Brad Grogan's Rams Fan Point Of View

This week we asked fellow Rams fan and college football player Brad Grogan his thoughts on the St. Louis Rams 23-20 OT loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. See if you agree with Brad's synopsis of the game and the Rams:

The Rams fell to 0-6 on Sunday with a discouraging 23-20 loss in OT. Here are some stats that tell the story of the game:

Offensively: Total plays = 53, 13 first downs (11 passing, 1 rushing, 1 pen), 4-12 on 3rd down, 262 Total yards (55 rushing 207 passing), 22-34 passing, 1 sack + 1 turnover, Time of Poss 24:48 vs. 42:12
Team Notables: 10 offensive drives. Only offensive touchdown came on 1st drive of game. 3 scoring drives = 193 yards, other 7 drives = 69 yards.
Individual Notables: SJack 16 for 50, 6 for 78., JBrown 2for2 FG, DJones 6 punts, 1 inside 20., Amendola = 4KR for 125 yds

Defensively: Total plays = 84, Gave up 33 first downs (15 passing, 14 rushing, 4 pen), 11-16 on 3rd down, 492 total yards (166 rushing, 326 passing), 30-43 passing, 3 sacks + 3 turnovers
Team Notables: 12 defensive drives (didn’t count downing the ball at end of 4th quarter.) 1 - 3plays and out drive. Gave up 2-100 yard receivers, 300 yard passer, 100 rusher
Individual Notables: Little 3 tack, 1 sack, 1 INT, 1TD, 3PD, Atogwe: 10tack, Lauranitis 5 tack, 1INT

Opinion: The stats tell it all. We couldn’t move the ball consistently on offensive and defensively we couldn’t stop them. Turnovers were the reason this game was close, without them the Rams are beat by at least 14 points. The Jaguars are 3-3 on the year and their defense is 25th in pts allowed, 24th in yards allowed, 12th in rush yards allowed and 30th in pass yards allowed (these rankings are after the game on Sunday). There is no way we shouldn’t have been able to move the ball against these guys. We didn’t because we don’t have any talent. Five people on the injury report after the game including leaders at WR and LB. Yes we held them to 23 points and lost in OT, but anyone who watched the game could tell the Jags dominated and deserved to win by much more. The question on many sportscasters’ minds: Are we closer to winning? Will 262 yards of offense get it done against the Colts? No! Lions? Maybe! The best possible outcome for next week is to keep everyone healthy and move the ball offensively. If I were drawing up the game plans, offensively they would include screen passes, draws, and reverses and oh yes a double pass! Why not! If we can’t beat them straight up why not try and steal a few points on a trick play. Fake a punt and/or field goal while were at it! People want to say our defense has improved. Well we have 3 of the top offenses in the NFL coming in over the next 4 weeks. This will be our litmus test. PS…if the Saints put up 49 on the Giants, what will they hang on us? WOW!

Positives: Danny Amendola finally got to play receiver and proved he can be more than a kick returner. Now let’s use him! I wasn’t upset with Bulger’s interception because it was a great defensive play (granted about 2 yards underthrown), but we finally threatened deep. We forced turnovers, but couldn’t convert them into TD’s. The Offensive line had decent pass blocking although Jags are tied for dead last in sacks.

Spags: “I told them we win together and lose together, they all understand. Now we need to learn from these mistakes and get better next week”. Not to bust his chops, but Linehan and Martz used to say the same thing!
Thanks Brad! What do you other fans have to say?