Rams wide receivers get some front page love on the PD website this morning. According to the report, Keenan Burton and Dane Looker will see more action. Looker blocks well, so they'll need to take advantage of to get those outside runs going working. In my opinion, that's the only way they're going to get the running game and thus the offense working.
Echoing the theme from yesterday afternoon's post, the Giants last year yielded more than 300 yards passing to an opponent just twice. In fact, in half their regular season games last year the Giants held opponents to less than 200 yards passing.
We also noted that runs up the middle weren't a good option against the Giants. That becomes more so with LG Jacob Bell likely out for the game...or does it? Adam Goldberg will take his place after a strong showing in camp working mostly at LT.
Like Bell, Leonard Little will in all probability sit this one out with a strained hamstring. The Rams will move rookie Chris Long to Little's spot on the left side and use James Hall to the right, where he's a more natural fit. This ought to be interesting. You know, Long didn't have a terrible game last week (all things being relative) and was one of few players who seemed to be awake through the whole thing. The second overall pick from this year's draft has shown a propensity to bounce back and learn from his mistakes. It's still a tough week to get your first shot at LDE. The Giants have a good offensive line. They allowed only 28 sacks last season, a 5.0% sack rate that was 11th best in the league, but the Redskins did manage to sack Manning twice in the opener.
Could this be Chris Long's chance to step into the spotlight? Maybe. But look for a lot of Haslett's 3-4-like set featuring Witherspoon that we saw last year to such effect.