La Russa walks Ruiz because he had a lot of "big hits" against the Cardinals in the past and Ben Fransisco has struggled against Garcia.

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When Bartell went down, I think our chances of a successful season went with him. Fletcher is a good #2, and we don't really have anyone that can be better than a nickel back behind him.

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Greg Salas is slow (4.56 40 time at the combine, Blaine Gabbert was only slightly slower at 4.62), can't catch, and can't return punts. Can someone tell me what he IS good at? Also, if Salas is this bad, how bad is Pettis if he is behind Greg on the depth chart?

Everyone hated on Mardy Gilyard, but he never cost the Rams the way Salas did on Monday night. At the very least, Gilyard could catch punts. Personally, I'd rather have Gilyard than either Salas or Pettis. I have no idea how the Rams staff came to the conclusion that

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Bradford asks for something new in the Collective Bargaining Agreement

Just when you thought the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement could not get any more complicated, the player’s union, led by Sam Bradford have a new proposal; they want to get paid for overtime. Says Bradford, “Waiters, cashiers, and security guards all get overtime pay. Why not quarterbacks, safeties, and offensive guards.”

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The big theme after the draft is that the Rams are using the Patriots model of 2 TE sets. Well, the Rams aren't the Patriots and I don't think Kendricks represents a real upgrade over our current players

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If I was commissioner of the NFL for a day, I would solve the labor dispute by creating more revenue so both sides would be happy and stop worrying about the % breakdown. My proposal:
Part 1. Showcase the league's top talent in prime time more often.
Part 2: Show off the best stadium(s) from around the NFL.

Doing this will increase league revenue so both the players and the owners will be happy.

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Short answer: not as good as you think.

Sam the Ram takes home the Offensive Rookie of the Year and we all celebrate. Good day to be a Rams fan and very nice award for our top pick. I can't believe no one else has mentioned this, but I have a few performance metrics that many Rams' fans may not want to see.

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Earlier today, Rams 4th round draft pick, Mardy Gilyard held a press conference to announce that he has finally learned the intricacies of Pat Schurmur's offense.

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Steve Spagnuolo can no longer ever talk about the four pillars with any kind of credibility. He has just brought in Josh McDanials, a known cheater. Apparently, Randy Moss is doesn't fit in with the pillars, but a cheater does. I am extremely disappointed in Steve's judgement.

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While the Rams have won more games this year and it appears that the talent level has risen considerably for the team, and they have won as many games this year as the last three combined, the offense still ranks 28th in DVOA and second to last in red zone touchdown percentage. Is the team really better? Or have they just gotten a little more lucky this year and had the enjoyed the benefits of the NFL's weakest schedule?

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Much has been made about the effect that Randy Moss will have in the locker room if the Rams decide to claim him and it has come out today that the Rams players in fact do not want Moss on the team.

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Long, Laurinaitis, Bartell, Atogwe, and Hall have all received praise for their efforts this year, and deservedly so. But Craig Dahl has been a serious contributor to this defense this year. Corey Chavous seemed like a good guy, and probably was one of the more intelligent players in the NFL, but by the time he got to the Rams, he was just finished. Todd Johnson wasn't any better. Both of them reminded me of Jason Sehorn. But, Dahl has stepped up and been a great contributor this year, albeit quietly.

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I absolutely Sam Bradford and I think he is going to help the Rams win a lot of games. However, Sam the Ram is not the reason that we have three games this year. I would love to give him credit for it, but it just is not true. Everyone touting Bradford as the difference maker is either incompetent or lazy.

The defense has turned this team around, not Ram Bradford's offense.

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I believe that Chip Rosenbloom has flat-out lied to the St. Louis public about why he has to sell the team and wanting to keep the team in St. Louis. He has created a situation so that the St. Louis public believes tht he is being forced to sell the team and no St. Louis buyers have stepped up. However, I believe that he does not have to sell the team and a St. Louis buyer had stepped up. However, Rosenbloom does not care at all about the Rams or St. Louis, he just wants to get as much money as possible out the franchise. I don't blame him for that. It's his team and if he wants to sell it, that is his business, but don't try to sell me this sob story.

 

Chip Rosenbloom said no St. Louis buyer had approached him so he went with Goldman Sachs to help him finds a buyer outside of St. Louis. Dave Checketts said that he approached the Rams months ago with his interest. Someone is not telling the truth. I am more inclined to believe Checketts, who has been a straight-shooter ever since he arrived in St. Louis than Rosenbloom who just two months ago said that the Rams were not for sale and would not be for sale in the foreseeable future. If it really was important to Chip to keep the team in St. Louis then there would have been no reason for him to pay Goldman Sachs for its services. After all, the "cash-strapped" Rosenbloom has to sell the team because of his lack of funds.

Rosenbloom also claims that he is being forced to sell the team because of estate tax issues. He makes it sound like he had never heard of estate taxes until Georgia passed away. John Shaw is supposed to be a top notch lawyer- I am sure that he had some estate tax plan for the Rams if Chip wanted to keep the team. Instead, I am confident that Rosenbloom used the estate tax issue as a reason to give the public that he wanted to sell the team. Georgia certainly had money after years of the Rams making money and Chip is reportedly a good businessman, himself. Of course, every two-bit P-D writer (Bernie) keeps saying that the Rosenblooms are going through "extremely complex estate tax issues"  that none of us common people could ever understand. Just becasue Bernie could not even figure out how to work TaxCut software does not mean that the rest of us have to buy their story. Also, if the estate taxes really were the issue then Rosenbloom would have been able to see this coming. He never would have said that the Rams are not for sale and that they would not be for sale in the foreseeanle future, just TWO months ago. He would have known that the estate tax thing was coming. So, I do not buy for one second that estate taxes are the reason why they have to sell the team.

 

They have the money. they just don't want to own the Rams and they don't care if they stay in St. Louis or not. I absolutely love the Rams. It would kill me if they left St. Louis. It is just too bad that Chip Rosenbloom can't see that he is passing up the dream. I hope he enjoys whatever money he gets from it.

 

In Stpehen Colbert's book, he predicts the outcomes of the next 25 Super Bowls or so. In 2009, he picked the Rams to beat the Broncos 42-35. Obviously, this is a bit unrealistic; there is no way that the Broncos could put up 35 on our defense. I have to give Colbert credit for his foresight into the '09 Super Bowl champion. It will be a travesty if Colbert continues to be correct because he predicts that the 2022, 2023, and 2034 Super Bowls will all be canceled.

 

 

There has been some comments about the Rams needing to be in the top 25% of stadiums and the amount of improvements that would need to be made to get it into the top 25%. Well, I think that the dome is the best stadium in the NFL. Why? We get to watch the best team in football play there 10 times (sometimes more if we make the playoffs) at that stadium. Whereever the Rams play their home games is the best stadium in football. Home sweet dome...

[Note by VanRam, 04/30/09 2:15 PM EDT ] I'm putting this on the front page, because this is an issue worth discussing given our needs at WR.

Why shouldn't the Rams sign Matt Jones or Plaxico Burress? We definitely need some depth at the WR position. Especially Jones who could be signed very cheaply.

Both of those guys have had off the field issues, but Incognito has been in a bar fight, Little's off-field troubles have been well-chronicled, Pisa had some trouble in college, etc. So, these guys off-field troubles should not be that important.

Jones still has the height-speed combination that made him a first round pick and Burress was one of the premiere receivers in the league before the gun incident. With a receieving as weak as the one we have now, either of those guys would be a welcome addition.

Also, if we sign Jones, we could potentially run a crazy offense by either drafting Tebow next year or signing Mike Vick when he gets out of jail. Imagine the possiblilities of having Jones and Vick/Tebow on the field. We could run the option, have either one of them play WR, the possibilities are endless. Bring in Jones, draft Tebow or sign Vick and then bring Martz back and set him loose with the ridiculous talent that we would have. Or heck, just bring all of them in and run double options. Find a defense that could stop that.

I was very happy that the Rams were able to snap up James Laurinaitis in the second round and add depth at DT and CB. call me crazy, but I think our defense will be very good next season; and I'll tell you why.

First, we have a lot less black holes than last year. Corey Chavous is gone and we now have two solid linebackers instead of just one. Also, Ron Bartell solidfied himself as a starter last year.

Second, our existing talent will get better. Chris Long had an excellent rookie season for a DE. Not too many guys do better than 4 sacks their rookie year. I think he will break out and get double digit sacks this year. Carriker will continue his development as a DT and so will Ron Bartell at CB. Also, opposite of Bartell will be Hill, Fletcher, or King. Anyone of those three could step up and be a good NFL starter.

Yes the other DE is a little bit of a problem; Little was only playing on 3rd downs last season. But, I think that can mitigated by running a different system. Something that no one really talked about is the new formation that we ran. It was a 3-4 or a 3-3-5, whichever you want to call it. We had three lineman, three linebackers and five DBs. But, we always had Jason Craft blitz. If we run a similiar scheme this year, I think we will be very successful.

Hi, I was having an argument with some of my buddies and told them that the Brewers have a much better baseball atmosphere than the Cardinals. I went to Miller Park back in '05 and had a great time. Anyway, one of the things I hate about Busch Stadium is "Kiss Cam." I told my friends that Miller Park didn't have such a thing. But, they said that I have not been there for 5 years, now. Anyway, does Miller Park have "Kiss Cam?"

 

-Nick

St. Louis was recently named the second unhappiest city in America, behind only Portland Oregon. However, this study was conducted BEFORE the Rams re-signed Ron Bartell. How can anyone in the city be happy when they think that our best football may be leaving to play for another team? They can't. If the study were redone today, I believe that St. Louis would rank in the top 10 of happiest cities in America. I know that my Ron Bartell re-signing party was a great success and helped to raise a lot of spirits.

Here's to a happy St. Louis with Ronnie B. playing cornerback in it for four more years!

Many have called the Cardinals march to the Super Bowl "surprising" and "improbable," but it is neither of those things to me. After going through the NFC West (aka NFC Best) the Cardinals were well-prepared for anything that teams from the weaker divisions had to throw at them. If playing the St. Louis Rams twice a year does not prepare you for the playoffs, then I don't know what does. In the Super Bowl, the Cardinals will get to go up against the markedly inferior AFC. My prediction; Cardinals by 20.

The Rams will make the playoffs in '09. We have the talent to succeed/ As we have seen in the past (this year with the Falcons and Dolphins, or back in '99 with the Rams) teams can change VERY quickly in this league. Here's what I think that we need to do.

1. Lock up Atogwe and Bartell. These are legitamite defensive stars. Atogwe is a turnovers machine and 6'1 corners with Bartell's speed and coverage ability are extremely rare. Bartell and Atogwe are both top 5 players at their respective positions.

2. Get a second cornerback. Tye Hill is a nickelback, nothing more. The Rams need to realize this and get a second corner. Fakhir Brown is a joke; he just can't play. With a second corner, the Rams will be able to shut down other teams passing games.

3. Get a strong safety. Chavous is done and Todd Johnson is a backup. We need a real strong safety who can give Bartell some help over the top.

4. Switch to a 3-4 scheme. Each of our past 2 first rounders have been guys who are better suited for the 3-4. Use them that way. This means that we need to find a big DT, probably release Little, and find two or three new LBs. It's a tall order, but Long and Carriker can dominate on the end and the Rams have shown that they can get creative with the blitz packages over the past two weeks. Ray Lewis is scheduled to be an UFA this year, I believe (a guy can dream...)

5. Find a center; a great center. I honestly believe that our offensive line problems will disappear (and with them our offensive probelms as a whole) if we just get a really good center. The Rams have a good LT, LG, RG, and RT, if we get a center we are money. In the Bears game, at least three of their sacks could be attributable to poor play by our center. Adding some depth would also help. I would not be opposed to drafting Andre Smith, moving Barron to RG and Incognito to center. That line would mash.

 

Yes, we are now 0-4, but there are some good things that the Rams showed this past week.

1. The running game came around. Two long runs for touchdowns. Jackson averaged over 4.5 yards per carry. Our running might be able to start carrying us.

2. I believe that this is the first second half lead that the Rams have had this year. I think that this shows improvement. We were in the game with a very good Bills team.

3. Donnie Avery showed his explosiveness in a somewhat creative playcall. Avery showed us part of why the Rams deemed him the best WR in the draft.

 

Unfortunately, this loss cost Linehan his job. I really like Scott and hope that someone picks him up as an Offensive Coordinator or something. I like Haslett, too, but I would really like to see Brian Billick hired; he has been my favorite non-Rams coach ever since he blew a kiss to Rodney Harrison last season.

Yes, we lost 41-13, but I think that there were some big time positives to take away from this past weekend.

 

1. Chris Long gets his first sack. It was what I hope will become a typical "Chris Long play" in that he broke through a double team and then hammered Manning. 

2. Special Teams- Donnie Jones was sick this past weekend. This is not a big surprise, because he was so good last year, too. The coverage was a surprise. We stuck punts inside their 20 all day. Josh Brown earned his paycheck this past week. Booting two 54 yard FGs is very impressive. His kickoffs were also excellent. The kickoff coverage was very good as well. We actually kept them inside the 20 on a kickoff; unbelievable. That was just great special teams coverage all day. 

3. This is the most exciting one for me. I have loved this guy since the day that we drafted him. Ron Bartell, the only Howard University player ever to be drafted before the 6th round, stood up and played SHUT DOWN DEFENSE. His game was basically flawless. Take away the one pass interference call and he had did play perfect. Toomer could not get any separation from #24. Even Plaxico could not get open. If Tye Hill could have covered anyone then our defense would have been stellar. 

As a bonus, Alex Barron did not commit a single penalty; Pro Bowl?

Despite the loss there are some definite high points to take away. Prediction for next week's intra-divisional matchup against the Seahawks; the offense gets it going, the LBs step up, these positive trends listed above continue and Max Q reigns in week 3. 

I overheard an argument the other day about the top 5 tackles made by Rams defenders. Obviously, Mike Jones' tackle of Kevin Dyson was high on the list. Leonard Little sacks and Keith Lyle blows were discussed. Even though I knew that I would ruin thier discussion, I had to jump in; I just had to. 

 

If you rank any Mike Jones' tackle as #1 and a Leonard Little sack at 3 or a Keith Lyle crushing hit at 5, you miss all 5 of jimmy Kennedy's career tackles which clearly makes everyone be on the outside looking in. 

[editor's note, by VanRam]When Football Outsiders speaks, we listen...or something like that. Anyway, they posted their mock draft with a good analysis of each pick, and given it's draft talk time now, their mock draft is worthy of a discussion. Our friend "Marmie is the best" posted this diary to discuss it. As you can see, the idea of the Rams defensive line getting beefed up and becoming the stuff of nightmares rings like a dream come true for us long suffering defense first contingent of Rams fans...and all other Rams fans should enjoy the thought as well.

FO had the Rams picking Dorsey in the first and Manningham in the 2nd. While I would love to get Manningham in the second (and perhaps Sam Baker in the 3rd; he would definitely fit our 3rd round type guys) I am not sure about Dorsey. However, FO made a compelling argument that if you start thinking about it, you can just a see a dominating Rams defense; a dream that is hard to stop thinking about...

"I see Dorsey at the 3-technique on rushing downs, then moving over center on passing downs while Adam Carriker moves inside. That's a deadly interior rush that should make Matt Hasselbeck shudder and keep Mike Martz from instituting many 60-pass game plans."

If there is one thing that I love, it is seeing Hasselbeck shrudder.