Rantin’ and Raven
October 15th, 2007 | by Kevin Morris |
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
BALTIMORE — Given all the injuries, plus the ineffectiveness of the St. Louis
offense, there was only one formula that could possibly get the Rams out of M&T
Stadium Sunday with a victory.
Namely, minimize mistakes on offense and make the most of any opportunity that
came their way.
Instead, the Rams did just the opposite. When Gus Frerotte wasn’t under siege
from the Baltimore pass rush — and he took a beating Sunday — he was hanging on
to the football too long.
As a result, one Frerotte pass after another was there for the taking. And the
hungry Ravens defense grabbed them like crabcakes at an Inner Harbor
restaurant. By day’s end, Frerotte had thrown a career-high five interceptions,
and lost a fumble as well, in a 22-3 Rams defeat.
At 0-6, the Rams have matched the worst start in the 70-year history of the
franchise.
“Our defense played their (bleeps) off for us, and we weren’t able to hold up
our end of the bargain,” tight end Randy McMichael said. “It’s frustrating,
because you have no excuse for it. No matter who’s here or who’s not here, we
still have enough talent on the football team to get it done.”
The Rams’ defense limited Baltimore to 248 yards, allowed just 2.5 yards a
carry on the ground, and came up with two turnovers. One of those turnovers, on
a sack and forced fumble by defensive end Leonard Little, put the Rams in prime
scoring position in the second quarter.
A 24-yard return by Victor Adeyanju, who scooped up the fumble, plus a delay of
game penalty afterward on Baltimore, gave the Rams a first down at the Ravens’
11.
Here’s what happened next:
— Two running plays by Brian Leonard resulted in minus 1 yard.
— Alex Barron was flagged for a false start, pushing the Rams back five more
yards.
— On third down from the Baltimore 17, Frerotte’s pass in the front left front
corner of the end zone bounced off the hands of wide receiver Marques Hagans,
incomplete. It wouldn’t have been an easy catch, but it was a catchable pass.
— On fourth down, Jeff Wilkins’ 35-yard field goal missed wide left. It was
Wilkins’ fourth miss in his last five outdoor attempts.
Baltimore led only 6-0 at the time, so a touchdown and an extra point would’ve
given the Rams the lead. Instead, they didn’t even come away with three points.
“It’s pathetic,” McMichael said. “And anybody that doesn’t feel so, they’re
fooling themselves. It’s pathetic. And that’s how we looked out there
offensively.”
Following that missed opportunity, Baltimore marched 75 yards in eight plays
for the game’s only touchdown, a 6-yard run by Willis McGahee that gave the
Ravens a 13-0 lead. Cornerback Fakhir Brown, so good the week before in his
season debut, was beaten for a 28-yard completion and flagged for a 27-yard
pass interference penalty on the drive.
No matter what the final score, there are always a handful of critical plays or
sequences that help define the outcome. The Rams’ inability to score following
the Little sack-Adeyanju return was one of them.
An underthrown pass by Frerotte that was intercepted by Chris McAlister earlier
in the second quarter was another. Wide receiver Drew Bennett was at least five
yards behind McAlister on the play, so a perfect pass probably results in a
touchdown.
It was interception No. 2 of what would be a franchise record five pickoffs for
the Ravens. Last week against Arizona, Frerotte joined Chris Chandler as the
only quarterbacks in NFL history to start at least one game for seven different
franchises. Frerotte’s performance Sunday was eerily similar to Chandler’s
six-interception performance for the Rams in 2004 against Carolina.
“Obviously, there’s other circumstances that are involved,” Frerotte said. “But
as a quarterback, when you lose, you take all the blame.”
Among those other circumstances were injuries and more injuries. The latest
Sunday included a sprained ankle by center Brett Romberg and a hamstring injury
to Bennett. The Baltimore pass rush was another such “circumstance.”
The interior of the Rams’ offensive line did not have a good day, with three
Ravens defensive tackles registering sacks. But as the Ravens were quick to
point out, there were several plays when Frerotte simply didn’t get the ball
out quickly enough.
“He was hanging on to it,” said Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs with a chuckle.
“He took it like a man. He’s really a tough guy, so you’ve got to hand it to
him.”
They handed it to him, all right, with four sacks and numerous other hits that
left Frerotte with a sore jaw and ribs.
Largely because of the turnovers, the Ravens’ offense benefited from a short
field most of the day. Other than the McGahee touchdown, Baltimore’s 15 other
points came on five Matt Stover field goals. The Ravens’ offense began
possession in St. Louis territory on four of those drives. The only field goal
not set up by a Rams turnover started at the Baltimore 47, after a Rams punt.
“Turnovers were definitely the difference,” Rams coach Scott Linehan said.
“They’re a great defense, and we found out that first hand.”
It’s called learning the hard way.
