The game had a eerie, metronome-like symmetry to it. 21-3 at halftime. 42-6 final. The circadian rhythm of hopelessness might put you to sleep, if it wasn’t so painful to watch.
{democracy:7}
The first few minutes held at least some sort of drama, as the Rams answered the Colts’ opening businessman-like touchdown drive with a big play to Donnie Avery. But then, the Rams’ natural gravity set in.
Injury: Check. Donnie Avery limped off the field immediately after his catch.
Impotency: Check. The Rams inexplicably target Tim Carter twice — both drops — and settle for a field goal.
Inadequacy: Check. The Colts move 78 yards in three plays, capped by a perfect 27-yard pass to the double-covered Dallas Clark for a TD.
And TMQ’s pencil, assigner of fates, wrote “game over” in his notebook.
Now the Rams did continue to fight for three quarters, but even the perennially positive Coach Spagnuolo lamented the team’s fourth-quarter effort. And Steven Jackson, despite racking up bunches of yards in the wide open middle of the field, was denied the end zone for the seventh straight game. Frustration abounds in Ram nation.
Little more needs to be said about this game, except for a few points:
- Danny Amendola has been a real upgrade over Derek Stanley so far this season. He has been sure-handed as a WR, and makes the WR screen into a nice threat for first-down yardage. And his kick returns have been consistently good, with potential for greatness.
- That said, Tim Carter needs to be cut. Today. Two consecutive terrible games, and you can’t blame his knowledge of the system, as he spent all of training camp learning the playbook. He just doesn’t have it. A raw Brandon Gibson would have been a better option, would have been more likely to show some instincts for the ball.
- I liked the scheme of playing Craig Dahl as a third safety / mini-Archuleta. He’s earned playing time more than someone like a Paris Lenon. It didn’t work against this Colts team, but then again, very little does.
- The Rams appeared to show blitz much more often than they actually brought the blitz. They rushed four in a vain attempt to shut down Manning’s options. Didn’t work, and the Rams should have known better. Disguising your defense is one thing, but in order to sell the bluff, you have to actually bring the blitz more often than we did.
- Marc Bulger has this week’s game against the Lions to shake himself out of this slump, or else the quarterback job should be considered open going into the bye week.
Oh, and for the record? I’d rather shovel rocks. But for you, the readers? I’ll watch the game again and see if there’s anything more to be learned.
