The last time the St. Louis Rams lost a game by four points or less was Week 12 last season, a 23-20 loss to the Cardinals. A meaningless stat, by any measure, but a subtle reminder of just how much more competitive this team was on opening week this season versus all of 2011. A few more numbers for your consideration.

105.1 - Nope, that's not one of St. Louis' many non-essential talk radio stations, that was Bradford's QB rating, a non-essential statistic. It was his highest QB rating since Week 15 of 2010.

11:46 - That was the time of possession for the Rams offense in the first half of the game, a decided disadvantage for the defense who had to be gassed in the second half.

4-for-12, 33 percent - Converting third downs was a main point of emphasis for Jeff Fisher in the preseason, so he likely won't be very happy with that number from his offense.

0-for-1 - That was the Rams in the red zone, and their only trip into the red zone came after an interception.

7 - The Rams drew seven flags, unacceptable. They had no margin for error in this game, and the little things could have made a big difference.

2.9 - Running the ball is supposed to be a trademark for this team, but averaging less than three yards on 27 total attempts is not going to get it done. The offensive line gets plenty of blame there.

4.6 - Detroit doesn't run the ball much, but they picked up 83 yards on 18 carries for the average you see there.

3, 7 - More offensive line stats, Bradford was sacked three times and hit seven. In truth, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but not good when you compare it with ...

1, 3 - The Rams generated almost no pressure on Stafford, one sack and three hits. All of those came in the second half of the game.