Rams Vs Colts: Post Game Review

The St Louis Rams needed to show improvement in their third preseason game, and they did.

The Rams still had many red flags, including ten penalties. It doesn’t appear that the Rams are even focused on cutting down the penalties, so this will likely be something that haunts the team throughout the year. In their defense however, there were many questionable calls. One of which included a pass interference call on wide receiver Tavon Austin (in my opinion, it’s not questionable, it’s a bad call).

The Rams also still had some minor gaps in coverage. Now granted, the Rams improved a ton on the secondary level, holding Andrew Luck to average numbers, but Luck still made some wide open throws, one of which included a 32 yard touchdown strike to newly acquired Andre Johnson. The Rams secondary also struggled to make tackles. In fact, the secondary missed quite a few tackles Saturday night, something that will have to improve against tougher teams like Seattle, Pittsburgh, and Green Bay.

The Rams made some great strides on Saturday. Let’s start with Nick Foles. In the article regarding five things the Rams must do against the Colts, I mentioned how Foles’ performance against the Titans was mildly worrisome, and that he must improve in the upcoming game. He did that quite well, going 10-11 with a passer rating of 145.5. Foles carried the entire team that only mustered 28 rushing yards behind him. Foles also threw a deep strike to Chris Givens for a 44 yard score, which was thrown right on the money.

Foles also avoided pressure well. He was able to escape pressure a few times and earned multiple first downs doing so. Foles looked confident, and shook that nasty habit of staring down one receiver quite well. There were many plays, (mostly screens, but some others) where Foles turned his body to face the middle of the field, then made a quick turn and fired, something we were hoping to see improved on.

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The offense looked better. The run game was still shaky, and the offensive line showed little improvement after being shuffled around. This causes some concern for a team that is supposed to be a run first team. Nick Foles however, was able to lead the offense and put up points.

The Rams defensive line put constant pressure on Luck. Aaron Donald looked like a freak of nature, pushing his blocker back almost every down. The Rams were able to show dominance despite a half motor preseason attempt, so there is a lot of hope and potential for this physical defense. The coverage was also a mass improvement, with many of Luck’s passes falling incomplete due to defended passes and breakups. Janoris Jenkins showed much more promise. He played his receiver man to man, and was in on multiple tackles of the running backs. Jenkins was all over the field, and looked way more focused.

The Rams improved on Saturday, which is a huge sigh of relief for a lot of fans. The Rams took a major step forward, and will look to do so even more against the state rival Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday.

Next: Five Things the Rams Must Do Against the Colts

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