I am torn between the version of myself sitting through that painful game screaming at the TV (okay dull roar as I was at a friend's house) and being pissed off at the multitude of questionable play calling, clock management and so on, and the version of myself that knows fully well that the Rams are one tough opponent in their dingy dome and secretly I had a bad feeling about this game.
Quick Hits:
-- Not sure how the OL grades out. On one hand I thought they did an admirable job at times, and at others they looked atrocious like a greenhorn OL should look against the NFL's finest front 7.
-- Russell did not have his finest game. At times it was due to overthrowing and flat out missing (Bradshaw made a comment that Graham was wide open on a slant and he flat out missed him) and at other times it was due to poor pass protection. When I saw his happy feet in the 3rd quarter I was like, "uh oh." I know that the OL is a project under development and I am willing to give them time to gell.
-- Bailey had moments of greatness (undetected sack which forced a fumble and TD) and moments he would like to forget (tripping and underestimating the receiver's speed causing an easy TD to tie the game). I was so pissed off at him until I saw the camera focus on him sitting on the bench sulking. In that moment I realized nobody feels as bad as he does, knowing he likely caused us to lose the game.
-- Our D looked dominant at times and flat out beat, whiffing on tackles at other times. I will chalk it up to being the first game of the season against a tough division rival on the road.
-- Will someone please explain to me why we burned a precious 2nd time out with the clock going down to the 2 minute warning? For shit's sakes Pete! Come on!
-- Hey, let's do an onside kick in OT which gives the Rams a high percentage chance to start on the 50! WHOOO! :34853_doh:
-- I would have done a better job sustaining our chance to win on that 4th and 1. Let's see...Let's put Russ in shotgun formation...6 yards away from a first down. Let's put Lynch next to him and hand the ball off even though he now has to travel 6 yards for a first down knowing full well the pocket is going to crumble and his chance to convert the 4th down is 0.000345 percent. Sweet. If I get to call the play with that same formation (if I had to use that formation) I would have absolutely called a bootleg. Your chance of converting that 4th and 1 has now gone up exponentially. But what do I know? I'm just a stupid fan.
-- This is one of those classic games we will look back on and say we should have won, and could potentially be the game we look back on and say "Crap, had we won that game we would have been able to _______________ (fill in the blank)".
-- There is a very real possibility of coming home to our first home game 0-2. Sucks but if any team can pull them out of a slow start it's this one.
Quick Hits:
-- Not sure how the OL grades out. On one hand I thought they did an admirable job at times, and at others they looked atrocious like a greenhorn OL should look against the NFL's finest front 7.
-- Russell did not have his finest game. At times it was due to overthrowing and flat out missing (Bradshaw made a comment that Graham was wide open on a slant and he flat out missed him) and at other times it was due to poor pass protection. When I saw his happy feet in the 3rd quarter I was like, "uh oh." I know that the OL is a project under development and I am willing to give them time to gell.
-- Bailey had moments of greatness (undetected sack which forced a fumble and TD) and moments he would like to forget (tripping and underestimating the receiver's speed causing an easy TD to tie the game). I was so pissed off at him until I saw the camera focus on him sitting on the bench sulking. In that moment I realized nobody feels as bad as he does, knowing he likely caused us to lose the game.
-- Our D looked dominant at times and flat out beat, whiffing on tackles at other times. I will chalk it up to being the first game of the season against a tough division rival on the road.
-- Will someone please explain to me why we burned a precious 2nd time out with the clock going down to the 2 minute warning? For shit's sakes Pete! Come on!
-- Hey, let's do an onside kick in OT which gives the Rams a high percentage chance to start on the 50! WHOOO! :34853_doh:
-- I would have done a better job sustaining our chance to win on that 4th and 1. Let's see...Let's put Russ in shotgun formation...6 yards away from a first down. Let's put Lynch next to him and hand the ball off even though he now has to travel 6 yards for a first down knowing full well the pocket is going to crumble and his chance to convert the 4th down is 0.000345 percent. Sweet. If I get to call the play with that same formation (if I had to use that formation) I would have absolutely called a bootleg. Your chance of converting that 4th and 1 has now gone up exponentially. But what do I know? I'm just a stupid fan.
-- This is one of those classic games we will look back on and say we should have won, and could potentially be the game we look back on and say "Crap, had we won that game we would have been able to _______________ (fill in the blank)".
-- There is a very real possibility of coming home to our first home game 0-2. Sucks but if any team can pull them out of a slow start it's this one.