After months of lawyering about with no football fans were desperate for anything. Along came preseason and temporarily quenched that thirst. As it lingered on so did the thirst.  The longing for meaningful games grew and grew.

As welcomed as preseason action was, the games after a quarter or so lacked any meaning. As such, they lacked the big plays and big decisions that come with the grind of the regular season. Any plays or decisions of note at this point are made by and generally about, players who will soon be gone or will serve in completely different roles once the regular season begins.

With rosters set and the hype machine in full effect the Rams were ready to take on the NFL’s “Dream Team”. Ready…check.  Willing…check.  Able…not so much. Sunday highlighted the match-up between a Super Bowl contender and an improved Rams squad. That is not an apples to apples comparison.

Perhaps with so many experts picking the Rams as their surprise upset of week one we all set ourselves up for the fall.  After a 4-0 preseason it seemed reasonable that an upset could happen. Expectations are high for the first time in about eight years. That is good. The Rams and the front office have performed well and worked hard to raise the expectations.

Well there are expectations and there is reality. The expectations are for the Rams to be a better team than in 2010 and contend for the NFC West crown. The reality is contending for the NFC West and a Super Bowl is not the same thing. On Sunday there were big plays and big decisions. The Rams were participants in both, (A couple of big ones were made well before the game and we’ll get into that). Unfortunately so were the Eagles.

Quarterback Michael Vick allusive for Philadelphia. Wide receiver DeSean Jackson got away from coverage. Both of which fall into the category of – well no shit.  Now what wasn't expected was a half-dozen dropped passes by St. Louis receivers, one Rams penalty after another, and more injuries in one game than the Rams suffered the entire preseason.

Regardless of expectations here are the big plays and decisions that made up the game and ultimately determined the outcome.

Pre-Game

Both 1^st round draft pick DE Robert Quinn and WR Danario were made inactive. No real explanation was given for either. But as Vick gained speed and confidence one has to wonder if Quinn could have helped. The same can be said for Alexander. As the Rams passing attack struggled to stretch the field their best deep threat sat idly by. His absence became even more apparent after the Amendola injury.

1^st Quarter

The game could not have started any better for the Rams. Forcing an Eagles punt on the Rams first play from scrimmage Jackson raced off tackle for a 47-yard touchdown, bringing the sellout crowd at the Edward Jones Dome to life.

A deep kick by Josh Brown forced the Eagles to start on their own 20.  That good defensive field position did not last long.  On 2^nd and 10 Vick passed deep to D.Jackson to the Rams 39 for 41 yards. After a nice stop by Laurinaitis to bring up 3^rd and 11 Vick again went deep. This time to J.Avant for 20 yards and after the PENALTY on Ah You for roughing the passer and the Eagles were now on the Ram 20. All of which led to McCoy walking in for a TD 3 plays later.

As the Rams tried to answer Bradford’s pass on 3^rd and 8 went incomplete to Kendricks.  Fortunately a PENALTY on the Eagles for Illegal Use of Hands gave St. Louis a 1^st down.  After a 16 yard run by Cadillac put the Rams into Field Goal range with the score tied 7-up, the Rams were threatening on second-and-7 from the Eagles 29. As Bradford dropped back to pass, he stumbled hit the ground and fumble. As the ball came loose, it was picked up Eagles defensive end Juqua Parker, who took it 56 yards for a TD and a 14-7 Eagles lead.

2^nd Quarter

The Rams were once again on the side of good luck as a Bradford pass went incomplete to B.Gibson a PENALTY on the Eagles kept the drive alive. Then on a big 3^rd and 10 Bradford hit Amendola for 18 yards to the Philly 31 yard line. Then of course the second biggest story line of the day reared its ugly head. Drops.  On 2^nd and 10 Bradford’s pass was dropped by Kendricks. This would have gone for a 1st down and possible a lot more. Then on 3^rd and 10 it was Gibson’s turn as Bradford’s pass hit him in both hands and fell incomplete. As a result the Rams settled for a Josh Brown 49 yard field goal.

Given the ball back with plenty of time and momentum on their side the defense made its biggest play of the day.  Starting on their own 13 yard line the Eagle marched down the field to the Rams 12. That is when Mikell sacked Vick causing a fumble which was recovered by Laurinaitis

After a quick three-and-out St. Louis gave Philly the ball back with not much time left in the half.  No problem apparently as a Vick 19-yard scramble on third-and-10 with less than a minute to go in the first half set up an Alex Henery field goal on the next to last play of the half. 17-10 Eagles.

3^rd Quarter

Down only seven and with the ball to start the 2^nd half the game was still well within reach for St. Louis.  As the Rams put together a 5 minute 68 yard drive it appeared to start well.  On the return Norwood took it 49 yards near mid-field to the 46 yard line.  But…a PENALTY on Curry during the return for holding brought it back to the St. Louis 14 yard line. A loss of 35 yards. After a 3^rd and 8 pass went incomplete to Amendola a PENALTY on Philly for Roughing the Passer tacked on 15 yards and moved the Rams forward.

Three good runs by Williams and Norwood took the Rams to the Eagles 32 yard line. Then following a 2^nd and 7 sacked of Bradford moved them back to the 36 yard Norwood put them back into field goal range with a strong 7 yard run. Bringing in Josh Brown for a 47 yard attempt, well within his range. Guess Spagnuolo forgot to tell him as his attempt went wide right.

the Eagles' first possession of the second half, A Vick scramble of 18 yards on second-and-16 followed by him hitting Jackson downfield for 26 yards jump started a Philadelphia touchdown drive that gave the Eagles a 24-10 lead in the third quarterback. On the TD, Vick seemed to toy with St. Louis as his ran to his left and threw to Jackson for a 6-yard TD.

Still just a two score game in the 3^rd quarter Sam Bradford would get the chance to bring the Rams to within one score. Cadillac would do his part; rushing for 17 yards on three carries, one of them another 4^th down conversion, and catching two passes for 26 yards.

The Eagles did their part as well.  A defensive pass interference penalty on Asomugha gave Bradford and the Rams the ball on the 1 yard line. From here the Rams set out to make it the most difficult 1 yard score ever.

After a run for no gain on 1^st down false start penalty on Bajema moved the Rams back to the 6 yard line. After Bradford’s pass to Kendricks on 2^nd and goal was incomplete he badly missed Amendola in the corner of the end zone on 3^rd and goal. An impressive 80 yard drive would end in disappointment as Josh Brown was good on a 23 yard field goal.

4^th Quarter

As the 4^th quarter started it was still a two possession game with the Rams down 24-13. Starting with decent field position at their own 29 the drive got off to a great start.  Bradford hit Kendricks for an 18 yard gain to start it off. Then on the very next play Bradford found Amendola for 6 yards and a dislocated elbow.

After the next two passes fell incomplete on 4^th and 3 Bradford and Williams connected for a quick 4 yarder and a 1^st down.  One of the lone bright spots on the day was their success converting 4^th downs. Of course another drop, this time by the rookie Salas, and a sack led to yet another Donnie Jones appearance.

A great punt pinned Philly inside of their own 20…for less than 2 minutes.  On three of the next four plays McCoy tallied 77 rushing yards. Capping it off with a run up the middle for a 49 touchdown.

The next Rams drive is one that will live in imphamy (pending today’s MRI results) so I will spare you the narrative and just give you the details.

• Bradford pass short left to B.Gibson for 13 yards.
• Bradford pass incomplete deep right to Salas, Bradford was injured during the play.
• Enter AJ Feeley whose first pass went to Williams for 3 yards but was brought back due to a PENALTY on Dahl for an Illegal Block above the Waist, 10 yards, enforced at PHI 36.
• 2 and 20 Feeley sacked for -6 yards.
• 3^rd and 26 Feeley pass Salas to for 21 yards.
• 4^th and 5 before the snap PENALTY on Gibson for a False Start, 5 yards. Yes, a False Start on a WR.
• 4^th and 10 Feeley’s pass incomplete to Kendricks.

As this drive effectively ended the game I can think of no better way to end this post.

No part of the Rams passing game looked good on Sunday. Including the pass blocking.

The self proclaimed “Dream Team” came to St. Louis on Sunday and did their best to live up to the hype.  They outplayed the Rams in every fashion of the game and left with a 31-13 beatdown.

After a great start by the defense, the Rams’ first offensive play of 2011 went to Steven Jackson.  SJ39 went untouched for 47-yard touchdown on the most exciting first play from scrimmage for a Rams’ offense since Warner found Bruce against the Vikings in the 1999 playoffs.

The Eagles would respond on the next drive.  Mike Vick found DeSean Jackson for 41 yards, Jason Avant for another 20.  The Eagles tied the game shortly after on a 7-yard touchdown pass to LeSean McCoy.  On the ensuing drive, the Rams would march 53 yards to the Eagles 29.  It is here where the game took a drastic shift.  Bradford opened left, ready to execute a play action fake.  Instead, he tripped on center Jason Brown’s foot, and fumbled the ball.  Juqua Parker scooped up the football and ran 56 yards for a touchdown.

After trading punts, the Rams took over at their own 27.  Again the offense, without Steven Jackson who strained his quad on the second series, proceeded to move the ball effectively, setting up 2^nd and 10 at the Eagles 31 yard line.   On the next two plays, the Rams offense would stall on two consecutive dropped passes.  First, rookie tight end Lance Kendricks dropped a ball deep down the left side of the field. It looked like he was the only player in sight on the television I was watching.  On the next play, Brandon Gibson followed suit.  This ball was a little behind Gibson, but nevertheless a catchable ball.  A 49-yard Josh brown field goal would bring the Rams within 4 points but that would be as close as it would get for the rest of the day.

The second half was dominated by the Eagles.  Their defense was stout, getting to Sam Bradford often and eventually knocking him out of the game.  Sam will have an MRI on Monday.  The Rams managed only 3 points in the second half. On defense, the Rams began to come undone.  LeSean McCoy was held to 27 yards on 11 carries.  The next 4 carries would go for 95 yards, 49 on a 4^th quarter touchdown that would close the scoring in the game.

More thoughts after the break.  

To put it mildly, the Rams performance in the first game of the 2011 season was horrible. It seemed that every part of the team was consistently schooled by the “dream team” Eagles, leaving more questions than answers if St. Louis is actually ready to become a playoff contender. Here are the team grades for the game:

Quarterbacks: D

Sam Bradford was shaky all day and completed only 17 of 30 passes for 188 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He was victimized several times by an Eagles pass rush, including giving up a fumble for a touchdown, and can only do so much when the receivers drop pass after pass. The scariest part is how he continues to look only a few yards down field on most plays. The Eagles have a great secondary but the Rams will be dead in the water if they can’t stretch the field. 

AJ Feeley came in when Bradford left with a finger injury and completed only two passes for 21 yards when the game was mostly out of reach. Bradford is expected to be fine for next week but will need to step up considerably against a tough Giants pass rush.

Offensive Line: Run blocking: B-, Pass blocking: F

The offensive line started out great, breaking downfield to pave the way for a 47 yard touchdown run by Steven Jackson. They also exhibited more of a mean streak with Harvey Dahl, helping Cadillac Williams rush for 91 yards. 

However, the pass protection was putrid. Bradford had little to no time to look downfield for 85 percent of the game and the Eagles pass rushers were relentless. Jason Smith whiffed on a huge hit to Bradford by Jason Babin and no one stood out whatsoever.  

Running backs: B+

The running backs were the lone bright spot during the game. Steven Jackson had a huge touchdown on the first play from scrimmage but later left with a quad injury.  

Cadillac Williams picked up the slack admirably, racking up 91 yards on 19 carries. It looks like the Rams have finally solved their running back depth problem.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends: F

As I voiced in the offseason, the Rams have not done enough to improve the pass catching core. Mike Sims-Walker, the supposed number one option, had one catch for five yards. Brandon Gibson dropped big passes when the team needed him to step up, a reminder of week 17 last year, and Lance Kendricks showed some rookie jitters by dropping a few himself.

Danny Amendola went down with a gruesome injury that looks to be a dislocated elbow. There is no timetable for his return but if he misses any significant amount of time, the Rams will suffer.

The Rams should have tried harder for Sidney Rice and it showed as no receiver gained more than 50 yards today and none had a touchdown.

Defensive Line: D

The Rams dialed up some exotic blitzes, rattling Michael Vick a few times but were ultimately beaten by the scrambling quarterback.

As the game wore on, they seemed gassed and were caught out of position consistently as Vick and Lesean McCoy ripped off huge gains including a 49-yard touchdown from McCoy in the fourth quarter.

The line will probably have better luck against the Giants next week without a mobile quarterback to worry about but I expected more from them against a very average Eagles offensive line.

Linebackers: C-

The linebackers played alright but need to wrap up more consistently. Vick was almost in their hands a few times and managed to scramble away like he always does.

James Laurinaitis had six tackles and recovered a fumble, showing why he is the leader of this defense. Ben Leber was underwhelming with only two tackles but Brady Poppinga managed to record three quarterback hits.

Cornerbacks and Safeties: Pass coverage: C, Run support/blitzing: B

The Rams are thin at corner but held the Eagles wide receivers to manageable numbers. Desean Jackson had 102 yards but only managed one touchdown on a great throw by Vick in the third quarter. No other Philadelphia receiver had a touchdown and Vick was held to 187 yards passing.

I noticed the Rams using the corner blitz heavily throughout the game to match up with Vick’s speed. It worked consistently as Justin King had seven tackles and a sack along with Bradley Fletcher’s four tackles. Quintin Mikell also sacked Michael Vick and exacted revenge on his old team by stripping the ball for Laurinaitis to recover. 

Bartell went down with what looks like a neck stinger but should be alright for Monday Night Football against the Giants.

Special Teams: C

Jerious Norwood did well as a kick returner, averaging 26.3 yards on four returns and Josh Brown had two field goals.

However, Brown also missed a 47-yard field goal in the third quarter that would have brought the game within four points for the Rams.

Overall: D

The Rams were battered, beaten and bruised for the entire game. The Eagles are an elite NFC team and if St. Louis wants to be considered a contender, they have to show up more in these games. It is only the first game but there needs to be significant improvements for the team to survive this rough early schedule.

Take away the team colors. Now imagine clothing Michael Vick in Rams blue and gold. It could have happened. And it would have been a disaster.

The big revelation from Will Leitch's interview with Michael Vick in GQ magazine, hastily denied by all parties quoted or otherwise, was that Vick was somehow "steered" away from two of the least stable franchises in football and toward one of its granite foundation teams.

Of course it's true. I've called Roger Goodell a lot of things, but he's no dummy.

The NFL Commissioner made his legacy on player discipline, coming down hard on perceived bad actors for overly aggressive play on the field ("for safety") and countless indiscretions off of it ("for conduct"). It's nothing personal. He's simply following in the footsteps of NBA power czar David Stern, taking ownership of everything having to do with the broadcast image of the league away from players and into his office. As we saw in the early battles of the Lockout, the enormous pile of TV money was the big prize everyone was fighting over. And the size of that pot for a league is directly proportional to the way that league broadcasts into the world's living rooms, and what price advertisers will pay to ride along. 

When Vick was indicted for dogfighting -- long before he was proven guilty, the now-obsolete standard for justice in this country -- Goodell watched as the story exploded across the media, and readied his hammer. The day Vick admitted guilt, the hammer came down and he was suspended "indefinitely" from the NFL. Vick became the ultimate badguy, and the commissioner broadcast a "zero-tolerance" message into the living rooms on that day.

That decision was easy. The decision to let him back into the league, nearly two years later, was not.

Obviously, Goodell wanted to broadcast a message of redemption, but again, he's no dummy. A man's redemption takes time. But forgiveness from the people he's hurt takes longer. 

Vick needed to land on a team where he would almost be guaranteed of not playing. Not for his own sake, but for the league's. The NFL needed to go an entire season with Vick kept out of the news cycle before his radioactive public personna would start to cool off. Goodell is not the dumb one here, we are. After a full year, we forget.

The only people still holding a grudge after that long would be people who like holding grudges, those who felt personally wronged by Vick's destruction of animal life. And most of those folks aren't football fans. Or Eagles fans, anyway. 

Is that a cheap shot at Eagles fans? Yes, and no. More on that in a moment.

Opening day is finally here! In Week 1, the St. Louis Rams face off in a home match-up with the Philadelphia Eagles. While the Rams are coming off what can be seen as a successful year compared with past years, and are looking to make a name for themselves, the Philadelphia Eagles aka the "Dream Team" have loaded up on talent in hopes of making a run at a Lombardi Trophy. The Rams had a great overall showing in preseason, especially against the Colts and Chiefs, showing a renewed vigor and ability in running the ball. They also showed just how much of a potential threat rookie TE Lance Kendricks will be. Will we see that in this first game?

While the Rams remained somewhat low key with their free agent signings, the Eagles made room for players such as DT Cullen Jenkins, CB Nnamdi Asomugha, RB Ronnie Brown, and even trading for CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, all who were starters for their respective teams last year.  Everyone seems to be overlooking the Rams in this game, although Team Spags has built a solid defense centered around MLB James Laurinaitis and DE Chris Long. The free agents brought in on defense were signed for their ability to help stop the run, but will our cornerbacks be able to keep up with the likes of the speedy wideouts Desean Jackson and St. Louis' own Jeremy Maclin?  Will our linebackers be fast enough to contain the threat that is Michael Vick?

As always, here's three things to watch for:

Containing Vick-ster the Trickster

 The most arduous task the defense has today is stopping Michael Vick. Although he has aged some from his Atlanta years, he is just as fast, and even more dangerous. He's more dangerous because Any Reid has finally taught him how to be a quarterback first before running. Vick is finally taking time to go through his progressions before he chooses to run. With possibly the strongest arm in the league, and two receivers who run 4.3 40 times, it becomes very easy for the Eagles to stretch the field and allow him to take off running. 

The Rams have...HAVE...to maintain their gap assignments. In the past years, our linebackers have been known to over-pursue a play, allowing the cutback side of the field to be wide open for running. If that continues in this game, the team could be in trouble.  The defensive must continuously bring pressure from Vick's front side and force him to his right, where he isn't as dangerous throwing the ball. Look for a linebacker, or even possibly a third safety to come down into the box and shadow Vick at certain points in this game. 

The only other weapon we've faced that is as dangerous as Michael Vick on the ground in recent years is Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans, and we are a much better defense now. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.


Establish the Run

If there is anywhere the Eagles are weak, it's in their linebacking corps, where rookie Casey Matthews looks to start at middle linebacker. The Rams must put their new free agent guard Harvey Dahl to use and attack this weakness with Steven Jackson all game. Jackson has looked especially productive running behind Brit Miller on the right side of the line, where Dahl and Jason Smith are blocking. 

The other benefit to establishing the run is keeping the Eagles high powered offense off of the field. The Eagles have the ability to score in quick strikes, so keeping them off of the field, and tiring their defense out with long drives like we saw against the Kansas City Chiefs in the preseason would do wonders for the Rams success in this game. In addition, Steven Jackson is like a juggernaut, in that he only gets stronger the more carries he gets. Keep pounding the rock and let him beat up on those defensive linemen and linebackers. 

Establishing the run might also open up some space to throw through play-action. The Eagles field the best combination of cornerbacks in the NFL in Asomugha, Rodgers-Cromartie, and Asante Samuel. Any advantage they can gain in passing is one they need to jump on, because the passing game may not be there for most of this match up.  


Heart. You've Got to Have Heart

If anything, this matchup will give a good gauge as to whether this team is ready to match up against the big boys, or whether the first 7 weeks of the season are going to be very long. The last game of last season showed a team that simply was just not ready to compete on the big stage both talent-wise, and mentally. Is this team there yet? The Rams brought in a lot of older veterans, who have all been there before. A number of them have Super Bowl rings, including CB Al Harris and LB Brady Poppinga. These older veterans have to support this team if they get down by some points, and keep them fighting until the end, because this game is winnable by all standards.

They Rams must show they have the gumption, the heart to compete against the big boys, and this first game is a step in that direction.

Prediction: I think this game will go down to the wire, and I really think the Rams establish the run and take this game from an Eagles team that will struggle to find themselves in the early parts of this season (a la' Miami Heat). Rams win 24-21 

Last minute decisions can often make the difference in Fantasy Football. This is especially true going into week one. who do you start, who do you sit...who do you take a chance on. With only preseason to base this decision on, rookies are often left out of the mix.

To make this decision blindly for all rookies however would be a mistake. To hastily make this decision for Lance Kendricks could be an even bigger one. As I touched on in a previous article, Kendricks has gone from a potential sleeper with a late-round pick to someone Fantasy owners should consider as a starter. 

While it was just the preseason, Kendricks showed plenty of promise, and it's clear Bradford plans to use him often (he had four targets against the Jaguars and TD’s in the final two preseason games, both with the 1’s). Many other Fantasy Football experts are jumping on the Kendricks bandwagon as well. Not merely suggesting he be drafted, but suggesting he be starting in week one against the Eagles.

If your line-up needs a last minute tweak don’t just take my word for it, (though you should and it’s kind of rude that you’re not) listen to what some others are saying and start Lance Kendricks.


Where the other experts weigh in on starting Lance Kendricks:

Ramsondemand.com 
@Dr_Ram_ breaks down the Eagles' defense. Check out what he has to say about their pair of rookie linebackers:

"Casey Matthews is their starting Mike backer and is smallish at 6’1 230pounds, he is a 2 down   backer who plays pretty well on running plays, he is a downhill guy, who reads and reacts pretty fast and fills.  He is susceptible to the play action pass and a liability in coverage. Another rookie, Brian Rolle, comes in for Matthews on obvious passing downs, he is pretty fast and athletic, but he’s small at 5’9 227 pounds. I think this is an obvious weakness and attack point for Josh McDaniels.  I would put my rookie Lance Kendricks against their two rookies at linebacker any day of the week and more than twice on Sunday."

@Dr_Ram_ also grades their safeties poorly, with the loss of Mikell. Could add up for a big day for the rookie TE. Of course it's a huge gamble to play him week 1, but one that could pay off.
 
Yahoo Fantasy Projection: 
3 out of 5 stars: Tough to rely on but Eagles have historically struggled with athletic TE and he had a great summer.

ESPN Fantasy Projection:
He was quite the sparkplug during the preseason, and make no mistake, he will be utilized in the regular year, even so soon as Week 1. Kendricks could get work in two-/three-tight end sets, and if you need a deep sleeper ...

Rotowire.com
Kendricks caught three passes for 73 yards and a touchdown against Jacksonville in the Rams final preseason game.  Spin:  Sold yet? Kendrick accumulated his numbers while Sam Bradford was on the field, with the highlight being a 44-yard touchdown catch. Kendricks has conclusively shown strong chemistry with Bradford all preseason, and is looking like one of the strongest TE2 options in the NFL.

@PFF_MikeClay:
“I rank him 11th. Great play vs. PHI”

@EvanSilva
“Worth keeping in mind that the Eagles annually struggle against TE’s. No reason to think they’ve fixed that.”

 “I don’ think it’s Crazy. Concerned that Kendricks may play ~60% of snaps 6 targets max”

FFSpin.com
Despite all the offseason acquisitions made by the dream team, Philly’s LB corps will be a source of problems all season.  They allowed a league worst 10 FPG to opposing TEs last season giving rookie Lance Kendricks a chance to surprise in his NFL debut. The 2nd round pick from Wisconsin led the Rams in receiving in the pre-season finishing with 11 catches for 155 yards and three scores. We expect a pass heavy approach under first year OC Josh McDaniels giving Kendricks a chance to shine.