Primary Sidebar
Links
SJ39 (Steven Jackson's official website)
Rams Gab
St. Louis Sports Magazine
Golden Horns
RAMblinFan
Ram-blings
Fair Catch
Rams Rant
Fanhouse: Rams
Belleville News Democrat: Rams
Post Dispatch: Rams
Steve Korte's Ramblings - BND
SE Missourian Sports Blog
Official Rams site
RealRamsFans.com Forum
Yankee Doodle Brit
Rams Herd
Football & More
ESPN's NFL Nation NFC West
The Fifth Down (NYTimes)
Pro Football Talk
Deadspin
Kissing Suzy Kolber
Hurricanes Are for Drinking
Rams Schedule
@
Seattle
|
Sun 09/13 | L 0 - 28 |
|
@
Washington
|
Sun 09/20 | L 7 - 9 |
|
Green Bay
|
Sun 09/27 | L 17 - 36 |
|
@
San Francisco
|
Sun 10/04 | L 0 - 35 |
|
Minnesota
|
Sun 10/11 | L 10 - 38 |
|
@
Jacksonville
|
Sun 10/18 | L 20 - 23 |
|
Indianapolis
|
Sun 10/25 | L 6 - 42 |
|
@
Detroit
|
Sun 11/01 | W 17 - 10 |
|
New Orleans
|
Sun 11/15 | L 23 - 28 |
|
Arizona
|
Sun 11/22 | 3:05 PM CST |
|
Seattle
|
Sun 11/29 | 12:00 PM CST |
|
@
Chicago
|
Sun 12/06 | 12:00 PM CST |
|
@
Tennessee
|
Sun 12/13 | 12:00 PM CST |
|
Houston
|
Sun 12/20 | 12:00 PM CST |
|
@
Arizona
|
Sun 12/27 | 3:05 PM CST |
|
San Francisco
|
Sun 01/03 | 12:00 PM CST |
NFC West Standings
| W | L | T | PF | PA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Arizona
|
6 | 3 | 0 | 229 | 184 |
|
San Francisco
|
4 | 5 | 0 | 184 | 180 |
|
Seattle
|
3 | 6 | 0 | 187 | 198 |
|
St. Louis
|
1 | 8 | 0 | 100 | 249 |
(updated 11.20.2009 at 3:42 AM CST)
St. Louis Rams fantasy report, week 11, Rams vs. Arizona
by VanRam on Nov 20, 2009 10:20 AM CST
in fantasy
4 comments
One win and a near upset of the undefeated New Orleans Saints and all of the sudden the St. Louis Rams aren't so easy for fantasy players to ignore. The team still lacks reliable, every week fantasy players outside of RB Steven Jackson. At this point, guys like Donnie Avery, Brandon Gibson and Daniel Fells offer respectable, sneaky bye week options. This week's game against the Arizona Cardinals will go a long way toward answering whether or not those players could move beyond bye week fill-ins to guys worthy of keeping on your roster. The first question we need to ask is whether or not we are seeing real progress from the Rams offense? Three things indicate that the answer is yes.
- The offensive line is playing well. Signing C Jason Brown and drafting Jason Smith represented a major investment for the team and provided the basis for the rebuilding project as Spagnuolo builds from the foundation up. Smith is anchoring the right side of the line, overcoming any preseason questions about his adjustment to the three-point stance. The Rams favor the middle and right side for their running game, and Jackson continues to rack up more and more yards thanks to the entire offensive line functioning well as a unit.
- Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is finally opening the play book. Besides a stellar job in run blocking, the OL is giving Marc Bulger time in the pocket, and the passing game is now throwing the ball downfield to Donnie Avery, forcing defenses to respect his speed and ability to get behind safeties.
- The WR situation may be resolved. Maybe. Last week, Bradon Gibson, acquired from Philly in the Will Witherspoon trade, made a real impression, pressed into service for the injured Keenan Burton. One week wonder or not? It's hard to say, but against the Saints Gibson showed great hands and the athleticism to get yards after the catch, exactly what the Rams have been missing from the wide receivers this season. If he's the real deal, the Rams might have an effective enough passing game to score some points.
Obviously, Steven Jackson is a must start this week or any week. The Cardinals gave up 123 yards to Justin Forsett against the Seahawks last week. In week 8, DeAngelo Williams picked up 158 yards.
Donnie Avery looks like a good player to start this week too. The Cardinals allow 253.4 yards passing on average, and have allowed the fourth most, 32, passing plays of 20 yards or more.
Brandon Gibson is a risky start because he's still relatively unknown. If he has another good week, definitely grab him off the waiver wire.
4 comments | 0 recs |
Ah You serious? Rams lose another for the season
by VanRam on Nov 20, 2009 6:33 AM CST
11 comments
The St. Louis Rams will send their ninth player this season to the injured reserve list. This time it's defensive end C. J. Ah You.
Ah You surprised everyone this year, earning a roster spot and fitting into a nice job as a role player. Spags used him inside on those 4 DE packages. He had some surprise moments you'll recall. He was a Spagnuolo favorite...or so it seemed.
It's a tough break for the Rams.
11 comments | 0 recs |
Fun with numbers: Rams offensive line
by VanRam on Nov 19, 2009 3:50 PM CST
in 2009 regular season
11 comments
Offensive line stats are a strange animal, but leave it to the guys at Football Outsiders to measure the grunts up front who make it happen. As anyone following the St. Louis Rams knows, head coach Steve Spagnuolo and GM Billy Devaney have made the rebuilding the offensive line a top priority, investing lots of money to get younger and tougher up front. How's the investment paying off so far?
Well, early in the season there were times when the line looked like the same old unit that caused so much consternation in seasons prior. It was a little rough at first, as players learned the system and how to function as a unit. The pass protection has been mostly solid all year long, with a few exceptions here and there. But over the last few games, the offensive line has looked like a much better, more cohesive unit, getting the best of both the Lions and the Saints defensive fronts. Let's look at some numbers.
(a quick note, FO uses the Adjusted Line Yards (ALY) measurement, which account for the OL's role in terms of yards gained on rushing plays, i.e. they take the running back out of the equation. Here's the full definition for ALY.)
First of all the total ALY for the Rams this year, through nine games is 4.08 ALY, good enough for 17th best in the league. Last season, that number was 3.73 ALY, and in 2007 it was 3.72 ALY. Both numbers from the past two seasons ranked 28th in the league.
The directional numbers are the most interesting, showing big jumps over the last two games.
Check it out, through week 10:
Left End, 4.61 ALY, 11th
Left Tackle, 6.28 ALY, 1st
Mid/Guard, 3.91 ALY, 23rd
Right Tackle, 4.71 ALY, 5th
Right End, 2.05 ALY, 30th
In two games, their ALY at Right Tackle have gone from 3.97 ALY to 4.71 ALY. Wow. That's a huge jump, and Jason Smith gets lots of credit for that. They've improved at Mid/Guard too, up from 3.74 ALY. I don't worry about the middle as much, since that's where the Rams 51% of the rushes, and teams are cramming the box to hold back Steven Jackson.
Progress.
11 comments | 0 recs |
Rams guard Richie Incognito and Cardinals defensive lineman Darnell Dockett rank first and fifth, respectively, among the dirtiest players in a Sporting News poll of 99 peers.
Bad boys. Incognito will be out this week when the Rams take on the Cardinals at the Ed Jones Dome.
1 day ago
VanRam
2 comments
0 recs
Jackson running into the record books
by VanRam on Nov 19, 2009 6:00 AM CST
7 comments
St. Louis Rams RB Steven Jackson was his usual dominant self in the team's near upset of the undefeated New Orleans Saints last week, rushing for 131 yards on 26 carries and scoring his second touchdown in two weeks. It was Jackson's third 100+ yard performance in a row and fifth of the season, giving him 915 yards rushing on the season, third best in the NFL.
He also ran his way into the history books, passing Lawrence McCutcheon for third on the Rams all-time leaders in rushing yards. To date, SJ39 has a 6,206 rushing yards for his career, spent entirely with the Rams. He trails legends Marshall Faulk who 6,959 yards rushing and Eric Dickerson with 7,245 yards rushing.
Jackson needs just 753 more yards to pass Faulk and 1,039 to pass Dickerson. Can he pass those Rams icons this season and engrave his name into the team's history?
Right now, Jackson is averaging 101.7 yards rushing per game. At that pace, he'll pick up another 711 through the Rams' last seven games. Of course, the schedule will have something to say about that. Below is a chart with the Rams next seven opponents and their average yards rushing allowed per game (note: The Rams have two more games against Arizona, so I've only included them once in this list).
| Team | Avg Rush YPG |
| ARI | 101 |
| SEA | 105 |
| CHI | 118.4 |
| TEN | 109.3 |
| HOU | 108.7 |
| SF | 87.7 |
That's not the best predictor for Jackson's chances in the weeks ahead, but give you some idea of the kind of rushing defenses he'll face. At his current pace, Jackson will finish the season with 1,626 rushing yards, his best total ever. That will leave him just 42 yards short of Faulk's total with the Rams. However, if the line continues its strong play and the team stays inspired from their recent run an extra 42 yards might be well within reach.
Sometime early next season, Jackson should be the Rams all-time leader in rushing yards.
7 comments | 0 recs |
Random Ramsdom: Nov 19th, 2009
by ram_rod on Nov 19, 2009 1:20 AM CST
in Random Ramsdom
3 comments
I don't know about any of you, but I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for this Sunday to come up. I can't wait to see if the Rams can continue the success we've seen through the last month (it's almost been that long since Detroit!?) and hopefully come out with a win against a good team. Going right into the buffet today, we have:
- Jim Thomas takes a look at the chimera approaching that is Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston. The Rams might not be able to sit back in the blitzing department this week, as dropping into coverage against these guys isn't going to be easy. Arizona has a tall, fast and physical passing game and it is going to take some creativity (gulp) to try and stop these guys.
- Mike over at Ramsgab has his Ram View series about the Saints game. The link is to part five, where he breaks down some of the defensive line play. This week, the view isn't from the couch, as he was at the game. How will the Rams defensive line play against Arizona? Hopefully we can contain Beanie Wells.
- The one and only Mike Sando takes a look at our emerging powerhouse offense. Ok, maybe that's going to far, but one can't hope to be optimistic. A number to remember? 796. That is the total amount of yards the offense has gained. In the last two games.
- Andrew from Revenge of the Birds is here to answer any questions you may have about the Cardinals game this Sunday. I'd say he thinks the Cardinals need to have a better gameplan then not party too much the night before (rub it in, rub it in).
- In case you missed it, here is the link to an excellent edition of Turf Show Radio. VanRam and his PIC 3k take a look at college football, the draft, plato, forehead tattoo's and more. I'd have to agree, we are definitely a good bad team. I wouldn't mind a flip of the two by the end of the season but that may be too wishful of thinking.
Enjoy your Thursday and GO RAMS
3 comments | 0 recs
Turf Show Radio, tonight, 7 p.m. Central
by VanRam on Nov 18, 2009 3:59 PM CST
in Turf Show Radio
24 comments
Trolling for some Wednesday evening fun? Nobody to talk pigskin with after a long day at work? Man, have we got a deal for you. Get your St. Louis Rams and football fix tonight on Turf Show Radio, happening live at 7 p.m. Central. Listen and call in at this link.
Can't make it? Use this thread to post comments and questions for 3k and I to answer on the show.
(Note from 3k: In case you don't take notes while you're listening, and you know you damn well should, here's my watch list for Saturday's college football action. Also, if you're listening live, you can catch Dan LeFevour (QB, Cent. Michigan) right now over on ESPN2.)
24 comments | 0 recs |
Random Ramsdom 11/18
by kevinramsfan on Nov 18, 2009 12:05 PM CST
in Random Ramsdom
1 comment
Some quick hits for the rest of the afternoon:
- Jim Thomas gives us a little background on Brandon Gibson.
- A little more on the newest Ram WR, Jordan Kent.
- Mike Sando counts Adam Goldberg and Brandon Gibson among his Super Subs for the NFC West.
- The Rams are +7 at home against the Cardinals this week. Even though the wins aren't there yet, it seems Vegas is respecting the Rams more and more each week. Earlier in the season this line would have been much higher.
- Jim Thomas on the tough schedule for the Rams in the past few weeks. And, of course, Kurt Warner is coming back to town.
GO RAMS
1 comment | 0 recs
Secondary Sidebar
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
Featured Poll
Hide Standings
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
