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Let's skip the friendly intro and get right down to business with some tasty morsels of St. Louis Rams news and commentary.
It sounds like the Rams plan to use the no-huddle offense more, which is great news since it's been one of the most effective means of moving the ball and scoring. Hopefully, they'll use it in the second half of games, even with a lead, too.
Also pointed out in that article, is that teams are still stacking the box with 8 or 9 men, trying to prevent Steven Jackson from beating them. Amazing. It speaks well of Jackson's ability, but it's kind of amazing that it's still happening given just how capable the Rams are of moving the ball in the passing game now.
Speaking of the passing game, Bernie Miklasz at the PD has a look at just how much the Rams have improved with Sam Bradford at the helm. It's even more astonishing than you thought. Consider that the Rams with Bradford are ranked 14th in the league in terms of their TD/INT ratio; from 2007-2009, they were ranked dead last.
Another factor that cannot be taken for granted in the Rams improved season is the injury factor. Yes, the Rams have had costly injuries to key players like Donnie Avery and Mark Clayton, but for the most part, they have avoided the rash of injuries that used to sweep through the roster on a weekly basis. Over a three-year span from 2007-2009, the Rams lost had more Adjusted Games Lost to injury (Football Outisders' stat for measuring the games lost to injury among a team's roster of players) than any other team in the league. Last season, they lost 74.7 games to injury, 25th worst in the league.
The only player on the injury report as of yesterday's practice was DT Darrell Scott, who was limited with a foot injury.
Arizona may look broken, and they are, but they won't be looking to roll over for the Rams in the wake of their Monday night embarrassment. Last time the Rams played the Cardinals, a 17-13 loss to start the season, safety Adrian Wilson was a one man wrecking crew, picking up a sack, a blocked FG and intercepting Bradford twice. He'll be looking for a repeat performance this week.
Does the injury to TE Michael Hoomanawanui mean more offensive work for TE Billy Bajema? It would appear likely after Bajema's surprising 2 TD performance last week, not bad for a "blocking specialist."