St. Louis Rams Lead a Long Drive to Nowhere

It was a long drive, spanning two quarters, but it was a boring drive that turned on a ball spot. The yellow line isn't gospel, but it should be accurate. Daniel Fells was on or over the first down marker. The refs marked him a yard short and the Twelfth Man took care of the rest. A false start and delay of game later, the Rams were third and 11. Josh Brown hooked it left and the shutout was intact.

From a statistical standpoint, this drive was important. The chance the Rams would win peaked at 69% on that third and one. But it was slow, detail-poor football. Seattle was getting moderate pass rush and controlling their assignments, but Marc Bulger and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur found holes in the Seahawks zone and methodically converted first downs to crawl down the field. Here is what little detail I can offer.

• Ken Lucas missed two tackles. His first allowed Steven Jackson to turn the corner and rush for ten. His second was a play that could have been worse. The Seahawks defense was sure someone on the Rams had committed a false start, so sure three were busy pointing when the play began. Bulger passed very short left to Laurent Robinson, an out of position Lucas dove right and missed, and Robinson ran clean into the third level. There Deon Grant tackled him. Replace Robinson with a good open-field runner and it's anyone's guess where that play ends.
• Former defensive back John Lynch and Ron Pitts praised Lucas for covering Keenan Burton on a deep route, and Lucas did cut off the route a smidge, but it was an overthrown ball or an under-fast receiver, because Lucas was beat, incomplete or not.
• Seattle got sucked up on an end around. That's the price of an attacking defense.
• Cory Redding adjusted to a naked bootleg by Bulger and pressured him into throwing it away.
• Patrick Kerney, as quiet as I can ever remember him, almost tackled Steve Jackson from behind. He almost behind the line and tackled Jackson, but didn't.
• Lawrence Jackson tackled Steven Jackson for a loss that was somehow spotted as no gain. He stuck an arm into Jason Smith and tracked the action towards the middle. When Steven Jackson's lane opened right of center, Jackson plunged into Jackson and our Jackson won.
• Seattle blitzed six on third and 11. It overloaded the right, sending Aaron Curry and Jordan Babineaux. Bulger overthrew Robinson. Kelly Jennings was glued to his hip. Guess Bulger missed that memo. Robinson was wide open, yo.