They Are Who We Thought They Were

The first place Arizona Cardinals dominated the St. Louis Rams Sunday on their way to a 34-13 victory. After Marc Bulger hit Derek Stanley with a 80 yard touchdown pass last in the first quarter the Rams only managed 151 net yards on offense. The Rams also commited 2 costly turnovers early in the second quarter which helped the Arizona Cardinals put up 24 points in the quarter. The first was a pick six from Antrel Rolle on a ball intended for Donnie Avery. On their very next possesion Bulger was sacked by Adrian Wilson and the Arizona Cardinals recovered and turned it into 3 points. The Rams went from up 7-0 to down 10-7 in a span of four minutes time. After that the game was pretty much over.

The Rams had a chance to pull within one game of first place but seemed flat throughout the day. Steven Jackson boasted that he would play today. To start their first drive Jackson was in the huddle and then came off the field and was replaced by Antonio Pittman prior to the play. The Rams seemed to be confused throughout the day. They never seemed to know if Jackson was in or out, if the receiveres were on the right side of the field etc. It was as if the ghost of Scott Linehan was on the sideline. We have seen this Rams team before. This is the team that has a hard time stopping the opponent on their opening drive. These were the Rams that could never make a tackle or create pass pressure from their front four. These were the Rams that could not adjusted and would be outscored in the second half. We have seen these Rams and they are who we thought they were.

The Rams are who we thought they were. They are now 2-6 and on pace for a 4-12 season which is right about where they should finish. On any given Sunday the Rams can win but look out on the field, the talent level is just not high enough. We can now turn our thoughts from 1st place to the 2009 NFL draft.