By Vince Vitale 

The St. Louis Rams took a 7-0 lead 9 minutes and 11 seconds into the game on a 15 yard strike from Sam Bradford to Brandon Gibson and road the NFL’s 4th ranked scoring defense to a 20-3 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Bradford threaded the pass between two Seahawk defenders into the outstretched hands of Gibson on 3rd and 10. If you did not know better you would have thought that Peyton Manning threw the pass. The St. Louis Rams are now in first place for the first time since early in the 2006 NFL season.

For the game Sam Bradford was 23 of 41 for 289 yards with two touchdown passes and one interception. On the season Bradford now has six touchdown passes which ties him for 8th in the NFL. Sam has made all the difference in attitude for the St. Louis Rams and he shined again today. On the ground Steven Jackson who was a game time decision was a warrior running for 70 yards on 22 carries and catching 3 passes for 54 yards. Jackson also passed Marshall Faulk for #2 on the Rams all time rushing list. Jackson is still the heart and sole of the St. Louis Rams. Kenneth Darby in his backup role once again scored on a 21 yard screen pass from Bradford.

For the second straight week the St. Louis Rams defense dominated the second half of the game. The Rams led 10-3 at halftime and outscored the Seahawks 10-0 in the second half of play for a convincing 20-3 victory. The Rams forced Seattle to punt on their first six possessions of the second half and outgained them 172 yards to 68. For the game the Rams defense had 4 sacks and two turnovers while only allowing the Seahawks one drive of over 38 yards. The Rams defense has held all four opponents to 17 points or less. The Rams held Seattle to 2.7 yards on the ground and gang tackled whoever had the ball for the Seahawks all day.

The Rams schedule is what it is and we will not apologize for it, and need to take advantage of it. The Rams will now travel to face the 0-4 Detroit Lions. The Rams may be doing it with mirrors but the bottom line is they easily could be 4-0 and are playing solid football. The facts are the Rams are in first place in the NFC West and also lead the division in points scored and in the least points allowed.

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By Vince Vitale 

I started to think about this issue this morning as I was listening to sports talk radio. I found it absolutely amazing and sad that shows were talking more about Jake Westbrook a 32 year old pitcher on the Cleveland Indians with 13 wins in the last 4 years and a 69-71 lifetime win/loss record and career ERA of 4.34 than talking about the upcoming signings of Rodger Saffold and Sam Bradford. With Training camp starting tomorrow where was the football talk, the excitement, the anticipation?

Not only are the media outlets not talking about the St. Louis Rams much I can’t even get Rams fans to discuss the team. This week alone I informed 100+ known Rams fans about the possible Terrell Owens signing and the signing of Rodger Saffold and I received ZERO responses!

Well as St. Louis Rams training camp approaches tomorrow I am curious as to where St. Louis Rams fans are at. Fans should feel this as the start of something special, a new year, new players, a fresh start, and most of all a level playing field as each team is currently 0-0. I however feel that St. Louis Rams fans are currently apathetic to the point of almost being num and I will explain.

Over the last three seasons the St. Louis Rams have played some very poor football which has resulted in them winning only six of their last forty-eight contest, that’s right they have won six total games since 12/31/2006 a span of almost 43 months! That could be considered their top achievement over the last few years but let’s look a little deeper at some underlying issues.

Rams fans rarely talk about anyone else other than Sam Bradford and Steven Jackson, this speaks to almost a decade of terrible drafting. While not winning of late the experience at the Edward Jones Dome has come under a lot of criticism. Recently ESPN rated the Rams quality of arena and game-day promotions as well as friendliness of environment 114th out of 122 professional franchises. The atmosphere along with the play of the team lead the Rams to finish 29th in home attendance in 2009 at 84.6% of capacity only ahead of Detroit, Jacksonville and Oakland in percentage.

This leads us to another issue, St. Louis Rams ownership. Since the death of Georgia Frontiere on 1/18/2008 the Rams primary owners are Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez. From the beginning Chip and Lucia wanted out of that role placing the Rams basically in a lame duck position, seemingly to fans without ownership that cared about the team. To add to this matter the Rams have to be in the upper 25% of stadium revenues after 2014 or they can basically break the lease and leave town for the highest bidder. Currently there is a pending sales of the club to Stan Kroenke but this has been dragging out for a while and I am afraid the fans are tired of hearing about it.

As they say winning cures everything and frankly the St. Louis Rams have not been winners in a while and that has led to this malaise that has come over the city towards them. The product on the field has been bad and even worse than that everything about the team has become boring. The Rams hiring of Scott (Lameahan) Linehan has to be one of their worst decisions. Linehan came across as a talking block of wood during press conferences and seemed simply clueless when making any coaching decisions. The Rams have since moved on to inexperienced Steve Spagnuolo who tries to say the right things but it is still not apparent to Rams fans if we have even started to move in the right direction. Other than Steven Jackson the Rams offense has been awful ranking in the bottom five in scoring three straight years including averaging 10.9 points per game in 2009.

So Rams fans are you still out there?

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By Vince Vitale 

Well unfortunately I was correct and the Rams lost a close one 17-13 to the Arizona Cardinals Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome before a spirited crowd. The Rams still need to learn to crawl before they walk and still need to learn how to win and play 60 minutes of NFL football. This has been a problem for quite some time with the Rams. 

Midway through the 3rd quarter it appeared the St. Louis Rams may be on their way to victory when C.J. Ah You forced a Derek Anderson fumble with the Rams leading 13-10. Clifton Ryan picked up the ball with only green between himself and the goal line. Somehow Steve Breaston who also caught 7 passes for 132 yards caught Ryan from behind and knocked the ball out of his hands as he was heading into the end zone. The Cardinals center Lyle Sendlein somehow beat everyone to the loose ball and recovered it for a touchback. Replays showed that Ryan did not cross the goal line prior to the fumble.

The Rams held a 13-10 lead for most of the second half but could not put the game away. In a sloppy game the Rams had a ton of chances as the Cardinals fumbled 7 times with the Rams recovering 4 of those but could not turn them into points. In addition Ran Bartell and Kevin Dockery each dropped interceptions and many of Sam Bradford’s passes were dropped.

We have seen this game many times before, the Rams hang in there but just can’t get the job done. The defense that played well for most of the day allowed the Cardinals to drive 75 yards late in the 3rd before a fumble ended that drive. On the ensuing Cardinals drive they marched right down the field 86 yards in 7 plays taking a 17-13 lead on 2nd and 20 with a 21 yard pass from Derek Anderson to Larry Fitzgerald.

In the end the St. Louis Rams lost their 14th straight home game, their 8th straight to the Arizona Cardinals, 15th straight in the NFC West, and 43rd of their last 49.

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OT Mike Adams (Ohio State)

CB Dwight Bentley (LA-Lafayette)

WR Justin Blackmon (Oklahoma State)

DT Michael Brockers (LSU)

CB Morris Claiborne (LSU)

DE Quinton Coples (North Carolina)

DT Fletcher Cox (Mississippi State)

WR Michael Floyd (Notre Dame)

WR Chris Givens (Wake Forest)

RB Ronnie Hillman (San Diego State)

RB LaMichael James (Oregon)

WR AJ Jenkins (Illinois)

CB Janoris Jenkins (North Alabama)

MLB James-Michael Johnson (Nevada)

C Ben Jones (Georgia)

OT Matt Kalil (USC)

MLB Mychal Kendricks (California)

CB Dre Kirkpatrick (Alabama)

G Ronald Leary (Memphis)

WR Marvin McNutt (Iowa State)

RB Lamar Miller (Miami)

G Kelechi Osemele (Iowa State)

DT Dontari Poe (Memphis)

WR Rueben Randle (LSU)

RB Trent Richardson (Alabama)

G Amini Silatolu (Midwestern State)

OLB Sean Spence (Miami)

P Brian Stahovich (San Diego State)

DT Alameda Ta’amu (Washington)

WR Brian Quick (Appalachian State)

OLB Bobby Wagner (Utah State)

DT Jerel Worthy (Michigan State)

WR Kendall Wright (Baylor)

14. DE Robert Quinn A

This couldn’t have worked out any better for the Rams. I didn’t have them drafting a defensive end in any of my mocks, thinking they’d instead try to develop one of their late round ends from last year, something Steve Spagnuolo has experience with, but then again, I never thought that Robert Quinn would fall all the way to them at 14. James Hall is getting up there in age and Quinn is his future replacement. In the short term, Chris Long, Hall, and Quinn will form a defensive end rotation that could rival Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Michael Strahan, who Spags had with his Super Bowl winning Giants.

47. TE Lance Kendricks B+

Tight end was one of their biggest needs heading into the draft. They don’t have a pass catching tight end and pass catching tight ends are young quarterbacks’ best friends. Kendricks was a minor reach, but not a huge one.

78. WR Austin Pettis B-

Like tight end, wide receiver was a huge need of theirs coming into this draft. Sam Bradford simply had no weapons to work with down the stretch. If he’s going to take that next step into a top 10 playoff caliber quarterback, he’ll need some help. Pettis was a reach, however. I had a 4^th or 5^th round grade on him.

112. WR Greg Salas B

Another wide receiver for Sam Bradford. That makes sense considering how bad their receivers were last year. However, Salas was a minor reach and they had other needs before another receiver.

158. S Jermale Hines C-

Safety was one of their minor needs and Hines can play special teams, but I think they had bigger needs (outside linebacker, running back, defensive tackle) before safety and Hines was hardly a steal at this point. In fact, I think he was a pretty big reach by at least 2 rounds.

216. S Mikail Baker D

Another safety? I haven’t even heard of this one. This was a reach and didn’t fill a need. The only reason this wasn’t an F is because it’s the 7^th round.

228. OLB Jabara Williams A-

Outside linebacker was one of their major needs, but Williams was a minor reach so I can’t give this a flat A grade. He can play special teams as well.

229. CB Jonathan Nelson C

Another defensive back? At least this one fits the range decently and can play special teams.

Overall:

I really, really like their first round pick. Of course, it was a no brainer, but I’m still giving credit where credit is due. I think they reached for all 3 of the weapons they got for Sam Bradford, but I like how they are giving him all the help he needs. Some of their late round picks didn’t make sense, but I liked the selection of Jabara Williams in the 7^th and what a team does early is more important. What this team did early was add a player who was top 5 on my board for 4-3 teams in Robert Quinn. They also added 3 needed weapons for Sam Bradford. I liked that.

Grade: B+

By Vince Vitale

The St. Louis Rams signed tight end Darcy Johnson due to Michael Hoomanawanui’s ankle injury which is expected to keep him out at least a month. Darcy Johnson was with the Rams through training camp but was released during the last cuts. Johnson was previously with the New York Giants for three years where he totaled 9 catches for 78 yards. The Rams dropped defensive tackle Jermelle Cudjo to open a roster spot for Johnson. This move seems a little strange since the Rams kept 4 tight ends on the roster to start the season and they still have three healthy ones remaining. If Fendi Onobun was good enough to make the roster than he needs to be good enough to play when needed. We will see how this move pans out for the St. Louis Rams.

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By Vince Vitale 

Well a lot has changed since the Arizona Cardinals beat the St. Louis Rams 31-10 on December 27th 2009. The Cardinals lost Kurt Warner to retirement, Anquan Boldin, Carlos Dansby and Antrel Rolle during the offseason and just last week released Matt Leinart. The St. Louis Rams drafted a franchise quarterback Sam Bradford to replace Marc Bulger, and picked up rookie tackle Rodger Saffold to protect him.

The Cardinals went out and got Derek Anderson to take over at quarterback and got Kerry Rhodes to replace Rolle. Under Ken Whisenhunt it appears the Cardinals will be more ground attack oriented in 2010 with Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells and Tim Hightower in the backfield. The loss of Kurt Warner and Anquan Boldin is going to be impossible for the Cardinals to replace, so they will need to rely on improving their defensive play. The Cardinals defense was hammered for 45 points two weeks in a row during the playoffs, first by Green Bay and then by the New Orleans Saints. The Cardinals pride has been hurt and many are predicting a very bad year for the birds. The Cardinals will take the field on Sunday with a bit of a chip on their shoulder. The Cardinals have beaten the Rams the last seven times they have played.

2010 for the St. Louis Rams will be all about getting Sam Bradford comfortable in the system and a lot of playing time. Sam Bradford who looked very good in the preseason has only thrown 69 passes in regular game action since January of 2009. The Rams one constant is the beast Steven Jackson in the backfield. The Rams are hoping that tackles Jason Smith and Rodger Saffold will be able to protect Bradford. The recent pick up of WR Mark Clayton should help Sam Bradford and the Rams offense as the season goes on.

The Rams played well in the preseason going 3-1 but they also went 3-1 in 2009 before going 1-15 during the regular season.

This weeks game should be pretty close. The Cardinals no longer have the quick strike, high powered ability they had with Kurt Warner and the St. Louis Rams will try to control the clock with Steven Jackson and the accurate passing of Sam Bradford. I believe this game will be won on the defensive side of the ball and the Cardinals will have Calais Campbell and Darnell Dockett pressuring the young Rams tackles. The Cardinals play a 3-4 and should be able to bring pressure from all sides. A great matchup to watch will be Cardinals Strong Safety Adrian Wilson vs. RB Steven Jackson, look for some big collisions in this one.

The bottom line is the Rams have too many question marks going into this game, even more than the Cardinals. The Rams still need to learn how to win again. The Rams have lost 14 straight NFC West games, including 7 straight to the Arizona Cardinals. In addition the Rams will be starting a rookie quarterback, with two unproven tackles protecting him. The Rams have 14 rookies on their roster and no threat at the wide receiver position. The Arizona Cardinals are still the two-time NFC West champions, only 19 months removed from a Super Bowl appearance. The Cardinals are mentally tough and know how to win on the road in the NFL. If Steven Jackson or Sam Bradford can dominate this game the Rams will have a shot but I just don’t think they will have enough to beat the Cardinals.

Prediction: Arizona Cardinals 20-17 over St. Louis Rams

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With the Chargers coming off a terrible 35-27 loss to the Oakland Raiders and the Rams 44-6 drubbing to the Lions, last week not even the Amazing Kreskin or the most hard core St. Louis Rams fan would have predicted that the St. Louis Rams would completely dominate the San Diego Chargers. However the St. Louis Rams did dominate and beat the Chargers 20-17 to go 3-3 on the season. 

Today is Steven Jackson day in Tampa Bay! Steven Jackson needs 32 yards to pass Eric Dickerson for 1st place all time in Rams history when he reaches 7246 yards rushing. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 31st against the rush so look for Jackson earn the record early in the games against the Bucs.

With a chance to get to 4-3 on the season this is easily the biggest game for the Rams since 2006. The Rams really need a win here. The Rams only road win in 2009 was against the Detroit Lions, and that is the Rams only road win in their last 15 attempts. A win over the 3-2 Buccaneers and a home win over the currently winless Carolina Panthers would give the Rams a chance to go into the bye week at 5-3!

The Buccaneers are very similar to the St. Louis Rams. The Buccaneers are very young and are 3-2 and looking at this as a huge game for them as well. The Bucs young QB Josh Freeman continues to play well and has a 83.4 QB rating much higher than Sam Bradford who is still ranked 30th in the NFL so do not overlook the Buccaneers. The Buccaneers also have a very young and unknown wide receiving core in Mike Williams, Sammie Stroughter, Arrelious Benn and Micheal Spurlock, much like the Rams.

Sam Bradford who has given the St. Louis Rams a ton of confidence, and rookie wide receiver Danario Alexander will continue to look to make some big plays against the Buccaneers today. The Buccaneers have only four interceptions for the season. That along with the improved play from the Rams offensive line and the balance of Steven Jackson running against the 31st ranked rushing defense should buy Bradford and the Rams passing game a lot of time in the pocket. Look for the Rams to be very balanced and continue to use play action passing and roll-outs for Bradford to make some plays down field.

This is the game Rams fans have been waiting for. Sure it is the Buccaneers and not the Steelers but at this point we will take any win we can get and build off of it. I look for the Rams to play a complete and smart road game today. The Rams still rank 28th in points scored so they will try to keep the game close. The running of Steven Jackson and 3rd down conversions will be huge. I look for the clock to move fast in the first half and the Rams to try and get deep into the game with a chance to win.

Prediction – St. Louis Rams 20 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17

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By Vince Vitale

Well things could not have went much worse for the St. Louis Rams last week against the Minnesota Vikings. Even Danny Amendola who had the Rams only touchdown fumbled a punt and cost the Rams 7 points. The Rams will try to turn things around tonight at Cleveland Browns stadium starting at 6:30. The Cleveland Browns were 27-24 winners over the Green Bay Packers in week 1 action.

The Cleveland Browns and St. Louis Rams have both stated that they will play most of their starters for the entire first half. The Browns will start with Jake Delhomme followed by Seneca Wallace. The Rams will start A.J. Feeley for a couple of series and then probably allow Sam Bradford to play the rest of the first half. Hopefully Sam will have the help of Steven Jackson in the backfield, but it is still unknown if Jackson will get in any work.

The Browns will most likely be without WR Mohamed Massaquoi, RB Montario Hardesty, LB David Bowens, RT Tony Pashos, RG Floyd Womack, G Shawn Lauvao, NT Shaun Rogers & T John St. Clair. The Rams will be without secondary players Jerome Murphy, Kevin Dockery and Justin King.

Here is what we will be watching for tonight: 

The main thing to watch week in and week out will be the play of the Rams offensive line. The Rams patchwork line last week was torched last week for 6 sacks and forced Sam Bradford to run for his life while in the game. This week the Rams will have no excuses as they will have their starting unit Rodger Saffold, Jacob Bell, Jason Brown, Adam Goldberg and Jason Smith out together. The Browns play a 3-4 which the Rams do not see much of and the Browns had 40 sacks last year so this will be a tough test for the line again. When Steven Jackson is not in the backfield teams just tee off against the Rams.

The play of Sam Bradford. Of course we want to see our new toy in action. Sam Bradford who does not want to be called the face of the franchise, is the face of the franchise and the Rams need to prepare him for the season. The Rams should put Steven Jackson out there with Sam, max protect and see what the kid can do. A.J. Feeley has been a good backup but he is not the answer at QB and the Rams need to try to get Sam ready for their week 1 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.

The Browns were able to put up 21 first half points against Green Bay last week, with most of their yardage coming through the air. The Rams starting secondary of Ron Bartell and Bradley Fletcher will be back in action so we can get a better read on their play. If Mohamed Massaquoi does not play the Browns receiving core is pedestrian at best. The Rams should be able to cover a team like the Browns. Once the starters are out Quincy Butler, Marquis Johnson, Marcus Brown and Antoine Thompson must play better than last week.

Mardy Gilyard should be back tonight for the Rams. I would like to see him get in some rhythm and work with Sam Bradford. I want to see the Rams get him into space and also allow him to return some kicks. Gilyard and Amendola may share return duties all year. In addition where is Donnie Avery? Can Avery get separation in the NFL? Donnie Avery who needs to be the Rams #1 receiver needs to produce week in and week out especially early in games. Watch as 10 Rams receivers battle for the five or six openings on the roster. 

Coaching – It is great to have nice coaches and nice players and to preach about the four pillars but the bottom line is I want to see some success on the field. Is Pat Shurmer still afraid to call a pass over 10 yards? Can Steve Spagnuolo manufacture a pass rush with the players he has on this roster, and if not can he put together some blitz packages to create some pressure on other teams? Can Steve Loney get anyone on the offensive line to block effectively and consistently? With the pending sale of the St. Louis Rams to Stan Kronke the entire coaching staff is on the hot seat, now is not the time to hold back.

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