Week 1: Broncos 23, Rams 16

The Rams never really leave preseason behind, bowing to the Broncos with a horrible coaching effort.
Bright spots: Warner and Faulk, of course, but they’re not enough by themselves.

Position by position:

* QB: Kurt Warner was one of the few Rams who looked sharp today. He threw for 184 yards in the first half and finished 32-41-315 with one interception. He started the game with a 44-yard pass to Ernie Conwell. Fine start, although Deltha O’Neal should have intercepted it; it bounced off both his hands. Kurt didn’t show any rust after the first series. He hooked up with Marshall Faulk many times, 14, in fact. That was a necessity due to the Denver defense, poor blocking, and a subpar game from the WRs. Hitting Faulk was often all Kurt had time to do. He made a lot of throws with Broncos in his face. Denver pressure forced his interception, a poor throw behind Isaac Bruce. Warner hit Torry Holt three times leading to the Rams’ first FG, and hit him with a perfect 37-yard bomb to set up a FG at the end of the first half. He hit Bruce 3 times in the 3rd on a drive that ended in a failed 4th-and-2, and hit Holt with a tough pass for 15 to set up a failed FG in the 4th. His 27-yard clutch throw, with Trevor Pryce all over him, to Bruce late in the 4th set up a FG to bring the Rams within 7. Those drives all ended, though, with the passing game coming up short in the clutch. Before the 4th-and-2, a 6-yard pass to Bruce on 3rd-and-8. Before the missed FG, 3 yards to Yo! Murphy on 3rd-and-8. Before the last FG, 4 to Faulk on 3rd-and-5. As for the critical failed 4th-and-2, Warner had to roll out after Chris Hetherington tripped, and couldn’t hit him or find an open Conwell in the end zone. Kurt Warner was effective today, but Denver made big defensive plays in the clutch.

* RB: Marshall Faulk was a sharp receiver today, with a whopping 14 catches for 91 yards. He was often good for 8-9 yards on screens or dumpoffs. Denver didn’t give Marshall any room to run, though, as he had just 19 yards on 10 attempts, and one of those was a 15-yard draw in the 4th. He had only 1 yard rushing in the first half. He did punch in the Rams’ * only * TD after Aeneas Williams’ interception in the 3rd. He was stopped at the 5, but slipped inside Orlando Pace’s block, got a great clearout from Conwell, and turned a loss into a TD. Even though taken out of the game as a runner, Marshall was still a key offensive weapon. He bailed Warner out of trouble a lot. He and Warner are the best two players in the NFL, and they tried their damnedest to carry the Rams on their backs. But even those two MVPs weren’t enough today.

* Receivers: Very disappointing. There were FAR too many plays today where the Rams could not get a receiver open besides Faulk. Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt each had 5 catches, but, Bruce especially, had too little impact on the game. Bruce did nothing the whole first half, playing unmistakably soft. Holt had 4 catches for 76 in the first half, but disappeared in the 2nd half. His catches were keys in setting up the Rams’ 3 FGs. He got wide open for a 37-yard bomb late in the 2nd and showed nifty footwork on the sideline on a 15-yard catch in the 4th. But neither WR scored, and this was clearly not the Greatest Show anywhere. Terrence Wilkins (0 catches) might as well have been Jeff Wilkins. Ernie Conwell had 3 catches for 50, including a 44-yarder on the Rams’ first play. Nice concentration on the tipped ball, and a nice 2nd effort. But Ernie was injured sometime during the 1st half, and wasn’t heard from much in the 2nd half.

* Offensive line: The line’s decent 2nd half nowhere near made up for its AWFUL first half. The middle of the line was terrible. The running game got absolutely nowhere, and Warner was under constant pressure. Orlando Pace was a big disappointment, especially when he got WHIPPED by Chester McGlockton the Rams’ 2nd series. Warner took a huge hit there. Trevor Pryce got the better of John St. Clair in the 1st half. He whipped St. Clair a few times, one setting up a sack for Monsanto Pope. St. Clair won the 2nd half, but not as decisively. Pryce’s sack wasn’t really St. Clair’s fault, more like Mike Martz’s fault for using Warner like a rollout QB. Warner held the ball too long on the third sack, again on a rollout. But the line probably caused Warner’s interception. It’s just a 3-step drop, but Denver is still all over Warner, who forces a pass Bruce can’t handle. The second half was much better, as Warner was not sacked and had much better time to throw. But the offensive line’s poor first half contributed to many of the team’s other problems.

* Defensive line/LB: The first half brought back unpleasant memories of 2000. Except for Leonard Little blowing in for a sack on Denver’s first series, the Broncos dominated the line of scrimmage. No pass pressure at all on Denver’s 1st TD drive. But this game would’ve been FAR worse than 16-6 at halftime if not for a lot of clutch play. The defense held Denver to a FG on their second drive, stopping Mike Anderson on 3rd and 1 at the 22, and by not jumping offsides on a Denver 4th-and-1 ploy. After Warner’s INT, Denver drove to the 15, but the defense swarmed on a quick pass to Rod Smith for -3 on 3rd down to force a FG. They held Denver to 3 again after Lamar Gordon’s fumbled kick return. Bryan Young delivered big time right out of halftime, tipping Brian Griese’s first pass to create an INT for Aeneas Williams and set up a TD. The next drive, Jamie Duncan gets great coverage on Shannon Sharpe, and he and Kim Herring tip Griese’s throw to Don Davis, who returns it across midfield. The D shut Denver down 1-2-3 after the Rams’ failed 4th and 2, behind Jeff Zgonina’s sack on 2nd down. But the D bookended that solid play with more weak play to end the game. After a missed FG in the 4th, they did not step up. They blow a sack on Denver’s first play, then get suckered on 4th-and-1 in Denver territory with a flip to Clinton Portis. Once across midfield, the pass rush dies on the vine, and Denver rolls to an easy score to put the game away. Very disappointing from a front seven that delivered so many big plays last year.

* Secondary: Coverage was usually solid. Griese only threw for 202 yards and Rod Smith had just 5 catches for 47. Griese was often forced to run or settle for a dumpoff. Unfortunately, the rushers didn’t get to him. Aeneas Williams made an acrobatic interception of a tipped pass in the 3rd and covered Ed McCaffrey well on a deep pass in the first series. Dre Bly had some shaky play. Rod Smith got WIDE open on the game’s 2nd play, but Griese overthrew him badly. Bly slipped in the end zone on Smith’s TD catch. Adam Archuleta’s big hit on Shannon Sharpe ended a 123-out after the Rams’ 1st FG, but he was not a factor other than that. Once Denver crossed midfield on their last TD drive, the secondary covered NOBODY, and McCaffrey got an easy score to put Denver up 23-13. The Rams didn’t get burned deep at all, but big holes in the zone at the wrong times proved their undoing.

* Special teams: SPECIAL TEAMS COST THE RAMS AT LEAST 13 POINTS. George Steinbrenner would have fired Bobby April at halftime; remains to be seen what Mike Martz will do. McCleon fumbled a lamebrained reverse on the opening kickoff to start the Rams in terrible field position. After a great punt by Mitch Berger pins Denver at the 3, and the defense gets a 3-and-out, Wistrom roughs the punter. Denver then goes on for a TD drive. Lamar Gordon fumbled a kickoff that led to 3 Denver points. Proehl’s fumbled hold ruined the Rams’ chance to tie it at 16 in the 4th, and swung the tide of the game back to the Broncos. Wilkins’ deep kickoffs & 3 FGs and Berger twice pinning Denver at the 3 with beautiful punts (and Nick Sorenson’s coverage) were the only bright spots of a pivotally bad special teams performance.

* Coaching/discipline: Where do I start with Mike Martz? Almost no one on the team looked ready to play. Looks like that “switch” isn’t as easy to flip as Martz hoped. And a lot of players never found their “switch” today at all. If you think that’s an indictment of Martz’s ultra-casual training camp, you’re right… Martz got bit HARD by terrible clock management. Not even trying to hurry although down 10 points with under 6 minutes left, the offense blew its 3rd timeout with 3:10 left. That forced a low-percentage onside kick after the final FG and required Denver to get only 1 first down to win, which they did. So after two years, can we TRY to quit wasting timeouts now? It’s not like they came up with any good plays following those timeouts... With momentum clearly in the Rams’ favor, going for it on 4th-and-2 at the end of the 3rd looks like an unnecessary risk. But the play really should have worked. Hetherington was all alone in the flat, but the timing was completely thrown off when he stumbled over a DB at the line. And Conwell had a step on his man… And with Wilkins kicking the ball well, and given the lunar gravity in Colorado, I do not understand not giving him a crack at 52- or 54- yard attempts during this game… Did Martz even call all that good of a game? A lot of the runs called for Faulk were dead from the start. Martz rolled Warner INTO trouble way too often, including into 2 of the 1st-half sacks… Lovie Smith should be embarrassed with today’s effort as well. Shanahan had the Rams COMPLETELY off balance the whole first half, frequently effective with rollouts and RB screens. Griese did a good job in the first half of hitting the receiver Lovie’s blitzes left open. The defense looked extremely flat in the first half, and pass rush was too weak for too much of the game. They played strong in the 3rd, and Lovie really got into Griese’s head with fake blitzing, but Shanahan fooled him completely in the 4th with the flip to Portis on 4th and 1. Total coaching loss today.

* Upon further review: Probably not game-deciding officiating from the Bill Leavy crew, so they get a pass. They called no holding penalties, even though Sharpe’s blatant hold on Don Davis allowed a Griese scramble on their 1st TD drive. The interference call on O’Neal vs. Holt that set up the Rams’ TD was correct. So was the VERY late, crowd-influenced call on Duncan vs. Smith in the 3rd. Holt was called for tripping without actually tripping anybody. Must be this crew’s pet call; they called it on Rams WRs 4 times in San Fran. last year. The Fox TV crew thought Griese’s fumble in the 3rd should have been an incompletion, citing Tom Brady’s “tuck” rule. But didn’t Griese basically slam the ball into the lineman’s back? If that’s not a fumble, then why not an ineligible receiver? The call on the field seemed correct.

* Cheers: There’s a reason Denver is the NFL’s best home team, and it’s their outstanding home crowd. You know you’re up against it when your team’s trying to make a comeback in front of a crowd that has the TV picture rocking. Awesome… Fox’s “A-Team” coverage was satisfactory. Collinsworth and Aikman provided good insight and identified the game’s momentum switches right as they happened. Collinsworth harped incessantly on Martz’s decision not to kick the FG, but, hey, was he wrong?… Fox flubbed the switch-over to the game. St. Louis TV did not see the opening kickoff. That is inexcusable, but I fear it is bound to happen again, with all the Rams’ 3:15 starts this year…

* Who’s next?: GOTTA GO TO WORK! The New York Giants nearly beat the Rams when they came here last year, and the 49ers were lucky to beat them this week. The Rams absolutely have to step up their play across the board, or it’s 0-2. The defense should fare much better. The green Giant line has Jim Fassel afraid to have Kerry Collins throw out of more than a 3-step drop very often, and they generated almost no rushing offense last week. Collins had a big game against San Francisco, but he has always been susceptible to well-played zone defenses. If the Rams execute better on defense, they’ll be OK. Aeneas Williams needs to lock down Amani Toomer, and Lovie Smith needs to have the antidote for rookie TE Jeremy Shockey. The Giants are giving defenses a lot of different looks by lining him up everywhere. Unfortunately for the offense, New York brings a hard-hitting and fast secondary. If Bruce doesn’t get that “wakeup call” and turn on the “switch”, he could have another long, soft night. Despite his Madison Avenue appeal, the weak link in their secondary is Mr. Angie Harmon, but darned if I know if Terrence Wilkins is capable of exploiting that matchup. The good news is that the Giants don’t have the same kind of speedy LB corps as Denver does, which should help the running game, unless Michael Strahan goes medieval on John St. Clair’s, um, backside. I don’t see the Rams weathering a second straight 4-sack attack from Strahan. That won’t happen, though, if the offensive line plays like it did in the second half today, and the defensive line takes advantage of shaky Giant blocking. The trenches are where this game should be won.

-- Mike