Rams Fall Prey To Eagles 31-13

What a beautiful day for football we had on Sunday. The sun was shining, the brats were grillin, and the fans were loud, fired up and ready for some football. The Edward Jones Dome was electric for the first time in years. There were beautiful tributes to the heroes and families of 9/11, and everyone was ready for some football.

The St. Louis Rams came out in dominating fashion in this one. The Philadelphia Eagles started the game from their on 12 and the Rams made short work of them on the first series, Chris Long ending their drive with a sack of Michael Vick on the 15 yard line. After a short punt the Rams were in business at the Eagles 47. The Rams game plan that should have included a heavy dose of Steven Jackson started out in just that way. On the Rams very first offensive play Steven Jackson took the ball over the left side and sprinted 47 yards for a touchdown and the Rams were up 7-0. The Eagles Quickly countered with their own 80 yard drive to tie the score at seven. The dome was still electric as you could just feel this was the day until...

On the Rams second drive they continued to pound the rock and moved the ball 50 yards to the Eagles 32 yard line. On the 10th play of the drive Sam Bradford fumbled while dropping back to pass, and Juqua Parker scooped up the ball and raced 56 yards to give the Eagles a 14-7 lead and the Rams were never able to catch up. This was the beginning of the end for the Rams on this afternoon.

The rest of the game featured the Rams trying to claw their way back into the game but they just never could come up with the big play. The defense struggled to contain Michael Vick who accounted for 285 yards through the air and on the ground. The Rams also were not able to stop the cut back runs that killed them throughout the preseason as LeSean McCoy ran for 122 yards on only 15 carries. The Eagles were far from sharp but they were still able to make plays. Michael Vick was only 14 of 32 but the Eagles had receivers running free throughout the Rams secondary the entire game.

The crushing blow in this game truly is not the loss of the game but the loss of many of the Rams star players. Steven Jackson left the game after only two carries with a quad injury. Sam Bradford left in the second half after injuring the index finger on his throwing hand. Danny Amendola went down with a dislocated elbow. The three main offensive weapons of the Rams went down it became harder and harder for them to move the ball. For the game the Rams finished with 335 total yards but it was just not enough. We also learned that Ron Bartell suffered two fractures in his next, Bradley Fletcher has a sprained toe, Jason Smith has a sprained ankle and C.J. Ah You hurt his wrist.

More injury updates and grades will follow. For now the Rams *MASH* unit and medics will try to get enough Rams healthy enough to go take on the New York Giants (0-1) in New York on Monday Night Football.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com