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| BAL at IND | CAR at TB | CHI at ATL | CIN at NYJ | DAL at ARI | DET at MIN | GB at SEA | JAX at DEN |
| MIA at HOU | NE at SD | NYG at CLE | OAK at NO | PHI at SF | STL at WAS | ||
Week 6 Game Recap: St. Louis Rams 19, Washington Redskins 17
What you need to know
| St. Louis Rams |
The Rams shocked the world Sunday afternoon, marching into our nation's capital and beating the Washington Redskins outright in a thrilling game that went right down to the very last play. The Rams offense was serviceable at best, and ultimately relied on the defense to win the game.
QB Marc Bulger had a decent day with everything considered completing just under 58% of his passes for 136 yards. RB Steven Jackson was given the ball 22 times of which he was able to amass 79 yards on. About the only thing that was above average for the Rams offense on Sunday was WR Donnie Avery, who had a very respectable game with 73 receiving yards on four receptions.
| Washington Redskins |
The Redskins had multiple opportunities to put the dagger in the Rams Sunday afternoon. They failed to capitalize on all of them, ultimately falling to one of the worst teams in the league and at home no less. It was a textbook game example of the phrase "Any given Sunday."
QB Jason Campbell continued his steady improvement and progression in the newly installed West Coast Offense, completing nearly 70% of his throws for 208 yards. RB Clinton Portis also continued upon his career year, running for more than 100 yards for his third straight game and tacking on two rushing touchdowns for good measure. WR Santana Moss had a second straight game in which he was nearly non-existent, while Antwaan Randle El hauled in five balls for 87 yards.
What you ought to know
| QB Marc Bulger, Pass: 15 - 26 - 136 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0 |
At face value, completing nearly 60% of your throws for 136 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions on the road against an NFC East powerhouse could very well appear solid. If that was all there was to the story, you could even say that the QB succeeded in managing the game and minimizing his mistakes. Luckily for Marc Bulger, two errant throws he slung for sure interceptions were dropped and had the defenders managed to hold on, the Rams could have very well left FedEx Field 0-5. Although the offensive line managed to protect Bulger a lot better than they had in the first four games, Bulger still looked lifeless and without any drive at all. Indeed, the team may have very well begun to give up on the season until they were gift-wrapped a road win against a strong NFC East team. The whole thing could very well give the Rams (and more importantly Marc Bulger) just what they needed to turn their season (and attitudes) around.
| RB Steven Jackson, Rush: 22 - 79 - 0, Rec: 3 - 32 - 0 (5 targets) |
The Redskins were given a steady dose of Steven Jackson for the majority of the game, with the Oregon State alum also being targeted five times in the passing game. Although he finished the game with a 3.6 average yards per rush, he ran for 79 yards on what's considered a very solid rushing defense in the Washington Redskins. Most importantly, he looked healthy and played a major part in driving the offense downfield in order for place kicker Josh Brown to convert all four of his field goal attempts.
| WR Torry Holt, Rec: 5 - 23 - 0 (12 targets) |
Despite being targeted the most out of all the Rams receivers, Holt only managed to finish the game with 23 yards on five receptions. With rookie WR Donnie Avery emerging as a legit receiving option, Holt should at least enjoy having a capable WR on the other side of the field to take a bit of attention off of him. However, he's going to need the offensive line to give QB Marc Bulger ample time to scan the field and find him, because the way things are going -- that isn't happening very often.
| WR Donnie Avery, Rush: 1 - -5 - 0, Rec: 4 - 73 - 0 (5 targets) |
The Rams up and coming rookie WR Donnie Avery yet again staked his claim as Isaac Bruce's replacement on Sunday, leading the team in receiving yards with 73 and hauling in four of his five targets. With all of the talk that's been focused on rookie WRs Desean Jackson and Eddie Royal, Avery is very quietly going about his business and having a very commendable year -- especially when you consider the team that he's stuck on.
| TE Joe Klopfenstein, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (3 targets) |
Klopfenstein didn't factor too much into the teams overall offensive game plan and was targeted three times during the entire game. Of those targets, he converted two receptions for ten yards.
| PK Josh Brown 4 - 4 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 13 points |
Brown was on the money all game long, going four for four, and including a 51 yarder as well as a 49 yarder that clinched the victory as time expired. Along with the defense, Brown was the main reason the Rams pulled off the upset.
| STL Rush Defense |
The Rams defensive unit managed to force and then subsequently recover three fumbles. The rushing defense didn't do too much to slow down Clinton Portis, with the rejuvenated Miami University RB rushing for 129 yards and 2 TDs on the day.
| STL Pass Defense |
The passing defense, in addition to the clutch forced fumbles and recoveries, managed to hold Jason Campbell to just over 200 yards passing with no touchdowns as well as limiting all of the Redskins WRs under 100 yards receiving. They didn't manage to pick off Campbell at all, but it was a gutsy effort overall from the pass defense in particular -- without whom would have made a victory highly unlikely.
| QB Jason Campbell, Pass: 18 - 26 - 208 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - 19 - 0 |
Campbell had a very promising day on Sunday despite the loss. He completed just under 70% of his passes for 208 yards and most importantly, no interceptions. He appears to be adjusting very well to the newly installed West Coast offense and looked comfortable while avoiding many a strong pass rush by the Rams. It appears that Campbell has finally found himself in a new system in which he can both learn quickly and excel while doing so.
| RB Clinton Portis, Rush: 21 - 129 - 2, Rec: 1 - 14 - 0 (2 targets) |
Portis continues to play well, exhibiting the rare combination of quickness and power with each and every one of his runs. He's adjusting well to the West Coast system, with the team's strategy to play off of the spread ability of the passing game with Portis' hard running, reckless-abandon, running style proving to be very effective. Portis' two rushing TDs on Sunday escalated his total to six for the year.
| RB Ladell Betts, Rush: 7 - 32 - 0, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (3 targets) |
Betts contributed well with the opportunities given to him, finishing the game with 4.6 yards per carry on seven attempts as well as tacking on 18 receiving yards on two receptions. Betts left the game mid-way through the fourth quarter with a knee injury. As of Sunday night, no new information on the injury has been given.
| WR Antwaan Randle El, Rec: 5 - 87 - 0 (9 targets) |
Randle El tacked on yet another solid game to his 2008 resume, nearly eclipsing the century mark and finding himself the most targeted WR for the entire game. Santana Moss' great start to the season appears to have shifted the majority of the focus from opposing defenses on Moss, leaving Randle El plenty of room to use his quickness to get open. So far in the new offensive system, Randle El and QB Jason Campbell have been developing a very strong rapport.
| WR Santana Moss, Rec: 2 - 22 - 0 (4 targets) |
Moss was not a factor for the second straight week in a row, hauling in just two catches for 22 yards. After a hot start to the season, Moss' drop-off could either be attributed to a larger focus from opposing defenses or a portion of the West Coasts philosophy of spreading the ball out to all available wide outs. In the interests of paying attention to what was shown on this past Sunday, it's definitely more likely to be the former.
| WR James Thrash, Rec: 2 - 19 - 0 (3 targets) |
Despite catching only two passes for 19 yards, it was actually a season high for Thrash, who's played a part in the team's offensive game plan but in no way a big one.
| TE Chris Cooley, Rec: 5 - 57 - 0 (6 targets) |
After a slow start to the season in which he was barely targeted in the passing game, TE Chris Cooley has once again returned as a tour de force factor in the teams overall plans. He converted five of his six targets against the Rams for 57 yards and no TDs. There weren't many red zone opportunities for the Redskins on Sunday, so it wouldn't be fair to judge the zero TDs too harshly.
| PK Shaun Suisham 1 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points |
Suisham converted his only field goal attempt of 38 yards and both of his extra point attempts.
| WAS Rush Defense |
While the Redskins rushing defense didn't shut down Steven Jackson, they did contain him in an effort that held him not only under 100 yards, but under 80 as well. An early reverse handoff to WR Donnie Avery was also quickly snuffed out and stopped five yards behind the line of scrimmage.
| WAS Pass Defense |
The Redskins pass defense held Marc Bulger to just 136 yards passing and should have picked him off twice if the defensive backs had been able to hold onto the ball. Although it may have been a credit to the Rams poor passing attack, the Redskins still would have none of it and despite the dropped interceptions proving a key factor to the overall outcome of the game, hindsight is always 20/20.
