SB Nation St. Louis - Patrick Peterson Returns Punt For Touchdown, Arizona Cardinals Stun St. Louis Rams In Overtimehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/49009/stl-fave.png2011-11-09T09:01:28-06:00http://stlouis.sbnation.com/rss/stream/22756752011-11-09T09:01:28-06:002011-11-09T09:01:28-06:00Sam Bradford's Especially Deep St. Louis Rams Return
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<p><span>Sam Bradford</span> struggled down the stretch in <a href="http://stlouis.sbnation.com/st-louis-rams/2011/10/24/2511634/sam-bradford-injury-st-louis-rams-questionable-week-8" target="_blank">Week 9's loss to the Arizona Cardinals</a>, finishing <a target="_blank" href="http://footballoutsiders.com/quick-reads/2011/week-9-quick-reads">just below replacement level</a> according to the Football Outsiders guys, and while I'd just as soon forget that game ever happened they have an interesting stat about the particular kind of inconsistency he managed Sunday—he averaged 21.6 yards downfield on his 13 incompletions, the highest of any quarterback last week.</p>↵<p>The offense has yet to have a great game, but since the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/st-louis-rams">Rams</a> acquired <span>Brandon Lloyd</span> it's at least looked like Josh McDaniels's offense was supposed to. If Bradford isn't missing receivers downfield as badly as he was against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.revengeofthebirds.com/">Cardinals</a>—it was hard to reconcile that Bradford with the guy from Week 2 against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bigblueview.com/">Giants</a>, let alone the guy from Oklahoma—this team could finally do what it was supposed to all along soon. </p>↵<p>Of course, now it has to do it <a href="http://stlouis.sbnation.com/st-louis-rams/2011/11/8/2548756/greg-salas-injury-st-louis-rams" target="_blank">without Greg Salas</a>, so it seems like every bit of offensive good news comes with an equal and opposite reaction in the wide receiving corps. </p>
https://stlouis.sbnation.com/st-louis-rams/2011/11/9/2548884/sam-bradford-st-louis-rams-injuryDan Moore2011-11-07T08:00:43-06:002011-11-07T08:00:43-06:00Fantasy Football Week 10: Sam Bradford's Brandon Lloyd-Backed Renaissance
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<p>Sam Bradford showed cause for optimism for the St. Louis Rams and fantasy football owners in the Rams' Week 9 heartbreaker to the Arizona Cardinals.</p> <p>Especially patient fantasy football owners saw a promising return from <span>Sam Bradford</span> in his first game back after missing two with a high ankle sprain; despite continuing the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/st-louis-rams">Rams</a>' touchdown drought, he went 23-for-36 for 255 yards, operating mostly out of the shotgun. Steven Jackson's 130 yards on the ground certainly helped, but the major difference, as expected, was <span>Brandon Lloyd</span>, who'd starred in his first appearances with the Rams even with <span>A.J. Feeley</span> lining up under center. </p>
<p>Lloyd's ability to work within Josh McDaniels's system—and excel there—has been its own reward. But similarly impressive gains have come from the Rams' other wide receivers, now that they've been demoted to lesser cornerbacks—<span>Brandon Gibson</span> caught four balls for 49 yards as the Rams' second receiver—the place he was supposed to be before <span>Mike Sims-Walker</span> cratered—and <span>Greg Salas</span> excelled in the slot role, turning in a perfectly <span>Danny Amendola</span> performance of seven receptions for 59 yards before leaving with an unpleasant-looking leg injury and being replaced by an equally competent <span>Austin Pettis</span>. </p>
<p>The Rams still need to find the end zone more frequently, but Bradford—still nursing his bad ankle—showed that with Brandon Lloyd, he could at least chew up the yards across midfield.</p>
https://stlouis.sbnation.com/st-louis-rams/2011/11/7/2542982/fantasy-football-week-10-sam-bradford-brandon-lloydDan Moore2011-11-06T19:10:50-06:002011-11-06T19:10:50-06:00Rams Vs. Cardinals Score Update: Rams Fall In Stunning Fashion
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<p>Over the course of the first eight games of the season, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/st-louis-rams">St. Louis Rams</a> have shown the ability to lose in a variety of different ways. However, in the 19-13 (OT) loss to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.revengeofthebirds.com/">Arizona Cardinals</a>, the Rams found a way to lose in the most heartbreaking fashion possible. After blowing numerous opportunities to potentially win the game in regulation, the Rams gave up a 99-yard punt return TD to <span>Patrick Peterson</span> to seal the loss.</p>
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<p>While losing in that fashion was certainly heartbreaking, the Rams will be most frustrated by even allowing the game to get to OT. After a TD by <span>Larry Fitzgerald</span> tied the game at 13, the Rams appeared to be driving for a game-winning field goal. However, instead of attempting a 50-yard field goal, Steve Spagnuolo elected to try and convert on fourth and short. Unfortunately, Steven Jackson came up short, which seemed to give the Cardinals a chance to win the game.</p>
<p>Instead of buckling under pressure, the Rams defense held the Cardinals and forced a punt. After a couple of quick completions to <span>Austin Pettis</span>, the Rams were in position to attempt a game-winning field goal as time expired. In stunning fashion, <span>Calais Campbell</span> blocked the 42-yard attempt to force OT.</p>
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<p>In the loss, Steven Jackson ran for 130 yards on 29 carries. <span>Sam Bradford</span> completed 23/26 for 255 yards in his return from an ankle injury. However, the inability to get into the endzone doomed the Rams to a frustrating loss. St. Louis will hope to bounce back when it visits Cleveland next week.</p>
<p><i><b>Stay tuned to </b></i><a target="_blank" href="http://www.turfshowtimes.com/">Turf Show Times</a><i><b>, SB Nation's St. Louis Rams blog, and </b></i><a target="_blank" href="http://www.revengeofthebirds.com/">Revenge of the Birds</a><i><b>, SB Nation's Arizona Cardinals blog</b></i>.</p>
https://stlouis.sbnation.com/st-louis-rams/2011/11/6/2543110/rams-vs-cardinals-score-updateMax Mandel2011-11-06T18:39:05-06:002011-11-06T18:39:05-06:00Rams Vs. Cardinals Final: Patrick Peterson Returns Punt For Touchdown, Arizona Stuns In Overtime
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<p>Patrick Peterson returned his third punt of the season for a touchdown, and this 99-yard shot came in overtime as the Arizona Cardinals stunned the St. Louis Rams by a score of 19-13. The Rams had neutralized Peterson all game in the punt game, but he surprised them by taking the ball out deep within Cardinals territory and confounded them by dodging nearly every Ram on the field on his way to the Cardinals’ overtime win.</p>
<p>For the Rams the loss is another ugly reminder of their offense’s inability to put the ball into the end zone. Despite 255 yards from Sam Bradford and 130 more from Steven Jackson the Rams were unable to score a single touchdown, relying on three field goals from Josh Brown and two consecutive safeties on Cardinals backup John Skelton to get on the board.</p>
<p>After a start that gave cause for optimism it looks like Rams fans are in for another week of speculation about Steve Spagnuolo’s future, courtesy the incredible Patrick Peterson and their own strange inadequacies.</p>
https://stlouis.sbnation.com/st-louis-rams/2011/11/6/2543072/rams-vs-cardinals-final-score-patrick-peterson-returns-punt-overtimeDan Moore2011-11-06T18:31:34-06:002011-11-06T18:31:34-06:00Rams Vs. Cardinals Score Update: Overtime Forced As Cardinals Block Regulation-Ending Field Goal
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<p>The St. Louis Rams and the Arizona Cardinals will play overtime in their Week 9 contest—regulation ended with the score tied at 13 after the Rams’ game-ending field goal, a 42-yarder from Josh Brown, was blocked at the line of scrimmage as time expired. Sam Bradford and the Rams won the coin toss, leaving the game—and the Rams’ second win in a row—in the hands of their sophomore quarterback, back for his first game after missing two due to injury.</p>
<p>The Cardinals tied the game on a late touchdown from <a href="http://stlouis.sbnation.com/st-louis-rams/2011/11/6/2543022/cardinals-vs-rams-score-larry-fitzgerald-touchdown-catch/in/2275675" target="new">John Skelton to Larry Fitzgerald</a>, who’d been quiet all day. The Rams’ offense has come from safeties, field goals, and some booming punts from Donnie Jones—Bradford has been excellent, but unable to reach the end zone due in part to serious pressure from the Cardinals’ defense.</p>
<p>The matchup between Brandon Lloyd and Patrick Peterson has been won, thus far, by Lloyd, who caught five balls for 80 yards in regulation. Steven Jackson’s over 100 yards rushing on the day after struggling in the third quarter.</p>
https://stlouis.sbnation.com/st-louis-rams/2011/11/6/2543050/rams-vs-cardinals-score-update-overtime-blocked-field-goalDan Moore2011-11-06T18:13:29-06:002011-11-06T18:13:29-06:00Cardinals Vs. Rams Score: Larry Fitzgerald Grabs First Touchdown, Ties Game 13-13
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<p>The Arizona Cardinals scored the first touchdown of a truly ugly Week 9 matchup with the St. Louis Rams in the fourth quarter Sunday afternoon, with John Skelton hitting Larry Fitzgerald for a 13-yard touchdown catch with five minutes left in regulation to tie the score at 13. Skelton had his best drive of the night at the right moment, rushing for 28 yards and passing for 47 more to get the Cardinals in the end zone.</p>
<p>Fitzgerald had been mostly neutralized until the reception—he exits regulation with just four receptions for 43 yards and the touchdown—but John Skelton has looked strong in his first start of the season in place of the injured Kevin Kolb, going 20-for-35 for 222 yards and a touchdown and running the ball five times for 22 yards more, including those two crucial scrambles in that touchdown drive.</p>
<p>The Rams have looked strong on offense but still remain completely averse to the end zone—Sam Bradford is 22-for-31 for 251 yards and zero touchdowns, while Josh Brown has three field goals and the Rams’ defense two safeties.</p>
https://stlouis.sbnation.com/st-louis-rams/2011/11/6/2543022/cardinals-vs-rams-score-larry-fitzgerald-touchdown-catchDan Moore2011-11-06T18:01:07-06:002011-11-06T18:01:07-06:00Greg Salas Injury: St. Louis Rams' Rookie Carted Off Grabbing Leg
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<p>The St. Louis Rams may have just lost their second slot receiver—Greg Salas left their Week 9 nailbiter against the Arizona Cardinals with an apparent leg injury after catching his seventh ball of the day from Sam Bradford. Salas, a fifth-round pick in the 2011 <span class="caps">NFL</span> Draft from Hawaii, had just emerged as an adequate replacement for Danny Amendola after an extremely slow start to the season. After holding his leg on the field Salas was carted off with an air-cast on, looking especially glum—this could be a serious injury for a Rams offense that couldn’t really take another.</p>
<p>With Salas gone, fourth-rounder Austin Pettis, heretofore confined to special teams, will likely take his place, while a bigger share of the offense will go to Brandon Gibson and Brandon Lloyd.</p>
<p>The Rams had already lost second-round pick Lance Kendricks in the first half, to another leg injury. If both injuries are serious it looks like we’ll see just how deep this maligned Rams receiver corps can be.</p>
https://stlouis.sbnation.com/st-louis-rams/2011/11/6/2543005/greg-salas-injury-st-louis-rams-rookie-leg-injuredDan Moore2011-11-06T17:44:54-06:002011-11-06T17:44:54-06:00Rams Vs. Cardinals Score: Steven Jackson's Struggles Stymie Rams In Second Half
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<p>The St. Louis Rams have scored four points in the second half, thanks primarily to Donnie Jones and a hungry defense—while Sam Bradford continues to clam up near the red zone, the team’s major problem has been Steven Jackson’s struggles since halftime. After a solid-but-unspectacular first half in which Jackson averaged just under four yards per carry he’s been entirely neutralized in the second, finding himself consistently nailed behind the line of scrimmage to set an unpleasant tone in the Rams’ offensive drive.</p>
<p>Thanks to John Skelton’s struggled in his <em>own</em> end zone, this hasn’t been a problem. But in a game defined primarily by the Rams’ cautious offensive optimism this inability to produce positive yardage on first down from their star running back—let alone points through the air from their star quarterback—shows just how far the Rams have to go before they’ll be at the level everyone expected out of Josh McDaniels’s new offense.</p>
<p>In the fourth quarter Jackson has 21 carries for 76 yards, as well as one reception for 12 more. Backup Cadillac Williams has been quiet, carrying the ball three times for 17 yards of his own.</p>
https://stlouis.sbnation.com/st-louis-rams/2011/11/6/2542978/st-louis-rams-score-steven-jacksonDan Moore