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| Other Week 6 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI at SEA | BAL at MIN | BUF at NYJ | CAR at TB | CHI at ATL | CLE at PIT | DEN at SD | DET at GB |
| HOU at CIN | KC at WAS | NYG at NO | PHI at OAK | STL at JAX | TEN at NE | ||
Week 6 Game Recap: St. Louis Rams 20, Jacksonville Jaguars 23
St. Louis Rams
| QB Marc Bulger, Pass: 22 - 34 - 213 - 1 TD / 1 INT |
Bulger came out and had a perfect first drive, driving the Rams down the field with ease and capping it with a nice floater to the corner of the end zone that Donnie Avery collected for a TD. The Rams even showed a killer instinct when Bulger went deep to Avery after a nice Danny Amendola kick return, but the ball was underthrown and intercepted by Rashean Mathis. Later in the first half, Avery left with a hip injury, and the passing offense was effectively defanged. Bulger resorted to short throws and could only move the offense in fits and starts in the second half. The game-tying FG was set up by a strong catch and run by Steven Jackson and some short throws to Danny Amendola, and the Rams didn't try to score with seven seconds left even though they still had a timeout. Bulger also almost gave away the game on a throw that should have been a pick late. Just when the offense was showing signs of life, it deflated back its typical flaccid self.
| RB Steven Jackson, Rush: 16 - 50 - 0, Rec: 6 - 78 - 0 (8 targets) |
Jackson did everything he could in this game, but it wasn't enough. There was little to room to run, but Jackson got yards after contact and moved the pile as long as he got to build up a head of steam. As a receiver, he made tacklers miss in the open field and functioned as the main weapon for the offense. A lot of the time, Jackson was running parallel to the line of scrimmage instead of north-south because of penetration in the backfield, but he still had fresh, strong legs and good spring in his moves by the end of the game.
| WR Keenan Burton, Rec: 5 - 37 - 0 (6 targets) |
Burton had a chance to do more with Avery out, but he was a harmless option in the passing game, getting most of his catches very close to the line of scrimmage and doing little to nothing with them after the catch.
| WR Danny Amendola, Rec: 3 - 25 - 0 (4 targets) |
Amendola caught a few passes on short routes to help along the game-tying FG drive, and almost had a long kickoff return, but his role in the passing game didn't increase greatly when Avery went down.
| WR Donnie Avery, Rec: 1 - 17 - 1 (3 targets) |
Avery got open easily in the back of the end zone on the only offensive TD for the Rams, and he also got a step deep later in the first quarter, but Bulger underthrew him and the ball was intercepted. In the second quarter, Avery came down hard on the same hip he injured last year, and had to leave the game.
| WR Tim Carter, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (3 targets) |
Carter had a short catch when he got some playing time after Avery got hurt, but didn't show anything to make one think he'll have an impact on the passing game if Avery misses a lot of time.
| TE Randy McMichael, Rec: 3 - 32 - 0 (3 targets) |
McMichael was mainly a checkdown target for Bulger, although he did work the zone coverage for an important catch on the game-tying FG drive.
| TE Daniel Fells, Rec: 2 - 11 - 0 (4 targets) |
Fells got open on a seam route early, but got rocked and couldn't hold on to the ball. He had a few short catches later, but didn't have another opportunity to make a play as good as the one he dropped.
Jacksonville Jaguars
| QB David Garrard, Pass: 30 - 43 - 335 - 0 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 4 - 31 - 0 |
Garrard racked up the passing yardage, but he left a better performance on the field. His offensive line gave him tons of time to throw, and Garrard was on point when the initial read would come open, but when it didn't, he was indecisive and even took a few sacks he could have avoided. Garrard had at least two passes that should have been interceptions, and he did throw two INTs - one on a tipped ball at the line in the red zone, and a lazy dump-off to Greg Jones that Leonard Little turned into a pick six. Garrard did get a handful of first downs as a runner, and executed very well within the offense in overtime to seal the win.
| RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Rush: 33 - 133 - 3, Rec: 5 - 45 - 0 (7 targets) |
Jones-Drew had a huge fantasy day, but he had to fight for every point. He was often met at or behind the line of scrimmage and had to just put his head down and take what was there. He also had a fumble in the red zone that put a halt to a likely scoring drive. As the game went on, MJD wore down the Rams defense and started to break good runs here and there, and he was very effective as a receiver out of the backfield. Once the Jags did get inside the five, it was like MJD was the only option in the playbook. They kept feeding him, and he never disappointed, finishing all touchdown drives. Jones-Drew racked up a ton of yards after contact, and in overtime, he was determined to get the team in field goal range.
| WR Mike Sims-Walker, Rec: 9 - 120 - 0 (11 targets) |
There's no doubt that Sims-Walker is the #1 receiver for this team. Garrard peppered him with quick, short targets that allowed Sims-Walker to do some damage after the catch, and he also got open on some downfield routes both inside and outside of the hashmarks. Sims-Walker is getting great separation, and he also has the trust of and synchronicity with David Garrard. There's no reason to expect his pace of production to slow down.
| WR Mike Thomas, Rec: 7 - 52 - 0 (9 targets) |
Thomas is getting more and more involvement in the passing offense every week. The Jags are giving him targets close to the line of scrimmage to give him a chance to use his speed and shiftiness to turn them into larger gains. He caught a few passes on the game-winning drive in OT, and he is turning into a great complement to Holt and Sims-Walker working the short passing game routes.
| WR Torry Holt, Rec: 5 - 101 - 0 (8 targets) |
Holt had his most impressive game of the year against his old team. He caught the ball at the sidelines, in traffic over the middle, and on quick timing routes. He also drew two pass interference penalties, and looked as good as he has all year getting separation from defensive backs. He also made a veteran catch getting both feet down on the sidelines with little room to operate. He is becoming a more viable fantasy play as Mike Sims-Walker is emerging as a #1 receiver.
| TE Marcedes Lewis, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (3 targets) |
Garrard might be done with Lewis and his drops. He only had one catch, a third-down conversion when he was falling backwards. He did get a target in the end zone, but he was covered well, and the ball was well overthrown. He is just a bit player in the passing game at this point.
| TE Zach Miller, Rec: 1 - 14 - 0 (1 targets) |
Miller is still a very minor part of this passing offense, but he did get his number called on a quick pass to the outside, and he looked impressive breaking some tackles on the way to a first down.