Putting This One Behind Us

After taking some time to think about yesterday’s loss to the Falcons, I came to the conclusion that the Rams actually played pretty well for most of the game. The defense kept the big guns from Atlanta in check for the most part, and Sam Bradford did a nice job moving the ball. Looking at the stats, the Falcons offense put up some big numbers, but Roddy White never really broke a huge play and he didn’t get in the end zone, and Michael Turner picked up a big chunk of his stats when the game was already decided. There’s still no excuse for allowing Turner to break that last 40-yard touchdown, but that didn’t cost us the game.

I’m still having a hard time understanding why Steven Jackson only had 11 carries in the game, especially considering he averaged almost 5 yards per carry, but Coach Spags said today that they had several more running plays called that got changed at the line. If that’s the case, I have no problem with it. Still, if the team is going to change plays at the line, then they should alter the following play-calls to make sure they get their best player enough touches.

There were a few guys who really stood out to me on Sunday with their play on the field, and the first guy was Justin King. He made several nice plays on defense and on special teams, and it seemed like he had his nose in nearly every play when he was on the field. If he can stay healthy, I like his potential. I also thought rookie corner Jerome Murphy had a nice day, particularly on special teams. Offensively, Danny Amendola caught everything thrown his way as usual, but I would have liked to see him use better judgement on bringing kicks out of the end zone in the return game. Illini Mike also looked good, and he is really developing into an important piece of this offense.