Don't look now, but it appears that the Rams offensive line (wait for it, wait for it) is actually playing quite well. Sure, it's taken a little time for them to find their mojo, but as everyone has been saying, the line appears to be gelling quite well, and Steven Jackson appears to be reaping the benefits (Marc Bulger, not so much). Halfway through the season, he has nearly 1,000 all purpose yards.
From the statistics of FootballOutsiders.com, halfway through the season the Rams have:
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The highest ranked RB in terms of DYAR, meaning Steven Jackson has the highest total value for any starting RB.
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The 5th highest ranked RB in terms of DYOA, meaning 39 has the 5th highest value per play for any starting RB in the league.
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The 13th highest ranked offensive line in terms of run blocking, and the 14th highest ranked offensive line in terms of pass protection. That's a bit of a jump from 28th and 23rd of last year (respectively), isn't it?
Is this a fluke? Not likely. The Rams invested heavily in the offensive line in the past few years. Some have come out to be good deals (Jason Smith, Jason Brown) and some not so much (Jacob Bell, Alex Barron). Luckily, the Rams seem to have found good depth players, who could possibly push for the two positions (RT and LG) that will be vacated should the Ram's dump Jacob Bell and Alex Barron. Like 3k said, it was no coincidence that Setterstrom came in and helped propel the running game. Hopefully, he will be able to get some more time with the first team in practice, and/or play in some games. Their is no better motivator then the idea of losing your job, which could very well happen with both of the players on the left side of the line.
It's been tough to calculate how much potential the offense has because so many players are injured at one point or another. The biggest loss so far has to be Laurent Robinson, who appeared to be a great pickup from the Falcons. Besides the glaring hole at QB (sorry Bulger, but you've got to go) one person from each position has impressed enough to point towards a bright future, which is good, because plenty of players have underwhelmed us as well. When the Saints blow out the Rams in two weeks, I hope the Rams send in Null in the 4th quarter to see what the kid can do.