St. Louis Rams 2010 Preseason Schedule

The NFL released the 2010 preseason schedule today. Dates and times of the games have yet to be determined. Rams fans will get to see the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens at the Edward Jones Dome. This will be the first time in a long time that the Rams will not play the Kansas City Chiefs in the preseason and I for one am very happy about that. The Rams will not take part in any of the 11 nationally televised games which is no surprise since they went 1-15 in 2009. The 2010 NFL preseason will get under way when the Cincinnati Bengals take on the Dallas Cowboys on August 8th in the Hall of Fame Game.

Week 1 - Minnesota at St. Louis
Week 2 - St. Louis at Cleveland
Week 3 - St. Louis at New England
Week 4 - Baltimore at St. Louis

The St. Louis Rams Are Very Bad

The St. Louis Rams are a very bad football team. Don't fool yourself with talk of they play hard, we liked the effort, they played the full 60 minutes, this team is awful. With the Rams embarrassing 27-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday I have now seen 11 straight home losses. The Rams are 1-10 on the season and tied with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cleveland Browns for the worst record in the NFL. In a very bad NFC West the St. Louis Rams have lost 12 straight division games. The Rams have lost 37 of their last 43 games. In the salary cap and parity era the Rams are not even mediocre, they are just flat out bad. In 2009 the St. Louis Rams have been outscored 55-17 by the Seattle Seahawks! Today the Rams statistically had a better day than Seattle but the Rams were never really even in the game. In 120 minutes of football against the Seahawks this year the Rams never held a lead. Once again the Rams were outscored in the second half of play (13-7) and without a late pity TD the Rams would have been held scoreless in the second half.

The Edward Jones Dome was a like a tomb today. The announced crowd of 47,475 seem to know what they are in store for before even getting to the game. This team is completely boring, devoid of almost any talent or playmakers. If the Rams did not have Steven Jackson they could possibly be one of the worse rosters I have ever seen. I have yet to see the St. Louis Rams under Steve Spagnuolo come into ANY game with a noticeable game plan. On first down the Rams run up the middle, they follow that up with dump off passes and continue the cycle. Today the Rams held the Seahawks to 265 total yards which is usually considered great but they still were not even in the game. With the St. Louis Rams apparently up for sale, a 1-10 record, obvious salary dumps early in the year and two more upcoming blackouts what are Rams fans to hang their hat on?

St. Louis Rams Arizona Cardinals Matchup

For the second straight week the St. Louis Rams face a high-powered NFL offense as Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals come to town. This is another awful matchup for the St. Louis Rams. On paper it looks like another long day for the St. Louis Rams down at the Edward Jones Dome.

Whenever the Rams play a team that can light up the scoreboard I do not like the matchup. Even though the Rams played well last week let's not forget that they actually lost. The Rams allowed 28 points and 420 total yards to the New Orleans Saints. Fans may think that is progress and maybe it is but these Rams are not going to win a single game when they allow 28 points, it's just not going to happen. The Saints gashed the Rams for 200+ yards rushing and they don't really have a #1 RB. The Rams also allowed 60% third down conversions, a trend that continues.

On to this week where matchups on both sides of the ball are frightening. The Arizona Cardinals score 25+ points per game and have been hot of late winning 5 of their last 6 games and they are undefeated on the road. Now with a healthy Anquan Boldin the Cardinals feature the best trio of wide receivers in the game and the Rams are very think and inexperienced at cornerback. The Rams will have no answer for Larry Fitzgerald who continues to be the best wide receiver in the NFL. The Rams need to pressure Kurt Warner into mistakes, and since they are 29th in sacks they will need to come of with some plays to get to him. In addition to these facts the Cardinals are starting to work Beanie Wells into their running game and he has been running hard. If they can supplement their passing game with any rushing at all they will put up 30+ points today.

When the Rams have the ball they will once again have to rely on Steven Jackson for production. The Rams lack of downfield passing makes them a sitting duck week after week. The Cardinals are 30th in pass defense but that is not the Rams or Marc Bulger's strength. The Cardinals play down hill all of the time and are super aggressive. Look for them to play 10 players within 10 yards and sometimes 5 yards of the line of scrimmage to shutdown Jackson. The Cardinals are 5th in sacks and will get pressure on Bulger throughout the game. Darnell Dockett is a beast and they will have to block him with Jacob Bell. Bell has no shot at blocking Dockett, the Rams need to play a fullback more often today. Adrian Wilson who usually eats the Rams alive only has half a sack on the season, look out for him today. Steven Jackson will have to do a great job in blitz pickup today. The Cardinals will lock down on Donnie Avery and Brandon Gibson with tight man to man coverage from Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie & Bryant McFadden. Over the top they will have Adrian Wilson and Antrel Rolle both will be looking to shut down Steven Jackson. You can get big plays against the Cardinals but they will keep coming.

The St. Louis Rams just do not have the type of offense to hang with Arizona Cardinals. The Rams will have to be at least +3 in turnover differential to hang in this one. I liked how hard they played last week but let's face it you only get 16 chances to win you should play hard 16 times. This whole thing is a complete mismatch.

Prediction Arizona Cardinals 30 - St. Louis Rams 10

The Alien Invasion Is Upon Us

The St. Louis Rams first home game was filled with Cheeseheads from around the Universe. I was able to meet the creature called Darth Packer along with our friend Ram Man at the ESPN 101 pre-game party at Baer Park across from the Edward Jones Dome. Both of these fanatical fans are part of the NFL Hall of Fame Ultimate Fans division. Both are also members of P.F.U.F.A (Pro Football Ultimate Fan Association). I would estimate that there were 20,000 to 30,000 Green Bay Packers fans in the dome for the game on Sunday. This is getting to be a habit at the dome and now that the Rams are 0-3 I look for it to continue. Thirteen straight losses by the Rams have Rams fans selling off their tickets to the fans of opposing teams.

I am pretty certain creatures from around the universe including Purple People Eaters, Farmers in plaid, Who-Dey's, Gridbirds, Seahags, Texans with large hats, and Goldminers are all on their way to the dome to take in the action. The Edward Jones Dome has become a home away from home for all road teams, as the Rams have lost 15 of their last 17 home games. Rams fans are being beaten down by what we are seeing and paying for on the field. Until the Rams can put more talent on the field, expect to see more and more aliens in the stands.

Edward Jones Dome Renovations

As interested and excited as I am to see the St. Louis Rams take on the Atlanta Falcons Friday night at the Edward Jones Dome, I am also excited to see the $30 million dollars worth of renovations that took place over the summer. That's right $30 million dollars worth of our taxpayers money went towards renovation of the Edward Jones Dome. For those of you that want a better atmosphere hopefully these additions will help. There will be two new LED video boards twice as large as the old video board. The Rams have promised more scores, highlights and fantasy information during games. St. Louis's largest sports bar, the Bud Zone will also be open to check out before and after the game. There will also be a new Premium Club in addition to a renovated Rams Club which will feature tons of televisions. Some daylight from the outside is supposed to be able to peak through the clubs and into the stadium. This natural light with some new lighter paint in the stadium should brighten things up a bit. There will also be a new LED marquee in front of the stadium.

I pray to NOT hear the song Celebration, or see the black and white pixel dancing Elvis character. We also hope the new improved sound system is unable to play commercials at the same time as highlights or announcements. See you there!

St. Louis Rams For Sale?

Michael Silver of Yahoo Sports reported on Tuesday that the St. Louis Rams are for sale. Well isn't that nice. Season ticket bills were due May 1st, back when Chip Rosenbloom and daughter Lucia Rodriguez were so happy to own the Rams and were going to do everything in their power to keep them in St. Louis. Well welcome to reality and greed only a couple of months later. Once again the Rams organization is doomed by the simple fact that it is being run by non-football people. In typical John Shaw, president of the St. Louis Rams fashion, he declined to comment on the team's potential sale. The Rams lease is up in 2012 at the Edward Jones Dome. The Rams just came in at #111 in the 2008 ESPN franchise rankings. The Edward Jones Dome has been taking a beating lately by fans and media alike. Fans are not going to want to buck up for a new stadium only 13 years later. Will the Rams really move again? Do you care? Please write us and let us know your thoughts?

Stlvinnie
Owner http://www.stlouisramfan.com/
Lead Blogger http://ramblinfan.com/

ESPN Franchise Rankings St. Louis Rams #111

The 2008 ESPN franchise rankings have been released and the St Louis Rams are coming in at #111. We would also like to point out that Ramblinfan.com has been mentioned in the on-line version of the article. I don't know what is more surprising the fact that we were able to get into the article or the fact that there are 2 coaches ranked worse than Scott Linehan! Sorry that was a cheap shot but we had to take it. We also had more issues with the Rams over the weekend. The Rams Draft Day Party was from 1PM-5PM CST. Why was it scheduled like that? The 2008 NFL Draft started at 2PM, so we were allowed to stay in the dome for 3 hours of the draft. That is nice but at 5PM the Rams still had not made their 2nd pick. So basically after the Rams took Chris Long with the #2 overall pick around 2:10PM people were leaving since you would not even see the complete 1st round coverage while at the Edward Jones Dome.

Last Year's Rank: 81
Title Track: 32
Ownership: 109
Coaching: 120
Players: 109
Fan Relations: 109
Affordability: 111
Stadium Experience: 114
Bang for the Buck: 111

Seems like just yesterday this was the "Greatest Show on Turf." Now fans sound as if they just want this circus to leave town. At the very least, another big top is in order: The Edward Jones Dome has awful acoustics and dim lighting and remains behind the high-tech times. "The once-state-of-the-art JumboTron is now like a 20" TV in a hall of plasmas," grumbles Vincent Vitale of http://ramblinfan.com. And the stadium's proximity to both the Big Muddy and the Lumière Casino results in a dearth of tailgate real estate too. "There are little pods of tailgaters instead of one massive party," Vitale complains. And even if the team hadn't stumbled through a 3-13 season, those $8 stadium brews (yes, the NFL's priciest brewski is poured in Anheuser-Busch country) would make a comfortable spot for a pregame sixer a necessity. -Andy Kamenetzky

Stlvinnie
Owner http://www.stlouisramfan.com
Lead Blogger http://ramblinfan.com