Rams receive the kick. Handoff to Gurley for 4 yards. Perfect, get Gurley going. Two quick passes and the Rams get the first. Here we go, get the opening drive moving. Kendricks for a 9 yd catch. Keenum keeper for 6. Yes! Ball at the Niners 46 yard line. Loving the play calling and the momentum to start. Incomplete pass on a play action to Gurley. Gurley was open on another good play call but pressure caused Keenum to sail it a bit high. It’s ok, second down. Incomplete, another incomplete, punt. Damn.
That’s about as exciting as it got for the Rams in the first half. Need proof? Here is how their next six possessions went, punt, punt, interception, punt, punt, and what do you know, punt. Pathetic, anemic, unimaginative, predictable, I’ll stop there.
Ok so we knew the offense wasn’t going to put on a show for the ages. The defense, particularly the defensive line, will keep them in the game; or at least I thought. Sadly, the defense looked just as bad as the offense. I can throw out some more adjectives for the D but I don’t want to be a complete negative Nancy, although they deserve every bit of negativity. It wasn’t pretty to say the least.
My apologies to Carlos Hyde for my lack of acknowledgement in my prediction article. Hyde finished the first half with 8 carries for 62 yards and a TD, numbers I had pegged for Gurley to be honest. Gurley’s numbers, well they’re not worth mentioning. Let’s just say that Blaine Gabbert out rushed Gurley. Heck Gabbert almost out rushed his teammate Hyde. Gabbert had 41 yards on the ground with 8 minutes left in the second half; second highest total of his career. Those numbers should tell you how poor and porous the Rams defense was, particularly up the middle.
The Niners capitalized on their ground success with a Hyde TD followed by a Shaun Draughn TD. The score was 14-0 entering half.
The Rams D finally got a fire lit under them with the start of the second half. They came out showing life and improvement. The offense, hard to watch, aggravating, unproductive, pathetic, yes I know I used that one earlier, but it fits too perfectly.
Any signs of life showed by the offense were quickly shut down by penalties. An unsportsmanlike conduct call on Gurley in the first half led to a long to go down, which led to a tipped ball interception on the very next play. With about 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, an illegal hands to the face call took away a first down and any sign of momentum and caused a 3rd and 18 instead. Which, surprise, wasn’t converted.
But wait, maybe, just maybe, this game isn’t over. Still down 14-0, Austin returned a punt late in the 3rd quarter for 28 yards. Setting up the Rams with good field position. Possible points, a field goal at least? A converted 3rd and 4 puts Los Anglees at the Niners 27 yard line. Field goal range! Keenum, with time in the pocket, hits the man in the chest, not his man, their man, INT. Welp, there goes that. Pathetic.
It was a tough game to watch. A game that didn’t leave much hope for the rest of the season. In my article regarding the possible potential for Keenum, I said I was eager to see him start a season, the eagerness and tingling of optimism is proving to be foolish as of right now. So far my article on Keenum has proved to be a bit far fetched and my prediction for the Rams winning was way off. I’m eating crow and admitting my wrongness. Oh how sweet it would’ve been to be right though, the Rams would’ve been 1-0 and a quarterback with the ability to take them to the playoffs.
My prediction now, as a die hard Rams fan, Rams will be lucky to finish 7-9.
Sorry, went off on a rant there. Back to the game recap, that was the intention of this article to begin with. The game finished 28-0, San Fransisco. Aaron Donald capped off a laughable performance by the Rams by getting ejected with 7 minutes left in the game after an unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct in a scuffle after the play. Donald reacted to the ejection by taking off his helmet and slamming it to the ground, something every Rams fan wanted to do after watching the atrocious play of their team.
The numbers? Look away if you get easily nauseous or disturbed. We’ll start with the fact that the Rams were the only team in week one to put a big fat goose egg on the board. They picked up a total of 10 first downs compared to the 49ers 28. Third down efficiency was an oh so impressive 3-15, I hope you picked up on the sarcasm there. Total yards for the Rams added up to 186 on 3.2 yards per play. Frisco finished with 322 total yards. Let’s highlight the penalty yardage, the Rams had 10 penalties for 102 yards, just a wee bit undisciplined. Sick to your stomach yet? Let me throw some individual stats your way.
Keenum finished 17/35 for 130 yards, 3.7 yards per completion. Obviously zero touchdowns. Two interceptions put his stat line even further in the dumpster.
Gurley got the ball 17 times for 47 yards, a 2.8 yards per carry average. Tavon Austin, reaping the benefits of a contract extension, finished with 4 catches for 13 yards. Kenny Britt managed to get 67 yards on 4 catches, the best stat line of the game, unless you look at Johnny Hekker; who received the most work on the Rams, 10 punts, yes 10, for 431 yards.
On the other side of the ball, Gabbert threw for 170 yards and a touchdown on 22/35. Hyde rushed for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jeremy Kerley and Quinton Patton led the way receiving for the Niners.
Brutal, unbearable, disgraceful, and pathetic. The Rams need to show more if they want to be anywhere near a contender. The takeaway, it can’t get any worse. Jeff Fisher’s head is on the chopping block, which should mean throwing caution to the wind and pulling out every trick possible to win. The number one draft pick is on the bench and they still have Todd Gurley. Hopefully I’m wrong yet again come my next article, until then I’ll pour myself another drink and pout about the loss.
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