Never would I have thought the St. Louis Rams would continue the overwhelming feeling initiated by the St. Louis Cardinals jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the NLCS and then Gary Pinkel and the Missouri Tigers beating the brake pads off No. 7-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, 41-26, on the road on ESPN. Plus, the St. Louis Blues are still unbeaten, winning in decisive fashion.
And then you have the St. Louis Rams, a team now 3-3 after silencing its critics (most definitely myself included) by winning its second game in a row. Most important about the win is that the Rams may have discovered the way for them to play from here on out.
Zac Stacy has staked his claim at running back, a position that was once treated like it was cooties. For the second game in a row, he powered through the opponent’s defensive line, led by J.J. Watts – who, by the way, was very quiet. Stacy pounded away at the Texans defense while helping Sam Bradford in the passing game.
And for the second straight week, Bradford threw three touchdown passes. His completion percentage was much improved this week compared to the previous week against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
And even though Bradford didn’t have a lot of pass attempts in the win against the Texans, there wasn’t much need to throw the football once the Rams established a lead by running the football.
Also, the Rams defense was making plays. Michael Brockers had one of his best games with seven tackles and two sacks. Alec Ogletree had 10 tackles, a forced fumble and a 98-yard interception returned for a touchdown. Janoris Jenkins chipped in with an interception and a sack. The entire defense really stiffened up in the red zone and kept Texans running back Arian Foster out of the end zone despite his 141 rushing yards.
This victory also showed why Stan Kroenke pays Jeff Fisher the big bucks. After dealing with an early crisis which included a three-game losing streak, erratic quarterback play, no rushing attack and bad special teams, Jeff Fisher had this team ready to play. The Rams beat a team on the road that was once predicted as a Super Bowl contender this season.
The next Rams opponent, the Carolina Panthers, are fresh off a victory themselves. A win in Carolina, and the Rams would be over .500 with a home game in primetime against the Seattle Seahawks up next. Yes, I’m looking ahead, but at least Jeff Fisher is not, and you can see why he was the man for this job.
