Rams vs. Vikings: St. Louis Grades, Notes and Quotes

The St. Louis Rams (4-4) fell 21-18 to the Minnesota Vikings (6-2) in an overtime thriller. It was a huge road game for the Rams, but St. Louis couldn't seal the deal. 

Entering this game, the Vikings owned the sixth-best record in the NFC and the Rams owned the seventh. Both teams are fighting for a wild-card spot, so a victory would have given St. Louis the tiebreaker over the Vikings. Now, Minnesota owns that tiebreaker. 

Still, it's hard to fault the Rams for this loss. With Robert Quinn, Chris Long, T.J. McDonald and Rob Havenstein out—not to mention being on the road—it still took an overtime field goal for Minnesota to silence St. Louis. It was an admirable effort. 

Despite getting off to a very sloppy start in the first quarter, the Rams got it together with 15 unanswered points in the first half, including a touchdown run by Todd Gurley. 

The St. Louis offense was completely shut out in the third quarter, while the Rams defense allowed Teddy Bridgewater to run in a six-yard touchdown. That gave the Vikings an 18-15 lead. 

St. Louis responded with a fourth-quarter Greg Zuerlein field-goal attempt with 1:45 remaining in the game. Zuerlein missed the 48-yard attempt and that appeared to be the end. That is, until the St. Louis defense made a huge stand. 

The last-minute clutch play by the defense allowed for another Zuerlein attempt—a 53-yarder with 17 seconds remaining—and he came through. That sent the game into overtime. 

The Rams were awarded the first possession in overtime, but it didn't help. The St. Louis drive ended in a miserable three-and-out, including a six-yard loss for Gurley on first down. The Rams were forced to punt. 

Marcus Sherels of the Vikings returned the punt 26 yards, giving Minnesota prime field position at midfield. Runs of 11 and seven yards by Adrian Peterson put the Vikings in field-goal range, and kicker Blair Walsh finished it off with a 40-yard kick. 

The Rams will get a break next week, as they host the 2-5 Chicago Bears in St. Louis. As for the Vikings, they'll have a tough road game next week against the 4-4 Oakland Raiders. 

Read on for more on today's game, including position grades, takeaways and quotes. 

Position Grades for the Rams

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

Position	Grade
QB	C-
RB	B+
WR	D+
TE	F
OL	D
DL	B-
LB	C
DB	B
Special Teams	C-
Coaching	D

Nick Foles was horrendous in the first quarter. On the first play from scrimmage, he failed to locate a wide-open Kenny Britt downfield for a would-be touchdown. Foles' accuracy was also way off, as he overthrew Brian Quick and Tavon Austin early in the game. 

Foles settled down and hit Britt for a 55-yard bomb later on, but that was his only completion for over 20 yards in the first half. Overall, Foles' awareness in the pocket was weak, his accuracy was shaky and he wasn't much of an asset in this game. He finished just 18-for-33 (54.5 percent) with 168 yards.

The running backs had little to work with but still managed to stay productive. The Rams finally got Gurley going toward the end of the fourth quarter—his last three runs in regulation went for 16, nine and eight yards—but Gurley was held to 89 yards on 24 carries. It was the first time Gurley was held under 100 yards in a start this season, but he still managed to punch in St. Louis' only touchdown of the game. 

Austin also made an impact as a runner with 66 yards on eight carries. Tre Mason saw some action with three carries, but he was held to just three yards. 

Other than Britt's 55-yard grab, the receivers were once again irrelevant. The worst play of the day was a downfield shot to Austin that hit him square in the hands. It would have been a huge gain and possibly a score, but Austin dropped it. As for the tight ends, they did very little in the run game and Jared Cook had yet another drop. 

The defensive line clearly suffered without Quinn. William Hayes was flagged multiple times for jumping early. The pressure was still decent, but the run support wasn't nearly as strong as the last few games. 

At linebacker, James Laurinaitis was way out of position on Bridgewater's touchdown run. The linebackers seemed to regress this week in run defense. 

The secondary played a decent game and only allowed 159 yards through the air. Trumaine Johnson had a nice pick in the end zone, while Mark Barron and Lamarcus Joyner were solid in run support. 

Special teams were solid except for two key plays that made all the difference—the missed field goal by Zuerlein and the 26-yard punt return by Sherels. Still, Johnny Hekker did a great job punting the ball and Zuerlein was able to sink a 61-yard kick. 

As for coaching, the team seemed extremely undisciplined with 12 penalties, and the offensive game plan was very vanilla. The team was not well prepared.

Todd Gurley Looked Human but Still Productive

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

Gurley was held to 89 yards on 24 carries against the Vikings. It was by far his least productive start in the NFL, but he still managed to be a difference-maker.

On Gurley’s first-half touchdown run from the 1-yard line, he was immediately stuffed by linebacker Anthony Barr. Gurley pushed through it and was again stuffed by a Minnesota defensive lineman. Somehow, he still managed to muscle his way into the end zone for St. Louis’ only touchdown of the game.

Gurley didn’t create any back-breaking plays, but he managed to keep pounding away, resulting in 109 total yards from scrimmage.

When a player is “shut down” for most of the afternoon yet is still the most productive player by a mile, that’s a telltale sign of a great football player.

Inactive Robert Quinn Was a Huge Diadvantage

Tom Gannam/Associated Press

Robert Quinn has developed into a perennial Pro Bowler and currently leads St. Louis with five sacks. He was held out of the game due to a knee injury, per NBC Sports, and that immediately told us that Sunday's St. Louis defense was not going to be the same. 

The Rams finished with just one sack in this game, and that came from safety Mo Alexander. Defensive tackle Aaron Donald created decent pressure up the middle, but other than that, the St. Louis pass rush was lacking without Quinn. 

Not to mention, Pro Football Focus has Quinn rated as the fourth-best end in the NFL against the run, with a grade of 6.1. Considering Peterson tore up the Rams for 125 yards, it's safe to say St. Louis could have used Quinn's run support. 

When an elite player like Quinn sits out, the team inevitably suffers. 

Rams Still Very Much in the Hunt

Jim Mone/Associated Press

The Vikings now own the tiebreaker and a two-game lead over the Rams in the NFC wild-card hunt, but that's hardly a reason to call it quits. There's still half of a season remaining and things can change drastically.

For starters, the Vikings may slip up. The Rams were just the second team with a .500-or-better record that the Vikings have faced this year. In the second half of the season, Minnesota's schedule is the opposite. Of the remaining eight opponents, only the Chicago Bears are below .500.

With a much tougher schedule remaining, will the Vikings repeat a 6-2 performance in the final eight games? That's doubtful.

Meanwhile, only three of St. Louis' final eight opponents are .500 or better (Cincinnati, Arizona and Seattle) and the Rams have already defeated two of those teams. There's plenty of time to play catch-up, so St. Louis needs to take advantage.

It's still far too early to give up on the NFC West. The Rams are just two games behind the Cardinals. A St. Louis victory in the Week 13 rematch will give the Rams the tiebreaker over Arizona, as well.

The situation would be much brighter had the Rams pulled off today's win and improved to 5-3. Even so, there's still plenty of football remaining.  

Mike Zimmer Takes a Shot at Rams Coordinator Gregg Williams

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

"I do know there's a history there (with St. Louis) defensive coordinator (Gregg Williams). I'll leave it at that." -Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer on whether Bridgewater was a victim of targeting, per the postgame conference. 

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer took a shot at Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. 

When asked if targeting was involved on Bridgewater's injury, rather than dismissing the question outright, Zimmer decided to mention Gregg Williams' history. Of course, this was a reference to the "Bountygate" scandal while Williams was with the New Orleans Saints. 

Bridgewater slid on a run to avoid contact, Rams safety Lamarcus Joyner came in for the hit and attempted to peel off, but his elbow made contact with Bridgewater's head. It appeared that Bridgewater was momentarily knocked out cold. 

Joyner deserved the flag. He tried to pull away but failed to do so. That's understandable. But Fisher vehemently denied that Joyner targeted Bridgewater on purpose in the press conference, as did Joyner himself, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

And really, after watching the replay, there's no good reason to doubt either one of them. 

Zimmer's shot at Williams and the Rams defense was just as dirty as he perceives the Rams to be. 

Jeff Fisher on the Vikings Using a Hard Count

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

"It was a no-brainer this week that (the Vikings) were going to do it." -Jeff Fisher on Minnesota's use of the hard count, per the postgame press conference.

As Fisher mentioned in the press conference, the Rams have been flagged seven times in the past two weeks for offsides penalties. 

Clearly, the Vikings went into this game wanting to take advantage of the overzealous St. Louis defensive linemen. Minnesota utilized the hard count and did so quite well. Rams defensive end William Hayes in particular struggled with this and jumped the gun on several occasions. 

The Rams cannot allow these penalties to continue. St. Louis must get back to the basics, which involves making the defensive linemen watch the football rather than anticipating the snap. 

Jim Thomas on Injured Rams

Tom Gannam/Associated Press

"Fisher said Quinn, Havenstein, McDonald should be ready for next week. Said fear was they could be set back for several weeks if they played." -Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, via Twitter.

Clearly, the injured Rams were a major factor in this game. 

As mentioned, Quinn's absence really hurt the Rams both in the pass rush and in run defense. Having an All-Pro talent and a top-three player on the team watching from the sidelines is always a disadvantage. 

Not having safety T. J. McDonald in the secondary was another blow to the run defense. McDonald is a run-stuffing safety who could have slowed down Peterson, so his absence was also felt. 

On offense, the offensive line could not get any push in the run game whatsoever. Most of Gurley's yards came as a result of his pure strength, as the lanes were non-existent. The absence of rookie right tackle Rob Havenstein, who has been perhaps the best run-blocker for St. Louis this year, is a big reason for that. 

Luckily, all three players should be back next week against Chicago, as mentioned by Thomas. The return of these players should provide a major boost for St. Louis.