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Austin Davis disappointed in performance against 49ers
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...vis-disappointed-in-performance-against-49ers
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Moments after his team's 31-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams quarterback Austin Davis had no interest in finger pointing or passing out blame for the Rams' shortcomings.
Davis did what any good leader and quarterback should do and pointed directly at himself. That's not to say the Rams' latest loss was all his fault. It wasn't, not even close. But Davis clearly understands the Rams took a step up in class against the 49ers' second-ranked defense and the results weren't good after a hot start.
"I feel like this one's really on me," Davis said. "I didn't play very well, and I've got to find a way to lead this team.”
In taking the blame, Davis is doing his best to lead the team but as the Rams are already finding out, it's going to take much more than that to overcome some of the better opponents that now await.
Davis made a bit of a splash in his first three starts, leading a comeback win against Tampa Bay and then posting consecutive games with 300 yards or more passing and three touchdowns against Dallas and Philadelphia. Heading into last week, those defenses ranked between 21st and 30th in the league in yards allowed per game. Dallas has since surged up the rankings to 15th, but the Eagles are now 24th and the Bucs 32nd.
In taking on the Niners, Davis and the Rams' offense faced their toughest test yet. After a pair of scoring drives to open the game, it looked like a test the Rams would pass with flying colors. But for most of the second half, it was a pure failure. Davis finished 21-of-42 for 236 yards with a touchdown and an interception, which was returned for a touchdown for a passer rating of 65.2 and a QBR of 18.9.
“It was OK," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said of Davis' performance. "I don't think he played as well as he did the first couple weeks. Again, the position's hard to play. He got off to a fast start and made some good throws. A wide open tight end in the end zone is a scary throw and he didn't miss that layup. He made some other really good throws. They took some things away. He's improving. He's got his hands full.”
The numbers in the second half were even uglier as Davis went 10-of-28 for 99 yards with that pick-six and no touchdowns in the game's final 30 minutes. Asked about the second-half struggles, Davis pointed to some errors of his own doing.
“I thought they had us covered pretty tightly at times, but there were throws to be made and I know there were checkdowns, probably," Davis said. "I probably flushed the pocket a little too soon at times. I'm looking forward to seeing that and seeing what I can learn from it.”
Davis did indeed miss some throws and wasn't as good going through his progressions later in the game as he'd been in previous starts. Of course, much of that can be attributed to a San Francisco defense that had him under siege for most of the game. Uncharacteristically, the Niners dialed up the blitz 11 times and though Davis did OK against it by completing seven passes, it was part of a more aggressive scheme than the Rams appeared ready to handle.
More typical of a Vic Fangio defense, the Niners offered an array of stunts and twists that made it difficult for the Rams to block everyone. Some shoddy pass protection from tight ends and running backs helped lead the Niners to five sacks and left Davis under duress on 20 of his dropbacks.
With the Seattle Seahawks coming to town Sunday, there's plenty the Rams need to straighten out as Davis and the offense will again be tested by a top-10 defense.
“We've got a short week and we've got the world champions coming to play, so we can't really focus on the record," Davis said. "We've got to get back to work and keep building on the positive things we're doing. That's all we can do."
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...vis-disappointed-in-performance-against-49ers
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Moments after his team's 31-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams quarterback Austin Davis had no interest in finger pointing or passing out blame for the Rams' shortcomings.
Davis did what any good leader and quarterback should do and pointed directly at himself. That's not to say the Rams' latest loss was all his fault. It wasn't, not even close. But Davis clearly understands the Rams took a step up in class against the 49ers' second-ranked defense and the results weren't good after a hot start.
"I feel like this one's really on me," Davis said. "I didn't play very well, and I've got to find a way to lead this team.”
In taking the blame, Davis is doing his best to lead the team but as the Rams are already finding out, it's going to take much more than that to overcome some of the better opponents that now await.
Davis made a bit of a splash in his first three starts, leading a comeback win against Tampa Bay and then posting consecutive games with 300 yards or more passing and three touchdowns against Dallas and Philadelphia. Heading into last week, those defenses ranked between 21st and 30th in the league in yards allowed per game. Dallas has since surged up the rankings to 15th, but the Eagles are now 24th and the Bucs 32nd.
In taking on the Niners, Davis and the Rams' offense faced their toughest test yet. After a pair of scoring drives to open the game, it looked like a test the Rams would pass with flying colors. But for most of the second half, it was a pure failure. Davis finished 21-of-42 for 236 yards with a touchdown and an interception, which was returned for a touchdown for a passer rating of 65.2 and a QBR of 18.9.
“It was OK," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said of Davis' performance. "I don't think he played as well as he did the first couple weeks. Again, the position's hard to play. He got off to a fast start and made some good throws. A wide open tight end in the end zone is a scary throw and he didn't miss that layup. He made some other really good throws. They took some things away. He's improving. He's got his hands full.”
The numbers in the second half were even uglier as Davis went 10-of-28 for 99 yards with that pick-six and no touchdowns in the game's final 30 minutes. Asked about the second-half struggles, Davis pointed to some errors of his own doing.
“I thought they had us covered pretty tightly at times, but there were throws to be made and I know there were checkdowns, probably," Davis said. "I probably flushed the pocket a little too soon at times. I'm looking forward to seeing that and seeing what I can learn from it.”
Davis did indeed miss some throws and wasn't as good going through his progressions later in the game as he'd been in previous starts. Of course, much of that can be attributed to a San Francisco defense that had him under siege for most of the game. Uncharacteristically, the Niners dialed up the blitz 11 times and though Davis did OK against it by completing seven passes, it was part of a more aggressive scheme than the Rams appeared ready to handle.
More typical of a Vic Fangio defense, the Niners offered an array of stunts and twists that made it difficult for the Rams to block everyone. Some shoddy pass protection from tight ends and running backs helped lead the Niners to five sacks and left Davis under duress on 20 of his dropbacks.
With the Seattle Seahawks coming to town Sunday, there's plenty the Rams need to straighten out as Davis and the offense will again be tested by a top-10 defense.
“We've got a short week and we've got the world champions coming to play, so we can't really focus on the record," Davis said. "We've got to get back to work and keep building on the positive things we're doing. That's all we can do."