Remember how coming into Week 6 the St. Louis Rams had a two-game winning streak? Well, consider it snapped. The Rams could not muster the come-from-behind win over the Miami Dolphins.
While the boys from the Lou did have their best offensive output of the season – 462 total yards – without Danny Amendola, the offense couldn't find the endzone even if it slapped them right across the face.
Kicker Greg Zuerlein's return down to earth (he missed his last two FG attempts) wasn't quite helpful either.
So while we await for redemption in the form of next week's game, lets take a gander at at how my five players to watch performed at Miami.
Well, the guy who is supposed to fill in for Amendola really did not do anything for most of the game. Sure, he played some snaps, but didn't get a catch until the dwindling minutes of the fourth quarter. Smith caught two passes for 18 yards as time wound down. I thought he would have been more of a factor in this game. He needs to be in the upcoming weeks.
Givens' play was one of the biggest positives from the game. Chris saw the field early and often. He hauled in a 65 yard reception – his longest of the season. Had three catches for 85 yards before the end of the first half. Too bad that was the stat line Givens ended the game with.
The Rams scored their first rushing touchdown. Too bad it didn't come from Jackson, but from quarterback Sam Bradford on a goal-line rush.
SJ had a solid game. He carried the ball 12 times for 52 yards. Ax Jack also chipped in three catches for 28 yards. Why wasn't Jackson featured more in the game? I don't know, but one has to now wonder if Steven's consecutive 1,000 yard streak is in jeopardy.
The defense did an exceptionally well job stopping the eighth-ranked Miami run game. Laurinaitis and Co. kept limited Reggie Bush to 17 yards on 12 carries. Miami totaled 19 rushing yards.
As far as Laurinaitis' play, he had six solo tackles. He also stopped Bush on a few occasions right at the line of scrimmage, wrapping him up low to stop forward progress. All in all, I was pleased with Animal Jr.'s play.
Sam Bradford
Positives: Bradford completed 26 out of 39 passes for 315 yards. He also displayed mobility, running the ball four times for 35 yards and that TD. Negatives: he just can't seem to be able to pass the ball into the endzone. This marked the season's third game that Bradford hasn't thrown a TD. That's that bit I don't like.