
RamView, November 30, 2008
From Row HH
(Report and opinions from the game.)
Game #12: Dolphins 16, Rams 12
Ugh, I went to the Dome for a Rams game and a soccer game broke out.
The Rams and Dolphins traded FGs all day, and though competitive, the
Rams went down kicking with their tenth loss. Maybe next year they’ll
actually be good enough to beat the league’s worst team from the year
before.
Position by position:
* QB: With Steven Jackson somewhat healthy, Marc Bulger was supposed
to return to the back seat in the Ram offense as envisioned here in
the post-Martz era. “Manage the offense” and don’t screw up. Yes, the
Rams paid $60 million for Trent Dilfer. Through about three quarters
today, Bulger was having a classically Dilferian game: 8-20, 85 yards.
He seemed to be “managing”, though. He was the victim of some drops,
played it safe in the pocket with some throwaways, and hadn’t taken a
sack. The Rams weren’t scoring TDs but were still in the game. For
those almost-three quarters, Bulger at least wasn’t hurting the team,
even though the Rams’ biggest problem in the red zone appeared to be
the QB. The Rams got to 2nd-and-goal from the 5 their opening
possession. Bulger had to throw away the 2nd down pass because Miami
had everyone covered. On 3rd down, he forced a pass into the right
corner of the end zone Torry Holt never could have caught. Rams kick a
FG. What was odd was that Bulger had Steven Jackson and Anthony Becht
open in the middle, and Becht had a clear path to the end zone, but
the dumpoff-prone Bulger didn’t dump off this time. Like the next
drive. Bulger settled for a short pass to Dane Looker on 3rd-and-long
with Donnie Avery open deeper downfield. Rams kick a FG. They got back
inside the 20 in the 2nd after Bulger’s nice throw to Holt under
pressure, but on 3rd-and-5, Bulger tried forcing a sideline pass to
Anthony Becht with Holt popping up wide open over the middle. Rams.
Kick. A. FG. Down 13-9 late in the 3rd, Bulger began paying for the
earlier opportunities to cash in. He locked in on Jackson and threw
his first INT right to Akin Ayodele, lying in the weeds. The Rams
recovered from that and got ANOTHER FG, their last, false, hope.
Getting the ball back at his 33 with a chance to drive the offense to
the lead, Bulger rolled out and threw an AWFUL pass, right to Renaldo
Hill, yards short of intended (and open) receiver Becht, for a
crushing INT that allowed Miami to extend their lead to 16-13. What
should have been a big gain was instead a disaster because Bulger got
nervous about Joey Porter five yards away, got happy feet and threw
terribly off-balance. Bulger’s protection was terrific today, and good
on that play; his reaction and that throw are entirely inexcusable.
The rest of the game, with chances remaining to take the lead, Bulger
was a dumpoff machine except for the overthrown bomb for Derek Stanley
at the end of the game that Andre Goodman fielded like he was the
intended receiver for Bulger’s THIRD INT. Coupled with his poor
completion percentage (16-35) and meager yardage (149), that sank
Bulger’s passer rating for the day to a BRUTAL 22.2. The Rams blocked
and ran pretty well. Special teams were pretty good. The defense was
at least better than usual. Marc Bulger had the power to win or lose
this game and he lost it with panicky pocket presence and questionable
decision-making at key moments. The Rams paid $60 million for Trent
Dilfer, and today, they got Tony Banks. Whatever happened to him? Did
he get replaced?