Week 4 Preseason – St. Louis Rams vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

ST. LOUIS – On September 1, the Jaguars and Rams had their fourth preseason game of the year. The Rams are coming off a lucky win at home last week against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jaguars are coming off a shootout loss against the Buffalo Bills.

Pre-game notes: Mark Clayton, WR for the Rams last year, was signed the day before the game, and therefore, did not travel with the team. The Rams are undefeated this preseason. Luke McCown, QB for the Jaguars, has passed Blaine Gabbert, QB, on the depth chart and is now the backup QB for the Jags. The rookie Gabbert is considered the 3rd-string QB for now. Maurice Jones-Drew, RB for the Jaguars, is playing in his first preseason game this year, due to his offseason knee surgery; Aaron Kampman, DE for the Jaguars, is also making his first start tonight.

1st quarter:

On 4th-and-14 at the STL 37, Matt Turk, P for the Jaguars, punted the ball 21 yards and it was returned for no gain to the STL 19.

On 4th-and-10 at the JAC 38, Donnie Jones, P for the Rams, punted the ball 32 yards and it was fair caught at the JAC 6.

On 4th-and-13 at the JAC 28, Turk punted the ball 37 yards and it was fair caught at the STL 35.

On 3rd-and-1 at the JAC 44, Sam Bradford, starting QB for the Rams, threw a deep right pass to Lance Kendricks, TE, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by K Josh Brown. Jaguars 0 Rams 7

On 4th-and-5 at the STL 48, Turk punted the ball 30 yards and it was returned for no gain to the STL 18.

2nd quarter:

On 3rd-and-3 at the JAC 27, A.J. Feeley, backup QB for the Rams, threw a short left pass intended for WR Greg Salas, but was intercepted by Terrence Wheatley, CB, who returned it for 35 yards to the STL 48.

On 4th-and-11 at the STL 49, Turk punted the ball 49 yards resulting in a touchback.

On 4th-and-3 at the STL 39, Jones punted the ball 47 yards and it was returned for five yards to the JAC 19.

On 2nd-and-1 at the STL 17, Luke McCown, backup QB for the Jaguars, threw a deep middle pass to Cecil Shorts, WR, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by K Josh Scobee. Jaguars 7 Rams 7

On 4th-and-6 at the JAC 38, Jones punted the ball 34 yards and it was downed at the JAC 4.

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3rd quarter:

On 1st-and-goal at the 1, Keith Toston, RB for the Rams, rushed the ball up the middle, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Brown. Jaguars 7 Rams 14

On 4th-and-7 at the STL 30, Scobee successfully kicked a 48 yard field goal. Jaguars 10 Rams 14

On 4th-and-9 at the STL 26, Jones punted the ball 41 yards and it was returned for 7 yards to the JAC 40.

On 4th-and-4 at the JAC 46, Turk punted the ball 32 yards and it was fair caught at the STL 22.

4th quarter:

On 2nd-and-goal at the 1, Chris Reynolds, RB for the Rams, rushed the ball left, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Brown. Jaguars 10 Rams 21

On 1st-and-goal at the 1, Dujuan Harris, RB for the Jaguars, rushed the ball up the middle, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Scobee. Jaguars 17 Rams 21

On 4th-and-8 at the JAC 17, Brown successfully kicked a 35 yard field goal. Jaguars 17 Rams 24

On 2nd-and-10 at the STL 30, Gabbert threw an incomplete deep right pass in the end zone. End game

Post-game notes: The Jaguars didn’t play with three of their starters: LB Daryl Smith because of rest, DT Tyson Alualu because of his knee and RT Eben Britton because of his back. Rams DE James Hall was injured in the first series. The Rams went 4-0 in the preseason for the first time since 1979. Lance Kendricks, rookie TE for the Rams, caught a TD pass from Bradford in 3 of 4 preseason games.

In a win that was close, the Rams triumphed over Mike Sims-Walker’s former team 24-17. The big stat of the game was the Rams’ 419 total net yards compared to the Jags’ 292. Another huge stat was ball control, with the Rams controlling the ball on offense thirteen minutes more. The Rams ended up throwing one interception by losing the turnover battle by one, yet still won. The Jaguars were two for two in the red zone, though the Rams were two for three. The Jaguars were one for one on goal to go and the Rams were two for two in the same category. The Rams dominated in the air (351 to 188), though the Jaguars were better on the ground (104 to 68). The downfall of the Jaguars came on the final incomplete Hail Mary play of the game.

The season is looking better for the Rams, due to the fact that the first team offense and defense played well, and I would still be very surprised if the Rams do not win this year’s division and make the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

By Trevor Roe
ProFootball-fans.com St. Louis Rams Correspondent