Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
Plenty O' Positives:
1. Warner and the offense have been dominating the first halfs of the away games and this was another clinic in the first half, even overcoming Wells' fumble of the sweep toss that thwarted the first drive. And despite Leinart's struggles, and the fact that the offense with him at QB scored 0 points, he gets the save. That is a positive.
2. The combo of Hightower and Wells continues to impress. Hightower's career long 50 yard run sparked the first TD drive, and Wells' nice smashmouth running, especially on his TD was excellent. For a while there they seemed to be gaining ten yards per clip.
3. Fitz and Q had very good games and each had nice TDs.
4. Early Doucet made the big catch late, and he threw some nice blocks on some of the wide runs. Ben Patrick had a very nice open field catch.
5. Save Brown's early whiff on Little, the o-line played good, physical football. How about Brown's and Lutui's down blocks on Wells' TD? Wow.
6. The defense did a much better job versus the run, save the one long Jackson gallop. Hayes was huge...and was plugging today! How about the play where he stood up Jackson short of the first down, and then the play Dansby made stuffing him on 4th down. Dansby was good today. Campbell and Iwebema were solid throughout. Will Davis gave the team a good sack and several good tackles.
7. DRC, despite playing in a tuxedo, which he really needs to change, took Donnie Avery out of the game...period. That was bigger than most realize. Avery is the Rams' best WR and has been playing very well. Antrel Rolle had a nice sack and was not as much of a factor in forcing the run today because the front seven did their jobs. Adrian Wilson was used much more wisely and productively today...and he had a great pick and some real good hits on Jackson to show for it. But, the real surprise was Michael Adams (filling in for an injured BMF, getting the nod over R. Brown), who battled tooth and nail out there. Yes, he had the one hold on a key 4th down, but it's good he was playing super aggressive...that's how you play to win. He made a great force tackle on a screen to his side...he also sprinted across the field to catch Jackson on his long run...the fact that he caught up to Jackson from that distance was extraordinary...Adams looks like the best tackling CB on the squad. And, best of all, he worked his hand into the fade to Gibson just enough to get a slight piece of it. That was huge. Plus he saved a potential KO return TD in the first half.
8. Ben Graham is extraordinary in all aspects of his craft...Rackers too....and man, LSH gets to the football on STs, especially on those pooch punts.
9. Wow. 5-0 on the road. What an accomplishment.
10. The penalties were few. Pretty clean game. Good flow to this game.
The Not So Positives:
1. What looked strange about Leinart was how zoned out he looked in the face going into the game and all throughout the second half especially as he was standing in the huddle (was he emulating DRC?...boy at times you wonder if the lights are on, don't you?). His decision to throw a shuffle pass under pressure for his first throw in that situation was absurd...and he really got away with that one. Clearly, the coaches do not have the confidence in Leinart, which was clear in how much they dumbed down the play calling. But, the coaches should be scrutinized for rolling Leinart on bootlegs to the right and not to his left. For the element of surprise, do you suppose? Listen, the Rams did nothing all week to prepare for Matt Leinart. Nor did they do anything to prepare for bootlegs. Bootlegs would have worked to either side. But Leinart clearly looked awkward rolling to his right, and he did not make crisp reads or throws that way.
2. Becht's fumble in that situation: inexcusable. He's been good this year, but as a veteran he knows better.
3. The Rackers on-side kick. Not so much that it didn't work, but the timing of it having all the momentum in the game at 14-3 was not good at all.
4. DRC's lack of effort in tackling.
5. Bertrand Berry and Ralph Brown. Been saying it since TC and nothing's changed.
6. Clark Haggans has been having a good year...but he does some crazy stuff out there. On plays where Jackson was able to bounce outside for bigger gains (once even in a 3rd and 20), Haggans crashed down the line of scrimmage and dove into a teammates back and left his whole side open with no one on the edge or no one to contain. Okeafor does this too at times. Are they being coached to do this?
7. Dan Kreider...two poor, unnecessary penalties.
What might have been interesting---and I think we are all glad it didn't have to happen---was whether Warner would have returned to the game had the Rams tied it up. The fact that he was still dressed suggests that may have been an option. One has to wonder whether Whiz is trying to do all he can to get Leinart meaningful snaps, as he has in other games. What these performances from Leinart are doing, however, is creating less and less confidence within himself and less confidence in him from the coaches and team. There's nothing sharp about his game, and this is now his 4th year. He does not have the hungry look one would expect. Whiz needs to do something about this. The offense bears not even an inkling of a semblance of what it is with Warner when Leinart is in there.
1. Warner and the offense have been dominating the first halfs of the away games and this was another clinic in the first half, even overcoming Wells' fumble of the sweep toss that thwarted the first drive. And despite Leinart's struggles, and the fact that the offense with him at QB scored 0 points, he gets the save. That is a positive.
2. The combo of Hightower and Wells continues to impress. Hightower's career long 50 yard run sparked the first TD drive, and Wells' nice smashmouth running, especially on his TD was excellent. For a while there they seemed to be gaining ten yards per clip.
3. Fitz and Q had very good games and each had nice TDs.
4. Early Doucet made the big catch late, and he threw some nice blocks on some of the wide runs. Ben Patrick had a very nice open field catch.
5. Save Brown's early whiff on Little, the o-line played good, physical football. How about Brown's and Lutui's down blocks on Wells' TD? Wow.
6. The defense did a much better job versus the run, save the one long Jackson gallop. Hayes was huge...and was plugging today! How about the play where he stood up Jackson short of the first down, and then the play Dansby made stuffing him on 4th down. Dansby was good today. Campbell and Iwebema were solid throughout. Will Davis gave the team a good sack and several good tackles.
7. DRC, despite playing in a tuxedo, which he really needs to change, took Donnie Avery out of the game...period. That was bigger than most realize. Avery is the Rams' best WR and has been playing very well. Antrel Rolle had a nice sack and was not as much of a factor in forcing the run today because the front seven did their jobs. Adrian Wilson was used much more wisely and productively today...and he had a great pick and some real good hits on Jackson to show for it. But, the real surprise was Michael Adams (filling in for an injured BMF, getting the nod over R. Brown), who battled tooth and nail out there. Yes, he had the one hold on a key 4th down, but it's good he was playing super aggressive...that's how you play to win. He made a great force tackle on a screen to his side...he also sprinted across the field to catch Jackson on his long run...the fact that he caught up to Jackson from that distance was extraordinary...Adams looks like the best tackling CB on the squad. And, best of all, he worked his hand into the fade to Gibson just enough to get a slight piece of it. That was huge. Plus he saved a potential KO return TD in the first half.
8. Ben Graham is extraordinary in all aspects of his craft...Rackers too....and man, LSH gets to the football on STs, especially on those pooch punts.
9. Wow. 5-0 on the road. What an accomplishment.
10. The penalties were few. Pretty clean game. Good flow to this game.
The Not So Positives:
1. What looked strange about Leinart was how zoned out he looked in the face going into the game and all throughout the second half especially as he was standing in the huddle (was he emulating DRC?...boy at times you wonder if the lights are on, don't you?). His decision to throw a shuffle pass under pressure for his first throw in that situation was absurd...and he really got away with that one. Clearly, the coaches do not have the confidence in Leinart, which was clear in how much they dumbed down the play calling. But, the coaches should be scrutinized for rolling Leinart on bootlegs to the right and not to his left. For the element of surprise, do you suppose? Listen, the Rams did nothing all week to prepare for Matt Leinart. Nor did they do anything to prepare for bootlegs. Bootlegs would have worked to either side. But Leinart clearly looked awkward rolling to his right, and he did not make crisp reads or throws that way.
2. Becht's fumble in that situation: inexcusable. He's been good this year, but as a veteran he knows better.
3. The Rackers on-side kick. Not so much that it didn't work, but the timing of it having all the momentum in the game at 14-3 was not good at all.
4. DRC's lack of effort in tackling.
5. Bertrand Berry and Ralph Brown. Been saying it since TC and nothing's changed.
6. Clark Haggans has been having a good year...but he does some crazy stuff out there. On plays where Jackson was able to bounce outside for bigger gains (once even in a 3rd and 20), Haggans crashed down the line of scrimmage and dove into a teammates back and left his whole side open with no one on the edge or no one to contain. Okeafor does this too at times. Are they being coached to do this?
7. Dan Kreider...two poor, unnecessary penalties.
What might have been interesting---and I think we are all glad it didn't have to happen---was whether Warner would have returned to the game had the Rams tied it up. The fact that he was still dressed suggests that may have been an option. One has to wonder whether Whiz is trying to do all he can to get Leinart meaningful snaps, as he has in other games. What these performances from Leinart are doing, however, is creating less and less confidence within himself and less confidence in him from the coaches and team. There's nothing sharp about his game, and this is now his 4th year. He does not have the hungry look one would expect. Whiz needs to do something about this. The offense bears not even an inkling of a semblance of what it is with Warner when Leinart is in there.
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