The Rams without LT Orlando Pace this week?

There's much delight in seeing so many of the Cowboys top ranch hands pass their buttless leather chaps onto replacements for this week's game against the Rams, but there's a big injury concern for the Rams this week too.

As you know, LT Orlando Pace strained his quad in the fourth quarter of last week's win over the Redskins. He's currently listed as questionable, and in his online chat today at the Post Dispatch, Rams beat writer Jim Thomas posited that Pace was "50-50 - at best" to play this week.

That's alarming because with solid pass protection the Rams have real chance to get their passing game going against a Cowboys team that was already struggling with coverage before losing their other starting cornerback to a suspension today. The Cowboys use an aggressive pass rush to compensate, and it worked on Warner through the first half of the Cardinals game with the Cowboys this week until they stepped up their protection and made magic in the passing game. (Of course, they don't have Steven Jackson either).

If Pace is out, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Rams move Barron over to the right side, rather than risk using Adam Goldberg, who's looked overmatched in his regular season work this year. RotoWorld suggests the Rams might consider using John Greco in Barron's place in that scenario. That might be a good bet for the run game given Greco's skill set, similar to what the Redskins got in their run game by having Jon Jansen play RT in place of Stephon Heyer, but how are his pass blocking skills? I'd defer to the best pass blocker given the opportunities to throw on Dallas with such big holes in their coverage. But who is the best blocker in that case?

The good news is that Pace's injury sounds like a one game thing at a maximum.