Rams' Steven Jackson: The most watched groin in the NFL

by Ryan Van Bibber on Sep 27, 2010 2:09 PM CDT in 2010 St. Louis Rams season

The St. Louis Rams got good news today. RB Steven Jackson, who left the game late in the first half with a groin injury, had an MRI today, the results of which should be pleasing to all but the Rams future opponents: It's only a strain.

No word yet on his status for this week. Spagnuolo has a presser coming up at 2 p.m.

With that, I want to raise a point of conversation slash discussion. Without the Jackson, the Rams really stepped up, the line played better, Bradford shouldered much of the offensive burden and the play calling looked much better than it had been.

A few questions popped into my brain during the second half. The rational side is taking over again, so I though I'd share these questions to generate some discussion.

Questions about Jackson and the offense around him after the jump.

Were the Rams not creative enough with Jackson? It seems (emphasis on seems) that they just hand Jackson the ball and expect him to break through 8-defenders on his own. We talked about this issue on TSR last week also, the needs for more carries on the edges, etc. With backs other than SJ in there, the coaches have to get a little more creative since few players have Jackson's ability.
Did the offense, especially the other backs and the OL, just dial it up a notch?
Did the play calling as a whole get better as a reaction to losing their best player? Second half calls included much more of what fans and pundits wanted to see, 4 WR sets, etc. Did Jackson's absence for their hand on that? Or was there more of that happening this week in general, in the first and second half? It didn't look like the Rams offense was spreading out the opposing defense with 3 and 4 WR sets in the first half, using those to break out a run.
I like the two-headed approach of Keith Toston, the between the tackles guy, and Kenneth Darby, as more of an outside/pass threat guy, but how long can the Rams carry on without Jackson?

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E all of the above

Shurmur needs to build on what he accomplish in the second half of that. Van, was there any 3 and 4 receiver sets in first half? There is no way we regress from what we learned here. Go Rams Go.

The only thing comparable to a Rams win is a 49er loss!

by DevsLaRams on Sep 27, 2010 2:22 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

More impressive than that

Was Bradford’s ability to adjust the play at scrimmage. It appeared he did that 3 times: 1) Incomplete to Gilyard; 2) Complete to Gilyard for a first down, and 3) I don’t recall exactly what it is, my memory is not that good.

Taking a page out of Peyton’s playbook and letting the QB adjust at the line is beneficial pending on the maturity of Bradford.

by 81 Witness on Sep 27, 2010 2:32 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, .....

it probably shook the entire offense out of that “Give it to Steven and let him do the work” attitude. Having a single great player for a long time tends to create complacency.

I think the offense was looking to open things up this week , anyway. You also can’t overlook that the offense has more options when they are playing with a lead. That certainly isn’t something this team gets to do very often, so we probably aren’t used to seeing it. With a rookie QB, a pair of rookie OTs, and an entire corps of WRs learning to play in the NFL it probably should have been expected that the offense will have to be phased in slowly. I think it takes players knowing what their responsibilities are to open up the schemes. I think Spagnuolo and Flajole both said the same things about the defense this year. The players understand the defense better this year, and it has allowed Flajole to dial up more alignments and blitz packages.

by etp_stl on Sep 27, 2010 2:36 PM CDT reply actions

Is this another example

of the Ewing Theory?

Is this team better without Steven Jackson? Sure, we need more of a sample size to say whether or not this falls into Ewing territory, but I was definitely thinking about this once the game finished and am anxious to see how the team plays if he misses any time.

Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.

- John Wayne

by Tackle Box on Sep 27, 2010 3:00 PM CDT reply actions

not better

Just making better use of playbook. IMHO

The only thing comparable to a Rams win is a 49er loss!

by DevsLaRams on Sep 27, 2010 3:07 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions

I dont think so...

…Darby looked impressive, but remember Jackson started the whole thing off with a 42 yard run to the end zone.

The Redskins new we (or thought they knew…I mean I was pretty certain) werent going to run the ball with Jackson out and didnt possess that ability. I think they just thought they were going to pin their ears back and go after Bradford.

I think our line can run it on anyone that doesnt stack 8 in the box. So Darby ripped them up the gut and the redskins countered by loading up 8 in the box on the next drive and that is when Sam passed them out of it and then ran the ball with darby and toston

by leadhead on Sep 27, 2010 3:30 PM CDT up reply actions

I don't think any size sample will show the Ewing theory, lol

On another note, please let your Cardinal buddies know that many of us Red fans are disgusted with Johnny Cuetos’ actions even before Larue announced his retirement. I would’ve gone over to their sbn site but I’m not a member and I didn’t think it was a good idea to become one.

by dbcouver on Sep 27, 2010 6:12 PM CDT up reply actions

Nah, you would have been fine.

Especially with that Ram avatar. Not that there are a lot of Ram fans there, but it would have carried a little weight.

As long as you didn’t go in and try to make Cueto look like a victim, you’d be fine.

Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.

- John Wayne

by Tackle Box on Sep 27, 2010 9:43 PM CDT up reply actions

The reason the running game was good when Jackson went down was....

because we established the pass. On that long drive down the field on the first possession of the 3rd quarter, Bradford passed 85% of the drive. The defence adjusted accordingly, only for the Rams to pull out an unexpected run. The fact of the matter was that Shurmer was always one step ahead of Haslett.

We have always had the mentality with Bradford that we need to establish the run to open up the passing game. Well folks, we HAVE the passing game, and we need to use that to establish the run

by PCarn on Sep 27, 2010 3:14 PM CDT reply actions

Blessing in disguise.

I hate seeing Jackson get hut just as much as anybody else but that really woke Pat Shurmur up. If we call plays like that and use Darby in some areas as the change of pace back WITH Jackson playing, our offense can be GREAT. That was an amazing second half…so freaking amazing. I think he felt Sam needed to lean on Jackson but now he should realize that Sam can play just as big of a role as Jackson so use them both the same. Leaning on Jackson got him killed at the line and I hate seeing him take those hard hits. Jackson will put up better stats and have more long runs if he calls plays like he did in the second half with Jackson in the backfield. I hope he can play this Sunday because I WANT TO SEE THAT HAPPEN ASAP! I THINK IT’LL WORK SO WELL!

I hate Pat Shurmur.

by douchiedude on Sep 27, 2010 3:39 PM CDT reply actions

Its comming together

I have to agree that in this case the pass opened up the run. Not to mention there is some advantage to being considered, a nobody has ever heard of you, running back. That will go away as the yards pile up. Each week the team is getting better and that lets the collars come off on what can be called. Sam is getting better and whoever said its better to play him at the start of his career, than later after he gets it all figured out was right.
The 4WR looked to me like it forced them to abandon the blitz pacakage cause they saw how quick he can deliver the football. It’s a no win for the defense, because he can stand back there in the shotgun by himself and dare anyone to come after him. Either way he can make you pay.

by OakCityRam on Sep 27, 2010 3:57 PM CDT reply actions

marshall faulk

Was used I a manner that kept Defenses honest. Warner had such a grip on that passing game they couldn’t stack the box. Jackson with his power can be as good or better if used right. I know Warner had great receivers but belive me, its coming.

The only thing comparable to a Rams win is a 49er loss!

by DevsLaRams on Sep 27, 2010 4:26 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

I still haven't gotten over this groin

http://www.stlouisrams.com/media-center/videos/Get-To-Know-Brooke/ebc28e0b-25c3-457c-91a4-80e259560c3b

by dbcouver on Sep 27, 2010 6:25 PM CDT reply actions

THANK YOU FOR THAT!!!

And don’t ask me what color her eyes are either!

Is it just me, or does Sam Bradford look like he can be one of the Jonas Brothers?

by NachoD on Sep 27, 2010 9:38 PM CDT up reply actions

oh damn

makes me even more pumped to go to my first rams home game

by Buck Nasty87 on Sep 28, 2010 2:17 AM CDT up reply actions

A tan, heavily-made-up, fake-boobed woman.

Wow. You just don’t see that anywhere.

by betterthanzero on Sep 28, 2010 5:05 PM CDT up reply actions

thats enough with the siliconism already

by dbcouver on Sep 28, 2010 11:23 PM CDT up reply actions

Maybe it's just my man-crush on Bradford talking but

I’m sure there is an element of conservativeness to the offense being run by a rookie play only his 6th game over the last 2 seasons, 3rd as a pro. But, without Jackson, they had to let Bradford loose. He stepped up and showed that he is more than capable.

I think teams are going to have to re-think their game plans against us ‘cause we’ve shown we can play run first OR pass first.

Captain, there are doubt's...

by Match Day 5 on Sep 27, 2010 8:05 PM CDT reply actions

It's almost like the O-line thinks they don't need to fight as hard when Jackson's out there

After all, Jackson pretty much runs over 2 or 3 guys at a time. Why get in his way trying to block? With the other RBs, they must think “well, we better get a good push or nothing happens”. I think the Darby/Toston combo could have success, but we have to spread the field early on.

by RamBuck on Sep 27, 2010 9:36 PM CDT reply actions

Jackson's is probably the most watched groin but..

I guess Anthony Davis is complaining that his is the most FELT groin…

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/27/SPND1FK2U0.DTL

Is it just me, or does Sam Bradford look like he can be one of the Jonas Brothers?

by NachoD on Sep 27, 2010 9:40 PM CDT reply actions

I think Ian Johnson is available

I like him to get a least a practice squad look.

by RamBuck on Sep 27, 2010 10:33 PM CDT reply actions

I was glad to see in a PD article today that we tried to aquire J. Bell

He was the one I really wanted. I guess we tried to get him to our practice squad but he chose to stay with the Bills. I really wish we would have signed him to the rostor and put Toston on ps because now the eagles have him.

by stlfan2004 on Sep 28, 2010 8:57 AM CDT up reply actions

Did anybody else notice the class Jackson had in post game interviews

Alot of lesser character stars would have talked mostly about their injury. For him it was a sidenote. He talked about how Bradford just showed every team out there that they wouldn’t be able to stack 8 in the box anymore and get away with it. They would now have to respect the passing game. He talked about how proud he was of Darby and Toston and what they did with their opportunity. He just seems like a fine wine, he becomes a better leader every year. He even said he thought his injury was a blessing in disguise (like we said) because it forced the coached to trust in Bradford and the passing game and showed that it was ready. Who says that about their own injury? A Leader. Then Spaggs was quoted saying Jackson was a deeper thinker than he was “He just wants him out there playing all the time”…..lol

by stlfan2004 on Sep 28, 2010 8:55 AM CDT reply actions