Rams Beat Titans 17-16 in Ugly Preseason Game

Rams Beat Titans 17-16 in Ugly Preseason Game
The truth of preseason football is that you cannot get too high or too low on what you see on a given night. Watching a preseason game is a lot more like interpreting art than it is watching a football game. You have to know what you are looking for and what you are looking at. Last week the Rams looked ridiculously good and blew out the Colts. On Saturday night the Rams looked awful and won the game, beating the 17-16. While a win is always better than a loss, there was a lot to be unhappy about with the Rams performance. Both games provided wins in the preseason, but there was clearly a difference between Week One and Week Two.
Here is a breakdown of what went right and what went wrong for the Rams against the Titans.
What Went Right For The Rams
The Deep Pass: After watching the franchise have a complete inability to throw the ball deep since Mike Martz left town it was nice to see that the Rams can actually get the ball down the field a little bit. The opening pass to Brandon Gibson was a thing of beauty. Hopefully with some improved offensive weapons and an offensive coordinator who will not be intimidated to dial it up every once in a while, it should bring a more watchable offense in 2011.
: There are a lot out there who are not big fans of Donnie Avery and that has been understandable, because he has not been able to stay healthy. With that being said it was nice to see him back and contributing. Everyone understands that there is talent there, but he just has to stay healthy. IF he can stay healthy then the Rams could be even potentially more potent.
They Got the Win: I know the preseason doesn’t matter, but I still think it is important for this team to learn how to win games. They are young and any time you can have a come from behind win on a last second field goal it is an important learning experience. looks in great form and it means something to be able to win games like this.
Now for what went wrong for the Rams, and there was a lot
The Implosion of the Run Defense: The Tennessee Titans ran for 198 yards against the Rams. Imagine what might have happened if this game actually counted and Chris Johnson was playing. He might have had 300 yards. Last season the Rams were 17thagainst the rush and that was not acceptable to Steve Spagnuolo. That is one of the reasons for the signings of the defensive tackles and outside linebackers,Jason Taylor Jerseys. It will not be a fun week on the defensive side of the ball at Training Camp this week.
The Outside Linebacker Debacle: The Rams brought in three free agents who were supposed to lock down the positions and as of this point have done nothing to show that the unit is improved. Frankly Jabara Williams appears to be the best offseason addition to the unit. The over pursuit of the running backs was among the worst I have seen by a group in a long time. This unit needs to get better real fast.
The Offensive Line: The Rams offensive line did not protect Sam Bradford and they did not move the football on the ground. Hank Fraley was awful on Saturday night, in replacing Jacob Bell, and there were clearly some assignment issues on four wide receiver sets. Cortland Finnegan almost killed Sam Bradford several times. 44 yards rushing against a defense that was 20thin the league in that category last season does not cut it.
The team was clearly unhappy with the performance, which also shows what the expectations are for this team within that locker room. This roster thinks and knows that they can be better than what was shown tonight. Whether everyone was feeling a little too good after the win against the Colts or the Titans were just more ready to play tonight, this clearly was a wakeup call for everyone in the Rams locker room. This team is better, but it still has a long way to go to get to be a playoff football team. Saturday night was a learning moment for the Rams. We’ll see what lessons were learned next week in Kansas City.
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