The St Louis Rams' confident, physical play of the last two weeks gives me an unfamiliar feeling as we approach a road game against the Chicago Bears. I kind of expect the Rams to win. Naturally our team still has weaknesses, but I see worries on the other side as well and I can see our team taking advantage. More importantly, the resiliency showed last week makes me think twice about counting us out of anything. 

That said, the Bears are a tough team at home. Under Lovie Smith, the Bears have posted only one losing record at home - his first, in 2004. That may be as much a reason why he has been one of the league's longest-tenured coaches. So rather than queue up their Thursday Night Football embarrassment against the Packers, I went back to their week 1 home win over the Indianapolis Colts. 

Here's what I saw on tape: 

Jay Cutler is still a wreck when pressured, home or away. The Colts' defensive line came out on fire, pressuring Cutler into eight incompletions on his first eight passes, including a foolish pick-six inside his own ten yard line that gave the Colts an early 7-0 lead. 

However, when Cutler gets his feet moving, he's dangerous. Cutler began moving in the pocket a lot more, improvising at times and keeping his eyes downfield, and the Bears' offense woke up big time. And after a few series of chasing him around, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis appeared to run out of gas. The pass rush all but disappeared, which meant that the tight ends suddenly had license to release from the line of scrimmage, flooding the field with weapons. 

Brandon Marshall will be a difference maker, if the Rams single him up. The Packers apparently erased Marshall from the game plan by simply rolling a safety over top of him on every play. They also have some decent talent at cornerback as well. The Colts have neither, and Marshall ate them up early, allowing for Devin Hester and Earl Bennett to polish them off. 

Tim Jennings deserves his own island. The diminutive Bears corner has fantastic ball skills, plucking a deep pass that was ever so slightly underthrown down the sideline by Luck. When Brian Schottenheimer dials up the inevitable deep chuck to Chris Givens, Bradford would be well advised to lead his receiver by plenty.  

Henry Melton is a force inside. We've already heard this from the guys at Midway Illustrated, but the tape didn't lie. He is reminiscent of Corey Williams at defensive tackle, but more slippery. And he simply abused the Colts' interior line in this game. Andrew Luck threw more throws off his back foot than off his plant, by my rough count. 

The Colts' running backs were open all day in the passing game. Too bad none of them could catch a ball, or it might have been a much closer game. But the patient approach to moving the ball that the Rams have been using on offense should pay off well against this defense. 

This game should be reminiscent of the last two, with the Rams in it well into the fourth quarter, and be in position to possibly steal a win to go 2-1 for the first time in quite a while. The difference-maker just might be Austin Pettis, if he repeats the tough grabs over the intermediate middle that he's been making all preseason. 

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PS. This was probably the best-officiated game by the replacement refs of any that I've seen so far. The crew was decisive, unobtrusive, and generally didn't embarrass themselves. That same crew, headed by Wayne Elliott, came to St Louis in week 2 and got overwhelmed. 

Was the chippiness of the Rams' players a factor in that game getting out of hand? Was the Dome atmosphere actually more imposing than Soldier Field? (I was at the Dome ... it was as loud as I've ever heard it.) One way or the other, it will be interesting to see whether the referees play a role in the outcome of this one, and whether the Rams' boundary-pushing will come back to bite them. 

The Rams have a big test this Sunday. They are going into Soldier field to face a wounded animal, literally. The Bears generally, and Jay Cutler specifically, are emotionally wounded from their performance on national TV last Thursday. They are physically wounded as their best offensive player (Matt Forte) and best defensive player (Julius Peppers) missed practice on Wed.  Peppers returned on Thursday, but Urlacher sat out.

As most football fans know, Brian Urlacher is playing on a diminished left knee. We know of one surgery on the knee during the preseason, and John Mullen of CSNChicago.com reported two earlier surgeries on the same knee.

The Bears are back in their cave, need a win, and news has spread through the league about the new bad boy Rams. The Bears have no reason to take these Rams lightly.  Here are the factors that I believe will lead to a Rams’ victory:

1. STEADY EDDY

The Bears with Jay Cutler were 5-1 at home last year. Since 2009, the Cutler led Bears are 15-7 at home. Unfortunately, Mr. Cutler has a new weapon in Brandon Marshall, so what can the Rams do? Well, they can’t do what they did last week. They can’t fumble on the first play to allow a defensive touchdown. They can’t fall behind 21-6. Instead, the Rams need to be Steady Eddy, especially in the first quarter.

If the Bears score an offensive touchdown, fine, come back and put some points on the scoreboard. If you are getting pressure on defense, but no sacks, keep coming. On offense, stick with the short passing game that worked wonderfully in the Redskins game. As the game proceeds, the home field advantage will be minimized if the Rams are sticking around. If this game is won by the Rams, it will be won in the fourth quarter.

2. PRESSURE, PRESSURE, PRESSURE

The Rams must put pressure on Jay Cutler.  According to statistics compiled by Pro Football Focus, Jay Cutler is a dramatically different player when he is hearing footsteps (see charts below).  If you combine the stats from 2011 with the two games in 2012, Jay Cutler has thrown 248 passes without any pressure.  He completed 146 of those passes (59%) for 1792 yards, 13 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.  Under pressure, Cutler has thrown 128 passes.  He completed 68 of those passes (53%) for 986 yards, 3 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.  By definition, all sacks were a result of drop backs under pressure and Jay Cutler was sacked 32 times in 165 drop backs.

In game 1, the Rams had trouble getting pressure because they were so concerned about Megatron. If game 2, the Rams had to worry about RGIII’s mobility. The Bears and Cutler offer neither of these hazards.  I want to see multiple blitzes and consistent pressure. If you pressure Cutler, he will wilt. I am looking for at least four sacks in this game.

Chicago Bears - Cumulative Passing under pressure (2012)

Chicago Bears - Cumulative Passing under pressure (2011)

3. FOCUS ON 54

Urlacher has admitted that his knee will never be the same. Let’s test where it is now. Official stats show he had 8 tackles last week. Coaching numbers suggest he had 11 tackles. You could say these tackles show he had a good game. I say, look closer. Green Bay focused on the attacking Urlacher. The runningbacks and tightends caught 12 passes. The wide receivers only caught 10. For this game, I want to see at least 10 passes to our running backs and tight ends. I want to see Urlacher having to run all over the field. Prediction – I expect to see more of Isaiah Pead in this game (if Jackson sits).

4. TWO TIGHTENDS

Unfortunately, we still have issues on our line, and we are facing one of the best passing rushing defensive ends in the last 10 years. While I want to attack Urlacher, I also believe we need a tight end back on the line to help with pass protection. The obvious conclusion is we need frequent two tight end sets. After last week’s performance by Bradford, the Bears will focus on trying to get quick pressure on him.  Therefore, I hope to see an offensive game plan that shows protection is a priority.

5. STEADY EDDY 2

We need to see more of the same from Bradford. Last week was a shining example of what Bradford does well. With three/five step drops and quick throws, Bradford is at his best. With seven step drops and a requirement that he review his options all over the field, he is at his worst. This does not mean that we can’t throw a deep ball every once in a while. Instead, it means the deep ball needs to be based on trust because it has to be thrown rather early in the pattern.

I expect that most of our touchdowns will come from 7-12 play drives, as opposed to 2-5 play drives. I am fine with that. Keep moving the chains. Keep moving the chains.  I am also not opposed to field goals. Steady Eddy has to get points to be there in the fourth quarter.

Pre-Snap

The Rams come out in 21 personnel (2 running backs, 1 tight end) with tight end Lance Kendricks to the left and Brandon Gibson split wide right and Danny Amendola inside of him in the slot. The backfield is in an offset-I with fullback Brit Miller flexed to the field.

The Redskins are in their base 3-4 defense, but with outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan (91) bumped out over slot receiver Danny Amendola. The Rams are running an outside zone play to the field side. One of the weaknesses in a 3-4 defense is that there is no edge defender. In a 4-3, defensive ends set the edge up front, but in a 3-4 defense, the edge defender has to be manufactured. With the Redskins alignment in this particular play, they are asking inside linebacker Perry Riley (56) to be guy. Riley’s responsibility is to get to the outside and force the play back inside. Next to Riley is London Fletcher (59). Fletcher is what is known as secondary contain man. His assignment is to work inside out, staying on the inside hip of the running back, and looking for any cutbacks. DeJon Gomes (24) should be supplying run support in the alley from his safety position.

In today’s NFL, there’s no shortage of things to complain about if you’re a player. 

There’s the persistency of terrible officiating by replacement refs, concussions becoming as common as busted Matt Millen draft picks and murky discipline decisions by NFL czar Roger Goodell. 

However, shiny new prodigy Robert Griffin III found a few more grievances to air Wednesday following a 31-28 loss to the Rams last week. 

According to a report from USA Today, Griffin called St. Louis players “unprofessional” and accused them of taking “cheap shots” throughout the game. 

"They were definitely going after me,'' Griffin said in the article. ''They made it a point, obviously, all week to hit me. Some of the shots were cheap of that nature. But it's nothing I can control. Teams are going to try to hit me because they don't think I can take a hit. I think I've proved over my career that I can.''

The fact is, comments like this always seem like sour grapes coming from a loser. 

If Griffin can handle and promote himself with the accolades that come from being a high NFL draft pick and franchise quarterback, then he better be able to handle the knocks and punishment that comes with it too. 

He’s had plenty of time to make commercials with Subway and Gatorade over the summer and as I’ve recalled, has never complained when media from around the country has kneeled before him. 

However, the minute adversity strikes and his star falls just a little, the complaints came out in full force. 

''I remember one play,'' Griffin said. ''After the play, the guy said: 'We're going to hit you every play.’ ''I said: 'Isn't this football?' It's nothing that I'm not used to. It was extremely weird the way they went about it, though.''

“It’s nothing that I’m not used to,” echoes loudly in that quote. If you’re used to it, then why bring it up when the Rams are in the rearview mirror and the Bengals are coming up? 

Oh, actually Griffin brought up the Bengals too, hoping they aren’t like the big, bad and “cheap” Rams. 

“Hopefully, going against the Bengals (in Week 3), they'll be a lot more professional,” Griffin said. 

“Professional” goes both ways, Robert. Spectators of the game on Sunday and players too saw multiple instances of missed calls by the refs and aggressive plays from both the Rams and Redskins. 

“Professional” means playing with some restraint on the field, but it also means going from week to week without dragging the names of previous opponents through the mud. 

Griffin will learn that with time, and maybe the Bengals will teach him a few lessons this week as well. I saw Vontaze Burfict, who will be on the field for Cincinnati, play plenty of times in college, and he’s no stranger to questionable plays and personal fouls. 

The good thing is, it speaks loudly of St. Louis, a team far more likely to be a doormat than a battering ram the last few seasons, that a rival quarterback is complaining about physical play. 

That’s exactly what Jeff Fisher brought to the Rams, and running back Steven Jackson had the best last word of the day in response to Griffin. 

“This isn’t the Big 12,” Jackson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in reference to Griffin’s collegiate conference. 

No, the NFL isn’t the Big 12, and although Griffin’s skills have already translated to the pros, his maturity in taking a loss is clearly stuck in a grade school rut. 

The St Louis Rams and Chicago Bears don't really enjoy the same kind of rivalry that our baseball counterparts do. If anything, there is a studied indifference between these teams and fan bases - we have our rivalries with the 49ers and Seahawks to worry about, and they have their rivalries against the Packers, Lions, and other gridiron old-schoolers.

But fan bases for both teams also pit their current team against the greatness of teams past - the Rams will be compared endlessly to the Greatest Show on Turf, and fall short. Likewise, no Bears team before or since has compared to the 1985 Shufflin' Crew. 

This makes for an interesting dynamic when exchanging Q&A, where neither the Rams fan nor the Bears fan is afraid to be critical of his own team. At least, that is the sentiment I get when exchanging thoughts with Brett Solieski of MidwayIllustrated.com. 

Here are his answers to my questions, giving us an inside look at the Bears' strengths and weaknesses. 

RamsHerd: Last year the Bears appeared ready to break out before injuries waylaid their season. This year they've been a sexy pick to move past the Lions and perhaps even the Packers in the North. What is your take on these predictions, and on this team's upside? Midway Illustrated: The Bears have a good team that should make the playoffs, but I think last week's game against the Packers exposed the same fundamental flaws on offense that will keep this team from making a deep playoff run.   RH: Obviously, Jay Cutler is the lightning rod of this team. Is he the guy you want leading your team's playoff charge, as a fan? MI: Honestly, no I do not want Jay Cutler leading this team in the playoffs against teams with good to great defenses.  Can Jay Cutler lead this team to the Super Bowl?  Yes the potential is there for greatness, but I've reached the point with Cutler that I don't believe greatness will ever happen for him.  He continues to make the same fundamental mistakes year after year and takes way too many chances with the football.  He's an arrogant gun-slinger who I don't believe can play consistent mistake free football for three to four games in order to win an NFL title.  With Cutler you win big and you lose big and against the best teams in the NFL, far too often Cutler loses big.  

The biggest story nobody is talking about from the St. Louis Rams' 31-28 victory over the Washington Redskins last Sunday was the running back situation.

Yes Sam Bradford showed why he was drafted #1 overall, Danny Amendola set a career high in receiving yards, the Rams came back from..blah…blah…blah.

And definitely not the Steven Jackson benching/growing pull saga.  Rather it appears for the first time since drafting Jackson to go behind Marshall Faulk the Rams have a two-pronged attack from the back field.

This is big news people, GET EXCITED!

Richardson saw extensive playing time in Week 2 due to Steven Jackson getting benched/hurt, and he took full advantage. Richardson has outplayed the more hyped Isaiah Pead and appears to be a very capable backup running back, something the Rams have not had since Jackson became the starter.

After running for 58 yards on nine carries, workhorse running back Steven Jackson sat out the rest of the game. Most presumed that it was due to a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty that Jackson drew for spiking the ball after what he thought (and replays seemed to show) was a touchdown.

It was reported shortly after the game that Jackson had suffered a groin injury and that's why he came out of the game. That worked out nicely.

In his absence it was Daryl Richardson, not Isaiah Pead, who the team drafted in the second round of this year's draft, taking over the rushing duties the rest of the way.

Richardson's biggest moment came at a pivotal time. The Redskins had just scored on quarterback Robert Griffin III's 7-yard run, taking a 28-23 lead with 9:33 left in the third. The Rams hoped to keep pace on their next possession. On a first down from their own 41, quarterback Sam Bradford handed to Richardson, who burst outside and sprinted down the sideline for 53 yards. Washington cornerback Josh Wilson had an angle and knocked Richardson out of bounds at the Redskins' 6.

As the Rams held on to their home-opening win, the 22-year-old, Richardson carried 15 times for 83 yards and caught three passes for 19 yards. A 7^th round pick out of tiny Abilene Christian University (go ahead and Google it, I’ll wait), the diminutive tailback became a large factor in an offense that clicked for 452 yards.

In Week 3 when the Rams face the 1-1 Chicago Bears, all signs point to Jackson being able to play. But should Jeff Fisher and the coaching staff think about giving Richardson some snaps? He made the most of the opportunity that was presented on Sunday and most importantly, the Rams won the game without Jackson.

Jackson is the Rams all-time leading rusher and definitely deserves to be the featured back. In the past six seasons, Jackson has averaged 291.6 rushing attempts per season. Maybe the team could use Richardson to preserve Jackson, keeping him fresh for the stage of the game when they need crucial yards or are attempting to close out an opponent? Richardson would also make a prototypical third down back.

Since becoming the starting running back, there has never been much depth behind Jackson. But he will be 30 years old next season and it wouldn't hurt to start finding someone to take some of the load off of him. Richardson and an untested Pead fit that bill.

Expect to see Steven Jackson in the prominent role he's been in for eight seasons, at least for the rest of this year. But should he need to come off the field, whatever the reason, the Rams will be in good hands with Richardson.

And THAT is not something Rams fans should take for granted.

The game has been over for hours. My throat is raw, my hands are vibrating, and my ears still ring with the ghosts of my own screams and cheers, and those of the 60,000+ crazed fans at the Edward Jones Dome. My twitter feed is filled with electronic pinches to remind ourselves that this is real, this magic really happened.

This was not, not by a long shot, a game that the St Louis Rams should have been expected to win. Certainly the oddsmakers favored the Redskins, even on the road. And the game's early fortunes favored them as well, with a cascade of bad plays and terrible calls keeping the Rams out of the end zone, and helping RG3 and the Redskins build a 21-6 lead.

But there was much more fight in this team than anyone could have predicted. Much more certainly than we've seen in St Louis in a long, long time. Because this game was not won on individual plays, though there were some special ones. This game didn't end on a game-winning drive, though it could have for the other team. This game was a barfight, and it wasn't won until the Rams were finished out-fighting their opponents. All of them. The Redskins, the officials, and the specters of failure that have haunted this home stadium for far too long.

This game film is going to be a joy to re-watch, and we will be happy to delve deeper into analysis as the week goes on. But a few things stood out to me. Here are my quick thoughts:

Sam Bradford's cool in the pocket was outstanding. In our Rams-fan fishbowl, opinion on Bradford has been all over the map between those who believed in his talent and those down to their last straws of hope. Even outside NFL observers have been waiting for a while for Sam Bradford to look like the #1 pick he was. Today, he looked it.

Bradford was cool and collected in a very busy pocket, despite having far from a top-pedigreed offensive line in front of him, despite relying on the same set of receivers that have been trashed over the past few years. We just finished analyzing a brilliant Bradford-to-Brandon Gibson pass for a touchdown, and the two might have topped it today. Gibson ran a nice route, but Bradford stood poised while recognizing an oncoming rush, and also recognizing that Barry "Boo" Richardson had just enough leverage to push the rusher by. With that, Sam reset his feet and launched a beautiful ball to Gibson in the end zone.

The throw and catch brought the Rams all the way back from their early deficit, gave the Rams their first lead of the day, and drove the Dome crowd into a frenzy that would carry through the entire second half.

Robert Griffin III is a special player, but the Rams defense all but shut him down in the second half. Just as important as the Rams' offense growing wings, the defense did their part by holding Washington to a single second-half score. That said, it's almost unfiar for a player to be as good as fast as RG3 has become. His play-fakes are sick good. His accuracy is outstanding. And for a rookie, he makes surprisingly few bad plays.

Fortunately, Cortland Finnegan helped instigate one of those. The Rams' star CB faded into a no-mans land and baited Griffin into a throw that he easily picked off to snuff a second-quarter drive and set up the Rams for three free points before halftime.

Finnegan, Long, Quinn, Eugene Sims, Jo-Lonn Dunbar and the "other" JL on this team all deserve some share of the game ball for their performances tonight, and for their role in maintaining the level of fight in this team all game long.

The replacement refs need to be replaced. Immediately. Whether you're a Rams fan or a Redskins fan, whether you're Jeff Fisher or Mike Shanahan, or whether you just know good from bad when you see it, you know this game was an absolute travesty of officiating. Mike Pereira was interviewed on 101 Sports and called it "the most poorly-officiated game of the season so far."

That statement can certainly be chalenged by the Ravens and Eagles, or by the Packers and 49ers, but the fact is that this problem is not getting better, and it is not going away. The NFL is trying to use our love of the game to ignore that the game we love is being stained by horrific lack of control and lack of ability to make the right calls when they're badly needed.

The best thing you can say about today's litany of terrible calls is that, when you add them all up, the Rams and Redskins might have suffered from about an equal amount of them. The Rams lost more points to the refs, but the Redskins had the game decided against them by the refs. Neither is acceptable by any means. Both teams were fighting a third team on the field today, and by proxy, every team in the league is having to bear the brunt of this petty and stupid fight between Roger Goodell and the NFL Referees Association.

It is beyond time to put an end to this nonsense. It is beyond time for the NFL to stop waging a needless war of principle, sitting on a $10 billion dollar war chest while caviling about pensions with two hundred men whose professionalism is core to the game's integrity.