So you thought we got the day off? There is football today! I mean, what else are you supposed to do when you are "getting ready" to go to the family function? That's why TST is here! Be thankful for Tim Tebow these links:

• Bernie at the Post-Dispatch looks at how much these injuries should factor into this whole 'coaching' debacle. Do they matter? Yes. Do the Rams still suck, regardless? Yes. You damn apologists...go watch Tim Tebow!
  
• Marquis Johnson, IR...IR, Marquis Johnson. Seriously, how in the hell do you suffer a lacerated spleen? Is this even real? Pinch me please.
  
• For anyone who wanted Trent Richardson to play for the Rams, you'll have to wait until 2013. What!? He's turning down millions for Alabama? MORALITY!? MADNESS!

       That's all for Turkey Day. Now go stuff yourself with food and watch football. GO RAMS!

The links! The links! They are finally up and ready for you to feast upon. Gaze upon the plethora (a word I think is all too often unused) of links I am bestowing before you.

Hit the jump and read them.

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This is it folks. This is the day we've been waiting for. the NFL is back! Sure, the Rams won't be playing today, but I'm not the only one who is excited to watch some real, meaningful football. I'm also not the only one to think that this starts a new era of Rams football. Let's see what the interweb has brewing for us today...

• Bernie over at STLToday says that Sam Bradford will have more weight on his shoulders this year. Ya think? That being said, he throws out an interesting point: the sophomore slump may be quite overrated.
• It's already happening: the Rams defense has been preparing to face off against the messiah and his dream-team-of-destiny-insert-word-here-because-it-looks-better-with-more. In all seriousness, Vick does represent a challenge and it'll definitely be key to see if the upgrades the Rams made on defense help keep him in check. 
• Way back two bullets ago, I linked an article about Sam Bradford. Remember? Of course you do. So here is another, from Bradford's own point of view, detailing how he feels about his second year in the NFL.
• It came out yesterday, but keep an eye on Mike Sando's injury situations. In fact, keep an eye on Mike Sando. He came from Tacoma, and that is one crazy city.
•  JimmyK from Bleeding Green Nation is here to answer your Eagles questions! Don't forget about it!
• If you haven't already, check out OakCityRam's T-Minus series of posts. T-Minus 5 and T-Minus 4 so far.
  

That's all for this morning! Make sure to come back to check out all of our coverage on the first week of the NFL season!

(Update from 3k at 9:14pm ET: The SI investigation story is out, and, well...yeah.  This is why he "resgined" today.  Great work from Dohrmann, and a great read.)

Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel resigned this morning, according to the Columbus Dispatch. Head coach at OSU since 2001, Tressel hangs it up as a tattoo and cheap cars swirl around the vaunted program. The St. Louis Rams have a direct connection to Ohio State, with OSU-product James Laurinaitis leading a group of linebackers populated primarily by fellow Buckeyes. The Rams used their fifth-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft on Ohio State S Jermale Hines. 

Tressel already faced a five game suspension. Several of his players, including QB Terrelle Pryor, are out for a big chunk of the season as well. Tressel found himself in the middle of dueling scandals. Among the more well-known is the tattoo-for-schwag arrangement. A second investigation around friendly pricing for player cars is also underway. 

Lots more Ohio State talk over at SBNation's OSU site, Along the Olentangy.

With the NFL taking away anything to talk about, seems like as good a time as any to delve into a discussion on NCAA rules. Tattoos. Tattoos put an end to one of the most successful head coaches in the country. Whether you're an OSU fan or not, that's merits some kind of response. 

Since the draft, some people, myself included, have wondered why the Rams were so hesitant to add a fresh set of legs at the outside linebacker position. Sure, they needed a lot of things, but on a defense that was so surprising last year, OLB was played with such horror that a former Mr. Irrelevant and a special teams ace were starting for us quite frequently. Not that I have anything against Vobora or Chamberlain, who definitely have their uses, but hey, we wouldn't be looking if the play at OLB was great.

So hit the jump and let's see if we can sort through this conundrum together.

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There is a question that has been on my mind for a while: is Steven Jackson's health and productivity at risk by allowing to have so many touches?

Below is a list of RB's that you should remember (see: recent) that have had continually high-workload seasons. Do those workloads actually tend to give them a slump? Or is it a bunch of bull? Let's find out...

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The NFL Players' Associate took aim at the league's television contracts today, filing a legal challenge with Special Master Steven Burbank claiming that the part of the deal that guarantees the league $4 billion, season or not, amounts to nothing more than lockout insurance at the expense of fans and players.

Players would not be compensated during a lockout. Essentially, the complaint alleges that the league gave networks a more favorable deal than the market would have dictated in order to secure the lockout provision. That, in turn, not only reduced money that could have otherwise gone into the salary pool, but gave the league an unfair advantage at the bargaining table. Player salaries and benefits equate to $4.4 billion, without having to pay that, the $4 billion in guaranteed money could translate to owners still turning a profit in 2011, football or not. 

The players' union points to the Direct TV deal as the most egregious violation, noting that the flat rates for the first two years of the deal also came in the face of increased access via the NFL RedZone channel and via the internet. 

The league argues that the TV deals were negotiated during the down economy, which is why the bulk of broadcasting rights prices were flat for 2009 and 2010, going up in the later years of the deal from 2011-2014.

As a remedy, the NFLPA wants the guaranteed $4 billion to be put in an escrow account in case of a lockout. 

It's easy to see the union's point on this issue; guaranteed money gives owners a big bargaining chip. For the owners, the TV deals are life giving water, and that money helps level the playing field for small market teams that don't turn profits like the Cowboys. 

Stay tuned, the labor battle just escalated. 

I've had this on my mind for a couple of days and I've finally been able to get this out...

We've talked quite in depth about having a #1 WR on TST over the past week, mostly because of the Rams apparent lack of interest in finding one. This post isn't about that (I wouldn't want to make it and you probably wouldn't want to read the same thing over again anyway). Carneros had an option in his poll a few days ago that intrigued me, specifically the option about adding a better TE to make up for the lack of a true #1.

That got me thinking. Are teams more successful when they have a #1 Tight End to take pressure of the QB? Are they more likely to go to the playoffs then teams that have a WR who accumulates more stats? Does a team even need a #1 WR with a good tight end and does it make a difference? Well, lucky for you, I sifted through eight years of data to try and find an answer. Before I crunch the numbers, first I'll explain the ground rules:

• To be considered a "#1 Tight End," the player must have been in the Top 50 statistically for receiving yards. To be a team that has no "#1 WR", the Tight End must have also have been the top target for the team.
  
• To be a team that has a #1 WR instead and #1 Tight End, the team must have had a WR who accumulated more yards then the Top 50 TE. Only teams who had a tight end statistically in the top 50 for receiving yards were used.

There reason why I have "quotes" around #1 WR and #1 TE is because I'm not jumping into the murky waters of what exactly makes them a #1. For the sake of simplicity, you are a #1 TE if you're in the top 50 for yards, and a #1 WR if you were the top target for the team (more yards then the tight end).

Hit the jump to see the results.

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