The Drive

Sam Bradford has not had too many defining moments in his career so far.  In fact, he has probably had more moments he would rather forget than moments  he would like to hold onto.  Against the Buffalo Bills, he had one to hold onto, and it was amazing to witness.  Coming into this season, Sam Bradford had put together exactly 1 game winning drive coming against the Cleveland Browns last season according to pro-football-reference.com.  This season, Bradford has already engineered three of these game winning drives including today’s and another drive in San Francisco to score a touchdown and put the Rams ahead before the 49ers answered with a field goal and forced overtime.

In his first game winning drive, Bradford threw only one pass for 7 yards and benefited from a Browns’ special team fumble before Josh Brown converted a 34 yard field goal.  Hardly the type of drive to be impressed by, but it was a start.  This season, Bradford has engineered an 80 yard drive against the Redskins although most of the drive was completed in the third quarter without the pressure of the clock winding down.  Then there was the drive in the first 49ers game where Bradford drove the Rams 81 yards for a touchdown with 1:13 left in the 4^th quarter which relied on a 19 yard completion from punter John Hekker and only 50 yards passing by Bradford.  Although this game obviously didn’t end up in a win, it could be seen as the start of things to come.

Against the Bills today, Bradford graduated to quarterback of a full blown clutch drive to win the game.  When the Rams received the ball on their own 16 yard line, Sam Bradford had only 141 yards passing in the game before that time, not exactly the type of performance which seemed indicative of what came next.  Sam Bradford drove the team 84 yards while throwing for 68 yards on 5-of-8 passing including 2 3^rd down conversions and a 4^th down conversion before Bradford threw an 11 yard touchdown pass to Brandon Gibson which ended up being the winning score.  During the drive, Bradford threw to 5 different receivers and benefitted from an amazing catch by Chris Givens to convert the 4^th and 1 play, but he showed more than enough poise and ability to be impressive. 

Sam Bradford still has a long way to go before he will be compared to Joe Montana, but we have been watching the evolution of a quarterback who could be able to be counted on at the end of a close game.  There are going to be many more opportunities for Bradford to grow and expand his talents if the Rams are going to continue to win games.  It is exciting to see a young and talented player grow, and who knows, if his offensive line could hold things together (and Rodger Saffold could manage to be carted off the field less than two times a quarter), this team could actually go somewhere.  It should at least be exciting to  watch.

Brand New Rams?

The San Francisco 49ers are among the best teams in the National Football League.  They were one win away from making it to the Super Bowl just last season, and they were more than one expert’s choice to make a similar run this season.  The 49ers have a defense that dominates and the type of power running game that should have been able to churn out yards against the 2^nd worst team in the league last season against the run.  After tying the Rams earlier in the season, the 49ers were coming into St. Louis motivated for revenge and ready to play.  They had just promoted their dynamic new quarterback, Colin Kaepernick who had already beaten the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints.  There was no reason to believe that these Rams, the same team that lost to both the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets this season, should have any chance at beating the vaunted 49ers right?

Recent Rams teams would have not only lost this game, they would have been lucky to make it close.  But something is different about these Rams.  Yes, you could say this is a new team because they won the game, but it goes deeper than that.  The Rams won a close game down the stretch by making clutch plays against a team that is much better seasoned to win games like these.  The Rams defense was able to put points on the board when the offense could not, and instead of shooting themselves in the foot with bad penalties and consistent lapses in concentration, St. Louis actually had fewer penalties than the 49ers.

            

This is not the first time Rams fans have been teased by this team, however.  We have seen them finish at 7-9 in 2010, which was sadly enough for optimism, only to watch the Rams earn the second pick in the 2012 NFL draft.  I guess there is no way to know this for sure, but could this be a sign of actual change for this team?  I think it could be, and the reason behind this is Jeff Fisher.  With all due respect to Steve Spagnuolo and the rest of the coaches the Rams have had over the past few years, it feels good to have a legitimate NFL head coach for a change.

          

Just look at how Jeff Fisher has taken control of this team.  Perhaps the best examples of this is the two players that he benched for the first game the Rams played the 49ers.  The troubled Janoris Jenkins was sat down for a game and since he has scored 3 touch downs in the last two games.  That’s pretty impressive considering he plays on the defensive side of the football.  Then there is the Rams wide receiver, Chris Givens who has had 20 receptions in three games since being sat down by Fisher.  These may be chalked up to pure coincidence, or it could be signs of two young and extremely talented players buying into a coach’s system that has been proven to work in the past.

            

There have been a few grumblings about even making a run at a .500 or better record this season and even the possibility of a wild card berth.  I don’t think the playoffs are in the cards for this season’s Rams team, but to be honest, they don’t have to be.  As a Rams fan, I am simply looking for signs pointing to improvement which there have been multiple so far this season not the least of which came with the 49ers games.

The past few seasons, I have found myself rooting for the Rams to lose so that the team could fall into a better draft pick.  There was hope that the Rams could continue to get more talented players in hopes that this would solve all of the team’s problems, but there are only so many top draft picks a team can get before they need to produce.  After a while the team becomes little more than a collection of talent that has no idea of how to play together and win games.  In a game like football, talent only gets you so far as we have seen for a the past few years (although some of the draft decisions have left us wondering just how great the talent truly is).  This season has meant something else for these Rams.  This is the season that they start to build a winning culture, not just put another talented name on a roster.  In this case, change is so sweet.

Bradford Overcomes Injuries and Officials to Prove Rams Made Right Decision

So let’s all just admit it.  When the Rams started the game behind 7 to nothing before the game was 15 seconds old and was supposed to begin with the Rams receiving, we all groaned.  We have seen this before, I thought.  Same Rams sucking in the same ways which will end up in an embarrassingly futile attempt to come back after starting in a 7 point hole.  At least that is what we are used to from what has been the league’s most pathetic franchise over the past many years, but last Sunday, the Rams, and Sam Bradford specifically, showed us that it is ok to hope for him and this Ram team to be competitive at least this season.  It was like having a child who brings home nothing but failing grades on his report card and comes through with half A’s one day.  Who cares if it was in his easiest class, it’s a start.

The Rams did not have an easy road to their victory over the Redskins, and I think I spiked the television remote in unison with Steven Jackson after watching the NFL replacement officials mess up call after call in the first half.  That subpar team in the black and white jerseys missed two Ram touchdowns when you include the pass that was called incomplete in the corner of the end zone although replays showed that the both feet were down in bounds.  This play in particular had me screaming at my television for two different reasons.  For one, why would Fisher not challenge that call?  That is a play that could be a huge momentum booster if they can drive right down the field and tie the game after their embarrassing start of the game.  Fisher needs to throw the challenge there, especially for a team where things can roll downhill so quickly.  Once I was able to stop my convulsive screaming for Fisher to throw the challenge flag, my fury quickly went back to the referee who made the call.  Isn’t every scoring play in the NFL being reviewed?  And if that is the case, why not air on the side of calling plays that may get into the end zone a touchdown?  What do you have to lose as a referee in that situation?  Why not call every play that is close a touchdown unless you are 100% sure that the call is in fact not a touchdown? 

And then there was the Steven Jackson touchdown run which occurred right after the referees blew the call on a fumble only the play before, forcing the Rams to blow a challenge flag.  I could not blame Jackson at all when he came off the field screaming at the officials.  That was a pathetic and absolutely horrible call for which that crew should probably lose their jobs for if it was not for the fact that the NFL would be patrolling high school fields for officials at that point.  Another big call that did not get as much play after the fact, but was equally ridiculous in the moment was the unnecessary roughness called on the Rams when they tackled Robert Griffin III as he was running down the sidelines.  That was a 15 yard penalty which brought the Redskins into Rams territory on a drive where the Redskins ended with a touchdown.  To make a very long story short, the officials were horrible, and can we please get Ed Hochuli’s guns to come back to the sidelines?

I do not mean this to come off as nothing but a indictment of the NFL and its officials, an equally important story line unfolded as the game progressed, Sam Bradford showed us what the Rams were hoping to get when they drafted him.  He led the team up and down the field with apparent ease that we have never really seen from him.  Bradford ended the game with 310 yards, 3 TD and only 1 interception.  He routinely came through on 3^rd down and just gave us the sense that he was in control and that the game was not too big or too fast for him.

And Bradford was able to do most of this without the veteran presence and contributions of Steven Jackson.  Daryl Richardson filled in well, but he still was responsible for a fumble that could have been devastating had the Redskins made it down the field to score in their final drive.  I do not know anything about the injury vs. benching controversy that has been spoken about at length around St. Louis this week.  I was not on the sidelines, nor do I know anyone who was, but the reactions of the two do not seem to match with a benching.  For one, Jeff Fisher coached guys like Pacman Jones and Albert Haynesworth.  If he was willing to put up with the character issues of these guys and look at their physical talents, then do we really think that he would bench Steven Jackson for one passionate and angry moment?  Maybe for a series, not for the rest of a game.  And then there is the tough guy aspect of Jeff Fisher.  He seems to have the reputation as someone who is going to do things his way and be tough about it.  What good does it do to bench Steven Jackson only to be quiet about it later when asked?  What message does that send to his team?  That their coach is afraid of the media or fan reaction?  It does not seem to fit with the rest of his image.

The Rams won the bowl for 2013, and we can only hope that a combination of the Rams using the game as a springboard for continued success.  We can also hope that the Redskins can lose many more games in the near future, although after watching the poise and abilities of RGIII it is difficult to imagine that this could be true.  The Rams now need to get working on a game play that they can use against the Bears in Chicago, but there is nothing wrong with taking a short look back and enjoy the coming of age of Sam Bradford and the rest of the Rams who won a game despite things not going their way.

The 2013 Bowl

It may sound odd, but a pretty strong argument can be made that tomorrow’s game against the Washington Redskins is the Super Bowl of the Ram’s season.  Yes, I know that the Rams would only have a .500 winning percentage at 1 and 1 if they win the game tomorrow, and yes, the Redskins are not exactly the best team that the Rams will be playing this season.  I guess someone could make an argument about the games against the San Francisco 49ers meaning much more for this team and their aspirations of playing in the playoffs not only this season, but also having the confidence that they can compete in the future.  All these things aside, there are two reasons that this game is going to be more important than any other on the schedule for this season.

The first reason is simple: the Rams need a win.  With games on the Rams Schedule against the Bears, Packers, Patriots, and Jets in addition to the games against division rival 49ers and Seahawks, there are not enough games that look winnable to not beat teams like the Redskins when they get them.  While the Redskins did just come off of a game in which they beat Drew Breese and the Saints in New Orleans, they are still a team with more sub .500 record seasons than competitive seasons.  For a team like the Rams who are starting a new era with Fisher and hoping to stick here in St. Louis, they need some victories to get momentum, and the Redskins may be the only game where that seems likely in their first four games.

This game will be particularly important to Sam Bradford.  How can he not look across the field and see a Quarter Back who he will be measured against for the rest of his career.  This offseason, the Rams needed to decide which direction they wanted to go for the future, and they chose Sam Bradford over Robert Griffin III.  It may be unfair to compare the two considering the differences in the athletic ability, but as a Rams fan, I will always be wondering how this team could be if they had someone like RGIII on the team as opposed to Sam Bradford.  This does not mean that Bradford needs to find some way to wow us, but he better be a competent manager of the game who makes the necessary throws to give the Rams a chance.

Then there is the big picture reason that playing the Washington Redskins is the biggest game of the Rams season.  The more the Redskins lose, the better the Rams will be next season.  The Rams will own the Redskins draft picks in 2013 and 2014 so quite simply, they need to beat this team and hope that the rest of the league does the same.  The Rams could get a whole lot better in a hurry if the Redskins could have difficulty losing games for the next couple seasons.  From that aspect, this game is worth much more to the Rams than it does to the Redskins.

Where Will The Rams Be When They Play in Their Next Super Bowl?

On the Eve of the Super Bowl, I cannot help but look at the victorious Giants and even the losing Patriots with the jealousy of a fan of a team that has been neither a victor nor the defeated in a worthwhile game in years.  Unlike these two teams who always seem to be in a position to contend, the Rams are in a state of flux.  It is difficult to look at this team and feel completely hopeless, but it is also difficult to look at this team and feel like there is much confidence.  After a season in which the Rams finished with the second worst record in football, there has been talk of them leaving St. Louis for greener grass in Los Angeles or even London.  While the second option seems almost unreal and borderline ridiculous, the idea of a return visit to a former home cuts deep into the heart of possibility.

There is also an odd feeling of hope that comes with these Rams.  They have the number 2 draft pick in a draft that has major playmakers available such as Justin Blackmon who could represent a wide receiver with the type of enormous upside that the Rams have lacked since the days of Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, or running back who has been graded up there with Adrian Peterson and Darren McFadden in Trent Richardson.  Even with a guy like Steven Jackson in place, this is an exciting opportunity for an upgraded offensive plan that could extend into the future.  The Rams could even go in a less sexy but more functional direction and shore up a porous offensive line or injury ravaged defensive secondary.  Or even better yet, the Rams could trade down a couple spots and fill multiple needs with quality players.  The truth is that after picking in the top 2 draft slots for the fourth time in five years, the Rams have talented young players in place who should come into their own at some point in the next few years.  That is, if we can be optimistic enough to dream that the likes of Sam Bradford, Chris Long, and Jason Smith can continue to develop and stay healthy enough to find success.  Add to this infusion of young talent a head coach who has had plenty of success in the NFL, and the future could potentially look bright for this Rams team.

The only problem with this hope for the future for a St. Louis fan is the comparison to a 1953 Boston Braves team in baseball.  It is an odd cross sports comparison, but it is also one that could just fit and painfully for the city of St. Louis.  The Braves in Boston were the second love of a city that was enthralled with the Red Sox although they left right before they were given a chance to rewrite history.  After leaving Boston with the likes of Warren Spahn, Eddie Matthews, Hank Aaron, and other talented although not Hall of Fame caliber players, the Braves found a championship and pennant in Milwaukee within a few years.  The comparison ends here, however.  St. Louis does not have another NFL franchise waiting in the wings to follow and love, but the possibility to see a home town team leave town just in time to find success that could only come about after years of stockpiling draft picks because of terrible teams is one that cannot be ignored.

The city of St. Louis deserves better than this from Kroenke.  This is not to say that he does not have the right to do with his team as he is allowed by his title as owner.  Kroenke is a businessman above all else, and to say that he cannot look for a place where he is able make more profits from his investment is just un-American.  As for the city of St. Louis, its destiny as the jilted lover who watches its team find success in a new market that has never known the tough times just seems unfair.  St. Louis has suffered through the dark times, and now with the threat of daylight on the horizon, the sun could be ripped right out of the sky to shine somewhere else.  I can only hope that someone stops this craziness before it gets to that point.

Should The Rams Trade Steven Jackson?

As a St. Louis Rams fan, this season was rough to say the least.  After beginning a season with such high hopes, it took only a few games before it was necessary to pull out the paper bag with eye holes cut out to hide my face so that no one would know it was me watching the games.  I found myself so embarrassed to be rooting for such a pathetic team that I sat with my finger on the channel button of the TV remote, ready to change channels when watching games alone in my living room.  I was afraid of someone walking in to see where my loyalties lie in the NFL.  While I have been humiliated to associate myself with the St. Louis Rams, I had no problems donning a Steven Jackson jersey with pride every Sunday.  In a year that Jackson further solidified himself as an all-time great running back by rushing for his seventh consecutive 1000 yard season, the Rams put together a season where they finished a neck injury to Peyton Manning away from earning the number 1 draft pick for the second time in three years.  With this track record of futility, I wonder if the Rams would ever consider trading their franchise leading rusher in hopes of starting over?

The Argument Against:

The best option for running back is still Steven Jackson.  Because of Jackson's ability to handle so much of the workload, the Rams have gotten by with retread or rookie back-ups.  Carnell (Cadillac) Williams, although injury prone, represented the highest upside back-up running back the Rams have had in recent memory, and he managed only 87 carries on the season despite an early injury which caused Jackson to miss all of one game and the better parts of two others.  There is no doubt that the loss of Steven Jackson would represent a downgrade for an offense that is already struggling at the skill positions enough to earn the second overall draft choice.  Would losing the best offensive weapon the team had really be a solution to the future of a franchise that is in desperate need for some success?  Especially with the weight of a possible relocation back to Los Angles bearing down on them, the Rams would like to win and win now.

To take pressure off the Sam Bradford.  After two seasons as the Rams quarterback, Sam Bradford has experienced two offensive coordinators with a third on the way next year.  He was the sixth most sacked quarterback in the league despite sitting out six games with an ankle injury.  It is not going out on a limb to say that Sam Bradford has had a rough start to his career.  It would be easy to say that given another couple years, the immense talent that earned him a number one overall draft choice will become evident, but Sam Bradford would be far from the first top picked quarterback to not live up to the hype.  To get rid of his best offensive weapon at this point in Bradford's career would put even more pressure on an already bruised ego.

Steven Jackson is building a Hall of Fame like Resume.  While the NFL is full of general managers who believe nothing in nostalgia, the Rams need a face of their franchise, especially now.  While Sam Bradford has the potential to be this face, Steven Jackson still plays a large part in selling tickets.  Running backs like Jackson do not come around often, and to trade a potential Hall of Famer in the middle of his streak of 1000 yard seasons could easily be the mistake that makes already disappointed Rams fans care even less about their team.  That would be a tough sell for any general manager.

The Argument For:

The shelf life of an NFL running back is short.  While this is a truth that has not been felt by St. Louis football fans, it is the brutal truth of the NFL.  Since 1999, the Rams have had a a pro bowl representative running back 7 times.  The Rams have been able to transition seamlessly between a Hall of Fame running back in Marshall Faulk to Steven Jackson.  The terrible reality is that this is the exception and definitely not the rule.  This being said, to hope that a running back entering his 9th season could maintain a high level of play is ludicrous.  Marshall Faulk, LaDainian Tomlinson, Eric Dickerson, and countless other running backs on the list of all-time rushers never ran for 1000 yards after their 8th seasons.  For the Rams to believe that Steven Jackson will follow the career arc of Emmitt Smith instead of so many other running backs who have faltered as their bodies took the beatings of the NFL is just not realistic.  To look at the future of the Rams is to look at a situation that is most likely more than one year away from contending in a weak division and even further away from being competitive in any playoff match-ups.  The reality of the situation is that Jackson will most likely not be an effective number one rusher by the time the Rams have a good enough team to fully benefit from having him in that role.

A trade could get draft picks to help build a team around Sam Bradford.  Trading Steven Jackson in the years to come will only get less return for his services.  Every season that Jackson spends trying to run through defensive players who are keying on him is another season that a potential career threatening injury could be just around the corner.  As a team, the Rams a full of holes.  With an often porous offensive line, a complete lack of play-making wide receivers unless Brandon Lloyd decides to stick around, and a defensive secondary that saw far too many practice team members suite up, the Rams are in need of so much more than one talented running back.  The market for a guy like Jackson may not be overwhelming, but for a team that is in need of young talent, this would be their best asset to trade in hopes of rebuilding with even more young talent.

Steven Jackson deserves to play for a winning team.  After watching Jackson run against the 49ers, I could not help but feel sorry for the guy.  I have never before seen a man get 1.9 yards per carry and be amazed at how talented he had to have been to get that much.  Too many times, the lack of play-makers at the wide receiver position lead to Jackson getting the football only seconds before he needed to lower his muscular shoulders in hopes of getting back to the line of scrimmage with defensive lineman hanging on him.  Between that and decisions by an offensive coordinator to look away from Jackson with his team within five yards of the end-zone, this had to be a frustrating season for the Ram's running back.  In short, this is a guy who deserves better.  Is their any doubt that if he played on a team that could get a lead, Jackson would be looking at a certain Hall of Fame career?  Imagine if he played for a team that had a quarter back and an offensive line that could stay productive and healthy.  What if he had played for a team like the Packers, Patriots, or Steelers, a team with other offensive weapons who could use a big bruising running back without having an defense keying on him on every play?  Jackson has done just about all he can for the Rams for the past eight years.  He has given up the best years of the prime of his life to play for a franchise which has not repaid him with a good team consistently enough.  It saddens me to see someone with so much talent wasting away on a team like the Rams.