NFL Team Report: St. Louis Rams Inside Slant
Rams Inside Slant
Rams quarterback Sam Bradford was at practice Tuesday as the team held its first OTA of the offseason. But his mind was in Oklahoma City, his hometown, where the devastating tornado hit Monday afternoon.
In an interview with Clark Judge of cbssports.com, Bradford said, “It was definitely difficult (at practice) today in the sense that I was constantly checking my phone, and I found out two of our strength coaches at the University of Oklahoma lost their homes yesterday to the tornado. So you’re constantly checking your phone and making sure they’re not finding any more bodies and making sure everyone’s been accounted for. So, yeah, my mind’s definitely been there most of the day today.”
In fact, Bradford was home Monday when the twister wreaked havoc on the southern part of the city. He lives north of Oklahoma City.
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Belichick: Rams Defense is Fast, Athletic
By Danny Picard
FOXBORO — When asked about the St. Louis Rams defense,Bill Belichick pretty much ran down the list and just named off every player on the defensive roster.
All the players he named combine for a defensive unit that he feels has plenty of quickness.
“They’ve got a lot of team speed,” said Belichick on Tuesday at Gillette Stadium about the Rams, whom the Pats play Sunday in London. “They make a lot of plays from behind, chasing down screen passes, outside runs, check downs, things like that.
“They’re very athletic, but their corners are good, and they’ve got a lot of pass rushers. Those are the really strong points of their team.”
Another strong point is their quarterback. Belichick praised Sam Bradford on Tuesday. And from what he’s seen out of the third-year QB, the Patriots coach has been impressed.
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Rams lack the punch to knock out Packers –Alton Telegraph
By STEVE PORTER
ST. LOUIS – Any advantage the St. Louis Rams perceived at their home dome vanished right before their eyes Sunday. Poof!
The Rams’ inability to score – specifically touchdowns – dogged them in a 30-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers. A crowd of 64,359, many of them Cheeseheads backing their Pack, saw Green Bay improve to 4-3. St. Louis is 3-4 and 3-1 at the Edward Jones Dome.
“We’re not scoring enough points and we have to keep working on that,” first-year St. Louis coach Jeff Fisher said.
The Rams were 28th in the NFL in offense and 30th in touchdowns. They have tallied 11 TDS in seven games and have scored 131 points overall. Their second touchdown Sunday was hardly meaningful. It came with 1:34 remaining on Sam Bradford’s 3-yard pass to Austin Pettis. Green Bay was content to wrap up the victory and get out of town.
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Fisher gives Rams fresh start after offseason makeover –GBPress
By Pete Dougherty
Jeff Fisher’s winning percentage as an NFL head coach isn’t much better than .500, his record in the playoffs is below .500 and he lost the only Super Bowl he’s coached.
Yet, after a year out of coaching, Fisher was coveted this past offseason by two franchises that were looking for the competence, confidence and toughness he brought in 16-plus seasons as coach of the Houston Oilers and Tennessee Titans.
In his first season with the St. Louis Rams, Fisher has turned one of the NFL’s floundering franchises, which went 15-65 over the last five years, into a promising young team that has started 3-3.
This week, one NFL scout who works in the Rams’ NFC West Division went as far as calling them “dangerous” heading into their matchup with the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at St. Louis, a year after the Rams lost to the Packers 24-3 on their way to a 2-14 finish.
“(Fisher’s) confidence, his attitude has permeated into that locker room,” said the scout, who knows Fisher. “They’ve been in every game, should have beaten Detroit (in the opener) and let that one get away, and then the one (Sunday at Miami), they’re kicking themselves over that one.”
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Rams need to tackle penalties and red-zone failures –KSDK.com
By Jordan Palmer
The Rams entered Sunday’s game against Miami tying to win their first road game of the season, and snap a five-game losing streak away from home.
Instead, they found a way to continually shoot themselves in the foot with red-zone failures, penalties and special teams gaffes that led to a 17-14 loss on a day they outgained the Dolphins, 462-192. In the first half, the Rams had 294 yards to Miami’s 99 yet trailed 10-6.
They know they have a lot of things to clean up with Green Bay visiting St. Louis on Sunday, followed by a “home” game in London against the Patriots on Oct. 28.
Said quarterback Sam Bradford, “It’s extremely frustrating. Anytime you’re able to move the ball like we did and accumulate that many yards, and only score six points (in the first half) is probably one of the more frustrating things. It’s just the little things. We get down there one time and get a penalty and we go from first-and-10 to first-and-20. It was just not executing and we’ve got to find a way to score touchdowns and not kick field goals. It really came back to hurt us at the end of the game today.”
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