Welcome back. The St. Louis Rams, led mostly by their running backs, pulled the curtain off the 2011 season with a win over the Indianapolis Colts, a team notorious for its terrible preseason play. Scrimmage-like opponents or not, a win is a win, and it made for a nice way to breath a big sigh of relief and be thankful that football is back.
It's worth a quick run through the follow-ups to see what people are saying about the Rams win.
QB Sam Bradford settled in nicely behind his offensive line, even though he really didn't do much passing and certainly didn't get very far into the playbook. He was pleased with the results, but expects more...a good thing to hear.
I thought we did some really good things. I thought our line played great early. They opened some big holes for our running backs, got the run game going, and kept me clean. Other than that, we've got to keep getting better.
ESPN's Mike Sando noted that the receiver competition has a long way to go. Misfires on a couple plays and a very limited play book kept did nothing to separate the pack.
Bradford played into the second quarter, but never found a rhythm with his wideouts. He threw to the end zone on one play when his wide receiver, Brandon Gibson, cut off his route. The Rams are learning a new offense. It might have shown there.
Bryan Burwell of the Post-Dispatch says don't forget about the running backs.
One of the other highlights of the night was discovering the value of raising the talent level and competitive atmosphere in the offensive backfield.
We'll have more reaction to the game and the players later.