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Grading Out The Rams 1st Half: Special Teams
By Tim Klutsarits Friday, November 06, 2009


While there hasn't been much to be proud of for the Rams in the first half of the season, the one thing that has been markedly improved from the past three seasons has been the special teams and specifically the return game.  The Rams have yet to surrender a punt or kickoff return for a touchdown and actually have some sizzle from their return game in Danny Amendola.  The Rams are a very respectable 19th on kickoff returns and 17th on punt returns.  That is a huge improvement for a team that struggled to get the ball past their own 25 yard line on kickoffs


Earlier this week we looked at how the
offense and the defense has graded out.  Today we take a look at how the Special Teams graded out:


Josh Brown: C
The normally reliable kicker has not had a great first half.  Brown is only making 67% of his field goals and for an NFL kicker that is not good.  It is not as if he is just missing the 50+ yarders this season, he has missed from inside the 50 twice as well.  Granted he has not had a lot of opportunities but when you are considered one of the top kickers in the league I would assume that Brown is not happy with his performance either.  Brown has had 5 touchbacks this season out of 25 attempts so that is not a bad ratio.


Donnie Jones: B
  After a great season in which Jones should have went to the Pro Bowl Jones has taken a step backward.  Jones is only averaging 46 yards a punt which puts him as the 11th best in the league.  He has dropped 15 of his 20 attempts inside the 20 which is not a bad percentage.  Jones looked great to start the season, went through a bad stretch and then has gotten better.  Hopefully it was just a blip on the radar.


Danny Amendola: A
  This was Billy Devaney's great find in the season.  When he picked up Danny Amendola no one really paid attention to this move but he has been a huge addition.  Amendola has put some excitement back into the return game and at least give the Rams a threat back there.  Amendola is much better on the kickoffs with an average of 24 yards.  He was injured in the final game before the bye and he may be questionable for the first game back against the Saints.


This weekend we will take a look at how the head coach and coordinators have graded out in the first half.


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