back by catching the next try clean to give
the Rams the ball at their 36. Jackson
gained 4 yards on first down. Jackson
gained 2 more on second down to set up a third and 4. Jackson lost 2 yards on third down. Jones’s
punt was deflected and the Broncos take over at their 34. Chris Long came up
with a huge sack on first down for a loss of 6. Laurinaitis broke up the second
down pass attempt down the middle. On third down, Orton threw incomplete. On
fourth, Long pressured again and Orton’s pass fell short. The Rams hang on for
their first road win, improve to 5 6 on the season and are sitting tied for
first place in the NFC West once again. Third Quarter The Rams opened the
second half with the ball at their 27 as Bradford
hit Fells for a gain of 13. A 1 yard loss and a false start on Brit Miller
pushed the Rams back as did a 6 yard loss on a screen to Jackson. The Rams had to punt and Denver took over at its 12
after a block in the back penalty. On first and 10 from Denver’s
22, Moreno
burst off the left edge but was stripped by Atogwe and the ball went straight
into the hands of linebacker Na’il Diggs. He recovered at the 31. On first down
for the Rams, Jackson burst 20 yards off the
left side to Denver’s
11. Two more carries gave the Rams a first down at Denver’s 1. The Rams tried to get it to Jackson on first down but
the pass fell incomplete. A tired Jackson
went to the sideline and Kenneth Darby entered scoring untouched from a yard
out to make it 33 13 Rams with 8:50 to go in the third quarter. The Broncos
started their next drive at their 16 and surged into Rams territory on a 31 yard
screen to Moreno.
After getting to the Rams’ 36, the Broncos went backwards on two consecutive
plays and punted it into the end zone. The Rams take over again at their 20. The
Rams pieced together another nice drive with 17 yard strike to Amendola and a
23 yard hookup to Robinson. The drive died at Denver’s 27 and Brown missed a 45 yard field
goal to keep it at 33 13 with 55 seconds left in the third quarter. At the end
of the quarter, Denver
has second and 5 at the Rams’ 41 and the Rams leading 33 13. Second Quarter After
taking over at their 20, the Broncos again moved swiftly, with most of the
damage coming through the air. Orton hit Lloyd for a 16 yard gain and a 28 yard
strike to Jabar Gaffney got them into Rams territory. Prater settled for a 40 yard
field goal as the drive stalled at the Rams’ 22. That made it 13 7 Broncos with
12:27 to go in the half. No surprise here, the Rams started their third
possession at their 20 after another touchback. On the first play, the Rams
again went to the end around for Amendola who darted 30 yards with a nice block
on the outside from Jason Brown. After two plays netted 7 yards, Bradford
calmly hit Laurent Robinson for a gain of 11 and a first down at Denver’s 32. On
third and 9 at the 31, Bradford hit Alexander on a slant and a second effort
gained 12 to Denver’s？9 for a first down. On third and 6 at the 15, the Rams went back to
the slant and Alexander caught it in stride to the Broncos’ 1. Alexander
was ruled down there but the Rams challenged that he broke the plane of the end
zone. The Rams lost the challenge and had a first down at Denver’s 1. Two attempts by Jackson failed and actually lost a yard to
set up a third and goal at the 2. On third down, Bradford escaped pressure,
rolled to his left and hit Bajema for a 2 yard touchdown to give the Rams a 14 13
lead with 5:45 to go in the half. Orton threw incomplete on first down from Denver’s 25 to open the
next drive. Another incompletion and a 9 yard compltion to Moreno
forced Denver’s
first punt of the game. The Rams went big in the air on the possession as Bradford
connected with Alexander for a gain of 40 down the left sideline to Denver’s 26. On the next
play, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur went to his bag of tricks and called
the same play that resulted in a touchdown for the Rams last week as Bradford rolled right, threw back to the left and hit
Bajema for a 26 yard touchdown and a 20 13 lead. Brown missed the extra point
to leave it at that score. The defense came through again forcing another three
and out with a sack from C.J. Ah You on third down. The Rams started from their
40 and Bradford connected with Robinson for a gain of 20 on the first play to Denver’s 40. A 16 yard
strike to Amendola put it at the Broncos’ 24. A pass interference penalty on Denver gave the Rams a
first down at the 16 and a 6 yard completion to Amendola. But that’s all the
Rams could muster and Brown converted from 28 yards out to make it 23 13 Rams
with 47 seconds to go in the half. Eddie Royal fumbled the kickoff return and
the Rams recovered at Denver’s
23. Jerome Murphy forced and recovered it. The booth reviewed the play. The
play held up and the Rams took over at the 23. A 4 yard run by Jackson was all they could
muster and they settled for a 37 yard field goal from Brown to make it 26 13
with 8 seconds left in the half. At the half, the Rams lead 26 13. Bradford was 15 of 23 for 216 yards and three scores in
the first half. First Quarter The Broncos won the toss and elected to receive. Josh
Brown booted kickoff out of the end zone. Broncos start from their 20. No
surprise, Denver
comes out throwing with QB Kyle Orton, who hits Spencer Larsen for 11 yards and
Brandon Lloyd for 14 on the first two plays. Orton followed with a screen to RB
Knowshon Moreno for a gain of 18 to the Rams’ 37. Moreno picked up 16 on the next play and
Lance Ball ran for 17 more to the 4 yard line. Moreno punched it in on the next play for a
strong, easy start to make it 7 0 Broncos. Denver made it look easy on that drive,
covering 80 yards on seven plays. The Rams started their first possession from
their 39 after a return of that many yards by Danny Amendola. Steven Jackson
gained 4 yards on two carries and Amendola dropped a potential third down
conversion, forcing the Rams to punt. Donnie Jones’ punt went into the end zone
for a touchback, giving it back to Denver at its 20. Eddie Royal took a reverse
for 20 yards on first down to the Rams’ 40. Two plays later, Orton his Dan
Gronkowski for 13 more yards for a first down to the Rams 47. Moreno picked up？ on the next play to the Rams’ 39. Three
more yards for Moreno on the next play gave Denver another first down
to the Rams’ 35. The Rams got a couple of incompletions and a 4 yard completion
to Daniel Graham set up a 49 yard field goal by Matt Prater to make it 10 0
Broncos with 7:24 to go in the first quarter. Rams defense struggling, only
slowing Orton with the blitz. Look for more of that as this game continues. Second
drive started from the Rams’ 20 after a touchback. The Rams opened up going in
the hurry up and Amendola gained 13 yards on an end around. After a 2 yard Jackson run, Bradford hit
Fells for a gain of 10 and a first down to the 45. Jackson gained 3 yards on the next play to
set up a third and 7 at the 48. Bradford hit
Gibson for a gain of 8 and a first down to the Broncos 44. Two plays gained 7
yards to make it third and 3. A 2 yard completion to Amendola left the Rams a
yard short but they went for it on fourth down and Jackson got the yard for a first down at the
34. After a 2 yard loss by Jackson, Bradford dumped it to Hoomanawanui on a backside screen.
He took care of the rest, breaking tackles and getting into the end zone for a
36 yard touchdown to cut the Broncos lead to 10 7 with 1:32 to go in the first
quarter. The Broncos started again at their 20 and yet again moved quickly with
an 8 yard run by Moreno and a 16 yard completion
to Lloyd to give Denver
a first down at its 47 at the end of the first quarter. Broncos lead 10 7.
Pregame Notes Greetings from Invesco Field at Mile High where the Rams and
Broncos are preparing for a 3:15 CST kickoff. The Rams have a healthy bunch
going into today’s game. Almost all players are available and so any inactive
decisions will be considered “healthy” scratches. WR Danario Alexander is going
to go as is S James Butler. The inactives include DE Eugene Sims, DT Jermelle
Cudjo, CB Kevin Dockery, CB Quincy Butler, G John Greco, FB Mike Karney, S
Michael Lewis and TE Derek Schouman. Butler
is back in the mix this week, leaving Lewis inactive. With Cudjo down, Darell
Scott is back in the lineup. Karney being inactive likely means more action for
Michael Hoomanawanui. Denver’s
inactives include QB Brady Quinn, CD Andre Goodman, RB Laurence Maroney, S
Darcel McBath, OL Stanley Daniels, OL Eric Olsen, WR Demaryius Thomas and LB
David Veikune. The Rams are wearing the all whites today. More to come after
kickoff. Posted？ in From
the Sidelines
