Rams win on field goal on last play
August 12th, 2007 | by Kevin Morris |
By
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
MINNEAPOLIS — At 5 feet 9, 155 pounds, Kevin Lovell looks more like NFL ballboy
than NFL place-kicker. And in St. Louis, the undrafted rookie from the
University of Cincinnati isn’t going to beat out Jeff Wilkins — one of the
game’s top kickers for the past decade.
But if he keeps this up, other teams looking for kicking help might take
notice. Lovell kicked two field goals Friday night, including the game winner
as time expired, giving the Rams a 13-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in
their exhibition opener.
Nicknamed “Sparky” by his teammates, Lovell actually had to kick the game
winner twice. His 35-yarder was negated by a false-start penalty on Rams
offensive lineman Jeremy Parquet. So Lovell and the Rams had to line up again
for a 40-yarder.
“Those are always tough,” Lovell said. “It’s tough to do it back to back right
in a row.”
After the penalty, the new placement ended up being on a small patch of
artificial turf placed over the second base sliding area in the multipurpose
Metrodome.
“I didn’t want to get uneven footing, so I just went out there and hit it as
well as I could and it went through,” Lovell said.
The 40-yarder was the third consecutive game winner for Lovell; he made game
winners in the last two games of his college career last season for Cincinnati.
Lovell’s kick mercifully prevented Friday’s sloppy, uneven contest from going
into overtime — the last thing coaches and players want in the preseason
because of the fear of injury.
Lovell’s kick culminated a 46-yard drive in the final 2 minutes 52 seconds of
play with fourth-stringer Brock Berlin at quarterback. Berlin completed five of
six passes on the drive for 60 yards, overcoming a sack and a false-start
penalty.
“I’ve seen Brock do that,” coach Scott Linehan said. “He was our No. 4 at Miami
… and he just moves the team.”
After the game, Linehan wasn’t quite ready to say that Berlin had wedged his
way into a competition with Ryan Fitzpatrick for the No. 3 job. “But he
certainly didn’t hurt himself,” Linehan said.
Nothing against the fine denizens of the Twins Cities, but when Fitzpatrick
plans any future vacations, he almost certainly won’t be heading to the Land of
10,000 Lakes.
When he last played at the Metrodome, the Rams quarterback was starting ahead
of Jamie Martin on Dec. 11, 2005, with Marc Bulger out with a shoulder injury.
Fitzpatrick tossed five interceptions in a 27-13 loss.
Fitzpatrick returned to the scene of the crime Friday, and things went only
marginally better. He tossed two interceptions, the second of which was
returned 82 yards for a touchdown by linebacker Dontarrious Thomas in the third
quarter.
With third-string left tackle Drew Strojny struggling mightily on pass
protection, Fitzpatrick absorbed several punishing hits from the Minnesota
defense. Vikings linebacker Heath Farwell nearly added injury to insult with a
jarring hit that shook up Fitzpatrick on a blitz. Farwell was flagged for a
helmet-to-helmet hit; Fitzpatrick left the game for only one play.
“My sternum hurts a little bit right now,” Fitzpatrick said. “I kind of lost my
wind on that play.”
A third-quarter field goal by Lovell accounted for the only points produced by
Fitzpatrick, who completed 13 of 21 passes for 117 yards.
With the exception of a couple of players, Rams starters on both sides of the
ball were finished after just two series. On offense, Bulger completed six of
seven passes. But those tosses went for a mere 42 yards, and the one misfire
was an interception on a tipped pass at the Minnesota 23.
Steven Jackson didn’t carry once from scrimmage against a Vikings defense that
was No. 1 run against the run a year ago. Jackson’s only touches came on a pair
of receptions (for eight yards) before he gave way to rookie Brian Leonard.
Overall, the Rams’ first unit managed only 47 yards and three first downs
before calling it a night. In five preseason games since Linehan became head
coach in January 2006, the Rams’ first offensive unit has yet to score a
touchdown. Meanwhile, coordinator Jim Haslett’s defensive unit gave up three
first downs and 59 yards in two series, but no points.
First-round draft pick Adam Carriker played most of the first half and made his
presence felt early, clogging up the middle at defensive tackle.
The Rams’ only touchdown came with No. 2 quarterback Gus Frerotte in the game
in the second quarter. Behind blocks by guard Milford Brown and fullback
Madison Hedgecock, Leonard scored the only offensive TD of the game on an
11-yard run.
