yards or more.
I don't know that they get an "A" for this game, but the linebackers look much better than last year. Still have some work to do though. They missed that end around that got the Jets downfield for a FG.
The veterans played much better than the rookies. Stating the obvious, but looking at the notes the young guys got burned for the most glaring stuff, e.g. Darby and Ogbonnaya in pass pro and Justin King. That's about what you'd expect for the first game of the preseason. That's not to say the rookies look bad.
Maybe it's overselling two passes, but I think Keith Null is going to be exciting to watch in the preseason. Could he play his way ahead of Boller?
The run defense is much better this year. Remember how we got gashed against the Titans to open the preseason last year?
Um, did anyone notice Steven Jackson out there with the defense? He picked up a tackle in the 3rd quarter. Is there anything the guy can't do? Yes, pass protection.
Randy McMichael was the only starter to get flagged for a penalty.

I'd be lying if I said that the first quarter, the one with the starters, wasn't a little disappointing. Too see Bulger get sacked three times damn near gave me a coronary. But seeing those plays you can see that it had more to do with the offense being unprepared for the full frontal assault from the Jets starters - think if Jenkins had been playing - much more than it had to do with a faulty offensive line. In fact, the breakdowns in pass protection happened behind the line of scrimmage, though the Goldberg looked a little overwhelmed a couple of times. Bulger was looking good, and I was anxious to see them get some momentum...and then came that sack on 2nd and 6th on the second drive of the game. Add to that McMichael's false start penalty that put the Rams at 3rd and 18...

In fact, that was the worst stretch of the game for the Rams. Donnie Jones, to quote shostag from the comments, looked like he was in midseason form on the punt to end that drive, and the gods gave the Rams a break with a Jets penalty on that punt. Unfortunately, right after that, Justin King for burned for 48 yards, making the rookie Sanchez look good and precipitating a flood of message board posts at the PD's Rams Talk tomorrow about why we should have drafted him. The Jets ulimately scored on that drive, using another play of 20+ yards to get there. The combination of a foiled offensive drive and a couple defensive miscues made it a close game, closer than it needed to be.

The sync between our front seven and defensive backfield looks to be the weakest link right now. Did any of the cornerbacks impress? Quincy Butler seemed overly concerned with playing the ball more than the receiver, giving my theory of camp hero some credibility. Justin King is in the same boat right now.

The veterans dominated the front seven, leaving the rookies in the dust as far as looking comfortable on the field and making plays. Little got a sack right off the bat, and James Hall recovered the fumble on the same play. Those two will be really important in the Rams defense this year. What's the deal with our young draft picks on defense? Adam Carriker is at risk of being a perpetual injury. Chris Long had a rough night; however, I think Long's the kind of guy who'll have the game tape on his iPod for the flight home. I'll be more concerned with Long if he continues to struggle in the preseason. Tye Hill wasn't horrible.

The run defense did well, though they didn't face three of the Jets starting o-linemen. The Jets averaged just 3.6 yards on 28 running plays. They got burned for more than 10 yards just once, on Shonn Greene's 34 breakaway in the 3rd quarter. A better run defense means better games this season. Unless...

I think Marc Bulger and the receivers might be okay in this offense. If they can get pass protection ironed out in the backfield, this could be a good offense.

Players who made an impression, good or bad:

Starting with the first team...

Marc Bulger - He didn't pass much, but his 4-for-4 night for 77 yards was refreshing. I'll be anxious to see more in the games ahead.

Steven Jackson - I'm not worried about him, but I would like to see more than two carries next time.

Laurent Robinson - He had a great 50-yarder from Bulger.

Randy McMichael - 25 yards on 2 catches, yeah, he's going to like the West Coast Offense.

Keenan Burton - Where was Burton tonight?

Kenneth Darby - Not a good night, when compared to the impression he made with the Rams late last season and in practice this year. Decent night returning a kick though.

Alex Barron - Looked fine on the left side. No penalties, and no sacks because of him.

Samkon Gado - You can make fun of his name all you want, but the guy played a nice game on special teams and in the second half. I caution against reading too much into his night; this is a player who has experienced regular season success playing in the second half of a preseason game. Of course, the half-full version starts with the fact that he's a player who has had regular season success.

Jason Smith - Granted, he wasn't playing against the starters, but he looked good tonight. The Baylor product opened running lanes and popped Vernon Gholston in pass protection. If Gholston has been as good as the Jets are saying he has in camp so far, this is particularly encouraging. To me, Smith earned his shot with the first team when practice starts again.

Chris Chamberlain - Led the team with four tackles and looked ferocious.

Larry Grant - played a good game too.

Justin King - That's not the camp player I remember.

Quincy Butler - Has to prove in the next game that he's more than just a camp success story.

Tye Hill - Has to do more than that to eek out a spot, much less a starting gig.

Bradley Fletcher - Had a nice pass breakup. I'll be watching him closely in practice and the next game.

Derek Stanley - Has a a long way to go before he's given the punt return job.

Alright, who are we missing?

Oh yeah,

Keith Null - Threw rockets, twice. He now has more preseason TD passes than any other Rams QB. I think this guy could play himself into the number two role, and based on what I saw tonight from Boller, the number two job isn't all that secure either.

We'll have more on the game tomorrow. For now, rest easy, the first game of a new era of Rams football is a win! A win!

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Comments

I’ll charge Bulger with one of the three sacks, hopefully the oline gels together before he loses faith.
Our run defense did surprisingly well, All through the game. That was the highlight of the evening for me. Hopefully, that was Spags magical touch rubbing off.

I believe I need to find a Null related name for my fantasy team.

by GrnGyant on Aug 15, 2009 12:32 AM CDT via mobile reply actions

sounds good

Now I didn’t get to catch the since I don’t live in st louis to catch it on fox and I don’t have nfl network but reading the summary I’d have to say I’m pleasedand hope we gradually get better. Good start.

the west is ours

by jaram on Aug 15, 2009 1:25 AM CDT via mobile reply actions

its so good to get this win

real nice start ,i think this give us all a bit more faith that we are better and on the right track

by james535 on Aug 15, 2009 2:23 AM CDT reply actions

i think it's pretty obvious..

this totally means we’re going to win the Super Bowl, and Null, Smith, and Animal Jr. are destined for Canton.

by mooseknuckles41 on Aug 15, 2009 2:45 AM CDT reply actions

+1

by Caruso on Aug 15, 2009 9:26 PM CDT up reply actions

LB

Can someone please give some feedback on Laurinaitis? Obviously didn’t get much time or didn’t impress as no one has mentioned him.

by arctikphox on Aug 15, 2009 7:18 AM CDT reply actions

A win is a win.

Who cares if it’s the first game of the pre-season, right? All i know is I want these guys knowing they can win games and as hokey as it sounds (and it is), winning in the pre-season will help build that confidence.

I expect the Rams to win probably 3 games in the pre-season. If for no other reason than Spags isn’t going to let up like other coaches might. He’s trying to make a statement and he has to instill some confidence in this team and if winning pre-season games does it (and really, there’s no correlation between pre-season success and regular season success), then sobeit.

Also, great recap Van. Living in Chicago, I don’t get to see many Rams pre-season games so it’s great to have an awesome breakdown of a lot of the players like this.

And…..sorry for being so damn absent this summer. Just to give a little background, I had a bit of a busy/hectic summer. Life as a new teacher in these motherf’n economic times is rough (as it is for a lot of industries). I got cut from my previous position and had to scramble all summer with multiple part-time jobs just to tread water. Luckily I landed a full-time position about a week ago and with classes starting this coming monday, I’ve been up to my ears in training and prep. Btw, going from a high school to a primary school (I now have 575 K thru 2nd graders) is a BIG change of pace. But I think I’ll enjoy the change and it’ll be nice to have kids that won’t cuss me out under their breath.

Once, i get settled in my new schedule (which should be soon) I expect to re-assume my position as a regular around TST. Well, unless the Vick shit starts up again……that almost put me in the psych ward….heh…

Anyway, it’s good to not worry about paychecks and insurance, it’s good to be able to spend time at TST, and it’s great to see the Rams win a game…pre-season or otherwise. When you’ve only seen 5 wins the past two seasons, you’ll take a win any way you can get one. At least I do.

I have a very, umm...photographic brain. A lot like Ansel Adams but in color and with a lot more, uh.....insertion and pubic hair.

by Tackle Box on Aug 15, 2009 7:44 AM CDT reply actions

TACKLE BOX!!

good to see you bud. Congrats on the new gig, sorry it had to happen that way.

Turf Show Times

by Ryan Van Bibber on Aug 15, 2009 7:52 AM CDT up reply actions

My Bros a teacher

THE most underpaid position in the world

by dbcouver on Aug 17, 2009 3:21 AM CDT up reply actions

artikphox...

…Laurinaitis looked solid. 3 tackles, 2 solo. One was on a pass play bringing down Keller (during the Sanchez drive where we got gashed a bit). The other one, the one that impressed me, was a solo tackle on Pro-Bowler Thomas Jones (pretty much straight up). Held him to a 1-yard gainer. He only played 3 series if I’m not mistaken, but he looked active and in filled his gaps well.

by LARamsFan29 on Aug 15, 2009 7:51 AM CDT reply actions

Nice recap, Van

Out of the DBs, I really liked Bradley Fletcher’s play in the second half. He was constantly up in the receivers’ shirts, giving Ainge a very small target and causing two incompletions — the first with an assist from a jarring hit by Chamberlain. Granted, Fletcher was going up against the scrubs, but I thought he played with confidence and physicality. (Also, he did get beat on a play like King’s, where he didn’t get his head turned around in time.)

I never heard or saw Bartell or Butler … I assume that’s because they were doing their job. The one really bad play in the secondary belonged to Todd Johnson, though, who came way too far up in the box on a play fake, and denied any deep help on Clowney’s TD grab. (Not entirely sure whether it was solely his fault or if Marcus Brown handed off coverage too early).

RamsHerd.com - Graphic Rams Discussion

by taiko on Aug 15, 2009 9:45 AM CDT reply actions

Here's where we agree...

to quote…“Adam Carriker is at risk of being a perpetual injury. Chris Long had a rough night; however, I think Long’s the kind of guy who’ll have the game tape on his iPod for the flight home. I’ll be more concerned with Long if he continues to struggle in the preseason. Tye Hill wasn’t horrible.” I’ve said the D-Line was our weakest link for months now. I was very pleased, and surprised, to see the “old” experienced guys play well up front in the 1st quarter. But, you can’t expect men in their mid 30’s to have much gas left with 5-6 mins to go in the 4th quarter and the game on the line. That’s where expensive draft picks like Long and Carriker have got to shine. Frankly, I don’t think they’ve got it. I hope I’m wrong. “Hill wasn’t horrible”… and that’s about as good as he’s gonna get. Now where we disagree: I’m not sold on the “new” Bulger yet. I saw one beautful long pass, but 2 sacks where it looked like he held the ball too long, and he ultimately only got us a FG. You don’t win many games when your QB is sacked 3 times in the 1st quarter. And, Bulger’s got to find a way to get us TD’s during the redzone opportunities for us to win some games this year. If not, we may’ve stumbled onto something good with Keith Null. All said though, I’m so shocked to finally see a W by the Rams name on the scorecard that I’m downright giddy today.

by edpjr on Aug 15, 2009 10:24 AM CDT reply actions

Some good and some not so good.

Bulger definitely held the ball too long a couple of times. On one I timed him at 4.5 seconds without even looking like he was going to throw. Why won’t he learn how to throw the ball away.

I noticed Gibson’s name being called on the Dline several times. He missed one sack he should have had, but he did well. Spags dropped Hall down to tackle a few times and he made his presence known.

Burton never had his name called. For a guy with such press from training camp, I expected at least a couple of catches. He didn’t even get any targets. Where was he?

The linebacker corps looked good. Draft made several plays and Laurinaitas made several tackles. Didn’t hear much from Witherspoon, but Chamberlain was active the entire time he was in there.

I get tired of hearing how the CBs had tight coverage, but it was a good pass and catch. We have too many guys who can run with the receivers, but can’t get their hand on the ball to knock it down. King was particularly disappointing.

Jackson looked good the two times they let him carry the ball. He looks like he is ready for a big year.

by andyrose on Aug 15, 2009 3:30 PM CDT reply actions