St. Louis Rams: Penalties Doom Team In Loss To Vikings

The St. Louis Rams fell 21-18 to the Minnesota Vikings in overtime, Sunday. The Rams out gained the Vikings on the day, were almost even in time of possession and had a perfectly balanced offense (160 yards rushing and passing). They did all of this despite key injuries along both the offensive and defensive lines. So, what went wrong?

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The Rams did not fall because Robert Quinn, Rob Havenstein and others were out. They did not lose because of a pedestrian performance from Nick Foles, or Todd Gurley being held under 100 yards rushing for the first time in a game he started. They lost because of a lack of discipline on the road.

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The Rams were penalized 12 times in the game for 87 total penalty yards. Nine of the 13 penalties came on the defensive side of the ball, including four offsides calls where a member of the defensive line was drawn offsides by a hard count from Minnesota quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. 

William Hayes was caught twice, Nick Fairley and Michael Brockers were each whistled once. Of these four offsides penalties, From these penalties, twice the Rams handed a fresh set of downs to Minnesota – committing the other two on first down to give the Vikings a short field.

Nov 8, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; St. Louis Rams running back Todd Gurley (30) runs for a touchdown while hit by Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith (22) during the first quarter at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Overall, the Rams gave the Vikings a fresh set of downs on six times. Twice, that fresh set of down led directly to Minnesota points, both coming in the 1st half and giving the Vikings the 10-0 lead.

The mistakes were not just limited to the defense, however. The Rams took a major penalty with just under 10-minutes left in the game on offense. The penalty was an intentional grounding on Nick Foles, who had fled the pocket but did not get the ball back to the line of scrimmage when pressured by Everson Griffen.

This pushed the Rams out of field goal range, and kept them at a three -point deficit. The Rams did not allow another point, and were able to get a game-tying field goal. This penalty directly prevented a chance at three points that could have led to a victory.

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With the 12 penalties, the Rams are now up to 68 penalties on the season. This makes them one of the most penalized teams in the NFL. Even with these troubles, the Rams currently sit at 4-4 on the season. With a rededication and refocus, the Rams could be on their way to their first winning season since 2003.