Van is inactive right now, so I'm covering down on post-game duties. It's a tough job. I'll post my grades either later tonight or tomorrow when I summon the motivation, because every week gets harder and harder to accept.
A couple thoughts:
- The early turnovers killed us. They handed phenomenal field position to the Packers (who were only able to get 6 points off them, credit to the D), they killed the momentum of the game, and one of them resulted in an injury to our starting QB.
- Injuries were huge. Bulger, Butler, Robinson... We can't afford to lose what talent we have to injuries.
- The pass rush disappeared quickly. Leonard Little was able to get two early sacks, but where was everyone else? This is one of the worst O-lines in terms of pass protection, and we only tallied two sacks on the aging back of LL.
- Steven Jackson is a hoss.
- We defended the run very well, but the long passes to Greg Jennings and Donald Driver killed us. They're the kind of plays we had hoped we could get out of Donnie Avery. The only pass the Rams have completed for more than 25 yards was a 45 yarder at the very end of the Seattle game from Bulger to Robinson.
- On a positive note, Incognito got through another game without doing anything stupid.
- Bulger or Boller? The Rams, now 0-3, are traveling to San Francisco who is now 2-1 after an incredibly demoralizing loss in Minnesota (who the Rams will play after the Niners). Who gets the nod? Bulger has experienced losing in a Rams uniform while Boller can scramble out of busted plays.
- At some point, the Rams will win. It's ugly right now, and that makes it tough to profess one's Ram fandom in public, but there are improvements. The degree of those improvements is what this season revolves around. Nobody should have expected the 2009 Rams to make the playoffs. You would have been fair in expecting somewhere between 5-7 wins. That looks difficult now. Keep the faith.