Austin Pettis heads for the corner of the end zone in a red zone drill.

The preseason is only two weeks old, but already a troubling narrative is emerging for rookie wideout Austin Pettis in a Rams uniform: awesome in practice, disappears on gameday.

After running routes from all three wide receiver positions and earning first team reps in practice, a succession of drops and missed connections under the low-wattage spotlight of the Lindenwood scrimmage and the preseason opener have Rams fans scratching their heads.

Pettis' struggles with dropped balls are surprising for a player who built a reputation of being a clutch playmaker with the Boise State Broncos, and whose greatest attribute, according to scouts such as Matt Waldman, are his hands.

MattWaldman
Hands consistent in school. Probably too much to process for him right now.

Adapting to the pro game is notoriously difficult, and there's no doubt that the various permutations and multiple reads of McDaniels' offense make it easy to overthink while you're on the field.

In the two seconds between the snap and an incoming pass, all kinds of thoughts can be going through your head. "Did I read the coverage the same way that Bradford did? Did I get a clean break off the snap so I can cut right after nine steps? Gotta get my depth right, coach will be watching this on tape. Seven, eight, CUT NOW! Damn this guy is right on me! Where's the ball? Oh. Damn."

The great players like Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt can think through this process fluidly, reducing the reads and jukes and cuts to a background music, an orchestration in concert with their quarterback. (It's no surprise that retired NFL players like Jerry Rice have a second act on shows like Dancing with the Stars.) This grace and balance in the game allows them to separate thinking from doing, and not let the two interfere with each other.

There's no shortage of history between these two teams.

New team, same quarterback. That’s the story this week as Matt Hasselbeck and his new team, the Tennessee Titans, come to town for a preseason matchup. Tennessee comes in with a new head coach in Mike Munchak, as well as new offensive coordinators, and several new players on both sides of the ball.

The Rams and Titans do have some history with each other. In addition to the Greatest Show on Turf era Rams winning the Superbowl over the Titans, the two teams, for years, scrimmaged against each other in the preseason.  The Titans have always been a very physical team, and that doesn’t figure to change under former offensive lineman Coach Munchak.

The Rams will look this week to build upon an impressive win over the Indianapolis Colts in preseason week one. Both the Rams offense and defense can show some consistency by coming out strong in this contest, where the starters for both teams figure to play into the second quarter. As always, there are three things we need to look for in this game.

Three Things to Watch For:

The Walking Wounded

Donnie Avery and Danario Alexander are the two Rams wide receivers with the biggest injury concerns. Both have been held out of practice recently due to some injury concerns. Avery is coming back this season from a torn ACL suffered during the 2010 preseason, and just resumed practicing this week after some concerns with restrains resulting from overcoming the ACL injury. Danario Alexander, at the ripe old age of 23, has had 5 operations on his knees. This past week he was held out of practice due to some swelling and fluid on his knees.

This is a game where both of these receivers need to step in and produce. The logjam at receiver has been well documented, so any chance that these receivers have to flash needs to be taken advantage of. With about 8 realistic options vying for 6 spots, someone needs to step up. Both receivers have had a slow start to camp, but have come on as of late. Let’s see what they do tonight against the Titans.

Offense Part II

Against the Colts, the Rams put up 33 points. Last year they only scored over 30 points one time. The Rams did this with an offense that looked like a hybrid of last year’s dink and dunk, and the spread style that Coach Josh McDaniels is known for (three and four wide receiver sets). Several Ram fans last week were looking for the kind of shots downfield that McDaniels often took while he was the head coach in Denver. I encourage these fans to stay tuned. With more camp and practice time under their belt, and another week in the offense, I would look for more of those shots down field against the Titans. All indications from camp this past week that I’ve read are that it seems the team has instilled a “phase two” of the offense, which includes taking several shots downfield. Hopefully we’ll see that tonight.

Who’s on Third?

With the injury to Jerome Murphy, who is likely out for the season, the running for the nickel and dime corner positions is wide open. Who will join incumbent starters Bradley Fletcher and Ron Bartell when the defense matches up against three and four receiver sets? Last week, the team’s defensive backs were a little beat up, with Bartell and Al Harris not playing.

This week, they are all healthy and will be suited up for the game. While the defense won’t have to deal with Kenny Britt who is out with an injury, the Titans do present a solid receiving corps featuring former Mizzou standout Justin Gage, Nate Washington, and second year receiver Damian Williams from the University of Southern California. Add to that a strong running back corps that is effective catching the ball out of the backfield (sans Pro Bowler Chris Johnson, who is holding out in a contract dispute).

After Bartell, Fletcher, and Harris, I’m not really sure the Rams know what they have at the position. Undrafted rookie free agent Dionte Dinkins has had a very strong camp, and my guess is he’d make the team. Justin King saw extensive play last week, but in the past has been inconsistent and has to show he can stay healthy. Someone from this group needs to step up and establish themselves.

Prediction: As with last week, I’m not going to predict a winner for a preseason game. What we need to see overall in this game is the offense taking it to the next level, and showing that they have a firm grasp on the McDaniels system.

It has been a month of firsts. First practice, first scrimmage and finally the first preseason game. Since the Rams 33-10 dismantling of the Colts last Saturday a lot of accolades and praise have been thrown around.  Granted it was nothing more than a glorified scrimmage but for a fan base thirsty (see what I did there) for exciting, winning football it was a step in the right direction.

Kool-Aid, or blue drank, as I like to call it, has been flowing through St. Louis like the Mississippi on a rainy April. For those of you I lost with that alliteration allow me to break it down…Fans are excited and just a wee bit optimistic. For once the same said can be said for local and even some national media. We are all drinking from the same cup…and it tastes good!

The excitement is contagious and the supply of Kool-Aid is endless. But I want to caution us all as well against setting expectations too high.  Last season’s 7-9 record was a great turn around but this year’s schedule only gets tougher. And as Will wrote about earlier this week BODOG isn’t exactly onboard with the Rams making a run to the Super Bowl. 

Now that you have been warned time to get back to the party. Fill up your cup and toast to Sam Bradford slinging it around to Sims-Walker, Kendricks & Co to the tune of 30 touchdowns; Steven Jackson leading our three-headed monster at running back to a league best rushing title; Chris Long and the defense sacking their way to a career high and of course Josh Brown kicking ‘em in from sixty plus all season.

More feedback in the aftermath of Rams win, perhaps a bit more tempered…perhaps not.

Game was great, but did they make the grade?

Strong start for McDaniels new offense.

Quinn making his mark early.

High praise from a HOF’er who knows something about Ram football

Is this the year the Rams reach the top of the NFC West?

Pure domination…in preseason, but still, pure domination

The Rams have the pieces in place, now what to do with them

Steven Jackson has put in more work signing autographs than carrying the rock on gamedays so far in Rams camp. That may change this weekend.

Another week of the preseason, another matchup that appears to be deceptively easy. The 33-10 win over the Colts has to be asterixed because Indianapolis barely tries to compete in August. Now the Rams face off against a Titans team in transition, one that lost 8 of its last 9 regular season games and now appears to be lining up denuded of its best offensive talent.

Earlier in the week, we pointed out that Chris Johnson's contract holdout would prevent him from taking the field. Now it appears that several of his supporting cast will be absent as well, according to a series of tweets from Nashville Tennessean beat writer Jim Wyatt.

jwyattsports
Munchak said Javon Ringer and Barret Ruud likely out vs Rams

Also, no Kenny Britt. Munchak ruled him out for Rams on Wednesday

This turn of events leaves former Missouri Tiger Justin Gage as maybe the Titans' top offensive weapon on the field. Him or kicker Rob Bironas, maybe. Meanwhile, the Rams are getting healthier at their skill positions.

STLouisRams
WR Donnie Avery made it through practice again and fellow WR Mike Sims-Walker also did some team work. Both likely to play against TEN.

RB @sj39 also got back into the action today though Spagnuolo says he "didn't open it up" but he's planning on playing.

G Jacob Bell was held out of practice but he's expected to be ready to go Saturday night, barring a setback.

Add TE Mike Hoomanawanui and WR Greg Salas to the mix as well, both coming back from injuries to enter pitched position battles. Much has been said and written already about the Rams' WR situation, which is the battle to watch and speculate on. But Hoomanawanui is also battling to secure his role as a first-rotation tight end capable of working alongside Lance Kendricks, and pushing veteran Billy Bajema into a backup role. His health, not his ability, is the only obstacle.

It also appears as though the Titans are preparing to start the season with Matt Hasselbeck as the starter, rather than try to accelerate Jake Locker ahead of him. Which fits the plan of signing Hasselbeck in the first place, especially considering Locker's still-raw tools and the super-abbreviated offseason of work.

jwyattsports
Munchak said qbs will work in same order vs Rams -- Hasselbeck, Locker, Smith and Ratliff.

Munchak said Hasselbeck's work will likely be doubled though

The Rams are also looking to double the workload of their starters on offense.

STLouisRams
Spagnuolo says he'd like to get the first string through the majority of the first half.

While the absence of skill players make this look like a second consecutive "soft" challenge for the Rams, Tennessee has traditionally been one of the toughest physical matchups to play against. With less flash on the outsides, expect the team to bring more banging in the trenches and plenty of attempted pressure on Bradford and the Rams quarterbacks.

The lockout ended, football came back, and all the pent-up excitement for this Rams season has been overflowing the last few weeks. We're setting all kinds of personal records for traffic on the site, we've got five authors now contributing quality material every week, and we just got nominated as one of St. Louis' Most Valuable Sports Blogs as ranked by CBS Local.

I have several friends on that list as well, who run blogs that I read all the time, and can think of others that easily could have been nominated as well. So I won't spend too much time groveling for your vote. (I will just a little bit: vote for us!)

Instead I just want to say thank you. Thank you for reading, for contributing, for telling your friends, and for taking part in the endless conversation on Twitter. And let's go Rams!

"I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal."

Long-time readers will remember our surprise last year, when a computer-modeled simulation of the NFL season had the Rams slated for a maximum of three wins, and holding a top-three pick in the draft for the fourth year in a row. At the time, it made me think that certain computers needed a nice spring cleaning in their logic-board array.

Well, Paul Bessire and the good folks at the Predictalator are back again with more predictions, and this time give Rams fans a bit more hope for the season.

Prediction 1: This year's 7-9 record will have company in the division.

The Predictalator has run more than 50,000 simulated 2011 seasons. Here's what it thinks of the Rams' chances for the entire season.

Their prediction for the NFC West has three teams finishing 7-9, with Arizona the slight favorite (thanks to an ever-so-slightly easier schedule) to win the division.

Rain threatened to make an appearance at Rams practice today, but never showed up. Donnie Avery did make an appearance at practice, but did he "show up?" Not yet, no.

Avery's return to the field seems to be the big story, and he caught a pass from Bradford (while running with a second-team offense) in a series of route-running drills right in front me as I walked in to Rams Camp. But other than that undefended grab, I saw precious few other opportunities thrown his way. Three plays stand out, though:

Being totally ignored in an obvious red zone mismatch. The Rams went four wide in an 11 on 11 session from fifteen yards out, with Avery and TE Guidugli lined up to Feeley's right. But Guidugli lined up wide, giving the slot position (and coverage by Ben Leber, the 2nd team outside linebacker) to Avery. Avery sped past Giudugli on a bee-line for the back of the end zone, but Feeley never even saw the mismatch, throwing incomplete into double coverage on the left side. 

Being underthrown on the edge. If Avery is going to make a splash, he's going to have to find his way to some first team reps. Feeley just doesn't have the gun to throw the 15-yard out that Avery was running, making for an easy interception by Darian Stewart.

Finally catching a ball in scrimmage, and getting sarcastically congratulated. "Is that Donnie Avery's first catch of the entire camp?" asked a fan in front of me on the hill, nearly two hours into practice, after a nice catch on a deep ball, thrown by Thaddeus Lewis I believe. He faces not only an uphill battle against the competition on the roster, but against the general perception among fans now that have grown tired of waiting for his unfulfilled promise.

More updates and observations: