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COMMENTARY | On Sunday, December 23, the St. Louis Rams (7-7-1) beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-9) to clinch their best record since 2006. Tight end Lance Kendricks led the team with four catches for 119 yards and a touchdown.
Here are three thoughts on the game:
Kendricks emerges
Many people expected Lance Kendricks to become the league’s next great receiving tight end when he was selected by the Rams in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He appeared to be living up to that billing during the following preseason, but then he disappeared during the Rams’ dismal 2011 campaign.
Kendricks’s poor performances continued early this season. He often struggled to get open, and when he did find some space, Kendricks had a knack for dropping the ball. However, Kendricks has finally put it together in the past four weeks. He made critical receptions to help secure recent victories over the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers, and then there was the 80-yard touchdown catch that essentially sealed the game at Tampa Bay.
It’s taken longer than many people expected, but Kendricks is finally tapping into his vast potential. I look forward to seeing what he can do with a second season in this offense.
A maturing defense
The Rams defense didn’t give its best performance of the season, but it may have been its grittiest. Time and time again during the second half, Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman brought the Tampa Bay offense down the field. Yet each time the Bucs got close to scoring, the Rams defense stiffened. In particular, Freeman drove Tampa Bay deep into St. Louis territory twice in the fourth quarter, but the Rams stopped them on fourth down both times. That’s the kind of defensive play that the team has needed over the past six years.
Sam Bradford’s struggles
I hate to pick apart a great Rams victory, but there’s something to be said about quarterback Sam Bradford. He completed less than 50 percent of his passes for the second time in three weeks and for the fourth time this season. Bradford is proving to be quite inaccurate for someone who was regarded as an extremely accurate passer coming out of Oklahoma.
Much of Bradford’s problem comes from the fact that he often gets happy feet when under pressure. He also has a tendency to force passes into coverage. Some people will blame the fact that he’s had three offensive coordinators in three seasons, but that shouldn’t be a reason for Bradford to make such poor decisions with the football. The time has come for Bradford to finally put it together, or the Rams will have to find yet another quarterback to lead this franchise.
Derek Ciapala has been following the Rams since childhood. He has been published on Yahoo! Sports, GatewayMMA.com and multiple other websites. You can check him out on Facebook orTwitter @dciapala.
Sources: Pro-Football-Reference.com
(Originally published on Yahoo! Sports)
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COMMENTARY | On Sunday, December 23, the St. Louis Rams (7-7-1) beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-9) to clinch their best record since 2006. Tight end Lance Kendricks led the team with four catches for 119 yards and a touchdown.
Here are three thoughts on the game:
Kendricks emerges
Many people expected Lance Kendricks to become the league’s next great receiving tight end when he was selected by the Rams in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He appeared to be living up to that billing during the following preseason, but then he disappeared during the Rams’ dismal 2011 campaign.
Kendricks’s poor performances continued early this season. He often struggled to get open, and when he did find some space, Kendricks had a knack for dropping the ball. However, Kendricks has finally put it together in the past four weeks. He made critical receptions to help secure recent victories over the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers, and then there was the 80-yard touchdown catch that essentially sealed the game at Tampa Bay.
It’s taken longer than many people expected, but Kendricks is finally tapping into his vast potential. I look forward to seeing what he can do with a second season in this offense.
A maturing defense
The Rams defense didn’t give its best performance of the season, but it may have been its grittiest. Time and time again during the second half, Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman brought the Tampa Bay offense down the field. Yet each time the Bucs got close to scoring, the Rams defense stiffened. In particular, Freeman drove Tampa Bay deep into St. Louis territory twice in the fourth quarter, but the Rams stopped them on fourth down both times. That’s the kind of defensive play that the team has needed over the past six years.
Sam Bradford’s struggles
I hate to pick apart a great Rams victory, but there’s something to be said about quarterback Sam Bradford. He completed less than 50 percent of his passes for the second time in three weeks and for the fourth time this season. Bradford is proving to be quite inaccurate for someone who was regarded as an extremely accurate passer coming out of Oklahoma.
Much of Bradford’s problem comes from the fact that he often gets happy feet when under pressure. He also has a tendency to force passes into coverage. Some people will blame the fact that he’s had three offensive coordinators in three seasons, but that shouldn’t be a reason for Bradford to make such poor decisions with the football. The time has come for Bradford to finally put it together, or the Rams will have to find yet another quarterback to lead this franchise.
Derek Ciapala has been following the Rams since childhood. He has been published on Yahoo! Sports, GatewayMMA.com and multiple other websites. You can check him out on Facebook orTwitter @dciapala.
Sources: Pro-Football-Reference.com
(Originally published on Yahoo! Sports)
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