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QB Marc Bulger and most of the first-team starters saw their most extensive action of the preseason against the Chiefs Saturday night.

Rams Come Up Short Against Chiefs

Sunday, August 27, 2006

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By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

KANSAS CITY -  The Rams' first-team offense and defense struggled at times Saturday night at Arrowhead Stadium. The offensive reserves put up a spirited comeback, but fell short again in the team's 16-12 loss to the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday night.

            The Rams fall to 1-2 in the preseason and Kansas City improves to 1-2. The Chiefs also reclaimed the Governor's Cup after a one-year absence.

            Quarterback Marc Bulger said earlier in the week that the Rams simply wanted to leave the game healthy. Of course, they also would have liked to break through and get at least one touchdown somewhere along the way, but Bulger and the Rams aren’t pressing the red panic button yet.

“If we were playing Denver here and didn’t score then we would talk about it,” Bulger said. “But it’s preseason. Who cares? I’m not worried about it and I don’t think the rest of the guys are either.”

The idea of scoring a touchdown didn’t come to fruition as the Rams’ starters played the entire first half and part of the third quarter and came up with just a Jeff Wilkins’ 48-yard field goal on four first-half possessions.

Of course, it didn’t help matters that star receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt did not play because of a hamstring and sternum injury, respectively. That, combined with the fact that the Rams are learning a new system and playing fairly vanilla offensively is the main reasons there is not a ton of concern about the lack of touchdowns.

“It’s hard, especially with a new staff because we are still trying to feel them out as well just like you guys are,” running back Steven Jackson said. “There is some concern on my behalf that we haven’t been able to punch it in in this preseason with the ones, but at the same time I am not panicking because I know that we are not doing everything and game planning like we would in the regular season.”

The first-team offense failed to convert a golden opportunity early in the third quarter. Many assumed the starters would play just the first half before calling it a night. But after failing to do much of anything in the opening half, the starters got two more chances in the third quarter. With all of the starters except Jackson and left tackle Orlando Pace in the game and Kansas City’s backup defense, the Rams’ special teams created an excellent scoring chance.

After a three-and-out on the first attempt, the Rams were given their best chance at a touchdown in the preseason when safety Oshiomogho Atogwe stripped receiver Nate Curry on a punt return and recovered at Kansas City’s 22.

It appeared the Rams finally broke through on third-and-3 at Kansas City’s 15 when Bulger hit receiver Kevin Curtis in the end zone. It was called back, however, when left guard Richie Incognito was given his second 15-yard penalty of the game, this time for an illegal chop block. Bulger was sacked on the next play for a loss of 9 and the Rams were forced to punt once again.

It was penalties like those and the Rams’ three turnovers that had coach Scott Linehan’s attention after the game.

“I think the general story of the game is it just wasn’t a very clean game, too many mistakes, critical errors whether it be a couple of turnovers offensively and then some critical penalties,” Linehan said. “I’m not sure we had a lot of penalties, but the ones we did have took points off the board for sure, which in a game is going to be costly.”

The Rams’ first offense posted 100 yards of total offense in its time Saturday night. Bulger was seven-of-11 for 78 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. Running back Steven Jackson ended his night at halftime with 22 yards on 10 carries.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs offense seemed to be in midseason form against the Rams’ top defensive unit. Kansas City opened the game by marching down the field on a methodical 14-play drive that featured nine carries for 37 yards and a touchdown by running back Larry Johnson. That score gave the Chiefs a 7-0 lead they would not relinquish.

“Defensively, we didn’t get off the field, especially in the first half,” Linehan said. “They were able to sustain a couple of scoring drives early.”

After Wilkins’ field goal, Kansas City followed that with an impressive drive on its second possession that saw a pair of former Rams finding a rhythm. Quarterback Trent Green and receiver Eddie Kennison hooked up three times on the drive for 34 yards before the Chiefs settled for the first of three Lawrence Tynes field goals.

The Rams did finally breakthrough with just over a minute to go in the third quarter. Quarterback Gus Frerotte hit tight end Jerome Collins, who outran the defense for a 54-yard touchdown. Kicker Remy Hamilton hit the upright on the extra point, making it 16-9 Kansas City.

Early in the fourth quarter, Hamilton converted a 47-yard field goal for the final margin.

The Rams’ last gasp came to an end with less than two minutes to play when Bernard Pollard hit Rams' WR Brandon Middleton after a 26-yard completion deep down field, forcing a fumble in the air that Chiefs' Bennie Sapp recovered in the air. Kansas City then proceeded to run out the clock.

Now, it’s time for the Rams to get back to work on what will be a short work week. St. Louis travels to Miami for the final preseason tuneup on Thursday night.