ESPN Reports Scott Linehan Has Been Fired!

ESPN reports that Scott Linehan has been fired as the Head Coach of the St. Louis Rams and that Jim Haslett will be named the interim coach. While we are pleased to finally have our lame duck coach get the axe why would you promote Jim Haslett? Thanks Jim for having the worst defense in the NFL 2 years in a row, here is a promotion. The circus continues. Rams to officially announce firing at 7:30AM CST. Stay tuned....

St. Louis Rams coach Scott Linehan has been fired, two team sources said Monday morning.

Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, a former head coach of the New Orleans Saints, was expected to be named interim coach, but details had not been finalized.

An official statement from the team around was expected for 8:30 a.m. ET.

We Make It To The New York Times!

We would like to thank John Woods staff editor for the New York Times and a regular contributor to The Fifth Down, The New York Times N.F.L. blog for inviting us to provide a little preview of the New York Giants vs. St. Louis Rams game. Every week John provides writers and bloggers a chance to give their “100 Words” opinions of the upcoming Giants and Jets games. Every one of us selected the New York Giants as this week’s winner, which should come as no surprise if you watched the Rams get run over by the Philadelphia Eagles last week. Please check out my “100 Words” and let me know your thoughts.

NFL Week 2 Predictions

Every week I will make my NFL gameday predictions. We would love it if you share your opinions, or your own predictions in the comment area or our Fan-Sided forum area. All picks will be straight-up, not against the spread. Good Luck.

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Washington Redskins

Kansas City Chiefs

Carolina Panthers

New York Giants

Jacksonville Jaguars

Minnesota Vikings

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Arizona Cardinals

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Dallas Cowgirls

Last Weeks Results -11- 5

Year-To-Date Results - 11-5

St. Louis Rams Season Home Opener Blacked Out?

Just 48 hours ago I was getting the beer on ice and firing up the grill and getting ready for another season of St. Louis Rams and NFL football. The pre-game shows, the excitement, the anticipation. Are you with me so far? Well flash forward to Tuesday after a miserable loss 38-3 to the Philadelphia Eagles. Not only are the Rams 0-1 and the laughing stock of the league already, but they also have injuries to key players. Now you can top that off with a possible black out of the New York Giants game, for you fans that do not have season tickets to the game. Below you will see two items from the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

The Rams drew the lowest rating Sunday for a telecast of their season opener since they arrived in St. Louis 14 seasons ago. According to Nielsen Media Research, 12 percent of homes with a TV in the market tuned in to the telecast on KTVI (Channel 2). That's 30 percent below the previous low figure of 17.2 set in 1995 for the team's first game after moving to St. Louis.

Some tickets remain for Sunday's game, but team executive Bob Wallace said the Rams were "very close" to selling out.

However I believe the Rams are already putting a spin on ticket sales. StubHub.com still show3947 tickets left for the Rams vs. Giants game. That sounds like more than "some" tickets remain, that sounds like a lot remain. This is the home opener against the Superbowl champions and the Rams are already having trouble selling the tickets. Can you imagine what a blowout loss to the Giants could do to this franchise? This is just on Stubhub and does not count all the other places Rams tickets may be for sale like ebay, craigslist, the newspaper, etc.

Now to top this off I will tell you not only are there 3947 tickets left for the Rams vs. Giants game but they start at $10.98 at the moment! That's right $10.98 for an NFL ticket to see the Superbowl champs and they can not sell them! Don't look now but this could be the start of the Rams exiting from St. Louis.

If you are interested in cheap tickets to this weeks game click here.

Rams Week 1 Player Of The Game - Donnie Jones

Well the votes are in and Donnie Jones is the St. Louis Rams Week 1 player of the week! Sure I did not let anyone vote for anyone other than Donnie Jones, but why would I? The defense was shredded for 522 yards and 38 points before the Philadelphia Eagles called off the dogs. On offense the Rams had 114 total net yards prior to their last drive which was against a lot of backup players on the Eagles. Sure Randy McMichael was decent but please.

With tongue firmly in cheek the Week 1 winner is Donnie Jones. Donnie had to punt on the first 10 Rams drives! Jones averaged 48.5 yards on 10 punts and had 3 placed inside the 20. In addition props to Donnie for making touchdown saving tackle on DeSean Jackson (I thought DeSean was on the Rams, oh wait they took Donnie Avery). Donnie made Jackson cross the entire field at the 35 yard line. While Jackson was making his way across the field and Rams pylons, Jones took a great angle to get all the way across the field to knock Jackson out of bounds at the 4 yard line. Our punter can run sideline to sideline and make a tackle, but no one on the special teams unit could get a hand on him. Great job Donnie. Now ice up for Week 2 against the Superbowl Champion New York Giants because I think we are going to need you!

As a friend of mine and I say, some weeks the best play for the Rams is "Donnie Jones to Punt!!!"

St. Louis Rams Injury List

Not only did the St. Louis Rams lose 38-3 Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles but they also had more players get injured. When will this end? Why does it keep happening? I heard about the following injury news from Jim Thomas on ESPN 1380AM. Drew Bennett broke his foot early in the game and will be out 4-6 weeks. With Donnie Avery still hurt this means the Rams have a major shortage at WR for the game this week against the New York Giants. Get this, the word is Eddie Kennison will be coming into town along with the return of Reche Caldwell. Wow is it that bad already? Torry Holt had 9 yards on Sunday and heading into the Giants game it appears the #2 WR on the roster is Keenan Burton. The warrior Leonard Little made it through 4 plays before pulling a hammy. Projection is he will be out a week or two, so our weak pass rush should get even weaker. Jacob Bell also pulled a hammy and may miss the game Sunday. Chris Long broke a finger, but will play on Sunday. Donnie Jones even bruised his non-kicking knee making a tackle. Orlando Pace only had the wind knocked out of him, and he will be ready to go on Sunday, at least for a little while. Apparently those hard practices in Wisconsin did not make the Rams any less fragile physically or mentally. Should they be pulling hammies again? What is going on?

Rams Turn Up Road Kill In Philly

For St. Louis Rams fans in the area (if there are any of you left), have you ever been to the Ozarks and seen those roadkill cafe shirts at the Ozarkland type shops? Well that is what Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles reminded me of. The Rams were run the F*** over by a bigger, stronger, better coached, more talented, more hungry, more aggressive car (team). It took the Rams 2 minutes and 44 seconds to fall behind 7-0 on there way to a dismal 38-3 loss. The Rams were out-scored 219-98 on the road in 2007 while going 2-6 on the road. Now out of the gate they turn into roadkill 38-3. Very few people thought the Rams had a chance to win today, but are you kidding me. Luckily it is only 1 loss however the Rams showed NOTHING, 6 false starts, 10 punts, only 36 net yards rushing, no forced turnovers, no sacks, no NOTHING.

*UPDATE* The St. Louis Rams Defer To The Philadelphia Eagles

Yesterday we wrote the article The St. Louis Rams Defer To The Philadelphia Eagles. Well we have heard the reasons Scott Linehan used for the deferral. I heard on ESPN Radio 1380AM and on Rams Weekly on Fox 2 the genius used behind this move. Linehan stated that he likes to get the ball to start the second half. He thought with the crowd noise in Philly that it might be easier to start on D, stop the Eagles and make them punt so the Rams could have good field position. After you stop your laughter from that, you will be glad to know that the last reason was the wind. He wanted the wind in the 4th Quarter. The 11mph wind in the Linc. I guess Bulger was going to go deep with that wind behind them in the 4th. Anyway just thought you would want to know. :)

*UPDATE* The St. Louis Rams Defer To The Philadelphia Eagles

Yesterday we wrote the article The St. Louis Rams Defer To The Philadelphia Eagles. Well we have heard the reasons Scott Linehan used for the deferral. I heard on ESPN Radio 1380AM and on Rams Weekly on Fox 2 the genius used behind this move. Linehan stated that he likes to get the ball to start the second half. He thought with the crowd noise in Philly that it might be easier to start on D, stop the Eagles and make them punt so the Rams could have good field position. After you stop your laughter from that, you will be glad to know that the last reason was the wind. He wanted the wind in the 4th Quarter. The 11mph wind in the Linc. I guess Bulger was going to go deep with that wind behind them in the 4th. Anyway just thought you would want to know. :)

Steven Jackson And The St. Louis Rams Take A Hit

Well we did not have to worry about Steven Jackson's workload or if he could take a hit. Both questions were answered pretty quickly in the St. Louis Rams 38-3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. The Rams fell behind after only 2 minutes and 44 seconds, and their offense was never able to get in sync. Jackson was able to get 14 carries for 40 yards and catch 3 balls for 34 yards. His big play shown below pretty much symbolizes the Rams on Sunday, they were jacked up!

I would like to point out that this hit was from Sheldon Brown the Eagles cornerback, not a safety. Can you remember the last time someone in the Rams secondary would actually hit someone?

The St. Louis Rams Defer To The Philadelphia Eagles

You have to hand it to Scott Linehan, he sure never helps himself out. He changed everything in the off season like that would fix the fact the St. Louis Rams need to add more talent and play hungry. We hear they practice hard, Bulger looks great, blah blah blah. Then we get fired up for opening day, we win the coin toss and we DEFER! Sure you really can't look back and say they lost 38-3 to the Philadelphia Eagles because of a coin flip, however can you be any more passive than you already are then by deferring on the opening kick off? Take the ball, hand it off to Steven Jackson 3 straight times and come out with the attitude that you are going to over power them with your Pro Bowl back. Not Scott, he will defer. Well 2 minutes and 44 seconds later the Rams were down 7-0 and it snowballed from their as many games do for the Rams. They were also once again out-scored 17-3 in the second half of a football game. If this tiger can't change his stripes maybe the tiger needs to be released.

Week 1 Preview: St. Louis Rams @ Philadelphia Eagles

Wow what a hard game to start with or to get a grasp on. We will try to break it down for you. The first game of the season often sets the tone for the entire season for some teams, for other teams it does not seem to be as important. The Philadelphia Eagles are more resilient than the St. Louis Rams, however based on both teams early schedules this could almost be a must win in Week 1.

The Rams are coming off a terrible 3-13 season were injuries became the excuse. Well as true as that may be this is the NFL and you need to have depth and leadership and skill to over come those things. Scott Linehan has not proven he can lead or motivate this team and his in-game adjustments or lack there of have been terrible and much criticized. Most of the time last year I was watching to see if the players could over-come their coach. In the off-season the Rams made their best move in quite a while picking up Al Saunders, but is the offense ready to fly already in week 1?

The Eagles are coming off of an 8-8 season in which they finished up with 3 straight wins. However the Eagles are yearly slow starters. They only scored over 20 points once in their first 6 games of 2007. Last year they lost 4 of their first 6 games and historically do not play well at all in their home opener. Don't be completely fooled by the 8-8 record. The Eagles lost 4 games by 3 points, that is how close you are to making it or missing it in the NFL. Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb have been together for 10 years, how time flies. I believe McNabb is as healthy as ever and will be out to make a statement in 2008.

Turning to the game:

It is as old as the hills. RUN THE ROCK! It really is just that simple. The 5 big uglies on both teams along with their star running backs can be the difference. Connecticut and Temple played at the Linc yesterday in the rain so the field will also not be in top shape. Each team heads into this game with injuries at the wideout position so it should be easy Steven Jackson vs. Brian Westbrook.

Trent Cole vs. Orlando Pace. This is a huge match up today. Is Orlando actually healthy or are the Rams hiding something. Orlando played 2 quarters in 2007, and only a few quarters in this years preseason. Is the Big-O ready to go? If he is ready to go is he ready for a huge challenge like Trent Cole? Trent Cole is probably a bad match up for Pace today. Cole had 12.5 sacks in 2007 and is a smaller (270 lb) quick rusher who will try to use his speed to turn the corner. Pace will need to use his left shoulder to push Cole further around the side to give Marc Bulger more time in the pocket. He will also need to move his feet quicker than he did it preseason and on the slower wet turf at the Linc I am not sure he can.

The Eagles Secondary. Wow what a fabulous group. They went out and got Asante Samuel, to add to their already talented group of Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown and Brian Dawkins. In addition they have hard hitting safety play from Quinton Mikell and Sean Considine as well. Bulger needs to be on his game today. However with basically only a healthy Torry Holt will they be able to exploit the over-aggressive Eagles with some double moves?

Will the Eagles be able to pass at all? You know Andy Reid wants to put up 40+ passes today but to who. The Eagles will be without starting wideouts Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown. Look for the Eagles to throw several deep balls to rookie WR DeSean Jackson. There should be some nice speed burning contest down the sidelines today between DeSean Jackson and Tye Hill, and also for the Rams Keenan Burton and Sheldon Brown.

Steven Jackson's effectiveness. Without touches again in the preseason can Jackson be at the top of his game out of the box? The Rams have an advantage with a large O-line against a smaller quicker Eagles front-7. The Rams will need to slow this game down and take time off the clock and wear down the Eagles. It is like playing the Chicago Blackhawks in their old barn you have to make it out of the first 10 minutes of the street fight. Don't get knocked out early make them play 60 minutes to beat you.

Coaching. I do not like what either will probably do today. Luckily Linehan has hopefully turned over most everything to Al Saunders and Jim Hasslet. You know Reid without receivers will still try to throw to many passes and with a lead they never run the clock which should keep the Rams in this one.

The unknown hero. Some games are simple Jackson vs. Westbrook. Some are more complicated and a surprise star emerges. If that happens today I like DeSean Jackson to be that star for Philly and Randy McMichael for the Rams. McMichael along with Steven Jackson are clearly the motivational leaders for the Rams on the offensive side of the ball.

THE PICK!!!!

Well I have to go with the Eagles today. The great secondary and pass pressure against the unknown of how well Marc Bulger will actually stay in the pocket and look down field, and the lack of depth at WR will be too much for the Rams to over come. I am not sold that Orlando Pace or Fakhir Brown are completely healthy. With the sloppy turn and the lack of receivers on Philly I look for the Rams to stay in this game. A huge turnover can win it. Can Leonard Little get around the corner and knock the ball from McNabb and get the Rams some easy points? We shall see. Thats all for now enjoy the game!

Eagles 16 - Rams 10

2008 NFL Season Predictions

Well all the experts do it, so why not me? It is extremely hard to predict the next 17 weeks since there will be many injuries for teams to deal with. Please feel free to comment or send us your own and we will post them.

AFC East - New England, Buffalo, New York, Miami

AFC North - Pittsburgh, *Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore

AFC South - Indianapolis, *Jacksonville, Tennessee, Houston

AFC West - San Diego, Denver, Kansas City, Oakland

NFC East - Dallas, *New York, *Philadelphia, Washington

NFC North - Green Bay, Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit

NFC South - New Orleans, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Atlanta Falcons

NFC West - Seattle, Arizona, St. Louis, San Francisco

Wild Card Winners - Jacksonville, Cleveland, New York Giants, Philadelphia

AFC Champion - New England

NFC Champion - New York Giants

Superbowl Champion - New England Patriots.

Just an FYI I hate the Patriots and did part of this in the hopes to jinx them. However I do believe they will be on a mission after last year, however I do expect them to come back to the pack a bit. The easy 6 division wins they will have gives them a huge edge in getting home field advantage again.

NFC West Predictions

Well this is it, the start of the 2008 NFL season. Everyone has hope, everyone is 0-0, how will it all finish? No football fan wants the next 17 weeks to just fly by, but we all want to know what the end results will be. Will your team be on top of the heap, rebuilding, drafting early in 2009? Below you will find my predictions for the NFC West, the home of our St. Louis Rams. Please chime in with your thoughts and comments. The NFC West is a very weak division. Every team has some huge flaws. The biggest flaw for each team is their schedule. Having to play every team in the NFC East along with the New England Patriots is no favor to these teams.

1. Seattle Seahawks - As they say they are the champs until you knock them off. The Seahawks have dominated this division now for a while, and I believe that trend will continue in 2008. I am not sold on their receiving core, however their defense and HUGE home field advantage give them the edge in this division.

Prediction 10-6

2. Arizona Cardinals - I am going to give the Cardinals a slight edge heading into the season for 2nd place. I base most of this on the fact that they are getting the bottom of the AFC East early. The Cardinals will play games against the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, and Buffalo Bills all within the first five weeks of the season. This will give the Cardinals a chance to get off to a positive start, but will they. History will tell us that the Cardinals are best after the season when the fans break out the ifs and buts. The Cardinals do tend to implode so the fact that Boldin is disgruntled heading into the season, and the team has a QB controversy should not surprise anyone.

Prediction 6-10

3. St. Louis Rams - The Rams have some of the biggest potential and biggest question marks coming into the season. I based a lot of this prediction on my lack of faith in Scott Linehan. The Schedule makers did not do the Rams any favors with games against every team in the NFC East within the first 6 weeks of the season, OUCH. With a new offensive coordinator in Al Saunders, and only one veteran receiver in Torry Holt, I do not expect the Rams to start off well. The Rams will have to start off very strong to avoid going 1-6 in their first seven games. On the upside the offense will have Marc Bulger, Torry Holt, Steven Jackson, and Randy McMichael who could all have Pro Bowl years. Too many questions about Orlando Pace and the defense will keep this team from succeeding this year. However if they manage to win 3 of the first 7 watch out.

Prediction 6-10

4. San Francisco 49ers - There is just not enough here to work with. Frank Gore must be screaming HELP ME! The 49ers head into the 2008 season with Mad Mike Martz as the new offensive coordinator, J.T. O'Sullivan as the starting QB, and no offense to Isaac Bruce, but he 49ers have to have the worst receiving core in the NFL. Why the Niners spent money of veterans like Justin Smith and Isaac Bruce I just can not understand. This team is still in rebuilding mode do they not see that? It will be another long year in the bay for the Niners and Raiders.

Prediction 3-13

NFL Week 1 Predictions

Every week I will make my NFL gameday predictions. We would love it if you share your opinions, or your own -predictions in the comment area or our Fan-Sided forum area. All picks will be straight-up, not against the spread.

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Tennessee Titans

New York Jets

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

San Diego Chargers

San Francisco 49ers

Dallas Cowgirls

Indianapolis Colts

Green Bay Packers

Oakland Raiders

Last Weeks Results - None

Year-To-Date Results - 0-0

Week 1 Rams vs. Eagles - Injury Report

NFL injuries play a key part in every NFL game. This weeks game between the St. Louis Rams and Philadelphia Eagles will be no different. The below injury report is from NFL.com. The Eagles are coming into the game without their two top receivers, and if you are a St. Louis Rams fan you have to be a little anxious to see if Orlando Pace and Fakhir Brown can make it through a full contact game.

Name	Position	Injury	Practice Status	Game Status
St. Louis Rams
Donnie Avery	WR	Knee	Did Not Participate In Practice	Out
Fakhir Brown	CB	Shoulder	Full Participation in Practice	Probable
Brian Leonard	RB	Shoulder	Full Participation in Practice	Probable
Brett Romberg	C	Hand	Full Participation in Practice	Probable
Philadelphia Eagles
Victor Abiamiri	DE	Wrist	Out (Definitely Will Not Play)	Out
Kevin Curtis	WR	Hernia	Out (Definitely Will Not Play)	Out
Reggie Brown	WR	Hamstring	Did Not Participate In Practice	Doubtful
Lorenzo Booker	RB	Hip	Full Participation in Practice	Probable
Chris Clemons	DE	Calf	Full Participation in Practice	Probable
Sean Considine	S	Hand	Full Participation in Practice	Probable
Brian Dawkins	S	Ankle	Full Participation in Practice	Probable

The Experts Have Spoken - NFL Week 1 Predictions

Like most people say, what do they know anyway? Around the internet the so called "experts" are making their Week 1 NFL Predictions. Below you can see just a few of the many that can be found on the internet from major sports sites. Everyone predicts a long opening day for the Rams. Will it be? Check for my (Stlvinnie) prediction shortly!

Yahoo

Jason Cole - Eagles
Charles Robinson - Eagles
Michael Silver - Eagles

ESPN

Mike Ditka - Eagles
Tom Jackson - Eagles
Chris Mortensen - Eagles
Keeshon Johnson - Eagles
Ron Jaworski - Eagles
Mike Golic - Eagles
Wickersham - Eagles
Fleming - Eagles
Merrill Hoge - Eagles
Mark Schlereth - Eagles
Eric Allen - Eagles

Fox Sports

Jay Glazer - Eagles
Alex Marvez - Eagles
John Czarnecki - Eagles
Adam Schein - Eagles
Peter Schrager - Eagles
Adam Hasenmayer - Eagles

Great Debates: Matt Leinart or Kurt Warner?

I know we are a St. Louis Rams fan site, however we always have to keep in touch with Kurt Warner. We would like to thank Anthony over at MVN.com for asking us our opinion on the starting battle between Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner. You can read all about it here.

Who would you start?

Fan-Sided Blogs 2008 NFL Season Predictions

Fan-Sided Blogs and BallHype teamed up to do an end of season power rankings prediction for the entire NFL. Each of us bloggers ranked every team from 1-32 and BallHype was nice enough to average them all out an post the predictions as a collection as well as individually. BallHype did a great job of posting the collective results as a matrix take a look! I will have more predictions later this week.

As for this collection I would like to say that I ranked the St. Louis Rams 24th. As a group the Fan-Sided Blogs group has the Rams coming in at #25 for the 2008 season. I like to be known as someone who tells it like it is. You can be a fan without being a homer. What are your thoughts about the 2008 St. Louis Rams?

St. Louis Rams Sign Ricky Manning Jr.

The St. Louis Rams will sign Ricky Manning Jr. Both parties agreed to a contract on Sunday. Manning was released by the Chicago Bears on Tuesday. The Rams will need to release another player once Manning Jr. officially signs. Eric Bassey would be the most likely person cut after the Manning signing. Manning will add some much needed depth to the Rams secondary. The Rams already have had preseason injuries to staring CB Fakhir Brown (shoulder), and starting FS O.J. Atogwe (hamstring). Manning will be a huge upgrade over Jonathon Wade or Ron Bartell at Nickel Back, and can also start at Cornerback if the injury to Fakhir Brown lingers.

Ricky Manning Jr. has played 79 games in the NFL making 265 tackles, 14 interceptions and 3 sacks. Manning has had some off-field issues with a couple of assault charges. The 2008 St. Louis Rams draft class seemed to revolve around player character so we will see how long Manning can stay clean in a Rams uniform. He is a very emotional player so that should help the defense as well. Many Rams fans believe the Rams lost their spark on defense when they let London Fletcher go in 2002.

St. Louis Rams Select Five Team Captains

The St. Louis Rams have announced that the players have selected five 2008 St. Louis Rams team captains. On offense Marc Bulger and Torry Holt are captains. The defensive captains will be Will Witherspoon and Corey Chavous. The defensive captain for 2008 will be Todd Johnson.

I believe Witherspoon and Chavous are nice choices for the defense. Also Todd Johnson is probably the best tackler on the Rams and is a solid football player. I am once again puzzled by Marc Bulger being a captain on offense. This is the fourth year in a row for Bulger to be the captain. Bulger never shows any on field intensity which is fine, but is he the leader of this group or trying to force himself to become the leader. I think it is quite easy to see when the team plays that Steven Jackson is the emotional leader of the offense. Spark will be provided from Jackson and Randy McMichael in 2008. Just like in hockey, it is only a title folks not the end of the world.

St. Louis Rams Make Final Roster Cuts

The St. Louis Rams final roster cuts were made on Saturday. The Rams had to cut 13 players to get down to the league roster limit of 53. There were once again no huge surprises. The best news is that the Rams kept Dane Looker and Brock Berlin who deserved the last spots. Dane Looker is a fan favorite and simply out played all of the other young receivers trying for the #6 slot. Brock Berlin is a very decent #3 QB who out played Bruce Gradkowski. Brock is very accurate and has a quick release. This is the best set of 3 QBs the Rams have had on their roster in a long time. Rams roster cuts listed below:

• Derek Stanley

• Dustin Fry

• Darius Vinnett

• Brandon Williams

• Mark LeVoir

• Reche Caldwell

• David Macklin

• C.J. Ah You

• Lance Ball

• Marc Magro

• Russ Weil

• Julius Wilson

• Bruce Gradkowski

The Turk Visits 10 St. Louis Rams On Friday

The St. Louis Rams cut 10 players on Friday to get down to a 66 man roster. League rules mandate that the Rams cut 13 more players prior to 3PM on Saturday. Marques Hagans and Jerome Carter were the only big names released today. Carter drafted out of Florida State just never has improved his safety play. Hagans just became part of the numbers game. Simply put he is not one of the Rams top 6 receivers. See the full list of Rams released below. We will post the final 13 cuts tomorrow once they are announced by the Rams. I don't expect many surprises.

• Jerome Carter

• Marques Hagans

• Matt Caddell

• Nick Cleaver

• Tanard Davis

• Cortney Grixby

• Donovan Raiola

• Marcus Riley

• Henry Smith

• Willie Williams

St. Louis Rams Thunderstruck 21-17 by Chiefs

The Governors Cup between the St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs Thursday night was delayed by rain and a lightning storm for 90 minutes. Then it was the Chiefs who struck with lightning quickness scoring 21 points in the first 15 minutes and 38 seconds of game play on two touchdowns from Kolby Smith and one from Bobby Sippio. The final score was 21-17 Chiefs. To recap the rest of the game I would simply say "move along nothing to see here". There truly was nothing to see here. The Rams did not start any of their projected 22 starters. On this night no one from the 2nd or 3rd string really stood out. Dane Looker had 3 catches for 32 yards and a TD, which should lock up the 6th WR position on the roster. Tomorrow the Rams will have to cut the roster down to 53 players. I think the Rams need to keep their eye on the waiver wire for a veteran linebacker and safety to possibly pick up to help out depth. The Rams have the 2nd position on the waiver wire, so other than Miami they will have first pick of anyone out there.

Odds To Win The 2009 Super Bowl XLIII

Bodog has posted some interesting odds on the St. Louis Rams 2008 season. Go there and check them out. I must say if I had a ton of money I would fly to Vegas and put down some large green on the fact that there is no way in hell I think Drew Bennett will reach 720 yards receiving.

Odds to win the 2009 Super Bowl XLIII
St. Louis Rams 70/1

Odds to win the 2008 NFC Championship
St. Louis Rams 30/1

Odds to win the NFC West Division
St. Louis Rams 5/1

St Louis Rams Regular Season Wins
Over 6.5 -130
Under 6.5 Even

Marc Bulger Passing Yards
Over/Under 3325

Steven Jackson Rushing Yards
Over/Under 1300

Torry Holt Receiving Yards
Over/Under 1175

Drew Bennett Receiving Yards
Over/Under 720

Chris Long Sacks
Over/Under 6.5

St. Louis Rams vs. Kansas City Chiefs Highlights

I would like to thank ManningAlliance for posting Week 4 highlights of the St. Louis Rams vs. the Kansas City Chiefs Governor's Cup game. This Highlight package includes scoring plays from last nights game, including touchdowns from Dane Looker and Lance Ball.

• Kolby Smith TD

• Bobby Sippio TD

• Dane Looker TD

• Lance Ball TD

St. Louis Rams vs. Kansas City Chiefs GameDay

The St. Louis Rams will take on the Kansas City Chiefs Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium, for the Governors Cup. This will be the fourth and final preseason game for both teams. The Rams are 2-1 and the Chiefs are 1-2. Typically the fourth preseason game is a snoozer and is only really meant to weed down the roster, while you pray none of your really good players get hurt. Below are a few items we believe Rams fans may want to be watching in tonight’s game.

• Larry Johnson – Larry Johnson comes in with 35 preseason carries the most of any feature back in the NFL. Since the Chiefs are having a hard time on offense in the preseason they plan to give Larry some more work tonight. Lets watch to see if Carriker and Glover can continue to clog the middle and if the linebackers can fill and tackle a huge back like Johnson


• Young Star Match-ups – There is a chance that we may get to see Chris Long go up against Brandon Albert tonight. Albert has been bothered by a bad ankle but may see some playing time. In addition a possible clash of beasts between Glenn Dorsey and Richie Incognito may also happen. Rams fans would love to see these two go at it with or without helmets.


• WR Battle – This is going to go down to the wire. It is almost certain that the Rams will keep Torry Holt, Drew Bennett, Dante Hall, Donnie Avery, and Keenan Burton. The big question after that is how many WRs they will keep on the roster 6 or 7. If they go with 6 it is going to be a huge battle tonight. Dane Looker, Marques Hagans, Brandon Williams, Derek Stanley and Reche Caldwell are all still trying to make the squad. I see the battle just coming down to what do the Rams want to keep most the sure Dane Looker, or a backup WR with return ability like everyone else except Caldwell who I think is certainly cut in the next wave. Looker is the best of that group and should receive the final roster spot.

That’s it for now lets just hope we do not incur any more injuries during tonight’s game. By the 3^rd Quarter it’s possible you may want to check out the start of the NCAA college football season as NC State will be taking on South Carolina and the old ball coach.

NFC West Predictions

ESPN 2008 NFL predictions were released today. To no ones surprise the St. Louis Rams received ZERO votes to finish first in the NFC West. ESPN used a staff of 16 writers to predict the winner of each division as well as the Superbowl Champion. 14 writers selected the Seattle Seahawks and two selected the Arizona Cardinals.

The Rams did receive one shout out from Seth Wickersham, from ESPN the Mag who did select the Rams as one of the NFC Wild Card participants. Seth, we thank you.

Eleven writers selected an AFC team as the winner of the Superbowl, while the remaining 5 selected the Dallas Cowboys.

This leads me to the discussion of parity which the NFL is always talking about. However is there parity? Just like 2007, the 2008 NFL appears to be full of the haves, and have-nots’. The ESPN predictions further prove this. In six of the twelve divisions the writers gave at least 12 of the 16 first place votes to one team. In addition of the 32 teams in the NFL, 17 of them received ZERO first place votes in the ESPN predictions. The league is once again top-driven. Fans are not talking about how their team they can win it all, they have more conversations about who can beat the Patriots, who can beat the Colts, who can beat the Chargers, who can beat the Cowgirls Cowboys.

In addition to the above uplifting information I would also like to DONE of the 16 writers selected Chris Long as the Defensive Rookie of the Year. Thanks ESPN.

To view the ESPN 2008 NFL predictions click here.

St. Louis Rams Season Preview

NFL.com has produced their St. Louis Rams Season Preview. NFL.com is not very high on the Rams in 2008. Four of their feature writers have the Rams finishing between 3-13 and 6-10. Currently I can not disagree with their opinion too much. I have been on record as saying if Orlando Pace can stay healthy and play close to 16 games I believe the Rams can win up to 7 games. I am not a fair weather fan, just telling the truth. The beginning of the St. Louis Rams 2008 schedule is just too hard. What are your predictions for the Rams in 2008. Let us know, or take our poll.

In Saunders' offense this year, they will stress motion and shifting to try to create mismatches, use a lot of four-receiver formations, which were notably missing in 2007, and when not using four wideouts, employ a fullback much of the time.

Whatever the Rams manage on offense could be helped by a defensive line that looks like it will be a strength, even with defensive end Chris Long, the second player chosen in the draft, stuggling to make the transition to the NFL. There is good depth in the line but the front seven is undersized and susceptible to a power running attack.

Missouri Tigers Go To The Sugar Bowl

The Missouri Tigers and the Big 12 continue to not get the ultimate respect from the media. Rivals.com already has the Missouri Tigers playing in the Sugar Bowl against the Florida Gators. Rivals.com has taken the time to already predict the 34 bowl match ups for this season. They have predicted that the National Championship game will be between the USC Trojans and the Georgia Bulldogs. It appears that the Oklahoma Sooners and Missouri Tigers will lose at least 1 game. I can't disagree with the possible title game between USC and Georgia but it would be nice if Missouri or even Oklahoma were picked to win it all. Well at least Missouri continues to be in the conversation. Who do you predict to be in this years National Championship game?

See all of the Rivals.com bowl predictions here.

The Future Of The St. Louis Rams

I am not one to ever get too excited about a preseason game, but I must admit I liked what I saw Saturday night at the Edward Jones Dome when the St. Louis Rams beat the Baltimore Ravens 24-10. The fact that the Rams were actually able to score with their first team offense, for the first time in 11 preseason games is not even what I was excited about. I am excited because you can see the possibility of a core of a very nice offense being put together by the St. Louis Rams and Al Saunders. You always need to be building for the future. The Rams can currently field an offense with Marc Bulger 31, Randy McMichael 29, Steven Jackson 25, Donnie Avery 24, and Keenan Burton 23. It is extreamly early but how nice would it be for the Rams to groom a new Holt/Bruce combo. Avery and Burton are both very young and very fast, and can learn a ton under Torry Holt and Al Saunders. Burton caught 3 balls for 63 yards and a touchdown Saturday night. Keenan also made a brilliant one-handed catch that was over-ruled but you could see the potential. Avery was able to catch 5 balls for 65 yards and had a few others get away. He was able to get open pretty easy on this night. In addition he almost broke the opening kickoff and you can see that he has explosive speed. Fans should enjoy watching these two when they are on the field, both players look to score after making a catch.