In as much as the last weeks have been about Steven Jackson, tonight the narrative shifts for the St. Louis Rams. Tonight belongs to Marc Bulger, all eyes, all thoughts about the upcoming season, one supposed to improve upon a 3-13 run last year, have the Rams QB in focus. 

Baltimore's know for their tough defense, a theme for the Rams opponents through this preseason, but the Ravens aren't as airtight as they used to be. Last season, their pass defense had a DVOA of 12.5% ranked 22nd. The Rams by comparison had a DVOA of 18.6% ranked 25th for their pass defense. That didn't stop the Ravens from having a big day last season in week 6, beating down a Rams team that looked a lot more like a preseason roster by a score of 22-3. Bulger and Jackson both missed that game. Backup QB Gus Frerotte played his way out of good graces with a 5 INT performance, completing 19 of 36 passes for 208 yards. The Ravens also sacked the woebegone Frerotte, playing behind a paper mache line, 4 times. 

The four sacks against the Rams last year no doubt provide Bulger a frightening reminder that despite a weaker secondary, B-more still has one of the league's top defensive fronts, putting the Rams o-line under the lamp with their QB. There's some good news there; blocking TE Anthony Becht will play tonight. LT Orlando Pace is questionable, and even if he does play, he'll be limited, giving backup Adam Goldberg time with the first team. Goldberg's had a good preseason, so this will give him a chance to ease our minds with inspired play in Pace's place. 

There's a silver lining in that the Ravens' defense hasn't looked especially noteworthy in preseason action thus far. Last week against the Vikings (and Gus Frerotte) they played without both starting cornerbacks and super safety Ed Reed. Stabbin' Ray Lewis played for just two drives. The Ravens have allowed 206 passing yards and 2 TDs against the Vikes last week. The secondary comes into tonight's game still banged up, and will likely be without their starting CBs, Chris McAlister and Samari Rolle, as well as Ed Reed, who's still limited in practice. Secondary aside, the Ravens are expected to play their starters for up to three quarters, so the Rams will still have to play sharp against the Ravens defensive front to settle concerns and keep Bulger healthy. Torry Holt will play, so having his long-time companion catching his passes could help Bulger get the timing ironed out.

Even though Bulger's in the spotlight, this could be the night to shine for the Rams defense. The Ravens are in the midst of a QB battle between Kyle Boller and Troy Smith, with 2008 draft pick Joe Flacco lurking behind. None of the three have been particularly impressive, combing for 3 INTs. It would be nice to see the secondary, rolling out sans CB fakhir Brown and FS O.J. Atogwe, take advantage of jittery QBs playing for a job. An improved Bartell and Tye Hill starting at CB should be able to handle this offense, and expecting someone to come away with an INT isn't too much to ask.

Rams pass rushers will need to take advantage of an o-line in disarray, lost in the wilderness since LT Jonathan Ogden retired. They've allowed seven sacks in two preseason games. Obviously Leonard Little could have a big night, but Chris Long and Adam Carriker need to get in on the action too and have a big game. With Adeyanju back, with his giant white hand, and the linebackers having looked a little sharper last week, the run defense matches up well against a Ravens team that has managed just 161 rushing yards through two games (for comparison's sake, the Rams have rushed for a total of 259 yards in two games). On 3rd downs, the Ravens are just 6 for 22. 

As far as preseason games go, this is pretty good match up for the Rams. Bulger and the Rams offense have difficult test, facing a tough, but not impenetrable defense. Leonard Little and the Rams defense faces an offense struggling in key areas, giving them a chance to fine tune their attack and get some of the slow starters running on all cylinders. 

Here's a few more preview links. I'll have a game thread up later this afternoon.

• The view from the other side at Baltimore Beatdown, SBN's Ravens site. 
• Five things to watch from the Post Dispatch.
• What to watch at the official Rams site. 
• Game preview from NFL.com.

Not to drudge up bad memories from last weekend's innuagural preseason tilt with the Titans, but those 340 rushing yards accumulated by a parade of Titans runners are enough to wake even the most seasoned Rams fans with night sweats and visions of the 2006 run defense. Last weekend though it wasn't the ghost of Jimmy Kennedy watching opposing backs breeze right by, with Witherspoon and Chris Draft on the sideline, it was the linebackers forcing us to revisit old nightmares.

In case you missed it, or just couldn't bare to watch it, ESPN's Mike Sando has a nice replay of some of the, er, highlights. Here's a dandy that encapsulates it pretty well.

Titans tight ends Bo Scaife and Alge Crumpler flattened McGarigle on a third-and-2 run up the gut. Third-and-2 is often a passing situation in the NFL, but not when the Rams have this personnel on the field defensively.

Leading up to the game, you'll recall a heated battle was emerging between four linebacker for three spots. Two seventh rounders from the 2008 draft, David Vobora and Chris Chamberlain, sqauring off with undrafted rookies Marc Magro and Marcus Riley and a seventh rounder from 2006, McGarigle. After last weekend, McGarigle will need an excellent week and a good game against the Chargers if he hopes to make the active roster.

Adjust your expectations this week. Victor Adeyanju is back and tackling like a machine, and Witherspoon should be ready to go as well. Safety O.J. Atogwe is close to returning too.

Having those key starters back helps, but there's still a question of whether or not the Rams have enough veteran depth at LB. Linebacker? Acquiring a veteran guy like Brandon Moore, recently cut when the 49ers added Takeo Spikes, would give the Rams some experience behind the starters in their LB corps. Moore's a talented enough guy, who struggled in the "Ted" role this summer with the 49ers defense. (The "Ted" LB, in that system, is the guy who draws the linemen/blockers while the "Mike" LB covers the field and makes the plays.) Moore could add depth in the middle, replacing McGarigle on the depth chart. It wouldn't be a bad for the Rams to make.

Now if someone would just release a good cornerback that we could sign to replace Justin King this season...

The Rams probably weren't planning on using 4th round pick CB Justin King too much this season when camp began. Scouting report after scouting report raved about his raw skills, speed in particular, but emphasized that he was pretty rough around the edges. Naturally he would have to prove those reports wrong, only to have his toe get stepped on to end his rookie season.

King's loss hurts the depth chart, but doesn't dramatically change the picture in the backfield. Hill and Brown are still the starters. Ron Bartell and a much improved Jonathan Wade will take more of the snaps at nickel King might have seen, as well as spelling the starters on occasion. Veteran David Macklin will also see more playing time now. Don't forget about Darius Vinnett either. Vinnett, who made the team last season as an undrafted rookie, has shown much better coverage skills through camp this summer too.

The pass defense was fine on Saturday night, but was that a result of the pass defense itself, a feeble Titans air attack, or the Rams porous run defense that brought back so many bad memories of 2006? Probably a combo of all three factors, but why pass when you can run for 300+ yards? Like I said yesterday, having Witherspoon and Adeyanju out hurt the run defense. Some other notable absences likely hurt the run defense too. With Chris Draft and Witherspoon out, that left McGarigle in the middle to start and the other rookies to round things out at LB, making for missed assignments and guys lining up wrong. Compounding all that was the absence safety O.J. Atogwe. 

There is good news today. Atogwe is close. Second round pick Donnie avery has been cleared for individual drills, and Andeyanju is going to start working this week.

Avery's missed time puts him behind the curve for getting many reps as the team's third WR. One of his strengths cited in reports from the draft this year is his football instinct. He'll need it to get caught up.

I apologize for throwing this out after camp has officially opened, but hey, better late than never.

Let's go through the positions and find out what is going on over the next couple weeks until camp closes on August 14th.

Continue reading this post »

  Well, training camp has begun...which means 3k forgot something: the defensive preview.  I'll try to get that out today or tomorrow.  Here's an early rundown of what's going down in camp.  (heavy Dispatch influence...beware)

- VanRam hit the Dispatch's Jim Thomas' first piece on the Steven Jackson saga here, but Thomas later offered a deeper piece here.  Of note, not only is SJ not at camp, but neither is Donnie Avery...

Linehan wasn't as understanding when it came to Avery.

"It would serve him good to get in here," Linehan said.

  Get 'im, coach.

 - The Dispatch's Bryan Burwell is involved in an epic battle of journlistic debate.  In discussing SJ's holdout, he posits a defense of SJ.  You can find it here.  Unfortunately for Burwell, nearly as soon as he published that article, he was rebutted by his longtime foe....himself.  Read and be confused here.  In short, Jackson should hold out as long as possible because the league screws over players.  But, now he should show up and get to work.  I love stuff like this.

 - Bill Coats rolls through some notes from the first day here.  To sum it up, Keenan Burton looked good, Orlando Pace looked healthy, and Fakhir Brown and Victor Adeyanju suffered small injuries: a strained shoulder and tight hamstring, respectively.  Nothing to worry about, to be fair.

 - Mike Sando taps into Dante Hall's desire to be a part of the offense and not just special teams here.

So glad to have camp moving along.  I'll try to get the defensive training camp spotlight up soon.

You can tell it's June. Know why? Because the signing of a backup tackle dominates the conversation, the football conversation at least, even at the expense of Pacman's decision to drop his now infamous nickname. 

Still running on the memories of a great meal this weekend at Harvest and a supply run to Viviano's (oh the luxuries of the city), here's some morning links. Back at you later.

• Barry Sims has a much better shot at regular playing time with the 49ers than the Rams. Sims could beat out the constantly injured Jonas Jennings for the RT job in SF, and gives the 49ers a legit backup at the tackle position, where they had very little. Niners Nation has more. 
• Another way to look at the Sims deal... with the Raiders signing OT Kwame Harris, the two Bay Area teams acquired the other's unwanted OT.
• The NFC West features some of the game's top linebackers, according to this report, two of the top five call the NFC West home, SF's Patrick Willis and Seatlle's Lofa Tatupu. They rank Will Witherspoon 19th, just below Shawne Merriman. Despite the questionable ranking, they make a good point about some expanded possibilities for WW. With Leonard Little back and Chris Long drafted, sacks may be harder to come by for WW, but working in coverage, he should pick up at least a couple of INTs. Still, Haslett's going to use the 3-4 and Little's not an everydown guy anymore, so WW should still pick up a few sacks.
• DE Victor Adeyanju has been working hard this offseason. The run stopping specialist, according to the Sporting News, beefed up his strength and made his bullrush more effective. 
• Experts seem to agree, the Rams are a good bet for .500, and a real good pick for more than 6.5 wins. 
• Mike Holmgren's a lame duck this year, does that effect how the team will perform? The Rams made a smart move in brining in high profile Al Saunders for thier OC and making numerous other coaching staff changes as well as a front office switch with Billy Devaney. Together, those moves helped to shore up Linehan's status with the team, from being a total lame duck, no idle threat to the team's performance given his "conversations" with the key players on the offense during the season. However, he's still coaching for his job this season, and the players know that. It's a factor, but not nearly the distraction it could be. 
• The impact of pass rushers (and a good sign for the Rams) from the Football Outsiders crew.