Rams vs Falcons: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

THE GOOD

-Considering the state that the current receiving core is in, they played a pretty good game. You could tell that Brandon Gibson was bothered by those two first downs he failed to get last week against San Francisco, as he had better awareness this week, and not to mention his touchdown. Danny Amendola was also an asset, as usual. It was also good to see Laurent Robinson get involved as well. An overall good effort from the receivers, considering that they are limited in the talent department.

-Sam Bradford had another good game, and it was a shame that he didn't getting many opportunities to make something during the majority of the second half. The shovel pass that was intercepted was all him; I'm not going to blame the receiver for not being there, or Pat Shurmur for calling the play (it was an audible anyway), so therefor that was all on Sam. But still, he had a great game, throwing two touchdowns, and getting 233 passing yards.

-TE Mike Hoomanawanui (AKA Big Mike, AKA Illionois Mike) had a good game. His stats for the game, 4 receptions for 46 yards and 1 touchdown, were not particularly gaudy, but he made an impact. He had the 25 yard touchdown reception, so that was an obvious plus, but he also had that first down catch, where he was able to barely get his feet inbounds. He is turning into a nice weapon for Bradford; combine him with Daniel Fells, and you can scratch tight-end off the Rams' 2011 wish-list.

-Pat Shurmur improved this week. When the Rams needed points, he was able to call good aggressive plays that moved the ball quickly. The Rams just didn't have the ball enough in the second half. However...

THE BAD

-...why does it take the Rams losing the lead, or the opposing offense heating up, before he goes to attack mode? Why can't he turn up the intensity when it comes to putting the game away? Why can't he be aggressive when it comes to securing a 14 point lead, as oppose to only being aggressive when the team is down, or the when they're about to lose a lead? This team has been able to score all season long when he needs them to, or when he has allowed them to.

-Between the unnecessary roughness penalty, the defensive holding and illegal contact penalties, and the other penalties, this team was just flat out undisciplined today.  This is just a hunch, but surely that lack of self-control is completely unacceptable in the eyes of a coach like Steve Spagnuolo; he does not seem like the type to take that lightly, and he will likely work on that this week.

-The defensive line had a very poor game. The line did not record a single sack the entire game, and Matt Ryan had sufficient time to throw the ball. They also allowed the opposing rushers to break through for 141 rushing yards.

THE UGLY

-The defensive backfield was absolutely brutal today. The injuries to OJ Atogwe (although he returned) and Ron Bartell certainly did not help the cause; but either way, this unit was completely flattened today by the Atlanta receivers. I know that the Rams had some young guys in there, but it doesn't take five years experience to learn that you don't leave the top receiver in the NFL (Roddy White) wide open on multiple occasions. This unit also failed to create any turnovers (for a second week in a row), which could've kept the team in the game. Their performance today was nothing short of pitiful.