It just keeps getting tougher for the Rams

by VanRam on Oct 8, 2009 11:57 AM CDT in News Comment 15 comments

More photos » by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

Sometimes a statistic is just a number. In the case of this year's St. Louis Rams, those numbers don't tell us anything we don't already know: the Rams are a bad team.

Football Outsiders has their updated DVOA stats (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, a system that breaks down every single NFL play and compares a team's performance to a league baseline based on situation in order to determine value over average). Nothing shocking in the numbers, except maybe that they're not lower. The Rams have the 30th ranked offense with a -24.8% DVOA. the 28th ranked defense with a 20.6% DVOA, and the 26th ranked special teams with a -3.6% DVOA. Overall, only the Carolina Panthers top the Rams in total futility through the first quarter of the season.

Just to prove that cosmic justice is a sick, random thing, the number that is of most concern is the future schedule. The crew at Football Outsiders list the average DVOA of each team's opponents for the rest of the season and ranks them based on that number. The Rams opponents for the rest of the season have an average DVOA of 4.5% (for comparison's sake, the Rams have an overall DVOA of -49%). We have the 9th toughest remaining schedule, as it stands now. The bitter irony is that the one team worse than us, the Panthers, have the hardest schedule remaining.

Injuries, schedule...it's not getting any easier for the Rams.

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Eh...

The Rams need a change of luck! It’s been this way for 3 years…

This station is now the ultimate power in the universe!

by AbsolutMoose on Oct 8, 2009 12:06 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

YEA WE NEED TO ALL BURN SOME SAGE LOL

by james535 on Oct 8, 2009 3:46 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ha!

The Panthers suck……

Although, i do find it interesting that the two teams who were rumored to be going to St. Louis in the expansion are the Carolina Panthers,who are statistically worse than us, and the Jacksonville Jaguars, have to resort to covering up seats and still can’t sell out games for years.

Smooth move NFL.

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

by Tackle Box on Oct 8, 2009 12:31 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Lets switch

Except we keep Steven Jackson and Lauranitis.

That would be nice…

We’d get Holt back too.

I believe in 2010

by ram_rod on Oct 8, 2009 1:14 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

um Holt is a Jaguar not a panther

by james535 on Oct 8, 2009 3:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I meant Jaguars…

he mentioned both…I thought you could tell which was which since I said, “We’d get Holt back too”

I believe in 2010

by ram_rod on Oct 8, 2009 7:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Out of curiosity

Is there any chance of breaking our Defensive DVOA into first half and second half. Maybe its years of watching crappy defenses, but I swear they look decent until their finally getting tired at the end of the game.

by GrnGyant on Oct 8, 2009 2:26 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs