Rams Coach: Officiating Errors Costly Against Falcons

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Jeff Fisher says officiating mistakes were the biggest reason the St. Louis Rams fell short in their bid for their second comeback victory in as many games.

The Rams (1-1) had seven penalties for 53 yards in a 31-24 loss at Atlanta on Sunday. After reviewing tape Monday, their coach said he wasn’t concerned about the penalties because only two made by referee Scott Green’s crew should have been called.

Among others, Fisher judged that twice-whistled rookie Stedman Bailey had proper technique on calls for illegal block above the waist and offensive holding on special teams.

The call Fisher hated most came on the third play of the game when defensive end Chris Long was penalized for offside after tackle Lamar Holmes moved. Fisher said it was an example of “False Start 101.”

“I was upset after the ballgame, but looking at the tape those are incorrect calls,” Fisher said. “There were some other instances where there should have been some things called against our opponent that were not called, that could have created some situations for us.”

In particular, Fisher thought officials missed an intentional grounding call on the Falcons’ Matt Ryan out of the end zone in the third quarter.

Two calls Fisher thought the referees got right were holding on center Scott Wells in the third quarter and an illegal motion call on wide receiver Austin Pettis in the second quarter.

Softening the critique slightly, Fisher added: “By no means am I placing blame. I have great respect for the officiating department and the officials and work very close with them, and we move on.”

The Rams erased an 11-point deficit against Arizona in the opener. They trailed 21-0 early at Atlanta and twice cut the gap to a touchdown in the second half.