Like I've ALWAYS said.. "The Rams and Hawks ALWAYS play close games in St Louis".
We lost. No Excuses.
The OT on side kick was a mistake by Carroll. The chances of recovering the on side kick is dismal. There was a MUCH better chance of even preventing a FG kicking the ball deep into the end zone. Forcing Fowles to pass close to the End Zone proved to cause him to make mistakes earlier in the game when the Hawks scored 18 unanswered points in the 4 qtr. Fortunately the Rams only got a FG but that was enough. I saw the DL pull back from the LOS on every play giving the Rams an advantage. Bennett had received TWO encroachment penalties for starting over the Line of scrimage. Obviously the line had received strict orders NOT to give the Rams an easy 5 yards. That made the Hawks less aggressive and gave Fowles a fraction more time to get his throws off. Clarke Rams had Fowles a couple of times on the last drive in OT but Nick got the passes off. A couple of them to receivers.
The 4th down play to Lynch was partially mishandled by Wilson. The handoff wasn't clean causing Lynch to hesitate.
Game over.
Many people who thought the Hawks would easily win the NFC West and also the NFC predicted at least 2-4 losses. This game was one of the losses that was predicted even though many if not most picked the Hawks to win when asked today who would win this game.
The Rams Defense front 4 played very well and our protection sucked. Russell Okung played especially poorly today..and HE is supposed to be the solid veteran. Wilson had very little time to look downfield let alone throw the ball deep.
The good news is that few teams have the Rams front 7.
Good news also for Lockett and Graham. They both got TDs
Lockett put the NFL on notice what can happen when you punt to the Hawks AND he showed that he is a solid receiver also.
Graham also played solid. He received several catches along with the great reception for his TD.
The ONLY problem that stood out was that Wilson didn't get the protection he needed to find receivers downfield. It's a new OL. They will improve.
Not having Kam has taken the 'boom' out of the Seahags defense (sorry Kam, Wilson gotz most of da' money). Giving up 34 points to the Rams......are you kidding me? Offensive line won't improve either...........unless you call a Haitian witch doctor.........

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