EARTH CITY, Mo. — It didn’t take long for the St. Louis Rams to begin focusing on another difficult challenge this week at Kansas City.
Good feelings don’t always last long in the NFL, and coming off a stirring win over the Seattle Seahawks, the Rams know the victory won’t mean as much if the team fails to build on it as they begin a stretch of three consecutive games on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs, followed by division rivals San Francisco and Arizona.
The Rams will not only have to contend with the quality of the Chiefs’ team, but also handle the noise consistently produced in Arrowhead Stadium.
As head coach Jeff Fisher noted, “As you all know, they have this personal thing with the 12th man in Seattle, so they try to compete. That gives us some kind of indication of how difficult it is to play there because of the noise.”
Despite the noise factor, Fisher is one of the rare coaches that chooses not to pump artificial noise into practice prior to playing at a loud venue.
“We typically don’t put noise in practice,” Fisher said. “We work it in camp. We work a silent count. I think if you make a big deal over it, it becomes an even bigger deal. We respect it by all means and we’ll address it. We have to be smart. They take advantage of it. Their defense is an outstanding defense, especially with the two rushers. Both (linebackers Justin) Houston and (Tamba) Hali, they can rush. When you add that speed element there and you can’t hear, you’re going on silent (count), then it puts a lot of pressure on your tackles.”
Rams quarterback Austin Davis will be making his sixth start and third on the road, with the other away games at Tampa Bay and Philadelphia. Asked about Davis dealing with the noise, Fisher said, “He’ll handle that. We’re not concerned about that. As good as you can. It’s one of those deals where it’s hard to be perfect in that environment. But, he’ll make good decisions and we have to help him with different things here and there. I’m not concerned about his inexperience as it relates to crowd noise.”
Davis said, “I’ve never been there before but I’ve heard from various sources that it’s a great atmosphere. It’s very loud; it’s fun to play there. We’ll treat it the same as we always do on the road. We’ll use our silent cadence and plan on it not being a problem.
“I think you get used to crowd noises. You kind of get used to using your cadence and doing some different things to handle it. Hopefully, it won’t be an issue.”
Of course, noise won’t have anything to do with the Rams trying to defend quarterback Alex Smith and running back Jamaal Charles.
Said Fisher, “Alex is playing very, very well. Alex has deceptive speed. He can pull the ball down, run for big plays, is making really good decisions. They’ve done some amazing things with him as far as timing’s concerned. That ball’s coming out and it’s accurate and they put a lot of stress on your defense by the way they disperse the receivers. Then of course they have a diverse running game and they’re liable to come up with anything at any time. Obviously, we have concerns about their passing game. But, the run game to me is really going to challenge our defense.”
Of Charles, Fisher said, “He can get to full speed in about a step-and-a-half. It takes him literally two steps and he’s full speed, he’s by you. He’s got the quickness to get through the hole. He’ll break things out the back side, he’s just really difficult to defend. They know that and they’re taking advantage of him. So we’re going to have to be at our best on defense.”
The Rams have done a good job the last three games containing running backs LeSean McCoy (Philadelphia), Frank Gore (San Francisco) and Marshawn Lynch (Seattle). In addition to Charles, the Chiefs can also hit you with Knile Davis.
“Completely different challenge this week in the run game,” Fischer said. “It’s unique. It’s a lot of read-option, a lot of that stuff, so I wouldn’t compare them. Now, they’ve got a big back too they go to every once in a while. This challenge is going to be a lot different. We were building ourselves to play the power running game in our division, because there’s a lot of similarities between San Francisco and Seattle. We’re settling down. We’re getting people in the right places. But again, to me that’s past. This thing is going to be a big challenge for us. A huge challenge for us.”