[Note by VanRam, 09/05/11 2:15 PM EDT ] Front page'd by Van. This is a great read on the Rams' recent draft classes...and what a difference they've made. 

It is a general relief to say that there are few leftovers from the Martz-Linehan regimes. Aside from a very few good players like SJax, Ron Bartell and Chris Long, the number of past draft failures is staggering. I get physically ill when I think about wastes like Alex Barron, Tye Hill, Adam Carriker, Brian Leonard, Joe Klop, Richie Incognito, et.al. The latest guy to go was Donnie Avery. There's another 2nd rounder gone, and nobody else wants him either. And aside from the draft failures, Martz, Linehan, Zygmunt, Shaw and company let a lot of good players get away going as far back as London Fletcher, Dre' Bly, Grant Wistrom to Brandon Chillar and Madison Hedgecock.  The cumulative effect of these personnel mistakes led to the Rams being weak after 2003 to being a laughing stock from 2005-2009.

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It seems that the majority of people on TST's, especially the kids and authors (those that actually bother to login during baseball season) resent being told the truth about the state of the Rams. Well somebody's got to tell it like it is even if it disrupts the false overly optimistic harmony that has gained a lock on this website. I've noticed alot of the oldtimers have quit posting and commenting. I guess they either got banned or weary of arguing with foulmouthed kids and pie-in-the-sky optimists.

EVERYBODY wants facts and stats only. There's absolutely no room for experience, intuition or even common sense around here most of the time. It does no good to tell everyone something like; "Detroit may be a trap-game." 
As Joe Friday used to say; "Just the facts Ma'am."  And even when facts or figures from sites like NFL.com are provided, they are always disputed or questioned.

I'll go on record, if not already, that "my" Rams have sucked for years and I'm NOT happy about it.  From Martz/Linehan/Spags, or Zygmunt/Devaney, or Marc Bulger, Alex Barron to Mardy Gilyard/David Vobora, we are NOT a good team. And we haven't beaten a good team in two full seasons. Our current regime has managed to win 8 of 24 games in two years. And that includes winning 7 games last year against the 2nd weakest schedule in the NFL and within the worst division to ever play fb since the NFL/AFL merger in 1970.  

Even as everybody is thinking, "but we went from 1-15 to 7-9 in one year."  That's amazing! Bow down and kiss the feet of the FO, the coaches and the players. Not me. I REMEMBER how we could've as easily been 4-12 as 1-15. I still "think" idiotic coaching decisions ultimately resulted in us losing to the Skins, Jags and Texans in 2009. Then last season, we had the Cards beat in the opener, except for a lousy play by a lousy player, i.e. the famous Ryan fumble return for a TD that turned into a touchback. We also had a chance against the Raiders in game 2, but Fred Robbins got an inane roughing the passer penalty that ran out the clock. And, it also seems to me that our highly paid kicker missed gimme FG's in both of those games. Fact? So who's proud of those two games???

Then, we win two games. Convincingly over the Skins and most satisfying of all, finally beat the Sh*thawks after 10 straight losses. I am insanely happy with respect to the Rams for the first time in years. But my joy is tempered by the FACT that losses in the 1st two games may come back to haunt us. You know, sorta like a missed extra point always does? I also write a post about my fear that the upcoming Detroit trip may be a trap game. I hoped we'd win by 3, but somehow we lost by 38. An untimely and highly questionable onsides kick started our misery that day.

So without boring everyone to death, we win some more games and we lose some more. Both the Rams and Seahawks beat a surprisingly poor San Diego team. Along the way we also blow games that were "in th bag" to Tampa and SF. Does anybody need to hear again about the inability of our offense to get a 4th quarter 1st down or that our defense gave up 1st downs on 4th and 18 in those games?  Win either of these games and we're NFC West Champs.

Then we ran into a string of games that clearly showed we were NOT a good team. We suffered blowout losses to the Saints, Falcons and KC. The worthless Denver Broncos and coach McD roar back for 20 2nd half points and we have to recover an onside kick to seal a 3-point victory.  It was uplifting to send Mike Singletary packing for a new career and also to finally defeat the Cards.

But, we had blown soooo many chances to lock up the division. So it all came down to a trip to Seattle to play Coach Carroll and his 2nd string string QB for the NFC West Chanpionship. We were actually favored by 3. But who doesn't remember what happened??? Sam wasn't on his game. Our receivers couldn't catch balls laid right in their hands. Our defense allowed Seattle to score enough points to win on their 1st drive and also let them keep the ball nearly all the 1st half. And our beloved coach put together a game plan that allowed SJax 10 whole touches. So we ended up scoring 2 FG's and getting embarassed on national TV by a 6-9 team that had given up a ton of points all season.  That mockery left a burr in my arse and it's still there.

Now all together apologists; tell us what a great season it was with it's storybook ending. It sucked for me! I think back to so many "what if's."  What if the middle of our O-Line, especially at the OG positions, had not caved back in on SJax so many times? What if any of our OLB's could have even played average ball - rather than letting outside runs and passes get turned into 1st downs? What if Bobby Carpenter, playing for Miami and Detroit, didn't have better stats than ALL our OLB's? What if Chris Long had made more than 29 tackles? What if we'd had two quality DT's instead of one? What if SJax had someone to spell him not named Darby or Toston? What if Sam had actually had a #1 WR to throw too? What if Spags had not made so many lame-brain decisions at critical times and what if he had any clue about clock management?

Our weaknesses should be obvious to a 5th grader. But, after 3 drafts and 25 total picks plus 2 free agencies, why do we still have so many gaping holes in our line-up? In two years, picking 2nd and 1st overall, we managed to acquire three "apparent" stars; JL, Sam and Saffold. That's 3 outta 18 picking at the TOP. Not too good in my eyes. Jason Smith turned out to be your average RT with a potential for concussion problems for a mere $33M. Fletcher and Dahl are workable. Murphy, Gilyard, Onobun, etc. are likely short-timers. At least four 2009-2010 picks have already been cut.

Now come 2011. We not only have needs, but bad needs, at OG, OLB, DT, Safety and RB. We also have a star QB with no #1 WR.  Remember, SJax is a year older, DT Fred Robbins is 34 and Safety Atog is gone to DC. A guy named Greco could not beat out a very subpar OG named Goldberg. Our worthless crew of OLB's got us beat in more than one game.

Now I'm no GM or Head Coach or DC or OC, but intuition and common sense tell me I've got big holes in critical places all over my line-up. In 2010, against the 2nd weakest schedule in the NFL, opponents exploited our weaknesses at OLB and DT and now we've got a big hole at Safety too. So we draft DE Robert Quinn. Despite his potential for health issues, I'll spot 'em that one. Hall is getting old and will soon have to be replaced at DE.

But after taking TWO TE's in 2010, we reach for another one with our 2nd pick. Is that an admission that HoHo and Onobun were mistakes? It goes without saying that Bajema and Fells are worthless. But, there were more critical needs for the team. Yes I've heard the tired old argument that we're no good in the red zone. That's a fact Jack. But with questionable OG's and one aging RB, is another TE gonna make that much difference?  Enter 3rd and 4th round picks at WR. Ok, swell. But we needed a #1 WR. We've got bad and mediocre ones aplenty. Why not get a #1 WR and see what happens with Clayton, Avery and Amendola? The remainders are either cripples, brainless or just plain bad. They're taking the train. So in all likelihood we wind up with 2 #2 and 2 #3 WR's and no #1. Unless somehow a 3rd or 4th draft pick turns out to be good enough to be a true #1 WR ala Fitzgerald, Crabtree, Rice. Pretty darn unlikely.  It's most probable we still have a star QB with a cadre of #2 and #3 WR's, but maybe a good TE or 5.

So now, unless something "wonderful" happens in FA, we go out to play the 2nd toughest schedule in the NFL, including the last four SB Champs, with holes everywhere in our starting line-up. Ask yourself... who's gonna be our:

1. #1 WR

2. OG's except Bell

3. OLB's

4. Safeties

5. b/u RB 

6. DT except Robbins

I just can't figure how we have had 3 full drafts and two FA's and still have so many gaps? Can you? I'll go on record right now saying we'll be dang lucky to make 7-9 this year. I'd actually guess 5-11 is more likely. Mike Vick will pummel our OLB's with running and passing. The Giants and Ravens will feast on our weak interior O-Line. No need to even mention what GB will do to us. So that's why I'm negative and NOT happy.

With love, sensitive RamChop. Yecch.

My negative sentiments about the 2011 draft should be widely known on TST's by now. Below are the Billy Devaney/Steve Spagnuola picks from the previous two years, when STL picked 2nd and 1st overall, respectively. The strike-throughs are no longer with the team.  A lot of people around here don't appreciate my candid and largely realistic comments. So I'm just going to let folks have an opportunity to review the data points from the last two years, make their own assessments, and comment liberally. Feel free to offer your opinions on overall draft grades or regarding an individual player's value, or just ignore the whole thing.

2009 Draft

1.Round One (2)- Jason Smith OT
2.Round Two (35)- James Laurinaitis LB
3.Round Three (66)- Bradley Fletcher CB
4.Round Four (103)- Dorell Scott DT
5.Round Five (160)- Brooks Foster WR
6.Round Six (196)- Keith Null QB
7.Round Seven (217)- Chris Ogbonnaya RB

2010 Draft

First round, pick 1: Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma

Second round, pick 1 (33): Rodger Saffold, OT, Indiana

Third round, pick 1 (65), Jerome Murphy, CB, South Florida

Fourth round, pick 1 (99), Mardy Gilyard, WR, Cincinnati

Fifth round, pick 1 (132), Michael Hoomanawanui, TE, Illinois

Fifth round, pick 18 (149), Hall Davis, DE, Louisiana-Lafayette

Sixth round, pick 1 (170), Fendi Onobun, TE, Houston

Sixth round, pick 20 (189), Eugene Sims, DE, West Texas A&M

Seventh round, pick 4 (211), Marquis Johnson, DB, Alabama

Seventh round, pick 19 (226), George Selvie, DE, South Florida

Seventh round, pick 47 (compensatory, 254), Josh Hull, ILB, Penn State

I see from alot of the posts tonite that more folks, and apparently a few TST authors, are starting to question the wisdom and logic of this Ram FO.  Everyone knows my story on Quinn - bad risky pick. 

While I knew these FO guys and Spags were no better than a monkey with a dart board, even I was shocked at them picking another TE. Does that signal that last year's two TE picks were no good? Umm-yeah.  And now, needing a distinct #1 WR, we use our 3rd pick to add another very likely mediocre one to our overflowing stable of subpar receivers. Did we really need another WR of Gilyard's stature (last years 4th). 

These clowns haven't made ONE SINGLE pick where we have a critical need; #1 WR, DT, OLB and OG.  And, they've never made a quality pick in rounds 4-7 before even when picking 2nd and 1st overall the last two years.  So, we got nobody to fill the cavernous hole in the OL left by having to play Goldberg. We still got a cadre of OLB's so bad we might as well use card-board cut-outs in their places. Sorry JL, looks like it'll still be a 4-1 defensive scheme in 2011.  Or maybe a 3-1 scheme if Gibson still has to play DT.  SJax, you really didn't want a credible RB to help you out did you? The plan is to get you another scrub like Toston in the 7th.  Doesn't really matter though, cause the O-Line at the guard positions will very likely continue to cave back in on top of you on running plays. 

So, I don't even care about rounds 4-7. I can't get excited about getting more players the calibre of Mardy Gilyard, Hall Davis or Keith Null.  In sum, this draft sucked worse than I ever thought possible. My only solace is, that unless he's somehow part of this fiasco, Mr. Kroenke will likely invite the Devaney/Spags duo to do their picking for some other NFL team after this season. Final words....Sheeet!

If we're not gonna trade up to get a stud WR, it must mean we're going after one in free agency - right? I mean nobody is stupid enough to waste Sam's talent on the surgically repaired knees of Clayton, DX or Avery or even lesser dudes like Gibson and Robinson - are they? 

We have MANY needs to fill. So pick the best available players at these critical spots WR, LB, DT and OG.  Don't stretch for a CB or TE. The sleeper here may be the serious need for an OG. I think having to play a subpar guy like Goldberg weakened Jason Brown last year. I mean look who he's got on each side; Goldy and Bell. Greco is obviously a washout. Yeesh! Our O-Line could be considered formidable with addition of at least one good OG.

The D-Line has got a serious hole to plug too. Gibson is no better than a backup caliber player. Get a decent DT to replace him and Chris Long's production may improve. Win-Win.

Lastly, I'm sure JL is getting a little tired of us playing a 4-1 defensive scheme. Might as well put up cardboard cut-outs or use the water boy(s) on the outside as well as playing clowns like Vobora, Kehl, Diggs, etc.

Pick BPA at WR, LB, DT or OG!

They say hope springs eternal in the human breast. However, I'm kinda in the doldrums regarding the Rams right now. The Atogwe situation was bad. I don't think he was worth $8M, but he was a capable player with likely a couple good years left.  Now Atog is gone to the Skin's, who are famous for overpaying players. Archuleta, Haynesworth, McNabb come to mind. Also joining the list of Rams' with train tickets are Mike Karney, Kenneth Darby, Quincy Butler and Curtis Johnson. Absolutely no losses there.

The Rams have wisely decided to keep Amendola and I'm waiting with bated breath for Clayton to sign. However, the Rams have also elected to keep subpar players like Robinson, Vobora, Greco, King, Fells, etc.  Robinson surprises me the most. What have they got in mind at WR? You gotta figure we need a true #1 either thru draft or free agency. Does keeping Laurent mean the end is coming for DX, Gibson or Gilyard?  Maybe they've determined Mardy ain't got the brain to learn the playbook? Or that DX is one knee twist away from retirement? Could they be ready to trade Avery? Something about Robinson being re-signed don't make sense...

Maybe there is a plan to finally get SJax a credible b/u. Darby's gone and I figure Toast is just that.. "toast."  We passed on Marshawn Lynch last season. Maybe we're gonna get Sproles and then draft somebody in the 3rd or 4th? Picking 16th I don't expect to find any pro-bowlers in the 5-7th rounds.

Speaking of needs; a #1 WR is obvious. And, we gotta have a decent OG or it's gonna be another tough year for SJax and our running game.  Minus Atog, who's playing FS?  And we don't need just one, but TWO capable OLB's. JL cannot play LB by himself.  Even if Long plays great and Robbins and Hall can beat back Father Time for another year, we still got a hole at DT. We need FOUR tough D-Lineman, not three, to get an effective pass rush.

I suspect that if we get a true #1 WR along with Clayton and Amendola that Sam will amaze us in 2011. The acquistion of a good OG and a real b/u RB might be the spark SJax needs to run wild. Our offense might not rank in the bottom quartile.

Lastly, as much as last year's schedule comforted me, the 2011 schedule alarms me. I mean, crap, we not only play the NFC East but we drew GB and NO by finishing in 2nd place! Then toss in the Steelers and Ravens just for fun. An 8-8 record will be a masterpiece and just about require a sweep of the NFC West.

We better catch some breaks this year and not give away a single game to idiotic coaching decisions or 3rd and 32 conversions. Good luck Rams!  I hope Mr. Kroenke's wallet is deep enough to buy us a few top notch players.

Wow! Do we still need a lot of players!!!!???? Especially OLB's.

The statements below are just MHO. If you care to agree, disagree, or critique them, that's fine. Everyone around here pretty much knows that I have skin as thick/tough as leather.

I haven't played a game of football since Dec 1980. But I do watch a heckuva lot of pro football, and have since 1969.  About the best I do these days is pass the ol' pigskin around with my grandson.

1. I'm glad Pat Shurmur is gone.

2. Pete Carroll clearly outcoached Steve Spagnuola in game 16.

3. Jason Smith is overpaid.

4. We need a #1 WR in the worst way.

5. Clayton and Amendola are pretty good as #2 and #3 receivers. Pick another couple from the leftovers.

6. Laurent (the Invisible Man) Robinson should be cut.

7. Adam Goldberg needs to go from starter to b/u ASAP.

8. We have NO capable OLB's.

9. Kevin Dockery should be cut.

10. I don't want TO.

11. Atogwe is no longer worth what he's being paid.

12. Kroenke will not be satisfied with 6-7 wins in 2011.

13. Our 2010 schedule is murderous. We'll HAVE to beat some good teams to get to .500

14. Gilyard apparently doesn't have the mental capacity for the NFL (yes I know he's a rookie, so were Sam and Saffold).

15. We've wasted SJax's most productive years (it was a travesty to give him only 11 touches versus Seattle).

16. I thought when we were 6-6 that we'd end up at 9-7 or at least 8-8.

17. Robbins and Hall are nearing the end of their careers.

18. Chris Long is gonna have to make more than 1-2 tackles per game.

19. Sam did great with no decent targets. But kinda petered out once defenses caught onto his rollout strategy.

20 We left at least four(4) games we shoulda won on the table in 2010;  Cards, Oakland, Tampa, & SF.

21. We don't need Brad Childress.

22. JL is probably my favorite Ram player.

23. We need to dump the tidy whitey uniforms. At least wear blue pants.

24. I hate the Patriots, Seattle and the 49ers in that order.

25. I like coaches like Lombardi, Landry, Ditka and Belicheat. Not players' coaches like Dungy and Spags.

So sue me!

There are certain teams in the NFL that I just outright hate; Patriots, 49ers, New Orleans, etc.  But the one I absolutely loathe the worst is the Seattle Seahawks.  I guessed the Saints would put the Hawks out of my misery today by a score of 41-7, which proves I ain't no Swami.  Oh my gosh, that worthless bunch of sea hens with the decrepit old QB with the YA Tittle haircut just knocked off the defending world champs 41-36. What an upset and makes it all the more sickening that we let the chickens beat us last week with their 2nd string QB. Pete Carroll outcoached Steve Spagnuola better in game 16 than Bill Belichick did Mike Martz in SB XXXVI.  It appears New Orleans was in line for a "bad" game away from home and in a parallel universe it might've been us that knocked 'em off tonite. Oh the pain...

At least we held onto Kenneth Darby and didn't give up any precious draft picks for Marshawn Lynch. He obviously ain't worth a darn.

Thankfully, the Hawks won't likely get another home game in the playoffs. But they did beat the Bears in Chicago during the regular season.

Ok. Seven wins is a heckuva lot better than one. But this whole season has been one of constant ups and downs. I absolutely hate that we had to end it in such sorry fashion to a team as lousy as Seattle. These clowns had lost 7 of 9 only beating the Cards and Panthers. Now they've lost 7 of 10, add us in there as victims too.

The Seahawks scored enough points on the 1st drive to win the game. The other 54 minutes of football was just pure trash - virtually unbearable to watch. We were embarassed (on national TV) by a lousy, lousy team playing their 2nd string QB and with their best O-Lineman hurting.

When we had connected on two FG's to score 6 points, versus two TD's for 14, I knew it was over. Our favorite scores to lose by are 6 and 13, respectively. It's bad karma.  Check me out on it.

Now comes the blame game. We've already had the molasses for winning 7 games, now it's time to take sulphur for losing 9 games.  Everybody will be on the Spag's bandwagon cause he's now 8-24 over 2 full seasons. Not the Chopper. IMHO, Spags is responsible for losing at least 2 games (and probably more) by (1) retaining Pat Shurmur, (2) making inane decisions at critical times, (3) poor clock management, and (4) compiling the weekly roster of active players.  I won't even get into the subject of wasted draft picks like Null, Murphy, no-brain Gilyard, Davis, etc.  And, we didn't beat a good team all year. Nope, no high fives for you coach.

Now for the hall of shame players.  Laurent (the Invisible Man) Robinson and nearly ALL our other receivers, Kevin Dockery, Adam Goldberg, ALL our OLB's, Mike Karney, our b/u RB's. You guys through your dropped passes, missed tackles, poor blocking helped kill us in at least 4-5 ball games we shoulda won, e.g. Arizona, Oakland, Tampa and SF.  Win only one of these games, and it doesn't matter that we were embarassed Sunday nite by Seattle.  If I were Coach, and not fired myself, you'd all be getting train tickets tomorrow AM.

And now for the few real players that got us to 7-9. You were by no means perfect, but you played with skill and heart even in the vacuum of poor coaching and play-calling and while being surrounded by nematodes like those in the aformentioned paragraph; Sam, SJax, Amendola, Saffold, JL, Long, Jones, Bartell, Atogwe, Robbins, Hall, Clayton and a very few others.  Thank you gentlemen.

In sum, we ended up being a group of  overachievers that almost backed into a division title thanks to playing in the worst division, having one of the easiest schedules in the NFL, and through the outstanding efforts of a select few players (and certainly not coaches). Especially a rookie QB that had NO ONE to throw to this year except Clayton and Amendola. You'll be back better than ever Sam and maybe even with a receiver or two that can catch a ball laid right into his hands. On the other hand, I do have sympathy for SJax. You've been ridden hard and put up wet for 7 seasons with nothing to show for it except some individual records. Why a guy with your talent was only given 11-12 rushes in Seattle is inconceivable. I know you are as sick to your gut as I am to mine.

Finally, people should not think we're a shoe in to win 10 games next year. Our schedule will be tougher, SJax will be a year older, and we won't be drafting 1st overall in 2011.  We also have to dump a boatload of suckhole players and find credible replacements. 

I figure the Saints will beat the Seahawks about 41-7 next Saturday. There's not really much more to say until the 2011 draft.

Back on June 12th I posted about using some or all of our 2011 draft picks to get some NFL quality players onboard for the 2010 season. See below excerpt:

"Everyone in Sports is predicting we're #31 or 32 out of the 32 teams right now. So, our potential 2011 draft picks will look good to other teams. Let's start trading them away today. If we have to give 'em all up, or even reach into the 2012 lot, we need some credible NFL players in key positions in 2010. If we had just four, count 'em four, more REAL NFL quality players at OL, DT, OLB and RB, we'd be an entirely different team. Of course we could use dozens of new players, but having talent in these four key positions means everything. Just one more anchor on the OL to work with Jason Brown and whoever else can answer the call. A big run-stuffing DT to help out Chris Long.  A quality OLB to take a little pressure off JL. And finally, someone that can run and catch when Steven Jackson needs a break. Get us some more REAL players now. Pretty Please!"

Obviously back then I was counting too heavily on Avery and Robinson to be our go-to receivers.  Now a true #1 WR tops the list of our needs too. A lot of people thought back then that I was talking about bringing in "old" guys. No way Jose'. But I think there were teams that would've traded some real NFL caliber players for a chance at draft picks perceived to be coming from a team that might win 0-3 games. Now let's look back and think what might've been if we'd gotten a real O-lineman to replace Goldberg,  plus an OLB not named Vobora, Chamberlain or Kehl, and a stud DT to help out Long, Hall and Robbins.  Ouch!

Well our current 2011 draft picks are worth a lot less now than they could've been, and I'm ever so happy about it. But if we'd been willing to gamble a little bit back then, we might have those 3-4 critical players that we needed all season. How the heck did a guy like Bill Belicheat know to deal for Carolina's #2 pick in 2011????

It pains me to think that after Sam and Saffold, we really didn't get much bang for our buck in the 2010 draft. Murphy is so-so. Gilyard ain't exactly cerebral (in fact I wonder sometimes if he has a cerebrum), Hall Davis was gone before he started, and so on.  Oh well hindsight is always 20/20. 

Go Rams Go on Sunday nite!!!!!

We finally got the monkey off our backs. Whether we win or lose next week, we still managed to beat every team in our division this year. Hurrah!!!  And from what I'm reading in the late news we sent Mike Singletary into early retirement. Happy Trails Iron Mike.

Today's game was NOT easy. The 49ers stuffed our O-Line on running plays limiting SJax to a mere 48 yards on 24 carries. I wonder if he's ever had 24 touches with that low a yardage? But, that concentration on the run cost them as Sam the Ram had a field day. What could this guy do with a Michael Crabtree or Vince Jackson type threat???

Our defense came up big several times too. A team usually wins when they get 4 sacks and manage to score a safety.  There were 3 other fumbles by the whiners and we managed to snake at least one of those. The thing that worries me most about our defense is their propensity for allowing LONG 3rd down conversions.  We gotta find a way to lock down those type situations and get the "D" off the field. Had we done a little better on it this year, we'd have 10 wins easy.

Now we gotta go into Qwest Field and play like wild men. The Chickens of the Sea are terrible. Even so, they know they can redeem their worthless hides and pitiful season with only ONE win - next week. So they're very dangerous. We've gotta go in and pound SJax, not only up the gut, but to the outside and throw him passes. We've also gotta give up the dink and dunk a few times and let Sam air it out. Maybe DX and HoHo can both play next week.

Robbins and Long have gotta have some help from blitzes to put pressure on Hasselbeck. We cannot let this old guy hang out untouched in the pocket or he will make us pay.  AND we darn sure know the Hawks pulled off a couple of their few wins this year with kick-off and punt returns. We got victimized on special teams today. Let's make sure it don't happen next week.

If we can go 8-8 and march into the playoffs as NFC West Champs, I'll be proud as can be. Other teams know we gave away 3-4 games this year and could easily have a much better record. But we gotta earn the title 1st. Go Sam, Go Rams!!!!

I've noticed some regulars missing. So I just did a quick check of the TST Authors list. Some of these guys, nearly half, haven't even logged in or commented in over a month. One dude hasn't been on since last June. What's up with that? You'd think the appointed authors would be chomping at the bit during the football season to talk about their beloved Rams. It's a good thing that we have some trolls and malcontents like yours truly on TST that actually create fanposts and enter into "thoughtful" discussions with the rest of fandom.

I didn't see near as many people this week trying to turn an ugly home loss to KC into something positive. For the second week in a row we had NO pass rush. Chris Long had 1 tackle. No one on the D-Line had more. That means were weren't stopping the run at the line and were getting practically no sacks. Our Fearsome Foursome upfront have turned to crap. We all know we have NO OLB's. And Cassel was nailing guys open in the middle and on the sidelines. I know he had an INT today, but Dockery is no good. And I'm beginning to wonder about Dahl too.

Sam was off his game for the 3rd week in a row by tossing several balls right into the ground instead of near receivers. Of course, he's entitled to blow a few since he's probably put more than 100 passes this season right into his inept receivers' hands that have been dropped.  The "Invisible Man" had 8 yards in catches today. His ass is gone after the season.  Jax wasn't near his typical 100 yards rushing only averaging a little over 3 yards a pop.  The O-Line looked like the return of the Barron-Incognito dynamic duo. Dynamic in getting penalties and sacks, this is. Soft head Smith was awful today.

Right now the Chicken of the Sea are back in the driver's seat for the NFC West title. New Orleans lost which gives Atlanta a 2 game cushion and much less incentive to beat the Hawks today at Qwest.  Also, the Detroit Linehans knocked off the Bucs today. That severely damaged the Bucs playoff chances. That reduces Tampa's incentive to play the Seahawks tough next week. Yes the Leo's have been a thorn in our ass this year starting with the 44-6 pasting they laid on us.

No silver linings today. The team and coaches performed like crap in a game that coulda got us to .500.  My guess is we drop 5 steps in this week's Power Rankings (and deservedly so). In addition to the nausea I get when I see Spagnuola clapping his hands on the sidelines after a horrible game changing error has been committed by the Rams, today some clown was showing his ass after making a very late sack with the game outta reach. Sheeit.

Maybe the 49ers, after 10 days rest, will roll over next week and let us win. Even if they do, it's gonna be hell pulling out a victory in Seattle to back into the playoffs. I have serious doubts we can beat either team right now. We can't move the ball and we can't stop the other team. At any rate, Go Rams!

I'm surprised by how many people are trying to turn this ugly loss into something positive. Sure the Saints are the reigning SB Champs and were playing at home. And yes, we were the 6-6 Rams who have given away at least 2-3 games this year.  But the way we've been playing, I was hoping for a little better today. Maybe to break .500 for the 1st time this year. Sure some of the stats look similar, but all in all, we suckled.

According to SI, the Saints converted 10 of their first 12 third-down plays en route to a 28-6 third-quarter lead. While we failed to convert our first eight third downs and kicker Josh Brown made matters worse by missing one of three field goal attempts as New Orleans pulled away. The Rams finished 1 of 11 on third downs.

We had NO pass rush today. Sam was off his game for the 2nd week in a row by tossing two INT's. And yes, I still think Sam is the greatest acquisition since Kurt Warner. Even Iron Man Jackson had a rare fumble. But, Jax still rushed for nearly 100 yards. So we won 2 of 3 on the road and got solidly beaten by a true SB calibre team that's on a roll today. There's no shame in that fact. So let's admit it, rather than make excuses. Now we need to focus our anger on the Chiefs, who lost worse than we did today. And then we must not overlook the 49ers. We could've driven a stake through their collective hearts a few weeks ago, but let it slip away in OT.  Now they're right in back in the thick of contention for the NFC West title as they mangled the Chicken of the Sea today.  I hope San Diego will polish off SF next week.  

The ONLY silver lining I saw today was that in losing to the Saints we let them keep pace with Atlanta. Thus Atlanta will be primed to stomp the Hawks rather than take it easy... I think if we can beat the Chiefs and 49ers to go 8-7, the last game at Seattle could wind up being be meaningless - which would be great.  And if we make it to 9-7 and play the Saints at in the playoffs at home, that game could be much more interesting. Throughout their history, the Rams have shocked more than one favored team in the early rounds of the playoffs.

Finally, I have to add that I am personally irritated when I see Spagnuola clapping his hands on the sidelines after a horrible game changing (or losing) error has been committed by the Rams. I never saw Lombardi, Landry, Knoll, Walsh, Ditka, Belichick, etc. do anything like that.  It's just MHO. If you don't agree - sue me. Go Rams!

For you guys that weren't around 30+ years ago, here's a little Rams' history. In 1979 the LA Rams were 5-6. After six straight NFC West Titles it looked like it was all over. However, we were in a division where all the other teams; SF, ATL, and NO were bad (sound familiar?).  A few Rams named Ferragamo, Tyler, Reynolds, Youngblood, France, etc. were not happy. The next week they went to Seattle and stomped, literally, the life out of the Seahawks 24-0. I don't think Seattle registered a 1st down in the 1st half. It was a blood letting. Then these guys proceeded to win 3 more in a row and get to 9-6. That mark clinched the NFC West Title. The last game was a meaningless loss to NO. So the Rams, at 9-7 went to Dallas to play Roger Staubach and the 12-4 Cowboys. I think they were 14 point underdogs. But trailing 19-14 with little time left, Ferragamo hit Billy Waddy on a long pass for what turned out to be the game winning TD. Dallas still had time to win with a FG, but Hacksaw Reynolds retired Staubach with a biltz and subsequent concussion. The Rams then went to Tampa Bay to play the 10-6 Bucs, who had eliminated the Eagles the previous week. While the Rams offense was weak, scoring only 3 FGs, the defense was infallible. They allowed zero points and the Rams had suddenly earned their 1st trip to the Super Bowl. Sure we ultimately lost to the Steelers 31-19. But it was a magnificient game which we led 19-17 going in the 4th quarter. Bradshaw, Franco, Stallworth, Swann and the Steel Curtain were just a little bit too much for us. But I still believe that was my favorite FB game of all time....even as a loss. So let's win 4 out of 5 for the Gipper and go to the 2010 playoffs as the team that's not supposed to be there. 

 Note: Too bad the freakin Seahawks have a gimme game next week at home against Carolina. Yecch! 

I guess I should be happy cause I figured the 2010 Rams might win 5-6 games total and they're on course to do it. But the more I think about and replay this season in my head, my gut hurts. We had a lot of things going against us; no #1 WR, no quality b/u for SJax, no decent OLB's and a large percentage of fair to mediocre players on the roster. And to be honest, I never had much faith in our coaching, Shurmur especially. BUT, we we're like a poker player that drew an inside straight and misplayed it. Our schedule was cake. All our NFC West division rivals underperformed, except the surprising Sh*thawks. Sam Bradford looks like the real thing. And, we still have Sjax.


So why are we 4-6 instead of 8-2? When I re-think these things I simply cannot fathom how we lost the first two games to Arizona and Oakland. We had 'em both in the bag. But we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Who on TST can deny that fact?? Then, somehow, we allowed the pitiful, now 2-8, Lions to whomp us 44-6 with their backup QB. Go figure. We go to Tampa and get up 17-3. But then let them roar back, most glaringly by allowing them to convert a 3rd and 22 on the final drive, to win 18-17.  Next, we had the very crappy 49ers beat. But we wouldn't trust our highly paid kicker to try a 52 yard FG that might've salted things away. Nope, instead we let them convert a 3rd and 32 into a late TD.  Then Ed Hochuli finished us off in OT.  Last Sunday's game was a legitimate loss to a much better Falcon's team. Nuff said there.

So, my head hurts because with just a little bit of luck, better coaching/clock management, and without the Ed Hochuli's of the world, the Rams could virtually be clinching the NFC West Title this weekend at Denver. Yes, the potential for a worst to first turnaround was there, but like a poor marksman, we just keep missing the target.

What else can be said? Another game in the bag given away in the 4th quarter. SJax stopped on 3rd and 1 when we could've burned up 4th quarter clock.  Then we let SF convert a 3rd down and 32 that ultimately ended in 7 points!!!  During the final seconds of regulation today's goat, Daniel Fells, dropped the winning TD pass, so we settle for a FG and tie. We win the OT coin toss and get the ball on our own 30 yard line. Three plays, including a sack, and we punt. The 49ers proceed to ring up big chunks on Gore runs into our territory. Then, the game effectively ends on a damning pass interference call on an uncatchable ball that leads to a gimme FG.  End result; we still can't win on the road, we let the 49ers back into the NFC West race, we let the Sh*thawks take over 1st place in the division, and next week our 4-5 team hosts the ATLANTA FALCONS.  Effing disgusting!

And for the statisticians, I wonder how many teams in NFL history had 3 TD's called back on penalties and managed to still win??? I hate watching games officiated by Ed Hochuli and crew.

What can be done about this repeated advertising crap that's clogging up all our posts??? I have reported instances over and over again yet they remain. Nothing kills a good thread quicker than trying to cipher through the SPAM to get to the real comments and responses. PLEASE some of you editors/authors take action. If not, give me the required permissions and I'll delete as much of it as I can as soon as I see it.  Heck, I should be one of your contributors anyway since my posts always draw so much attention - just kidding :-) 

Anyway, Congrats Rams!!! Today's win was from sheer force of will given that 1/2 the good players are either out or injured. Good job Sam, SJax, Amendola, Long, JL, et.al.  I couldn't help but notice Laurent "the Invisible Man" Robinson today. I think he made a  7 yard catch and then quickly got us a 10 yard penalty. He's my new whipping boy.

Well shoot guys. Who broke a mirror in the Rams Locker Room 4-5 years ago? Adversity can make a team strong, but we've had more than our share. Sometimes the volume of injuries is just too much to overcome. I have never been a big fan of Donnie Avery, but we needed him anyway. Clayton was a joy to watch, but he's done. Now DX is having a 4th or 5th knee surgery?? Get this dude out of the NFL and on disability. So much for our receivers. I guess we still have Super Amendola, Gibson and the "Invisible Man" Robinson.

Big ol' Jason Smith got his soft head whacked in practice and now he's out. I'm tellin' ya that susceptibility to concussions = short NFL career. We could end up with yet another wasted #1 draft pick and a big hole in the O-line. And the weaker the line, the more likely Sam is to get hit.

Our main offensive weapon, SJax had finger surgery this week. I know everybody's thinkin' "there's nothing wrong with his legs." That's great. But defenders will be looking to tweak that finger for him. We all know it.

Every time I look at our secondary somebody's banged up; Atogwe, Butler, et.al. Add in the loss of Fred Robbins on the line and our inherent weakness at OLB, and we gotta problem defense.

This team will have to play on sheer guts this week. Granted the Panthers aren't giants and we get them at home, but we easily lose this one simply due to lack of skilled players. Please let us get to the break at 4-4 and try to heal up a little bit. Sheesh!

I sure hope not. The Rams have amazed me so far this season. First by losing two games that we had won, and then by winning the next two against Mike Shanahan/Donovan McNabb and the despised Sh*thawks. That victory last Sunday was the most satisfying in years.

But, back to the topic. Detroit is ripe for a win. I've watched these guys play some. Aside from the Minnesota game, they could've won the other three (especially the Bears game). The Lions have let people jump them early and then fought valiantly to come back and make games close. We're going into their place and they're favored, although I'm not exactly sure why? As long as Spags and company keep reminding the players not to look past Detroit, we should be OK. I believe the Rams are the superior team. But sometimes when a team is riding a natural high they can get let down against the next opponent.  The Lions provide an excellent opportunity for the Rams to get to > .500 record.  With the combination of Sam and Sjax we should score points, hopefully TD's. And, I'll be the first to admit that our "No-Name" defense has astounded me thus far. We all figured JL, Long and Atogwe would play good, but I would have never believed guys like Robbins, Hall, Diggs, Vobora, Murphy, Gibson, etc. could have contributed so much. And, these guys would've won the Cards game for us except for the Ryan miscue of fumbling away a sure TD.

I expect to sit back Sunday and cautiously watch this game. I hope we establish the running game and grind out yard after yard. And pleae give Sam the chance to fling the ball 50 yards two or three times. I expect things to be close. Maybe 24-20, 21-17, etc.  And I sure wish Mike Vick was starting for the Eagles Sunday.  Go Rams!!!

It's week 2 of the regular season. And just like the previous 3 years, we're 0-2. But this year having lost to two baaaad teams right off. You know what happened to Oakland last week against Tennessee and the Cards lost to Atlanta 41-7 today. We shoulda won both these games. But once again, we collapse at critical times and lady luck is never with us. Where is our vaunted rushing game??? There's more talent on the Rams this year, I think. But the sad facts are still about 75% of the roster are not true NFL caliber players. The lack of star power and quality depth will keep us in the bottom 5 of teams.

Now for the big question; who was the biggest goat today?

1) Fred Robbins

2) Pat Shurmur

3) Our run defense

4) Spags

5) The Officials

6) Josh Brown

7) O-Line

8) other

My personal pick is the 1-17 man Spags. He's keeping Shurmur employed. And he's responsible for team discipline. So let's have some jolly old discussion about why we're 0-2 instead of 2-0.

We almost had one today guys. We shoulda won. The guys played damn hard. But, we were playing Derek Anderson, not Kurt Warner. Anderson continually missed Fitzgerald all day....until the winning TD. We shoulda won. But, LUCK was not on our side - again. The 1st reminder was the blocked FG. Or maybe it was the fact we were even attempting a FG in the 1st place, rather than having scored a TD.  With Sammy and SJax we shoulda scored more than one stinkin' TD.  Yet, I saw Lady Luck go the other way at SO many critical points in the game. The FG attempt, the sure TD pass dropped by Clayton, the certain INT that went through Bartell's hands, the batted pass that hung for an eternity before harmlessly dropping to the turf, the TD fumble return that ended up a touchback for the Cards. And, HOW did they gash us for 75 rushing yards and a TD on only 5 straight plays running to the outside???  Where were our OLB's and Corners??? Why didn't the DC make some kind of adjustment after the 2nd or 3rd consecutive 15-20 yard rush to the outside??? Or how 'bout this one? Cards have the ball deep in their territory with 3rd and 20. Next thing I know, there's a 35 yard pass completion with a 15 yard penalty tacked on for roughing the passer. Net = 50 yard gain on 3rd and 20.  Finally, a certain somebody needs a swift kick to the posterior for poor clock management. That was Bush-League. Again, we shoulda won. Sam will be alright. He's deadly accurate when not being dragged down. Our receivers need to learn how to hold onto passes that hit them in the hands. And,we need to find a way to keep from getting the sh*t kicked out of Sam. He took too many hard hits today. 17-13 was close, but it goes down as a division loss. And, I'm afraid if Kurt Warner had been out there throwing to Fitzgerald and Breaston, we'd have lost more like 34-13.  But today, we shoulda won.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm pretty pleased with what the Rams FO, coaches and players have shown us so far this year.  Last year I was pretty depressed as we headed into the regular season with guys like Marc Bulger, Alex Barron, Ritchie Incognito, Leonard Little, Vic Adenyaju and many others, since exited, holding down important positions. And, to be perfectly honest, I'm still concerned about Pat Shurmur's role. No matter how good the players, if you're play-calling is bland and predictable, you'll get beat. Sam Bradford, Steven Jackson and JL are spark plugs. If they can get some real effort from their teamates, we'll win some games.

One thing that has been a major irritation to me all off-season though, is the constant rumor-mill regarding the Rams picking up new players from other teams - some of whom are supposed to be good. Oddly enough, NO deals got worked out. Well, we open in 5 days and we're still short a quality b/u RB and number 1 WR.  But how long did I hear that Westbrook was gonna sign? Or that we were gonna get one of the Redskin's RB's. Then it was the TO saga. Of late it's been Vince Jackson or even Housh. I worry that we haven't been able to sign a couple of these guys. Let's face it. Darby's a backup's b/u. He can't successfully spell SJax. So we're gonna beat our prize stallion to death again or give up a lot of running downs to no gain. And, while I'm not sure Donnie Avery is really that good, he was among our top 1-2 receivers.  Sam needs a number 1 guy to throw too. Where would Tom Brady be without Moss and Welker?? 

And to be perfectly honest, we all know both the O-Line and D-Line need at least one more quality player each for us to be talking wildcard or NFC West Champions. Even so, I feel like I may get my money's worth outta Direct TV this season. Our team has improved and out schedule couldn't be easier. If little else, we gotta break the ten game winning streak the Sh*thawks have on us. Go Rams! The Chopper hath spoken.

I know this post won't be popular, but it needs to be said. We're two drafts and free agencies into the Devaney/Spags regime, and quite frankly, things look awful. Sure as the sun rises in the East, we're headed for another last place finish in the NFC West and maybe a 4-12 record. That don't cut it in my Ram fanbook.

I know the current FO was left with only Jackson and a pile of sh*tty players, but it's time to do something radical. Right now we have ONE bright spot = Sam Bradford. Otherwise, our O-line is injury decimated as usual. Our anchor LT, Jason Smith, so far reminds me of the fragile Adam Carriker.  Setts is done. Bell's hurt. Saffold starts out injured. Sheesh! Then my biggest single concern is that Superman Jackson has been overdosed by green kryptonite. As Jackson's back goes, so go the Rams' fortunes.

Our D-Line, aside from semi-probowler Chris Long, is entirely UFL quality. And, a team can't make it with one LB even if he is an animal. The loss of Atog hurts too. But even if he returns he's battling multiple injuries.  Fortunately, our secondary is fairly good anyway.

Guys like Fraley, Diggs, Dockery, Carpenter, Hovan, Feeley, Robbins, etc. ain't likely the answer to any of our problems. These guys are largely Eagle/Giant castoffs on their last legs. More doses of Hollis Thomas. Everybody knows it. And, aside from Bradford, I'm saying our 2010 draftees are mediocre.

Therefore, I see only one chance to make something of this season and the next. And I mean get to 7-9 or 8-8. And, that is to spend our future draft choices now. Everyone in Sports is predicting we're #31 or 32 out of the 32 teams right now. So, our potential 2011 draft picks will look good to other teams. Let's start trading them away today. If we have to give 'em all up, or even reach into the 2012 lot, we need some credible NFL players in key positions in 2010. If we had just four, count 'em four, more REAL NFL quality players at OL, DT, OLB and RB, we'd be an entirely different team. Of course we could use dozens of new players, but having talent in these four key positions means everything. Just one more anchor on the OL to work with Jason Brown and whoever else can answer the call. A big run-stuffing DT to help out Chris Long.  A quality OLB to take a little pressure off JL. And finally, someone that can run and catch when Steven Jackson needs a break.

Get us some more REAL players now. Pretty Please!

IMHO, the STL Rams were headed for a dynasty at the turn of the century. But somehow it never materialized. Here's one man's theory on what happened. First, the retirement of Dick Vermeil after winning our only Championship weighs heavily as a causal factor. Vermeil is an emotional type of guy that connects well with players. He's also both offensive and defensive minded.

Conversely, Mike Martz was an offensive genius, a little pass crazy and had no clue about defenses.  Martz inherited a team that had SB repeat written all over it. But, an injury to Kurt Warner, even with Trent Green as b/u, created problems in 2000. Somehow, the Rams managed to lose twice to the Panthers and then a critical late season loss on MNF to the Bucs by a score of 38-35 left STL backing into the playoffs as a wild card at 10-6. We exited the playoffs unceremoniously with a 1st round loss the the Saints.

So we get to 2001 and the Rams look like 1970s Steelers with smashing victories and a 14-2 record. They demolished Favre and Green Bay 45-17 and then clipped the Eagles 29-24 in the NFC Championship. Then a real bad thing happened. the Rams ran into a team of destiny; the Patriots. The Pats were a huge SB underdog and all of us know they didn't deserve to be there anyway. Re: the infamous tuck-rule call that went against the Raiders and allowed NE to steal a victory in the ice and snow of Foxboro. I'm convinced the Rams and Martz were way over confident before the SB. Victory seemed as certain as when the 18-0 Pats played the upstart NYG's in the SB a few years ago. However, Bill Belichick had videotape and a plan to flatten the Ram receivers on virtually every play. And the Refs let him get away with it the whole game. Even so, the Rams still had a weapon that would've won the game had it been utilized; Marshall Faulk. The Pats couldn't stop his running, but for some insane reason Martz kept on going back to the pass on nearly every play. The Rams finally got their air game in gear in the 4th quarter and tied the score 17-17. The Rams defense didn't play bad at all. They only allowed super-Brady to score 13 points the whole game. But, they let him put together the winning drive with less than 2 mins and no timeouts. Martz probably wasn't even looking as Brady beat us. I figure he was planning the next offensive possession and winning TD pass. Bottom line, we got beaten by a far inferior team because we were outcoached and didn't run the ball.

Now comes the 2002 season where the Rams started as odds on favorites to return to and win the SB. Nyet. Things went badly quick. The Rams stumbled to 0-5 after losing Warner to injury early on and having to replace him with, yecch, Jamie Martin. Then when Martin went down, a young guy with uncanny accuracy emerged at QB and won 5 straight games for us. His name; Marc Bulger. Unfortunately, this rare showing had the impact of making Martz think Warner was expendable.  There was also no love lost between Martz and Mrs. Warner. The Rams, who could've been 9-7 with wins over awful teams like Dallas and Washington ended up 7-9. These circumstances led to a watershed event. Goodbye two-time MVP Warner. Hello Marc Bulger.

Now for a quick summary of things that were taking place off the field from 2000-2003. Mike Martz was quietly disassembling the Rams SB winning team. While dumping Warner was a knife-through-the-heart to many Ram fans, it was just the most visible transgression. Key offensive talent like Az-Hakim, Ricky Proehl, Ernie Conwell, Fred Miller and Ryan Tucker went missing. Ricky Proehl probably had more heart than any player on the team at the time, and he quickly transferred it to Carolina. The defense was completely sacked. Gone were London Fletcher, Dre' Bly, Todd Lyght, Mike Jones (savior of the 1999 SB win), Dexter McCleon, Grant Wistrom, Kevin Carter, Jeremetrius Butler and Jeff Zygonia. Many of these guys had successful years elsewhere, One or two are even still around today.

Even with all the departures and other idiotic mistakes, the Rams had enough talent left in the form of Bulger, Faulk, Pace, Bruce, Holt, Little, etc. to go 12-4 in 2003 and reclaim the NFC West title. This team was the last credible Ram squad. I thought they might get to the SB and avenge the earlier loss to the Pats, IF they could get by Philly. But they never got a chance. Once again Martz was badly outcoached in the Divisional playoffs. This time by John Fox. The Rams lost a game in the 2nd overtime period that should've never even been close. The Rams had umpteen early opportunities in the red zone to score TD's and take a big lead. But where Vermeil/Warner usually came away with 7 points, Martz/Bulger could only generate 3 pointers.  The Rams also had the ball on the Panther's 9 yard line with about 10 seconds left in the game and trailing 23-20. The Panther's defense was completely spent. Their tongues were hanging out. But instead of trusting Bulger to take one last shot into the endzone for Pro-Bowlers Faulk, Holt or Bruce, he sent the FG team on to tie it up. The Panthers dodged a bullet, had time to rest their defense, and the Rams ended up scoring only one single TD in a  5 1/2 quarter 29-23 loss at home.

The 2004 season was a weak 8-8 effort, even though we slid into the playoffs as a wildcard courtesy of Philly resting their first team and giving us our 7th win. We did manage to defeat the Jet in OT in the last game of the season to claim our .500 record.  After an astounding wildcard win over the 9-7 SeaHawks we bowed to Mike Vick and the Falcons in the Divisional playoff 48-17. 

Martz was gone after the 6-10 2005 season and we welcomed in the Scott Linehan era. Everyone knows all too well what happened after that fiasco. Now we're headed into Year 2 of the Devaney/Spagnuola regime.

Maybe somewhere in a parallel universe, Dick Vermeil stayed on as the Rams coach after the SB win. Mike Martz continued to be an excellent OC. Kurt Warner was retained along with Proehl, Hakim and a dozen other terrific players. Maybe we beat the Panthers, Eagles and got revenge on the Pats in that alternate 2003 season. And maybe we were even better in 2004.... Even pessimists dream.

(1) Here's the good stuff: Picking Bradford and Saffold. Acquiring Payne, and maybe Carpenter. Dumping Marc Bulger, Kyle Boller, Leonard Little, Alex Barron, Randy McMichael, Paris Lenon, etc. The defensive backfield looks stronger. We got new strength and fitness trainers. Kurt Warner retired and we've got a much easier schedule.

(2) Here's the bad stuff: Acquiring castoffs like Robbins, Fraley, Diggs who are very likely no better than backups - FA was a bust except for Payne. Having to rely on Hall, Adenyaju, Ah You or Scott as starters on the front four.  Likewise, hoping JL can actually make something happen with helpers like the aged Diggs and Mr. Irrelevant.  NFC West rivals Seattle and SF both had excellent drafts.

3) Here's the ugly: Steve Jackson's back injury and still not having a credible b/u RB. What happened to Westbrook? Atogwe's injuries plus salary demands (looks like he's gone). Picking up AJ Feeley and keeping Keith Null - this one has gotta be a joke.  Continuing fear that Jason Smith may be susceptible to concussions. Retaining Shurmer as OC.

Now let the criticism begin....

I'm calling on people of faith to take one minute out and pray that Steven Jackson heals without much pain from his back injury and regains his full playing ability. I personally feel bad for Jackson. He's a Super Bowl caliber player that has given the Rams his all on the field. If Jackson had been playing for the Pats, they'd have a couple more Super Bowl trophies. While, I didn't particularly appreciate his holdout a couple years ago, he's more than made up for it over his career. How long has he been the ONLY exciting player on the team? This guy's had to suffer through the dying days of the Martz regime, the never-was Scott Linehan/Jim Haslett regime, and now he's got a 1-15 season under his belt with Spagnuola.  Talk about the shaft, remember when Haslett left Jackson in the next-to-last game we won deep in the 4th quarter? It was a blowout of Dallas, and for some reason the coaching wizard felt he still needed Jackson in the game and carrying the ball. Result = thigh injury and four winnable games missed. Then, last year, we let the poor guy constantly get the crap pounded out of him because no one respected our passing game, plus he had no capable backup to spell him. So Steven ends up aging 3 years in one season and suffering an injury that may ruin his career for one lousy win. And, if Jackson can't go come game time, we have no credible replacement for him. That puts an even bigger bullseye on Sam Bradford.

Below, save the draftees, are the only reasonable-quality Ram players on the roster IMHO. That's a real big problem when one has so little to work with AND the absolute best player on the team has a potentially career threatening back injury. Plus Atog has multiple injury issues and Jason Smith could be another pop to the noggin away from IR. Not a rosey picture by any means.

I commented a similar version of this post and some people seemed to get a kick out of it. Maybe it's time for a little light humor on TST.

In a parallel universe, Mike Martz and the Rams won their 7th consecutive Super Bowl in 2010. Kurt Warner is just now retiring and finally handing over the QB reigns to a healthy low-mileage 33 year old Marc Bulger. Warner throwing downfield to the speedy Avery, across the middle to Joe Klopfenstein, and to Jackson coming out of the backfield has been as unstoppable as the days when he had Bruce, Holt and Faulk. Alex Barron, Jacob Bell and “Mr. Professional” and United Way spokesman; Richie Incognito have been spectacular at blowing out defensive lines all over the league for years. And thanks to new-comers Jason Brown and Jason Smith, the now retired All-Pro Orlando Pace has hardly been missed. Madison Hedgecock has been superior as a FB in both running, plus blocking for Jackson. Brian Leonard and Kenneth Darby at RB have been marvelous at spelling Jackson.

Veteran defenders London Fletcher, Dexter McCleon, Dre' Bly, Leonard Little, and Todd Lyght are retiring after multi-pro bowl careers with the Rams. But the Defense led by Coach Lovie Smith and his assistant Steve Spaguola is still deep with talent including Pro Bowlers OJ Atogwe, Brandon Chillar, James Butler, JL, Adam Carriker and Chris Long.

Picking 32nd in the draft again this year, the Rams snaked QB Jimmy Clausen to be Bulger’s protege’. This fall should be no different as the Ram Dynasty continues to pummel the rest of the league like an unrestrained Juggernaut. Who will be this year’s victim? The Rams have already defeated both New England and Pittsburgh twice in the Super Bowl to avenge earlier losses. It was especially sweet how Tom Brady and Big Ben were completely shutdown in those games. After his second blowout SB loss to the Ram, Pat's Coach Bill Belicheat threw in the towel and quit. And it looks like the Super Rams will keep the Manning brothers from ever winning the big one.