Rams’ defense went from zero to porous in final minutes of loss to Dolphins
The Rams defense threw a perfect game for 54 minutes Sunday, sacking Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill four times for a loss of 30 yards, delivering several bruising hits on receivers and running backs while shutting out a team that averaged 29 points in its previous four games, all wins.
“It don’t mean nothing now,” strong safety T.J. McDonald said after a fourth-quarter collapse led to a 14-10 loss and some serious soul-searching in the Rams’ locker room. “We’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror. It’s tough, man, to go from one extreme to the other.”
There was plenty of blame to go around, from the personal-foul penalties on linebacker Alec Ogletree and tackle Aaron Donald on the Dolphins’ final two drives, to a secondary that went from lock-down to porous in the final minutes, and to an offense that remained ineffective with new quarterback Jared Goff at the helm.
But one player took the loss harder than most. Cornerback Trumaine Johnson, his uniform pants and cleats still on, was staring into his locker a good 25 minutes after the game, wondering how such a promising afternoon had turned so sour so quickly.
The Rams held Tannehill to 57 yards passing for more than 3 1/2 quarters but allowed Tannehill to complete 12 of 13 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns in the final 6 minutes 40 seconds.
And Johnson was beaten three times for 33 yards on the final drive, including Tannehill’s nine-yard touchdown pass to a sliding DeVante Parker on the right side of the end zone that gave the Dolphins a 14-10 lead with 36 seconds left.
“I put that last drive on me, especially the touchdown,” Johnson said. “Everything I did before that didn’t matter. … I hold myself to high standards. It’s unacceptable in my book. I wish I could have that one back.”
The defense has carried the Rams all season and made key late-game plays to seal victories over Seattle, Tampa Bay, Arizona and the New York Jets. Did that burden become too heavy for the Rams to bear in the final minutes Sunday?
“No, negative,” tackle Michael Brockers said. “We’ve been doing this since I’ve been here.”
Why were the Dolphins so successful on their final two drives, the first of which ended with Tannehill’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Jarvis Landry, who was pushed by his teammates from the four-yard line to the end zone with 4:13 left?
“They wanted it more,” Brockers said. “I think that’s it. They wanted it more, and we have to do a better job of finishing. … We have to have the mind-set of closing games and stepping on a team’s throat.”
Bill Plaschke, Lindsey Thiry and Gary Klein break down the Rams’ 14-10 loss to the Dolphins in rookie quarterback Jared Goff’s regular-season debut.
The Rams barely let the Dolphins up for air for 3 1/2 quarters. They blitzed and harassed Tannehill so much that Miami did not convert a third-down play into a first down until there was less than six minutes remaining.
For example ...
Ogletree delivered a vicious clothesline hit on Jay Ajayi at the end of a 36-yard run late in the first quarter. Miami had a first down at the Rams’ 22-yard line, but a holding penalty and Johnson’s tackle of Landry for a four-yard loss on a third-down pass forced the Dolphins to punt from the Rams’ 36.
Early in the second quarter, Tannehill hit Kenny Stills for a three-yard gain, the play ending with Rams safety Maurice Alexander hitting Stills so hard under the chin strap that Stills’ head snapped back. On the next play, blitzing cornerback Lamarcus Joyner dropped Tannehill for a seven-yard loss.
“That’s the mentality we have as a defense,” Alexander said. “That’s the energy we bring.”
Alexander came up with another huge play after the Rams lost a fumble early in the third quarter, leaping in the end zone to intercept Tannehill’s 37-yard pass intended for Parker, Miami’s first turnover in five games.
But the Rams gave up huge chunks of passing yards on Miami’s last two drives, which were aided by a pair of 15-yard penalties on Ogletree (unnecessary roughness) and Donald (roughing the passer).
“We’ve got to finish, man,” Johnson said. “It’s a grown-man league. Everyone has to look themselves in the mirror … I didn’t do that in the end, and I let them score.”
Twitter: @MikeDiGiovanna
mike.digiovanna@latimes.com
Twitter: @MikeDiGiovanna
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