2009 NFL Preview: St. Louis Rams
2009 NFL Previews, Video August 13th. 2009, 2:45pmNo, this will not be another preview ending with a playoff prediction. Sure, there’s some good hard evidence that the Rams might jump a little in the standings this year. And hey, this is the wacky NFC West, where anything can happen!
But the state of the roster is bad enough to the point where you wonder if Steve Spagnuolo just got Will Ferrell syndrome and decided to jump on the first opportunity he was given. If he can somehow squeeze more than six or seven wins out of that schedule, then he’ll warrant Coach of the Year consideration. But the days of “Greatest Show on Turf” are long dead.
The two guys you should care about: There are few teams as starved for stars as the Rams, but there’s no lack of respect here for Steven Jackson. It’s still scary to think that there were at least some people out there who thought Kevin Jones was the better running back in the 2004 NFL Draft. Looks like time took care of that argument.
In case you forgot, here’s a reminder of what Jackson is capable of. A couple of seasons playing at less than full strength have knocked Jackson off his pedestal as one of the elite running backs in the league – remember when he promised 2500 yards from scrimmage? He’s only 26, but that figure hasn’t been converted to running back years. Still, with Orlando Pace and Torry Holt gone, I’ll take any name on this roster I can recognize.
Marc Bulger will be a great experiment in whether you can teach an old dog new tricks, and so far the transition to the West Coast offense doesn’t look like it’s going so smoothly. Of course, it would help if the Rams didn’t have to take other teams’ leftovers to find Bulger a receiver.
There’s also been talk of having Marc Bulger move around more and occasionally roll the pocket in the new offense. Is this really the best idea for a guy who’s been sacked 75 times in the last two years and has an injury history?
It’ll be no surprise if Spagnuolo comes out and runs Jackson roughshod the way they did in 2005, when Jackson finished with 1,500 rushing yards and 800 receiving yards.If Jason Smith and Jason Brown can bolster the line, this unit has a chance to be not as atrocious as last year’s version (a ringing endorsement).
The miracle worker: Well…at least Spagnuolo gets to start from scratch. Even the most diehard NFL followers would be hard-pressed to reel off the Rams’ expected defensive starters. There’s plenty of talented young players, but are any of them ready to step up? Spagnuolo is accustomed to having a dominant line that can create havoc by itself, but James Hall and Leonard Little are the best sack artists that the team has to offer until Chris Long matures.
More worrisome might be St. Louis’ inability to stop the run. The Rams gave up almost 5 yards per carry last year and capped things off by letting Michael Turner rush for 208 yards in the final game of the season. Hometown boy Hollis Thomas was brought in to stop the bleeding, but it probably won’t be enough. And it looks like James Laurinaitis will be stepping into a starting spot sooner rather than later.
Prediction: 4-12. Even if the Rams are better, they haven’t improved as much as their divisional counterparts. Spagnuolo might be up to the task of righting the ship, but it’ll take at least another year to legitimately shake up the roster before St. Louis can be taken seriously.
NFC East: Dallas Cowboys | Philadelphia Eagles | New York Giants | Washington Redskins
NFC North: Chicago Bears | Detroit Lions | Minnesota Vikings | Green Bay Packers
NFL South: Tampa Bay Bucs | Atlanta Falcons | New Orleans Saints | Carolina Panthers
NFL West: San Francisco 49ers |
13 Responses to “2009 NFL Preview: St. Louis Rams”
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August 13th, 2009 at 2:49 PM
YES!!!
August 13th, 2009 at 2:54 PM
Atogwe deserves mention, that dude is a ballhawk like… well some others, but he might be the Rams only good defensive player. Also, as our local radio was kind enough to point out ad nauseum last year, man we have great kickers. Josh Brown and Donnie Jones represent!
August 13th, 2009 at 2:55 PM
SJax leads the league in YFS this year.
/book it
August 13th, 2009 at 3:02 PM
great fucking video…classic.
August 13th, 2009 at 3:04 PM
Great video, but also a reminder of just how big of an asshole Jim Rome was and still is.
August 13th, 2009 at 3:09 PM
RIP Les Paul
August 13th, 2009 at 3:12 PM
I never saw the part with screaming. Is that real?
August 13th, 2009 at 3:24 PM
You could tell Rome was shitting his pants when his wrist went limp during the convo. he was all “Uh oh! Submissive wrist position!” and got his little ass pushed around. I hate Rome.
August 13th, 2009 at 3:33 PM
How about you start telling us what you like. That’s bound to be a small list.
August 13th, 2009 at 3:35 PM
love that dickerson fball card. still have it in a hard plastic. probably worth $3 at best.
not buying into the Rams hype but i did chase the $ and put some coin on them to win the sad NFC West (yes, mostly based on the football outsiders post, but also because the odds were really favorable)
August 13th, 2009 at 4:10 PM
The most disturbing thing about this is that that jerk is still on television.
August 13th, 2009 at 4:31 PM
I like winning the Little Brown Jug every year since the beginning of time, dick face.
August 14th, 2009 at 2:38 AM
+1.5 Duffy
Yes, Rome was irrelevant back when this happened, and somehow he manages still to have some presence on TV though no one has been watching for at least five years.
Only the enduring hegemony of Don King in boxing, long enough to wreck it shortly post-Tyson, is a greater mystery in my view along with the continued presence of boo-yah bojack douchebag Stuart Scott on BSPN.