LONDON — In what seemed to be a promising start throughout the inaugural four games of the 2016-2017 NFL season, the Los Angeles Rams have hit a familiar stretch full of mediocre play and consecutive losses.
In the final game of a seemingly never-ending two-game road trip that concluded at London’s Twickenham Stadium, Los Angeles surrendered a 10-point lead against the New York Giants and dropped their third straight, 17-10.
LA Rams Drop Third Straight Against New York Giants at Historic Twickenham
Most of Los Angeles’ production came in the first quarter, where the defense generated a fumble recovery on the second play of the game. It gave the offense great field position and they were able to capitalize with a Tavon Austin 10-yard touchdown pass from Case Keenum. The defense was able to shut out New York for the remainder of the quarter, forcing two punts, while a 36-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein gave the Rams a comfortable 10-0 lead heading to the second quarter.
It was all Giants after that.
The offense produced another pedestrian performance, shadowing a strong defensive unit that limited Eli Manning to under 200 passing yards, a rushing attack to 36 yards, and Odell Beckham to 49 yards receiving. Los Angeles totaled seven punts and four interceptions throughout their last 11 possessions of the game. Case Keenum, who was coming off his best statistical game of his career, threw three of those four interceptions on the Rams final three possessions; the last one coming just 15 yards shy of the endzone on a miscommunicated call and throw to Brian Quick.
“It’s on me,” Keenum responded to a question delved on his final interception. “Whatever it is, I gotta talk to the guys about signals beforehand and be ready to go, and be more clear on certain things. That was just one play.”
Keenum has now thrown a total of seven interceptions in the past three games.
“It’s a tough game,” Keenum said following the loss. “For me, a lot of this, I take full responsibility. You can’t turn the ball over in this league. And a lot of them led directly to points, if not all of them. I got to be better. I got to take care of the ball.”
Todd Gurley showcased another frustrating night, carrying the ball 15 times for 57 yards and catching 6 passes for 35 yards.
Penalties also played a pivotal role, stalling many offensive drives throughout the game. Greg Robinson’s struggling play, to no surprise, continued throughout the contest, being tagged for three holding penalties and a false start. Robert Havenstein was also called for an embarrassing false start penalty on Los Angeles’ final possession, in which he broke a play by backpedaling moments before Keenum signaled out the call.
“The pre-snap penalties you need to stay away from, but when it comes to holding penalties, you just have to look at them and try to teach better technique,” Rodger Saffold said regarding Robinson’s penalties. “That’s an effort play. Those types of penalties, you don’t want a bunch of them, but at the same time, you can’t fault him because he’s just trying to do his job.”
Los Angeles’ only positive note on offense came through the passing game. Despite his four interceptions, Keenum distributed the ball well throughout the game, throwing for 291 yards and one touchdown. Quick, Austin, and Lance Kendricks all amassed over 50 yards receiving. Kenny Britt, the team’s leading receiver, was contained by former Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins all around the field, accumulating 43 yards on three receptions.
“We came in here expecting the win,” Britt said following the loss. “We got here on Monday, guys worked hard all week, we adjusted to the time change, and we had energy at the beginning of the game. It all came down to execution, and that killed us at the end.”
Los Angeles comes back home with burning questions involving the current quarterback situation. Jared Goff, who the Rams invested on with the first pick of this year’s NFL Draft, has yet to throw a pass this season. Keenum’s lack of positive decision making in pivotal moments has brought up questions and concerns by the fans and media regarding how much time left until Goff is allowed to hit the gridiron.
With the Rams now sitting two games behind first place in the NFC West, head coach Jeff Fisher has gone on record to clarify his utmost confidence in Keenum’s ability to lead this offense, which currently ranks as one of the worst in the league.
“Quarterback is not the reason why we lost three games,” Fisher clarified. “I’m staying with Case. I thought he had a couple tips, not necessarily his fault. Jared’s gonna play when we feel Jared is ready. If we won this game, you wouldn’t be asking about Jared, which I understand. But we didn’t lose this game because of quarterback play. We lost it in some other positions.”
Fisher then went on to rest the blame on the receiving corps.
“Brian didn’t get the audible,” Fisher noted. “Kenny Britt stopped on the post. Didn’t think he was primary. I’ll make changes at receiver before I make changes at quarterback.”
Fisher, who is just five losses away from becoming the losingest coach in NFL history is solely focused on what’s to come ahead.
“It’s a long season,” Fisher said. “We’ll get it back. We obviously had our hands full with the travel back, and the adjustment back to Pacific Coast time. Monday, Tuesday, and we’ll get some work done on Wednesday, and we’ll come back ready to roll and get ready for Carolina.”
The Rams will head into their much needed bye week before entering a four-game stretch against teams with a combined 8-18 (.444) record, starting Week 9 when Los Angeles plays host to the 2015 NFC Champion Carolina Panthers.
