Well St. Louis, another NFL season is about to begin. And it feels a lot like Christmas for me, because opening day never gets old. It never gets here fast enough for football diehards. And now that opening day has finally arrived, what gifts will the St. Louis Rams bear in the 2014 season? Can or will they finally get to the playoffs? Will they stop floating near the .500 mark?
The Rams look to take the next step as Jeff Fisher enters his third season as head coach. Fisher is confident as ever, despite not having Sam Bradford for the entire season due to another injury. This is nothing new to Fisher, who dealt with this before in Tennessee while coaching the Titans and as recent as last season.
And can you blame him for being this way? Last season the Rams went 4-5 with backup quarterback Kellen Clemens running and spinning on the football field like the Tasmanian Devil after one too many five-hour energy drinks. But you also got to give credit to the offensive line and the emergence of rookie Zac Stacy at running back for salvaging the season.
But, will the Rams keep the same approach with Shaun Hill at quarterback? I think they may take more chances downfield. Hill got plenty of work during OTAs and during the preseason with the starters. He’s not shy looking for the home run ball, and his career completion percentage is not bad at a shade over 61 percent. He’ll have plenty of big targets, like wideouts Kenny Britt and Brian Quick, to get the ball to. And there are plenty of capable guys in the backfield to sustain the running game.
The defense is still the heart and soul of this team. The secondary is young and will make their share of mistakes. I’m interested how they’ll play without cornerback Trumaine Johnson, who is out four to six weeks with a knee injury.
Rookies Lamarcus Joyner and EJ Gaines will be in the mix. Gaines displayed fine open-field tackling skills, and Joyner was just as active too. The front seven is still the biggest strength overall for the Rams. One concern could be being too aggressive overrunning plays and those cutback runs. That’s very important, since Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings will be in town to start off the season. His last game in St. Louis, Peterson ran wild like Hulkamania on the Rams defense.
The offensive line had shaky moments in the preseason, and the way they play this year could determine what kind of season might be in store for the Rams. Jake Long has to rebound, because he looked very rusty. Just ask Sam Bradford. Rodger Saffold has to find a way not to injure another body part, and rookie Greg Robinson had his ups and downs like any rookie. However, too many down moments lead to sacks, penalties or, worse, quarterback out for the year. See Sam Bradford.
If the Rams have any aspirations for post-season play, they’ll need to get off to a fast start. That means at worst going 2-1 into the early bye week. First things first, and that’s beating the Minnesota Vikings this weekend.
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