LANDOVER, Md. -- A look back at how the St. Louis Rams fared in three areas to watch in Sunday's 24-10 loss to the Washington Redskins.
1. Chunk play priority: The Rams probably would have settled for even half of their big play output of a week ago when they posted eight plays of 20-plus yards against the Seattle Seahawks.
But finding any positive yardage, let alone in big chunks, was too tall of an order for the Rams this week. The Rams had just one play over 20 yards against the Redskins, a 40-yard touchdown pass to receiver Kenny Britt. Quarterback Nick Foles didn't have enough protection to take many shots deep as he often found himself running to buy time. On a day when yards were hard to come by anyway, a few more home run balls likely would have made a big difference.
2. Containing Morris: In a very literal sense, Washington running back Alfred Morris didn't do a ton of damage Sunday to the Rams. He finished with just 59 yards on 18 carries with 35 of those yards coming on one attempt. But the larger point of this category was about the Rams prioritizing stopping the run. And they didn't. At all.
Redskins running back Matt Jones chipped in 123 yards on 19 carries and scored twice as the Rams repeatedly found themselves struggling to stop the run. For the game, Washington finished with 182 yards on 37 carries, an average of 4.9 yards per attempt. With the Redskins in favorable third downs, the Rams only managed two sacks and Washington converted half of its 16 third downs.
3. Eliminating mistakes: On the bright side, the Rams didn't have any turnovers though Foles and running back Tre Mason each fumbled once, losing neither. Foles also didn't throw any interceptions and the Rams recovered a fumble on their way to finishing with a plus-1 turnover margin.
On the other side of the coin, the Rams had too many mistakes in other areas to overcome, namely the return of an old issue in the form of penalties. The Rams had nine infractions for 80 yards on the day, none more important than an offsides on defensive lineman Ethan Westbrooks in the fourth quarter.
With 8:56 to go, the Rams had Washington facing third-and-13 at its 20 and trailed by just a touchdown. But Westbrooks jumped the gun to make it third-and-8. On the next play, the Redskins converted with a 10-yard completion and went on to score a touchdown to put the game away. It was just one of many miscues on the day but it effectively put an end to the Rams' hopes of a comeback.