The St. Louis Rams have suffered their first loss of the season, as they fell 24-10 to the Washington Redskins. The loss is truly a head scratcher as the Rams looked impressive in their win last week against the Seattle Seahawks but just didn’t show up to play against the Redskins.

The Rams struggled on both sides of the ball and could never get anything going which ultimately lead to their doom as they fell to 1-1 and Washington picked up their first win of the year to move to 1-1.

In the first half, it was all Redskins. Rookie running back Matt Jones scored on a 39-yard run in the first quarter to put the Redskins up 7-0. Jones had an incredible day, finishing with 19 carries, 123 yards, and two touchdowns.

After a field goal that put the Redskins up 10-0, they once again drove down the field, and this time quarterback Kirk Cousins connected with receiver Pierre Garcon for a four-yard touchdown strike. Garcon was matched up one-on-one with Rams defensive back Janoris Jenkins and obviously pushed off of Jenkins to gain separation and make the grab but the refs kept the flags in their pockets and the play stood, giving the Redskins a 17-0 lead that they would take into halftime.

The Redskins received the ball to start the second half and the Rams defense finally stepped up their game and forced the Skins to punt. St. Louis drove the ball and the drive ended with a Greg Zuerlein 52-yard field goal, putting the Rams on the board. The next drive, Rams defensive end Robert Quinn forced a fumble on Redskins running back Matt Jones, setting the Rams up with the ball in Redskins territory.

On a beautiful play-action fake, Nick Foles connected with Kenny Britt on a 40-yard touchdown and Britt was double covered and then flagged after the play for taunting. However, the Rams had life, trailing 17-10 with 7:01 left in the third quarter.

Throughout the remainder of the third quarter and then the fourth quarter, the Rams offense had multiple chances to move the ball down field but inefficient blocking by the offensive line, penalties, and dropped passes all cost the Rams, as they couldn’t capitalize. 

The Redskins drove the ball again late in the fourth quarter, and Matt Jones struck for his second touchdown of the day with 2:38 remaining in the game to put the Redskins up 24-10 and put the nail in the coffin. The Rams got the ball back but failed on fourth down, turning the ball over on downs.

Main Points of Focus from the Game:

“Mob Squad” aka the Rams defensive line, only tallied two sacks after recording six against the Seahawks a week ago.

The Rams offense looked absolutely terrible. The offensive line couldn’t give Foles time to throw. Even though they only gave up one sack, Foles was pressured on nearly every passing attempt. Foles had a horrendous game, finishing 17/32 for 150 yards and one touchdown. The Rams had running back Tre Mason back for today’s game but the running game was terrible. The offensive line again wasn’t blocking and the Rams only totaled 67 rushing yards with Tavon Austin leading the way with 40. The only true positive thing that came from today’s game offensive-wise was that the Rams committed no turnovers.

The defense looked good in spurts today but their overall performance was bad. They couldn’t stop Washington’s rushing attack with Alfred Morris and Matt Jones. The Skins totaled 182 yards on the ground along with two rushing touchdowns. The Rams secondary was beat by Kirk Cousins, as he went 23/27 for 203 yards and a touchdown.

The only injury suffered today was Rams defensive back Janoris Jenkins, as he went down in the fourth quarter with a knee injury and will be evaluated. Further details will come.

Ed Hochuli and his crew missed a lot of calls on Sunday in Washington. On several outside runs, Redskins tight ends, left tackle Trent Williams, and other blockers for Washington got away with holding Rams defenders which led to the Skins having a decent running attack. More calls were made in the second half.

The Rams are back at home next week and look to get back on the winning track when they take on the 1-1 Pittsburgh Steelers.