Another Groundhog Day

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replying the story in its archived form does not constitute a re-publiccation of the story.

As has been the case most Sundays this season, the Rams celebrated Groundhog Day by repeating the same storylines on the way to a loss.

-Another game where the team hung tough for most of the afternoon, only to see a couple of big plays put the score out of reach. Today it was 21 points in the 4th quarter.

-Another game where penalties brought back plays and hurt the Rams. How about Donnie Jones having to punt over THREE times due to yellow flags?? The first punt had SF starting at their own 27 yard line. By the time the do-overs were complete, it was 1st and 10 at the STL 48.

-Another game where the Rams were deep in the opponents territory, had a 4th and 1, and elected to kick a field goal. Yes, the score made it 7-6 with about ten minutes left in the game but that was only the third--and final time--the Rams even made it into the 49ers side of the field.

-Another game where a tight end burned the Rams defense. Vernon Davis 73 yards for a fourth quarter touchdown. Not only did he make the catch, he left James Butler in his tracks as he raced to the end zone.

-Another game where injuries forced the Rams to reshuffle--this time it was Roger Allen suffering a sprained knee, which resulted in Adam Goldberg moving to left guard and Phil Trautwein stepping in at right tackle. The offensive line was already having a tough time with pass protection, it got worse. All total eight sacks were allowed.

Donnie Avery was kept out of the second half with a concussion and Keith Null came out after being "shaken up".

Thirteen players were already on IR for the Rams, did we really expect them to get through this game without some more injuries popping up??

-Another game, where even in defeat, there were some individual performances that need to be recognized, courtesy of Rams PR research:

Steven Jackson rushed 20 times for 63 yards.  The 63 yards gave him 1,416 for the year, best in the NFC.  The 1,416 yards rank sixth in Rams history for a single season and are the second-most in his career. 

Jackson also finished the season 2nd in the NFC with 1,738 total yards from scrimmage. 

Donnie Jones recorded career highs with 11 punts for 551 yards.  Jones placed two punts inside the 20.  Jones finished the season with a career-high 34 punts inside the 20.  The 34 punts inside the 20 are a Rams' single-season franchise record (since 1976), surpassing Dale Hatcher's 32 punts inside the 20 established in 1985.

Danny Amendola returned five kickoffs for 73 yards (22.2-yard average) and five punts for 73 yards (14.6-yard average).  Amendola produced a career-long 56-yard punt return with 11:17 left in the third quarter.  The 56-yard punt return was the longest by a Ram since Dante Hall returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown at Dallas (9/30/07).

Amendola finished the season with 66 kickoff returns for 1,618 yards, both franchise records and league-leading marks this season.  Amendola added 31 punt returns for 360 yards.  His 97 combined punt and kick returns and 1,978 total return yards are also franchise records.  His 1,978 total return yards also lead the NFL. 

Amendola's 24.5-yard kickoff return average is the fifth-highest single season total since the Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995.  His 11.6-yard punt return average is the third-highest single season total since the Rams moved to St. Louis. 

-Eventually, even when the groundhog retreats to his hole, the bad weather comes to an end. So has the season, and now let's hope the Draft and free agency can lead to better weather--and resuts for the Rams.