Photo courtesy of Lance Tilford Limelight

Most of the Rams’ fans (especially the males) reading this article may have recognized a new face at home Rams’ games interacting with the crowd. That person is Sara Dayley, a woman with many titles and responsibilities. Some readers may already know Sara from her job with Today in St. Louis on KSDK. Others may recognize her from her racing reporting on SPEED. I suspect there are even are a few readers that know her connection to baby blue and St. Louis sports history from the 80’s. Sara was kind enough to grant me an interview.

RamsHerd:  Some of us early birds will recognize you from KSDK's Today in St. Louis, but most Rams fans have just met you from Rams game day events.  Can you fill us in on the official job title?

Dayley:  I’d love too! In Game Host is my exact title, but I have also heard “that one girl”, “the chick on the jumbo tron” or “that girl from KSDK”. I’ve been given a lot of different fun titles, so it’s all acceptable I guess.

RamsHerd:  What were you expectations of the job and what has been the biggest surprise about the job?

Dayley:  It’s honestly all that I expected and more! There is nothing like interacting with fans and being part of such an incredible organization! If you are a true sports fan, it’s so exciting to be surrounded by energetic-passionate-die hards that just appreciate the game and what’s going on with Coach Fisher and the team as a whole. The biggest surprise is how connected I feel and it’s only been a few weeks. When you love what you do, you don’t consider it work, and it’s fairly easy to get attached.

RamsHerd:  Can you give us the straight scoop?  Is the ball hidden under the helmet game fixed?  

Dayley:  Well, come on now, I can’t give away all my secrets. There are only 3 helmets so you already have a 33.333333 percent chance to get it right and that’s not too bad. Ha! When we have special occasions or guests, like the marriage proposal a few weeks ago, graphics have to be pre made. In that unique situation, there may be a “suggestion” to make sure things go smoothly.

RamsHerd:  All true Rams’ fans know the players and coaches, but very few of us know the people doing the daily work at Rams Park.  To which department do you report, and who are the people you regularly interact with?

Dayley:  The staff at Rams Park truly work together as a team and a lot of them wear a ton of different hats, but I report to Scott Brooks who is the Vice President of Broadcasting and Creative . He is extremely talented and has a great grasp on what’s needed to provide the best possible product both on and off the field. 

RamsHerd:  I first heard about you on a radio show called Mayhem In The Morning.  When I researched your background, I was surprised at all of the different jobs you have held since that radio show. Can you give our readers a summary of how you made it to where you are now?

Dayley:  I started in radio out of college because it was an opportunity to stay in media, and it was here at home in St. Louis. My true passion was television, and I knew that was where I ultimately wanted to end up. I just kept watching, learning as much as I could, getting involved in everything and anything possible, and put myself in situations where I could work alongside some of the best in the business. I met some great people in the industry and kept climbing that uphill battle. After sending out a ton of tapes and some decent amount of time, I was offered a position with Feld Entertainment/SPEED & hit the ground running, jumping at every opportunity thrown at me!

The Miami Dolphins have been searching for an identity for more than a decade, ever since the departures of Don Shula, Dan Marino, and the high-octane weaponry in their downfield passing game. Since those days, there has been an endless parade of mediocrity at coach and quarterback. In an effort to halt the parade, the Dolphins front office has tried and failed numerous times to make big-splash coaching hires, including a lengthy pursuit of Rams coach Jeff Fisher.

Fins fans hope that those days may be finally over with the arrival of Joe Philbin and Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill has been very impressive in the early going despite getting far less pre-season buzz than fellow rookies Andrew Luck and RGIII. Philbin's offense has made Miami surprisingly competitive. Their last three games have been decided by a total of ten points, and despite a 2-3 record they find themselves only a game out of contention in the AFC East. 

The Rams appear to be back on track as well, adding a surprising amount of buzz and swagger to this early season matchup. To get more insight on the Dolphins, we reached out to Mick from PhinsPhocus.com, the excellent Dolphins fan site here on Bloguin. Here are our questions and his responses. 

Pre-Snap

Alignment Bunch Left Gun Right Y Buzz

The Rams come out in 11 personnel (1 back, 1 tight end) or sometimes referred to by an offense as nickel personnel. Bunch left part of the call tells us that there will be three receivers to the left, aligned tightly together.  Given the formation and personnel that means the Y, Z, and F (tight end) receivers will be aligned to the left and the X receiver, here Brian Quick, here will be on the right.  The “Gun Right” part of the call tells us that Bradford is in the gun with Richardson to his right of him.

“Y Buzz” is a motion tag.  It sends the Y receiver, here Austin Pettis, to the side of the call and outside the widest receiver.

This is one of the rare times that I can brag a little. Last week’s preview was dead on. Fans of the greatest show on turf may not have rejoiced, but, for now, this is the blueprint for success. Before we get into the review, I have a few comments.

 First, when I went back and watched the game recording, I was more than a little surprised how well the offensive tackles played. Sam Bradford was only sacked once, and the Rams were pass-happy in the first half. Yes, the tackles had assistance from the tight ends from time to time, but they more then held their own in one on one battles.

Second, for those fans that have been frustrated by Bradford’s laser lock on the main receiver and the inability to throw the deep ball, I hope you have been watching the last few games with open eyes. He is showing remarkable improvement.  If you don’t believe me, please read this tremendous article by Tim Shields as example 1: http://www.ramsherd.com/2012-articles/season/anatomy-of-a-play-sam-bradford-s-deep-throw-to-chris-givens.html

Third, notwithstanding Bryan Burwell’s beliefs, there are many fans here in St. Louis that like Steven Jackson. Personally, I love the man and the player. The young kid, who started as an arrogant athlete that did not understand when he might be inappropriate, is now a man that is a model of professionalism and leadership. As time has passed, I grow to appreciate the complexity of Steven Jackson. He cannot be limited to one adjective or stereotype. In my opinion, he is one of the more interesting personalities off the field. For the past year and a quarter, Steven Jackson has performed admirably, but not spectacularly, under extremely difficult circumstances on the field. I was incredibly happy to see the return of the beast in the second half of the Arizona game. This man has given his all to this team, probably to his physical detriment. I would love to see him have a great year and finally have some success with the Rams.

Now, let’s take a look at how the factors I noted as important to a win, actually played out:

 PREVIEW - 1.  STOP THE RUN. PERIOD.

There is no excuse in this game for the defense. They have to stop the run. 

Before the season started, I had this Rams team pegged for a 5-11 season. Mild improvement, based on a stronger showing at home (check), but nothing earth-shattering. I figured it would be too soon for all the offensive pieces to come together, especially given a threadbare offensive line, and was ready for a "wait 'til next year" approach to the season.

Well, here's a Monday morning toast to being wrong. 

At 3-2 and being ranked in the upper half of NFL Power Rankings for the first time in approximately forever, based on an opportunistic pass defense and a young offense that is starting to percolate with big play confidence, it's worth re-evaluating the schedule and seeing what we can see. 

The St. Louis Rams' and the NFC West's return to primetime relevance had more than its share of ugly moments. Particularly as our offense coughed and wheezed through a twenty-minute stretch of the game clock where they gained a mere 35 yards on seven consecutive drives, and our defense became magnets for an inexplicable shower of yellow flags. There was even a Martzian moment where Jeff Fisher was forced to call timeout on a punt.

But the hallmark of this team is that they seem to not even notice adversity when it hits. Or perhaps it's better said, particularly by the irrepressible Rams defense, that when adversity hits, they hit back. And hard.

This is a direct response to Jeff Fisher's attitude as a coach. He is a veteran guy, but not a Tom Coughlin-style control freak. Marc Bulger, speaking at a pre-game tailgate at a Courtyard Marriott downtown, remarked on it before the game, remembering back to a Rams-Titans week of scrimmaging before a preseason game. Fisher keeps his teams almost comically loose in practice, to the point that it looks like "lack of discipline" to an outside observer. But he has them ready to run through a brick wall on gameday.

Keep Calm

Sam Bradford's stat line will get a lot of attention this weekend. 7 for 21 is what people will remember. And they'll think "God, our quarterback sucks!"

While it's true that he threw some questionable balls, he also made some brilliant plays downfield that did not get rewarded, for one reason of another, with catches. Danny Amendola catches a brilliant one-hander behind Patrick Peterson on the game's opening play, but let two more come off his hands and touch the ground. (He apparently broke his collarbone on the last one, so we might give him a bit of a pass there.) And Brian Quick's route to the end zone on the pass that got picked off looked so unsteady that I would have pulled him over midway through and given him a breathalyzer test.

Lance Kendricks, Brandon Gibson and Chris Givens had balls come off their hands as well, but here's the part of the story that people should remember: Bradford was able to make big plays with all three when he had to. He got Kendricks and Givens for touchdowns, and Gibson for a huge first-down conversion that led to our last score.

As Sam Bradford has gotten more comfortable, Brian Schottenheimer has introduced more big plays into the Rams' offensive playbook. And with those big plays come bigger risks - the risk of getting hit, as he did on the bomb to Amendola. The risk of throwing an "anticipation" throw before the WR breaks to the ball, and having that receiver not be able to finish his route (or just plain fall down). And sometimes they come with some unsightly numbers that would make Mark Sanchez blush.

But also, this: Sam tossed two scoring throws, and averaged a gaudy 20 yards per completion. This may be a west coast inspired offense, but these aren't dinks and dunks. Shurmurball this ain't.

And

The Rams' offensive struggles obviously placed a heavy burden on the defense. Sam's poor first half (after the opening drive) left 20 minutes of game-clock for the defense to cover. And our defense was more than up to the task.

One field goal, that was all the Cardinals got out of twenty minutes of first-half possession time. The Cardinals tried to respond to the amped-up crowd by playing possession-ball, mixing in the runs and short passes that Kevin Kolb, game-manager, excels at. Our defense's response was to make the ballcarrier pay for every play. Jo-Lonn Dunbar made multiple jarring hits, including one of four first-half sacks. Janoris Jenkins made multiple eye-popping plays on the football to take catches away. Darian Stewart came in the game late and erased Ryan Williams on an open-field hit.

And... Robert Quinn had a his long-awaited breakout performance on national TV. Three sacks, two TFLs, three quarterback hits, a pass batted down, and a forced fumble. 

All told, the Rams sacked Kevin Kolb nine times, not counting the two that were taken away by highly fishy penalty flags, and knocked him to the turf another eleven times. Combine this with the pounding he took from Cameron Wake and the Dolphins on Sunday, he might spend the next ten days in the cold tub.

But Kolb was not the only one feeling the punishment. Williams was knocked out of the game, and the inhumanly sure-handed Larry Fitzgerald let a ball fall to the turf when he saw Dunbar steamrolling toward him. When the Cardinals were mounting their last, desperate gasps at denting teh scoreboard, they had no more trustworthy playmakers for Kolb to turn to. It was fitting that the game essentially ended with him holding onto the ball, wondering what to do.

Carry On

Ultimately, what got the Rams' offense back on track was some tried and true Fisher-ball. You have this big old running back, starving for carries. You have a lead, and the clock is just as much an opponent as the other team (and the refs). MIght as well run the ball down their throats until they blow the final whistle and you get to go shake the other coach's hand.

Steven Jackson's carries by quarter: 1, 4, 5, 8. And then, after the defense was suitably softened up, Bradford hits Chris Givens in stride for a 51-yard bomb. Ballgame.

The big news before the game was that the Rams had agreed to let Steven Jackson out of his contract after this season, as they would have been forced to do had he reached certain performance markers. Some have speculated that the Rams are letting him test the waters of free agency, but have full intention of bringing him back. Others see the NFL trade deadline looming, and wonder if he's being actively shopped.

Fans in both camps can agree on one thing after tonight's game: Jackson has plenty of leg left. His speed is not what it was, and it never will be, but he is still capable of moving the pile and moving the chains, even against a very good defense like this one. But we also see Daryl Richardson waiting in the wings (and his 16-yarder was very nearly broken for something much bigger), and can't help but wonder what this kid could do with a long look.

But that's for another day. For now, Rams fans get something entirely new: a victory Friday. Enjoy it.

Tonight, the St. Louis Rams face the biggest game on their schedule in the first half. This game, more than any other, has the potential to set a tone of this season. If the Rams win at home against the hated Arizona Cardinals, look out for the next home game; the Edward Jones dome will be crazy. I am still holding out hope that the Ed will be rocking tonight. Looking at past history, the game plan should be simple. Arizona can't run the ball (29th in the league) and they gave up 8 sacks last game.  Thus, on the defensive side, you would think we protect against the pass first and blitz the heck out of Kolb. 

Again, looking at history, the previously exalted Arizona defense, has sunk to 17th position in overall defense. They are decent against the rush (14th) and not quite as good against the pass (21st). Furthermore, Miami just torched Arizona for 400 plus passing yards. Thus, you would expect our passing game to be featured, and it would be complemented with an attempt to run the ball from time to time. 

However, the above stats are a bit misleading. The Arizona game against Miami skewed the stats. Additionally, this is the NFL, which stands for "Not For Long". While that phrase was intended to refer to player longevity, it also applies with game plans from week to week. Seattle had 8 sacks against Greenbay in week 3 and came into the Rams game licking their chops. The Rams showed pass protection problems the week before giving up 6 sacks to Chicago. Somehow, the Rams only gave up 2 sacks to Seattle.  

The point? Arizona's coaches will learn from mistakes in the last game and make adjustments. Thus, I do not expect a 400 plus yard performance by the Rams passing offense. Looking at how Arizona has performed in all games this season, this is what I think the Rams need to do to win the game:

1.  STOP THE RUN. PERIOD.

There is no excuse in this game for the defense.They have to stop the run.