St. Louis Rams 2013 Preview

The 2013 St. Louis Rams will look to improve upon their 7-8-1 record from last season. Sam Bradford must improve in his 4th season and second season with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.  The Rams have added some new weapons for Sam by drafting Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, Zac Stacy and picking up free agent TE Jared Cook and LT Jake Long. Sam has just been a middle of the road quarterback and the offensive line and weapon excuse will no longer be valid in 2013.

The Rams face many challenges this season and the biggest challenge is probably playing in the NFC West now considered the toughest division in football. The Rams have the 3rd toughest strength of schedule in 2013. The Rams face tough non-division foes Atlanta, Dallas, Indianapolis, Chicago, Indianapolis and New Orleans.

In addition to the tough schedule the Rams have a lot of questions entering the 2013 season. We all know that the Rams are hoping their new weapons step up and have a huge impact but hope will not be enough, they have to step up for the team to improve and have any shot at the playoffs. The Rams lost their top running back Steven Jackson to free agency. Jackson had 296 touches, 1366 total yards and 4 TDs in 2012 and the Rams hope Daryl Richardson and others can make up for that loss. The Rams also lost their top two receivers in Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson. Again fans may say Amendola is a injury risk and Gibson is not that good but the two did combine for 114 catches, 1357 yards and 8 TDs. The defense has also been affected as both starting safeties from 2012 Quintin Mikell  and Craig Dahl are both gone and will be replaced by Darian Stewart and Tim McDonald. Just last week the Rams released LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar the 2nd leading tackler last season. The void of all of these players must be mad up to move forward.

On the flip side the Rams, coach Jeff Fisher and GM Les Snead are in the process of building a team and within that process there will be a lot of turnover. That turnover has made the Rams the youngest team in the NFL and with that comes potential much more potential than we have had in a decade. The Rams were 4-1-1 in the NFC West last year and Fisher has built this team to compete in the NFC West. By going out and getting Jake Long and Jared Cook and drafting Tavon Austin and LB Alex Ogletree Fisher has more players to worry NFC West foes. Add to that the 2012 draft picks of Michael Brockers, Brian Quick, janoris Jenkins, Chris Givens and Daryl Richardson you can see that the Rams have more team speed and attitude than they have had in a long time.

In my opinion Sam Bradford is the x-factor. If Sam can become a top 10 type of QB and win games for the Rams their potential is unlimited heading into 2013. My next concern is depth along the offensive line if Jake Long or Rodger Saffold go down the Rams may be in a lot of trouble. Next up would be the fact that Daryl Richardson and Tavon Austin must have big years and put up starter type numbers.

Jeff Fisher, Les Snead and the Rams are on the right track and will be a force for quite some time if all goes as planned. My problem with the Rams was lack of scoring which most seemed not to notice because we were winning some games. The Rams had 10 points or less heading into the 4th quarter of ten games! It 2013 and this league now demands more scoring than that. I like where the Rams are heading but I think they are a year away or will need to catch a few breaks. My head says 8-8, my heart says 10-6 but when I look at the schedule objectively I keep coming up with:

Prediction St. Louis Rams 9-7

What an effort from the St. Louis Rams today in a 20-13 loss in Seattle. The Rams played a great game and finish the season 7-8-1 and fans should be fired up and ready for 2013. This team is for real and the defense is here to stay with Fisher. I would like to thank coach Jeff Fisher for coming to St. Louis and turning this Rams franchise around in just months! I would like to say congratulations to Steven Jackson on another 1000 yard season. What a great game from the Rams defense who finished with 6 sacks and held the Seattle Seahawks to 20 points. What a great job by the Rams offensive line today. The interior of the line was Robert Turner, Scott Wells and Shelley Smith and they kept Sam off the ground all day. Sam Bradford played very well today, I am always tough on him and I thought he had one of his best games today. Get ready for the Rams in 2013 it won't always be pretty under Fisher we are going to see a lot of 16-13, 20-17 type games but we know how to win those games now. The future is very bright and fans should be very proud of the effort the Rams put out in a meaningless week 17 game on the road, very impressive!