Steve Spagnuolo walks the Rams sideline for the last time.

Ultimately, the particulars of this game will matter far less than this:

@mortreport
Rams will fire coach Steve Spagnuolo and GM Billy Devaney, per team source.

The first hatchet to fall in post-game action fell just hours after the St Louis Rams had finished adding a few cosmetic late scores to make a 34-27 finish over the San Francisco 49ers look a lot more competitive than perhaps it was. The Niners gave Rams-killer Frank Gore most of the day off, and still managed to rack up an arms-length 20-7 halftime lead. As the final 30 minutes ticked away, the Rams sideline came to a belated realization: Hey, maybe we should go for broke.

Suddenly, Spagnuolo and Josh McDaniels had Kellen Clemens and the offense swaggering all over the field, a half-comical "Don't let me get into my zone" moment. Clemens found Lloyd in the end zone on a beautiful deep fade, the Rams converted an onside kick then got Lloyd deep in the end zone again to draw a first-and-goal penalty that was actually converted into a score, thanks to Cadillac Williams.

The few thousand fans left in the building were finally getting a season's worth of entertainment. Too bad for next year's season ticket sales that none of these key players are necessarily coming back next year. 

• Devaney is out.
• Spagnuolo is out.
• McDaniels will twist in the wind until Stan Kroenke gets his front office sorted out, or until he's hired away by Scott Pioli.
• Wherever McDaniels goes, Brandon Lloyd will follow.
• Cadillac Williams is an unrestricted free agent, as is Kellen Clemens.
• Even special teams coach Tom McMahon, who got his unit to execute a final perfect onside kick opportunity to keep his team in the game, is likely to fall victim to the vagaries of the next regime. (Failing to notice or cover a camoflaged Michael Crabtree on a 49ers fake-punt-thruned-touchdown won't look good on the resume.)

As usual, the carryover of this team's identity falls on just a few players: Steven Jackson, James Laurinaitis, and Chris Long. Oh, and whatever is left of Sam Bradford's psyche after a ruinous sophomore season has completely depleted his Q Score. (Don't try calling Charter's customer service this week: they're all Photoshopping David Freese's face into their next ad pitch.)

These three players, and perhaps defensive coordinator Ken Flajole, are now the building blocks of the franchise. One day into 2012, and it's feeling a lot like 2009 all over again.

For the sake of argument let us assume that fate shines on the Rams this Sunday in their game against the San Francisco 49ers. Granted a loss here should not be difficult to come by with the 49ers still battling for the overall number two seed in the NFC. But to be on the safe side I am going to go ahead and ask fate for some help here and in Jacksonville.

This weekend might bring about the largest number of Rams fans cheering on another team in a given week outside of the Super Bowl. A Colts win paired with a Rams loss would do wonders for this franchise. While there are factions out there, most likely close to the team, that will say they are playing for the win. And that is the right thing to say. However one cannot dispute how much the top pick will do for this team versus the second overall pick.

The difference is not even close. So that begs the question, just what should the Rams do with next April's top pick.

There are three potential scenarios in my opinion. Here I lay them out in order of what will be most beneficial to the Rams long term.

The big news of the game: Ben Roethlisberger will not play, despite the fact that the Steelers' playoff positioning could still swing dramatically in the season's last two weeks. Analysis: don't worry, they're playing the Rams.

Kellen Clemens and the Rams will be leaving the comfort of the dome for punishing 34 degree temperatures and even more punishing hits from Jerome Harrison, Troy Polamalu and company. And while downtrodden teams like the Colts, Chiefs and Cardinals have staged mini-uprisings against superior opposition, the "Any Given Sunday" effects seem to pass right by our offensively crippled Rams. And it will take some offense to beat the Steelers in their park.

You have to go back to 2001 against the Ravens in their prime to find a team that beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh while scoring fewer than seventeen points. The Rams, under Josh McDaniels, have scored seventeen points only twice.

We expect the team to play hard, to give maximum effort, and even to get a few good licks in on Batch. But beyond that, this game is nothing more than a coal-black lump in the stomachs of Rams fans, while we wait for the inevitable sweeping changes to come.

The Steelers organization provides an instructive model for St Louis, however: build a blueprint and stick to it, regardless of coaching changes. Assemble players both smart and mean on defense, and stockpile receiving weapons on offense (Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace are more than enough to make up for the decline of Hines Ward and the loss of Santonio Holmes). Invest in your young coaches, and surround them with elder mentors capable of sustaining the team's culture and knowledge from year to year, generation to generation.

Then just line up and beat the other guy. Something the Steelers know well how to do, and something the Rams have yet to learn. Today will be a painful lesson.

Justin Blackmon may not be a Julio Jones, but he could have a Julio Jones-type impact as a rookie for the Rams next year.

For those of you looking ahead, Matt Miller and Andrew Kulha of Bleacher Report and the 4th And Long NFL draft podcast devoted a special edition of their show to the Rams' draft needs. I was supposed to join the conversation, but a time zome mixup on my part had me dialing in an hour late. Nevertheless, it's a great listen.

Matt and Andrew discuss who the Rams should be targeting in the first round (Justin Blackmon), the prospects of trading down (the Rams may field more calls than anyone), and which hidden cornerstones this franchise might still have, buried under the smoldering wreckage of this season.

My apologies to Matt and Andrew for not joining in, but there's thought-provoking stuff in here, and more high-quality NFL draft content in their B/R archives.

This week’s great debate, chicken and egg style. Which comes first, the protection or the playmaker? Does a great OT make the QB and WR combo or does the Play-maker at WR make the QB and tackle look better. It’s an age old question. And with USC OT Matt Kalil declaring for the draft an important one for the St. Louis Rams.

The Rams have their QB of the future. Whether you agree with this or not is beside the point. Sam is here to stay.  Stan Kroenke and the Rams are not going to eat his contract just two years into his career. Nor should they.

But Bradford needs help. Lots of help. The Rams' goal heading into the offseason ought to be to accumulate as many picks as they can. If they can trade out of the top three picks, still end up with a game-breaking receiver (Justin Blackmon) and pick up more elite talent, they have to do it. And if it means conning folks to do it, do it. Please.

The top of the 2012 draft is full of intriguing talent that could immediately help the Rams: big offensive tackles who can block out the sun (Matt Kalil, Jonathan Martin, Riley Reiff); a receiver who can be a big-play threat for this offense (Blackmon); a couple of lockdown cornerbacks, too (Morris Claiborne, Dre' Kirkpatrick).

So as the season winds to its close it looks to be a lock the Rams will be picking in the top 3.  So the discussion comes down to two players.

Matt Kalil or Justin Blackmon…Who do you want? Who do the Rams need more? Yes the Minnesota Vikings could mess it all up and take away the choice entirely by picking Kalil themselves. But assuming the choice is there which direction will the Rams decide to go.

The Protection

Matt Kalil is seen as one of the best LT prospects since Jake Long, though most do not grade him quite that high that is still quite a statement. He looks to have all the qualities of a franchise LT, something the Rams desperately need if they ever want to receive full value of the Sam Bradford pick. And it is time to call Jason Smith a bust, it’s true, then there is the possibility he may never play again given his recent concussion history and Rodger Saffold took a big step backwards this season, but still has a good enough skill set to start. Should the Rams decide to go with Kalil a move over to the right side for Saffold should not be that difficult.

Of course investing another $20 million plus into what is already the most expensive offensive line in the NFL is a deterrent for some. To alleviate the stress here an option could be to move Harvey Dahl over to RT where he has been playing, keep Saffold on the left side and try Jason Smith out at guard where his foot work won’t be as exposed.

The Playmaker

Had Justin Blackmon come out of Oklahoma State in 2011 he would have been a first rounder last year, and most likely gone to the Rams with 14^th pick. By deciding to stay at school for another year he put himself in position to go in the first five picks of the 2012 draft.

Said by some to be a better prospect coming out of college than Dez Bryant he has been uber productive and even dominant in college. Before the upcoming Fiesta Bowl Blackmon already has 113 catches, 1336 yards, and 15 TDs. His production cannot be questioned, but what will be is; is he the product of a pass happy Big 12 and the spread system at OSU or is he a legit top 3 prospect. I defer to Dez Bryant’s transition to answer this question.

Whichever direction the Rams go they will be filling a big need and making the team better. And neither pick is the wrong one. But for a team that needs to win, and win now deciding which player will get them there sooner makes all the difference.

According to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Rams wide receiver Austin Pettis has been suspended for four games for violating NFL rules on performance-enhancing substances. Pettis will miss the final two games of the 2011 season, and the first two games of 2012, most notably without pay.

Pettis is eligible to participate in all offseason and preseason practices and games.

A third-round pick out of Boise State last April, Pettis has appeared in 12 games with three starts. Because of injuries he has been the team's No. 3 wideout over much of the second half of the season.

He's currently tied for fourth on the squad in receptions (27), good for 256 yards, with no touchdowns. He also has returned 15 punts for 139 yards.

With Pettis unavailable, that leaves the Rams with Brandon Lloyd, Danario Alexander, and Brandon Gibson available. Nick Miller and Dominique Curry also are on the roster at wide receiver.

When it rains it pours.

Kellen Clemens showed nice mobility, and the ability to get up from a series of big hits. Necessary qualities for a Rams QB.

The Kellen Clemens era began for the St Louis Rams on Sunday, and unfortunately for Rams fans, it followed pretty much the same script as the rest of this dysfunctional season.

Start out showing some life. Work your way downfield but stall out when in scoring position. Settle for field goals and trust your defense. Then watch stolidly as your defense starts to break down, and the opponents pull away.

The Rams defense was the best unit on the field through the game's first half, as they stifled everyone but rookie phenom AJ Green
(94 yards on 4 first-half catches) and held Cincinnati to a lone field goal. Meanwhile, their offense turned a bevy of great field position into a trio of field goal tries, converting them into six points.

A tough half of hard-nosed football served as the introduction to Marshall Faulk's halftime tribute, but the team just couldn't sustain any momentum coming out of the break. Cincinnati, with a big nod to Jerome Boger's criminally incompetent referee crew, put seventeen unanswered points on the board, grinding out a big win and grinding away any hope for an upset win.

In what has become a running theme, the Rams simply could not establish anything on offense until late in the fourth quarter, when a lightbulb came on for Josh McDaniels. Why not try a short-passing game geared toward moving the chains? Why not indeed. If only we might have seen a consistent approach all game long, instead of the usual variety of trickeration and counter-counter-counterintuitive playcalling. (2nd and 23? How about a toss sweep? 3rd and 22, how about a tight end screen?)

And so an offense that didn't turn the ball over once, and got to midfield or crossed it nine times came away with only thirteen points.

A critical turning point came on fourth down early in the third quarter with the ball right on the 50, with a first down mere inches away. Cincinnati had just tied the game at six, and the offense needed to respond. The Rams punted away, a decision that should come back to haunt them all week long. The Bengals went on to score fourteen unanswered to put the game away.

Just another game filed under "missed opportunities." That file is getting pretty thick now, as a lost season ticks away.

The St. Louis Rams will be donning their throwback uniforms in tribute to Marshall Faulk, and contemplating a quest familiar to the beginning of his days here: taking an unknown quarterback into battle against a superior foe.  

To me, the linchpin of the Rams success in those years wasn't Kurt Warner, though he was obviously a catalyst; not Bruce or Holt, though they were as talented a tandem as you could ask for; the key to making that Martz hybrid of Sid Gilman's offense work was the multifaceted threat of Marshall Faulk out of the backfield. Defenses could adjust to take away the vertical threats of the wideouts, as Tampa did with their version of the Cover Two. But no defensive scheme could take Faulk out of the game plan, because he - like the Rams - could beat you in so many ways.

Faulk was rewarded for his record-shattering play by being called up to Canton to have his bust enshrined in Pro Football's Hall of Fame, one of the elite few to be honored in their first year of eligibility. Frankly, this surprised no one who had ever seen him play. We put together a massive compendium of fans' favorite Marshall Faulk memories back in August, and the list is as impressive in its length as in its variety.

We see Faulk now, as highly polished in his NFL Network studio as his bronzed likeness in Canton, reflecting the greatness of his on-field success. It is all the more fascinating, then, to look back at where he came from. I went looking for more Faulk tribute videos, and found this one from WWLV TV in New Orleans, profiling the rain-soaked, chewed-up practice field he began his playing career on.

Despite their team's record and the winter chill, the St Louis Rams are going to do their best to bring the love back into the Dome this weekend. It's Marshall Faulk's Hall of Fame enshrinement celebration, and the Rams will be decked out in their throwback blue and gold for the occasion.

During the Greatest Show on Turf years, the Dome was a truly fearsome place to play. Perhaps the saddest part of the post-Show era hasn't been the demise of the roster, or the loss of iconic players, or the carousel of coaches - it's been the loss of that Dome dominance, that part that the fans felt they played in imposing our will on the opposing team.

We started to get some of that mojo back in 2010, posting a winning home record for the first time in years, only to have that slip away again this season. So now, in one of the season's darkest hours, might be a strange time to ask, but I want to know how the die-hard fans feel. The ones that still tailgate, still show up, still make the "First Down" sign (and refused to be embarrassed by the Ram Rules video).

Working in partnership with Michael Schneid of his soon-to-be-launched GameDay Experience website, we've put this poll on the Ed Jones Dome together. We want to hear your thoughts. Our poll is after the break. 

Pepsi & Coke, Imo’s & Cecil Whittakers, Ford & Chevy. St. Louis has had its share from great debates throughout the years. Now a new one has taken the Metro area by storm. To keep or not to keep Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo. A debate as polarizing at the Hatfield–McCoy feud. You are either on one side or the other, no middle ground to be found here.

This is not to determine who is right or wrong. Rather to present both sides…and better yet who is taking them. Which side are you on? So read on, succumb to peer pressure or not. Be bold and form your own opinion, or not.

Here are the arguments: Click on the links for the full story.

To Keep

Aaron Nagler from CheeseHeadtv: If (probably when) the Rams fire Spagnuolo, they will be making a huge mistake.

Bryan Burwell from the St. Louis Post Dispatch: The key to the long-term success of some potentially gifted first-time NFL head coaches is having the ability to survive their early mistakes.

Aaron Schafer from River Front Times

Derek Pease from RamsHerd: While 2010 does not excuse this season’s failures, at the same time the short comings of the 2011 Rams should not wash away last year’s success. It’s a mind bender I know. But one that deserves serious thought.

A Bipartisan Look At Both Sides 

 Will from RamsHerd: None of these are very satisfying, but they're all logical. But if Kroenke felt, as many angry Rams fans do, that there's just no chance of winning under Spagnuolo, then all of that logic gets blown out the window.

Not To Keep

Bernie Miklasz from the St. Louis Post Dispatch(disclaimer, doesn’t come out and say it but alludes to a Kroenke decision) : If Kroenke wants to bring back a head coach who is 10-35 with more losses on the way, we wish him the best in trying to sell season tickets for 2012.  St. Louis sports fans would rather eat dinner at Pujols 5 restaurant than sit through another Rams season like this.

Aaron Hooks from SBN St. Louis: It's time for both of them to leave and start fresh. The rankness of these past three seasons should follow these men upon their exits.

Steven Gerwel from Bleacher Report: With the recent firings of Del Rio, Haley and Sparano, Rams owner Stan Kroenke may follow the lead and let Spagnuolo go sooner rather than later if he wants to be in the mix for a top coaching candidate such as Jeff Fisher or Bill Cowher.

Ryan Van Bibber from Turf Show Times: For Kroenke and the Rams, firing Spagnuolo now, rather than delay the inevitable, would send the signal to fans that failure will no longer be tolerated by this team.

Jeff from RamsGab: Give us Rams fans something over the last three weeks of the season, because otherwise, I’m not sure what the point is to keep paying attention as the Rams fall further and further into the NFL abyss.

Derek Pease from RamsHerd: Some men excel carrying the big clip board and making the big decisions. Others do much better from the booth. As a head coach you have to be aware of both sides of the game and work to develop each.