Preseason Game #2: at San Diego 8/15/98

Last Game

The Rams had another rocky start in last night's game in San Diego. The Chargers controlled the ball for most of the 1st quarter, the only one in which Tony Banks and most of the Rams starting offense saw action. Tony ran just 8 plays from scrimmage and went 3 for 5 passing for 16 yards... difficult to tell much from two very short series worth of work. The Rams defense made Chargers rookie QB Ryan Leaf look almost unstoppable, but in their defense, they were missing three out of four starters. Dexter McCleon, still starting in place of holdout RCB Ryan McNeil continued to look good in coverage, but he also continued to fail to make plays on the ball. Dexter sticks with his man well and rarely gets burned, but he fails to turn when the ball arrives and finds himself out of position to make the play. We NEED Ryan McNeil for at least one more year. Gerald McBurrows and Billy Jenkins started in place of Keith Lyle and Toby Wright at safeties. McBurrows in particular does not look to be in game shape. He is just two weeks removed from a long battle with chicken pox that saw him lose ten pounds and he was really hurting the Rams' interior help side coverage last night. The coverage should improve, however with the return of the starters... hopefully very soon. Other weak areas on the defense included a weak pass rush which was missing nickel RDE Grant Wistrom and backup LDE Bryan Robinson. The Rams haven't shown many safety or CB blitzes this preseason, but it looks like they'll need to mix up the rush to put more pressure on opposing quarterbacks when the games start to count, or else our secondary will be in for some LONG Sunday afternoons in coverage. The LB corps was missing starter Roman Phifer and they struggled in coverage as well on San Diego's Tight Ends and RB's... a recurring theme for the Rams D last year. Eric Hill got more reps, however, and looked good, as did interim MLB starter Lorenzo Styles for the second successive week. Styles teamed up with DT Ray Agnew to stuff big Charger RB Natrone Means on three straight running plays after the Chargers had driven the ball to a first down at the Rams 5 yard line on their opening drive. Styles also saw action at OLB later in the game... the coaches have really been impressed with him in camp and are looking for ways to get him on the field even with the return of Eric Hill as the starting MLB. Offensively, the Rams struggled in the first half, but in the second we were treated to glimpses of what we all hope is the future of this team. Jerald Moore and Robert Holcombe, in their first action of the preseason, led the Rams down the field systematically on successive long touchdown drives. Moore started the second half and showed why he shouldn't be written off in the race for the Rams starting RB job just yet. Jerald didn't get much help from the second string offensive line... he just did it ALL BY HIMSELF. #44 put his head down and suddenly the piles were moving forward as big Jerald used his low center of gravity to carry Charger defenders up the field and racked up about half of his yards AFTER the initial contact was made. He capped off the drive with a short touchdown plunge that mirrored his determined running style for the entire drive, and he left rookie Robert Holcombe with a tough act to follow... And Holcombe was just that... TOUGH! Robert is not as big as Moore and doesn't drag defenders as far, but he doesn't have to... because he hits them HARD. He may not have the top end speed of Greg Hill, but he accelerates very quickly and is nearly running full stride when he hits the hole. And he doesn't slow down... not until a defender or two are on their backs. He really does PUNISH defenders... doesn't shy away from a hit... he initiates most of them. Jackie Slater described him as "running with wreckless abandon", and that's a pretty good description of young "HOSS" Holcombe. He led off the drive with a nice 9 yard catch and run, followed by a hard fought first down, and the drive was ultimately capped off by a nifty little curl by his fellow Az Hakim who spun in for the TD. Well that is all we got to see of our two power running backs, Holcombe & Moore, but it was enough to realize that when these guys get behind our starting offensive line which did not allow a single sack all night... Dick Vermeil is going to jam the football right down the opposing defenses' throats. June Henley got the start for some unknown reason, and while Henley ran hard, he just doesn't have the acceleration or the power to make this team IMHO. I'd really like to see them try Jerald at fullback because if he can lead block as powerfully as he finnishes off runs, he and Holcombe could make a devastating power RB tandem coming out of the same backfield. A couple of bubble players who shined included Malcolm Floyd who is battling for the 5th WR position and #79 Corey Sears at Defensive End. The only player on the Rams roster who sports an Afro, Malcolm caught a pair of short Steve Bono passes, one of which went for 48 yards after his exciting run after the catch. Corey Sears saw alot of action in the 2nd half, playing in place of Bryan Robinson at LDE, and he showed some excitement rushing the passer. Sears needs to have another couple of great preseason outings in order to make this team. Remember folks... it's the preseason... save your criticism until the games count. Up Next: DALLAS Peace, FastEddie HOME