Behind the Numbers: Eagles vs. Rams

Today is the first day of a weekly articles I will write after each St. Louis Rams game.  The point is to look at the box score and point out the important stats that led to the Rams winning or losing, which players had good games and what needs to be improved for the next week.  As we all know, the Rams played poorly yesterday in almost every aspect; the stats reflect that.  After the jump we go behind the numbers.

First let's just look at the team stats.

Team stats

The first thing that stands out to me is that we lost by 18, but possession was 50-50, the yards are close and the TOs were even.  So why did the Rams lose?  Simple the Rams defense was unable to get the Eagles off the field on 3rd down and the offense wasn't able to stay on the field on 3rd down.  (Also the Eagles had a defensive TD but they still scored 11 more offensive points than the Rams.)  The Rams also made it to the Redzone only once, while the Eagles were there 4 times.  The Rams lost the field position battle and it shows in these stats.  

Player Stats

For a complete list of player stats go here.

The Rams held Vick to under 50% on passing, which is excellent, but they allowed him to run for 98 yards!  That is unacceptable even with a guy like Vick at QB.  No QB in the league should get RB rushing numbers on you and that was one of the big reasons the Rams couldn't get off the field on 3rd down.

McCoy had 122 yards rushing at a 8.1 per carry clip!  The Rams gave up huge runs that sealed the game for the Eagles.  The rush D will have to improve for the Rams D to be successful in the upcoming games.

Cadillac Williams had 91 yards on 19 carries, almost 5.0 yards per carry (he also led the team in receiving.)  These are excellent number and combined with Jackson two good runs the Rams actually had a very good day rushing.

Rams WRs had 6 drops and the team had 60 penalty yards.  Horrible.  When you are playing a team like the Eagles you can't afford to shot yourself in the foot, but the Rams did that many times in Sunday's game.

DeSean Jackson had himself a huge game; 6 catches, 102 yards and 1 TD.  He should of had another TD as well but he dropped the ball.   He continues to show everybody how explosive he is.  Just imagine if the Rams picked him.

Sam Bradford had a overall sub-par day.  His passing numbers weren't the greatest; 17/30, 188 yards, 0 TDs, and 0 INTS.  He also had a fumble that was recovered for a TD.  Part of Sam's passing struggles were because the WRs were dropping passes, especially Kendricks dropping a sure TD, but a lot of the blame goes to the o-line and Sam himself.  The o-line constantly let pressure get to Sam and because of that he wasn't able to get into a rhythm.  Sam also wasn't as accurate as I've seen him.  He missed some open throws, most notably when he had Danny Amendola wide open in the end zone.  Overall the entire passing offense was bad and they will have to improve for the Rams to get back on track.

Now to the defense.  The Eagles had 5 sacks 11 QB hits and 7 TFL.  It's hard for an offense to get going when they have negative plays.  The Eagles defensive line deserves credit, but most of those stats come from the Rams' o-line having a horrible day.

The Rams defense did well in pressuring Vick; 3 sacks and 11 QB hits.  The reason the Eagles were able to do so well though is that the Rams couldn't contain Vick.  How many times did the Rams have Vick scrambling in the backfield only to have him elude defenders and run for the first down?!?!   I know Vick is incredible but you can't let him run loose like the Rams did.  Whether it was on the players or the play calling for this, I have no idea.

So overall the stats just tell the story you all saw with your eyes.  Except for pass defense and rush offense, which were pretty decent, the Rams played horribly.  They just need to burry the hatchet and move on to next week's game against the Giants.  A contest that will feature the two most injured teams in the NFL.