Week 7 Gameday: Dallas Cowboys @ St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams will take on the Dallas Cowboys Sunday at 12 noon CST at the Edward Jones Dome. Dallas has lost two of three and with that dropped one game back of the New York Giants in the tough NFC East. It was a long week for the Cowgirls, they lost to the Arizona Cardinals, Tony Romo broke a finger, and Pacman Jones was suspended by the league. The Rams are coming off their first game and victory under Jim Haslett, eating the Washington Redskins 19-17 at FedEx Field.

Injuries will play a large part in today's game. The Cowboys are not saying if they are playing Tony Romo or not. I believe this is just to try and keep the Rams guessing, I do not expect Romo to play. The Cowboys injury list is long including Felix Jones RB, Kyle Kosier G, Terence Newman CB, Anthony Spencer LB, Pat Watkins S, Kevin Burnett LB, Tony Romo QB, Keith Davis S, Tank Johnson DT & Roy Williams S. Some of these players may play but at least they are nicked up. The Rams will be without Tye Hill and Orlando Pace. Fakhir Brown is back to replace Hill, and Adam Goldberg will take over for the injured Pace.

I hate to be Mr. glass half empty but if you watched the Rams Redskins game the Rams offense was again awful. The Rams managed just 157 yards of offense before the hail mary pass from ulger to Avery. On the plus side they took advantage of every break and played the full 60 minutes. You have to be very concerned about the Rams offense against the explosive Cowboys. The Rams are not going to be able to win this game 13-10. Bulger must step up, and stay up to make some plays. The Rams are 28th in passing, 29th in rushing, and 31st overall in offense.

The Rams will once again be outmatched even if Romo does not play. The Arizona Cardinals were able to beat the Cowboys last week because Kurt Warner stood in the pocket and took a beating while going 22 of 30 for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns. Can Bulger stand in the pocket and get knocked down 20 times and make those plays? I have not seen it in a very long time. The Cardinals on D were also not afraid of the Cowboys and went after them for teh full three hours in attack mode. The Rams must do the same.

I think once again the game will come down to line play. The Cowboys play a 3-4 which is something the Rams rarely see. DeMarcus Ware will be coming off the corner with Chris Canty and this will be big trouble for Adam Goldberg. In addition Jay Ratliff will be lined up right over Nick Leckey. Look for Ratliff to shut down Steven Jackson up the middle. On offense the Cowboys have Marion Barber, Jason Witten, T.O., and now Roy Williams as well. The Cowboys have more talent on the field and that should win out. For the Rams to win they will need to be able to take advantage of the Cowboys secondary by attacking down field with Donnie Avery and Keenan Burton. On defense the Rams need to bring pressure all day and tackle Barber when they have a chance. Overall the Rams will need to be a plus 3 in the turnover battle to have a chance. A ton of people are picking the Rams to win this game but if you look at it there is no reason to do so. This is the same Rams team that can not score, and has lost 8 of it's last 9 regular season games. The secondary has not stopped anyone and people now believe they can shut down Owens and Williams? Let's be realistic the Rams will need every break in the world to hang in this one for 60 minutes.

Prediction:


Dallas Cowboys 30 - St. Louis Rams 17