The Rams outplayed the Eagles on both sides of the ball and broke even in the turnover battle Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.
But St. Louis made the most costly mistakes in a game full of them and couldn't quite dig its way out of a huge hole in a 34-28 loss. Two Rams miscues resulted in touchdowns, and another set up Jeremy Maclin's game-winning 24-yard score late in the third quarter.
The problems started early, when Philadelphia's dangerous special teams unit blocked a punt and Chris Maragos returned it for a touchdown just 23 seconds into the game. St. Louis' first possession of the second half also ended in disaster, when Trent Cole beat left tackle Jake Long, who also missed an opportunity to recover Austin Davis' fumble before defensive end Cedric Thornton grabbed it in the end zone.
Thornton nearly scored again when he returned Zac Stacy's fumble 40 yards in the third quarter, capping off the Rams' trio of errors. Those plays enabled Philadelphia to withstand 21 unanswered points in the final 16 minutes for St. Louis, who finished with 466 yards of total offense to the Eagles' 352.
After a third straight game not decided until the final two minutes, Jeff Fisher and his staff should have plenty to build off of and improve upon in film study this week.
FIRST DOWN: Davis shows more improvement on biggest day yet
Austin Davis continued his impressive evolution as an NFL quarterback, despite some shaky play from the Rams' offensive line.
Through much of the first half, Davis appeared to be seriously rattled by constant pressure from Philadelphia's defensive line. He had to scramble often and got sacked twice, including once by Vinny Curry to force a costly turnover in the red zone.
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Davis overthrew his two favorite targets -- Jared Cook and Brian Quick -- on the first two plays of the game and lacked his typical accuracy. Certainly, the offensive line should have protected him better, but Davis often held onto the ball too long and even slid too soon when he would have picked up a huge third-and-12 conversion on a scramble with St. Louis trailing, 10-0.
A drive after the first of his two fumbles, Davis began to show a heightened sense of awareness when he went back at least 15 yards before finding Quick for an eight-yard touchdown pass. Then, in the second half, Davis scrambled 12 yards for a first down during a touchdown drive in the third quarter and avoided pressure before throwing the ball up to let Kenny Britt make a play in man-to-man coverage for a 30-yard touchdown.
Sure, some of Davis' success can be attributed to a soft defense in the second half from an Eagles secondary that hasn't been good all season. But the third-year quarterback also made some key adjustments on his way to completing 29 of 49 passes for 375 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
SECOND DOWN: Penalties prove costly again
Two weeks ago, the referees clearly deserved some of the blame for costly penalties in the Rams' 34-31 loss to the Cowboys.
Fisher will have a harder time blaming anyone but his players after more frustrating flags in Philadelphia. St. Louis finished with 10 penalties for 82 yards, and two others were declined after the Eagles still picked up big chunks of yardage on second-and-13 and third-and-9.
The worst offenses included an unnecessary roughness on Ray-Ray Armstrong at the end of Darren Sproles' 23-yard punt return, a 17-yard defensive pass interference against T.J. McDonald on third-and-5, and an illegal contact penalty against Janoris Jenkins to keep a fourth-quarter drive alive. After an inexcusable delay of game on fourth-and-8 with 42 seconds left, the Rams have 34 penalties for a league-worst 96.75 yards per game.
THIRD DOWN: Cunningham makes statement
Second-string running back Benny Cunningham made a strong case for more touches with an impressive second half, including a 14-yard touchdown run to spark St. Louis' late rally.
Stacy suffered a calf injury and did not return after his fumble late in the third quarter, but the Rams' running attack didn't miss a beat when they needed it the rest of the way. Cunningham finished with a team-high 47 yards on seven carries, his best performance since a 109-yard day against Chicago last season.
The second-year tailback hit his holes hard and even caught three passes out of the backfield for 24 yards. Although Stacy had some successful bruising runs as well, Cunningham read his blocks effectively and looked more dangerous in space.
FOURTH DOWN: Rams go sack-less again
Sunday seemed like the perfect day for the St. Louis defensive line to have a breakout day, coming off a bye against an offensive line weakened by injuries.
The Rams did get some pressure on quarterback Nick Foles and played a key part in holding the Eagles to two field goals in the red zone before halftime. But the once-vaunted defense didn't register a sack for the second straight game, leaving them with just one in the season's first four games.
The first of many missed opportunities came early, when Foles eluded All-Pro defensive end Robert Quinn before throwing for 19 yards on his second pass of the game. St. Louis made one of the league's least mobile quarterbacks look like an elite escape artist, and he was kind enough to reward them with an untouched fumble early in the fourth quarter.
Clearly, the 1-3 Rams still have plenty of issues to work out and areas that need improvement before next Monday's home game against San Francisco, but the defensive line and particularly the pass rush should be at the top of the list.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
