*Note: The graphic above should read Week 16.

I’ve been illin’ (and not the good kind) most of the week so this will be a very abbreviated version of my usual game previews. Apologies… 

A random thought came into my head as I was coughing up a lobe from my right lung Friday night.

“I wonder which Rams team will show up in Tampa Bay on Sunday.”

Even while I’m under the weather I’m thinking about the Rams. Or maybe it’s due to the fact that I get sick to my stomach thinking about the three games the Rams should have won: Week 1 at Detroit (23-27), Week 6 at Miami (14-17), and Week 10 at San Francisco (24-24 tie). The Rams should be 9-5 right now fighting for a wild card.

Then you have the Rams that tied and beat the almighty (?) 10-3 49ers. Yes, St. Louis seems to have San Francisco’s number. Not to mention the Rams (with one last game remaining in Seattle) are one of five teams (Green Bay, New England, Houston, and Denver) that are undefeated in their division. The irony though is that those four teams are their respective division leaders and in the playoffs. Dagger!

Reality hits though as the Rams are set to face a slumping (four straight losses coming into this week) but still dangerous team in the Buccaneers. Quarterback Josh Freeman has had his ups and downs this season which doesn’t bode well for his big time, big size receivers Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams. I should know, V. Jackson is on my fantasy team. The other big Bucs threat, the player formerly known as The Muscle Hamster, running back Doug Martin. He’s on both my fantasy teams and he’s also had a seat on the roller coaster that’s the Tampa Bay offense.

Rams running back Steven Jackson needs 91 yards to reach the 1,000 yards rushing for the eighth consecutive season. The longest active streak in the NFL. I say he gets it done today despite the Bucs ranking number one against the run (83.3 yards per game) coming into Sunday. Jackson has seen tough rush defenses this season and has risen to the occasion, especially against the 49ers (101 and 48 yards).

The Bottom line (Nothing really new here, folks.)

The Rams need to tune out all the noise and concentrate on their game. The rest will fall into place.

Run the ball via Steven Jackson.

Protect quarterback Sam Bradford giving him time to find one of his young receivers. This might prove to be harder than expected with their staple offensive lineman Harvey Dahl being placed on IR after a biceps tear. Chris Williams is slated to take Dahl’s place and will be challenged by the Bucs defense.

Don’t commit idiotic self-inflicted penalties. Seriously, this has to stop.

Win the field position battle. i.e. the Rams rookie punter Johnny Hekker needs to be more consistent. Kicker Greg Zuerlein will be the difference in the game.

Rams squeak out a close one winning by a field goal, 23-20 and get back to .500 with one last game to go.

7-7-1.

Arizona Cardinals QB Kevin Kolb sacked by Rams DT Jermelle Cudjo. 10/04/12 (Courtesy STLouisRams.com)

Isn’t that just a thing of beauty – from a Rams perspective, of course. If you’re Kevin Kolb this was the reoccurring nightmare that haunted him all night as he was sacked nine times at the Edward Jones Dome. In all, seven Rams defensive players took turns bringing Kolb to the turf. Only defensive end Robert Quinn recorded a hat trick for three sacks.

The Rams defense was more or less the story of the Thursday Night Football. They had their way with the Arizona Cardinals offensively scary offensive line. Poor Cardinal tackles D’Anthony Batiste and Bobby Massie had a long night. The only player who had a worse night - Kolb. Bloody lip, multiple hits, and as you can see from the photo above he had a 311 pound defensive tackle just flatten him. Say what you will about Kolb’s play but you can’t deny that he’s one tough son of a gun.

1) A Rams running man needs to show up.

 The Cardinals are giving up on average 101 yards on the ground which ranks them midrange (15th) in the league.  The collective efforts of Jackson, Richardson, and I’m hoping, Terrance Ganaway, will surpass the century mark.

Okay, so Ganaway didn’t see any action on the field but the Rams did manage to run more than 100 yards this game. Jackson managed to get some long runs during this game which helped set up the passing game. I sort of wondered how he’d play considering news of his contract changes had just come out. If this is indeed his last year playing as a Ram then he’s putting on a good show for future teams.

» Continue reading “Rams Beat Cardinals 3-17 To Stay Perfect At Dome Sweet Dome”

The St. Louis Rams host their second of two division opponents, the Arizona Cardinals, in five days. Coach Fisher said after the Seahawks game that they were treating Sunday afternoon as if it were already a Wednesday work day. The man and his coaching staff had a plan in place for the ridiculous turnaround. This is where having the youngest average aged roster works to their advantage physically. But will it backfire mentally? We’ll know in about 24 hours.

Thursday marks the first primetime home game for the Rams since December of 2007 when they hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers in week 16. The Rams lost 41-24 as they ended the year 3-13 under then head coach Scott Linehan. But that’s all ugly history most Rams fans , and to use Fisher-ism here, would love to delete.

This is now the Jeff Fisher era and I have to say it’s started out much better than I had imagined.

Not only the Rams but the 4-0 Arizona Cardinals sitting at the top of the NFC West… I can pretty much tell you that no one predicted that in week 1. That’s why you play the games, folks. And I’m not talking about Madden ’13.

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The Five Things I’ll be watching for in week 5:  Nothing earth shattering here and if anything it’s pretty similar to some of the things I was looking out for in week 4 against the Seahawks.

1) A Rams running man needs to show up.

The entire Rams running game against the Seahawks’ second best rushing defense equaled 75 yards. 55 of them came off of 18 carries via Steven Jackson. Jackson was listed questionable with his bum groin on Wednesday’s injury report. Which means just like last week he’ll give it a go and probably have similar results – i.e. less than 100 yards rushing.

» Continue reading “Arizona Cardinals At St. Louis Rams Week 5 Preview”

The St. Louis Rams have lost the last three of the four times they’ve met up with the Seattle Seahawks. Their last win came in St. Louis on October 3, 2010 during week 4 when they beat the Matthew Hasselbeck lead Hawks 3-20. That was also the last time the Rams started the season at 2-2.

Two years later both teams find themselves in similar situations. Seattle comes in at 2-1 and St. Louis finds itself at 1-2 heading into week 4. Rams running back Steven Jackson is nursing a groin injury again and is questionable for the game.  In 2010, Seahawks left tackle Russell Okung left the game with an ankle injury and finds himself in 2012 playing with a bum knee. Déjà vu isn’t just a song by Dionne Warwick, folks.

Despite his strained groin Jackson managed to play through the pain in 2010 and lead the Rams with a combined 126 yards rushing and receiving (70 yards rushing on 22 carries and 3 receptions for 54 yards.)

Jackson will have to have a repeat performance in order for the Rams to beat a much improved Seahawks in 2012.

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The Five Things I’ll be watching for in week 4:

1) Will running back Steven Jackson be effective?

I’ve already recapped what he did back in 2010 when he was dealing with that groin injury. Can he take the team on his shoulders or in this case his legs and take the Rams to a .500 record? Jackson didn’t participate in practices all week so there’s optimism that he’s healed up enough to give it a go on Sunday.

If Jackson can’t be effective then Coach Fisher has a back up plan.

Well, we’ve been splitting reps. They’re all ready to play, even (RB) Terrance (Ganaway) is ready to play. We’ve been splitting reps in the event that ‘Jack’ can’t go.

Last week the sixth ranked rushing defense (76 yards per game allowed) of the Chicago Bears held the entire Rams running game to 59 yards on 17 carries. The Seahawks are ranked second allowing a meager 58 yards per game. It’s not looking very promising at this point.

» Continue reading “Seattle Seahawks At St. Louis Rams Week 4 Preview”

This isn’t the week 3 match up that most had foreseen when the schedules came out in April. Bears starting running back Matt Forte was officially ruled out Friday and his Rams counterpart Steven Jackson is listed as questionable. Most likely we’ll be watching the Michael Bush – Daryl Richardson Show if all things go as planned.

Although Coach Jeff Fisher did say if active the Bears could see all three rookie running backs in the Rams stable.

I have no concern what so ever about all three of them. Like I mentioned yesterday, they’re ready to play if ‘Jack’ (Steven Jackson) can’t play. It’s been a while since I potentially went into a game with three rookies at the running back position.

Now this I would love to get a glimpse of what Terrance Ganaway do. After all, there has to be a reason they have him. Here is what Coach Fisher said when asked about Ganaway.

Yes. If he gets in, he’ll do well. We watched a lot of college tape. He’s a really smart, young man. Got ball security and he’s a good size and he’s got good running sense.

Remember Isaiah Pead? Yeah, I’m starting to forget what he looks like.

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The Five Things I’ll be watching for in  week 3:

» Continue reading “St. Louis Rams At Chicago Bears Week 3 Preview”

Bear Down

I was able to catch up with Chicago Sun-Times beat writer, Sean Jensen, to get an insider’s perspective of the Rams week 3 opponent, Da Bears.

He had interesting comments on some of the Bears players as well as bringing to my attention an emerging defensive force who the Rams must game plan for.

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Our conversation started as I was reading a few of Jensen’s tweets from the 18th. I’ve highlighted the corresponding Rams rankings for reference (where available) in blue.

“What’s killing Jay Cutler are third-down plays. His rating is 44.7, 31st in the NFL, as he’s completing just 50% of his passes.”

Sam Bradford‘s overall third down rating is 125.2 and he is completing 71.7% of his passes.  This ranks Bradford third in completion percentage only to Minnesota’s Christian Ponder (75.8%) and San Diego’s Philip Rivers (73.8%).

“#Bears QB Jay Cutler‘s passer rating of 58.5 is 31st in the NFL, one spot behind rookie Ryan Tannehill & one spot ahead of Brandon Weeden.”

Bradford’s overall passer rating is 112.4, third only to Atlanta’s Matt Ryan (117.6) and San Francisco’s Alex Smith (115.9).

“Why are the #Bears struggling on offense? One reason: they average a league-worst 2.73 yards per first-down play. NFL avg is 5.27 yards.”

“#Bears defense is tied for first (with the Atlanta Falcons) with seven take-aways.”

Rams defense is tied for 7th with Seattle and Green Bay with four take-a-ways in the NFC.

“#Bears passing offense is ranked 26th and the run offense is tied for 18th. #Bears pass defense is 21st.”

Rams passing offense is ranked 18th (237 yds) and the run offense is 13th (114 yds).  Rams pass defense is 24th (271.5 yds).

“After Week 2, #Bears offense ranked 27th overall in the NFL while the defense is 14th.”

Rams offense ranked 17th overall in the NFL while the defense is 24th.

» Continue reading “Bears DT Henry Melton “A Force To Be Reckoned With” Says Sean Jensen”

Washington Redskins at St. Louis Rams (Courtesy STLouisRams.com)

Smell that?  That’s the luscious and most intoxicating aroma of a Rams victory Monday.  It only happened twice last season so I can understand if taking a whiff of it is jolting.  But isn’t it great?

See that?  It’s the Edward Jones Dome being sold out for the season home opener filled with fans doning Fisher Staches and a slew of other Rams gear to honor their new head coach and their new look team.

Hear that?  That’s the sound of tens of thousands of Rams fans screaming, stomping, and cheering on their team.  The dome hasn’t rocked like that in a long time.  It was evident even when I was watching the game back the next day.  The fans were dialing it up when the Redskins were on offense.

Taste that?  It’s the sweet flavor of success and I’m hoping to be a repeat customer in the weeks to come.

The St. Louis Rams defeated the Bob Griffin lead Washington Redskins to 28-31.  Yes, you read that number correctly.  Your once bungling St. Louis Rams have scored 54 points in the past two games.  In fact, in 2011, it took the Spags-McDaniels lead squad until week 6 to score 49 points and week 7 to put up 56 points.

It’s only been two games but the Rams have come a long long way since Coach Fisher and Coach Schottenheimer have taken over this offense.  I like where this team is headed.

So let’s see how the Rams answered by Five Questions for week 2.

Q1) Which random pieces will make up what we like to call the Rams offensive line?

» Continue reading “Rams Defeat Redskins 28-31 On Fisher Stache Day”

Have you heard of this Bob Griffin kid from the Redskins?  Local sports talk radio stations can’t seem to get enough of him and his super hero sock collection.  It’s all I’ve heard most of the week.

All the foot coverings aside Bob did was become the first rookie ever to pass for over 300 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception.  This performance earned him offensive player of the week honors – and notably the first rookie to ever do so in week 1.  And if you haven’t seen it yet there’s such as thing as “Griffining.”  As if Tebowing wasn’t bad enough, right?

One thing I will do is thank Bob.  Because of his appeal the Redskins were willing to deal away their sixth overall pick, a second round pick, and two future first round picks in the hopes of getting a super star quarterback.  And from the looks of it they have their guy – at least in week 1.

But Washington is not just about Bob and this game isn’t just about the Redskins.

It’s about your beloved St. Louis Rams this Sunday.

Without further adieu the five things I’ll be watching for the season home opener.

1) Which random pieces will make up what we like to call the Rams offensive line?

» Continue reading “Washington Redskins At St. Louis Rams Week 2 Preview”

Rams Teammates Gather A Prayer Circle For Rodger Saffold (Personal Photo)

This is not the same old Rams. Yes, they lost the game with two minutes left in the game. Yes, Sam Bradford went down and took a sack to end the game. Yes, we had the false start, stupid personal foul, and offensive holding. But this is not the same old Rams.

The guys at Turf Show Times asked how I’d describe the new 2012-2013 Rams in one word. My answer:

Fisher.

This was just after a third Rams defensive player intercepted Lions QB Matthew Stafford. CB Janoris Jenkins, LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar, and CB Cortland Finnegan (Pick 6) all new Fisher additions to the team.

These Rams are competitive and actually got my heart pumping and my stomach churning – in a good way.  The old Rams just made me take down some pillars.

» Continue reading “Rams Lose 27-23 In A Close One Against The Lions”

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Rams RB Daryl Richardson (Courtesy STLouisRams.com)

Well that was interesting… I had five questions/things to watch and I think they were pretty much answered. Let’s just get into it, shall we?

What I learned from the Rams loss at Dallas:

1) They need to go back to fundamentals. For a team that is lead by a defensive minded head coach their tackling was atrocious. And that’s being nice. Even veterans like Cortland Finnegan were grabbing high (weird for a shorter-ish corner). I’d expect growing pains from the rookies Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson but Finnegan, Quintin Mikell, and Craig Dahl. C’mon guys. In all fairness, those guys did make some plays but the ones they missed were just maddening.

2) The 2011-2012 Sam Bradford reared his skittish head. No movement in the pocket just killed him in the first half. I know he’s still trying to shake the bad memories of being sacked 36 times in 10 games last season but he has to get more mobile. Which leads me to wonder if his doesn’t want to test out that ankle just yet. Wish Bradford had more “escapability.” He finished the night going 6 of 17 for 67 yards.

3) Daryl Richardson is the rookie RB we are excited about. At one point I had to ask myself who was the second round pick and who was the seventh round selection. Pead is still struggling to find open holes (or create them for himself) while Richardson is making headway. Both shared time with the ones and Richardson shined just a bit brighter. Pead finished the night 9 carries for 22 yards while Richardson went for 51 yards on 10 touches. At this point do we crown Richardson RB2? Pead hasn’t shown enough to say no.

» Continue reading “Rams Take A Step Back In 19-20 Loss To Dallas”