Minnesota Vikings Bury St. Louis Rams 38-10

Well it only took the Minnesota Vikings seven minutes to bury the St. Louis Rams Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome. I was not expecting much with the Rams facing the undefeated Vikings and that is about what I received, although some others will tell you how close it could have been. Here we are going to go with the truth. The defense which we keep hearing is playing well and getting better opened the game by letting the Vikings walk down the field 80 yards to take a 7-0 lead early. This is the defense we continue to get when we need a stop. The Rams actually opened on offense with a nice play action pass to the missing in action Randy McMichael who made his 11th catch of the season. Four plays later the Rams were on the Vikings 36, Kyle Boller dropped back to pass, was sacked and fumbled. Jared Allen picked up the fumble and ran 52 yards for a TD, and a 14-0 lead for the Vikings. Game Over.

You will hear the Rams put up 400 yards of offense, we held Adrian Peterson to 69 yards, we led in time of possession, if only we did not make any mistakes. Well I am tired of the too many mistakes. Bad teams make mistakes and this team is awful. Bottom line is the Rams lost 38-10. Next week the game starts 0-0 and the Jacksonville Jaguars who lost 41-0 today could care less how well you think you could have played. How much better are we playing? We lost 38-10 at home, we have lost 7 straight at home, and 15 straight overall, are we really playing better?

Early in the 3rd quarter with the Rams trailing 17-3, they pinned the Vikings deep on their own 10 yard line. If we can stop them we would have great field position and another shot to get back in a game. Did the defense step up? No, the Vikings drove 90 yards in only 7 plays to go up 24-3. I don't want to hear they played hard, they played until the end, the effort is there, who cares. Everyone on the field is a millionaire they should all be trying, giving 100%, fighting to the end, etc. Why is the other team scoring more and allowing less? We need to find the answer to that question not worry about telling us how a TD that makes the game 31-10 shows they are not quitting. Let's hope they are not quitting. Shouldn't we expect more?

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.

NFL Week 4 Rams Prop Bets From Bodog

Each week there are interesting St. Louis Rams prop bets set up in Las Vegas. This weeks prop bets involve Kyle Boller and Glen Coffee. Take a look courtesy of Bodog.

Rams Prop Bets

Kyle Boller - Total Passing Yards vs. the San Francisco 49ers

Over/Under 185.5

Glen Coffee – Total Rushing Yards Week 4 vs. the St. Louis Rams

Over/Under 80.5

St. Louis Rams Cage In The Bengals 24-21

The Cincinnati Bengals had no where to run or hide as the Butler's did it Thursday night as the St. Louis Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 24-21 to go to 2-1 in the preseason. James Butler and Quincy Butler combined for 6 tackles, 1 assist, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery returned for a TD, and 1 interception. The Rams who forced 4 turnovers on the night jumped out to an early 21-7 lead after James Butler recovered a fumble and returned it 73 yards for a score. The Rams defense should benefit greatly from having winners like coach Steve Spagnuolo and James Butler. The most impressive part of the night was the swarming, gang tackling, ball hawking defense. The Rams were constantly making tackles as a group and trying to strip the ball. The Rams in addition also recorded 6 sacks by 6 different players. on a night when the offense only had 243 total yards the defense came through in a big way.
Kyle Boller had a nice night playing one series into he 3rd Quarter. Boller went 114 of 20 for 96 yards with TD, along with 16 yards rushing. I like the way he plays, his attitude, and apparent leadership. Berlin and Null only threw 9 passes in the second half and did not show much. Samkon Gado was again the star of the running backs. With Steven Jackson only in the game for 7 plays on offense Gado was quickly in and given a chance to shine. Gado did not disappoint as he totaled 35 total yards and two touchdowns. Laurent Robinson again led the receiving core in catches and yardage.
On this night it was the defense that stole the show. For the Rams to be successful in 2009 they will have to create turnovers and cash them in. On this night they were able to do just that. Steve Spagnuolo came from the Eagles and Giants both teams that have had a history of hard hitting D that likes to get after the QB and cause turnovers. I would love to see the Rams put together a team that can play that way on defense.
The Rams are now 2-1 in the preseason and will finish their schedule next Thursday night at the Edward Jones Dome against the Kansas City Chiefs. Hopefully some more starters like Bulger, Avery, Little, Carriker, etc. will be healthy for that one. I would like to see Marc Bulger get some work in prior to the road opener at Seattle on September 13th.

St. Louis Rams 31st In Power Rankings

Gregg Rosenthal from RotoWorld posted an article on ProFootballTalk.com as part of a preseason power ranking segment they are doing. The St. Louis Rams are currently in the 31st position. My favorite quote is "Jackson will have to shine because the passing game is a mess". I can't disagree with that. I am really a little shocked that the Rams are not making it more of a competition between Marc Bulger and Kyle Boller in camp. They also point out the Rams may have the weakest receiving core in the league. I can't really disagree with that either, the Rams are rebuilding almost from scratch. After a pretty somber article Gregg does predict the Rams will go 5-11. Right now I hope for better but lets face it 5-11 would not be that bad or that big of a surprise. Your thoughts?