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Rams can’t afford another clunker
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_d675405d-df86-51e4-a4c5-bed26e945b76.html
One game does not define the Rams.
That was the message from coach Jeff Fisher after that abomination of a season-opener last weekend against Minnesota. And it quickly became the mantra inside the walls of Rams Park.
The response to that outside the walls?
It better not.
The team’s 34-6 loss to Minnesota, the worst beating of any NFL team in Week 1, was a tremendous buzz kill — wiping away in 3 hours 3 minutes at the Edward Jones Dome months worth of momentum and excitement.
The now all-too-familiar 24-hour rule went into effect. After 24 hours, it’s time to quit moping about the result and move on to the next challenge. In this case it’s Sunday’s 3:05 p.m. kickoff (St. Louis time) against Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium.
But for some, it was tough to digest what happened in just a day’s time.
“I’m all for the 24-hour rule and forgetting about it,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “But as a competitor, some of that still resonates in you. You never want to put that stuff on tape, especially with the expectations at home. The fans deserve better, quite frankly.”
On a personal level, defensive end William Hayes said: “I wasn’t really satisfied with the way I played. So (Minnesota)’s gonna stay on my mind until I play better.”
Hayes and the rest of the Rams gets another chance against a Tampa Bay team that lost its opener — also played at home — 20-14 to Carolina, which was playing with backup quarterback Derek Anderson in place of the injured Cam Newton.
Like the Rams, the Bucs didn’t get a takeaway on defense, had trouble getting the running game going and made too many mistakes on offense. And yes, like the Rams they are dealing with injuries that have depleted their ranks.
On defense alone, Tampa enters the game missing its two starting defensive ends and one of its top three corners.
“We’ve got a similar set of circumstances, although the Bucs made a comeback late and had a chance,” Fisher said. “Nonetheless, both teams lost home openers. As coach (Lovie Smith) says down there, they’ve got a lot to improve on, as we do.”
For the most part, the Rams looked unprepared and uncompetitive against Minnesota. But the areas that need improvement are clear-cut. Here’s a five-point plan for getting past the Buccaneers:
• Cut the penalties in half from Week 1.
• Cut the missed tackles by two-thirds.
• Hold the edge on defense.
• Get the run game going early on offense.
• Play more physical in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
Pretty basic stuff, really.
“It definitely starts up front,” left tackle Jake Long said. “Everything works off the run game. So we’ve gotta get the run game going and that’ll open up the pass game, the play-action, all that stuff. We’ve gotta do better.”
And of course, it wouldn’t hurt if the Rams’ defense came up with a takeaway or two.
“We had our hands on five balls (against Minnesota), not that I would count,” defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said, smiling. “Three of them legitimately in both hands. So we’ve had a little bit of some chat and conversations about those kind of things.”
But to get that done, and truly put the Dome Debacle behind them, the Rams must do so without defensive end Chris Long — not only one of their best players but also one of their team leaders.
For example, it’s almost always Long who fires up the squad standing in the middle of the team huddle at the end of pregame preparations.
“Chris is a great spirit here and one of our defensive captains,” Williams said. “It’s just one of those things you go through. Next man up.”
One of the league’s top pass rushers in recent years, Long is expected to be sidelined at least eight weeks after undergoing ankle surgery Thursday. The very capable Hayes will replace him in the starting lineup with help from Eugene Sims and perhaps rookie Ethan Westbrooks over the next two months.
“Chris will be back,” Williams said. “He’ll be involved. I tease him a little bit about now he’ll get a chance to do some of the things I’m doing. I’m going to keep him involved coaching.”
On the other side of the ball it looks very much like Austin Davis — the team’s fourth string quarterback less than a month ago — will get his first NFL regular-season start. In a case of “next man up” followed by another “next man up,” he could replace veteran Shaun Hill (thigh) who replaced Sam Bradford (knee).
Not that he has a choice, but Fisher says he’s OK with the possibility of going with Davis against Smith’s patented Tampa 2 defense.
“He’s excited for the opportunity if it happens,” Fisher said.
As for Davis, he sounds confident about what he can do if he gets the call.
“There’s not a play call that I don’t know exactly what the read is, and exactly where the ball’s supposed to go,” he said. “It’s really just getting game experience. It was great last week to just get in and play ball (against Minnesota). But I feel very, very comfortable with what we’re doing.”
This one has the feel of the Minnesota game, at least before the Rams imploded in the second half. In other words, one of those 17-13, 20-17 close-to-the-vest, low-scoring contests. So the fewer mistakes by Davis — if it’s indeed him at quarterback — the better for the Rams.
With that in mind, the Rams could go conservative on offense, as was the case in the first half against the Vikings.
As has been his M.O. since coming to St. Louis in 2012, Fisher did a good job of getting the team back. There’s nothing the Rams can do now about Minnesota, and with that in mind practices were crisp and morale was good during the work week.
“I complimented them just a few minutes ago,” Fisher told the media after Wednesday’s practice. “They practiced like they’re 1-0 — and that’s what you need.”
Trouble is, they’re not 1-0.
And the last thing those at Rams Park want to hear Fisher tell the team after Sunday’s contest in Tampa Bay is “two games do not define this team.”