The St. Louis Rams won their second game out of the last three. Sure, you can point out just how ugly and fluky it was, but it was still a win at least. The Rams need a few more wins to salvage at least a little something out of this season, not to mention the head coaching career of Steve Spagnuolo.
We talked plenty about the difficulty of the schedule and its impact on the Rams' start to the season. Tough games against legitimate playoff teams dominated the early part of the season for St. Louis. Football is a game of balance, and the graduate level courses in the season's first half are now being tempered with a semester's worth of freshman level course work. The Rams are smack dab in the middle of the easiest stretch of their 2011 schedule.
A look at how the rest of the season might play out after the jump.
Here's the easiest stretch for the Rams.
Week 9: L at Arizona
Week 10: W at Cleveland
Week 11: home versus Seattle
Week 12: home versus Arizona
Games get harder after week 12, probably even more difficult than the first half of the season.Let's take a look.
Week 13: at San Francisco (8-1)
Week 14: at Seattle (3-6)
Week 15: home versus Cincinnati (6-3)
Week 16: at Pittsburgh (7-3)
Week 17: home versus San Francisco
Anything is possible. By all accounts, the Rams should have lost in a laugher to the Saints. The biggest problem with these games is the matchup of the Rams' struggling offense versus some very good defenses. On paper, Seattle offers the most even matchup, but playing in Seattle is always tough. Pete Carroll's team beat the Ravens there yesterday.
St. Louis simply must win their next two games, both at home against equally sub-par NFC West opponents. Two wins might be it for the Rams if they lose those games.
The best outcome for the Rams may very well be a four-win season, using nothing more than the remaining matchups to inform a prediction. Four wins just doesn't seem like enough to keep the pink slips at bay come January.