SB Nation St. Louis Rams Week 2
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Sam Bradford will play Monday Night for the St. Louis Rams vs. the New York Giants. Steven Jackson looks like a game-time decision.
Steven Jackson's absence might have been the reason the St. Louis Rams' high-flying offense kept sputtering out when it came time to score from the red zone, but if there's any silver lining round that particular cloud it's this: Jackson's thinking long-term, for once. Turf Show Times takes an important quote from his Twitter: He wants to play—he's still Steven Jackson, after all, who last year was almost constantly suffering from one nagging injury or another—but he has to "be smart about the season."
That's an important perspective for the Rams' workhorse to have. Maybe if everything had gone perfectly with Jackson the Rams could have come away with a win on Monday Night Football. But if they hadn't—if Jackson had reaggravated an injury that had kept him from practicing all week already—this would have just been an ugly loss made even uglier.
It was brutal to watch Cadillac Williams sputter out after his promising Week 1 performance, and more brutal still to watch him miss that lateral—but it would have been worse to have seen all of that after Jackson went down grabbing his leg again.
There were moments when the St. Louis Rams, one of football's perennial up-and-comers, showed exactly what got people so excited about the combination of number-one draft pick Sam Bradford and new offensive-coordinator-slash-mad-scientist Josh McDaniels. At one point the Rams were so dominant, and so ruthlessly efficient working without a huddle, that two separate New York Giants faked injuries to stop the clock. Bradford unleashed the deep passing ability we've hoped for since the draft, and Danario Alexander had the best game of his career a year after being inactive for opening day. On defense the Rams continually pressured Eli Manning, with vaunted young defensive ends Chris Long and Robert Quinn each picking up sacks and free-agent pickup Quintin Mikell reversing momentum early with an interception.
Unfortunately, when it came to the kind of football plays that don't happen 40 times a game, the Rams collapsed again and again. Rookie Greg Salas dropped a punt deep in Rams territory, and the Giants turned a muffed lateral between Sam Bradford and Cadillac Williams into a 65-yard touchdown return. That's how a team can eat more than 400 yards on offense, hold Eli Manning to 200 yards passing, and lose 28-16.
The good news: That's one of the less-repeatable ways to lose 28-16. It's little consolation today, but these Rams showed they were dangerous right now—and when they get out of their own way their offensive fireworks will be quite a sight.
Danario Alexander is back, St. Louis Rams lady-fans and gentle-fans. On Monday Night Football, just one week after being inactive for the Rams' season opener, Alexander has caught three balls for 122 yards and a touchdown, making some acrobatic plays—including an ersatz back-handspring in the course of a 68-yard reception-and-run that ended just a yard short of a touchdown. His knee problems, for at least one night, aren't the biggest story—the biggest story is how he's eviscerated the New York Giants.
With the Rams otherwise unable to crack the red zone, Alexander made a diving catch in the back of the end zone from 19 yards out to put the Rams on the board after a series of underwhelming offensive adventures. Whatever happens in the fourth quarter, the Rams have discovered that 2010's number-one wide receiver and health tease will also be 2011's number-one wide receiver and health tease.
For video of Alexander's outstanding plays check the NFL Game Center—it's the Danario Alexander you remember from Mizzou, not the one who limped his way on and off the team during the 2011 preseason.
The St. Louis Rams' offense fired on all cylinders in the first half, but nobody remembered to put it in park or lock the doors—the New York Giants have taken advantage of some awful mistakes by the Rams to open up a 21-6 lead at halftime on Monday Night Football. Eli Manning is just 9-for-18 with 104 yards—and two touchdowns.
Bradford's been rushed more intensely after the Rams' hot start; he goes into halftime at 11-for-23 with 197 yards, about as far away from the infamous Pat Shurmur/Danny Amendola Rams as you could possibly imagine. Danario Alexander, who backflipped his way into a 68-yard reception a week after being inactive, has been the primary benefactor of this newly opened-up offense. But without Steven Jackson to go to work near the goal line the Giants have been bruising Sam Bradford when the Rams near touchdown territory, not leaving enough time for the Rams' newly complex offense to make its last steps into the end zone.
Without the mistakes the Rams would be in the lead going into the third quarter—with them they'll be hard-pressed to catch up.
If Monday Night Football has taught us one thing about the St. Louis Rams, it's that they need to invest in some gloves with velcro on them, or one of those bungee cords with a net on one end for the football to go inside. If it taught as another thing, it's that the Rams' new offense is extraordinarily fast, and that Sam Bradford and Josh McDaniels are the same soul trapped in different bodies.
The New York Giants, as it turns out, have discovered a novel way of stopping that forward momentum. It's called "pretending to be injured," and if you've watched European-Rules Football or seen Vlade Divac play basketball you'll be familiar with it. Here's the video:
Take a look at the full-size version on Turf Show Times, where one commenter is justifiably worried that a sniper is on the loose at MetLife Stadium. I hope they catch him before he manages to shoot another Giant with a fast-acting tranquilizer dart exactly as the Rams are about to storm the goal line.
The St. Louis Rams’ offense looked exactly as advertised in the first quarter of Monday Night Football—outside the red zone, at least. Sam Bradford’s 68-yard connection to Danario Alexander wasn’t the only thing the New York Giants had to contend with—Bradford finished the quarter 6-for-11 with 139 yards through the air, getting Mike Sims-Walker, Brandon Gibson, and beleaguered rookie Lance Kendricks involved with some big plays as well.
Working without a huddle, the Rams ran the Giants so ragged that the New York defense clearly faked an injury to catch their breaths. But each time they neared the goal line, they locked up, the result being two Josh Brown field goals instead of two Sam Bradford touchdowns. Without Steven Jackson to account for the Giants put serious pressure on Bradford at the goal line, forcing awkward passes and stuffing Cadillac Williams.
The Giants carry a 7-6 lead into the second quarter, but they haven’t played that way—only a dropped Greg Salas punt return and the continued red zone misplays have kept them in this game against Josh McDaniels’s wrecking ball of an offense.
The St. Louis Rams' rookie targets for Sam Bradford continued to struggle in the first quarter of their Monday Night Football audition against the New York Giants—Greg Salas fumbled a punt return in Rams territory after a brilliant stop by the Rams defense, putting Eli Manning and Hakeem Nicks in perfect position for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead. After last week's drops from Salas and tight end Lance Kendricks, the Rams have had little reason to continue to trust the players that made up the middle of their 2011 draft. (Austin Pettis, the third-round pick from that draft, is inactive for Monday's game, passed on the depth chart by Danario Alexander.)
Eli Manning, Brandon Jacobs, and Nicks, who caught a three-yard touchdown pass to put the Giants on top, didn't need to be told twice—they put together a quick drive for the first touchdown of the night from either side. Thanks to the Rams' continued struggles in the red zone, they continue top lead with just over three minutes left in the first quarter.
The St. Louis Rams’ defense bent but manages to break the New York Giants in Eli Manning’s first drive of Week 2’s Monday Night Football matchup, getting pushed downfield before free-agent pickup Quintin Mikell invaded a route for a clean interception. The Rams offense got down to the goal line—thanks to a beautiful pass from Sam Bradford that led to a beautiful catch from Danario Alexander—before settling for a field goal, picking up an early 3-0 lead.
Mikell was strong in the Rams’ Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles as well, picking up a sack and an interception; in his career, which he began as an undrafted free agent with the Eagles, he has 11 interceptions and five sacks. For Eli Manning it’s his second interception of the season, a year after leading the NFL with 25; his 114 in his career are seventh among active quarterbacks.
The Rams will need to take advantage of Manning’s propensity for making mistakes if they’re to stopper the Giants’ offense.
A week after being inactive for the St. Louis Rams' opener, and a month after nearly being left off the roster, the Rams' Great Mizzou Hope will get his best chance of the year to reinsert himself into their long-term plans—Danario Alexander figures to see some targets on Monday Night Football with injured stalwart Danny Amendola and rookie wide receiver Austin Pettis both inactive against the New York Giants. If Alexander and his balky knee can't make a difference here, with two receivers ahead of him off the depth chart and Steven Jackson unable to play, he's unlikely to have much of a future in the organization when Mark Clayton comes back.
When healthy, Alexander is the most dangerous receiving option the Rams have; he stormed onto the active roster in Week 6 last season and caught four balls for 72 yards and a touchdown, and reached 90 yards twice in his last four games. Unfortunately, it's impossible to count on his left knee—repaired surgically no fewer than five times—even from game to game.
With Pettis and Amendola out of the picture and Greg Salas and Lance Kendricks still smarting from their drops last Sunday, now's Alexander's chance to flash his potential once more. After all: Danny Amendola's due back sooner than anyone thought, and Mark Clayton sooner than he might like.
Steven Jackson will miss the St. Louis Rams' Monday Night Football matchup with the New York Giants according to reports just ahead of gametime; the Rams running back had been a game-time decision for the club ahead of their Week 2 contest, which is scheduled for 7:30 PM CDT on ESPN. Cadillac Williams and Jerious Norwood will get the bulk of the Rams' carries in his stead while Jackson continues to recover from a quad injury that saw him miss most of Week 1 after running untouched for a 47-yard touchdown on the Rams' first offensive play of the season.
Jackson played all 16 games in 2010, just the second time in his career he's played a full season, but it was the least effective 16 games of his career; Jackson averaged just 3.8 yards a carry on his way to six touchdowns. He's a career 4.3 yards per carry rusher, and the team's all-time rushing leader with 8004 career yards on the ground to go with 2670 through the air.
Williams had an excellent performance in Jackson's absence last Sunday, rushing 19 times for 91 yards and catching five balls for 49 more.
The St. Louis Rams and the New York Giants both find themselves coming off disappointing performances heading into a long-scheduled date with Monday Night Football, and while it's foolish to consider a Week 2 game a must-win for anyone in the NFL, each team's near future will be defined in the media by what they do on the regular season's biggest stage.
Sam Bradford and the Rams were bitten by the worrisome inexperience—or maybe simple incompetence—of their receiving corps against the tough Philadelphia Eagles, with rookies Lance Kendricks and Greg Salas both dropping vitally important passes over the middle with the Rams still in the game. With injuries to offensive stalwarts like Steven Jackson and Danny Amendola, the defense—itself without Ron Bartell—could again be forced onto the field more often than it can stand.
Eli Manning was scattershot but relatively effective in the Giants' 28-14 loss to Rex Grossman(!) and the Washington Redskins, reaching 268 yards on 32 passes, but he only scored on a quarterback sneak and his third-quarter interception with the score tied led to the Skins' go-ahead touchdown; he couldn't get the Giants back to the end zone after that.
Steven Jackson remains questionable on the St. Louis Rams' Week 2 injury report despite not practicing all week following a strange quadriceps injury suffered while running in the open field on his Week 1 touchdown dash against the Philadelphia Eagles. For all that (relative) optimism, most football fans and analysts seem convinced Cadillac Williams will be lining up against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football, with Jackson held back despite all his usual protestations.
Jackson's a hard player to keep out of a game—even out of a series, as his historically invisible backups have shown—but the Rams signed Williams and Jerious Norwood for this exact reason—so they'd be able to keep Jackson fresh and as near 100% as he could get as often as they could manage. Williams's outstanding performance Week 1—he ran for 91 yards on 19 carries and caught five balls for 49 yards, his best performance since he rushed for 129 yards back in 2009. If Williams and Norwood can combine to perform about like Jackson, there's no reason to rush Jackson back.
The St. Louis Rams have a tough game-time decision to make prior to their Monday Night Football appearance against the New York Giants: Do they test Steven Jackson's gimpy quadriceps despite their starting running back's failure to practice all week, or do they hope that Cadillac Williams is actually as rejuvenated as he looked in the Rams' Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles? Jackson owners who've decided to trawl the fantasy football waiver wire for Williams instead of playing a backup Sunday are hoping for the latter.
Williams, whose career looked over following a brilliant start and some devastating injuries thereafter, remade himself in 2009 and 2010 as a useful receiving option and a third-down option, but he hasn't looked as dynamic as he did in Week 1 in some time. If Jackson's out, the Rams are likely to use both Williams and Jerious Norwood, another injury-prone ex-star-on-the-rise—whoever gets off to a hotter start might see the bulk of the playing time in Josh McDaniels's home-run-happy offense.
Of course, key for both players if they're going to pick up a touchdown on the ground will be Sam Bradford's performance coming off his pedestrian start to the season; without that engine driving the offense into the red zone, neither retread back can be relied upon to get the Rams there on his own.
Steven Jackson's performance has been a microcosm of the St. Louis Rams' season so far—occasionally brilliant, decidedly injury-prone and ultimately frustrating. The Rams' elder statesman ran 47 yards for a touchdown on their first offensive play from scrimmage, inaugurating what was supposed to be a high-powered Josh McDaniels-infused offense, before leaving almost immediately thereafter with a quad injury he sustained in the open field. Since then he hasn't practiced, and it's only by the grace of Cadillac Williams's impressive performance after he left that Rams fans aren't renting their garments and walking around in a state of mourning.
That said, the Rams have refused to count Jackson out, literally—he remains a game-time decision ahead of their Monday Night Football date with the New York Giants. With Cadillac Williams and Jerious Norwood in tow the Rams are in better shape to weather a Jackson-less week than they have been in years, but given their tough schedule this is almost a must-win game; if he's ready to play they'll use him however they can.
Sam Bradford's injury late in the St. Louis Rams' comically unpleasant loss to the Philadelphia Eagles Week 1 was just the final insult in a string of them—Steven Jackson was hurt, Jason Smith, Ron Bartell and Danny Amendola and just about anyone else you enjoyed watching on offense or defense. But it looks like the Rams dodged the biggest of those bullets—Sam Bradford's ready to go for Monday Night Football vs. the New York Giants, his injured finger looking like nothing more than a painful bruise.
Bradford wasn't getting the grip he wanted on the ball immediately after the game, but after some Michael Jackson glovework and a week of rest and practice he looks to be unaffected by the injury for Week 2. That's good news for the Rams, especially after A.J. Feeley's performance in his first game action since 2007 might have inspired some Thaddeus Lewis-related second thoughts. Bradford needs as much time as he can get behind the wheel of Josh McDaniels's new offense, and Danny Amendola's injury is another change in that complex set-up he'll need to get used to.
Before leaving last Sunday's game Bradford was 17-for-30 for 188 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. The victim of numerous drops from an inexperienced receiving corps, Bradford was also sacked four times, a rate twice as high as he saw last season.
The St. Louis Rams' undefeated preseason got a lot of fans excited about the team as a whole, but it did something else, too—it got a lot of fantasy football fans excited about rookie tight end Lance Kendricks, the second-rounder who'd gone from Josh McDaniels-inspired reach to the Rams' number-one receiver, catching 11 balls for 155 yards and three touchdowns, all of which ranked among the rookie leaders in all of preseason football.
Unfortunately for the Rams, all that hype as a top fantasy football sleeper didn't do Kendricks any favors in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles; Kendricks made some crucial drops when the Rams were still in the game—four misses in five targets—and ended up getting overshadowed by Billy Bajema, the afterthought third tight end on the roster. Overall he was one of the least effective tight ends in football in the first week of the season.
Of course, that doesn't say anything about Kendrick's future—even his near future. With Michael Hoomanawanui still not ready to make his 2011 debut and McDaniels's tight end-heavy offense still in place, Kendricks will be given every chance to live up to his preseason reputation, and fantasy owners would be ill-advised to give up on their sleeper pick early. Unless they're in the same league as me, of course, in which case I encourage them to drop Kendricks as soon as possible, and maybe let me know when they do it.
The St. Louis Rams had some hard luck in their Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles—losing Ron Bartell and Danny Amendola, among others, for an extended period of time—but it looks like they dodged at least one bullet; Sam Bradford, their designated savior, will play Monday Night against the New York Giants after suffering a bruised finger late in last Sunday's drubbing.
Bradford wasn't especially sharp in his 2011 debut, fumbling a ball that was run back for a touchdown and completing 17 of 30 passes for 188 yards and no touchdowns, but given the rust A.J. Feeley showed in his place the Rams' season would have immediately been thrown into doubt if Bradford has been forced to miss significant time.
As for his lieutenant of short-range pass-catching, Danny Amendola, he wants to play Monday, too, despite an injury that was decidedly less safe for work. (Seriously, don't click that link to Turf Show Times at work. Or anywhere where you don't want to see a man's arm bent in the wrong direction. If you or anyone you know has an elbow, seriously.)
St. Louis Rams Owner Stan Kroenke Reportedly Harangues Steve Spagnuolo
by Dan Moore
For once, St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke is in the news for something other than wanting to move the team to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, it's because he's reportedly haranguing Steve Spagnuolo after particularly disappointing Rams losses.
It's a weird story—Kroenke never struck me as an especially hands-on owner, and if you were going to begin haranguing Spagnuolo now seems like an unwise time, considering the Rams' 0-2 record is more the result of some incredibly weird fundamental mistakes than structural problems. That's certainly the coach's problem, but I'm not sure it's something that will persist, let alone something that can be fixed by replacing him with somebody else.
I'm just hoping this is an uncorroborated tweet, and not the start of the Al Davis era in St. Louis. Does anybody know Stan Kroenke's feelings on fast, otherwise-unskilled wide receivers? Has anybody checked to see if he owns a James Jett jersey? These are my primary concerns, and not the haranguing in itself (with all apologies to Steve Spagnuolo's feelings.)
Sep 21 8:01a