EARTH CITY, Mo. -- More often than not in the two-plus years Jeff Fisher has been the head coach of the St. Louis Rams, his defense has been pretty straightforward when it comes to coverage.
Matchups have often been passed over in order to allow the cornerbacks to stay on one side of the field for the majority of the game. Every once in a while, Fisher's defense will shadow an opposing receiver but it hasn't happened much.
Against Dallas on Sunday, though, the Rams asked cornerback Janoris Jenkins to match up exclusively with Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant.
“We’ve done it before," Fisher said. "We did it last year. We don’t do it every week. Dez was a big part of our defensive game plan and Janoris loves those challenges, so we thought it was our best chance to win this week.”
Jenkins played 55 of a possible 56 defensive snaps against the Cowboys and for almost all of them, he followed Bryant all over the field. He lined up on the left, he lined up on the right, he lined up in the slot. Wherever Bryant went, there was Jenkins. It was a move that made plenty of sense given the inexperience of rookie sixth-round pick E.J. Gaines opposite Jenkins and the team's need to focus on stopping the run with the front seven.
For the first half, Jenkins provided solid coverage, limiting Bryant to four catches and 18 yards on five targets. The other target? Jenkins jumped a stop route to Bryant, picked it off and took it 25 yards for a touchdown.
Bryant would only make two more catches in the second half but the final 30 minutes offered a shift in advantage to Bryant. One of those catches only went for 3 yards but the other was the game's biggest play.
On the first series of the third quarter, Bryant turned Jenkins inside out on a deep route down the left sideline. As Jenkins turned toward the quarterback, he let Bryant go in anticipation of help from safety Rodney McLeod while receiver Terrance Williams entered Jenkins' space on a crossing route. But McLeod had already made a move toward Williams and McLeod didn't communicate that he'd be taking Williams, who had already lost Gaines coming across the field.
That left Bryant as open as any receiver you'll ever see for an easy 68-yard touchdown.
“It was supposed to be passed off, but it was not communicated," Fisher said. “He can tell the corner that he’s going to take the crossing route. He didn’t.”
While the touchdown doesn't fall solely on Jenkins, any way you slice it, leaving Bryant alone goes against the idea of having him shadow Bryant in the first place.
Of course, that wasn't the only second half coverage miscue.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Jenkins was left outside against Bryant on a double move that ended with a pass interference penalty that gave Dallas 33 yards and a first down. Fisher said rookie cornerback Lamarcus Joyner was late and took a poor route to quarterback Tony Romo on his blitz. Had Joyner been quicker and more precise, Fisher said he thought Joyner would have had a sack and the penalty never would have occurred.
All things considered, Fisher was happy with Jenkins' performance.
“I thought he played well," Fisher said. "He has the defensive pass interference call and that’s a huge play. In the play, in the blitz we asked him to cover a double move where the quarterback is to reload the ball. I can’t fault him on that because our young nickel back took a real late, poor course to the quarterback -- would have been unblocked probably would have had a sack. He certainly wouldn’t have had a chance to pull the ball down and throw it down the field."
The Rams could get cornerback Trumaine Johnson back from a knee injury after the bye. It will be interesting to see if they continue to shadow other top wideouts when their projected starters are back on the field together.