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Offense Sputters, St. Louis Rams Fall 27-14 In Tennessee

By Matt LaPan

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The St. Louis Rams took to the road for the second time this week, this time in search of a preseason win over the Tennessee Titans. The offense did not travel well, however, as the Rams fell 27-14 to the Titans.

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The Rams started the night on defense  with Ethan Westbrooks getting the surprise start over Michael Brockers on the defensive line. It was not a great start to the night, as the Titans ripped off three consecutive big plays to start. First was a 16-yard pass from Marcus Mariota to Kendall Wright.

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That was followed with a 16-yard, and seven-yard run from Bishop Sankey. The next two plays were highlighted by Robert Quinn, however. He made two great reads to stuff Sankey for no gain, then a loss with Aaron Donald helping. The Rams got off the field following a nice pass breakup from Lamarcus Joyner on 3rd-&-12.

The Rams offense took the field with a bit of a different look, as well. The offensive line was without Rodger Saffold, putting Brandon Washington in his spot. Demetrius Rhaney also got the start, as he assumed the center role. The opening drive was a disaster for the Rams, and ended with the Titans in the end zone as Perish Cox intercepted an errant Nick Foles pass and brought it back for six. The pass was intended for Kenny Britt, but Britt never looked for the ball and Foles threw it directly to Cox.

After another stalled Rams drive, the Titans were able to get moving on offense. Once again, Sankey sprung the Tennessee offense. He accounted for 22 yards on the drive, finding a gaping hole on the right side of the Rams defense. The Rams did have a nice play on a blitz, with James Laurinaitis getting to Mariota, but a late and high hit from Quinn drew a flag and kept the drive alive. The Rams caught a break as Dexter McCluster dropped a wide-open touchdown opportunity from Mariota. A Ryan Succop field goal gave the Titans a 10-0 lead, a score that stayed through the end of the 1st quarter.

Aug 23, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher acknowledges the crowd after a video tribute during the first half against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The Rams offense continued to sputter, but the defense started to show life. The Rams were able to confuse Mariota with multiple blitz package looks from defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, and nearly forced a turnover.

Mariota was looking for an intermediate route, which was jumped by Mark Barron — Barron had the ball in his hands, but dropped the possible interception.

The Rams starting offense had another chance to prove a point, but went three-and-out to end their night scoreless.

Following the drive, the Rams went to their second-team defense. They did not fare much better than the first-team defense. The Titans second-team offense took to the field for an 8-play, 62-yard drive that ended in a Zach Mettenberger touchdown to Chase Coffman.

The lone positive on the drive was Lamarcus Joyner, who made two nice open-field tackles on Titans running back David Cobb.

It was then time for the second-team offense to take the field. With his night over, Nick Foles’ final numbers were 3-7 passing for 18 yards and the interception. Tre Mason carried the ball three times for six yards.

The drive started well as backup quarterback Case Keenum found Stedman Bailey over the middle for a 29-yard gain, the longest offensive play of the night for the Rams.

The Rams moved the ball, but stalled on the Titans side of the field. That brought on Greg Zuerlein for a 53-yard field goal attempt, which he hooked wide to the right. The Titans took back to the field and drove for a field goal, making the score 20-0, Titans, at the half.

While both teams brought out their reserve players in the 2nd half, the Rams finally broke through with 5:38 left in the 3rd quarter. It was a beautiful 80-yard pass from Case Keenum to Chris Givens. Keenum lobbed the pass up for Givens, who ran under it and took it the rest of the way for the score. The play made it 20-7, Titans.

Nick Foles spoke with reporters at half time, admitting the offense was not at the level it needed to be. “Tonight, we needed to get the ball in the endzone,” Foles said. “We didn’t do our job. We need to get some points on the board, but it’s one of those things where there’s a lot we can learn from. Everything out here is fixable and we can fix it. We’ll get back to work. The second group right now is moving the ball really nicely. There are a lot of good things and we’re just going to improve on the things we didn’t do well.”

The Rams continued to get strong play from Keenum throughout the quarter, and started to control the line of scrimmage. With an offensive line of (left to right) Isaiah Battle, Travis Bond, Barrett Jones, Andrew Donnal and Steven Baker on the field, Trey Watts showed good life in the Rams running game. Watts ran for 52 yards and had 42 more yards receiving in the quarter.

The Rams entered the 4th quarter with a chance to cut the score in half, but missed another field goal. This time it was Michael Palardy who missed, pushing the ball wide-left from 46 yards.

That brought an end to Keenum’s night, a successful one for the likely backup. Keenum went 7-of-16 for 164 yards and a touchdown. He gave way for Austin Davis. Davis made a nice throw to start his night, a 21-yard completion to Bradley Marquez.

The Titans did find the end zone one more time. This time it was Alex Tanney finding Coffman for a 56-yard completion. It was the second touchdown of the night for Coffman, and made the score 27-7.

"“We didn’t do our job. We need to get some points on the board, but it’s one of those things where there’s a lot we can learn from. Everything out here is fixable and we can fix it.” – Nick Foles"

The Rams did have rookie Sean Mannion play as well, and he looked impressive in short time on the field. Mannion went 6-7 for 93 yards and 1 touchdown. The big play of his night came on a pass over the middle to fellow rookie Malcolm Brown. Brown made a nice move to break a tackle and keep his feet inside the sideline to scamper for Mannion’s first-career touchdown. The score made it 27-14, Titans.

The Rams offense did not find the end zone again as they fell 27-14 to the Tennessee Titans. Overall, it was a sloppy game for both teams as there were 17 accepted penalties on the night.

Case Keenum led the team in passing with 164 yards and a touchdown. Trey Watts led the team in rushing with six carries for 53 yards. Chris Givens led the team in receiving with a single catch for 80 yards and a touchdown. Malcolm Brown was not far behind with four receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown. The Rams were led defensively by Lamarcus Joyner’s five tackles. The Rams will play at home for the first time this preseason when they host Indianapolis on Saturday.

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