Today might be the toughest day in a tough season of being a Rams fan.
But this...getting unfavorably compared to the Lions...oh, man...that really hammers the point home. From the Sporting News:
The Lions, Chiefs, Raiders, Seahawks and 49ers are all playing with pride, no matter the score. The Rams? They are done when they step out of the tunnel.
Click on the link and read the whole item. Then try to defend the Rams against the charges that they'd the worst team in the league. Not even OJ's legal team, the first one, could make the case otherwise.
Looking at the NFL scoreboard is all the proof you need. Every single one of those teams has been able to score points in recent weeks, not just at garbage time either. And really, it's tough to make a case that any of these teams are more talented than the Rams. With Hasselbeck out, the Rams and the Lions are the only teams with a Pro Bowl quarterback on the active roster...and for the Lions it's something of a default case since they resurrected Dante Culpepper recently.
The Rams have just five games left on the schedule, and compared to the first five games, it's much easier, just one team, the Cardinals, is a playoff team (though the Falcons could sneak in). Unfortunately, the Rams have proven that for them there's no difference between the reigning champion Giants and the 2-win 49ers.
The remaining games offer some start contrasts too. Next week, the Rams host the Dolphins, a one-win team from the year before that was often the subject of a who's worse than the Rams debate. The Dolphins are 6-5 this season after the organization committed to a complete overhaul.
To close out the season, the Rams play the Falcons, a team they actually beat (with Gus Frerotte under center) to earn one of their 3 wins last year. The Falcons, after crushing the Panthers yesterday, are 7-4. Both teams went from punch lines to contenders in a season. The Rams...well, they may have actually gotten worse. And the only question left to ask is whether or not they've hit bottom yet.