Week 7 – Indianapolis @ Rams Matchup

Sunday Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts should be in for an early Thanksgiving against the St. Louis Rams. This could be one of the biggest mis-matches in NFL history. The Indianapolis Colts have won 14 straight games, while the St. Louis Rams have lost 16 straight games. The Colts are a 14.5 point favorite as the road team. If your a Rams fan every stat is a nightmare to scary to even look at. On paper the Rams should never be in this one on Sunday.

The Rams have allowed opponents to complete 67% of their passes and on Sunday they will face Peyton Manning one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. Manning has been on fire early in the 2009 NFL season with a 73.5 completion percentage and a QB rating of 114.1! Manning has started the season with five consecutive 300-yard passing games. With Ron Bartell coming back from a concussion and Justin King possibly out with a groin injury it will be like shooting fish in a barrel for Manning.

Dallas Clark who leads the Colts in receptions with 35, and already has 441 yards in only 5 games will be licking his chops coming into this one. The Rams who traded Will Witherspoon earlier in the week to the Philadelphia Eagles will be starting journeyman Paris Lenon, rookie James Laurinaitis and second year man Larry Grant as their starting linebackers. Look for Clark to have a huge game, the Rams will have no answer for the Manning to Clark duo.

Are the Rams already afraid of the Colts? The Rams are leaning toward starting Adam Goldberg at right tackle even though rookie first-round choice Jason Smith is healthy enough to play. The Rams are worried about Robert Mathis handing it to Smith. Either way we are looking at Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney against Alex Barron and Adam Goldberg, yikes. The two have combined for 10.5 sacks already. With Marc Bulger holding the ball too long and probably playing from behind look for the Colts to just tee off.

The Colts are 5th in scoring offense while the Rams are 30th in points allowed. The Colts are 1st in passing offense while the Rams are 27th against the pass. The Rams are dead last in points scored while the Colts average 27+ points per game.

The Rams who have ZERO rushing touchdowns will have to beat the Colts through the air and that means Marc Bulger will need to out dual Peyton Manning. Sorry I just started laughing a little. With the Rams defense allowing opponents to keep the ball with a 50% 3rd down conversion rate look for Manning to move the Rams around like chess pieces and put on a clinic in this one.

Prediction Colts over the Rams 35-10

Marc Bulger To Sit On Sunday

Marc Bulger has done some light throwing this week in practice for the St. Louis Rams, but Steve Spagnuolo has said Kyle Boller will very likely start the game against the Minnesota Vikings. This is good news for Marc who has a bruised rotator cuff on his throwing shoulder, because the Vikings have Jared Allen the current NFC leader in sacks. Will Alex Barron who was benched last week be able to bounce back and block Allen? I am not betting on it. Keith Null better loosen up prior to this game because he may see some action.

Alex Barron To Have MRI On His Knee

What Next? Steve Spagnuolo and the St. Louis Rams have announced that Alex Barron will have an MRI on his knee. With the Rams already down their starting QB in Marc Bulger, and starting WR Donnie Avery, they really can't afford to lose any more players. The even more disturbing part of this story is the Rams say Barron has had swelling in his knee all during camp. The only bright spot for the moment is that Jason Smith the Rams first round draft choice will work with the first team at right tackle.

Alex Barron To Play Left Tackle

During OTAs Alex Barron played left tackle with the first unit while Jason Smith the number 2 pick in the 2009 draft was playing with the second unit at right tackle. Barron is in the last year of his contract and the Rams seem determine to see if they may want to sign him long term. it would be nice to make these decisions without effecting the status and playing location of Jason Smith. Left tackle is the position that Barron played while at Florida State however the Rams drafted him and placed him immediately at right tackle. The Rams have played quiet a few players out of position over the last few years and it does not work well. Now that super genius Scott Linehan is no longer driving this bus I hoped some things would change. Jason Smith should start at left tackle and Barron can show us if he is good enough to play right tackle in the future for the rams, or we can turn the job over to Adam Goldberg. After going 2-14 spending 50+ million on a draft pick to play right tackle does not make a lot of sense.

With the salary cap era no one wants to hear the term rebuilding but the St. Louis Rams are still rebuilding don't fool yourself. This team is considered to have one of the worst receiving cores on paper. In addition the Rams are still lacking depth and potential starters at linebacker and in the secondary.