Yesterday we looked at two of the projected favorites in Week 1 who lost. Today we'll look at one more, the St. Louis Rams.
The Rams at home were a one point favorite over Carolina -- not much of an advantage! However, nobody really expected much out of Jake Delhomme, the Panthers' QB, and people expected Marc Bulger to help St. Louis to improve on last season. However, this was not to be. It was the great Jake that stepped up in the crunch. Carolina controlled the ball for all but one second of 20 minutes in the 2nd half -- almost 2/3 of the total half. Aside from two fumbles (more on that in a moment), every Carolina play in the 2nd half resulted in points (2 TDs and 2 FGs). The scoring drives went 74, 41, 65 and 40 yards, of which the third, their second TD, was the most devastating, taking 6:32 off the clock at the beginning of the 4th quarter, when St. Louis desperately need a stop. On that drive, Carolina ran 8 times and passed four times. Only two plays did not gain yards for the Panthers: an incomplete pass by Delhomme on 1-10 from the St. Louis 28, and a run for a 3 yard loss on 1st and goal from the 6. Every other play gained at least a yard, and Carolina had 4 runs for 10 yards or more. The Rams' spirit was broken on this drive.
St. Louis, on the other hand had only 2 drives of interest in the game, their first and last drives of the 1st half. At the beginning of the game, after Carolina had marched down from the opening kickoff and scored, St. Louis came right back with an excellent drive of their own, going 67 yards for a touchdown. The drive lasted 7:20 and took 15 plays. Bulger threw 8 times on the drive, going 5-8 for 35 yards, with 2 passing first downs. Jackson, the Rams' running back, also ran well, moving the chains twice and gaining 4 or more yards four times on the drive. This drive, however, was not a prediction of things to come. The next three possessions of the half went 4 and out, punting from the Carolina 46, and their own 41 and 34. On the final possession of the half, beginning just after the two-minute warning, St. Louis gained 34 yards (admittedly 22 on penalties) and kicked a field goal as time expired, putting St. Louis in the lead at the half.
The second half, however, St. Louis accomplished absolutely nothing until there was only 7 minutes left, at which point the damage had been done. Perhaps the most indicative drive was their first of the 2nd half. Dante Hall ran the kickoff back 84 yards to the Carolina 17. However, St. Louis could only move the ball 7 yards, and had to settle for a field goal. A TD on this drive would have put the Rams up by 10, and maybe changed the complexion of the game. However, by only settling for a FG, Carolina remained within one score of the lead.
One final point about this game: Neither team played consistently well the whole game. Carolina and St. Louis both had 2 fumbles for turnovers in the 2nd half. At it often seems to happen, the Rams' drive that started with a turnover ended with the Rams' giving it right back 3 plays later, leading to the Panther's 2nd TD. Similarly the Rams' 2nd turnover was given right back by Carolina 5 plays later. However, unlike Carolina, who scored, the Rams went 3 and out and had to punt. Carolina recovered that punt on their own 42, drove 41 yards and kicked a field goal. Carolina made the most of St. Louis's mistakes. That, combined with their dominance of the 2nd half -- especially the 4th quarter -- is the reason Carolina won.
Again, though, I expect St. Louis to do better as the season progresses. They have a high-flying offense, dependent upon accurate passing and route running. In the pre-season, teams take it easy to avoid injury, but that means that when defenses really start hitting in game 1, the offense can be thrown off. As they get up to game speed, however, they should have fewer and fewer of those 3- or 4-and-outs.
