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Rams rewrite the script, beat Seattle
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_946dd744-cbbd-59a1-aedb-6fb535155c3a.html
With quarterback Russell Wilson carving up the Rams’ defense with his legs, his arm and his determination, the Seattle Seahawks had nibbled away at what once was an 18-point deficit.
That Rams’ lead had all but disappeared when it came down to a fourth-and-3 play at the St. Louis 18 with 2 minutes, 55 seconds to play. Clinging to a 28-26 lead, out came Johnny Hekker and the Rams’ punting unit. The surging Seahawks were poised to get the ball around their 40. A couple of first downs, and out trots kicker Steven Hauschka to boot the game-winning field goal for the defending Super Bowl champs.
You could almost visualize that finish.
The Rams, after all, blew a 21-0 first-half lead four weeks ago against Dallas in the Edward Jones Dome. On Monday, they squandered a 14-0 first-quarter lead against San Francisco — also at the Dome.
Here we go again, right?
Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. So coach Jeff Fisher called for a fake punt, right then and there.
As linebacker James Laurinaitis said, it takes a lot of guts to make that call.
Yes, it does. But Hekker took the long snap from Jake McQuaide, threw a strike to up-back Benny Cunningham, who had leaked out to the left flat, and Cunningham caught the ball for a first down and an 18-yard gain.
Since Seattle was out of timeouts, the Rams needed only one first down to run out the clock on kneel-downs. They got the first down, but only after a third-and-1 run by rookie running back Tre Mason ended in a fumble, and then a mad scramble for the football.
It wasn’t clear who recovered for the Rams, preserving their 28-26 upset victory. Although the angle was inconclusive, replays seemed to indicate it was the Seahawks.
So who came up with the ball?
“The Rams,” Fisher said, smiling.
Which player?
“An offensive player,” he replied.
“The ref (Brad Allen) called it our ball,” defensive end William Hayes added. “That’s all I can say. Hell, the calls have been going the other way a lot the last couple of games. So finally we got us a good call.”
According to Seattle coach Pete Carroll, cornerback Richard Sherman was on the ball for a while but couldn’t get flat to secure it. “Then the ball got moved around a little bit,” Carroll said.
Rams tight end Cory Harkey said he re-gained control of the ball at the bottom of a huge dog pile. Seconds earlier it had squirted out of his grasp chasing down the Mason fumble.
“Yeah, me and Mike (Person) were fighting for it under the pile,” Harkey said. “And we ended up with it.”
Person, a reserve offensive lineman, was in the game as an extra blocker because the Rams were in a “jumbo” formation.
One kneel-down later, the Rams (2-4) had found a way to close out a game. Barely.
Seattle, missing several starters because of injury and having traded wide receiver and return man Percy Harvin on Friday to the New York Jets, fell to 3-3 with its second consecutive loss.
“There’s a lot to learn from this,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “If anything, it kind of tells some of the guys, hey, we just won against the world champs in a situation where we didn’t play — I don’t believe we played — our best football.”
If not for the fake punt, however, it could very well have been another loss. Carroll certainly thought so.
“We didn’t think they would do it in this situation,” he said. “If they don’t catch the ball, we would have kicked a field goal and gone home. Very gutsy play by Jeff (Fisher), the kind of stuff he has done in the past and the way we anticipate him being. And we prepared for it.”
But who thought the Rams would fake it backed up at the 18?
Fisher said he told special teams coordinator John Fassel on first down of that sequence that the fake punt was on if the Rams didn’t convert.
“You guys saw the flow of the game, we were having a hard time stopping Russell (Wilson),” Fisher said. “There was too much time left on the clock right there, and I didn’t want to give the ball back to them. I thought it was our best chance to get a first down.”
Hekker had completed a pair of passes for first downs on fake punts as a rookie in 2012. But he misfired on his only fake punt attempt last season, in Dallas, to intended receiver Stedman Bailey.
So you might say Hekker, the team’s emergency quarterback, was due.
“We got the call on the sideline, and at first I’m thinking: ‘Are you serious?’ “ Hekker said.
Yes, Fisher was serious.
“That’s the confidence that he has in our special teams,” Hekker said. “We run through that scenario every single week multiple times. I make that throw plenty of times in practice, and Benny does a great job catching the ball.”
But it’s one thing to do it in practice, another to do so at a crucial point in a tight game. Cunningham was wide open on the play — almost too open.
“It was a little bit nerve-wracking how wide-open he was,” Hekker said.
Cunningham felt the same way.
“I’m thinking make the catch or I’m probably gonna be done,” Cunningham said. “This might be my last play in the NFL if I don’t make this catch. They’re gonna cut me, or my teammates, they’re gonna kill me.”
No drastic measures were needed. Cunningham caught the ball, helping the Rams win for only the third time in their last 19 tries against Seattle.
Special teams were vital to the victory. Although Seattle outgained the Rams 463 yards to 272 on offense, the Rams enjoyed an edge of 201 yards to 62 on punt and kickoff returns.
The Rams had to drive only 31 yards for their first touchdown, thanks to a 75-yard kickoff return by Cunningham. Their third TD, giving them a 21-3 lead, came on some punt return trickery when Bailey raced 90 yards for a score on a play that everyone in the Dome — except for the Rams — thought was going to Tavon Austin.
The Rams did manage a pair of long drives, both ending in Austin Davis TD passes. And in the end, they had their highest point total against Seattle since 2006.
“We wanted to finish the game in an offensive victory formation,” Davis said. “We did that.”
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_946dd744-cbbd-59a1-aedb-6fb535155c3a.html
With quarterback Russell Wilson carving up the Rams’ defense with his legs, his arm and his determination, the Seattle Seahawks had nibbled away at what once was an 18-point deficit.
That Rams’ lead had all but disappeared when it came down to a fourth-and-3 play at the St. Louis 18 with 2 minutes, 55 seconds to play. Clinging to a 28-26 lead, out came Johnny Hekker and the Rams’ punting unit. The surging Seahawks were poised to get the ball around their 40. A couple of first downs, and out trots kicker Steven Hauschka to boot the game-winning field goal for the defending Super Bowl champs.
You could almost visualize that finish.
The Rams, after all, blew a 21-0 first-half lead four weeks ago against Dallas in the Edward Jones Dome. On Monday, they squandered a 14-0 first-quarter lead against San Francisco — also at the Dome.
Here we go again, right?
Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. So coach Jeff Fisher called for a fake punt, right then and there.
As linebacker James Laurinaitis said, it takes a lot of guts to make that call.
Yes, it does. But Hekker took the long snap from Jake McQuaide, threw a strike to up-back Benny Cunningham, who had leaked out to the left flat, and Cunningham caught the ball for a first down and an 18-yard gain.
Since Seattle was out of timeouts, the Rams needed only one first down to run out the clock on kneel-downs. They got the first down, but only after a third-and-1 run by rookie running back Tre Mason ended in a fumble, and then a mad scramble for the football.
It wasn’t clear who recovered for the Rams, preserving their 28-26 upset victory. Although the angle was inconclusive, replays seemed to indicate it was the Seahawks.
So who came up with the ball?
“The Rams,” Fisher said, smiling.
Which player?
“An offensive player,” he replied.
“The ref (Brad Allen) called it our ball,” defensive end William Hayes added. “That’s all I can say. Hell, the calls have been going the other way a lot the last couple of games. So finally we got us a good call.”
According to Seattle coach Pete Carroll, cornerback Richard Sherman was on the ball for a while but couldn’t get flat to secure it. “Then the ball got moved around a little bit,” Carroll said.
Rams tight end Cory Harkey said he re-gained control of the ball at the bottom of a huge dog pile. Seconds earlier it had squirted out of his grasp chasing down the Mason fumble.
“Yeah, me and Mike (Person) were fighting for it under the pile,” Harkey said. “And we ended up with it.”
Person, a reserve offensive lineman, was in the game as an extra blocker because the Rams were in a “jumbo” formation.
One kneel-down later, the Rams (2-4) had found a way to close out a game. Barely.
Seattle, missing several starters because of injury and having traded wide receiver and return man Percy Harvin on Friday to the New York Jets, fell to 3-3 with its second consecutive loss.
“There’s a lot to learn from this,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “If anything, it kind of tells some of the guys, hey, we just won against the world champs in a situation where we didn’t play — I don’t believe we played — our best football.”
If not for the fake punt, however, it could very well have been another loss. Carroll certainly thought so.
“We didn’t think they would do it in this situation,” he said. “If they don’t catch the ball, we would have kicked a field goal and gone home. Very gutsy play by Jeff (Fisher), the kind of stuff he has done in the past and the way we anticipate him being. And we prepared for it.”
But who thought the Rams would fake it backed up at the 18?
Fisher said he told special teams coordinator John Fassel on first down of that sequence that the fake punt was on if the Rams didn’t convert.
“You guys saw the flow of the game, we were having a hard time stopping Russell (Wilson),” Fisher said. “There was too much time left on the clock right there, and I didn’t want to give the ball back to them. I thought it was our best chance to get a first down.”
Hekker had completed a pair of passes for first downs on fake punts as a rookie in 2012. But he misfired on his only fake punt attempt last season, in Dallas, to intended receiver Stedman Bailey.
So you might say Hekker, the team’s emergency quarterback, was due.
“We got the call on the sideline, and at first I’m thinking: ‘Are you serious?’ “ Hekker said.
Yes, Fisher was serious.
“That’s the confidence that he has in our special teams,” Hekker said. “We run through that scenario every single week multiple times. I make that throw plenty of times in practice, and Benny does a great job catching the ball.”
But it’s one thing to do it in practice, another to do so at a crucial point in a tight game. Cunningham was wide open on the play — almost too open.
“It was a little bit nerve-wracking how wide-open he was,” Hekker said.
Cunningham felt the same way.
“I’m thinking make the catch or I’m probably gonna be done,” Cunningham said. “This might be my last play in the NFL if I don’t make this catch. They’re gonna cut me, or my teammates, they’re gonna kill me.”
No drastic measures were needed. Cunningham caught the ball, helping the Rams win for only the third time in their last 19 tries against Seattle.
Special teams were vital to the victory. Although Seattle outgained the Rams 463 yards to 272 on offense, the Rams enjoyed an edge of 201 yards to 62 on punt and kickoff returns.
The Rams had to drive only 31 yards for their first touchdown, thanks to a 75-yard kickoff return by Cunningham. Their third TD, giving them a 21-3 lead, came on some punt return trickery when Bailey raced 90 yards for a score on a play that everyone in the Dome — except for the Rams — thought was going to Tavon Austin.
The Rams did manage a pair of long drives, both ending in Austin Davis TD passes. And in the end, they had their highest point total against Seattle since 2006.
“We wanted to finish the game in an offensive victory formation,” Davis said. “We did that.”