Positives:
- Play calling. One example; I noticed a subtle difference in the way Cignetti ran the Bubble screen to Tavon on the 2nd play of the game. He started the play with Run action going to the right side of the field, then threw back to the left side. Once, Tavon caught the ball, he had much more lateral room to work with having the line previously moved 7 to 8 yards to the right.
- No negative plays from the Right side of the O-line (Brown & Havenstein) .....at least for the 1st unit
- Marcus Roberson, when Marcus arrived as a UDFA last season and he was a softy. He seemed to shy away from contact. He has seemed to have changed. On two consecutive plays, he popped QB Ponder on his scramble up the left sideline, and I believe the next play was a Run to the left side with Trent Richardson and Roberson squared up and brought him down before he went out of bounds. I was impressed.
- Trumaine Johson, I was happy to see the pass break up and interception he made in the 1st Qtr. I have always had the opinion that Trumaine plays better in zone than in Man coverage. And, after the Giants game last year, I thought Trumaine was finally exposed for his poor coverage ability, mostly lack of quickness to stay with faster receivers. Maybe this is still true, but he stayed with the WR and tipped the ball away, albeit on a shorter field (near the endzone), and then recovering from a trail technique to pick off the pass going into the endzone on a slant.
Head scratchers:
- Rams Run defense, I keep hearing how some people think the Rams defense can be a Top 5 unit. Running play after running play the Raiders got their RB up the middle and to the outside for big chunks of yardage. The D-tackles seemed to be neutralized ; Donald was running upfield in the "B" gap while Brockers was being sealed off with no LB filling the "A" gap. This was the most frustrating thing for me to watch. This is an experienced Front 7. I expect a poor performance from an O-line with players having no experience, not from from an experienced front 7. Rant over
- The Rams continued use of Chris Givens, I can see that Cignetti gave him opportunities where his straight line speed could be utilized ; the reverse play to the left, the go route from the Slot, which was the play where Keenum missed him, and then a running play stright upfield off left tackle. I will be disappoint if Givens makes the team and