Rams Review 2008

The 2008 St.Louis Rams season is complete. As my predictions showed in August the 2-14 record is not what I had in mind. Lets recap.

Week 1:Eagles 38 Rams 3-Before the game I said in order to get back in the groove of things. The Rams needed to make a statement and beat Philly. Clearly it did not happen as Jim Johnson's defense destroyed Bulger and the Eagles flew away with it.

Week 2:Giants 41 Rams 13-The Rams played the Giants tough for 3 Quarters until several key mistakes late created a blowout.

Week 3:Seahawks 37 Rams 13-Seattle's receiving core was depleted...yet the Rams secondary got destroyed...badly. After this game I thought 0-16 was a real possibility.

Week 4:Bills 31 Rams 14-Bulger was actually benched entering this game and replaced by Trent Green. Trent actually outplayed Trent Edwards until the 4th Quarter when he overthrew Holt for a pick 6. Lee Evans burned Jason Craft and next thing you knew the Bills escaped by the skin of their teeth. They were 4-0. But since they are 3-9. My two missions were complete...expose the Bills and get Linehan fired.

Week 6:Rams 19 Redskins 17-Everyone thought the Redskins would demolish the Rams. It was Jim Haslett's first game as Rams Interim Coach. It looked that way for a while as late in the 2nd Quarter it was 7-3 and the Redskins were driving. Pete Kendall's fumble and O.J. Atogwe's 75 yard fumble return made it 10-7. The Rams made it 16-7 and had a chance to put it away but collapsed late and the Redskins made it 17-16. Bulger hit Avery for the first down, Incognito got in a fight, and the Rams won 19-17.

Week 7:Rams 34 Cowboys 14-Another big mouth fanbase that shut up after the game. A Romo-less Dallas team got destroyed by a tough Rams defense. As a FOX Announcer said during the 3rd Quarter, "This game is no longer competitive now we take you to another game".

Week 8:Patriots 23 Rams 16-VERY VERY close game. I still say the Rams win if Steven Jackson had been healthy. Truth be told I hate bias but three blown calls really gave the Patriots the win.

Week 9:Cardinals 34 Rams 13-I felt good for the first quarter, but the next three felt like the Linehan era all over again.

Week 10:Jets 47 Rams 3-I really gave up after this game. Entering Arizona I felt we had a fighting chance of still making the playoffs. Arizona was the KO and the Jets game was the nail in the coffin.

Week 11:49ers 35 Rams 16-No comment...

Week 12:Bears 27 Rams 3-No excuses for this.

Week 13:Dolphins 16 Rams 12-Very close game that came down to the final seconds. Had the 5 Red Zone possesions for the Rams been TD's it would've been VERY different.

Week 14:Cardinals 34 Rams 10-What else is new?

Week 15:Seahawks 23 Rams 20-For the third straight year, the Rams held a big lead on Seattle only to collapse late...8 games and counting...

Week 16:49ers 17 Rams 16-It felt like 2005 all over again...

Week 17:Falcons 31 Rams 27-Strong finish(pending on how you look at it) for the Rams. They came really close here against Atlanta. The offense looked like it was really clicking here.

Thoughts:The defense was like Jekyll and Hyde one minute it would be decimating a team and the next it was being decimated. The offense futility continues hopefully its fixed by next season. Overall at worse we were a 1-15 team but at best we could've been 8-8. I'd take the latter but then we might not be able to get a good enough draft pick. But then again, at 8-8 we probably would've won the West and made the playoffs and we'd be playing Atlanta or Philly this week in the dome. With 2008 over, I hope 2009 is better, because it can't get no worse.

Who Needs to Go:
Travis Minor-I feel his team is up in St.Louis and that Kenneth Darby will take his place.

Jacob Bell-Worthless signing, really sucks.

Adam Carriker-Not good against the Run, I feel he might be better at Defensive End, however.

Leonard Little-There were times he'd looked OK, but others he didn't do spit.

Corey Chavous-Todd Johnson can actually stop the run unlike Chavous who misses it. He has good leadership, he just isn't good.

Drew Bennett-I admit he didn't have much a chance this year so maybe I'm being too hard on him.

Dante Hall-Anyone who dances in the end zone for 10 seconds while the Patriots Punt team is coming after you and theres only 15 seconds left...lets just say he's an idiot.

Nick Leckey-Bulger can't even get a good snap under center.

Brian Leonard-I don't think he would do well as a blocking fullback let alone halfback.

Al Saunders-Who the hell calls a screen on 3rd and 11 to Steven Jackson with Dane Looker as the lead blocker?

Who Needs to Stay:
Marc Bulger-Give the man a better line, and some GOOD playcalling and he should be ok.

Steven Jackson-In recent games he looked like the back we all thought we would see.

Kenneth Darby-He looked really good late in the season and could be used to throw off defenses.

Torry Holt-He looked to have woken up late in the season.

Dane Looker-He still has something in him.

Richie Incognito-He's a good blocker with a bad attitude.

Will Witherspoon-Move him to outside.

Ron Bartell-He's got the passion I'm looking for on defense.

O.J. Atogwe-He makes plays.

Ricky Manning Jr.-He was damn good before he got hurt. His corner blitzes really worked.

Derek Stanley-He's a really good kick returner.

Coaching:
I felt that under the circumstances Jim Haslett did an ok job. However, the defense looked terrible most of the time and collapsed late. The players like him so maybe theres something to him. He seems like the anti-Linehan. Al Saunders either needs a brain or better offensive lineman. Maybe its the scheme but maybe its the players. Either way something needs to happen.

Front Office:
John Shaw and Jay Zygmunt are gone. Thank god. With Billy Devaney as GM, we finally have a REAL GM and not a committee like previously. The Jay Zygmunt error will be remembered for a good few years(2000, 2001, and 2003.) But terrible draft picks. Devaney seems to know what he's doing. With him at the helm I am confident with this team.

What Could Happen:
To add to a big mess, there is a possibility that the Rams could move back to L.A. This due to the fact that a good majority of the Rams front office(except for Billy Devaney) is ran out of Los Angeles still and has been since 1946. The Rams even have their preseason games broadcasted in L.A. still. However, it is speculated that the team could be sold to anyone including Eddie DeBarlow who owned the 49ers from 1979-1998, winning 5 Super Bowls.

It seemed to me recently, however, that Chip Rosenbloom is content on keeping the team. So it's hard to tell whats going to happen.

Overall:2008 blew and the Rams have lost 27 out of 32 games dating back to the 2006 Season. What 2009 will bring is a mystery but it sure as hell be better than 2008. Enjoy the New Year.