MVN - Most Valuable Network

Rams take trip down memory lane, collect first win

It’s hard to pin-point exactly the best part of the Rams’ 37-29 win over the New Orleans Saints. There were just so many stories going on.

Jeff Wilkins, in a year-long daze, kicked his 300th career field goal. Marc Bulger, still hurting, played his best football of the season and threw his 100th career touchdown pass. Torry Holt went over 100 receiving yards for the second time this season (both games coming back-to-back), and Isaac Bruce hauled in a couple really tough catches. Steven Jackson came out of the bye week like a madman and threw a touchdown pass. Donnie Jones wasn’t the best Rams player on the field (which says nothing about his play). The defense was impressive, completely shutting down the Saints offense for three quarters. And the team was able to stop a hot opponent who was looking to become the first team in league history to win five straight games after starting 0-4.

But the biggest story here is indubitably the Rams collecting their first win of the season, to go to 1-8.

The Rams came out of the bye week playing their most efficient game this year and looking like the team they were expected to be before the season. It’s an important win for the team, and we’ll keep that in mind as we run down some of the game’s important points.

THE GOOD

- The offense put up its highest point total of the season, and on the road, no less. Bulger may not have thrown a bad pass all game in racking up 300 passing yards, and Jax proved what an important piece he is in this offense: he not only accounted for two touchdowns in the Rams first road win of the season, he gave them their first lead on the road this year. Antonio Pittman, seeing his most touches this year, proved to be an effective sub for Jackson, averaging 7.6 yards on seven carries, including one 43-yard run to the one. And Linehan’s play calls did a good job of spreading the ball around: seven Rams receivers caught passes, three caught touchdowns and Randy McMichael seemed involved in the offense for the first time since his arrival from Miami. And the team made it through the whole game without turning the ball over, an encouraging sign for a team that entered the game with the league’s worst turnover margin at -13.

- The most surprising part of that offensive output, however, had to be the play of the offensive line. Yes, Bulger was sacked four times, but the Saints weren’t able to get any pressure on him without sending multiple blitzers. Bulger had enough time to read the field all game, and this with a patchwork line that had Alex Barron at left tackle, Milford Brown at left guard, Andy McCollum at center, newly-acquired Nick Leckey at right guard and Brandon Gorin at right tackle. Believe me, this isn’t something I had expected to write going into the game. Yeesh.

- Jeff Wilkins shook off whatever has been plaguing him and nailed all three of his field goal attempts, including an impressive 49-yarder. But what may have been most surprising about those kicks was how much leg he put behind them; he didn’t just kick those field goals, he absolutely drilled them. Each kick was straighter and longer than the last. A great game for Wilkins and his confidence.

- The defense’s effort was impressive, especially after yielding an early touchdown to Reggie Bush. From that point on, the Rams held the Saints scoreless until their 22-point burst in the fourth quarter, a 46-minute, 9-second shutout of one of the league’s most talented offensive units. The Rams mixed in a bunch of exotic looks and blitzes, and Drew Brees could never settle into a rhythm. He was picked off by O.J. Atogwe and Pisa Tinoisamoa once each, and Will Witherspoon grabbed another interception on a two-point conversion attempt.

- Perhaps most important out of all the firsts, players on both sides of the ball looked hungry for the first time this year. Here was the heart this team had been missing in its first eight games of 2007. With its receiving corps finally at relatively full health, the Rams finally capitalized on their talented personnel and nabbed the win.

THE BAD

- But as suddenly as the Rams D proved it could play, it yielded three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, nearly allowing the Saints to come back. Brees looked poised in the pocket and found Marques Colston over and over again for first downs.

- The Rams’ kickoff coverage is still sub-par, allowing a 64-yard return by Pierre Thomas (though the Saints were forced to punt on that possession). Hopefully the Rams’ new acquisition, Hanik Milligan, will help shore up this area of the team in the future, as he gets more acquainted with the Rams’ system and players.

THE UGLY

- Bulger, being interviewed after the game, gave us a gem that the reporter didn’t even acknowledge: “We know we’re still 1-8 and we’re a really bad team, but we’re going to try to enjoy this for the next 24 hours.” As great a game as it was and as badly as the fans needed this, nothing will change the fact that this is already a lost season. Interesting that it was Bulger, unquestioningly the game’s MVP, who kept us grounded in reality after such a triumph.

- The Rams continued a season-long trend of dumb penalties, a fact easily lost amid all the game’s high-points. Two fantastic Jackson runs (one for 9 tough yards, another a 22-yard scamper) were called back due to holding, and Claude Wroten got flagged for encroachment and offsides (the latter of which was declined). Fakhir Brown had a long pass interference call on the Saints’ opening drive and nearly got flagged again late in the game (after a conference by the officials, the call was changed to incidental contact). This team needs to show more discipline if they want to win again this season.

Still, pointing out the bad after this game really seems like nit-picking. This is a great moment for the team and the fans, and we all should take the next week to celebrate before traveling to San Francisco.

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Also, I wanted to let you all know that I was interviewed by Mack Rosenberg of Fourth and Inches Radio on Thursday. It was fun to do, even if the Rams made me look sort of foolish with their play today. It’s a good foolish, though.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 11th, 2007 at 5:12 pm and is filed under Jeff Wilkins, Rams Offense, Rams News, Rams Players, Rams Special Teams, Antonio Pittman, Marc Bulger, Rams Defense, Torry Holt, St. Louis Rams, Steven Jackson, Randy McMichael, New Orleans Saints, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.